It's an "A-Ha!" realization. Actually, since there's more
than one realization which elicits your "A-Ha!", "There's
nothing
to get" is arguably the "A-Ha!" realization.
For a moment you actually do get it. For one glorious moment out of
time, you do get there's
nothing
to get (this is it). It's amazing. It's awesome. It's wonderful.
It renders you breathless. And then ... perhaps because
you're so enamored of it, and more likely without even knowing you're
doing it, you turn it into something. You turn it into something
to get. Uh oh! You may not realize it at the time, but that's when you
turn "There's
nothing
to get" into what there is to get. You tell yourself "I get it:
that's what there is to get: there's
nothing
to get.". And long before the full impact of "There's
nothing
to get" can completely sink in, you've made it into something to get.
Too bad: the moment you make it into something to get, is the moment
you no longer got it.
In a very real sense, it's almost a pity "There's
nothing
to get" is so fascinating. It's precisely because it's so fascinating
that it grabs us. And as we're seduced by the intellectual wonder of
it, we
inexorably
lose the
dogshit
reality
experience of it (I don't know why it
works
this way - this is just the way it seems to
work).
What happens
is the
"nothing"
in "There's
nothing
to get" becomes
interpreted
in various ways.
"Nothing"
becomes "no ... thing". "What there is to get, is 'no ...
thing'; once you can get 'no ... thing', then you've
got it!" they sometimes tell me.
There's merit in developing the muscle to differentiate between
"nothing"
and "no ... thing". Yet I've got one overriding concern about making
"There's
nothing
to get" into "There's no ... thing to get" which is this: it tries to
make "There's
nothing
to get" into something which has
meaning
and
significance
(and we're crazy about making things meaningful and
significant)
ie it tries to make "There's
nothing
to get" into what there is to get.
But ... there's
nothing
to get. There isn't.
Nothing.
Really.
"There's
nothing
to get" doesn't equate to,
mean,
or substitute for, and neither is it interchangeable with "There's no
... thing to get." It's more than that actually. It's when you equate,
substitute, or interchange "There's no ... thing to get" with "There's
nothing
to get", you obfuscate "There's
nothing
to get" entirely.
Try this on for size: what "There's
nothing
to get" confronts is our incessant figuring it out. We figure
life out (or, at least, we try to) because we absolutely
know once we've figured it all out, life will be better. However life
is already whole and complete and perfect, and it already
works.
There's
nothing
to figure out. Notice it's only of secondary interest to look at
the way we constantly try to figure life out. What's of primary
interest is a lot harder to see: it's that we absolutely
know ie it's that we're absolutely certain there's
something to figure out in the first place.
Listen:
there's
nothing
to get. There's
nothing
to figure out. This is it.
Transformation
has a lot less to do with figuring it all out, than with confronting
that what we
already absolutely
know
to be true, may not be written in stone after all. There's
nothing
to get. This is it. You're already whole and complete - exactly the way
you are, and exactly the way you aren't. Making "There's
nothing
to get" into something to get ie making "There's
nothing
to get" into "There's no ... thing to get" or making it into anything
else for that matter, is just more arrogance.
How
we got to be this way, is one of the wonderful
mysteries
of being human. We go to ashrams to discover deeper
meaning,
hoping to uncover some clue, some key. Yet we can't enjoy
ashrams
authentically
because we're so involved trying to discover deeper
meaning,
some clue, some key ... and "There's
nothing
to get - this is it". We go to
monasteries
and convents to retreat and to get in touch with
God.
Yet we can't enjoy
monasteries
and convents
authentically
because we're so involved retreating and trying to get in touch with
God
... and "There's
nothing
to get - this is it". We go to church to hear "The Truth". Yet
we can't enjoy
churchauthentically
because we're so involved trying to hear "The Truth" ... and "There's
nothing
to get - this is it".
The possibility of an ashram isn't fulfilled when we
discover deeper
meaning
or when we uncover some clue, some key. The possibility of an ashram is
fulfilled when we realize "There's
nothing
to get - this is it". The possibilities of
monasteries
and convents aren't fulfilled when we've retreated and gotten in touch
with
God.
The possibilities of
monasteries
and convents are fulfilled when we realize "There's
nothing
to get - this is it". The possibility of
the church
isn't fulfilled when we've heard "The Truth". The possibility of
the church
is fulfilled when we realize "There's
nothing
to get - this is it".
For some people (actually for many people, I suppose), the sound of
"There's
nothing
to get - this is it" (unexamined) evokes existential angst
and ennui. For me, it's an opportunity for enormous
freedom, an opportunity unlike any other: an opportunity to live a life
I
love,
an opportunity to live a
life worth living,
an opportunity to live a life that makes a difference.
