I'HI],oSOPHY AND REI-IGION

THtrWISDOM
oF
INStrCT]RITY
ALAN W WATTS

"The wisdom of insecurity is not a way of evasion, but

of carrying on wherever we happen to be stationed-
c_arrying on, however, without imagining that the bur-
den of the world, or even of the next moment, is ours.
It is a philosophy not of nihilism but of the reality of
IWISDOM
the present-always remembering that to be of the
present is to be, and candidly know ourselves to be, on
the crest of a breaking wave."
-Philip \\'hcclu'right, Art,s rtncl Letters
'This book proposes a complete reversal of all ordinary
thinking about the present state of man. The critical
SECT]RITY
condition of the world compels us to face this problem:
how is man to live in a world in which he can never
AI,AN WWATTS
be secure, deprived, as many are, of the consolations of I an Age of Anxiety
lln.rag,' for
religious belief? The author shows that this problem
contains its own solution-that the highest happiness, la 96. V-468. 394-70468-1
the supreme spiritual insight and certitude are-found
only in our awareness that impermanence and in-
security are inescapable and inseparable from life,
Written in a simple and lucid style, it is a timely mes-
sage. , ."
Book lirt'ltungc (London )

(--OVER DESIGN BY BOB KORN

,,\ \'IN]"\GE BOOK
 "{
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 TlteWisdorn
,f
Insecurit!

by ALAN W. WAITS

VINTAGE BOOKS
A Diaision of Random House
New York

fi
 CON?^EN?S

Prclacc 9
t The Age of Anxiety rt
II Pain and Time 89
llr The Great Stream E9
IV The Wisdom of the Body 55
v On Being Aware 75
VI The Marvelous Moment 89
VIT The Transformation of Life ro5
VIII Creative Morality rt9
tx Religion Reviewed r35

Copynght, 1951, by Pantheon Bookr

AJI rightr rcserved under International and Pen-Amcricen

C,opyright Convcntionr. Publistred in NewYort by Panthcon
Bookr, a division of Random Houre, Inc. and in Canrde by
Rrndom Houre of Ganada Limited, Toronto.
Manulacturcd in thc Unilcd Statcs ol Amcrica

{
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 PNEFACE

Ihave always been lacinateil by the law of reacrseil

cfort. I
Sometimes call it the "backwdrds hw." When
you try to stay on the surface of the water, you sink; but
when you try to sink you float. When you hold your
breath you lose it-which immediately calls to rnind an
ancient ancl much neglected sayingr "Whosoeaer would,
uae his soul slzall lose it."
This book is on exploration ol this law in relation to
rnan's quest for psychological securitl, and, to his efforts
lo find spiritual and intellectual certainty in religion
and philosophy. It is written in the conviction that no
therne could, be more appropriate in a time when human
lile seerns to be so peculiarly insecure and uncertain. It
maintains that this insecurity is the result of trying to be
secure, and that, controriwise, saluation and, sanity con-
sist in the ntost radical recognition that we haac no way
of saving ourselaes.
This begins to sound like something from Alice
Through the Looking Glass, ol which this book is a sort
of philosophical equiualent, For the read,er will fre-
quently find. himse$ in a topsy-tunty world in which the
normal order of things seerns to be cornpletely reaersed,
and cornrnon sensc turned, insidc out and upsicle d,own.
Those who have read. some of rny forrner books, such as
Behold the Spirit and The Supreme Identity, uill find
things that seem to be total contradictions ol much that
I haac said bcfore. This, houeaer, is true only in some
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY PREFACE

minor respects. For I haae discoaered thot the essence to say,;t is to me a sign of in'
eal :tlwlies, and, need.less
and crux of what I was trying to say in those books was tlghl antl imagination on lheir part that they haae been
seldom understood; the frarnework and the context ol utrlling lo interest themselaes in so "contrary" an ap-
my thought of ten hid the meaning. My intention here is prou:h lo tnctaplrysical knowledge.
to approach tlze same meaning from entirely difrerent
premises, and in terms which do not conluse thought Aleru W. Werrs.
with the rnultitude of irreleaant associations which time San I;ranctsco.
and tradition haae hung upon them. May r95t.
In those books I uas concerned to aindicate certain
principles ol religion, philosophy, and metaphysic by
reinterpreting them. This was,I thinh,like putting legs
on o snahe-unnecessory and confusing, because only
doubtlul truths need clefense. This booh, however, is
in the spirit of the Chinese sage Lao-tzu, that m,aster ol
the law of reversed, eflort, who declared, that those who
justily thernselues do not conaince, that to hnow truth
one must get rid of knowledge, and that nothing is more
powerlul and creatiae than emptiness-frorn which men
shrinh. Here, then, my aim is to show-bachward,s-
lashion-that those essential realities of religion and
metaphysic are uindicated, in doing without them, and
manif ested, in being d.estroyed.
It is rny haQFy d,uty to acknowledge that the prepara-
tion of this book has been made possible by the gener-
osity of the Foundation established by the late Franklin
J. Matchette ol Neu York, a man who devoted rnuch of
his lile to the problems of science and, metaphysic, being
one ol those somewhat rare business men who are not
wholly absorbed in the aicious circle of making rnoney
to mahe money to make tnoney. The Matchette Founda-
tion is therelore dedicated, to the pursuit of metaphysi-
 I. THE AGE OF ANXIETY

It rr.r. ourwARD AppEARANcEs ouR LIFE rs A spARK

d llght between one eternal darkness and another.
Itlor b the interval benveen these two nights an un
dOudcd day, for the more we are able to feel pleas
Ill, the more we are vulnerable to pain-and,
Uhcther in background or foreground, the pain is
dwryr with us. We have been accustomed to make
Shir cxistence worth-while by the belief that there is
Dore than the outward appearance-that rve live for
t luture beyond this life here. For the orrtward ap-
Pcrrance does not seem to make sense. If living is to
cnd in pain, incornpleteness, and nothingrress, it
tcems a cruel and futile experience for beings who
tre born to reason, hope, create, and love, N{an, as a
being of sense, wants his life to make sense, and he
har found it hard to believe that it does so unless
there is more than what he sees-unless there is an
cterrral order and an eternal life behind the uncer-
tain and momentary experience of life-and-death.
I may not, perhaps, be forgiven for introducing
tober matters with a frivolous notion, but the prob-
lem of making sense out of the seeming chaos of ex-
perience reminds me of my childish desire to send
Eomeone a parcel of rvater in the mail. The recipient
unties the string, releasing the deluge in his lap. But
r3

I
lrrii
ltil
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
irl the game would never work,
TI{E AGE OF ANXIETY
since it is irritatingly ft;rrrl nr absolurely right and rrue, and fixed for
imp-ossible ro wrap and
tie ; ;;il all
irii of *ut., in llttre,
package. There are kinds
{ip:. of paper which won,t" 'lir rorrre this is a welcome release from the re-
distintegrate when wet, bunr,.
rvater itself into anl
,riuii. is to get rhe iltrllrm of moral, social, and spiritual dogma. To
and to iie the fllrrrr it
;;i;; ffi #ffiI'Hii:Tll"ol3o'' is a dangerous and terrifying breach with
The more one st,rdiJs Fp.r,n nncl saniry, tending to plunge human life into
lems in politics ",r.rnpJrolutions to prob- ho;rclcsr chaos. To most, perhaps, the imurediate
..ono*iir:-i;;:' philosophy, *nre of rclease has given a brief exhilaration, to be
and religion, rhe "nd
mr
tremerylif t"no."ot",:l:,ff fullnrvcd by the deepest anxiety. For if all is relative,
the impossible'ani rutl. i"ir.",1i,il:i,:i;illl.,?,rr"]; ll lrfc is a torrent rvithout form or goal in whose flood
mter of life inro near and perman.n,
;
;;;t;; to set rhe llrrolutcly nothing save change itself can last, it
pu?k"g.r. r€rnrl to be something in which there is "no future*
There are manv ,erroni why this
should be par- rtrrl thus no hope.
ticularly evident * u p..ron living
today. We knory lluman beings appear to be happy just so long as
so much about history,
about all tte pr.'t"g., which
have been tied and ,i,i,1.r, h"";;;i;;; tlrey have a future to rvhich they can look forrvard-
apart. We wlrcthcr it be a "good time" tomorro\v or an everlast-
knorv so much detail about ,h.
they resist easy sinrplifi.ution, ;;;;1"*s of life that lrrg life beyond the grave. For various reasons, more
iJ-r"-.'_" *or. .o*- nrrd more people find it hard to believe in the latrer.
plex.and shaneless ihur,,u"..'
fr"fr"r",.r., science ()n the other hand, the former has the disadvantage
and industry have so increased fr"rf,
,n""r.mpo and tlrat rvhen this "good time" arrives, it is difficult to
of livins thar our;";k;il;",n
ll:,:t:t."..
apart faster and faster
to come crrjoy it to the full rvithour some promise of rnore to
every day.
There is, rhen, the feeling ,hu, ,r" come. If happiness alrvays depends on somerhing ex-
live in a time pected in the future, we are chasing a rvill-o'-the-rvisp
of,unusual inr:lylry: ln prr,
thi frr"a."d years so that ever eludes our grasp, until the future, and oui-
many long-established traclitions
t o* Urot.., aorv,. relves, vanish into the abyss of death.
-traditions of familv
.il; :.; ;' :H'J.::jr' ff ':j, l;:il'f,; LTT T:
As a matter of fact, our age is no more insecure
than any other. Poverty, disease, rvar, change, and
years go by, there seem to
be ferv-cr f"rue, .o.ks
ro rvhich rve can hold, fewer things"nd death are nothing nery. In the best of times "security,,
*ni.f, we can has never been more than temporar-y and apparent.
t4
r5
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY THE AGE OF ANXIETY
But it has been possible to make the insecurity of entl uncertainly, give us-a be.tter.future-for
a
human life supportable by belief in unchanging fb*ly will
E;il;. And then, for"e"ch of us' it will end' It
things beyond the reach of calamity-in God, in everything com-
man's immortal soul, and in the government of the
aii Jtt.r. However long postponed'
decompose'
universe by eternal laws of right. ;xrG(l lltuct this is still
l)clpite some oprnions to the contrary'
Today such convictions are rare, even in religious view of science' In literary and religious
circles. There is no level of society, there must even
rhn t{"i,.r"r
the conflict be'
be few individuals, touched by modern education,
;i;.L it is now olten supposed that the
i;;"; rcience and belief is a thing of whoPast' There
where there is not some trace of the leaven of doubt. feel that
It is simply self-evident that during the past century a* .u.n some rather wishful scientists
t""a.rn physics abandoned a crude atomistic
the authority of science has taken the place of the "f,*
,r,.i"riurit*, the ifriet reasons for this conflict were
authority of religion in the popular imagination, and most of our
*,uru.a. But this is not at all the case' In
ur.", ..rr,.rs of learning, those who make it
that scepticism, at least in spiritual things, has be- their
come more general than belief. of science and
The decay of belief has come about through the ffin.-,-,r;t;"av rtt. fuliimplications they under'
honest doubt, the careful and fearless thinking of
ir. -.tnoa, are as far as evei from what
rtattd as a religious point of view'
----f.1,r.t.",
highly intelligent men of science and philosophy.
phlsics and relativity havg' it is ffue'
done
Moved by a zeal and reverence for facts, they have but they now give us
ewav with the otd materialism'
tried to see, understand, and face life as it is without is even less
rvishful thinking. Yet for all that they have done to
;';il; it.',,ttiutt* in which there

improve the conditions of life, their picture of the

,oo- to, ideas of any absolute PurPoseto or design'
deny God
The modern scientist'is not so tt^iue "t
universe seems to leave the individual without ulti- telescope',or the
O..".rra he cannot be found with a
mate hope. The price of their miracles in this world
lootb.."',seitisnotrevealedbythescalpel.Hehas
has been the disappearance of the world-to-come, and is logically un'
one is inclined to ask the old question, "What shall it
;;;.iy noted that the idea of God any meaning' It
necessary. He even doubts that
it has
profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his he can'
soul?" Logic, intelligence, and reason are satisfied,
I".t "", n.lp him to explain anything which
,roi.*pt"i"
'--H. i,t,o*t other' and simpler' way'
but the heart goes hungry. For the heart has learned t: t?il
lrgt.s that if everything which happens this
to feel that we live for the future. Science may, of God'
to be under the providentt uid
control
r6 r7
 l:i'iiii

t, ili
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
actually amounts to saying
everything is governed
nothing. To say that
THE AGE OF ANXIETY
lhrt tlr rorrtine and drudgery, the pain and fear of
"ni.."ur.aiy
saying, "Everything is up,,,_rvhi.f,
Cod is likc lhtr lttr turve some meaning and goal in the future.
,o.Jn, nothing at At otue rrew myths come into being-political and
all. The norion dols noi help
us ," _"1. any verifi. !rntlnrsriq rnyths with extravagant promises of the
/,i/ able predicrions, and ,o, r-_
ii.
point, is of no value wharro.u.r- Li."rin. srand_ ltert ,rf frrturcs in the presenr world. These myths
i.i.r,iir,,
t in this respect. They _"y U" ,".""g. ,,ruy b" llvr tlre intlividual a certain sense of meaning by
ilqf purpose
our It is not ttrnlirrg lrirn part of a vast social efiort, in which he
here rg this point. we"neea oniy
Tg"-.
note that such sceoticism has llrrrr rorncthing of his orvn emptiness and loneliness.
r.,::1. prevaitinj mood of ,t.
i.i".rr" inflt'r.n..,
"' Yrt tlre vcry violence of these political religions be-
"nd Itlyr thc anxiety beneath them-for they are but
vynar sclence has.said, in
sum,"g..---
is this: We do not,
and in_all probability cannor, trrrrr lru<lclling together and shor.rting to give them-
ilr 1""r"'rf,.rher God x'lvcs courage in the dark.
exists. N-othing thar ive ao
moru-r,,gg.ro that he ( )rrr:e therc is the suspicion that a religion is a

rii11
*,."::ll all
exrstence
tfe argumenb rvhich claiiito prove
are found to be rvithout logical
his rrrytlr, its porver has gone. It may be necessary for
meani.,g. nrln to have a myth, but he cannot self-consciously
Th:': is nothins, indeect, . p;-;li;i there is no
God, btrt the burden of prooi lrlcscribe one as he can mix a pill for a headache. A
,.ru ,uilf, those who rrryth can only "work" when it is thotrght to be truth,
propose the idea. If, the scientists
*o.rlJruy, you be_ rnrl rnan cannot for long knorvingly and intentionally
lieve in God, you must do ,o on
p.r*iy emotional "ki<1" himself.
grounds, rvirhout basis in logic
or fact. practically Even the best moclern apologists for religion seem
:ii:l
,ff slmpte
rr.$
jlf lar lmount ro artreism. Theoreticaun to overlook this fact. For their most forceful argu-
ll// agnosticism. For it is of the
scienrific honesty that you do not
essence of nrcnts for some sort of re turn to orthodoxy are those
pr.r.rra to knorv rvhich shorv the social and moral advantages of be-
wnat you do not knorv, and of
the essence of scientific lief in God. Ilut this docs not prove that Cod is a
method- that you clo not employ
cannot be tested.
lrypoihescs rvhich rcality. It proves, at most, that believing in God is
/i/ uscful. "If God did not exist, it rvould be necessary
The immediate resrrlts of this honesty
deeply u.nsettling
-;nhave been
a'd depressing. Fo,
to invent him." Perhaps. But if the public has any
seerns ro suspicion that he does not exist, the invention is in
De unable to live without myth, without the
belief vain.
r8 r9

/'/
f,ilrr
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
THE AGE OF ANXIETY
It for this reason rhar most of the
is
currenr return f,owev"r mrrch they may try to bury it in the depths
to orthodoxy in some inrellectual.;;il
hollo.w ring. So much, of
has a rather
i, i, _".. i"f r"f in believ.
il tlreir rnin<ls, they are rvell arvare that these joys
i1
I

ing than a belief in God. rn. "

.onirirt
;6 lrotlr unccrtain and brief. This has two results.
between thc On thc onc hand, there is the anxiety that one may
I
insecure, neurotic,. educated
l qniet dignity ancl inner peace
;;d.r",, and the lr rrriming something, so that the mind flits nervously
ii. Itul grccrlily from one pleasure to another, without
man"i
ii believer, makes the latter a
rii
"ia_f"shioned
ro i. .ilui.a. But it
is a serious misapplicatig, itrrlirrg rcst and satisfaction in any. On the other, the
pry.f,"l"ogy to *"k" httrtt;rtion of having alrvays to pursue a future good
"i the tlucnstone
i

the presence or absence of

n.,rrori,
and to argue that if a man,s ot ht r torrrorrow which never comes, and in a world
llil
hrm neurotic, it must be wrong. .,.nZoriff,if"lpf,y makes whcre cvcrything must disintegrate, gives men an
agnostics are neurotic, whereas and tltltu(lc of "What's the use anyhow?"
i,rorr ri*j."tt.ists
Catholics ( lonsequently our age is one of frustration, anx-
are happy and at peace with
themselvJ. Therefore lety, agitation, and addiction to "dope." Somehow
the viervs of the fo.mer are
false, and of the latter
true." wc rnust grab what we can while we can, and drown
Even if the observation is correct, orrt the realization that the rvhole thing is futile and
the reasoning trrcaningless. This "dope" rve call our high standard
based on it is absurd. It is
as if ;,;;:'.,;;u say there
is a fire in the basemenr. you of living, a violent and complex stimulation of the
are .rpr., it. Be- renses, which makes them progressively less sensitive
cause you are upset, there
is obviously no "io.r,
fire.,, The
agnostic, the sceotic, is neurotic, and thus in need of yet more violent stimulation. We
bui this does not crave distraction-a panorama of sights, sounds,
a false phiiosophy; i, i-pii.,
l*ptr
facts to rvhich he cloes nor knoiv
ii.lir.ou.ry or thrills, and titillations into which as much as pos-
ho, to him_ rible must be crowded in the shortest possible time.
self. The intellectual rvho tries "d"pt
rosis by escaping from the facts
,, .r."J.'tom neu- To keep up this "standard" most of us are rvilling
is ;;;:iy acring on
the principle rhat .,rvtrer" ignor"n.;l;l;r, ,tis to put up with lives that consist largely in doing jobs
to be wise." folly that are a bore, earning the means to seek relief from
Whcn belief in the eternal becomes the tedium by intervals of hectic and expensive pleas-
impossible, sure. These intervals are supposed to be the real /iu-
and.there is only the poor substitute
or ueliet in be- ing, the real purpose served by the necessary evil of
Iieving, men seek their happirr"r,
i;;;; iJy, or ti_.. work. Or we imagine that the justification of such
QI
 ,l
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY TIIE AGE OF ANXIETY
rvay
work is the rearing of a family to go on doing tlrr. I r .rrr tltir l'ttttrl ttf clepartute there rs yet another
I

same kind of thing, in order to rear another family r irl, rlr,rt tc,lttit'cs ncither myth nor despair'
Btn it
r,,rrrPlctc revolution in our ordinary' ha'
i

il
. . . and so ad infinitum. ,. i,ri,r r n
This is no caricarure. It is the simple reality of mil i ,.,, rl rr.r1r ol tltinkingand feeling'
is
lions of lives, so commonplace that rve need hardly I lrt .rrtt:rotrlinaryifti"g aboui this revolution
dwell upon the demils, save ro note the anxiety anrl ,1,=',,'vr'.rls t'c truth Ueilina the so-called fnyths of
frustration of rhose who put up with it, not knowing *=.lrl,,rr,rt tcligion and metaphysic' It reveals' not
an un'
what else to do. i., !i, lr, l,rrt actiial realities corresponding-in
and of eternal life'
But what are we to do? The alternatives seem to . ' g,, , t, ,l tv;ty-to the ideas of God
revolution of
be two. The first is, somehow or other, to discover a I l,r rr rrc r."r,ro., for supposing that a
the main
nerv myth, or convincingly resuscitate an old one. If rl,'. ! rrrrl was the originaiiource of some of
as real'
science cannot proae there is no God, we can try to t,l,grnus i,lcas, staniing in relation to them
The common error
I
live and act on the bare chance that he may exist r,y ,,,.y,ttlrol and cause to effect'
the sym'
I
after all. There seems to be nothing to lose in such a ,,1 ,,,,trrr;rt'y religious Practice is to mistake
iri gamble, for if death is the end, we shall never know r,,,1 l,r rhc realiiy, toiook at the finger
pointing the
than fol-
that we have lost. But, obviously, this will never ,.,,y ,rtttl ttren to suck it for comfort rather
1l
l
amount to a vital faith, for it is really no more rhan ,,',u ,, l{cligious ideas are like words-of little use'
rl to say, "Since the whole thing is futile anyhow, ler's lr,l r,[tcn m-isleading, unless you knoqthe concrete
,,,,t,,i., to which th-ey refer' The word "water"
is a
pretend it isn't." The second is to try grimly to face
the fact that life is "a tale told by an idiot," and make rrrr.lttlmeansofcommunicationamongstthosewho
and the
\now water. The same is true o[ the word
I

ll of it what we can, letting science and technology

serve us as well as they may in our journey from trh'.r called "God"'
I
ot
i nothing to nothing. I rlo not, at this point, wish to seem mysterrous
The real'
Yet these are not the only solutions. We may begin t,r bc making clairns to "secret knowledge"'
I

tl "God" and "eternal life" is

by granting all the agnosticism of a critical science. rry which corresponds to
openJor all to see'
We may admit, frankly, that rve have no scientific lr.',ncst, above-board, plain' and
just as
llut the seeing requires a correction of mind'
rl
grounds for belief in God, in personal immortality,
.r"". uitio" Jo*tii*tt requires a correction of
the
or in any absolutes. We may refrain altogether from
I

trying to believe, taking life just as ir is, and no more. cycs.

22 cE
 THE WISDOM OF TNSECURITY
TIIE AGE OF ANXIETY
Th: discovery
of this reality is hindered rarlrrr
,
than h.elped by belief, ,t.tt..'on. Thl ;,te,crrt plrasc o[ human thought and history
i"ii.u., in C,rl
or believes in atheism. We must t.r.
_"t. a cl..rr I q*,hlly ripc for this "letting go." Our minds
distinction between.belief and !m-l*rrt prcp;rrcrl for it by this very collapse of the
t"irfr, L.i"use, in
eral practice, belief has come
,, *."" ,rate of mirr,l
gt.rr
blfl. lrr wlrich rve have sought security. From a
which is almost the opposite "
of faith. Belief, as I rnr
frlnt ol view strictly, if strangely, in accord with
the word here, is the insisten..
,fr"iif,. Ftlrlrr tcligious traditions, this disappearance of
iruth is wlr.rr
one would ,.lief', or wish it to be. The belierer r.vill Ar rrl,l t or ks and absolutes is no calamity, but rather
orcrr_ hi!_lqilldlo_rlg.llglh_on
condi tion that it t, r,
I hleuirrg. It almost compels us to face reality with
in with his pr..o"..iu.ala;", q*lt trrirrrls, and you can only know God through an
Faith, orr e;lcrr rrrirrrl just as you can only see the sky through a
rEE omeiE-a;d;iien unreFi?.d""a;iles.
o;;;gof rhe mirr,t
to the truth, whatever rt may turn :lell wirrtlow. You will not see the sky if you have
out to be. Fairrr *lrvrrlrl thc glass with blue paint.
has no preconceptions; it ir'"
ptong. into the urr
known. Belief clings, but faith llrrr "rcligious" people who resist the scraping of
i.r;;:. In this seno
of the wordJaitn j llre ;r,rint from the glass, who regard the scientific
rttitrrrlc with fear and mistrust, and confuse faith
".diik;;;;
Most of believe in order to feel ,..*",
us
;l: wltlr llirrging to certain ideas, are curiously ignorant
in order nl larvs of the spiritual life which they might find in
to make our individual lives r.._
rr"l.r"bl. ,rr.un tlrrir own traditional records, A careful study of
ingful. Belief has thus become "rdto hang
on to life, to gtasp and keep it for"r, "ii.-_p, rrurllnrative religion and spiritual philosophy re-
one,s o*rrr. B,rt you
cannot understand life and its mysteries vcirlr that abandonment of belief, of any clinging to
as long as r lrrture life for one's own, and of any attempt to
you try to grasp it. Indeed, you
cannot grasp it, just
as you cannor walk off with ri(;rJ)c from finitude and mortality, is a regular and
a river in Uu.tei. tf
" rurrrnal stage in the way of the spirit. Indeed, this is
I.ou t1, to capture running rvater in a bucket, it is
clear that you do nor underland ar trrally such a "first principle" of the spiritual life
it rt you will tlurt it should have been obvious from the beginning,
"rrJ ",
be disappointed, for in the a;;;
llways the warer lrrrl it seems, after all, surprising that learned theo-
does not run. To ..have" running,"r.,
,ot., must let logians should adopt anything but a cooperative at-
go of it and let it run. The same"is
,r,r. oiUf. and of t itrrde towards the critical philosophy of science.
God.
Surely it is old news that salvation comes only
24
 'I'IIE ACE OF ANXIETY
iilll THE WTSDOM OF INSECURITY
"express image"
through the death of the human form of God. Btrt i+.stllG lrl tlrn ( llrl irt'story is that this
'r of titt in thi.very act o[
was not, perhaps, so easy to see that God's hunr.", =f t:r,'l l,trrtlrtrt,rt" 'oii"
't'u tildi"igl-t:Iho tried to cling
form is not simply the historic Christ, bnt also rlr, e+rrr1 rlrtlt'yt'tl,
his human individu-
images, ideas, and beliefs in the Absolute to whir lr i* l,h ,llvltt,ry i" ttt" fo;
a grain of corn fall into
"?
man clings in his nrind. Here is the full sense of tlr,' .;,;;i,; ,';;'i,,i"ttt, "u"rttt it dies' it
commandment, "Thou shalt not make to thyself any .r.f E',rnrl .rrrrl tlic, r, tt1"r".*t"":: l:llt he warned
l. I lrgt llt tll tttttt:h [ruit"'
In the same vein
graven image, nor the likeness of anything that is irr that I go arvay' for i[
heaven above; thou shalt not borv down to rtr.|fr "lt ir cxpcclie;;-i"; you cannot
them, nor rvorship them." ;';;;,,,;u*uy itt" Paraclete (the Holy Spirit)
To discover the ulcimate Reality of life-the Alr rlttr, lllllll YoU"'
l lrrrc worrls are more
than ever applicable'to
solute, the eternal, God-you must cease to try to the rvhole condition
grasp it in the forms of idols. Thcse idols are not just I lrl lrl I'rllr, ,,"tI 'ptuLt*uttty to
actually understood
crude imagcs, such as the mental picttrre of God as el nttl lttttcs' For *" t'^*-"!"er
them-the incredible
an old gentleman on a golden throne. They are our r|rr t t'v.IIItit"to'y
""^sJbt"tuth
beliefs, our cherished preconceptions of the truth,
which block the unreserved opening of mind and
heart to reality. The legitimate use of images is to l*:t*"'
express the truth, not to possess it.
This u'as alrvays recognized in the great Oriental lu:
:iil:it
traditions such as Buddhism, Vedanta, and Taoism. :;t
I
The principle has not been unknown to Christians,

li',
for it was implicit in the rvhole story and teaching of ,nt,.,,ru.r,uu.."t'i'tll'Jft TilitgF:l"tpore'and
Christ. His life was from the beginning a complete
acceptance and embracing of insecurity. "The foxes
have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but croes not
'*i
ro'ow his
the Son of Man hath not rvhere to lay his head." llT"::illll] i3il;';;;se heit""d-un end rvhich
The principle is yet more to the point if Christ is li'c of thought;:;;;;to he
life' All too soon
regarded as divine in the most orthodox sense-as the rvotrld be the and lets his rnind
unique and special incarnation of God. For the basic lbanclons r"i'tt''";i;-;;'his
o$""t'Jto"utity'
27
z6

|ll
 TI|E wlSDOM OF INSECURITY
harden into doctrine,Jhe
discovery of the mystery,
the wonder beyond **a.rr,;;il
we qrn only believe "ll
belief, for
in what
preconceived, and imagined.
r. t Ar."dy known,
nut"o.
rlus is feyond
any
imagination. We have"b",
," ,f""-;;;y., of thc
mind wide enough, and ..rhe
,*ir, *iiiour.,,
cB
II. PAIN AND TIME
*+ nx:r ALMosr ALL oF us ENvy rHE ANIMALs.
?try ruficr and die, but they do not seem to make
I Fpoblcm" of it. Their lives seem to have so few
lfipllcrttons. They eat when they are hungry and
drp whcn they are tired, and instinct rather than
lirlety rcems to govern their few preparations for
St futurc. As far as we can judge, every animal is
f buly with what he is doing at the moment that it
llty$ cntcr$ his head to ask whether life has a mean-
hg or t future. For the animal, happiness consists
lf onJoying life in the immediate present-not in the
Itunncc that there is a whole future of joys ahead
st hlm.
Thh is not just because the animal is a relatively
lnrnrltive clod. Often enough his eyesight, his sense
ol herring and smell, are far more acute than ours,
lnd one can hardly doubt that he enjoys his food
rnd rleep immensely. Despite his acute senses, he
lur, however, a somewhat insensitive brain. It is
norc rpecialized than ours, for which reason he is a
cclture of habit; he is unable to reason and make
tbltractions, and has extremely limited powers of
mcmory and prediction.
Unquestionably the sensitive human brain adds
lmmeasurably to the richness of life. Yet for this
29
 rHE WISDOM OF INSECURITI
PAIN AND TIME
Y: q"y .learly,
sitivity
because rhe increase in
over-all sr.rr €*rr Frt ftt itr knowledge. It is understandable that
makes us neculiarly urln.r"ii".
vulner;able bi becoming
On. can l,r *: drxrthl ulnctimes ask whether life has not gone
leyy less sensitive_morc ol rar, fl lrr tlrir dircction, whether "the game is worth
a stone and less of a man_ancl
joyment.
so less capable of crr rhr rnlllc," and whether it might not be better to
Sensirivity recluires a high degree
ness and fragility_eyeballs, eardiu*r, of solr ru.r tlro roursc of evolution in the only other possi-
and nerve ends cutminating t"rt. b,,a,,, t L rllr cr t iort-backwards, to the relative peace of the
organism o[ the brain. Th;
t; il;;;hly delicar,. lntrrrll, tlrc vcgetable, and the mineral.
fragile, but also oerishable. "r..,or^jnty soft anrl hlletlring of this kind is often attempted. There
effective
Ti;.;"*s ro be no h flre wonran who, having suffered some deep emo
of de.rearing delicacy and perish-
-way -the iiarrrl irrjtrry in love or marriage, vows never to let
llitj:y of living tissue withour also iecreasing its
vitality and sensitivity. r+lrrlrrl rrran play on her feelings, assuming the role
If we are to have intense el tlrr lurr<l and bitter spinster. Almost more com-
pleasures, we must also r*lrrr lr thc sensitive boy rvho learns in school to en-
be liabte to intense pains.
Td.pt;;;;; we tove, and r*rrrt lrirnself for life in the shell of the "tough-guy"
the pain we hate, but ir ,..rn,
irnporritf. to have .rlrl(lc. As an adult he plays, in selfdefense, the
the former rvithout tf,. tutt"r.
the two must in some rtay alternate,
i;H:, tooks as if rllr of the Philistine, to whom all intellectual and
for .orrtinuous nrrutional culture is womanish and "sissy." Carried
pleasure is a srimulu, ,r,"i
creased. And the increase
-uri .iii"rl"rr or be in- rn ln final extreme, the logical end of this type of re-
rvill either harden the l tiorr to life is suicide. The hard-bitten kind of per-
sense buds rvith its friction,
o, ,"rn i.rro pain. A con- rlrr ir always, as it were, a partial suicide; sorne of
sistenr dier of rich food either
tite or makes one sick.
-- a.-r,rJyi
-vv*v'Jrr the appe- frirrrrclf is already dead.
To-the degree, then, that life is lf, then, we are to be fully human and fully alive
found good, death rrul aware, it seems that we must be willing to suf-
must be proportionately evil.
to love anorher Derson anj^to
ffr. _o..lve are able te r for our pleasures. Without such willingness there
.".;"f ii, company, rnn be no growth in the intensity of consciousness.
the greater musr L our grief
niJ a.",fr, or in sep Yct, generally speaking, we are not willing and it
aration. The further the porver",
of .*io,rrness ven- rlray be thought strange to suppose that we can be.
tures out into experienci, the
more is the price it lior "nature in us" so rebels against pain that the
3o
sr
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
very norion of ..willingness,, to PAIN AND TIME
pur up with it bc
yond.a certain point may
impossible arr,l
llr*lt tlrrt we assume attitudes and roles as habits
meaningless. "pp.", nl pt @t
petual self-defense.
Under these circumsrances, the life
that we livc
t€rac ltqn-anfryltqyJensitivity to Pai t
is a contradiction and a corrfli.t.
n.."ur. conscious. ftsn our rnarvel@fore-
ness rnzJt involve both pleasure
and pain, to strivc rl;lrt l' dO
for pleasure ro the exclusion of
p"in t,- in .ff..,, ,,, tor the animal to be happy it
is enough that this
strive for the loss of consciourn.rr. g..".rse lromcnt be enjoyable. But man is hardly satisfied
such a
loss is in principle the same
d."ii, ih-i-, ,,,.un, thr, *ltlr tlrlr at all. He is much more concerned to have
rne more we struggle for life",(as
pleasure), the more
lrfuyrble memories and expectations - especially
we_are actually killing what
we iove.
thr lrttcr. With these assured, he can put up with
Indeed, this is rhe common attitude an exrernely miserable present. Without this as-
of man to so
much thar he loves. For the greater lur.ncc, he can be extremely miserable in the midst
pa.t of human
activiry is designed to makJ perrn"rr.rr, rl lrnmediate physical pleasure.
those ex-
periences and joys which
only i"""tr. because
llcre is a person who knows that in two weelcs'
rney, are chan^ging. Music is".e
a delight because of its
Irnrc he has to undergo a surgical operation. In the
rnytnm and flow. yet the moment rrcrntime he is feeling no physical pain; he has
you arrest the
{ow 3nd.
prolong a note or chord U.yorra
its rime, ;rlenty to eat; he is surrounded by friends and hu-
the rhythm is destroyed. Because Irrrn aftection; he is doing work that is normally of
Uf;; Iikewise a
flowing process, change and death
are iB necessary lrcrt interest to him. But his porver to enjoy these
parts. To work for their exclusion tlrlngs is taken away by constant dread. He is insen-
is to work against
life. rltlvc to the immediate realities around him. His
mind is preoccupied with something that is not yet
^-I":.1:t;
paln l!. rtTll"
and pleasure
experiencing of atternating
is by no means the heart of the hcrc. It is not as if he were thinking about it in a
human problem. The reason that we prrctical way, trying to decide whether he should
want Iife to
mean something, that we seek God hrvc the operation or not, or making plans to take
or eternal life,
is not merely that rve are trying to
ger away from an
crre of his family and his afiairs if he should die.
immediate experience of pa-in.\or"i, These decisions have already been made. Rather, he
i, f* any such
lr thinking about the operation in an entirely futile
3r
E3
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
PAIN AND TIME
way, which both ruins
his present enjoyment
and contributes nothing to the ol t,r. Wlrrt lr the use of planning to be able to eat next
Iem. But he cannot f,.fi
solutiJn of any pr,,i *se I unlcsg I can really enjoy the meals when they
f,i*r.ff. errrre/ lf I am so busy planning how to eat next rveek
This is the tvnical fi";;;
t;"btem. The ol,j,, tlrrt I cannot fully enjoy what I am eating now, I
of dread *u'/ ,,oi
tt may be the ?. ;;;;,ff;;11. immcrrr,,, *tll he in the same predicament when next week s
{1turg. p.o6lem of nexr rro*h,s grrrlr llecome "now."
of a threatened war oi social rt,,ri
disaster, of being ,,1,t, lf rrry happiness at this moment consists largely rn
r."1. enough for otd ?B€,
L
This "spoiler of the present,, "i;;;
or at the l,rtr lsvlewing h"ppy memories and expectations, I am
may not even be a l' l,rrt rlirnly aware of this present. I shall still be dimly
::le^lreaa. T"I
Ir i. ,orr,.rti"g'."r""r the p;r.,r rwarc of the present rvhen the good thingp that I
::-*. T:T".y of an- injury, some-crime
tron, which or indisrrr lrevc bcen expecting come to pass. For I shall have
haunts the i.er.rrt *i;i;;;;r"
ment or guilt. The"power of rescrrr lor rned a habit of looking behind and ahead, mak-
of *.*ori.r lnd expecr,r lng it difficult for me to attend to the here and now.
tions is such that fo. _ori
rrurn"r'il.irg, rhe p;rrr lf, then, my awareness of the past and future makes
and the future are not as
real, but more real th:rrr nrc less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder
the present. The orr
;;;; ; ; ;''## lil.TfilF .,f;lfi whcther I am actually living in the real world.
11; F
bright with promise. :ffi llJ I After all, the future rs quite meaningless and un-
There can be no doubt that Irnportant unless, sooner or later, it is going to be-
the power to remenr rome the present. Thus to plan for a
ber and predic, ,o
of a hetter-sketter .r,uo, -ut. i;ffirfi ;uence our
oia;i.;;;:;; momen$,
is a wonderful devetopme.,
it is the achievemen; ;i;;;;irr. ,o ,", ,,

lll,", "
man the most exfiaordinary "il.-;;;il
p"*..,
giving
*rvival and
into its face.
adaptation to life. But the
*ly i. "f *. gener-
*iiJ rather than the reality of the present is the special
;:l lJ:
j:'; fl :J-.:.1'^ip-, l. 9., lil i,,'" auu n,"g.,
d trouble of those business men who live entirely to

to lrve
;i:t make money. So many people of wealth understand
present fully in rhe much more about making and saving money than
about using and enjoying it. They fail to live be-
34
35
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURTTY PAIN AND TIME
conscious are outweighed by
is disad'
cause they are always preparing to live. Instead ol trler of bciqg
makes us un'
earning a living they are mostly earning an earning, rJ,,ox.@tY
and thus when the time comes to relax they are urr lrlrptrblc.
feel in conflict with
able to do so. Many a "successful" man is bored an,l I lnrtEi these circumstances we
bodies and the world around
them' and it
miserable when he retires, and returns to his work :;;;,
to be able to think that in this
",,; contra-
only to prevent a younger man from taking his plact: ir',,,"t,lii"g
From still another point of view the way in whiclr rlirlrrryworldwearebut.,strangenan.d.pilgrims."
we use memory and prediction makes us less, rather For if our desires are out
of aciord with anything
tlrlt the finite world can offer' it might
seem that
than more, adaptable to life. If to enjoy even an en-
our hearm are
joyable present we must have the assurance of a ;;;;' t,;;"t; is not of this world' that
for the finite' but for infinity' The
dis-
h"ppy future, we are "crying for the moon." Wc r,tt,f",
have no such assurance. The best predictions are still
""t
ilrntcnt of ouruo,,r, *ouia aPPear
to be the sign and'
divinitY'
matters of probability rather than certainty, and to - of their th"
relt
desi're for something Prove
that the
the best of our knowledge every one of us is going lil; do.,
,fti,,g-*it"? We know that it does think that we
not necessarily
to sufier and die. If, then, rve cannot liv_e happily
rhr so at all. It may be consoling
to
this' and that
ad4pted to living in a finite world where, despite the rre citizens of another world than
may return to the $ue
be here death rftcr our exile upon earth wegut
heart's desire' it we ar,e citizens of
comes at the end. home o[ our
satisfaction
This, then, is the human problem: there is a price ,i*-*"rfa, and if there can be no final
nature' in bringing
to be paid for every increase in consciousness. We of the soul's discontent' has not
cannotFmore sensitive to pleasure without being iur,h ,n"rr, made a serious mistake?
tife is in hopeless
mslg sensitive to pain. By rememberinfthe past For it would seem that' in man'
we can plan for the future. But the ability to plan conflictwithitselt.Tobeh"PPy,w€musthavewhat de-
for pleasure is ofiset by the "ability" to dread pain we cannot have' In man'11aiqt-g-l"t-ioiTived
and to fear the unknown. Furthermore, the growth
of an acute sense of the past and the future gives us
a correspondingly dim sense of the present. In other
*;i*1nffiffi':l'S,Fr!
."pi.i,i"t which muke
"t""
the more suscePtible to
the future
words, we seem to reach a point where the advan- p"i". l, has given us the Power to control
37
36
-
 THE WISDOM OF TNSECURITY
but a little-the price of which
is the frustrarion of
knowing that we'musr at last
go down in defeat.
II I. FIE GREAT STREAM
6 :lL:lu?.,?$;_H:iili?r j:*:
'
absurdity. Consciousness seems
to be nature,s in
mj iv* *:tll 't'O BE LIKE FLIES CAUGHT fN gOXny. Bn-
gegiousmo@-' , r,ls llle ir rweet we do not want to give it up, and
@ttothinktharthisis str rhr rn(,rc we become involved in it, the more
true. But it would be easy ,o ,t or,r, it
mosr rea r,F irts tlrJrpcd, limited, and frustrated. We love it
soning to the contrary is but "r
,iJr"irtinking_na r,'l lrrte it at the same time. We fall in lbve with
ture's method of putting off
suicides; ;;, the idiocy
can continue. Reasoning, then, 3,.,,1,11 nrrrl possessions only to be tortured by anxiety
i, not- rno,rgh. Wr: i,,r rlrrrt. 'l'he conflict is not only between ourselves
must go deeper. We must look
inro tt i, iit , this na_
ture, which has become aware
within us, and find ',,,1 rlrr rrrrrounding universe; it is between our.
out whether it is really in conflict,iit, t, lrn .urrl ourselves. For intractable nature is both
it
i,Jr, whether 3r,,rnrrl ;rnd within us. The exasperating "life" which
desires the security tn.-f"inlessness
-a.ctually
which its individual forms ."r, "na
i. rr on('c lovable and perishable, pleasant and pain-
,r.u..--.-rr11y. t,rl ,r lrlcssing and a curse, is also the life of our own
l,','lrlr.
Ir ir as if we were divided into two parts. On the
"r. llr!nd there is the conscious "I," at once intrigued
rrr,l lr;rflled, the creature who is caught in the trap.
I tn rlrc other hand there is "me," and "me" is a part
,rl rr;rture-the wayward flesh with all its concur-
r.rrtly beautiful and frustrating limitations. "I" fan-
r rm itself as a reasonable fellow, and is forever crit-
tr rrirrg "me" for its perversity-for having passions
wlrit:h get "I" into trouble, for being so easily sub-
fr( r. to painful and irritating diseases, for having or-
g,rns that wear out, and for having appetites which
r nr) never be satisfied-so designed that if you try to
g8
39
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
dlay them finallv and fully in TIIE CREAT STREAM
one big .,bust,,,
get sick. ' r, Fe .*1fy rlrluri(lue and architectural into music,
Perhaps the most exasperaring *i.irh nl rrrlncr than it is sounded, dies arvay. The
. thing abour ,.r,,,
about nature and the,rniu.rr.,ir"r't"T !*r+Frl. ;rrllrer, and temples become vibrant, and
"stay pur." It is like i, will rrr,. L**ri fturrr tlrc cxcess of life within them. To be
never be caught, and "whose
u.ruiiiJ;;;"" who r,,
*ry ii-*irriness is t,, f**trl lr to live; to remain and continue is to die.
charm. For the nerishability
ch?ngefutn,,r.,
lrxl:l r grain of corn fall into the ground and die,
the world is part lnd parcer ";;riveriness
of its and r,r,
ll l=*lrlru akrne. But if it dies, it brings forth much
liness. This is why the poets
are so often at their rr, ,,
firl* "
when speaking oi change, of "the
transitoriness ,,r
ttr tlrr prrcts have seen the truth that life, change,
human life." fhe t ki.irFntf nl, and insecurity are so maoy names for the
tr,ing
"'oi. il;"J::i:T'ff:,!i;'fi lil ;1;il1,,,
umt lltgt{. I-I"re, if anv*@r
catch in the throat. HilrvFnrrlrt and rhvthm are of the essence of all thinEs
Our reaels nou are ended. Thcse ptaL,Jc, lrr sculpture, architecture, and painting the
our actors, hiltrlrnl form stands still, but even so the eye finds
I forltold you,, uere all spirits, -......-
ls nelted
Are
and. r
HlFrrlilc rn the torm onlv when '_-._-----.
rt contarns a certaln
inlo air, into tiin air:
And,like the baseless yaOr;c ofit';s l;rl o[ rymmetiy, wtren, frozen in stone as it may be,
vision,
T he cloud-caoo, d nwers,, n.
n"'S"ri"""i palaces,
The sotemn iimp.te1, tni gr*I-gioi*iurry, lr itTot, then, a strange inconsistency and an un-
yea, all which
it-inhu;t,,'nott iirriioi,' nrturll paradox that "I" resists change in "me" and
And, likc this insubsta"r;d Irr tlrc surrounding universe? For change is not
Leaae not a ruck behinit.
l"gr""i"iia"a,
lrrrrcly a force of destruction. Every form is really a
is
-There more in this beauty than the successiorr lrsttern of movement, and every living thing is like
melodigus jmages, and the tlrc river, which, if it did not flow out, would never
3f ih.*. of dirrolutio,,
does not simplv borrey-i1s
,pt.nao, t orn tt. things Irave been able to flow in. Life and death are not two
dissolved. The truth i, .jrf,.. olrposed forces; they are simply two ways of looking
though beautiful in themselv*,-.o."
rfr;;. images, rt the same force, fo:-!bg -ou.qe-1!*9lg!3ngej!-as
,o'Uf. in thc
vanishing. The poet takes away nrlph the builder as the destroyer. The human body
".::j and urns
solidity,
their static .-
lives becauBFIiTS?-complex o[ motions, of circula-
a beiuty *hi.r, *",ifj otherwise
tion, respiration, and digestion. To resist change, to
40
4t
 i1;1

il

ilrl THE WTSDOM OF INSECURITY

try ro cling to life, is therefore TIIE GREAT STREAM
o':i,lj like holding y,,,,, a* llt r,l llrrx. This war must be utterly futile and
/l' if ,y:"
rn thrnking
persist y"; il;;;r*r;
of ourselves as divided into .,I,,
i:.{r,r{rllX .r vicious circle-because it is a conflict
{il "me," we easilv forget ;rr,,l i=.*FGl two l)arts of the same thing. It must lead
that aonrai**ass also liv,, .a..rgLr e rrrl action into circles which go nowhere
because it is movir
/tl' or the,*."-';;;'f;ii:'; il:fiiTit:T;i:; ; r+r;rr .rrrl l{ilcr. For rvhen we fail to see that our life
natural world. If v6u_t;ok .' 'lrlr1r', wc set ourselves against ourselves and be-
lrrli
rhar consciourn.rl_,r,. ",
i, '*'llii,
."JJrfL, ,o., wilt s,, "'r lrlr'( )rrroboros, the misguided snake, who tries
Ilill
i
a stream of experir ffi ..r,,_is
re;r rr1 , , *ar ltlr own tail. Ouroboros is the perennial sym-
irl/
ri r..iiil' * ;ffiTffi: ;ff :Tila';"l,"Jf*l;,: ; t..,! ,'l rrll vir:ious circles, of every attempt to split our
periences include memories, *. I f-. i,,H trilnrlcr and make one part conquer the other.
fr"o" rl" impressiorr 1l rrglp,lc :rs we may, "fixing" will never make sense
I'lli rhar "I" is something ,otiJ
upon which life is writing "rl'rrrir,'iike ' a abtcr ,,,r rrl rlr;rnge. The only rvay to make sense out of
,".orl.---, ,l,ilgr ir to plunge into it, move with it, and join the
Yet the .,tablet,, moves with " the
,''ilj
the river fl ows alongrvirh
writing finger ar .lrrn f
d;;;ppl.r, ;'1n", *._ory Itr lrgion, as most of us have known it, has quite
is like a record lurir,an on
l,li warcr_a record, not ol .,lrr tlnrlf tried to make sense out of life by fixation.
graven characters, but
of waves ,,i.r.Jinro morio'
by other waves which ur.."u.J..rrr"-,ions l, lr,u nicd to give this passing world a meaning by
'll and facrs. r l,rr irrg it to an unchanging God, and by seeing its
and .*.1 i, Iargely an
The difference berween ,.I,,
6,,,11 nrrrl purpose as an immortal life in which the
ri/
:l}:t"".:t l.Tory. rn tr,rtt, lli, i, or ir. ,"*. n"_
ture as ,.me., ft is part of our *f,of. Uairrg, just rrrrllvirlual becomes one with the changeless nature
h."-d is part of th'e uoay. as ,,1 tlre <lcity. "Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord,
'11r
*_. nui ii rii, ir".* realized,
/rl 'I" and ..me,.
rhe head and ,fr. iJy,'will lrrl let light perpetual shine upon them." Likewise,
odds with each orher. ..r," feel at lr ililempts to make sense out of the swirling move-
rot .rrraliir*airrg that it rrrrrts of history by relating them to the fixed laws
lilli too is part of the stream or .hnge,
*iil;ry ro make
the world and experie"i.'uf-or.-pting ll ( iod, "whose Word endureth for ever."
'i/li ;tfi: " to Wc have thus made a problem for ourselves by
lltl We shall then have- a war between rorrfusing the intelligible with the fixed. We think
consciousness tlnt making sense out of life is impossible unless rhe
and narure, between the desire
rll
f", p"i-"rence and lkrw o[ ev€nts can somehow be fitted into a frame-
/lii 42
43

/l

r//
 :_ojl_or
riqiil"#TJ;;::dil,
understandable ," ire m * r
THE GREAT STREAM
:-*ri trrr rcriously. A convention is a social con-
i terms of fixed ideas
,fr.r. ir, ,J;;._, ust correspond and law.s, .,,, ,
,*tlclrr, nr, l'or example, money. Money gets rid of
eternal realities to ;irr lnrnlvenicnces of barter. But it is absurd to take
"n.t"nginf'.,,,
this is what "."u,':'-n'':1'lt'niflint scene'' I]"t'i +inrel lon rcriously, to confuse it with real rvealth,
,.,
""
;i;;, ;:T?:,:fi : ::,T :;'i jlff ?_1il : I
l"r*ure tr will do you no good to eat it or wear it for
: l.,rhtlL Nlorrcy is more or less static, for gold, silver,
Before we can find
out whether there is i.r.{tl lr,tlrr:r, or a bank balance can "stay put" for a
way of understandip some bclt, I'r,g llrrrc, llut real rvealth, such as food, is perish-
9u, ;;l;;,
r

w€ nust il'h I lrrn a community may possess all the gold in

;:.,":#:tthjs conrirsi"" ;--,;;:, with ..nxir
sr

y
r

rLF wutLl, but if it does not farm its crops it rvill

tl{l Ve.
rdl1,,l.,":iff l'-g:T:ultvisthatwehave.devero;,r,r lrr rorrrcwhat the same way, thoughts, ideas, and
we have i;6;1"r,;:'T#::T,""1,";i.lri,1,* r','r'lr nlc "coins" for real things. They are n o/ those
thoughrs and ever I rlrilrl{!, and though they represent them, there are
th i'fi'g #r*.':"Wil :*,:Tlf,rl.itt,;f;X*
and, when ttris is found
frrrrry witys in which they do not correspond at all. As
'rrrlr rnoncy and rvealth, so with thoughts and things:
;;
world, we have the
.;;;;ft; th. ..,,r
:

t,h rr lrrd rvords are more or less fixed, rvhereas real

tween
_.,1,,,,h.
one-sided develonment.of
;.'i:lT ;f-:f :'rTi,ff:::iil; rlrlrrgs change.
It is easier to say "I" than to point to )'our own
man
tellectuals and .ibrainr,, ir,not!.*fiar to in lrrxly, and to say "want" than to try to indicate a
treme examples of a o.*,., ;#L
only ex v,rgrrc fceling in the mouth and stomach. It is more
tendency'rirrj'1"*ffected
enrire civilization. our r orrvcnient to say "water" than to lead your friend to

What we have fortr r wcll and make suitable motions. It is also con-
are cona ent ;orr, unffi ;: ::illi:fi:ll':rH::: vrrricnt to agree to use the same words for the same
tlrilrgs, and to keep these rvords unchanged, even
tlrough the things we are indicating are in constant
gi,;iltxi**:*ii,'?':ti:Tlrft;,*lffi rrrotion.
In the beeinnins. the nower of words must have
-.-_-'--..-€--
reemed rn'fti6l-fidlJntGff-lhe. miracles
: '
which
44
45
 rHE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
THE GREAT STREAM
thinking has wrought
:::11 have justified rtrr. ,,.
+e *t*rlt;
of the gods or God, the eternal Word. At
I,fliill;yj:j"l il;"h;e
marver;, been r,, 1 ,
l lence employs the same process, study-
i b*a rlnrr
r'lo
rs
*iilffi:;,?':,1ilf,:n:f ,:*l
i; :
A !rlt llrrrl of regularity in the universe, naming,
**rilltnl, rrrd making use of them in ways still
no wonder that nr*a,
tuua Uaan aonsiderctl r,,,
ctnny manifestations of =*r tsllrr utour.
that men have identifi"a _super;;rr."l pow€r, ;'r.r 3rr Lpr rrue it is the use and nature of words and
,f*ii
or used them to invoke ""_., ,rrn rheir s.rrr.
,piriir"i'i"r#. rfutr;htr to lrc fixed, definite, isolated, it is extremely
Power of words has sorr" ; _-:;;-^_":'. Indee.t, ,r,, *lrl +r rlrucribe the most important characteristic of
one way. r" d.d"s?::':J:; ;*",X11,,,;;,:,
+ih lrl nrrvement and fluidity. Just as money does
same thing as to underrr"r,a. vtJ..i"iporr"n, rsr rFprercnt the perishability and edibility of food,
words have enabted
man ;";.fi*;illsetf_to
*,,rt 3r rnr,h rrrd thoughts do not represent the vitality
'l'he relation
"
glrlil part of his experien tur,, r
"l ltle between thought and move-
trri*rt lr ronrcthing like the difierence between a real

:liii'J:ff .,,ru*:n:,-,.: jffi

to separate some comprgx Tl"J :,|;j :,
r,rlu rurrring and a motion-picture film which shows
rrnring as a series of "stills."
l,F
of life and say, .,Thisr".. .il liliil;
or i."_
; f

lVo rrrort to the convention of stills rvhenever we

is r." wi"" _;";;"
define himseif, he feels
,rr", rr.irr,
name arrrt r.rr tr) tlescribe or think about any moving body,
he begins ro feer, like the ", illntity. rn,,, rlr, f1 ;1 r train, stating that at such-and-snch times it
as over against rhe
*;;j:;;ll ,,",i,, lr el ruch-and-such places. But this is not quite true.
real, nuia wortJ;;;;;"... "na
Feeling separate, the sen;. I ilil r ln say that a train is at a particular point "nowl"
on the one hand, n"ru..,";;;;d;,'il,''..n
;ffi;Jt.h.r,
_un, llrrr lt took you some time to say "nowl" and during
Lansuage and thou"na begins. rlrrt tinre, however short, the train was still moving.
the magic rvhich cai
qh, sr"fpi. ;;,ilil::"flict, and frru cln only say that the moving train actually is
appr'J ;H^#":lr:,, *,Li:
is
sonatized, and invokea
i"
Natural processes are.made
.|,I.
_in"io"gj'lri,a
lH:T
retigion
I: (1r., rtops) at a particular point for a particular mo-
rrrrrt if both are infinitely small. But infinitely small
;lrrlrrlr and fixed moments are always imaginary
inrelligible, because all
regular processes-sulh
,t.
,o,"",lon'of the stars l,unrB, being denizens of mathematical theory rather
"-,
and seasons-can be nrr.a tlrrn the real world.
,o-ro;;;..""#'ascribed
to It is most convenient for scierrtific calculation to
+6
47
 oF INSECI/RITY
think of a *:;;*Is*M THE GREAT STREAM
st'rs. sui c;;;ffi :iilJil::*'J7.iilil;l €* rtu:hal to uouns rather than verbs. An illustra-
and measured bv i; :, * €a the verb to run would have to be a series of
,f!ff :rr".il.T:*:T.:;:,J :ffi '*il
unless rapidly mo : ::
* ltk r ronric ctrip, for words and static pictures
# srf*lret rleline nor explain a motion.
*trtr tlre nouns are conventions. You do not define
::lri1,iiiri,'y;";;':,:::;:lHJ"f
tron, the descrinti
*vorrrI, Ltorll leaves
il:Xii:;;,
out the most imporr,,,,, *f rx!, livirrg "something" by associatingit with the
thing. n** nrlrr, Wlren we say, "This (pointing with the
Useful as rhese fra+r1 lr r nran," the thing to whi;h we point is not
;;1. *""l:::Ht;:' :rH l'o lrc clearer we should have said, "This is
t that
::i ::' :rve think
wnen
the kind "i:: flT,:::' :1, : :' filahrf i1q1; by the noise man." What, then, is flzis?
"?i;";; w€ us(.,,r
the kind of rosic with.w'iici;;:":" lfr rlr rrot know. That is to say, we cannot define it
or explain the ..physical" can rc;rry l* rny lrxctl way, though, in another sense, we knorv
l:lf ;;d;"rr F tt lrlr immediate experience-a flowing process
trustrarion is that r,.
pect language and
r,ur'u"*;;:::J"*edof ro m,rrr,r
r,r rltlrorrt tlefinable beginning or end. It is convention
.,t,"rgh,',;"*ii.l.o,anati.rrr
which they cannot giu.. rl"nr which persuades me that I am simply this body
gible" in this sensr
fo,u"nr;l;;,; be ..intcrrr l,r,rrttrlerl by a skin in space, and by birth and death
ott.. tr,",.'rir.:;;,: ; &[1'j j"[n,:[.JiTjl lr lllne,
Where do I begin and end in space? I have rela-
;T ;:1*Y;:'l'.T". b" r*i ;; rlii.'i, *",nin* rllrlr to the sun and air which are just as vital parts of
ren.despel;r;il; i:|ilil,H: Iike having d nry rxistence as my heart. The movement in which I
Words and measures .rr E patt€rn or convolution began incalculable ages
do not giu;-iir.; they
symbolize merely helore the (conventionally isolated) event called
it. Thus uil,."*pr""";;;ril r'h. .rniu.rr" Llrth, and will continue long after the event called
in.tanguage are clrcular,
::::Tq
essentiat thilss unexprained ""a1.r". the most rlrnth. Only words and conventions can isolate ur
tronary itselt is circuiar.
il;;;.:. The dic. frorn the entirely undefinable something which is
l, a.nr.,l,i*ar.i.r.,.rrn, o, cverything.
other rvords. The dictio""ry
life when, alongside some.word, ;;;;r'""1;; croser to Now these are useful words, so long as we treat
ture. But it rvilr ue notedolh", it gives you a pic- them as conventions and use them like the imaginary
"ii
;.?;i"ry pi.,.rr., lines of latitude and longitude which are drawn upon

49
 li

,ii

lrll
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
THF GREAT STREAM
maps, but are not
/1i +a*l rlt.t r r onvention endure for ever and ever. We
g3ir,. n L p,".;:,"T:r":::?ir:#LiH
,',1"
",
We confuse them with. rr,. ,..i,"Jj, il,:, G,r.rta ftrr tlre perpetuity of something which never
in the real world as if it una ,, y ,,, *.rr*rl f,i"lt.. hut "d.tt.ov. ious symbol
were the *orta of wor, t,
a consequence, we-are d tlrt worltl because, when symbols ire confused
/ij dismayeJ anl duml,f,,,,,,
*;rh r n*lit y, 4&.."t *"vt gfjylsbolizing reality will
lii
when they do not n,.
world of words, the
ri. ,."i.-# il . liv. r,, ,
FIl|t r illtl I ;t(llctory.
more rve feel isolated
rtli
the more all the anrl .rt, I 1," r, i"-friihc way of symbolizing the world is
riir
.n"**',"; ffi j %",1i"li,".jiT':.:i,.1il:il, n,te rrrltcrl to utilitarian purposes than ghe religious
other hand, the more we are :, rry, lrrrr ffihis atty *ot"
forced to admit rlr.rr .
actuatty live in the real llrh," lr it truer to classify rabbits according to
,li ,".ra,
rant, uncertain, and insecure
illl;;r. fecl r1,, r|rrtr rrrert or according to their fur? It depends on
oui .u:".ytt,i"g. thir y(,u want to do with them. The clash between
But there can b no sanity"f
,/,1
unless the difit,r,,,,.
U.,*..rr_,i;;;. le rr.nrc nnd religion has not shorvn that religion is
'li
"n
when
a p u.po, il ;.:::':n:.'r",-, t,i,l;
the universe *11J-ii J[,
: : ;,
lelr rrrrl science is true. It has shown that all systems
pl rlrlinition are relative to various purposes, and
with the universe rn which ;'r#;,isconrrr:, tlrrr none of them actually "gr"sP" reality. And be'
ii ingabout a symbol r
_;;il;.;. ;.ience is r,rrr mrrrr relision was beig-11isugd as a means for ac-
.,--
trnlly grasping and possessing the mystery of life, a
rli b-"i *':t',,i:' "' :n';T::tin,ly+:+nd this sr, ,

rrrruin measure of "debunking" was highly neces'

''T But when
ments. money and-wealth,
:.1J,;: .ji ril y,
reality ;r,, llut in the process of symbolizing the universe in
_itriii,;,:*r*'ffijii,
r

/l
thir way or that for this purpose or that we seem to
Irnvc lost the actual joy and meaning of life itself.
/li
Atl the various definitions of the universe have had
il
rulterior motives, being concerned with the future
rnther than the present. Religion wants to assure the
ventional separation. ro liti, future beyond death, and science wants to assure it
*"n,
erernal is to want the rvorcls i#on,, ,o r,. until death, and to postpone death. But tomorro$'
i/
,o U.-,fr. i*irrr, and t' rnd plans for tomorrow can have no significance at
i/i
5o
I 5r
/l

/rr
rir/
 a' unress':Ti-fi ill:lTll.,"",,,, TIIE CREAT STREAM
the present, since,it rarr rnrl lntricky, finding the real world a flat contra-
presenr that you
;;';;*"ii"o onty irt
i, i:.
live. There iJ;;;;, reatity r1,.,
,r
**ilel rf itr whole being.
present realitv, s1
th.at, .-u"n li o"n." ji... I ll l lrrrc tlrere is nothing new in this predicament
endtess io rive fonh.;;;;;lura ,o rivc r,
t ;llxovrlirrg that ideas and words cannot plumb
the point"g"r, everlastingly. be ro ,r,,., tb ultlurnte rlystery of life, that Reality or, if you
. But ir is just tniJ.llity of the presenr, this -lll, l.rxl cannot be comprehended by the finite
rng, vital now wh rrr,,, nlnri 'l'hc only novelty is that the predicament is
a.*.ipii,",l
words and ideas ca
;# Ii# ffil;il::"l;Tjff t it€* rx irl rather than individual; it is widely felt,
never pin down.
;:: ;l eet rrnlrned to the few. Almost every spiritual tradi-
fo" ,fr.lu]u;;"r" Living atw.rn llol recngnizes that a point comes when two things
..ni..li',,i" 1To"l: :t.::ffl Hturt lrnJrpcn: man must surrender his separate-feel-
"oa
h;;
#:UH::
;"#; ",'l,i,.,r,ing : ; ltrl "1," and must face the fact that he cannot know,
lffiffi"f.Jlil:Tf or, lhrl lr, define the ultimate.
The miracles of 'l'lrcre traditions also recognize that beyond this
r,...i., .i".r ;i_lJil Hf *ir il:, H.:",:1,;i: pnlnt there lies a "vision of God" which cannot be
; put lnto words, and rvhich is certarnly something ut-
ttlly different from perceiving a radiant gentleman
"id f t"*::'"*',::.!t $"" ilg,i,fJ;,^: ; ::,, il tm r golden throne, or a literal flash of blinding light.
:j' ;x?|:.:tii1r ll: "r'd;; ;ilH** in mar
than any crearure 't'hcy also indicate that this vision is a restoration of
wild, madd.n.o of tlrr. rcmething which we once had, and "lost" because we
lru,io**i;;#::,:":1"'u'*.
"njt'^lt" bv the pursuit or
tn verbiage, rlld r.rt or could not appreciate it. This vision is,
and mech#;;il;,:itt classification,
then, the unclouded awareness of this undefinable
titn ,nrny";'i;#1'*'ng has put man ottt of touctr
powers "tomething" which we call life, present reality, the
which g;r:.;' *"o.nlt"llous of "instinct" gteat stream, the eternal now-an awareness without
y 1.j ", *;# :'d,.*
own "me." And thus
il#';#liff*r:"lli: the sense of separation from it.
when all pi,i"_oi, The moment I name it, it is no longer God; it is
sotved in rerativism,"ld has
unryerse no longer,
.r.n ."f;;;::nse of dis. the
man, tree, green, black, red, soft, hard, long, short,
isolated ,,i;,
;;; ,rlrli"or, ,nr.. Itom, universe. One would readily agree with any
theologian who deplores pantheism that these deni-
52
53
 THE WTSDOM OF
TNSECURITY
zens of the world of .

sundry ..thin*. and

convention, rlr,=
lll*;*ep" .,,..i"Ji'll
-^-l!tbi."s. il:.'lll.:1,i,?,
1,, .
l[TH:,
will point i:',,'T i' ;';:' i'#:: ;:i
to tha ruri.-
say, "You mean,
say,
,vs 4rrL me to show ff I
vsu (;,,,;
?i:,,
--- -'L!' ur 4 r4rorm' .But i
; ;
lf,'l'tlE wtsDoM oF THE BoDY
mean. ,r.-oli-ltT::r.a
ttrea ,n:r. God ls Yorm.'But if 1,,,,
'uq is the
rhe sun, the
the worm,
the worm_ ,.nA all
and ^^J,
^tt ter thing;s?"-I rhe tr,,, ftf* r ttrtntENcE? wner N r.trs? wHAT ls trlonon?
that you r,uve *i,,J;il]il:;t :li
hav. -;..-: shall have to lnl
r, Itrt tr reElity? To all such questions we must give
I Aufrrrrlnc'r answer to the question, "What is
*tl*-"| Lnow, but when you ask me I don't." Ex'
pl*Hre, llfe, motion, and reality are so many noises
blC ro rymbolize the sum of sensations, thoughts,
lrlt*r5r, lnd desires. And if you ask, "What are sensa-
ll*g, et ceteraP" I can only answer, "Don't be silly.
hq lrrow very well what they are. We can't go on
drQnhrg things indefinitely without going round in
:il+ler, 'fo define means to fix, and, when you get
Csxn to it, real life isn't fixed."
It war ruggested at the end of the last chapter that
thh ultimate something which cannot be defined or
l*rl cnn be represented by the word God.If. this be
ttup, wc know God all the time-but when we begin
ul lhlnk about it we don't. For when we begin to
chitrk about experience we try to fix it in rigid forms
rnd ideas. It is the old problem of trying to tie up
lrtcr in parcels, or attempting to shut the wind in a
hrx.
Yet it has always been taught in religion that
"God" is something from which one can expect wis-
dom and guidance. We have become accustomed to
lhe idea that wisdom-that is, knowledge, advice, and
55
 iii

lriiill
lili
.TIIE WISDOM OF THE BODY
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
are'
achieve-these fedts
lil information-can be expressed in verbal sr:rr,,, i l,r 'lttrlrtttnents" which
the body-that to is
consisting of specific direoions. If this be rr r;r,t ,,rgatts and Pt;;; ofmovement we
iiil ',,
., rrryrie rious P;;;;
of
hard to see horv any rvisdom can be extra(r( l i
-l I 'which
actually define'
something impossible to define. + ,rqr Ir rrnclerst"t'J""a t""not ceased to
'rlly
But in fact the kind of wisdom rvhich carr t,, ltowever' ;;;"; beings tr-ave
in the form of specific directions ?filounrs r,
,
'.. :+r'rol, instrum";;i the body' I4ore and
more
i'l'i i!.
'' Fl,,l, tlrr
life by means of ex'
little, and most of the wisdom which we enr1,l,,, ,, rt,,l',',t.-i
ltili
everyday life never came to us as verbal infor r,,,,,,
"" "a"pt"tio" 'otot";-T::,:lolems by
,*,,,'l g,trlgtrts, and ""ffiio unconscious "know'
:',rri+irtrrr thinking t;tht;
lilil It was not through statements that we learnt,,l than
we
fttt our advantage than
l

It to breathe, srvallorv, see, circulate the bloorl, ,l', r, .* I lris is much '"
food, orresist diseases. Yet these things are perlrrr,,
wor'ten who
by the most complex and marvelous processcs rll,,, ''t', i:: i""u"'e"'primitive"
no amount of book-learning and technical skill , '.,:t:H:'ro,
ttt"t"tn"l *'ifa *hile' working out
illrl
,
, -,, rlr=livcr "i"
doing the few things
necessary
reproduce. This is real wisdom-but our brains lr.', ii, ilrc ltt:ltls, ut'd' "ttt' and'comfortable'
little to do with it. This is the kind of rvisdom rvlr', ,., r-t' tlt:tt the baby'l;;i;:*"trn' other hand' the
on the
Ii we need in solving the real, practical problenrs Frtrrc their work "t il;;'
human life. It has done wonders for us already, ,r,,
' f

,lr rltrctl woman # ;

;; moved to'a complicated
by doctors' nurses'
there is no reason why it should not do much nr,,,, lrilrrrliitl, and there' st'nootata t-l-t-ry::'li:,s"H:
Without any technical apparatus or calculari,,,,, *,,, t' i,, n t *
gti!t;;;;t"
"' "urt an
for prediction, homing-pigeons can return to rlrcr, ,;; ;.;;[-;ith Prolonged contortrons conditions pre-
trrg lrrins' t' i'-
roosts from long distances away, migrant birds r,,', iT't"t antiseptic
"oJ fr-om dying' but why
revisit the same locations year after year, and plarrr, !r'.t many motnt"'u"JiJittconditions and thc nat-
can "devise" wonderful contraptions for disrributirrr r rrr't we have
the
their seeds on the wind. They do not, of course, ,1,,
""ii*fiit
these things "on purpose," which is only to say th;rr "'.1r,".1t"I,1J,::T1'll".manvsimilarquestions'is and
they do not plan and think them out. If they cotrl,t tlrirt we t'uut utt"
?ffii to "tgtttt''indlspise'
our brains'
talk, they could no more explain how it is donr. vi'late ou' bodi's""ff:;ili{'?t'l be
ti"lY::T"" might(spe'
than the average man can explain how his heart Itttlced, the specialiiL"tt""t his brain
Utotll' schism between
beats. tlcscribed u' "
b1
/l:l 56

irl

tijl
 wIsDoM oF tNsEcuRITv
,n"T:
cifically, rIIE WTSDOM OF THE BODY
* l,'*ll giving impulses which the bratn cannot un-
::r:'*T:,' j*1:.r.E1liJfr6 ul
f: H?',i =
:',f.tllrl.
mixed'up'#;:l{.g:l'T::"-:i3HX ll ,ll w;ry or another civilized man agrees with
betongr with his heaa. l : ,, i, l'relrr ir in thinking of the body as Brother Ass.
years, been at lea,
n"ppriy, ,#rll"u., in r<,., ,,, fi,rr rvr-il t lrcologians have recognized that the source
t*o scientists who have."tt",i
rention to this ,.i1 ,, ,l *ll nrrrl stupidity lies not in the physical organism
and Trigan, Burott*'namely Lancelot Law wlryr, ,. 1 sf solc, but in the cut-off, dissociated brarn which
"nu"op"l'i;rr"|,'i?l1' calls this di'*r" ,t,, rirrl lrI rrt tlte "will."
'Yht':
E'.,p.;;;;;;,"JlTd;ll":.:Til,;::,:::'1,;,,; ll'lrnr we compare human rvith animal desire we
specially characteristic ----"' vq! F,r,l rl,ury extraordinary difierences. The animal
of it.
r*t,lr lo cat with his stomach, and the man with his
,.n"0",',:Ju*tff#3:;:i: n'", siven a crinicar rrr l,rrtrr Whc[ the animal's stomach is full, he stops
*r,iin Fit rilH, llut the man is never sure when to stop. When
".J #i{1i1 ij ;:,::iiT;;h i:f"; ;l
"medicat" language hu lrar caten as much as his belly can take, he still
i"u;,ilJ
,r,"r.r.
thi'k &rlr ernpt|, he still feels an urge for further gratifica-
rng to deverop and
do.miy.;;r;;;'outbrain il,'rr, 'l'his is largely due to anxiety, to the knowledge
porrion to,.ins t in cr
u.t,iraori,li ;.#;"r". orail
are
pr<,
rlr.r ;r constant supply o[ food is uncertain. There-
rng to slump into ail orv.
atrophy. a"" .;;;u.n.e,
ar war rvithin o,rr.peluerltrr. we arc lnre eat as much as you can wltile you can. It is due,
which the body does i#" alliring things rlro, to the knorvledge that, in an insecure world,
not rvant, and the iocty
thrnss which the
brain,do.;;;;;,j* lhe brai' desiring ;rlr.rrure is uncertain. Therefore the immediate
rng directions which ylc,rsure of eating must be exploited to the full, even
,r,. u"ay ,jii nor,.rouo*, giu.
tlrorrgh it does violence to the digestion.
"na l{uman desire tends to be insatiable. We are so
Irrxious for pleasure that we can never get enough of
It, We stimulate our sense organs until they become
lnscnsitive, so that if pleasure is to continue they
must have stronger and stronger stimulants. In self-
dcfense the body gets ill from the strain, but the
brain wants to go on and on. The brain is in pursuit
S8
59
 THE wlSDOM OF INSECURITY
THE WISDOM OF THE BODY
of happiness, and.because
the brain is much nror,
concerned about the.future !1rurrr, deductions-it cannot be eaten, felt, smelled,
th"., the pres€Dt, it corr *errr, lreard, or otherwise enjoyed. To pursue it is to
ceives happiness as the
guaranree of in indefinir,lr
long future of oleasures. yer
the brJn also kn,,n, l,,rrille a constantly retreating phantom, and the
that it doe, not'h, lrrter you chase it, the faster it runs ahead. This is
r-lry all the affairs of civilization are rushed, why
:li:,': F{;; and-'i'#,;!ff
ures of paradise
ererniti il:y#:f, :il:T, :
i"r" ,i.-rpan of a
I'errlly anyone enjoys what he has, and is forever
years. [r.r,, trLirrg more and more. Happiness, then, will con-
This is why modern civilization is in rtrr, not of solid and substantial realities, but of such
respecr a vicious circle. almost evrrr y +lrrrrlct and superficial things as promises, hopes.
It is insatiaUlv hurrs.y 1,,. rrrrl ;tssurances.
cause its way of.tife cond.em",
tion. As we have seen, rhe
i;r;;;:rual frustr;r 'l'hus the "brainy" economy designed to produce
root of rhiJ frusration ir
rhat we tive for the.future, rlrir happiness is a fantastic vicious circle which must
stracrion, a rarional inference
;;;;;';;,ure is an ritlrcr manufacture more and more pleasures or col-
exists only for the.b.1il:
fi;;.;ence, whiclr
-ili;#iry "r,
l,r1'sc-providing a constant titillation of the ears,
ness," rhe basic mind .onr.iou, cyrs, and nerve ends with incessant streams of almost
which t"o*r..."illy rather thu,, Incscapable noise and visual distractions. The per-
ideas about it, does
"o,
tno*ri.'ilii,.:i, lives cour. frct "subject" for the aims of this economy is the
and perceiver irothing
1j::.t;# iffi :",,
:1." *o,c llerson who continuously itches his ears with the
r,o*.u.i, looil ;; l#:;;lJ rl<lio, preferably using the portable kind which can
calted memory, and by- "Ti:.":r,","$:$1? go with him at all hours and in all places. His eyes
studfig"il;;te to make llit without rest from television screen, to newspaper,
Lilll:,1*: Tl.:: predictions
curate and reliabl"
;;;;".ry, so ac.
,..u.ryon. ro magazine, keeping him in a sort of orgasm-with-
the future assumes
(...g.j ,uiii die,,) that out-release through a series of teasing glimpses of
that the " l[n d.grJ; r.uiiry_ro r,igt, rhiny automobiles, shiny female bodies, and other
presenr loses itivalue".
But rhe future is still not here, rcnsuous surfaces, interspersed with such restorers of
and cannot become
a parr of experienced rensitivity-shock treatments-as "human interest"
Since what we know of-reality ""ru-ii"i, presenr. rhots of criminals, mangled bodies, wrecked air-
the i"r*.-ir'*"de up
purety abstract a'd logical of planes, prize fights, and burning buildings. The lit-
;i.;:.,;r_;nferences,
crature or discourse that goes along with this is sim-
6o
6r
 rlll

ll
TIIE WISDOM OF INSECIJRIIY
lll
THE WISDOM OF THE BODY
ilarly manufactured. to tease without
il
iii
satisfaction, r,, llrnrsitive to the most acute and subtle joys of life
replace every partiar gratificatio;
For this srream of srimulanu
;;h new desirt, rlrir lr are in fact extremely common and simple.
liiii "
i, l.rigrred ro pr,, 'l'he vague, nebulous, and insatiable character of
duce cravings for more and
more of the same, thouglr hrnirry desire makes it particularly hard to come
/ti louder and fasrer, and these
I work which is of no interest
;iil;rive us ro rt,r rlrln to earth-to be material and real. Generally
,uu. io.*rh. money ir r1,r,rking, the civilized man does not know what he
Pays-to buy more lavish radios, sreeker automobircs,
rlll
glossier magazines, and better ryarrts. He works for success, fame, a huppy marriage,
iii t.l"virion sets, all lln, to help other people, or to be a "real person."
which will somehow conspire <.,1

ilrl
to persuade us thar llrrt these are not real wants because they are not ac.
happiness lies just around
ih" .orrr.. if we will buy tual thingp. They are the by-products, the flavors and
i one more.
il Despite the immense hubbub rtrnospheres of real things-shadorvs which have no
and nervous srrain, rxistence apart from some substance. Money is the
Itrill
we are convinced that sleep is
a rvaste of valuablc pcrfect symbol of all such desires, being a mere sym-
llfl time and conrinue to .hure ,fr.r.
iuniuries far int<r lrol of real wealth, and to make it one's goal is the
the night. Animals spend much
of their
and idling pleasanily, bur, becaur. -iir"
llr
time dozing rrrost blatant example of confusing measurements
huTlT beings musr.cram into the y"u., is shorr,
l

with reality.
ll
possible amount of consciour"arr, -ut"rrness,
tt. highest It is therefore far from correct to say that modern
il
chronic insomnia so as to be sure and civilization is materialistic, that is, if a materialist is
ril no, ,o Lis the last n person who loves matter. The brainy modern loves
fra_gment of starrling pleasure.
I
ft isn'r thar the people rvho submit to tlot matter but measures, no solids but surfaces. He
lr this kind of drinks for the percentage of alcohol ("spirit") and
thing are immoral. lt isn't ,h";;;';;;1.
vide it are rvicked exploirers;
*ho pro_ not for the "body" and taste of the liquid. He builds
rti
-or, oi them are of rhe to put up an impressive "front" rather than to pro
same mind as the exoloited, if
o"ty tr, *ore expen_
rl

sive horse in this roriy-go-.o,rnd. " vide a space for living. Therefore he tends to put up
llll
The real trouble is rtructures which appear from the outside to be ba-
that they are all totally irusffared, f*;.dg
to please ronial mansions but are inwardly warrens. The in-
il is like trying ro drink ttrough your
li *r nus!ilt"
they are increasingly incapable
ears. dividual living-units in these warrens are designed
of ieaf pleasure
lril less for living as for creating an impression. The
6z
,/ 6g
l

ill

1l

rli

ilL
 I

riil
THE WISDOM OF THE
THE WISDOM OF TNSECURITY BODY

main space is devoted to a "living room" of prop.r th: grea,t of sex

snrlcrrtand nof wanting 9:Tl" after it
bin hankering
rhprr it is available' Ht"h"'
rii tions suitable to a large house, while such esscnrn!
spaces for living (rather than mere "entertaininli but when the reality ap'
ler ltours and days o"e"d'
ri ,

ll
as the kitchen are reduced to small closets where .,"'
cmtr his bodY will not co{Perate'
lii can hardly move-much less cook. Consequcntlr
"il il.il; t';'l''vi' i"i1gg" than'his stomach''
these wretched little galleys provide fare whiclr standards that are
I
" n ltr love he judges wot"tt-6y than sexual and
ii chiefly gaseous-cocktails and "appetizers" ratlrcr llgcly visual ""a tt"i'"i-i"the' by the surface
than honest meals. Because we all want to be "larli, to ftit Partner
' vhr cral. He i$ attrac'ii
l1

and gentlemen" and look as if we had servants, u',. t-ttt t"'tttt tiran the real
I

dd not soil our hands rvith growing and cooking rc:rl

;l'm, by the film "" 'rt'iti a bone.s:1t":-::^t-tl:
rl hxly. He wants '"*';i;;;ith the exterror
I
food. Instead we buy products designed for "front"
r boy's which is supposJd to suPPort of femininitv-not a
and appearance rather than content-immense arr,l
l;l :#:' #;;oottr Jriautationsdre"m' The function
wornan but an i"fl";;J;;btr
tasteless fruit, bread which is little more than a liglrt
I

froth, wine fak€d with chemicals, and vegetablcr rex itself r.*"irrr, il*'t"t"
* much i" tlt-1":17
flavored with the arid concoctions of test tubes which 'f,'i:tttr"*""r wisdom" that little can be done to rn'
1i

render them so much impressive pulp. iniense pleasure' to- make

it faster'
r rcase its already
means of ex'
kncier, and more ntOd: TT
I

One might suppose that tl+emost outright examplc

of civilized man's beastliness and animality is his
:1I
filntasy' through sur'
rrloiting it is *'rougi"t"Ut"tand suggestions of un'
passion for sex, but in fact there is almost nothing
rounding it with t&"ti"tit
tl

beastly or animal about it. Animals have sexual in- rnecified delighs
if a-more'ecstatic em-
tercourse when they feel like it, which is usually in 'otto'nt-"t through surface al'
brace could "r-.""g.a
some sort of rhythmic pattern. Between whiles it "t*"yr'#
i
t'TiiLtarlv
does not interest them. But of all pleasures sex is thc significa":'iTll' lj lot" asainst
man's
one which the civilized man pursues with the great- matter'
bodv, or at""'"'o against is -urban device
ir

clock is a conrenient
est anxiey. That the craving is brainy rather than totai slavery to trotil]n
l
bodily is shown by the common impotence of the for arrangins
t;d'9t loi ttt;;T,ffix1;
to;;; although
male when he comes to the act, his brain pursuing to do things together'
what his genes do not at the moment desire. This they were"lT Clocks
happened long before
I
-invented'
tttiy should simply be kept
rhould not be t*"titit
I

confuses him hopelessly, because he simply cannot

li 64 6g
 THE WISDOM OF THE BODY
:1:t'r",J:4:,U;;
when we try to adapt ril:trou, .r,, nrol rring, after a good night's test, you do not want to
";;;;t"gtlffiyth*,
ing, sleepin& evacu-atio" ,,r ,.
*.";ki; and relu*i,,[ ;,r to rleep. But after a hard day's work the sensation
their uniform circular
rotation. O";:i""..y
, rl rlropping into unconsciousnes is extraordinarily
mechanical drill ro rtr,.. ;rlrarant.
whore .*;;;,LTfil.T;,fiT,f",rll#, ::,
llnfortunately, not very many of us die Peace'
lrrlly. We die through accidents and painful diseases,
forlorn hope; wirho"l
Iapse entirely.
,rr.-;il#" woutrt r,,r rrrrl it is tragic indeed when a person whose "mind"
A less brainy;ir;;;"Id
synchronize its body ,hyr#, tearrr , tr rtill young and alert struggles uselessly with a dy'
The capacity of the b;^i;;
;;;;;; ;"" irs cr,r r, lrrg body. I am sure, however, that the body dies be-
f;:.1;.
much to do with theJear.i;;.";ne futurc rr,, r ause it wants to. It finds it beyond its power to resist

many people who would knows,,r rlre disease or to mend the injury, and so, tired out
huve suiJ witi Stevenso,,, with the struggle, turns to death. If the consciousness
wcre more sensitive to the feelings and impulses of
'yt I::;i;y"xfx;:1,". rhe whole organism, it would share this desire, and,
GIad d,id I live and gladt,t di;-'-' indeed, sometimes does so. We come close to it when,
And I taid me aoin ,iitii, witt. in serious sickness, we would just as soon die, though
For when the bodv rometimes we survive, either because medical treat'
,h. ;;i; ;;;;#' #i:;:: il:,f ?r'l
..

?,,fi
ment reinvigomtes the body, or because there are still
culr to understand to* ii unconscious forces in the organism which are able to
a.uii."'rrl#'#.o.e whcrr
ultou-ng and strong, so rhat-you heal.
itLo" coi., Accustomed, as it is, to think of man as a dualism
as a diead ina ,.rriur!;;:;;.
;ii',;$ffi::fi: of mind and body, and to regard the former as "sen'
P:,:lto
g.:"d
rvay,looks i",",r,.
go on and on
r"ir#; conceivcr rible" and the latter as a "dumb" animal, our culture
l:1 :o
rng that ie own material
or-ror.-o;o* reatiz is an afiront to the wisdom of nature and a ruinous
"rra.rnrrld
;;';;rt find thc exploitation of the human organism as a whole. We
j",-olerably dresome. nro, ,ufing;lis
l-r:.or the
count, into ac. are perpetually frustrated because the verbal and ab-
brain fails
.;;.;?':,.'r'li.?l;:,'if
and s u bj ect
time will come wherid.",h;;ii;;il:'6" :f#:*l stract thinking of the brain gives the false impression
of being able to cut loose from all finite limitations.
a bright It forgets that an infinity of anything is not a reality
66
67
 oF INsEcuRrrY
THE WISDOM OF TI{E BODY
but an uorr#l.ttsDoM
,i*,r, i; ;;; us tha t we r,
*, lli.iiji ;:1 TT,:iles
rr,rtion of reasoning can bc done more effectively by
rrr,rr lrines.l
r ne exrernalized symbol
of this w",y of thinking ,, r\lrcady man uses innumerable gadgets to displace
rhat almost entirely'r"tionJ
the machine, which g*.,
;;; i;rg"nic objcrr, rlrc work done by bodily organs in the animals, and
to approach infinity.
;;-d. *"r. of being abt, It rvould surely be in line with this tendency to ex-
Fo. ,rr" -".nirr. can submir
srrains far beyond ,f,. t.r rr:rlize the reasoning functions of the brain-and
."pu.irfli,fr.'U"a/, and r,,r,, tlrrrs hand over the government of life to electro-
monotonous rhythms
whiih the human being coulrl rrr,rgnctic monsters. In other words, the interests ind
never stand. Useful as
it would U. ioof and a serv
we wo-nhip its rationali,y, ", " g,rrls of rationality are not those of rnan as a whole
]ft,
power to abolish limitations
ir,
"m.i.ncy, and irr or li;rnism. If we are to continue to live for the future,
,i_. spzlc€, ,rrrrl to make the chief work of the mind prediction
o,r,"lfiu.r.-ih,r,
""a tt. anrl
thus permit it to regulat"
ing inhabitants of a modern ,ort arrrl calculation, man must eventually become a para-
.irf p*pf. who livc ritic appendage to a mass of clockwork.
rnside a machine to be. "..
butteJ;r;;;i-;y its
They spend their days-in wheets There is, indeed, a viervpoint from which this
,.tiuiti., ,tij hrgely boit "rationalization" of life is not rational. The brain is
counting una _"uru.i.,g,
lr"::,:r_
ot ratronalized absrracrion
ffi; in a worrrt t:lcver enough to see the vicious circle rvhich it has
whici has li.ttle relation rnade for itself. Brrt it can do nothing about it. Seeing
to or harmony with the
sreat ;t;i;;;;;i;hythms and that it is unreasonable to rvorry does not. stop $,orry-
Processes.
As a matrer of fact, mental ing; rather, you worry the more at being unreason-
activities of this kind
can now be done far more I I take my facts on this matter from Norbert Wiener's remark-
efficiendy by machines
than by men_so much so able book Cybernetics (New York & Paris, 1948). Dr. Wiener is
,h;;;;;;oi,oo distant one of the mathematicians chielly responsible for the development
future the human brain may
U. mecha- of the more elaborate elccrical computers. Having likewise an
nism for togical catcutation.
AI;;; "" ji"
"t""fete
i.r*"r, advanced knowledge of ncurology, he is rvell able to juclge the
p1te.r is widely displaced .o*- cxtent to which thcse inventions can reproduce the work of the
trical computers of i",
by *;;il;;l"j .t.._ human organism. His book contains the follorving pertinent ob-
gr."r..-;;il'ffi "r,a servation: "It is interesting to note tlrat we may be facing one of
tt :l:",man's principar"ass.; ,;l;;e js
efficiency.
those limitations of nature, in which highly specialized organs
and his ability to calculate, nis urain 'each a level of declinrng efficienct, and ultrmatelv lead to the
fr. ,iiiU..".. .rnr"l._ extinction of the spccres. the truman braln may bc as far along
able commodity in an era "r, on its road to this destructlve specralrzatron ls lhe great nose
when the *..i"rri."t op horns of the last of the titanothcrcs." (p. r8o.)
68
69
 'i

iiiil
THE WISDOM OF THE
BODY
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
able. It is unreasonable to wage a modern wrr, rrr A lr I-l'-:H:i#".'rt:;;,ff:"3t1il: #
t rren,
which everybody loses. Neither side actually wants n own sub'
i

war, and yet, because we live in a vicious circle, r,, ::iilllii;Ji,ff,?nil t'iii'" a'pir's or its
start the war to prevent the other side from startirrg rlalil c. and ot
first. We arm ourselves knowing that if we do nor, llrcruse I speak of the wisdom of the body
lri
the other side will-which is quite true, becausc rl T; "H::*'
l,l we do not arm the other side will do so to gain irr ffi ilkY l:;il:T:':t'':1ru;
tt*t'l'"- not asserting that the
advantage without actually fighting. hlr" in the accepted
Matter is a word' a noisc'
From this rational point of view we find ourselvr:r rrlrrrr:rte reality * -"i*t' by a
in the dilemma of St. Paul-"To will is present witlr whrr:tr refers to the
l;t;" and Paiterns takenbecause is'
iri
me; but how to perform that which is good I finrl rrr'( css.do,'o'ft"o* u''hat this Prgcels bv some
We
defrnable
not. For the good that I would I do not." But this is l:',ll,"j;;;#c;;i"i i', rra thins
*t ti""t to keep the old
not, as St. Paul supposed, because the will or tht' Itxcrl concep'o' *t"i'o
I

"spirit" is reasonable and the flesh perverse. It is bc ilI -'.-s., ;t' ":T**l-*'*:"",.fi :?l;#l
"rrtltterial," the sPt:
I

cause "a house divided against itself cannot stand."

l

The rvhole organism is perverse because the brain ir .ili.l;- rtt", which' btt"""
it is living' must everis
form' Matter
split from the belly and the head unconscious of rn *(irpe the framew"";i;;y-fixed
l',
union with the tail. deserves a-word for itselft
the brain
lt
There are few grounds for hoping that, rn any im- "'illliff*is'
brain, i"a"ii"g'ii, ,.urottittg and calculat-
mediate future, there will be any recovery of social For the of the'body' It is as
sanity. It would seem that the vicious circle must be- Ittg centers, i' P*;;;p'odt'"t tt'[tt"j;.t;
"
heart;;tl;;;;h' and'
come yet more intolerable, more blatantly and des- as the
'aiural of man' But
il
perately circular before any large numbers of human
beings awaken to the tragic trick which they are play-
rnvthing but an enemy
;il'," i ;:* tii i:l:i*; :il :H.:-TI.T'
,li ing on themselves. But for those who see clearly that the present and
it is a circle and why it is a circt. there is no alterna- ';*"
l'ilt-"t'1J,ilil;r",T.,#";i;;chasing wildly after the
tive but to stop circling. Ful os soon as you see the the real, not to J;;;
whole circle, the illusion that the head is separate pB*o''-ollTtilTi; habitual state or mental ten'
lli
from the tail disappears. Furthermote' rt
7t
ilil

l1l

ill

'rlll
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY THE WISDOM OF THE BODY
trying system after system of
rearrangement
sion the brain does not work properly, and this is,,, . L.rilt,
tea$on why its abstractions seem to have so gr,,,', - trr 'rrlcr to discover iit ttt"tnUfed word' Try' in-
anagram with a relaxed
reality. When the heart is out of order, we are clt.rrr, rr,,ril, jtrst looking ";;t
conscious of its beating; it becomes a distra<rr,,', lnd in a very o[ time your brain
rr,irrrl, 'p"tit
'ho't
*ithout the slightest effort'r
pounding within the breast. It seems most prob,rl,l, *,tll rlcliver tfr.
"""""' "snap" anslvers o[ strained
that our preoccupation with thinking and planrrr,,y 1\'c r ightly mistrust the
effortless' and
together with the sense of mental fatigue, is a srr, w;rndeLi.,g ,nita', tut th; TPig'
of some disorder of the brain. The brain should, ;rrr,r
'r,l
*llrrts[ unconscious 'ol"tio" of
logical problems is
in some cases does, calculate and reason with thc r,', ,rl,.r the brain is supposed to deliver'
is the highest form of
conscious ease of the other bodily organs. After ;rll lVorking rightly, tie brain
the brain is not a muscle, and is thus not designed 1," irrrtinctual wisdom"l Thus
it should work like the
the.formation of the
effort and strain. t;,;;,t;;; i;'rinct of pigeons and
verbalizingthe Process
But when people try to think or concentr?t€, thr'y i:,;:;,t, ;" the womb-Juithottt
behave as if they were trying to push their brairn ,,t' lt"*ftg "how" it does
it' The self-conscious
around. They screw up their faces, knit their brorv, heart' is a disorder' and
l,r.rin,like the "lt-co"stio"s
of separation be-
and approach mental problems as if they tvere sonr :,;;;it; trtelf in ttre acute feeling
The brain can only as-
thing like heaving bricks. Yet you do not have t,, nvccn "1" and my experience' is doing
grind and strain to digest food, and still less to scc, :;;; itt p-per behavior when consciousness and whirlins to
hear, and receive other neural impressions. Tlrr' ;i;;;;iililrigned for: not writhing
"lightning calculator" who can sum a long columrr Hct out o[ present
t*f"it"tt' but being efiortlessly
of figures at a glance, the intellectual genius who can nware of it.
comprehend a whole page of reading in a ferv sec
onds, and the musical prodigy, such as Mozart, rvho
seems tograsp harmony and counterpoint from baby
hood, are examples of the proper use of man's most
marvelous instrument.
Those of us rvho are not geniuses know something one minute' read ont Otherwise
r If vou don't succeed within or wi'lh me' and
of the same ability. Take for example the anagram
nnerr'
pocATELDIMc. You can work over these letters for m'i*"t*i**m*l:Ij*i:l
73
72
 V. ON BEING AWARE

I it: qursrroN "wHAT SHALL wE Do ABour IT?" Is

enly nked by those rvho do not understand the prob-
hrlr, lf a problem can be solved at all, to understand
it are the same thing.
It rncl to know what to do about
{hr the other hand, doing something about a prob-
krrr which you do not undentand is like trying to
*lerr away darkness by thrusting it aside with your
hrndr. When light is brought, the darknes vanishes
al once.
'fhis applies particularly to the problem now be-
lorc us. How are we to heal the split between "I"
ild "me," the brain and the body, man and nature,
rnd bring all the vicious circles which it produces to
rn cnd? How are we to experience life as something
other than a honey trap in which we are the strug-
gling flies? How are we to find security and peace of
mind in a world whose very nature is insecurity, im-
pcrmanence, and unceasing change? All these ques-
tions demand a method and a course of action. At
the same time, all of them show that the problem has
not been understood. We do not need action-yet.
We need more light.
Light, here, means awareness-to be aware of life,
of experience as it is at this moment, without anv
judgments or ideas about it In other words, you
7b
 THE IfISDOM OF INSECURITY
have to see and feel ON BEINC AWARE
what you are exferien.i,,,,
is, and nor as
it ir ,, ll'e rnw that the questions about finding security
of the eyes" bring,'u*.J. ffi;:;;ri;;,:,;;;; I, . I ;rrrrct: of mind in an impermanent world showed
uuo,,r, ;';LJ;,
transformation of-und.rrrrnlinf"unoexrraorir,,,., ;., rlrr' problem had not been understood. Before
rru,n*,,,, r.lrg irn) further, it must be clear that the kind of
many,or our most bafHing
ll-:r:,:h".r
pure illusion. This probtc,r,, ,'.ilr/ wc are talking about is primarily spiritual
o^,,-, ,;.^'__:'6
,

iio,, u..uu,; ;;;i -r, ,,'.1 lrryr:hological. To exist at all, human beings
il?ri:iH,::Hffi
fully enough an,are of the TJ I ; II ,,,'it lutvc a minimunr livelihood in terms of food,
shatl see that this is far ;ril;, uti.uay, u.,,
"' , i,trrl, lnd clothing-with the understanding, how-
Because ar.r,areness.ir-
from ;;;" *.t.i, tlrat it cannot. last indefinitely. But if the as-
uiarv-ol reality free f r,,,,
a1a judgments, " !:',rr(c of a minimum livelihood for sixty years
idlswrite it ir.r.Jyirno*r,b," ro rtt,r r,,
and dotvn what it reveals. -',rrLl cven begin to satisfy the heart of man, human
Aryrf,l"S which , ,,
be described is an idea, 1,,,,lrlcms would amount to very lictle. Indeed, the
""al."rr"i_,ju.
statemenr about somerhing_,h; a posirrr,
;;;;rd_whirrr,,
+r I I r'c?so[ why we do not have this assurance is that

not an idea. I shall therefo"r" rrr wunt so much mOre than the minirnum neces-
talking abour the false
;";;;
b.".orr.n, *,,,,, r I lri.
removes, rather than
r_pr.*"r, #nr* ?\r?rcrrr.:r It must be obvious, from the start, that there is a
the.trurh ;l;h l; reveats.
latter can only be .,umbolizeJ r 1,, ',rrrtradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a
wt; ;;;;, *hich mt,,,,, rlrivcrse whose very nature is momentariness and
i...,,,
:
fi ;,",'f:",?,[,T lt.]*:'i"iT
:I,l;
What is
n a., llrrirlity. But the contracliction lies a little dccper
tlr,rrr the mere conflict between the desit'e for security
true and positive i, ioo
to be described, and r."f and too livirrs rrtrl the fact of change. If I want to be secure, that is,
ting red paint on a red
,o ,ry-,o ilffiT
is like pur
lrrtltected from the flux of life, I am wanting to be
rose. d;;"f"*'rirost
follows wilt have ro hr;; ;';;;:_'::: T. of wh' rl)arate from life. Yet it is this very sense of separate-
:-r,. t," ir, l, ;;#rH",:#:H ;,-+t j:l*i
in its lisht, an arr
rress which makcs me feel insecure. To be secure
nrcans to i$olate and fortify the "I," but it is just the
""lul]if...rd;;,i;
artisr creates, not by building, which thr.
b;I'Uri".Urng
lrcling of being an isolated "1" rvhich makes me feel
away. lonely and afraid. In other words, the more security
I can get, the more I shall rvant.
##n;["fl::'1tr;d, H,1; m :;x*n' t.l',"*,J To put it still more plainly: tl-re desire for security
?6
77
 lil

ril
1l

ril
ON BEING AWAR.E
ril1
l,tl rli.,h.'."ll,I'iilJfi
hold your bre"ath is to lose
:::iilll*,,,,,,, t'rr tlrl to be happy, to forget yourself, and yet
1l your breath. A r,,,
based on the or ,
laHIG y{,u try to forget yourself, the more you
iii
security is nothirrs 1"" =€
j**trrl,rf
breath'retenri"; ::ti^ft.t rhc celf you want to forget. You want to
ilt
as adrum,";;; *,[::j:.'*:11 evervone is .r, ,. =nr;.c
h orrr pain, but the more you struggle to
=*.r1*, tlrc tnore you inflame the agony. You are
ilr
took for this;.*;-iliortirying
I'l ,_I-.ourselves
rng in anct ,.rr, j
;t'li,l rrrrl want to be brave, but the effort to be
li' protection b;,'Tl:fffiiJi +trr tt lenr trying to run away from itself. You want
iri
"r ,o ,f,.
betong
:ilJ',w;,I:j,:, :, f+rGr rl nrind, but the attempt to pacify it is like
/,' llt.,:
the highest ctass. the
*r.ri-.i"..rrl',h. b.r, n,,,,, ,riitl to calm the waves with a flat-iron.
rliri ,isil;.;; ;;i,r,.'"ni..,, pt,'1
These defenses i.ua
toiiul;;il;;.err 1, l{: *c all familiar with this kind of vicious circle
iti/
to more insecurity a.m"nai.rg: us, .r,rr r ,l rlre torm of worry. We know that worrying is
liri course it is all done ;* defenscs. r,i i,lrk, lrut we go on doing it because calling it futile
rl in- rr,",inllr.'jJ.,
trying to do rhe rieht rhar i,*r til)i stop it. We worry because we feel unsafe,
things;;il; #.rhe bestrr.t.r,,.,1,,,,
;'li but this, too, is a iontradiction. r,,,1 rvant to be safe. Yet it is perfectly useless to say
il I can only think ,trrr lyc should not want to be safe. Calling a desire
I

to-i,'pil',"d:il'li i:[Tfl
,

1il ia."r, up r(,,,, l,{,1 rnrues doesn't get rid of it. What we have to dis'
ril
lr
There rnuri b. n.,ini'iri',-J':-'ltl:,':,ttu.
rn two pit't.r +evr! ir that there is no safety, that seeking it is pain-
,n. u,i'iil; :.i^F f ,rl, nnd that when we imagine that we have found it,
/,ii,
go to rvork on rvavrvard
lf: ;'.,-,",Tilt#*i;
l,"hi;;,
..*.,,, *e rlon't like it. In other words, if we can really un-
1i11
the nvo wiil vervLr,:L.r,....:, "nJit,. ,"*ra betrvccrr rlnrtend what we are looking for-that safety is isola'
i/1 ilafi#;ce
.I,,wi' feel benvct,,, rl.rn, rnd what we do to ourselves when we look for it
/rl
llir
::T.-!i"requently
ever, and so merelv nrore separare rharr wc shall see that we do not want it at all. No one

rilii
r..rh;;';ht.ffi ;J .T:Tffi j}."jfi:t;",
We can hardlv begu.
.u, o,r lrrr to tell you that you should not hold your breath
ftrr ten minutes. You know that you can't do it, and
/lr Iess it is clear thar
to.rrria.. ,iir"iroblem ,,,
rlrat the attempt is most uncomfortable.
Itt ,n'"
pain an! a contradicrio",
.r"uing;;;'#:fl, is itself ;r 'fhe principal thing is to understand that there is
/lr ,na.ri"",;* ,;:
rrl ]l._ll:
the rnore painfur i,
whatever form
;;.;;;:fiIl:;:::;
security may be conceived'
no rafety or security. One of the worst vicious circles
h the problem of the alcoholic. In very many cases he
ii"l lnows quite clearly that he is destroying himself,
lilli l8
79

lri
,;

I r/,i
1il

wrsDolr oF rNsEcuRrrY
that, for ON AEING AWARE
that he actu;,trr r,=
^Jil .f,ff
b.i"s ;;"i:""qi11.i:o:iso.n'
:,i Ff Hr.nence, continuity, and safety of this endur-
a,a"y.i'il.},,ffi j,,,,,f:',J::,,",," .r r,
perience of not a";'it,ii:-'$c rL as rle may, rl" t *rr, tlrlr center and soul of our being which we
"horrors," ,oa is worse' It gives lrr,,, =€ I Fur this we think to be the real man-the
n,ottnutng
veired, o^,.1,,*i",'i1;i', with rr ,
,

,,
.*lrr ul our thoughts, the feeler of our feelings,
Herein lies the
fi:.,"},face :J i[F Lrurwer of our knowledge. We do not ac-
.+tlg urrrlcrutand that there is no security until we
,:fi ffjT,I:"Tl:::i ,+rirr tlrrt this "I" does not exist.
f.,lat:,,*,ff:lil;'
you must nor face I
lrl,lrrrlanding comes through awarenes$. Can we,
fit. ,i."i.;;",: it but be ir r,
of.the sage who c?rn€ +lr rl,lrr'oach our experience-our sensations, feel-
aoo"orn#.]::t:ltknocked' r, il +.t. ,nrl thoughts-quite simply, as if we had never
or coJ"rlJ::,'#t From within rh. v,,,,,
jlt*"-and the sage ansli''' ', f .,,r*ll tlrern before, and, rvithout prejudice, look at
"rt is I." "In this
,li.:i
touse,,,replied the
vole, ,,rlrt.r, ., *lier lr going on? You may ask, "Which experiences,
no room for thee
me.'' so the sase w€Dt ;hlrlr rt'nsations and feelings, shall we look at?" I
and spent *"n,
u."n'pondering ou"' ihi' ;rrv,rr
rill rrrrwcr, "Which ones can you look at?" The an-
d..p ;;li;;,i;l.t;*' ?Dsw(', ' r*rr lf tlrat you must look at the ones you have now.
asked the second time, the v.r,,
,",n. "
s,ue.ea,' ii, ";i' o"1Tllng I lrnt is surely rather obvious. But very obvious
T;
i:,,
.i::.f 1 : rhilgr ilr€ often overlooked. If a feeling is not pres-
some years he returr i'll;."l"1"lfllll
for the third time,
;;;
l$r, you are not aware of it. There is no experience
kr".ki;;,-;:;;;'.'"0 and, at r,,,
I'rtt lrrcsent experience. What you know, what you
i*il.*1 ;' : :"J., XH':11',' :f,:l'l iL,T il :; lr' ar tually aware of, is just what is happening at this
,ililtilent, and no more.
To understand th, llut what about memories? Surely by remember.
.; ji:li:,ff :: i liir"i,'1ffi tlg I can also know what is past? Very well, remem-
m."Trtr # ;'': the
::
her lomething. Remember the incident of seeing a
rr,. *j"" ;;':"':r:lt"rve rransitoriness of titr.
is based on the feeling h leud walking dorvn the street. What are you awane
,f,.r" i, ,on,;;,#l,,,.j:i th;rr
oli You are not actually rvatching the veritable event
,o,n.,r,inf ,";il":";l
changes of life. trVe are struggling
ru.l,rlrl..fiTli; nf your friend walking clorvn the srreet. You can't go
rugr and shake hands with him, or get an answer to a
to make sure ol
r;ucstion you forgot to ask him at the pasr time you
8o
8r
 11t

tit

;
THE WISDOM OF
TNSECURTTY
iir/
r:-:-bering. In other ON BT,ING AWARE
I: at the actua
rng words, /ou arr. rr,,i ;
*r'f lr tetrievably, and all that remains of it is a son
fit/
You are I..lrr'u
lri Prgsenttraceof l,hf,}ff'all' ;l rrle or track in the present, which we call
It' It is like seeing,lf Fln.rty, While you can make a guess as to what ex
see the presenr tracks. t i.U,
of a bird on rtrr ,,,
lir
;tl I do not, rhJr".., ,,,,,, grl:nrc ir coming next, in actual fact you do not
the bird makine ,r,"r. Iu,,w Anything might happen. But the experience
liii bird has flown, Jna f.1*
*.ti'"i.ioi,.
"r
u"r,,,, !
rlh lr ir going on now is, as it were, a newborn in-
nor aware of hi*.
Jrr rracks I infer that ,,,,,,, f*rl wlrich vanishes before it can even begin to get
a uira ,"r-rrr.r.."ilo_
iil you infer that the ,,,,,,,, rl,le I .
been past events' llrrr
are not aware rt;li'9: Wlrile you are watching this present experience,
past events' You
ti only in ,ir" know th, rrc yrru aware of. someone watching it? Can you find,
iri
o.#ri"y ,
',
tn rrltlition to the experience itself, an experiencer?
,irl

gether ";;;;;:'T:f,H:TJj.[n:::j ,,
_ Y: momentan I rrr you, at the same time, read tlzds sentence and
ii ;";;";;,".i[fl; liiT" ;[,H rlrlrrk about younelf reading it? You will find that, to
think about it before.it
h":il: ,":.;* : ; tlrlrrk about yourself reading it, you must for a brief
of view, this momer, il#qothcr rr und stop reading. The first experience is reading.
iill ir.;;:;..
,,
ir rr#"y, ;,,
no other moment t wc rrr, I he second experience is the thought, "I am read-

'1li ff
rmagrnation
;iil ::::id;:n:,:t*ll;
1|':-: can ; i
rr14." Can you find any thinker, who is thinking the
tlrought, "I am reading?" In other words, when pres-
conceive.
vi,."i'rir""ri_. ,i*"
/1,// always being born, ,, errt experience is the thought, "I am reading," can
l/lrr atwarr;;;&ing
rapidly from that .omprete jusr
,,

., you think about yourself thinking this thought?

/ii/ ng about";k;;#;iich
the future. Thinkirro',;;",,:'::":,*" t, rve,.,: Once again, you must stop thinking just, "I am
breathless. it almost makes y,,,, rcading." You pass to a third experience, which is the
l/i
T9 say that experieT.: thought, "I am thinking that I am reading." Do not
i, momentary is really r,,
,// say that experience
p*;;il;i,.r,t ler the rapidity with whrch these thoughts can change
iri/ same thing. To sav Td this
:1. ,r,, deceive you into the feeling that you think them all
rhat
or becomins past, andatrf*r._,
;;;r; "r.
ayi,,,.q It OnCe.
iii "iluuy,
*lior
out.of the unknown, comirrs But rvhat has happened? Never at any time were
is to say theiam.-iiring
ii perrence. The experience
you havejust
of
"*
had has van.
you able to separate yourself from your present
thought, or your present experience. The first pres-
t/ gr
8g
i/
,/r
,#
i
 tttooM oF lNsEcuRIrY
ent exPerie#: ON BEING .A,WARE

"b"";;i;
;i;;;;il when /ou trit'r I r,,,,
J:i l-*drng' experienc. . i ,,,!y lrorrr an uncomfortable chair, but you can-
,h. ;;:,:,i.'i1"'.'ne .h; ; ;,;,,, r:,,ri l tt llorn the sensation of a chair.
reading."'yJ;;::,.Pttience was the thougtrr r = I iii rrrtrr)n of a separate thinker, of an "I" dis-
] . lr,rilr tlrc experience, comes from memory and
fiIXT:: f, 1T:,J,,"+^'FT:': J'"H,i'. I ; ;' . ,,, rlrr r.rpitlity with which thought changes. It is
:n l: *:x,t::i#i:i, *" x, x
Present exPerie
il li , ;
. r, ,yllr lirrg a burning stick to give the illusion of a
',r rrnorrs circle of fire. If you imagine that memory
only
"r"-r-e-i
or beins
il:i:t
iffi ::n J:il'., , ; ,lrrr r t knowledge of the past rather than a present
aware. ut^11n'ii'n ": :: ' , .i,i n{'n(c, you get the illusion of knowing the past

llT,f :X"il tii# "ll'"4:'* | .',,1 rlrr' l)rcsent at the same time. This suggests that

experience.
rl;T:
er tound
new thought, was a
;, ,i,, r. r\ sornething in you distinct from both the past
" ;r ,,, .

=,,,1 rlr<: present experiences. You reason,

"I know
. To be aware, ,n::,,_r^r- ,l,rc lrtcscnt experience, and it is different from that
r" be aware of thoughts,
;' rat lxpcrience. If I can compare the two, and notice
t, , r

ilii.,iil'ti,ll 1,""'' time

ir,ing
"na "rio,ri.r'rorms
are
<,r , !lt.rr cxl)erience has changed, I must be something
riiJ"i'r')o",'^?.1\
"bu, ex.Perience' not
/ou aware o[ ;rr,r , r\t,t nt and apart."
',r
,rrg, r"ri# a thought o. t., i
llrrt, as a matter of fact, you cannot compare thiS

*i,$ * ffit;:d'::'ffil :*::; ",*"li;

",
1ir|rc'nt experience with a past experience. You can
:;
"nly compare it with a memory of the past,uhich is a
l,'trt ol the present experience. When you see clearly
tlr,rr memory is a form of present experience, it will
,.lft fg1*::':,i'.i"fr' :''fi [: ;';,11 i, ;
rrom its thoughts
:
j
J ]; ; lre obvious that trying to separate yourself from this
tionr.whei;;;";;f and
sensation,
sens.r rx1>erience is as impossible as trying to make your
sensarion is part say] of rouch,
is soing d
.,,i " o"ot'.wtit" rh,rr
that sensatiorr
rccth bite themselves. There is simply experience.
;;;l1l' 'l'here is not something or someone experiencing ex-

:l;.ffi'l::i:t:tr"llifi
so.long
,:',1f X*#i:'
it is as
pcrience! You do not feel feelings, think thoughts, or
scnse s€nsations any more than you hear hearing, see
sens"rion present,
rr-y"".'f"olt'y and is you. you'ca. thar sight, or smell smelling. "I feel fine" means that a
remov(. fine feeling is present. It does not mean that there is
84
85

.\
i

ri
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITT
one thing called ,:I" ON BEING AWARE
* and another separarc rt!,
.1,1, nntl try to protect ourselves from life by
;li:1hli'lilt;
so that ;;';;'brins ,
,rr,,,, ',.'g lrr two. Sanity, rvholeness, and integration
: _:;i* ;.J{iG;,,:1.":T,fr1,i:i *. ; i i,
;,r rlrr. rr';rlization that lve are not divided, that
... r,,,1 lrrl l)rcsent experience are one, and that no
xfiTXT:.i;'.T:-:r :u'i iouna "nl:'r" "po,,,, ; *rrr "l" or mind can be fotrnd,
fr.m ;;:" Tri'lilii; tr lirlr tlre notion that I am seParate from my ex'
"; li ;"ffi :,, ,,,iilir |cilrains, there is confusion and turrnoil.
same thing.
^:,.,i:'*:, ;

philosophical = .1rr.r ill this, there is neither arvareness nor under-

.,3
trme. t^T.t.
argumenr this is a w;rsr, ,
i',,llrH of experience, and thus no real possibility
We are not tlli:q
to have an "intellectu:rt
:

cussion." we are rr,. i .=rtrrrrluting it. To understand this moment I must

DetnS aware of the
separate .,r,, who fact thar .,,,, , ly r(, be divided hom it; I must be arvare of it
experience * ,'h rnf whole being. This, like refraining from
realize that life""-,,tl,lf
.'+:'f,H"il:,,i;o.;: ;: ; ; ;

, r l,lnrH rny breath for ten minutes, is not something

is *tTtntary' that thcrr' ,,
neither r ,rtirrlrl <lo. In reality, it is the only thing I can do.
o.rrnun.rrffllll thar ther,,,
no,.r,, *r,i;h-;;;ff0?L:::::t,v, ""1 t ' . r ytlrirrg else is the insanity of attempting the im'
There is a Chin 1
,xrllrle.
I o rrrrderstand music, you mtlst listen to it. But so
rerrfi rrr you are thinking, "f am listening to this
*'nrr'," you are not listening. To understand joy or
fri1tlfrrifi:";';fi,:'.','il,,ililii har, |ou must be wholly and undividedly aware o[
I l:,t,4ffi ryi.,.* ir io long as you are calling it names and saying, "I
#q.'"it t"lt"ffi
sage, is pacifiedt' "T ;I rrl lrappy," or "I am afraid," you are not being aware
The real reason why ,,1 lt, l'ear, pain, sorrow, and boredom must remain
human life can br
exasperating
;r"i #ffi l,rlblcms if we do not understand them, but under'
and frus tra,irs
tacts called death, p, iil::ll rrnr(ling requires a single and undivided mind. This,
rrrrrly, is the meaning of that strange saying, "If thine
;:Li:*;ri#Tr ;:ff :Jf #*l
-r " -,ffi;:X*';tr:d Fi ryc be single, thy whole body shall be full of light."
oui or
i^yJ#; l#'fr::'*: :i:
86
8Z

;lrt

I
 I I II I.] MARVELOUS MOMENT

iFt t.lst'riNrNG To A soNG. SUDDENLy I ASK, "AT

.r r.,,,rr('nt, who are you?" How will you answer
: , !tu!'ilorr immediately and spontaneously, with-
, :r'tl'lrrnlf to find words? If the question does not
. .i y,rr otrt of listening, you will answer by hum-
.,s rlrr song. If the question surprised you, you
!i ,rrrtv(.r, "At this moment, who are you?" But if
. ,i.ri,l, to think, you will try to tell me, not about
! ;: rrrr,rncl"lt, but about the past. I shall get informa-
,: .. ,rlr,ut your name and addressr
|oUr business and
, .,srrf ;,rl lristory. But I asked rvho you are, not who
.,,t tt,rte. For to be aware of reality, of the living
t;,rr nr, is to discover that at each moment the ex-
f . ! r n( c is all. There is nothing else beside it-no
F1l'.'il('nce of "you" experiencing the experience.
I vcn in our most apparently self-conscious mt>
.,,, rn, the "self" of which we are conscious,is always
.,'rrrr' particular feeling or sensation-of muscular
rr rur)ns, of rvarmth or cold, of pain or irritation, of
!,rr',rrlr or of pulsing blood. There is never a sensa-
Irnir of what senses sensations, just as thcre is no
,,rr',rrring or possibility in the norion of smelling one's
rr,,\c or kissing one's own lips.
lrr times of happiness and pleasure, rve are usu-
,,lly rcady enough to be aware of the moment, and to
8c|
 .THE MARVELOUS MOMENT
. THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
of HelI lies at
let the experience be all. In such moments rv. 1..
=,*rtF rtr(l
Virgit find that the way out
get ourselves," and the mind makes Do attempr r,, ':. r ?Fl Y (entef.
we do not' as a rule' stop
vide itself from itself, to be separate from €Xpt'r rr ri, l!r llrorrlcnts of great ioy
But with the arrival of pain, whether physi,.,l . ,
=

, rrrl'1, "l am happyi"oJ'

"rnit it i9y:'- ordinarily'
or ihis kind until
emotional, whether actual or anticipated, tlrt' :f i,, . ,lr nrt Pause to ti'i"i'itt""gttts
there is some anxiety
begins and the circle goes round and round. .i.c lrry ir Past its pt"t, ot t'"tesi
we are so aware of
As soon as it becomes clear that "I" c?[nr)t l',.r r,*i lt will go away' At such times
to comPare its
sibly escape from the reality of the present, sirrt r' ' I i,; *trtrcnl that no;;;t*Pt is made
is nothing other than what I know now, this irrr,,, .'., ;' ;;' ;il, :,1^:,'#:ffi::il
.,* rlrr trot name lt' tO
H:n::::":
turmoil must stop. No possibility remains but to l'.
aware of pain, fear, boredom, or grief in thc s,rrr,, . ia,rrrr irns are b^sei
o"' lo*p"tisons' "Joy"-::j:t:
contrast' by companng
complete way that one is arvare of pleasure. I l', ,;,,grrirltcd from "sorrow" by
Had rve never
human organism has the most wonderful powcrs ,'t ,,r rllt€ of mind with ttre other'
to identify sorrow
adaptation to both physical and psychological p,rr'' t,,, ,;';;;y;it would be impossible
But these can only come into full play when the 1,,''', " i,ll'llr."tity with sorrow'
is not being constantly restimulated by this inrr, ' we cannot comPare ioy
bythe verv rapid alter'
efiort to get away from it, to separate the "I" frori' , ,:,',,;;,;;;1, p""iurt-only
you cannot switch
the feeling. The efiort creates a state of tension in ,,,1;iotl o[ two t'"t"'"oi*i"h' "nd feelings of joy
which the pain thrives. But when the tension ceascr, t.o,lt and forth uetuie"-tit'gt""ine
mind and body begin to absorb the pain as water r(' llr.lsorrowasyoucanshifty-ou'.y.'betweenacat
be compared with the
acts to a blow or cut. rrr,l a dog. Sorrow-tt" o"ly
all the same thins as
l'-"ot
There is another story of a Chinese sage who w:rn :;;;,;;i i"v, 'r'iin "t
asked, "How shall we escape the heat?"-meaning, ol
never really succeed in
course, the heat of suffering. He answered, "Go riglrt '"t,:,?:to;"ds, memories are somervhat abstract'
. ;;ild;;t^ii'y'
Irl emories
into the middle of the fire." "But how, then, shall we of tn"F:'
oi;u't things rather than
l,r'irrg a know reage
escape the scorching flame?" "No further pain will present rn'
the
trouble you!" We do not neeil to go as far as China. [lr:rnory never caPtures :ssencel ^the It is' as
rerrsity, the to"cr"ie
reality of an experience'
The same idea comes in The Diaine Conredy, wherc

9r
9o
 liii
i

THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY III MARVELOUS MOMENT

.ilii

bcgins at once to think' "1'6 afraid"'

lLi
rl
it were, the corpse of an experience, fronr rvl,,,: :...*ly lrr t rort
life has vanished. What we know by nrr',,,,,, i r,r r,, lottt'lY'" -:r +r.a experr-
an attempt t.":9id :T
ll

il
know only at secondhand. Memories art, ,1, ,, * r,* rr, .r r'rurse, B^ut
itiii
cause fixed. The memory of your deceast.,l 1,. ,. -+ lve- rL rtr't w&Dt
t" i" ul""t" of this present' rs
o[ the present':":-:115scaPe
rutil

mother can only repeat what your grandnrotl', ,

' ,..,,,,,, O.'ottt
.=,
on safe ground' for
the
But the real, present grandmother could ;,1,, ..- i*r rrrul tcs' Here *"-itltf o[ course'
the known-but also'
ill ,

or say something new, and you were never alrr,,t,,

oyt of'.saY, {ear we en'
lll
.'.r,
i

sure what she would do next.

',',i,;:';;;;t;"J
- i,;,1 I lrus to try to get
ii
(t.cc to ut r'"*]:-T1-'i;tT;;i
]liii There are, then, two ways of understandirr;, ,,, =:t',* irr "i"?"i"of memory' rn
=,-,,','r1'r.,ing it in
perience. The first is to compare it with the rrr, ,,,,
terms
words' we
n*tq *Jt"own' In other
.

riiii of other experiences, and so to name and tl< 1,,,, . i,xr tr

'tlrt';tcly mysterious Pt"*,:l
,lliil This is to interpretrit in accordance with rlr, ,r, , ,,, ,q,l,tpt ourselves to the past' bv namtns
and the past. The second is to be aware of ir .r., ,, i, with the (remembered)
.,, t r,L'trtifYing" it'
lr
as when, in the intensity of joy, we forget 1'.',,r ,. to
".:;:,;;;;
I lrir tvould be all very
well if you were trying
future, let the present. be all, and thus do rr,,r ,, t-11.I* can get
i1
i
stop to think, "I am happy." 'i,',r'"f'orn 'o'ntt'h-i'ig-f':-
1t, {!v;r}
procesJ for knowing wh5n to come
Both ways of understanding have their ust.r l'" -,
!i "seful not tell you how to live
i,: rrrt .f the rain' B";;;;";;
r

they correspond to the difference between krr,,',, .

cannot get away' rvhich
ir
a thing by words and knowing it immediarr.ll things trom wt'ich you does not
menu is very useful, but it is no sub'stitute l,r rr,
"trlr
:--"ri;';;;-p"" ot'-v"urself' Your bodv try to
To
dinner. A guiclebook is an admirable tool, brrr rr ,, ! 'lllrrllrirtc poisons Uy i'"oti"g o"i-t]T oJ t"lltig
1i
thcir names'
I

hardly to be compared with the country it desr l1,,. ,*r,,r{,1 fear or dtP;;;;
it rn
i' to it*tt to superstition of trust
The point, then, is that when rye try [o undcrsr,,', rlreltt ,tlzlrl€s
the present by comparing it rvith memories, rvr' ,r ru t tf t lllrd invocations'
iil
does'not work' Ob-
not understand it as deeply as rvhen we are awu( , It is so easy to '"t'*tty this and defrne ficar in
i
rlil
it rvithout comparison. This, however, is usually rt,, slrtr$llr we try t
;;;"";me'
that is'-separate from
iil

way in rvhich we approach unpleasant experir.rr,, , ,rrlrt' to make it

""il"tii"""'
t"yi"g to be separate from
fear?
| " Ilut why are *"
til
Instead of being arvare of them as they are, we r r ), ,, is trying
r
woids' fear
deal r';ith them ir, terms of the past. The frightr.r,,,r llrt:ituse we are "t'"ii''i"ither
il
93
92
I

il,l

/l
 I{OMENT
'TIIE MARVELOUS
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
to separate itself from fear, as if one cotrll 1,, l,' r'|'| r.
|'.,,'|
: T:*:i'il11l':ll,i:*
l\'I

. ',,,,,," Arrtl all to no un"tt', ^]--,..^-"" is

r'*i
with fire. as futile
rs a!
and resisnnce
And this is not all. The more we ?ccurr,,rr, ::;,,,,,11;';iirr'nntt a roaring
selves to nnderstanding the present in r, i !.*lrrlltitt* "' """'"to*'*i- "guittt
'',.
memory, the unknorvn by the known, thc lrr,''
the dead, the more desiccated and embalrrr,,l ,',',' .,, 'f .Iiving :*til;Hlf1T:i:;,il1:i[1
ofl€ rrar'"
more joyless and frustrated life becomes. 5,r r,.r rltiltin$ on the .i. It con'
1 ^ttt"t'
tected from life, man becomes a sort of mollrr',, , :' j
crusted in a hard shell of "tradition," so that rvlr, ,,
. i ii ilt*r*","Jil+ !: :r,fr ,t-".*,
last reality breaks through, as it must, thc rr,l, j
pent-up fear runs wild. ;ii;iiru: l{'fi$;1ttiii;:: - .;;=
If, on the other hand, you are aware of fr':rr, r, llrrr rr riot a philoln" experirnent .o
undet-
=,
()nc has ,o ,t,.
realize that, because this feeling is now /ourrrr !,,r T"*t_::], new powers
€scape is impossible. You see that calling it "1, ,,
tells you little or nothing about it, for the corrrl','.
son and the naming is based, not on past experi.rr,,
; ;iili*ir'T'"5
: :I

,..,, ,,, itv' lt is as

"ir'^"*t.t
11.j'1i,f:'il#lft
ryto :i::'-:ii""'"t
ffi
heart or
f
but on memory. You have then no choice but t, 1,,
""ts
aware of it with your whole being ?s ao €ntirely rrr r'
*t-'1""-:.:::'i i{I:;'ril
;:rr*{*r$l*5lii'f;
..,,rt ('f us breathe: something
experience. Indeed, eaery expetience is in this scr,'', of the thing is cleartv
"i""rtu
new, and at every moment of our lives we are in tl', i:':it, H; i'i"tipr' o[ masterins an
oP'
midst of the new and the dnknown. At this poir,r ,.\e
'.1o.
the genile ;;;;;t'';)
you receive the experience without resisting it ,,r
naming it, and the whole sense of conflict betwc,'r' '"' i,': ?:::H 1xTfl$il;1,fllqtt**
"I" and the present reality vanishes.
For most of us this conflict is ever gnawing witlrirr '-
us because our lives are one long efiort to resist thc iJ:J[,}l.:lif $J:::,.x1:;til i, :h"rl
unknown, the real present in which we live, which is
the unknown in the midst of coming into being. Liv il,f :ll-,llill Ti;;:,'1il'*,:l;.',U'1,ilT
lvn
J ;
ing thus, we never really learn to live with it. At rttowstoTtrlr for
gb
94
 j!1 ni". ,J;;ili"""il T#,1[",,,,,
springy boughs of,the
.IIIfi,
. i i,,,ly lr I
MARVELOUS MOMENT

rystem which conserves and accumu-

t"", urd". ,,,,
,uittor
'rFrgy Whilc doing this it is properly lazy.
drop the snow, andi"'n;;;l;;;;":" ,
.r
If, when swim-i.,,-:,:.:':_18""' . : ;,, rlrF nrcrgy is stored, it is just as happy to move,
current, i, i, r"i.'i",'J?;r1lJ . * r.r rl rnovc skillfully-along the line of least re-
and gradually ede ;::
;::Liil,,,,,, .'ri,r I lrrrr it is not only necessity, but also lazi-
ll
r,.isf; i *i,i,' ffi ,., ,. lrtr lr is the mother of invention. One may ob-
T ;"':n;i,ft
relaxes like a cat
l ; ,n,1,,;
'li.,llf ;, e llrr rnrhurried, "heavy" movements of a skillful
fall safely' A builtlrr.'
out "give" ,n ,,r'l^lut'l =i ',rr ilr ronre hard task, and even in going against
storm or earrhqp",.sfructure will easily collr;'
without thc r.'.iry rlre good monntaineer uses gravity, taking
ing or;.;;;;::.''j rlngs -"'d.a.car ," . lrravy strides. He seems to tack up the slope,
coll€ zp?l't' "rrrr
t

r will soon
road. ,
::aF 4 r.ullx)at against the wind.
mind has just I rr lr light of these principles, horv does the mind
"-Il.calt absorb shock.thesame
r
po\vers, for it
and sr,*.rr lr rrrlfering? It discovers that resistance and
lr.r,,
t;t - ,.^l^"-."'^', ' ,

l
.H, il;;;,;;; ;,n-iliil,il l:X ; :::,:;
same thing as runr
;:1,
"i,;r1,.. thc "I" process-is a false move. The pain is
...*,rlr,rble, and resistance as a defense only makes it
not run A body of war.r ,r'
.*u, ,h"itl.9.ltt'oy,
vou push it; it simplv ,.,,r.r', thc rvhole system is jarred by the shock. See-
l

,1.nJ","i;il.;';i gir,
.,r,"_::
r,,; rlrc impossibility of this course, it must act ac-
ab so r b e r d o",,, ;;,j ffi f *,rtlrrl{ to its nature-remain stable and absorb.
i.jfi il"#. il:l,l
struck; it gives, ,no-l.,.r"yr-ir,
f ll ;, I o rcmain stable is to refrain from trying to sepa-
placc. r, rrtf yourself from a pain because you know that you
derense
#':H;1.:h"T'l
ri*t "iit",n.,r,i'
jorce. Therefore rhe g,,,,r
s 1,t',; ,{nlr()t. Running away hom fear is fear, fighting pain
lr ;,xin, trying to be brave is being scared. If the mind
"t^"J#;j:':*1"
or "weight.,, 'ot
only 'give," but also
,r"blt,, , tr lrr pain, the mind is pain. The thinker has no other
This weight is like ,r,nn than his thought. There is no escape. But so
i1 " ; il;1,1::1,.,::: ;r, Lrrig as you are not aware of the inseparability of
i,
llj:"*
v
;1ili:::J1il*iTr "nouen, n;;' rrus ;ff;l:.;l*':
rra,,,,
l ;
rlrinker and thought, you will try to escape.
From this follows, quite naturally, absorption. It
r,*' n.i,s il :il;:l,TiJl5'J'Jt j
H J*l;
lr no effort; the mind does it by itself. Seeing that
there is no escape from the pain, the mind yields to
96
q7
 t"""M oF rNsEcuRIrY
it, absorbs ;": THE MARVELOUS MOMENT
t ft.tfircver, beginning at this instant. This, in turn,
H::,Tfili i: ::iffli"',*:li{
rn which ;, .*o!-t1Te
;l :'.'
/l'
complete' un'.Ii.on.r.,,,,,,' .kf*nrlr upon seeing that you have really no choice
pleasure' Pain S,,t to l)e aware-becaus€ you cannot separate your-
pr.r.iioilences
nomenq and I can
is rhc ,,.,
Fll lrrrn the present and you cannot define it. You
"r,rtlr
moment. only livc r,, ,
rn, lrrrlced, refuse to admit this, but only at the cost
Sometimes, wl sl tlrc immense and futile efiort of spending your
rllk life resisting the inevitable.
::f;hil.n,til*;i##::fJ:,.:,:dt I trrr;e this is understood, it is really absurd to say
rlrt there is a choice or an alternative benveen these
t;r, ways of life, between resisting the stream in fruit-

riHffifffiil' lt*.y* l;
:
Irrr panic, and having one's eyes opened to a new
rrl kl, transformed, and ever new with wonder. The
ley ir understanding. To ask how to do this, what is
rlre technique or method, what are the steps and
tr' ilT,',ti3 ?* ri.li:i!:f
trrir, trr. J.^r'# ,lo^|-
tn. pain. when you
disr,,,,
: ;
rrrler, is to miss the point utterly. Methods are for
escape ..merges,, rrerting thingp which do not yet exist. We are con-
,.ff intothe pairr,.
"ra_"]rlia"." rcrned here with understanding something which is
ror -the present moment. This is not a psychological or
*ff'"o}::':tn.T5tl1 the momenr, /ou ca,,rr,. r;riritual discipline for self-improvement. It is simply
move your 1r"116 g;Iom^a headache as you calr * be ing aware of this present experience, and realizing
e-quals "".rr..;'ilrifl-"
n"*t' "You" .q";
{;,J;'
-
you actuallv t.. thut that you can neither define it nor divide yourself
the pain,
;;;; .#" be a motivg for
y* ;;, from it. There is no rule but "Lookl"
one to be moved. there i, ,,,,
,r'l'1
co1:?u:nce. r, n".l1ti},tlin the true sense, or r,,,
It is no mere poetic sentiment to say that, with the
mind thus opened, we look into a new world, as new
r nrs, however, as on the first day of creation "when the morning
is
rtars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
fi:: **,"il1.1;;:fi'#.:1ffi':,T,: i: l."Tli :; for joy." By trying to understand everything in terms
alert, and senritive to'tt,.
presenr ;;;;tJware'
ays, in all actions of memory, the past, and words, we have, as it were,
ana rehtio,,, had our noses in the guidebook for most of our lives,
*,
99

['
I
i rrrE WISDOM OF
INSECURITY
THE MARVELOUS MOI\{ENT
ff1?:X;::::,0"0."''n' "t"*. *itehca.r,,,
education ; t l rl tlrr.rn with the utmost tenacity, everything
*rt"t.*"y"1tivli:;1 is applicabtc r., . *ill vnrrirlr into chaos.
. We are too ll'r rrrrtrit repeat: mefilory, thought, language, and
r 6rr {tc cssential to human lif'e. They are one halt
.-l rlrt/. But a person, a society, which is only half
4r**,1*i"*n,il1i/ffi
In the widest
i|,; rlrr lr irrsane. To look at life without words is not
r,rl,rr thc ability to form words-to think, remem-
terprer ..0*;;::"11 o{the word, to name is r,, ,, t., r, ,ril(l lrlan. To be silent is not to lose your tongue.
terms of *:;"r,::
o'y.'tt past' to translate
the unknor
ir r,, rtrr rlrr.contrary, it is only through silence that one
tem or ;;"i;;Jj-t'J'iil ,r,r rlrrcover something new to talk about. One who
,.llrrl incessantly, without stopping to look and
iirrr rr, would repeat himself ad nauseam.
It ir the same with thinking, which is really silent
'.rllrrrg. It is not, by itself, open to the discovery of
{rr}rlring new, for its only novelties are simply rear-

'{#fiff#iFffi'
nation, or.t oiri"""jf'_li
';*:t;ll
membership

;""ifl ':":':,:-'iiij:",1i,?j,,":f ::fi

in sr,,,,, ulfl('rnents of old rvords and ideas. There was a time
i.,lrlrr language lvas constantly being enriched by new
w,,rrls-a time when men, like Adam, sarv things be-
lorc they named them. Today, almost all new words
rrt c rcxfr?n$ements of old words, for we are no longer

rlrinking creatively. By this I do not mean that rve

sqffisi*,#H*-'f#ffff lrrght all to be popping with inventions and revolu-

tionary discoveries. This is the-always rare-power

tr"?il:'.'1T.:' j#:iTJpiil.:?#',tijll":;
gories or r,urnui'i;:.::llt held. in order by the catc
'ni$;T;lll"'^";o:';:::":":;'#,:;"li'"a"'"'
(Cambridge,
too
of those who can both see the unknown and interpret
it. Iior most o[ us, the other half of sanity lies simply
rn seeing and enjoying the unknown, just as we can
cnjoy music without knowing either how it is writ-
tcn or how the body hears it.
Certainly the revolutionary thinker must go be-
rol
 il
r;ii

t
il {
$

{
i'li

ii/
r*
come *::,J."i.T:Tfi,
ro him l}::,ff
wh
is b, r
I
THE MARVELOUS MOMENT
:;n rrrttrlng of very much importance when it can
;' : ,; -;rlrlrrcrl entirely in terms of past experience. If
flil';Tyf,l':i;i'j:,s'g':,,;:"*ji;i . *-r: ;xrmible to understand all things in terms of

ll/
i,/ tTt':h.:* Jim',":ilxT:ilft
ffi t*l isI i:
the Ptoilt- as it
:
'+l *r! lnow already, we could convey the sense of
.* +r ro I hlind man with nothing but sound, taste'

-il#ff.i";l'f,
as it
is v.rb"tir.ajP^3to.see ,, ..,'fr, rttrl smell.
,:ffi :: j!:,T:ff
11111

ll rlrtr lo true in the various arts and sciences, it is a

tii
lt
lll
::1i; -*.,rfiilrrl times more true when we come to the un'

.: "*;ili::tfi',:' :;*::jlj
rilri I
+ri*urrrling of tife in a larger sense and want to have
it/r :'.be experieni.a."
rry to ;: :, :: p,*i,s lrrowledge of the ultimate Reality, or God. It
li
li ir-frr#^Jj *uny ,,,
:

/l'i seers, but to few

to be prophe;. ,,. + llrty absurd to seek God in terms of a Precon'
musis but few ."","n_1"lorT'il ilanican lisrr.rr r,
i

cannor even listen :#i"se. B't ),,,, '.trrrl irtca of what God is. To seek thus is only to
if,1ou ."" fr.""-onl, ll,l wlrat we know already, which is why it is so easy
the past. what shoula ,, ,"r,,,, , ,
iii
symphonies if our
,.;;i;;u;? or Moz;'r,
ro ,ler cive oneself into all manner of "supernatural"
ears were attuned :rprriences and visions. To believe in God and to
il' only to rr,
-,rrl" k,rl for the God you believe in is simply to seek con'
almosr "ti"-i#* ge1 tr" tt yrr,*i
rili
nothins * rnY"-:tght r',,,, &rrrnlion of an opinion. To ask for a revelation of
;1i *jtd,, ;;
of the music. To
;ff ;,"liti,Hli::S *H,lli '.[*l llxl'r will, and then to "test" it by reference to your
lii be I prer onceived moral standards is to make a mockery
tli "gr..io ieJ; ili,.ii, ress wrir. i'f mking. You knew the answer already. Seeking for
''(irxl" in this way is no more than asking for the
tl; *1*{:,fr}j#}ilr.Wiiir;:r:r
,t. *i"i.i"ft"#',::i'1wire'
rtlrrrp of absolute authority and certainty on what
fhSr hai to discovr
vr rorl€' as something r
yorr believe in any case, for a guarantee that the un'
iii ent from o"ir..- entirely dific'r
Irrown and the future will be a continuation of what
If I can only conceive. p,rlse, yolr want to retain from the past-a bigger and better
f cannot
tone. If r can think
orpui,itinf;;JJl"yappreciart,
of mak
lortress for "I." Ein feste Burg!
If we are open only to discoveries which will ac'
ii/
'i"
lir
rllli
;;:*';tSl,l.l,fl;::Ht#mi;t:;: cord with what we know already, we may as well
rtay shut. This is why the marvelous achievements of
lii/ lol
- rot
lii

/itj
I
 lll
rll{

rl

li ritr: ;TJ,'#T,:lo'1fiH11,,,,,,
It is in""q
vain thar fi
I
I
i
i// t TI I I IItr .CRANSFORiVIA IION
.'5.ilrffi;l':,f,T;t:,;:nlii, tha^t
enginJers (k'vrr,
$
OF LIFE
and easier means
i:- r I
^t

#t
see are.mer", ;,ilii;H,:H#,;:"
prejudices. Ir is in ; I :; tr* wrrt't'ri MAN FANcrEs HTMsELF As A pRAcrIcAL
that we get the pow( "get results." He is impatient
atom if rve a'! iur, Iltn
are Jurl to continue in the
r ,,r Ftt.rrl wlro wants to
lli/ rut -lrh tlrrory, and rvith any discussion rvhich does not
paopta arp. ol 1,r,,. i
,,i,1
Tools such as ther
tr*crlirtcly get dorvn to concrete applications. This
,rr""siil;.";;t* as well as the tools of l;rrp,,,., I rrhy tlrc behavior of Western civilization might be
"na **rllrrrl, in general, as "Much Ado About Noth-
h1" 'l'he proper meaning of "theory" is not idle
g*g+r**ir**;*.*:: q';rulirtion but aision, and it was rightly said that
r'lrrc there is no vision the people perish."
llrrt vision in this sense does not mean dreams and
;H{ : i:t::#: fi FT'{;!li rrii,.j,, ;, : hhrlr for the future. It means understanding of life
s tt h, of what we are, and what rve are doing. With-
iii,ffi H jilfiil*1T:iffi :l# r,
always is-ali
l, errt rrrch understanding it is sirnply ridiculous to
rlh of being practical and getting results. It is like
are and all that th:rr
room for thee and
In this house there rrr',,
vou l,t-111',it wrlling busily in a fog: you just go round and round.
,n"arnoru.
Ylrr do not knorv rvhere you are going, nor what re-
rrrlm you really rvant.'
'l'o minds that think in this rvay, rvhat rve have
rlirr:ussed so far may seem too theoretical. These ideas
rrc all very rvell, but do they rvork? Yet I must ask,
"What do y<.ru mean by rvork?" The usual "working
lmt" of a philosophy is rvhether it makes people
t ,o4 1()5

I
 i'liii

itl

rilrl OF LIFE
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY TIIE TRANSFORMATION
t, ttq 9ut minds'
better and happier, whether it results in 1,r'.',, ,'rlrrg lltcs€ until we havc made
,' of making uP our
operation, and prosperity. Yet this is & rn('.rrrr tr, itr turn, no possibility
tiii
criterion without much "theoretical" undclsr,'',
,

!. r,r l.ttg as they ;;;li; i" t'oo' so-l-ong as "1"

I

What do you mean by happiness? What arc "1,,,, ',,, rlrirtg "t*ptiitltt" u"ottter' If theand mind
its
tll ^nd the mind
people better for? About what will ]ou co-o1* i. i,. ,lrrcr iiv€ fo"t Utr'i"J uttio"'
action can be
li What will you do with peace and prosperityl ,,, .l life must be healed before
The answer to these questions depends entirr I' i,lrirH but conflict'
said about the healed
l

r,,rrr.tlting must therefore be

it
what we are and what we actually want now. ll
full awareness' for it
,

example, we want at the same time both pc:r,, .,:,,,r t,l life rvhich to*tt *itt'
of our view of the
iilr ,

11111
isolation, brotherhood and security for "I," lr'1 ,
',,lvrr a deep transfo"n"tiott it' this trans'
iii ness and permanence, our wants are contra(lr' r, , ,l,l As well as words can describ-efeeling that the
ril
Their results, however practical we may be ;r1,, i ,,!r'rlion consists i" ft"o*i"g and
/
getting them, will be further conradictions. It i., r' , ,,1,1 is :rn organic unitv'
"know".this as a matter of
old story of wanting to have your cake and eat rr lrr rlrc ordin"', t'ur' J"
fttt it to be true' Certainly
,

ti
which the only possible conclusion is that ]ou lrrrr :,'1,'r nrittion but do
I "oi from everything that sur'
in your stomach and heep it there until you 1,,, !i!.,rt l,coPle feel separate and
hand there is myself'
.

,.,',,,,1, them' On't't o"t

I

lil violent indigestion. I am not rooted

If we must be nationalists and have a sovcrt r,, ,'r tlre oth€r the rest ""i"trse'
"iii-t1 ratde around independ'
r,r tlrc earth like a
i'i
Itate, we cannot also expect to have world pea((' lr ';;li of everything' and yet
lt

we want to get everything at the lowest possiblc r, '" errrlv. I seem to Ut tt" ttnter
is going on inside
we cannot expect to get the best possible quality, rl" .:,:'lii",ii;r"tt'-r*" ittt wt'"t is going on
,;;ffiy, but I ."" o"ly guess what
li

balance between the two being mediocrity. I[ r" ,,;;

have i$ roots
must
trr o(hers. My conscioot -it'd
lrltl

ltl make it an ideal to !e morally superior, w€ G?nnot .rr of be'

the same time avoid self-righteousness. If we clir'y' lrrl origins in the mo't u"f"tUomable-depths
lr
to belief in God, we cannot likewise have faith, sirr,, ;;; ;;i;i.;b as if it r'"'a all bv itself in this tisht
ll
faith is not clinging but letting go. Itrrlc skull. my body
reality
I
When we have made up our minds ?S to what rvr Ncvertheless, the physical l'l* in fact I
io- this
lil d,o want, there remain indeed many practical arr,l rri$ts only in relatiJn Y"il1t:ti.i"d
riil
technical problems. But there is no point at all irr rtttasattachedtoit",,aa.p."aentonitasaleafona
il
r07
ro6
jr
iii

I'l
 ,IIIT. .I'RANSFORMATION OF LIFE
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
[ree. I feel cut oft only because I am splir rr ,,t {,* tr r. inside
:T[::T';'iT::;JH:.'ffi:
self, because I try to be divided from nry ,,' '" tre lt
t'lttt8s' Yet nertn:t t"'l-^t::;: s'ensa
nor have a""""r.,.^tionbf
ings arrd sensations. What I feel and senst' r l, :,:, ;;,,,' .,? ttt1, own brain' if
seems foreign to me. And on being alvarc ol rt ;, :,,,rrlr'rlrtion fiftt ttJnower' But T]^li::
reality of this division, the universe docs rr,,r .'.,.rlltt'lt:ssl,thesunisl,theairisl,and-Soclety'
also l-for all these
foreign any more. , .l,irlr yotl are " *t*tt"is existellce as my
For I am what I know; what I know is I. 'I 1,, , .,er irlr just as esstt'tial to my
tion of a house across the street or of a star lr , ri;r from my sensatlo n
of it is
apart
space is no less I than an itch on the sole ol rr,,, : I li,rt tlrcrc is a sun a brain' though I
or an idea in my brain. In another sense, I ,rrr, ir,tr tt'rrce' rnt r"t"ti"t,'i;;""
inference' We know
what I do not know. I am not arvare of my ou'r r I ,, i:irr,,t n('c it, is likew;;; "" im-
itr.ory, and,not by
as a brain. In just the same way, I ?il oot:rrr',rr, ,i ,,rr tlr(:se things ""jr"i" world of
the house across the street as a thing ?pnrt [rorrr ,'1,,,r(' cxPcrience'. ;t"il;;t*tt'n"I" mttch a
i.,,rr.tical objects t'' tJorld i11:,::
sensation of it. I know my brain as thoughts arr,l t, ^Ool:i"tY' of expetience' From
ings, and I know the house as sensations. In tht' ,, ' ,,,rry .ts the "internal" because experr-
. .,,,1r rc.ce I inler
tt ui it exists. And
way and sense that I do not know my own br:rin
the house as a thing-in-itself, I do not knorv ,, .,,1,' i., a unity-l "t
;;]t-"o'io"t-I *Y'tt likervise
i,,l.t lllxt this ttreoreticJt
i"'iut"t is a unity' that my
private thoughts in your brain.
But my brain, which is also I, your brain anrl rt, ,,::;';il it. *o'ta rorm a single iheories^about
P'*::: the
thoughts within it, as well as the house across rl,, N'rv there 1t""" ;;;;-*"'iy iftty have not delivered
rrrrtry o[ the universtl
*'*i'otu'io"
street, are all fo'rms of an inextricably interwor, ,
of egotism' from
process called the real world. Conscious or urr(.rr l',,,,,1n beings t'o*''nf life' because there is
a
scious of it as I may be, it is all I in the s€ns€ that tlr, , r,rrllict, and
from th;;";;i a feel'
sun, the air, and human society are just as vital to rn, w,,rld o[ difierence
;"t''"*;;; inference and
as my brain or my lungs. If, then, this brain is rlr
brain-unaware of it as I am-the sun is rn] suD, tlrr
,,,* vo,, can reason
.ut feeling it to be ** *".:,1'^';+1i,:HJl, proc'
lhat your body is "
tiout*tnt in an unbroketl yet con-
air my air, and society my society. *nt and stars' and
Certainly I cannot command the sun to be egg rss which includes "ii For the feeling will
shaped, nor force your brain to think differently. I rinue ro t..l r.pur"tl:fft;*t"
roq
ro8
 t"-M oF INsEcuRrrY
not conespffl
1III TR,ANSFORMATION OF LIFE
,: Fy lllcr rhe sweetness of the honey, but not its
..i,;;Fi*,1'k*-*l',:'''..**,,' t*lerr, wtrir:h makes him
i linh reluctant in a fleshly chain,
But youwill
- ( i lu.red arnong creatures.
:; rFrllnrcntalist does not look into the depths of
***l'il*ii''fruil'ffit; '
. ,,rr rltrl tce
,srth eristcnces grazing there, suspendcd, or slouly

;sk;+ffi [T:fi,',:
;;
.'""'llttg close to the bottom: . . .
i:i i : + t lealtn.cled shark, the ualrus, the turtle, the hairy
t,r lsttlttrd, and the sting-ray,
! .,,rr"l lhere, uats, pursuits, tribes-sight in those
H:#r"*; *tpt*il'anr;;
I

-,,an depths-breathing that thich breathing air.

Foregoint,
unwerse grows
rl.lr has to discover that everything which he be-
sometimes, I. , ,l,lr in nature-the clammy foreign-feeling world of
^i.tl!'the 'r.. '. ctn's depths, the wastes of ice, the reptiles of
,H :'a# i ::ffi1'
f Eue nd .
;",*::,tjf
in _n,.
- -,.
;" s1;:J I
,,,y:elf, but I
r ,i,i rwaffip, the spiders and scorpions, the deserts of
r:t,lcr$ planets-has its counterpart within himself.
D^_,. become ll, ir not, then, at one with himself until he realizes
tha.t around,
;,:;::!mountain. _;;;;;.; *" rhar rhiS "under side" of nature and the feelingr of
'ttgn
::: :/:| ::; !:,, j, h e h um hlt tor which it gives him are also "I."
i,l":;i::to!:;;:
':i:':g loatht llor all the qualities rvhich we admire or loathe in
t *: n:: i.! i :i;; ;;:u :.
e b e rhe rvorld around us are reflections from within-
"i'i rlrorrgh from a within that is also a beyond, uncon-

# : :;r, i!,r!:i:'i!, ii,;: ;!:;,:,x' ;;: : ",

This rurar ;;r;,:;:."':::'*'18t"' and notoi) uain.
r( tous, vast, unknown. Our feeling-s about the crawl-
trrg world of the rvasps' nesr and the snake pit are
p"i',. u. i;".:'i;'.::T.-ul'on is quite beside lcclings about hidden aspects of our own bodies and
rtr,, hrains, and of all their potentialities for unfamiliar
exten t trra t
he ;;; ffi?: ::iTf :# I fi,":.ilLl: rrceps and shivers, for unsightly diseases, and un-
imaginable pains.
tto
lll
 . re":r#;.il:l;I;lJ;ilff],
*s." ir r,,
I.HI TRANSFORMATION OF LTFE
;:ffi;',,h$i]i '"a:r,"ri'i.n" hi,vc ,,,, ., Htt me my tice, didn't I eat it? Wren you
i"r'i't'-i" f ;J'::1tlo*" ou" beasb l ? rrr t r ;' hSt mc my tea, didn't I drink it? When you made
,f,ir ro ordinary rl()1.,1,"
ir,rr., i;T:: """rrous !i klonl to me, didn't I return them? When have
at peace with the :lTit because they are abk' r,, t,'i lin nrgtected to give you instruction?" "I'm ahaid
I tn'r understand," said the young man, totally
;:'t:*:.:tiT,i.',i:.'Fj ;:Jff l; t.,ffi i
:

; : f,rlf,cd. "When you want to see into it," answered

miria,ry a5:il;-fi:,illffi :tiligj'." rr,,, ,. I rge, "ree into it directly. When you begin to
The sense or ,,"r.,iry,,Ji,.htil" :oill;, lhl rbout it, it is altogether missed."
nor, horr,, r,
nlind' ,
Fluching chrysanthemutns along the East fencc;
int':'Ti':::;t ";;';;;:""' in Aedng in silence at the southern hills;
the univem" *..#t?n.is abolishecl, if mirr'lvL';'
as ,r',r Thc birds flyinghotne in pairs
,r,oru..-;i,.,"i;";j"" Into a luminous |'hrough the soft mountain air of dusk-

iln:;i+:,n#+.. l:*j ",",y* jt; i; i i

ln lhcse things there is a d.eep tneaning,
8ul whcn ue are about to express it,

ii 4,*'i,il,;jT"1,'li,Tr":Hl."H"];J;'il
mutually exchuive
they are each
;

I
Wc suddenly forget the words.

The meaning is not the contemplative, twilight,

.u.h th;;;;-",1-oosites: ortrr.r
", lnd, perhaps, superficially idyllic atmosphere be-
:*:,:T * l#i *;il.:il: i;'"lr*j'*
uoth are
r: :
lnvctl of Chinese poets. This is already expressed,
representing and rvords noir.r rnd the poet does not gild the lily. He will not, like
rvhat ,-th"t
reiting, rff ;;;:"is at once obvious to sense a',t lrt many Western poets, turn philosopher and say
thrt he is "one with" the flowers, the fence, the hills,
j? "Ji, j,TT"'Jffi rnd the birds. This, too, is gilding the lily, or, in his
,., *, I. t rT:lii{ !fiilfl ;,,,
otyn Oriental idiom, "putting legs on a snake." For
man. rhe
G;
a-trer some months
;;T;Til"J..lff:l;:n, ::l when you really undentand that you are what you
the young _"rr-.ornpiuined rce and knolv, you do not run around the country-
thus far he had received.,""r"1"r;.,#r.,wlr",that
ride thinking, "l am all this." There is simply "all
Iou mean!" exclairned ,t. *,"ir'_"r.'::*n.n d,,
this."
,ou
I t2 The feeling that rve stand face-to-face with the
tls

b
 wIsDoM oF IN'sEcuRrrY
world,.", ;:: TIIE TRANSFORMATION OF LIFE
*1 rh
lrlrilosopher tries to stand outside himself and
ff .:l#[ il#i"Lilrl',:ffi n:' ;tr j' i:r tlrlugltt, so, as we have seen, the ordinary man
r"r. rrf it;uld outside himself and his emotions and
;*:*rh:tq:"-,1=,:H ::nli1, i,: r.r,-ttlrni, his feelings and desires. The result is a
tr,.,ii 1,..,o:fiI-me11ineless, so is rhe sr.,,, *r,'rnrrr(: confusion and misdirection of conduct
cuser, and the is avicious trap, s' r'
,,, rr,r,lr rliscoVery of the mind's unity must bring to
j:;,' "J.t-.I:tll 1ir I nrl.
1,: :fr.l* trTi;iiH:'jf ljr*;, to lorrg as the mind is split, life is perpetual con-
", in.rua.-,r,jn#ttyar
to all, because this
worrt,r ,
,tr,r, tcnsion, frustration, and disillusion. Suffering
;,;-*;#?T,l i,'":, :,:Tly:y'i;:::: i. l,rllrl on suffering, fear on fear, and boredom on
:t: 1,,,r r lorn. The more the fly struggles to get out of the
r

L,,lr'|, the faster he is stuck. Under the pressure of so

rlrrrlr strain and futility, it is no rvonder at all that
;,!fif$l:H*,.*i';,lii,#' ilr rr lrcek release in violence and seusationalism, and
tl tlrc reckless exploitation of their bodies, their ap-
:i;Trffi
.T.ffi:'.:i ffiliill,l'lfffi I ; ;'r'riics, the material world, and their fellow men.
..tno,ui."rr,#;:lt^::st ultimatety fau apa,r, l\tlurt this must add to the necessary and unavoidable
it;rou ;;1,:,:?T';:"f;#Tj; nd, r,,

,,'" i'"*"r'Jt,f
;r,iln$ of existence is incalculable.
llut the undivided mind is free from this tension
- the \1,, ,l trying always to stand outside oneself and to be
"t|::J::;:Il':"^':rr'v,
*un ,.yi'g'," of the divided mirr,l
rlscwhere than here and norv. Each moment is lived
,,t",LtttPtom Jrimself ,

ence in order ro and his ex1,, , r ornpletely, and there is thus a sense of fulfillment
u".i,^:l-t:tot
and define it. It '

circle, r*" is a vi,'i,,,,, lnd completeness. The divided mind comes to the
ng else which the
atrempb. """.*iloaltze divided rrrir,,r rlinner table and pecks at one dish after another,
rrrshing on without digesting anything to find one
rearization that
the min,r l)ctter than the last. It finds nothing good, because
"**r,l::iffij:fi:.te ,,
. q, i r".*i.ffi ffi I. li:i;,i";;,l""l1
r ; there is nothing rvhich it really tastes.
"r
:* i:i When, on the other hand, you realize that you
tt4
rl5
 ill

lli
i,l fHE IVTSDOM
.IIIE TRANSFORMATION OF LIFE
il:in,^:nu,
indeed r;; ,'i;ii:T;::,",,,,,,,
r, that apart from .r,,, t,' on its way to a future climax. But
,lr r irlt'rlly
tulure, you must relaranr
,**.. i.;;;i:,ll : , ,,' tr H..ts thcre,it does not know rvhat to do with
r'[ o'.ll-'^':.;; ;; il ii::
univers.:;l;;r; ,hy il ii:"lllli; :,;,
.onr.ious br.ir ,
. il lI r'tlrovcn, Brahms, and Wagner were particu-
, .i, yrrrlty of working up to colossal climaxes and
;"":lrhisproduced, why senr ,,,lrll()ns, and then blasting arvay at the same
. 1 r

i ,rrl ,v('r and over again, ruining the moment by

,,
,-,_*", i,a..r,"1s".'
rr?ture, of trying
;;.;;:l'"'il;Til,,1 I II : i !rt, rIlrrctant to leave it.
,o rnut"
1,
, rerms.of its furure,
airuoo"jj"_ l.1n
a, existlro, trl,ffi.li:il,,lTi?;fr;,1;
Sorrcr|,,, l\ lrrrr caclr moment becomes an expectation life
,. ,lr 1rr ivccl of fulfillment, and death is dreaded for
' y?u are dancing-;;;;'".;Jl"*1.11:., ?,,rr r,,]; ,,;rr nrs that here expectation must come to an end.

;
, wtere. you
*"iJ.,"a
il:HT"*LT[Ii;["1ff'#;1?l
n"rl.lll^*^ rrr""',i"
on settirrg,,,,,
"lj'::.i:,;'"j
:l'l;,', ]'
1\ lrrlr. thcre is life there is hope-and if one lives on
i,',1,r', rlcath is indeed the end. But to the undivided
,','rrrl, rlcath is another moment, complete like every
planets been circlins rri'nr('llt1 and cannot yield its secret unless lived to
Are thlr
seling rqy*f;:"nd do they rtr<. r,,, ,1,,'lttll-
faster irr ord..io gol"r,,., ,,,
returrru.d ,o rrr.
#;;;;: often has rhe sr,,,,,,
And I laid me doun witlt a will.
r
r1': €VeTy year, ro "".,ii^;.j.rl:r
be sure ,o b.'^tLll
faster and f,,,,, ,,
Detter than lasr
,

and to'hr..u .ri',:-:.:".::, s1,r,,,1. l,r',rth is the epitome of the truth that in each mo-
IVav ro the spring
spr_ns ,hrt'rhuir ,',,,, nr('nt we are thrust into the unknown. Here all cling-
"ii;i,ilrlts
'r-he meaninjund ilrg to security is compelled to cease, and wherever
purpose of dancing
is the darr,, rlre past is dropped arvay and safety abandoned, life
*:^:::r1., arsl, it
course. you do not
,rlrlillo
in each rDon€nr <,r r r rs renewed. Death is the unknown in which all of us
play ,on, tn
final chord, and if " order to reach rl' livcd before birth.
,li' it .'*""""#ta
plv in .nar, .o-po;;'T;I*t of things w€r€ si'r
il Nothing is more creative than death, since it is the
i', hnur*. i,-1",'.,'","fl::::.^'""uld rvrite nothing t,ryr whole secret of life. It means that the past must be
ii]i ffi;"i:,i:19'lt' lolyever, be observed in
,iii il"#il;::Ji"T:i:,;:iliffi'j;,.i,1H:1li'
passirr,, rubandoned,
that "I"
that the unknown cannot be avoided,
cannot continrte, and that nothing can be
ultimately fixed. When a man knorvs this, he lives for
,'l' r 16
I lill
tt7

I
,i]
ltlllr
I
liurlt
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
the firsr time in his life. By
holding his
Ioses it. By letting it go he finds,it.
Und so lang du das nicht
hast,
Dieses: stirb und werd,e,
Bist du nur cin triiber iast
Auf iler dunklen
Erd,e.r
r Goethg Wcst-6sllichcr,?r*!...As
long as you do not know
to tife asain, you i iJ"y t
[?J:ri:;ll.come
"r"-bui
"""le,
rr8
br.c,rrtr
YI I I. CREATIVE MORALITY
A PARADOX TO TALK ABOUT CREATNE
E I
For "morality" is derived from a word
*tf,y.
'TTilAPS
*tfni custom and convention, and the regulation
to mean
{$h lly rules. But morality has also come
I rotling of love in human relations, andcreative'in this
fllt *o cin speak of a morality which-is
- Augurtine dlscribed itas, "Love, and dowhatyou
lfll,'but the problem has always been how to love
*rt you do not like.
ll morality is the art of living togethe& it is clear
i1l rulcs, or rather techniques, have a place in it'
are tech'
* t.ny of the problems of a communityand popu'
ilsl pro'btems-the distribution of wealth
hrlon, the proper management of natural
resources'
h org"niiution of family life, the care of the sick
nd aioUf.a, and the harmonious adaptation of in-
ilvldual differences.
The moralist is therefore a tedrnician who is con'
illtcd on these problems as one consults an architect
on erecting a
n buitaittg a ho..se or an engineercookery, tailor'
irtag.. Like medicine, shoe-making,
-ht*i"g,
hg, and carpentry, living- together requires
I iert"itt "know-how." It demands the acquisition
lnd use of certain skills'
Bo: the moralis, O"t'r; Practice, become muc'h
on
 i
ll
li
1

Irl
THE WISDOIU OF INSECURI]-Y
CREATIVE MORALITY
li more than a technical consultant.
He lr:rr 1,,,
ri t-. his pulpit o. r,i, ,tuJy IrJ
h,,,,,,,
, r,l1 6'yil. The "natural" man lives for one motive:
ir
li-old^.
numan race, issuing praise and ,,, 'r('( I his body from pain and to associate it with
blame_rrr,,,,r t.
l

-like fire from the m11th of u arugon. For 1,, ,,, . j*rrr'. llccause he can only feelwith hisown body,
l, rs little interest in the feelings of other bodies.
i

not take his advice. They

il ask h;;;;
l under such-and_such circumstan."r.'FI"is t,r.,r ,
i,.rrr lorc he will only take interest in other bodies
t1 ,, rr . l, I r ltc stimulus of rewards and punishments, that
and they seem ro agree that
h. i, ;g-hr. ;ur r rr, . 1,1 ,rrr cxploitation of his self-interest in the inter-
l
go away and do something ,

I differeni, for tht y r,,

advice too difficutt o, haie ,,,,1 tlrc community.
ri
";;;;;;0".r,." ,,, ,
ll,rlr1rily, the problem is not quite so simple. For
happens so regularly
:^lpo:i:..This
ro,ses hls temper and
thar rtrt. rr,, ,
=",,,rK the things that give man pleasure are rela-
begins to cail them b.,r r,,
when this has no effeci h.;.;;;;r^;l'phy,i,,r ., ,,rr rvith other human beings-conversation, eating
I
lence, implementing his , .r:,rlrcr, singing, dancing, having children, and co-
aavice ,;l;;;,,.",,,. ,,
, ,'t', r,rtion in work which "many hands make light."
I
prisons. For the.o_rnurriry
I
- Irn.::u,and
moralist. i, ,,
It elecrs ancl pays jrdg;;,;;ilcerrr(.,, t,r,lct'rl, one of the highest pleasures is to be more or
l

as if to ;wh.r, li sr trnconscious of one's own existence, to be ab-

ffi*::t 'uy,
r"u,n iim.ur,, 1,r r,,r lrrd in interesting sights, sounds, places, and peo

l sight the problem Eeems to 1,1, Conversely, one of the greatest pains is to be
,.At_nrst
this: Morals are for avoiding boil rlrr,,, ll conscious, to feel unabsorbed and cut off from
iri
ll "" ;;i;;;isrrjl,,
pleasure and pain. Thir"*;;;-^rfur'ror,,, ,
',
rlr. community and the surrounding world.
_of ,,, llut this whole problem has no solution while we
1l vtduals must get less- pleasure
and more pairr. .\,
rulq these individuats *il o"ry rlrrrrk about it in terms of the pleasure-pain motiva-
I

ru;;;; ," thc s,r,, rr{}n, or, indeed, in terms of any "motivation" at all.
,i'il fice under the threat of
sriil ,"";r;;;l; th"y ,1,,
co-operarc. This is based ,
Iirr man has a moral problem, rvhich other commu-
on ttr. urrr.,_ption rt,,
1

every man is for himself, rrity-living animals do not have, for the very reason
I
and observes,h" ir,..,,
1

of the communitv only ro ,h. ,

rlrat he is so much concerned with motives. If it is
ttil
obviously his orvn inrerests.
;;;;;;;hl, ,r",,. ,,, tlue that man is necessarily motivated by the pleas-
il From this, moralists have evolved rrre-pain principle, there is no point whatsoever in
Irl the dreory r1,,, rliscussing human conduct. Motivated conduct is de-
man is basically selfish, or rhar
1l r,. r,u, *'inir...n, t,, ,, tcrmined conduct; it rvill be what it will be, no mat-
i
r20
itil l2l
I

1l
ii
lr,
fr
iL lri
 CREATIVE MORALTTY
I

in the separate hu-

THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
but
ter what anyone has to say about it. Therc r.r" 1,, ,, r, rhlct, not in nature'
o[ choice'
creative morality unless man has the possil,rlr,; "tll ,rtrtl its Power ttt"" Uy choice is-not hee-
freedom. i, ,. rrlr,rl wc ordinarify br
,, r lroiccs o'o^i"';;;i""t 1o1iv1ted with
This is where the moralists make their misr.,t, ""
;,r.r'itr(l pui", lind 11s
they want man to change his way of life, tlrr.y ,,, ':,,,, "ta.'Jtit;;ilt
assume that he is hee, for if he is not, all rhc r ,r , , |
;,,; il. 1t g:':i:?;i*tf:::1T"i;:;
and protesting in the world will make ro di[l.r.r, ', exP ect-
;i"'l:l il';H;;; im r "li
o
On the other hand, a man who is acting frorr'r ' ; :' :,, l' ::
.P
it has
i

fear of a moralist's threats or from the lurc ol i, ir ,rtttl trying g"t";'*;"rorn'i' when
plan to
, =
=.,, 'o
promises is not making a free actl If man is not lr, . Yru cannot Pl"" ';;iuPPy'Iou-ln
I rttt in themselvtt""t*lt""i" ild'""T*istence
,'r',,,::li:;';i'l'"*ur' as'
threats and promises may modify his conducr, t,'., pui"t'l' I- am even
they will not change it in any essential respect. ll t,. , "o' circumstances under
ti-"t"'"it
is free, threats and promises will not make hirrr ,,.. ,.,,1 lrv doctors tn"t
pleasant experience'
t,,,1 ricath can be ";i;;iy
his freedom.
;;"*U:k,:"n:
I

The meaning of freedom can never be graspr.rl 1,,

"
; ;l : ::;; :T.T ;L:il.to
tltl the divided mind. If I feel separate from my exlx r, ' a square circre'
ence, and from the world, freedom will seem to l', .,.''i'j*j;:1:,H;j;";;;*
t' t'"0-tett"i1t::i:- actions'
the extent to which I can push the world ?rourr,l ,,,
' without a head' '",l it.ia.*t ,h."y the con'
I trr.sc xr€ ,ror oUr,u.t., "1" i[
to a** a circle
I

and fate the extent to which the world pushes r,',

,rrr'ns o[ freedom' l:;;;;;tt I
around. But to the whole mind there is no contr,rrr
it should t']"' o"' to !: o tqtlt" circle'
i of "I" and the world. There is just one process :r( r ,,, r ( hance ouf of doors and
'",,'
ttot, thank htuuttt:^;;;?-*"rt I tuee to
i

ing, and it does everything that happens. It raises rny

little finger and it creates earthquakes. Or, if yo,, t,^ve rr] head at h;me''itktwise ii:* my-
I

rr'ant to put it that way, .I raise my little finger an,l lrvc in any momen'
u"itii' one' or to'seDarate when I
also make earthquakes. No one fates and no one is r.lr lrom mY feeti"gl;;;i;"'''"o't"t such as to
I

to ao-to*ttf i"S t""""att::T'

being fated. rru trying to burn mv frn-
I
Of course this is a strange view of freedom. We arc rrrove witho""n""|ili;il;;'-"t
accustomed to think that, if there is any freedom at gcr without feeling Patn'
r23
r

11
128

I
 CREATIVE MORALITY
,,.g..t ";1,'n:j::iT,li"::T:X*,'1,,, * ; l*ilfl you. You can only live in one moment at
fi.hffi*1y1*, J""l Jf,f,n,,u,r,,,,
5

fi: = lfrG rnd you cannot think simultaneously about

the waves and whether you are enjoying
lft;;to
#;., ill
j; fi;Gtnf to the waves. Contradictions of this kind
il fu only real types of action rvithout freedom.
*::ft lt-::r ;,'i :: Thle h another theory of determinism rvhich
ix:Htr;;;: lT*:':l-"li't llf, lhut all our actions are motivated by "uncon-
because 'E*,$i'j,,;','#l'fi
decide
r, pr."ri, ,i1y-1!at to do sorrrr rl,i,1 lbgr mental mechanisms," and that for this reason
:; lra the most spontaneous decisions are not free.
,;.'ru ;*;* h*1T: ;'"'1f ,:::l # ::::,1 i hf tt but another example of split-mindedness, for
will alivays;:;.;;"'r prefer"'then what I r,,,,,, rkt lr the difference betrveen "me" and "mental
prefer pain, Iike a rr,*
ocnrst, then nain ,.,,,rt|^tj,t jt::, ffthrnirms" whether conscious or unconscious?
i;il1 Li;"Ti:;ilr;
trl il:'JH: fi ;: I ;; the lt being moved by these processes? The notion
&rl rnyone is being motivated cornes from the per-
;{,:*Jl ;[', J,: "'ll.l'li:l3i"l:X,,'1 f: Hrtlng illusion of "I." The real man, the organism-
j:l,l,J,1rf1, into contradiction H,telation-to-the-universe, is this unconscious moti-
when r try rtlon. And because he ds it, he is not being moved
".i:T
"u.r'gpi"r.d",,'if|*:-:" be happv, ,ut'.n
t ,,,1,r,
r,

)y lt. In other words, it is not motivation; it is sim-

;* Ii ili:,.J'#:I:,flfianvi;i? jl,lff f;
pl;;;;, at arr.? n
ply operation. Moreover, there is no "unconscious"
nrlnd distinct from the conscious, for the "uncon-
;ifr.'1ff1111i."j,:i:rins ri,r rlous" mind is conscious, though not of itself, just
and noth ing save
"t*n.rr- oi il ;;::11 conrprr, r
,.. tu,ur.;;rr*iltTll-tit t"* begin to guir,,,,
r u the eyes see but do not see themselves.
There remains the supposition that the rvhole op-
0ration, the whole process of action rvhich is man-
ffi :: ff #d: [.:i"T ;ffi5::: Tj;":: lnd-universe, is a determined series of events in
gjfl; il which every event is the inevitable result of past
;:i::.*: n#i; fi *16::li
i-,.t i"s ;""ffi ;T:'ffi
;

causes.
We cannot, go into this problem exhaustively or
,;t#i',".T,:: #..,11
even adequately. But it is perhaps enough to realize
r24
r25

t
r rHE
oF rNsEcuRrry f
i 6r rhe momer ]r/rsDoM
tt CREATIVE MORALITY
this is one of
r !u.-*ions" ", li,ll"' the biggcsr ,,
i =.* ftrm exaggerated desires, desires for thingr
mr#jf#,ii:.i":: ::l#jii:,
a*..iu.?;';ffi::Tifm:f.""*
{
F
= *b rtr not even remotely necessary for the health
= ;+,ilrl errd body, granting that "health" is a rela-
;;:: i f * *Fln, Such outlandish and insatiable desires
I
seem that arr. the past, ir i
"t*pttins" rr,,,. .or* lrrto being because man is exploiting his appe-
' "r.r',,^:^t:It:.ofthe
!or"-r'J*.,i'rjltj ,'r trr f{ive the "I" a sense of security.
;

I llr rlepressed, and want to get "I" out of this de-

:,:*tfurn. 'fhe opposite of depression is elation, but
;##f##**nt'l;ru;,
thesestatern"nt,,:'l;: :;:: o" mv h'rrr':'
i
't.utc depression is not elation, I cannot force my-
*ll ro be elated. I can, however, get drunk. This
the safe ber that Y,. do 'it;;;;
m .lrrJecause"
bettr', , ,, ."*|ru rnc wonderfully elated, and so when the next
", "
:'to.faJl,
:h.:
n*". ii,iJ,f i[: g:
:i:l *
ill I;
L1,1611isp arrives, I have a quick cure. The subse.
r*rt depressions have a way of getting deeper and
rrut that"]i,'11,1'
; I

or that it'^1.].","" prov€ I f

rnust have fallen ."ur.,,i ,, r'lrr ler, because I am not digesting the depressed
evitable i" ,a""r, r.,
il J:ililil"jff .j,ffi" r,ltc rnd eliminating its poisons. So I need ro get
:;"#1., ;. ;:iil ,rerr drunker to drown them. Very soon I begin to

:**r? :ii!:itt lit il

i lrre mlself for getting so drunk, which makes me
rrlll more depressed-and so it goes.
::+i il: ii Or perhaps I have a large family, and am living in
l#:x.T?;t ;' t" rf'#: r nrortgaged house on which I have spent all my sav-
: ;: Irrgr. I have to work hard at a job in which I am not
i,1,1T-;rq,ff ;rrrticularly interested in order ro pay the bills. I
rlon't mind working so much, but I keep wondering
what will happen if I get sick, or if a war comes and
I am drafted. I would rather not think about these

**f##;d}ffffi
divided *ina.fy'r"'Laued evil can be traced to
r the greater part
re6
the
of these acts
thingp, so I want to get "I" out of this worry. For I
rm sure that l shall get sick if it goes on. Bur ir's so
hard to stop, and as this makes sickness more certain,
the worrying digs deeper. I tnust find relief from
r27
 lti,, 3na,.
nies,"
;ufiffiT;,::I:,,,,,,
trying to off et
CREATIVE MORALITY

that my horse lnz

,i" tt,.. ,r,,r '
.,,y
w,rur{led pride, and charity because of my self-
",".iy't*i',tj
Arrd.so e/ goes. .
I lrc rrrge is ever to make "I" amount to some-
The conven,i:l"ltt"' . ;,,1 I rrrust be right, good, a real person, heroic,
tribute ," ;;;
frightful effects of ;:jqilill,'ilJ'::iTliJ;, :;: ' .i.g, rclf-cftacing. Ieftace myself in order to assert
akohotls_ ,,,11, ;urrl give myself away in order to keep my-
is sinrpry more fuer.f"iil;**otl,lro
"r, *_OIirrg, t,,,,
can promise rewards. ,,',,,,, it I lrc whole thing is a contradiction.
tienrly endurcd, b.t
i" h;u;;;"loi ,urr..,,,, ,
,

I lrr (lhristian mind has always been haunted by

that, ,"";;;'; r1",0,. ,r .r r ,i.. lrrling that the sins of the saints are worge than
d"p;;;;;"il: wo'Ir)
,

.!.r rillt of the sinners, tha.t in some mysterious way

'*ruLH:::'o*" urge the unfol.tunates " '!,, r,nc who is struggling for salvation is nearer to
revolution. to.jorrr ri
r,. ll .rrrrl to the heart of evil than the unashamed har-
In short, he can either r,,r ,r thief. It has recognized that the Devil is an an-
frighten the ,,I,, or (.rr.rrr
age it, in one case.making
from himself, and in
,i" l.aJaral rurr ,r,,, 1,1, ,rnd as pure spirit is not really interested in the
,r,. oir.r.nil,;;T,* .irrr o[ the flesh. The sins after the Devil's heart are
He can rurr ,rrr,
.T:'_"]r; encouragepaint grorvi;;;;;f.., of rrrr. r,,
,

'l,r intricacies of spiritual pride, the mazes of self-

:1.::rdof great others to nIa ,,r"nj,r, in rtrr. , , ,L r cption, and the subtle mockeries of hypocrisy
ampres
.H" .r":.;;;,lo :, ,h"
^".n.d;;;"';:":t:
of arousing the mosr ,,,
*lrcre mask hides behind mask behind mask and
efforts to imitate ",,,,
, rr.rlity is lost altogether.
Iiness' ;;"';';;:::19:'"" s;rI'r 'I'he would-be saint walks straight into the meshes
;;I ;;; jil"'j'ijfi
""dfreedom,
res r, :
lf this web because lze would become a saint. His "I"
to for behind "il.Jif,:T::::
;;i;;;#::ff;3,:il:: hrrds the deepest security in a satisfaction which is
cip_line there is still "il
motive. rhc more intense for being so cleverly hidden-the
If I am afraid, ml eforls to feel and acr bravcly r:rtisfaction of being contrite for his sins, and con'
l
are moved by the fear,
tl for I trite for taking pride in his contrition. In such an
l
is simpty to say that "i*il."i fear, whiclr
"_,"
my efforts involved vicious circle the masks behind masks are
l
am are moving in a. circle- "r;;;;"m
n"ria" tT."
what r
infinite. Or, to put it in another way, he who would
sarnts and heroes I feel ot
i asham.Ji*r", "*r_pt",
i"mounr stand outside himself to kick himself, must then kick
nothing, and so I begin ro
it ro pracrice t u*itiry becausc the self that stands outside. And so forever.
I

l:8 So long as there is the motive to become some-

l

r29
I

11
lr
* ll
I
 lil

j?':": : f:";{ffiit is,?H:ill

ot escape from : ;
r,y, r,f the
CREATIVE MORALITY
world as itself, and rhat the whole na-
u. no-i...a# iil at this m.rr,,,,,
o'
,
. .- ',1 rnind and awareness is to be one rvith what
,h"
';;#;';,I'J,*' ]:'1t Purs,,( , r r, :' ).,,rvi, suggests a state that would usually be called
nate as trr. o"-l].]rcc' srld good antl t'r rl ,
i .r l,or the love that expresses itself in creative ac-
i:.1 n rofflething much more than an emotion. It is

;l:,1''ffi1tffll',$["ffi;i ,
,..,r rrrrrcthing which you can "feel" and "know,o
r*,rrrrl)cr and define. Love is the organizing and
*t,rd;,::ffiT:', ",H;1?j,,c,,,, ,.,,rlyirrg principle rvhich makes the world a universe
..,r..^-,lt--rYuuw lIIs ex;rrrl,r.
enough for the
to swing to its .,,'l rlrc disintegrated mass a community. It is the
i

*r"n"ii"*;1"t:::':'
ritanism. ,ornes the
r"."jr"ir. ,l,l:,,:l;11,,
,
' rf css€DC€ and character of mind, and becomes
Of course it ',r,lri[cs[ in action when the mind is rvhole.
-
tatatism to have
so as if it were the nr(,r f irr the mind must be interested or absorbed in
;::d: ,l
;r'rrrrthiDg, just as a mirror must ahvays be reflecting
l
;,i,
am i};nff
r,'rrrcthing. When it is not trying to be interested in
t1
f i',ThT,'.:,n: Ty:
r".t r "s1u.1'r with
r ;,
fcar. rr,,,
;
lrrrlf-as if a mirror would reflect itself-it must be
"rr.ilil;'::^l
g.,
trrtcrested, or absorbed, in other people and things.

:i 3T,Tj:ili:iffi
l1'-'" ;.1T l'lrcre is no problem of how to love. We love. We
oo nor rry "*;f
ro get : _li
"13-r ai*"".r",iil rth.." i, ,,,
t1
:
arc love, and the only problem is the direction of
,,
love, whether it is to go straight out like sunlight, or
iffiJT'fr L*:1 :o:utthe,*rr,i
ll
l

"i,r,e m,rrr,,,,, to try to turn back on itself like a "candle under a

!
l
bushel."
I
Released from the circle of attempted self-love,

fffin:i*$*i*,ffi1
l
rhe mind of man drarvs the whole universe into its
li own unity as a single dewdrop seems to contain the
entire sky. This, rather than any mere emotion, is

ilrri.' fr+T#il:**:* the power and principle of free action and creative
l

morality. On the other hand, the morality of rules

and regulations based on rewards and punishments,
i even when these are as intangible as the pain of guilt
130
r3l
 CREATIVE MORALITY
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
and the pleasure of self-respect, has Do rrlari, ': tixl'ilff
,i,+*srvlreo[mankind'Everyoneh":TJi;]"titcan
free action. It is a way of ruling slavcs lry t,-, :,*,', ; ;;, ; .", yt'" 1
iit,,l#,: :i;
1;]; condernna
ilI :Illi'*"'JT:ii::l i"*'' 1ft5t'
lent exploitation" of their illusions,aDd, lr.rv..=, ==.
';
pursued, can never lead to freedom.
Where there is to be creative action, it rr ., :,:;:' ; i,;;;il -'=1 *:i:*n"':t"::'il: :*f,
l**erll the bad names tt :tt"- l^ sell to fou.
lov
beside the point to discuss what we shoukl rrr r1,,. that one has no ".iir"
not do in order to be right or good. A nrirr,l r!'=' 1,'J;,.',,;;;;"ss
single and sincere is not interested in being g,u',1
conducting relations with other people so ur t, l:'.
up to a rule. Nor, on the other hand, is it itttnr.'-,
in being free, in acting perversely just to prrlr'. i,'
independence. Its interest is not in itself, btrt trr rl.,
people and problems of which it is aware; tht'rr *,*
"itself." It acts, not according to the rules, btrt *.
cording to the circumstances of the moment, trtrl rl,.
"well" it wishes to othersis not security but libcrrl
Nothing is really more inhuman than humatt r.
lations based on morals. When a man gives brea,l t''
order to be charitable, lives with a woman in orrh'r
to be faithful, eats with a Negro in order to bc urr
prejudiced, and refuses to kill in order to be pcat.
fuI, he is as cold as a clam. He does not actually rte
the other person. Only a little less chilly is the be
nevolence springing from pity, which acts to removc
suffering because it finds the sight of it disgusting.
But there is no formula for generating the au-
thentic warmth of love. It cannot be copied. You
cannot talk younelf into it or rouse it by straining at
the emotions or by dedicating yourself solemnly to r33
132
 fr
t
*
1
q

I
,
d IX. RELIGION REVTEWED
{:
lYr lroen rHrs BooK wrrH THE AssuMprroN THAT
-*nco rnd scientific philosophy grve no grounds for
nlflour belief. We did not argue the point, but
rll lt al the point of departure. We adopted the
p:vrlcnt view that the existence of God, of any ab-
tdilto, and of an eternal order beyond this world is
*ltlrout logical support or meaning. We accepted
*p notion that such ideas are of no value for scien-
tlfic prediction, and that all known events can be
nplnined more simply without them. At the same
tlnrc, we said that religion had no need to oppose
thlt view, for almost all the spiritual traditions rec-
rrynize that there is a stage in man's development
*lrcn belief-in contrast to faith-and its securities
hrve to be left behind.
To this point, I do not think that we have claimed
rnything which cannot be verified by experimenr, or
[certed anything which seriously conflicts with a
rclentific view of the world. Yet we have now come
to a position from which the principal ideas of re-
ligion and traditional metaphysics can once more
become intelligible and meaningful-not as belieft,
but as valid symbols of experience.
Science and religion are talking about the same
universe, but they are using difierent kinds of lan-
r35

b
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
RELIGION REVIEWED
{"uS:. ln general, the shtements of scir.rr,, t,.
"Tt,"
do.with the past and the i,+rrrVCr the grounds upon which these predictions
f;;;. ,,,, ,,, .., rrr;rrle, he finds them emotional rather than ra'
scribes events. He tells
,r, .,hori'tiing, r,,1
giving us a detailea , ,. ',,,r1. I{eligious people hope or believe that these
"..*n,
He finds that events occur
oi'rior'i^, ,,,,,, .i,,rr;',r will be true.
I
in u"aiou, f.",1lr(.r r, ,,
orders, and on this basis t.Jt'vcrtheless, in the history of every important re'
i
hr;"il;u o.1,,,,,,,
in the tight of which ,r. ;;;;;."p'r"o,.,,, !,1,s.rr th€r€ have been those who understood reli-
ments and adanhtions ,,, ,
F,t'ill ideas and statements in a very different way.
to the .o,rise of .u,,,,.
i
make these bets, he does ,
lr rlrc whole, this has been more true of the East
not rreed to klrorv ,i
God or erernal life..He rlr,rr of the West, though Christian history contains
what has happened
ne;;r;;;,
sv Arru tlrr
;,. u l,rng list of men and women who could have talked
already.
On the other hand, the statenrents ,,n (:ommon ground with orthodox Hindus and
to do with the oresent. of religi,,r, l, .
llrrr ltlhists.
l
But boch religious
l
:ltT peopte ; ;rr,,t lirom this other and, we think, deeper point of
concerned ",.d;;
,, '
,, , rt'w, religion is not a system of predictions. Its doc-
I Tor. with the ".;;;:,,i'jlt',^u,
a natural misunde.rt".rding, ,t. i;;;;;
p"r,'"na
l
$ , rr rnes have to do, not with the future and the ever-
l
seems ro make assertions
Uaa"ur" rr.lr,., l.rsring, but with the present and the eternal. They
L

gan and how it will "uo,rtiorn,-ill, *n,r,r r

.u c not a set of beliefs and hopes but, on the con-
l

llt Fr*:
drctron.
;{iii I :.T ii:i:
It states that this world ::1ffi?' :,t
; ;
l
rrury, a set of graphic symbols about Present experi-
rnce.
and that he made it for
*^'*o,a"
by r., i
Traditionally, these symbols are of two kinds. One
a g"rp^, inicii witt
fiIIed in the distant futurJ, t,,. t,,, rlcscribes the religious way of understanding the
iri;ri.
fif.'lr rn.
"_"n *,,,,
It insists, funhermor., l)resent in the form of concrete images and stories.
,

.r:_.otn.:'
rmmortal soul, and prophesies ;;; hr, .,,, 'l'he other describes it in an abstract, negative lan'
,t"i
,i//
-
his physical death and fiu..uJur,ilni, ,, ,u,,,,, guage which is often similar to the language of aca'
The scientist therefore ,";;l;;:#ed rlemic philosophy. For convenience, we can call these
that such predictions cannot
rn sa1,r,,1 two kinds of symbol the religious and the metaphy-
be verified, and llr.,r
they are made with sical. But we must remember that "metaphysic" in
"..uour-tii;"';;";.€
evenb known to huie happened. ro 1r.r.,r this sense is not speculative philosophy. It is not an
When he rrics r,, attempt to anticipate science and give a logical de'
I
l
r36
r37
ri

i
l

il
lii
 i

l
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
lrl
scription of the RELIGION REVIEWED
r

il
:f :t:;{,il :TH:;?l :}
H3T,;,':,l,,,,
grous symbols are_speciall/chuiu.Lrti.
,=:tlr. No one has seen electrons or guanta, nor been
rt'lr ro construct a sensual image of curved space. If
l1
l
tianity, Islam, ana ol. ( t,,,, r'r,lri<: phenomena exist, there is no reason to suP-
l
O:t:r,"t luaaism: ;;il"crrincs r,r, r,
,,,r rhat they cannot be studied scientifically, and
lil
llpe are. more metaphysical.
We said that sc '!,ir rlrcy are not simply another aspect of "nature."
i
l
about ;;,"; ;.,:ff:#j
have never been concerned
;.1:ffi;:.,l:j*,,,J,, . i,,,lrcd, science is concerned with innumerable
,l,irrgs which cannot be experienced with the senses,
with bur <.r,, -rll ry[i6[ are not present to immediate experience
day tife, with thinss
perienced. We shall
**.h;;;ilH, ""nytting
feh, arr,r , .
,

l,'r'cxample, the entire past, the process of gravity,

therefore je" ffi, by religr,,,,,
critics, that we rlr'. nrtur€ of time, and the weights of planets and
..du.irrg."rfgl"" ," i.naturalir,,,
i

*. "r.
are identifying rr,rrr. These invisible things are inferred from im-
I

,tl:r a mockery GJd nuiur., and rrr,r!

rng and rravesty '.iif, ,rr,{liate experience by logic. They are hypotheses
of
away "its essential .r."".",1,_]; :-u'"
,ffin by ral,,,,, of ob-
'"lrit:h seem to give a reasonable explanation
ill

ll
itl
. But whe,-il;,i,phJ[::ll fffH; r,€a.
r.rvcd events. The theological God is exactly the
r,rrrrc thing-a hypothesis accounting for all experi-
l,lii
the "supernaiural,,, they
b;;;*Jiltety into ,,,r 1

r I tccs.
ll l]:T^Iry"ig.. },9i
concrere realitv distin^ct "rk-;ffilt"o havir When a theologian makes such a hypothesis he
ill from this iniverse,,, o,,,1;,
speak of him in ierms
of purt r,irtori rncs the methods of science and enters the field of
lll
They insist.,h"; ;;;;0.J"",*", furu.. x icnce. He must expect, therefore, to be questioned,
lictio.ns, "id worrtlJ,,,.
not of rhe same ..order,, is rxamined, and criticized by his fellow naturalists.
l

ll
,t.
", pr;;; ,i"i^r*rl studied by But the difference between the natural and the
anorher lr ieins inu;,;,
ri
ll
il:T.;::,"Til:i, iupernatural can be understood in a simpler and
iil p,til;;,!T:t#
somethins
*r,T:,,:#:1$J :: rnuch more useful way. If "nature" is the province of
l the phenomena of ,"r.pu,r,y,-ir;;;;'#:, rcience, we can say that nature is this world as it is
l

audience. and crair named, measured, and classified. Nature is the world
l1

i Yet this is natural. which thought has analyzed and sorted into groups
llr and simple; it is eve'
i
pseudo-science. For ::ll-:* called "things." Ic has, as we saw, given things an
necessar'y."".;;-.i::il;iff identity by naming them. It distinguishes motion
rl Jil,.ii,"T,;i:;,j from stillness by comparing something which moves
ri
r38
i r39
I

ii
"llr trl
 Ni

rli
rtl

r/l
t1

wIsDoM oF rNsEcuRlrr
I rapidly tr RELIGION REVIEWED
".;:; something which
1j though uotr, mjl.lo nr('r'( t ,r' i.lr.r rlrcse data and the organs wherewith to sense
,/

Thus the whole i..rrr lcrnains unfathomably mysterious.

world of nature is
rclariv, ,,, t rorn this point of view we need have no difficulty
t11"ff:i,Xgo.usht {i;;.p"iiJn. r, ,r,, ,
,, rrr,rking sense of some of the ancient scriptures.
tl
r1 h"";-;";;;: f,lT":l':::li
called
whf srrorrr'r,,
' tttr l)harnmapada, a collection of sayings of the
i1 "thinr".uu.ir..t'11'"t
*'Just
head i'tlrr,l,
It,r,lrlha, begins: "All that we are is the result of what
convention or ,n, as it includes the ttr',r l,
that head and neck *, lr.rve thought. It is founded on our thoughts; it
'i
thi.g.i;;;iJ:-:tn-'In this ,rr, ,
n lr.rrle up of our thoughts." This is, in effect, the
l,l pr,y'irr"rl"r.;::l- sense' the ancicrrr
,,,,, ;rrrrc st?t€rl€nt that opens St. John's Gospel: "In the
i,rrlr.rri".;:.T':*ttut.right when they say rtr,, ,.
lr t', girrning was the Word, and the Word was with
,r,. of the mind. Th.y ,,,, .
r.lrl, and the Word was God. . . . All things were
irrrl,i
"ri".rr.';:il,ffi:,"ct
on the other hand,"the ,,r.rrlc by him (the Word), and without him was not
riil wortd coruisb * supernatural and arrs,r,,.
ri
nave so named, :n.^
*yr;;il;;;l,, wrrir rr ,
lrything made that was made." By thoughts, or rn€ll-
crassified, ani-ii"i.i],rnis ,
trl words, we distinguish or "make" things. With-
product of rhe minj,lyi is r,,,, rrrrt thoughts, there are no "things"; there is just un-
lrir
or describing uhat d;;il;y of dcrrr,,,,,,
i, ir. ai.u..y'.rffi,.n,
,1,

/rlri
,lelined reality.
aware of it, and r4,(. .rr, If you want to be poetic, you can liken this unde-
i,l
it
; Irrcd reality to the Father, because it is the origin or
il,:j i:* :5*:*iilqiiirlT:;Hf,,i.J,
j
i'i
I ; lrasis of "things." You can call thought the Son "of
i
one substance with the Father"-the Son "by whom

rilri
Ir
#i3:l;;;ftT:*[x.s# lt ti, i lll things were made," the Son rvho must be cruci-
licd if we are to see the Father, just as we must look
lrll
p"., ;;, ;; i!ii::n;;|.$,: j:::J:::l
... :llsaroseisaro
ii, at reality rvithout words to see it as it is. Thereafter
ll the Son rises from the dead and returns to heaven,
illl
jt _
Dennirion"##1il;l_ilI and, likewise, when we see reality as it is we are free
;_to.one corr(,r to use thought without being fooled by it. It "re-
ilii
i:li::::,:ffi:: or.i',.
".
l",""lnd noi,.,
sense
data' the attempt turns to heaven" in the sense that we recognize it as
,i
il
timately .i*"i".. rie
"X":o'
re real world
is ur part of reality, arrd not something standing out-
which U,irf, pr"
'i/
side it.
140
',i1l l4r
I

'/
ir/
,&,1,
,i/i
 wIsDoM oF rNsEcuRIrY
o.h..*rrJ:r: N,ELIGION REVIEWED
r*s";s. li;";t.:i-" "'l'lt negative, r'et;r r Ir
i,- [trrning is meaning-less because, unlike words,
;;;.'+H,
1
1

n"fi [.',',tl:r:.:,,:T"t ;, ,l,rrr no[ haae meaning but is meaning. By itself,

present, not the ;, : . r. r ir meaningless, but it is the meaning of the
rt ii""si,';; litt""dIt future,
r
not the conv(,,,,,
is the unchanging rr,r =,,r,l "tree."
sense
that ,h. id,r_.. lr ir casy to see that this kind of language, whether
another
"c",,,"il,?i,il"H: l'.$ ^:7;*,,,:,;,: ', trr rcligious or metaphysical forms, can lead to all
.,,rnncr of misunderstanding. For when the mind is
i

il::J1',':"""ffit1t, ir .n l'#-'.,,t i, rcr,rr ,, t,r rrlc(l, and "I" wants to get away from present ex-
i:ei::ii; ;fii:iH il:::ffi",l j ln:f., i:; l t., rcnce, the whole notion of a supernatural world is
rng uniformry at ten.r,o*unJ;l;.il,
,,all"
l, r

,'r lurppy hideout. The "I" is resisting an unhappy

cause minurt., r,, ,lr.rrr1;c, and so clings
has excluded to the "unchanging" Absolute,
to-which rhey could
be saij,;;;;:, ""t;il;i#,
*,,n rcst,(,, r,rp'ctting that this Absolute is also the "unfixed.'
Metaphysital Ia lVlrcn life provides some bitter experience, the "I"
trying,; ;;il, ;:^s-11st is.nesative because ir,'
ideas do not explairr ',rn only support it with the guarantee that it is part
r, ,,1 the plan of a loving Father-God. But this very
"ri,y.ii-irl;T;J'oto'and
;:::::;* I lj.#lbffixt ;: jfj ffi ,

j
i, ;,
puirrantee makes it impossible to realize the "love of
(lxl," which, as is well known, requires the giving
:,:: " l;i y:t;T{l,
;
jd;,H*:t*H"
-';r",,,',oi,na,,,*.r,,
:l ;l;
rrp of "I."
The misunderstanding of religious ideas is vividly
;il:: r:|t;:t; Io T"'r'i's', rllustrated in what men have made of the doctrine of
ei: ;i;;#::, :ilffi +*,Jli; ;it*l*; rrnmortality, heaven, and hell. But now it should be
we behold it. l{re clcar that eternal life is the realization that the pres"
are, rhen, Ulf,"far.S
traditional 0o.,.,n",r,-.:"il',rr "il".f;::,
,hl whictr ent is the only reality, and that past and future can
"oO
formless,
"i:'ff:;'; u n",o*il)na
be distinguished from it in a conventional sense
rff TS' "ia"a, u,,.r,ung. alone. The moment is the "door of heaven," the
ru!" n i nl' i. rl;", T:".]il:,':ll' i:|j, "straight and narrow way that leadeth unto life," be-
:JruX,,".,li cause there is no room in it for the separate "I." In
",;;:'H,:I.Til Ji::,::,lil:: e:f,U:,,erms ,he serr, ,he this experience there is no one experiencing the ex-
perience. The "rich man" cannot get through this
r42
r43
l

ir
I

i''/i
 I,

ii

li
ili THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
RELIGION REVIEWED
door because he
ili
ai,gi.si"";;J1T."L:?,H:t bagg; 1" r'
'r
lilr(:h time as you want, but quite another to have
t une might quote rvhole pages ',,'rr without end.
from rlrt. s1,,,,, I'or there is no joy in continuity, in the perpetual.
literature of all times and
iiil places to show th.rr , r, ,
Iife has been understood ,
lte rlcsire it only because the present is empty. A
in this sense. f .ht. l,,tr
,i
ing from Eckhan rvill suffice: r.lu)n who is trying to eat money is always hungry.
ll'lrrn someone says, "Time to stop nowl" he is in a
il
The Now-moment in.which ;,rrric because he has had nothing to eat yet, and
/
the Now-moment in which God made the firsr rr,.,,, ,, ?rntr more and more time to go on eating money,
and the Now_momenr i,
,rr. f"".*.r.,i,rr, .,,,,,,,,,
*t
.
/
i.t, l'r_ ffitlng ,,, ,
in God, in whom there is.qly-*;N"t..i,oou, , r r
uvcr hopeful of satisfaction around the corner. We do
son who lives in the Iight
.i b"j"r, ."lriilr,
,,,, ,
l,t reall/ want continuity, but rather a present ex-
time past nor of tir ,,,.,,,,,, of total happiness. The thought of wanting
;,rr icnce
,
,t
l
. ._." rr,..iioi;J;::,'"".ffil;
nor trom chance, for he lives :* n,J
jr,:l;: ll l rrrr lr an experience to go on and on is the result of be-
l
ii ,t. rvJ*-"*omenr
unfailingly,,,in verdure r"*.ty rtr.rr
'

,, lrrg self-conscious in the experience, and thus incom-

lL
.irJ.,;'""-.,..
ij l,lctely aware of it. So long as there is the feeling of
tji I-n:"
yolll dying and coming to life in eactr rr,,, an "I" hauing this experience, the moment is not all.
rDent, would_be scientific
predictions .Uout whar rl ru l,,tcrnal life is reaiized when the last trace of difier-
rlii happen after death of tittte consefuence. .l t,, rrrce between "I" and "now" has vanished-when
tir whole glory of it is "r.
that *. d;-;';l'l*. la"r, rhere is just this "now" and nothing else.
,,,
l
survival and annihilation
are
By contrast, hell or "everlasting damnation" is not
ilit rhe
on memories of wali. "fit.l"r.a "n p;rrr, the everlastingness of time going on forever, but of
ditre,ent-w"y,;;;:i,*";*,'::::i:ii#l;,1l,il]1,
rl

the unbroken circle, the continuity and frustration

and everlasting nothingness of going round and round in pursuit of something
/l are without teaning.
It needs but sliEht iriagination which can never be attained. Hell is the fatuity, the
lasting time is a"mo
i",""ifr.
that evcr cverlasting impossibility, of self-love, self-conscious'
'lil
11 tw..n h."u." o t.]i::';,T,#:ilTil:,::J:ilJ; ness, and self-possession. It is trying to see one's own
",'
is Iittle to choose. eyes, hear one's own ears, and kiss one's own lips.
The desire ,o .oniinr.
11,
only seem arrracrive when .",, To see, however, that life is complete in each mo-
"rr"ur,
one ,hi;k;;'indefinitc
time rather than infinite ment-whole, undivided, and ever new-is to under-
time. It;;;;; ri'ing ,o
'it
hou. stand the sense of the doctrine that in eternal life
r44
t, r45

/i
r/l

,,llil,
 ii

THE WISDOM OF INSECURI.TY

RELIGION REVIEWED
God, the undefinable
this, isall-in_all anr I ir r r,.
Cause or End for
d r
rurr rcligion contains its own hidden anwer to the
*1,;"r.,'*;;--T'j
i

rutu,Jffi,1lr,1 ::?:?;:f,,::llll l,
l

l
l
tr,. l,r"l)tcm in the idea that man can only surrender
l,trrrrelf "in Christ." For "Christ" stands for the real'
dangled carror, aroyr'juilH;:nkr.y. rr,, tr f r hat there is no separate self to surrender. To give
i
fttment of the divine p;il;*, #
ture.It is found in the preser;,;;;;;;"ri.. ,,, ,,
,

lp "I" is a false problem. "Christ" is the realization

i,{ r .r rlr,rt there is no separate "I." "I do nothing of myself.
r"'t' uui'r;'-s
r

i
I
li
;:::::: HH:"t* ';::'l
. I and the Father are one. . . . Before Abra-
Irrrn was, I am.'
l
l For this is the meaning
of that universal :r "; r, Lr ,
lf there is any problem at all, it is to see that in
il

lReatej religious princille

must give up himself.
,fr"i,'i"", (jr,,t, ,, rlris instant you have no "I" to surrender. You are
ii
tude, and yet nothing
rji, i".ll;;;", a,,), r,r. r ornpletely free to do this at any moment, and noth'
i
I

h* ",
;;;^"'ilf.
nothing so totallv mi-srna.rri""a.'H"* ,o .,,,, , trrg whatever is stopping you. This is our freedom.
rl
1

c?n .r r, ,, Wc are not, however, free to improve ourselves, to

which is selfish, li* iir.ii';;iil;;y
logians, by its orin power, trr<. rr,, rrrrrender ourselves, to lay ounelves oPen to grace'
U,rt tt.ougi thc for all such split-mindedness is the denial and post-
/irll divinegrace, ,h. oor.r*hi;;;.bk, 1;rrr

l)onement of our freedom. It is trying to eat your

I

what is beyond hi, orn ,o., r,,,

l
strength. But ":ln
is rhi.s 1ir,,,
tli
given to all or to a chosen rnouth instead of bread.
ll
l

ceive it, have no choice

f.;:-;#;ir.n ,h,,y ,, Is it necessary to underline the vast difterence be'
some say that it comes
br,;;;;;;ii#,n._,,,r,,, nveen the realization that "I and the Father are one,'
il
to ail, but that there
tl
who accept its aid and rhose are r rr,,,, and the state of mind of the person who, as we say,
llr that it comes to a chosen
;;il: orhers r.,y "thinks he is God"? If, still thinking that there is an
elect, but still, for the rrr,,,,
I
ll part, insist that the individuai;*;;;;;er isolated "I," you identify it with God, you become
lll
it or leave it. ro r;,!, the insufferable ego-maniac who thinks himself suc-
I
I
But this does not solve the problem cessful in attaining the impossible, in dominating

hotding';;;;*"ringIt rrr,rc experience, and in pursuing all vicious circles to

ll
places the problem at all.
l1
of
,li
rl self by the problem satisfactory conclusions.
"j,-..p;; ii*ri.J"Trr.
grace, and the twoproblem, "rl"rrrr"s divirrr I am the master ol rnY fate;
ll
i
"." I am the caPtain ol rnY soul!
I r46 "r,.,,
rli r47

!
I

l
rl
l

' i*l.tirl
ri'li
 RELIGION REVIEWED
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
When the snake swallows his tail he has ;r 5\\, r, ,r,-r,owcrsottectrno.logroflXl";ts":[t::t]i',ile.
; :' i;:llff iJffi"':,"ffi ;;ttte;fi
i
head. It is quite another thing to s€€ that y,',, =, ;., cenuif ugar
your "fate," and that there is no one either tt) r', self-conscious tyPe
it or to be mastered, to rule or to surrender. t,;"';.';;;;; " p"ditu-"nt
Must we also insist that this loss o[ "I" irr ( ',"t . t' gi""i"
,,,', yt,rc1 ::
n() cuf€r but Par
?":ffil
X*tff.n1 ffhave
ir
r

not. a mystic miasma in which the "valucs ,'l 1,'. *t no re'

sonality" are obliterated? The "I" was not, is n,,r , ,i rt',rrrght has weakened its
power 1:*
:

for the "God" 't*fiitn

it could n"* Ot::97
never will be a part of hunian personality. 'l lr., ,. p' ts,
Reality which the name
srg'
nothing unique, or "difierent," or interesting ,r1,,,,,. rrr wirs not the unknown
i

,irlrcs, but only a projection "l

t":Tll:a cosmrc'
it. On the contrary, the more human beings g,','.'.. over tty unlv1::'
i

it, the more uniform, uninteresting, and irnpcrs,,",i ,;:;;;";. "I"'lorcfing itscience is not-so much that
it
'['he true splendoroof
they become. The faster things move in circlt's, rl'. but that it
predicts'
sooner they become indistinguishable blurs. It is ,,t, ,;rlnes and classifie'' Jto'Jt ""d they
and desires ;; k;;*
li the iacts''whatever
vious that the only interesting people are intcr t sr' ,1 much-it may confuse
turn out to Ut'"ifo*tntr
'lrscrves
rtlly
people, and to be completely interested is to lr,'., tt^ti'y with arbitrary di'
I
forgotten about "I." Iitcts with to"ut""ott'''"""i mind it bears
We can see, then, that the basic principlcs ,,1 tpt""t"
visioqs, in this ""d
sinceiity
3f
in its other
some rb'$embf""t" "iifiot' "tattttood
I
philosophy, religion, and rnetaphysics may be unrl, ' " gi"ater the t:i""::tt'' the more
lt'"
stood in two entirely different ways. They can 1,, .tnd deepbr
i
'"t""' iil ignorance- o-[ reality' and the
seen as symbols of the undivided mind, expressi,rrr. he is impresita witt'
more he realizes ttt"'
iit r?*s and labels' descriptions
of the truth that in each moment life and expericrrr, o.t thought'
ht:
rli
are a complete rvhole. "God" is not a definition ,,1 and defi nitio"" u'J'it-ntta"11 -o*t of his
tlne world for purposes
itl this state but an exclamation about it. Ordinarily, Thev help t'i- to t"t
to understand and explain
however, they are used as attempts to stand outsirL' own devising rathel;tlan
oneself and the universe to grasp them and to rulc tt'tn. universe into infini'
rnore he analyzes the
il
them. This process is circular, however complex antl
tesimals, -o"''tiig' t'" ntat to classify' and the
ii
devious. 'i"
more he pt"tint'
tnt ?"i^'i"ity of atl classification'
Because men have been circling for so many ages,
r49
ti
r48

ll

-,llll
 I

l
l

ii
jx
THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
rl

What he does not know RELICION REVIEWED

seems to increasc rr
,il
if
t. t""rrl"sreacriry r,,;,,,
metric progression to-what I lre highest to which man can attain is wonder; and
I
,l,r priute phenomenon makes him wonder, let him be
rll the point where *r,"il, ,,,.r(,rrr; nothing higher can it give him, and nothing
l-rou.l:r
mere is r,,,,
blank space in arueb
ly"ri,""inown lirr rhcr should he seek for behind it; here is the limit.
=
ril/
"f il"t a wirrr L , r, ,,
*indo* whose ;;;;;;;isnorarr.
,
r rr rlrcre are the rvords of St.
John of the Cross, one
*:ilf," r,,,,
,t rlr(: greatest seers of the Christian tradition:
li The timid mind shuts-this
window One of the gteatest favors bestowed on the soul tran
n
and is sitent and thoughttess;;;il",with ? t,,11,,,
it do.s ,,,,, rl,'ntly in this life is to enable it to see so distinctly and
know in order ro .rrit.,
/
ilr
thinks it knows. rt.fius
il.-*"rJ"u"rr wtr;rr ri rrr lccl so profoundly that it cannot comprehend God at
sll. These souls are herein somewhat like the saints in
l

ijrl
mere repetition of what "td;;;;;tld
has urr.uJy-il.n
rp".", *,,,,,
expt,rr.,i
le;rven, where they who know him most perfectly perceive
rrrost clearly that he is infinitely incomprehensible; for
kno*"*u;;;;il#*inui"r y,,.
rlrose who have the less clear vision do not perceive so
,T::lin:l"l:lir*v€ not really been known
llr
, lt:;rlly as do these others how greatly he transcends their
l/
ttt at ;rll, vrsion.
r]l

ilii
";t-;"*.o
over. And ,rr. turoTlleasured
a thousand tirrr' r ln such wonder there isnot hunger but fulfill-
w-e mark
ili,llj rrrcnt. Almost everyone has known it, but only in
/ilI d *;;;i,1.:, H: ::l I :: j
1l ""
of thought,, until th. *iJ;;"*, ^::;and:i r,,
't,Jcircle ; r,rrc instants when the startling beauty or strange.
lrss of a scene drew the mind away from its self-pur-
its own processes, and
'ill

li
l:*:
be_at this moment is
becomes aware that
r,, rrrit, and for a moment made it unable to find words
pure miracle.
it
l
In ways that differiu, rir,lelhjs lor the feeling. We are, then, most fortunate to be
l
of Western and Eastern is the lasr worrt living in a time when human knowledge has gone
I
wisdom
/
l
Upanishads say "fit..'ffr. Hindu ro far that it begins to be at a loss for words, not at
/ll1 rhe strange and marvelous alone, but at the most
I He who thinks thz
li ordinary things. The dust on the shelves has become
rtl/
:*;X,.."#;:i:::;',1#H:",0il:*"$*Hl,l as much of a mystery as the remotest stars; we knon
cnough of both to know that we know nothing. Ect.
I n#"lfflF,T;"J;,"if"*i,;""i,1*'lnH*i,1":; dington, the physicist, is nearest to the mystics, not
lil
Goethe says it in words in his airier flights of fancy, but when he says quite
which,
--' to s*! modern
-v the
'llt
tll
may be plainer: 'rruL mind simply, "Something unknown is doing we don'r
1
know what."
r50
irr r5r
1l

ll

,l
*'1,/r/j
 THE WISDOM OF INSECURITY
In such a confession thought has moved
f rrll r tr. t.

3Tg y.
are again as childrin. To thor. srilt
tr,,,
$nly-rntent upon explaining all things,
ulx)tr l, ,,r
ing the water of lifetrmly in p"p.;;;i
str i,,s, ,r,,,
confession says nothing and
-aun, ,rorf,lng lrrrr ,t,
feat. To orhers, the fact tt tt oujfriiras
"t rnui tu, co,,,l,l, ,, ,i
a circle is a revelation of what
U.cn rhrir,p
not only in philosophy, religion, and spcr.rrl.rri,,
science, but also in piychology""nj
,nor"tr, irr r.vrrl
day feeling and living. His niina has
been
- in ;r r'rr'r
to be away from itself and to catch
iaelf.
y"::r^f_":
yourselaes, none else compet.s,
None other!:!m holds you
that ye liae and dit
And, whir upon the wheel, aia nii
its spokes ol agony,
o ora
-'' n;r,
Its tire of tears, inltaii ol nothingness. il,AN W. WATTS, who held both a master's de-
Discoveringthis the mind becomes grce in
theology and a doctorate of divinity, is best
. whole: rhc *1rlrr Irrown as an interpreter of Zen Buddhism in par-
letweel f and me, man and the world, the ideal ,,,,,t tlcular, and of Inclian and Chinese philosophy in
the real, comes ro an end. paranoia,tie
mina U.ri,t. gerreral. Standing apart, however, from sectarian
ieelf, becomes rnetanoia,the mind witt,ltr.ff rnembership, he has earned the reputation of being
anrl r,
free from itself. Free from clutchirf-ar otte of the most original ancl "urrrutted" philosophers
tn.*r.tu,,,
the hands can handle; free from look'irrs o[ the century. He was the author of some twenty
after thcrrr books on the philosophy and psychology of religion,
the eyes can see; free from ,ryir;;
:.lr-.j understa,,,l lncluding (in Vintage Books) The Way of Zen; The
its:lf thoughr can thinl.. In-such f..ii"rg, seeing,
thinking life_ requires no furure ,o .J*pt.r.
a,,,1 toyotts Cosmology; Nature, Man, and Woman; Be-
iu.t, hold the Spirit; The Book; Does It Matter?; This Is
yl3xqlanation to justify itself. In this mlment it ir It; The Supreme ldentity; Beyond Theology; and
rnrsned. Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unh.nown He died in
t973.

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