Today I pulled the five of cups. This blew me away. I never look for a particular card when I do these analysis. I just pull one from the center of the deck come what may, and here came this card that relates so perfectly with the previous blog about best laid plans.
A young person dressed in black looks down at 3 spilled cups. He ignores the 2 standing in the background. He's immoble, not moving toward the city in the distance even though a white bridge spans the river that blocks him from its comforts.
Well, this is a really typical response to dissappointment. We focus on what went wrong and think about all the things that now won't happen because of some unlucky event. We also ignore completely what is working right in our lives and what we have that's of benefit to us.
Today, on the radio, I was listening to some famous budhist talk about duality. I wish I could remember his name, and his exact words. Oh well, I'll just report what I came away with.
This man was saying that when you're enlightened you are at a place where there is no distinction between men and women, good and bad, old and young, better and worse, even love and hate. He said that nirvana is always within us, and when we feel no preference for one thing over another, we have the power to experience all the world as nirvanna. Wow.
So our young man is attached to the thing-ness of what has happened to him. He is so caught up in his evaluation and judgement of it as being a "bad" thing that he has lost sight of the potential of the moment.
His black robe hints at the myriad possiblities, since black is the color in which all possiblities abide. The river is his emotional nature. His focus on what happened means that he can feel only his dissappointment or anger. The full range of his emotional guidence (the river) is at a distance from him. The white bridge offers a clear way into the balanced perfection of nirvana. All he needs to do is take the first step. Turn towards what he has, what works, what will give him pleasure, and he's on his way to creating heaven on earth.
It's really true that there's no use crying over spilt milk. What's done is done, so let's go do some more with high hopes and a happy heart. Life is messy. Let's live it up.
Love,
Kristine
Finding Method in the Madness:
