Letter to a Young Existentialist

-

Dear friend,
 
You have come to question what all of this means: your life and love, your toil and entertainment; your tears which give way to laughter which give way to tears all over again; the ceaseless frenzied activity that you’ve been invited to join – activity that you fear will only serve to keep you occupied until such time as you return to dust, as all of life, as mighty civilizations, as entire species inevitably turn to dust, over and over again.

 
Young friend, you now stand peering into the dark, cold abyss of meaninglessness. Congratulations! Yes, congratulations. For you, young friend, are alive – fully and truly alive. Oh, sure, we’re all alive (until, of course, we’re not), but to live nobly on the brink of this cold and dark abyss is to be fully and truly alive. This and this alone will be your rock.

 
 
 
I know, I know..., these words must hardly sound like the kind of rain that can turn the desert that you are feeling now into the richly forested certainty that you so crave. I know, as well, that you will turn your back on this abyss and set out for the horizon in search of the kind of rain that you think must surely be out there somewhere just beyond, just beyond. And you will find it.

 
Yes, you will find the rain that you now seek. It will pour down upon your face and cool your heated brow. It will quench your thirst and drip down off of your body to soak deep into the earth. Flowers to please the eye will sprout and bloom. Plants to nourish your body will grow and fruit. Your forest will grow, and within its shade and protection you will fall peacefully and easily into sleep.

 
But you will awaken once again. And when you awaken you will realize that the rain you thought was real was but belief, and the flowers and once-nourishing plants were but ideas that now lie lifeless all around you – in various stages of decay. Your forest will be gone, as if it had shrunk back into the desert earth from which it sprang after those welcome rains poured down. And beside you…, yes, as close to you as it is now, perhaps even closer for your sense of deep betrayal, will be the abyss.

 
And when that happens, just look down. No…, at your feet! Your rock has always been there – the rock of living nobly beside this dark and cold abyss. Look around you. Every eye that you gaze into belongs to someone who is trying just like you to live as nobly as they can beside this cold and dark abyss. Yes, there are many who, as you did, fell asleep amidst their forest. Their eyes are open, and yet they sleep. Be kind to them. Love them. Be of assistance to them. Become a part of their forest if that is what they truly need. We all need a glorious rest from time to time! And when they awaken, as you did, keenly aware of the abyss: Be kind to them. Love them. Be a companion to them. For you are fully and truly alive.

 
                     Sincerely,

                     One who knows well the abyss...




Image Credits
 

Christ of the abyss image via:

http://chickgeek.org/christ-of-the-abyss/

 
 

Copyright 2013 by Mark Frank

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dogen's 'Flower of Emptiness' - Part 2

-
Image
Dogen’s Shobogenzo contains a fascicle known as Kuge , or Flower of Emptiness . As discussed in Part 1, kuge is a term that is sometimes used to describe apparitions caused by cataracts or some other eye disease – ‘flowers in the sky’, so to speak. Within the context of a Buddhist discussion, kuge is sometimes used in reference to our obscured vision of ‘ things as it is ’ – vision which presumably becomes clarified over the course of our meditative practice. In Kuge , Dogen uses our more commonsensical understanding of ‘flowers in the sky’ as a means to discuss the true nature of emptiness , shunyata , as he understands it. Thus, the translation of Kuge as The Flower of Emptiness (Nishiyama, 1975). For those who have not yet had the opportunity to read Part 1 , I will reiterate the caution regarding interpreting in a nihilistic way Buddhist teachings related to emptiness . Without correct understanding of emptiness we might misinterpret the teaching that no thing
Read more

A Buddhist Takes Communion / A Buddhist Take On Communion

-
Image
Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” – Luke 22:19-20, NRSV   Yes, at the risk of prompting the eyes of many Buddhist-leaning readers to begin glazing over (What, is this going to be a sermon or something?), and at the risk of prompting the eyes of many Christian-leaning readers to narrow in suspicion (What does this Buddhist know about Christianity, anyway?), I’m going consider how the Lord’s Supper might appear if viewed through a Buddhist lens. In doing so I hope that Buddhist and Christian alike will glimpse something that leads to deeper spiritual understanding within each respective tradition.       Perhaps a little personal background will assuage your curiosity as to why I’m even considering such a top
Read more

Eclipses, Ice Cream, I Love You, Goodbye

-
Image
Our family lost its matriarch this past April. Darlene was an incredibly accomplished professional woman—having traveled the world as part of a wife and husband ministerial team. She was retired by the time I got to know her, though, and most people in our circle simply referred to her as Mom or Granny. Darlene holding one of our newest family members. Having married into the clan somewhat late in life, and with my biological mother still alive, I never quite felt comfortable calling her Mom. Instead, I settled into calling her Darlene. Regardless of what I called her, though, as my birth mother slowly faded away into the haze of dementia, Darlene was there for me as the perfect mother-in-law. But there were times when I felt like an imperfect son-in-law. You see, Darlene poured out more love than I was able to accept. She knew I loved plants and gardening, for instance, and she just kept them coming. Even after we got young cats that made keeping houseplants nearly impossible, the
Read more