An Uncreated Path

I think it’s fair to say that everyone alive today, if they have their full faculties and feel connected with other people, animals, or even themselves, wishes that this world was a kinder place. We all want to believe in something brighter than what we see falling into shadow around us.

No matter how we depict this seemingly distant realm of light and love to ourselves, codified beliefs and their atmosphere of limitation eventually prevail:

–This realm cannot be destroyed by human beings, but we can be exiled from it;
–We may not be included when the faithful are called;
–If we’re not careful, this realm will pack up its tents and move away.

It’s a sad truth that religions can fall into the hands of those who don’t act on our behalf.

This realm of goodness and kindness expresses human nature more essentially than do the differences that start wars and engender persecutions; even though different spiritual traditions do express their visions in different ways.

Perhaps it would be useful to share some of these parallel utterances:
“It’s all in divine order.”
“The Earth will outlive us.”
“May I do no harm.”
“Lord, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change. Courage to change the things I can, And Wisdom to know the difference (The Serenity Prayer).
“Follow the path that has not been created.” (Gesture of Great Love).

It may seem strange to speak of an “uncreated path” in the same breath as a “Creator God”. And it’s true that the Christian Deity who creates the cosmos has no direct equivalent in Buddhism, where there is not any creative act that begins everything. But perhaps these are two ways of viewing how it feels to be a small being within a vast, oceanic Being. Perhaps the act of creation has more to do with whether there was ever a beginning, or not. Whether it’s God or the universe, the human mind seems to be unable to imagine something emerging from nothing; so, the choice seems to be between “no beginning” (as in Buddhism) or an act that creates the cosmos by a Being who themselves has no beginning.

Whether a greater Being created our small individual beings, or whether we are simply included within that greater Being, seems a minor point of emphasis within a great mystery. That there is a vast whole that includes us is already wonder enough.

I have to admit that I prefer visions that offer a path along which I can imagine myself making a journey. I don’t worry very much about whether I am the one who is creating that path, of whether I am just calling it my path because I hope to keep traversing it. As in any act of creation, private or global, all we can do is be as present as we can to the experience that keeps arising from the depths and calling out to us.

The idea that my individual path didn’t exist until I stepped onto it helps me to find meaning in it. It’s not a matter of wanting to possess it, which is impossible anyway. It just feels important to have a way of turning toward unbounded open space, and saying “Yes” to an invitation to step inside.