Peter’s note: This reader of my “What is the Point of Life” post commented a couple times and most recently I asked him if he’d mind me turning his comment into a complete post. How could I do anything but?

His response was, “To me ideas are like fish swimming around in the sea of mind.  Once caught, they ought to be hauled back to shore and shared with everybody else in the tribe for inner nourishment!  If you think that my comment will benefit others in a positive way then go for it!” I did. Here is his “comment” that deserved far more than a space in the comments section…

“A Walk Around the Block”

It is astounding how much power that culture and society has to shape the way that we think and feel about our lives and how we choose to live them. However, we must never lose sight of the astounding power that we have to shape the way that we think and feel about our own lives and how we choose to live them! All great changes in both society and in individuals have come from the inner strength to push on the boundaries that define who we are on both collective (macrocosmic) and individual (microcosmic) scales.

Inner expansion and growth is more like a circle that widens when we stand in the center and push out the circumference than it is like a straight line with an “A” on one end and a “B” on the other. It is like the expansion of a ripple on the surface of a lake or the unfolding of lotus petals. As the circumference expands and the petals unfold, the dark mirror that we are looking into becomes less and less obscured and we begin to see all of the elements and sub-elements that combine to form the vast complexity of who we suppose ourselves to be.

When we approach these boundaries there is always a feeling of excitement, anxiety, curiosity, and self-doubt. After all, what lies on the other side is none other than the Great Unknown! And it is but a perspective and a choice to peer into the Great Unknown from a safe distance and view it either as a destructive or healing entity. It may be one, the other, neither, or both! However one chooses to view it, the reality is that it has always been what we might call a loyal ally throughout the course of our lives in terms of our collective and personal growth and development.

Where would we be if we didn’t experiment with the unknown as an infant by crying and squealing at different volumes in order to see how this might affect our environment (i.e. bring mommy’s breast to our lips)? Imagine if we didn’t experiment with placing all of those objects into our mouths or with crawling hither and thither, climbing onto the furniture, and standing up on our own two feet? What if we didn’t touch that hot stove or draw with crayon on the bathroom wall? And what if we didn’t get up onto that bicycle or behind the wheel of that car?

What if we didn’t open ourselves up to socializing with people who are nothing like us (different shapes, sizes, colors, orientations, agenda’s, etc.)? How about if we never explored a diverse range of books, music, movies, writing, or even just walking through an unknown secton of the woods? And what about looking within?

What if we didn’t explore and experiment with the Great Unknown as it expresses itself through our visions of mystery and magic (divinity!). What if mountains weren’t climbed and seas were never sailed? What if religious and political institutions were not embraced and challenged? What if our lips and tongues never touched those of another or our yoni’s and lingam’s never connected in orgasmic ecstasy and bliss?

This is the Art and Science of life! The whole point, purpose, and meaning of it all! To expand the ripple of wisdom and understanding! To reveal the divine eternally infinite radiating clear-light of truth/love and the heart of the ever-expanding lotus! To peer into the great unknown with reverence and respect and to take a deep breath before bravely stepping straight into it! To push on those boundaries of society’s and our own definition of what is “real”, what is “normal”, what is “truth”, and what is “love”!

This growth does not have to stop when we have come to a certain age and point in our lives. It does not have to stop when we have become citizens full of expectations placed upon ourselves and one another. Virtues ought to be sought out and conserved until they evolve into vices and vices ought to be sought out and liberated until they evolve into virtues! Nothing is stagnant in nature, all is spiraling in ceaseless cyclical flux!

Occasionally there is the introduction of something new and exciting into the dance! Free radicals chaotically colliding aeons ago eventually formed into the novelty of simple molecular structures. And its a good thing that the creator/creation tried something new because without simple molecular structures there would not have appeared more complex molecular structures.

Thank the magical mystery that the essence of being, force and form experimented with creating galaxies, solar systems, and at least one planet suitable to host the most simple form of carbon-based life! Three cheers for evolutionary experimentation with single celled organisms in the primordial soup! Thank God for those courageous amphibious aquatic creatures who ventured up on to dry land and in time the genetic anomalies that brought those chimps out of the trees and into the valleys in search of food!

What of the great monkey-types who pushed the boundaries by munching on those funny mushrooms and experimenting with mixing berries and painting on cave walls in order to communicate to the others where the herds were moving and to tell stories? And what if that furry genius didn’t experiment with rubbing two flint stones together?

And it goes on and on and on and on! The boundary pushers all along the way who brought us out from being “knuckle dragging shit slingers” to astro-phycists orbiting the planet in a space craft! Who took us all along the way from the truly ingenious idea of pulling the grubs out from inside of the log with a stick to General Relativity and String Theory! Who took us from staring up at the stars at night in wonder to staring up at the stars at night in wonder!

We ARE the free radicals and the transformational force of evolution! This wave across unknowable and immeasurable epochs of time is still and forever rolling itself out like the giant cutting edge of an enormous ripple! We are STILL the little infant experimenting with reality in order to figure out exactly where the boundaries are so that we know precisely where we stand and the work that needs to be done in our lives! Why stop here? The work never ceases until the moment that one decides that she or he no longer wishes to grow.

So as we approach the Great Unknown together let us keep all of this in mind. This is a journey of self discovery and healing! Not only for us but for all and for this beautiful planet! I believe, no, I UNDERSTAND, that to free one’s self of her or his own restrictive limitations is to allow more and more of the inner light that is shared with all to explode out into the darkness that has been longing for far to long to reunite in holy communion with its beloved radiance!

If we choose to live in this manner then our lives are going to be incredibly beautiful as our hearts, minds, wisdom, and understanding of ourselves and each other are most certainly sure to deepen and expand! Let us take this precious opportunity to explore and express!

Wonderful changes are here and on the way!