[Chapter Infinity]
Good morning! ( I hope you say this to the Universe every day!)
It’s a new day, a fresh start.
Well, admittedly most of us have a few loose ends that kept us awake until they slipped from our grip. And often, after the first clear flush of arising in the light, we feel compelled to pick them up and proceed to try to tie them up again…
Are we really?
So much of the structure of human activity is based on “finishing.” Deadlines and goals can be important milestones when publishing a book, constructing a building, getting a degree, eradicating world hunger…
But so often we apply this same logic to life itself, and it’s often the opposite of the nature of who we are. We say, “Once I have something, do this, or am with a certain person, it will be done.” What will, your life? Do you want to die the day you buy your new house, win that award, or get married?
Of course not, but we tend to look at things that way and either spend our lives waiting for completion or wondering what to do next (how many people get married and then screw it up by making their partner their next “project?”)
On a spiritual path, practice leads us to a clearing of mental debris that opens myriad new pathways on a daily basis. They do not lead to completion or closure, only more paths to explore. Where is happiness? All along the way, or nowhere at all.
Why go forward? Because we know we were all brought here for a purpose, to feel whole and to do good in the world. When we lose our way, we feel detached and alone.
The quest for concrete attainment has another downside -- comparison. We judge ourselves against others according to milestones in time, material acquisition, and social standing. Does being a Partner at 30 make anybody really happy? Does a more desirable spouse make for a happier life? Or a bigger house? Admit it, we all know people with these assets, and more, who are miserable, but we still feel a little “less” for not having it all. And that is a waste of the immeasurable gifts we do have!
I have for decades referred to Bokononism, a religion that exists only inside the narrative of Vonnegut’s gem of a novel, “Cat’s Cradle,” as having real resonance with how we live. One aspect that is now catching on is the concept of the Karass vs the Granfalloon (I just noticed typing this that these 3 words are in the dictionary, woo-hoo!)
A Karass is basically the subset of humanity with whom you were born to interact, a natural fraternity of spirit and synchronicity. A college fraternity, any club, political party, professional group, etc. would be deemed a Granfalloon, an artificial classification without true significance. (Perhaps why there is so much drinking generally involved...)
The message here is that we can settle for synthetic happiness within the prescribed activities of our Granfalloons, or we can set out to find our soul family, our Karass, with whom lies oneness with our destiny and true bliss.
Another feature of “Cat’s Cradle” is its unusual structure - 304 pages divided into 127 chapters. We tend to see our lives as a series of chapters, and perhaps we need to expand our possibilities in that area. We are infinite. The present moment contains the whole universe. Where will it take us, and where will we take it?
...Chapter ∞
