A friend of mine, quite unexpectedly given her conservative nature, announced that she wanted to travel around the world: a most monumental trek. We can all feel the stirrings in our hearts that this concept evokes. Throw caution to the wind and embark on an epic voyage, the outcome of which is unforeseen and unforetold: “O to sail in a ship, To leave this steady unendurable land, To leave the tiresome sameness of the streets, the sidewalks and the houses, To leave you, O you solid motionless land, and entering a ship, To sail and sail and sail!” (1) It is up to the heavens to bring you safely back to port.
The original circumnavigation of the globe was first attempted by Magellan (1480-1521). He set off from Seville in Spain on Sunday, August 10th, 1519. Modern man can surely not comprehend what it was like to live in a total state of blackness – no phone, no Internet, no accessible knowledge, and, most importantly of all, no perception as to what was out there. You were truly stepping into the unknown. Three years later the voyage returned home with only 18 or the original crew of 270 – Magellan having been killed in the Philippines. (2)
A far more interesting journey is the voyage into the self. This is also done in ignorance at the beginning. All the external advice, all the books, all the knowledge is, initially, outside of your field of expertise. A beginning entails meditation: the first portal to be unlatched. You can hear the key turn in the ancient lock, this is a well-trodden path for many seekers — the door slowly creaks open. You peer inside, but there is only blackness. No light emanates forth: you are on your own.
Who would not want to undertake that ambitious expedition? The majority, it would seem, but not true. If one spends a little time and looks into the eyes of your fellow traveler on your morning commute to school or to work, you soon realize that most people are unhappy or, at the very least, dulled by the trauma of life. They are not on that voyage. There is far too little acting and achieving and a lot more accepting and acquiescing in people’s faces.
“According to a report released (recently) by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), the rate of antidepressant use in (America) among teens and adults (people ages 12 and older) increased by almost 400% between 1988–1994 and 2005–2008. …
The federal government’s health statisticians figure that about one in every 10 Americans takes an antidepressant. And by their reckoning, antidepressants were the third most common prescription medication taken by Americans in 2005–2008, the latest period during which the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collected data on prescription drug use.” (3)
We have “numbed out.” Why is this the case? I believe, at its most simplistic, it is lack of action. We are just afraid to take the necessary steps and just “get altered” to escape the drudgery. Then, the mind tricks us into a spiritual lethargy, for lack of a better term. Suddenly, our great nemesis, time, plays her hand. Quite unexpectedly, we find ourselves aged, decrepit, and, understandably, bitter at life. But – as with so many buts – this does not have to be the case. This does require the acceptance, as I have often stated, of two implicit truths: the freedom to choose what I want out of my piece of life and an understanding of my death, the cessation of my physical life.
To engage these “givens,” however, I must act. Then the great trek that we all desire opens her arms and envelopes us. The great Persian poet and Sufi mystic, Rumi, (4) leaves us with a thought: And you? When will you begin that long journey into yourself?
A closing thought: Recently, I spoke with several individuals about their lack of job satisfaction. The easy response is to say, “Just quit.” But, as we all know, that is not as easy as it sounds. It requires at least as much courage as the ancients could muster when they stepped into the unknown. They had no knowledge — no scenarios. We have too much information and too many possibilities – absolute failure and catastrophe being one of a long litany of probabilities. Still, as Osho (5) tells us: There are no heroes and no cowards — there is only action!
To sum up: This week, we spoke about “mustering up” enough courage to make your grand trek in life: one physical and the other — the more preferred perhaps — spiritual.
To be noted: This from Frederick Lenz (6) — Your spiritual journey and your spiritual welfare are really dependent on two primary factors: One, your ability to meditate and two, your ability to give of yourself.
Just for fun: (Everything I Do) I Do It For You
For reflection: Stephen Fry & Steven Pinker on the Enlightenment Today
This week please reflect on where your great trek will take you in your life.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: I felt naked and I was afraid, but I sailed forth into life anyway, in spite of my fears.
Footnotes:
1) Walt Whitman
2) Magellan’s circumnavigation
3) Astounding increase in antidepressant use by Americans
4) Rumi
5) Rajneesh