Divine Neutrality

On my daily walk along Joy Road I pass many scenes. One of them is shown in the image. Another, further along the road, is policed by a black and white dog. My neighbor tells me he is a Border Collie. As I walk by he barks at me without stop as if to say, “If I weren’t on this chain I’d come at you and sever your foot from your leg.”

I, of course, am happy that the chain restrains his turf.

One day, as my walk brought me near, I could see this dog scampering around his usual territory. But, now, he was obviously free of the chain. I got worried and looked around for a stick to defend myself. Fido, oblivious, just cavorted merrily, snapping at flies, running frenetically here and there without a sound out of him. He stopped for a moment, looked at me, and then returned to his play. No barking. No attack. He had no interest in me!

And so I came to understand what Fido was saying when he barked at me.

“Hey you - anybody - come over here and get this chain off my neck.”

Of course any dog lover would assume this from the outset. Apparently I lacked the insights that dog lovers have. I have not paid attention to the language of animal behavior. It’s a failing.

The image shows one of the stepping stones leading to my house. In mixing the cement I asked myself, “What words deserve being set in stone?” My choices are set in stepping stones. They are observations about the mechanics of being; notes on how the world is. No complaints, no visions of how the world ought to be, no fantasies, no prayers. Just laconic surmise from observations.

In stepping on the stones, most people take no notice whatever, that they are walking on words. A very few say something to me on the text content. And one person demonstrated considerable strength of character in saying of the text shown in the image that he didn’t know what it meant. He said what others dared not say. Only inner confidence allows one to profess ignorance. I respect people who can do it.

I offer examples below to illustrate the text, “Nothing so hinders understanding as notions of justice.”

The first example is this: In medieval times, items were held to possess ‘intrinsic value’ - a just value. The price of an item should be its just value. People battled over the just value of a thing. People argue over it today!

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Among many people who were not bold enough to do it, my sister, Simma, confessed to seeing no humour in this cartoon.* Wherein lies the humor?

You are a seeker. You have heard of an enlightened one. He is a hermit who lives in a cave in the side of a mountain. You must struggle to get there. The arduous climb symbolizes the struggle to attain nirvana - become enlightened. In clothes befitting the nakedness of your soul and your readiness to become a devotee you ascend the mountain. And, at last, just over the last ledge your struggle is to be rewarded. You will see the enlightened one, an ascetic bearded prophet of great age.

Instead you see a 40 year old hairy man dressed in woman’s underwear, wearing a wig and made up like a hooker, sitting in the lotus position. But then, this astonishingly silly figure speaks the words that his appearance illustrates. And these turn out to be the most profound words imaginable: Disillusionment is enlightenment!

Disillusionment, something mourned by many as the loss of innocence, is declared to be the kernel of enlightenment. By a man whose very appearance embodies disillusionment to the seeker.

The power of this cartoon is of biblical proportions. It is Michaelangelo’s David of cartoons. A masterpiece. Because it speaks profundity through humor.

The pealing away of illusion is surely enlightenment.
And the pealing away of illusion is what disillusionment means.
Disillusionment is enlightenment.

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