Cannot judge life too soon

by Larry Morris

Daily Lobo Columnist

Einstein once said that there is really only one important question: "Is the universe a friendly place?"

Each of us answers this question daily in his or her own way. In a world beset by cynicism, negativity, division, war and strife is it possible and even desirable to sustain a positive outlook on life? Can we justify such an outlook given the times in which we live?

Certainly in the arts and poetry and literature there is an underlying skepticism regarding the possibilities of humans living in harmony with the earth and with each other. Many of us were hopeful that the New Millennium would usher in a new golden age of universal harmony among all people.

Joseph Campbell spoke of a planetary consciousness that arose when the first pictures of earth appeared, seen from outer space as a whole, without boundaries and borders between countries and peoples. But with our government involved in a major war in Iraq and other wars raging in other places as well, the golden age does not seem near at hand - so how can we be positive in such a world?

We are still confronted with Einstein's question: is the universe a friendly place? We have to look beyond our anger at the cruelties of life to begin to answer this question. We need to go deeper than the glib answers, pro or con, that society gives us each day. For centuries people have predicted global catastrophes and disasters.

Many, many wars have been fought. Yet the world continues. And, in our best moments, we see the beauty and feel the joy of this life. As Albert Camus said, "In my heart, in the depths of Winter, I discovered an invincible Spring." Have we found an invincible Spring in our hearts as we emerge from this past Winter? Are we even looking for one? Or have we given up on Innocence and openness and sealed ourselves off in anger or despair?

In Zen, they say that Zen is the affirmation beyond all the negations of life but it includes all the negations. To be positive in this life does not mean that we are insensitive to the pain, hurt and sorrow of things - as Virgil said, "the tears of things -" but to be engulfed by these feelings does not help us and does not help our world. Also to dwell exclusively on the negative aspects of life is to exclude the possibility of that affirmation that is beyond all the negatives.

When we live in a dualistic state, we are constantly evaluating everything and everyone in terms of good and bad. Yet how can we possibly know the outcome of every situation before the fact? There is a Taoist story about a poor farmer whose only horse runs away one day. The farmer's neighbor comes over to commiserate with him. "This is terrible, " he says to the farmer, "Your only horse is gone. How will you plow your land?" The farmer replies, "It may be good; it may be bad. Who can tell?" The next day, the farmer's horse returns and brings with it 20 wild horses.

"What a blessing," the neighbor says. "Now you have 21 horses!" The farmer replies, "It may be good; it may be bad. Who can tell?" The next day, the farmer's son tries to ride one of the wild horses, falls and breaks his leg. Again, the neighbor cries, "What a disaster! Your only son laid up for months; who will help you?" The next day the warlord of the province comes to conscript all the able-bodied young men to fight in an unpopular war, and he is unable to take the farmer's son.

Situations in our life and in our world are constantly changing from day to day, sometimes hour to hour, or even moment to moment. If we are always judging and, particularly, if we are focused on the negative aspects of life, we may be excluding the possibilities of people and situations changing for the good. Alan Watts said that there are only three basic metaphysical questions: Who made the mess, who's responsible, and who's going to clean it up? If we exclude the possibility of a real solution to our human dilemmas, then the mess of things can never be cleaned up. And despair is our lot.

Camus said we must say no to the injustices of life, but we must also affirm, with our whole being, that which demands our affirmation. Just as countries can isolate themselves and then do battle with the rest of the world so too can we feel isolated, alone, afraid, cut-off from the whole of life. The medieval definition of fortitude is that fear is not possible to a mind for which nothing is alien.

We are each a part of this life. This one life is growing us now. We cannot be separate from this one life no matter what. There is no division in life and there is no division in us. Look at the life you are in right now. Are you isolated and boxed-in by a circle of negativity, or are you open to that which lifts you and releases you to your own unique, infinite possibility?

The Buddha sitting under the bodhi tree before his enlightenment was only an instant away from Nirvana. When will we think that thought that is so powerful and so affirmative, so positive that it sweeps away all doubt, all worry, and all fear? We are each a thought away from a new life.