53
To complain about yourself is to weigh yourself down. We make our lives difficult, we confuse and entangle our intellect and heap more burdensome thoughts upon it. It leaves us top-heavy and weighed down by thoughts. Many of us behave in such a manner and struggle with jumbled thoughts and imaginings. We ought to be able to fly…
54
But it would take enormous and powerful wings to bear such weighty people aloft. The wings of jet airplanes are larger than the wings of dragons ever were. The wind and birds bear no worries and therefore they can fly.
55
Trees don’t fly because they are too heavy and their roots are entrenched in the earth. We don’t fly because we take things too seriously, weigh ourselves down with self-criticism and are entrenched in material desires. In truth, life is neither difficult nor easy. Life is you yourself. Weigh yourself down, and your life will be burdensome, avoid doing this, and your life will be freer. Whoever wants to fly does not need expensive metal alloys or a large fortune. It is enough to lighten your load and entrust your soul to the wind, to life.
56
But people hate to be left without a firm hold on anything. We really do cling to everything. We are constantly afraid that we will fall on our faces or rub someone the wrong way. Something bad might happen, let’s let things take their course. Quite understandably in this situation, we clutch at anything which seems to promise us a firm hold. Namely, money and jobs, friends and relationships, and a glut of material things. We cling to our desires and suppositions. We have to be slim and stylish, we want to be desirable and well-to-do. We won’t give up any of this voluntarily. We can’t even let go of ourselves; death is the most horrible thing we can imagine.
57
Uncertainty is in no way so detestable a state as is commonly believed. What then is there to lose? An extremely unwieldy existence which fills your mind with a heap of worries. Why do you want to hold on to that? There is much to be won however; all that which your previous path failed to impart to you. When you were in good spirits everything in your life had meaning, it made you what you are. Looked at in this way, none of it was bad or in vain.
58
Whoever attaches too much importance to himself and his activities and imagines himself to be weighty is really only heavy. Such a person will not gain anything lasting from this attitude except that his life will become a burden. It makes itself a burden. What then is there to fear? The worst that can happen is that one day you will cease to exist. Well, as far as we know this will happen in any case. The fact is that you can’t do anything to change it and you can’t take anything with you. You possess nothing, because all phenomena exist only in your imagination.
It is nothing.
It means nothing.
You worry to no avail.
59
Be multifaceted and mobile instead of single-minded and rigid. You and I don’t have to make our stand on one side or the other and remain entrenched there. We don’t have to cling to anything; now excluding this, now that. Everything is allowed. Even to forbid is allowed. To be sure, one who behaves in this manner need not wonder that no one will follow him. Whatever happens, we will that it happens. We ourselves comprise „mood“. How can mood effect us negatively?
60
A good mood is a sign of harmony, and to be in harmony with the things around us is wondrous evidence of the quality of our actions and our existence. Whoever moves in harmony with the motion of the world, whoever „co-rotates“, can dance with her. And the world dances with us. And when something dances, it is much more beautiful than some massive, weighty object which no one moves because no one likes it. In spite of everything, we need stability. Why is this so?
61
All levity aside, one needs mass and inertia in order to get from A to B. Otherwise we would be like leaves in the wind, constantly in motion. Possessing stability or „standability“ does not mean one has to stand around like a column or pillar. Whoever has this stability does not need to continue clinging. Such a person is his own foothold, his own anchor in the whirlpool of color and sound which passes for our world.
62
Trusting one’s self has little to do with making a clatter or predominance, rather, it is mostly a quiet affair. Self-confidence is necessary in order to have confidence in others. For whoever is not true unto himself will always suspect treachery or intrigue as a motive behind everything. Trusting yourself means not having to „out intrigue“ yourself. You don’t need such feints as „Now I’ll get away from it all“ or „See how small and weak I am, please don’t hurt me.“ You simply are what you are. If, outwardly, this seems wearisome, what difference does that make? One doesn’t need tricks and strategies, one is straightforward and wastes no time on mirages and illusions. In this way, one can conserve one’s strength in one’s self, without having to mete it out in order to prop up imaginary ideals. Propping up ideals expends a lot of energy, and, in the end, you can’t live up to them anyway.
63
Only the „light” are truly free. He who can fly doesn’t stick to anything and knows how to enjoy life regardless of whether life is on the rise or in decline, since rising and falling are necessary components of it. Then, all at once, things appear completely trusted and welcoming. Life becomes an adventure, and the whole thing becomes marvelous fun. For all the spoilsports and nay-sayers it becomes an absolute misfortune.
64
Nothing weighs more heavily on our shoulders than the necessity to be light. And nothing is „lighter“ (easier) than to complain and whine. But we have wished this upon ourselves; for if things were different, we wouldn’t be able to last one more minute on this ball of earth. To lighten oneself is a heavy task if one doesn’t know how to go about it. Whoever stands with both feet planted firmly in the ground is a serious, but unhappy fellow. When one goes about it in the right way, an uplifting spirit unfolds in one’s breast. Though things remain, they nevertheless change. Those things which seemed stiff and cumbersome before, are now light as a feather, flexible, and capable of flight.
65
No one will sprout wings as the result of meditation, no one can swoop down and lift you up into the air. You have to do it for yourself. What did you think? To sit around in front of computers and books is not enough. Merely coining phrases about life is a very limited form of life.
66
Whoever goes against the wind will be wildly tossed about. He is thrown this way and that, he sees things from above, from far below, or from a completely different perspective. Such a life cannot be restrained or held onto; for as soon as one has it, it slips away. When one weighs too much, a storm is required to set him in motion. That is risky. A more skillful approach would be to cast off ballast in time. Then a mere updraft will suffice. Perhaps you only need a little boost. If no one is there to push you, then you have to set yourself into motion.
67
Once you are aloft in the wind, you will fly, as a paper kite flies. You don’t have to travel to far away lands, seek the solitude of a monastery, or perform unusual acts. It is enough if you stay where you are. Life is already stormy enough. Make yourself light.
68
You soar up and then fall. There is considerable uncertainty in this. Nothing new to you. The ironic thing in this is that you can have fun if you don’t impede yourself. It all depends on allowing for equilibrium, to live it, and to daily reaffirm it. This means: fly if the wind is blowing, rest when it doesn’t, and take things as they come. Don’t hold on. And people will look up at you and think, „If only I were such a cheerful, happy kite“. Even the longest journey must begin with that very first step. When you think about it however, you set out on your journey long ago.
69
Surprises of which one is forewarned are surprises no longer. The fact that life is so difficult is because we have made it so. Why? Because otherwise there would be no stumbling blocks to ponder and nothing to get excited about or to rejoice in. The whole thing would be a rather dreary affair.
70
Whoever wants to fly must have a simple and transparent spirit. A spirit with a bird’s-eye view is itself a bird and can fly. A spirit which sees only gray clouds is itself a cloud and it hangs limply in the air. Use your wings! Whoever risks nothing has no fun.
71
Nothing weighs more heavily on our shoulders than the necessity to be light. And nothing is „lighter“ (easier) than to complain and whine. But we have wished this upon ourselves; for if things were different, we wouldn’t be able to last one more minute on this ball of earth. To lighten oneself is a heavy task if one doesn’t know how to go about it. Whoever stands with both feet planted firmly in the ground is a serious, but unhappy fellow. When one goes about it in the right way, an uplifting spirit unfolds in one’s breast. Though things remain, they nevertheless change. Those things which seemed stiff and cumbersome before, are now light as a feather, flexible, and capable of flight.
72
No one will sprout wings as the result of meditation, no one can swoop down and lift you up into the air. You have to do it for yourself. What did you think? To sit around in front of computers and books is not enough. Merely coining phrases about life is a very limited form of life.
73
Whoever goes against the wind will be wildly tossed about. He is thrown this way and that, he sees things from above, from far below, or from a completely different perspective. Such a life cannot be restrained or held onto; for as soon as one has it, it slips away. When one weighs too much, a storm is required to set him in motion. That is risky. A more skillful approach would be to cast off ballast in time. Then a mere updraft will suffice. Perhaps you only need a little boost. If no one is there to push you, then you have to set yourself into motion.
74
Once you are aloft in the wind, you will fly, as a paper kite flies. You don’t have to travel to far away lands, seek the solitude of a monastery, or perform unusual acts. It is enough if you stay where you are. Life is already stormy enough. Make yourself light.
75
You soar up and then fall. There is considerable uncertainty in this. Nothing new to you. The ironic thing in this is that you can have fun if you don’t impede yourself. It all depends on allowing for equilibrium, to live it, and to daily reaffirm it. This means: fly if the wind is blowing, rest when it doesn’t, and take things as they come. Don’t hold on. And people will look up at you and think, „If only I were such a cheerful, happy kite“. Even the longest journey must begin with that very first step. When you think about it however, you set out on your journey long ago.
76
Surprises of which one is forewarned are surprises no longer. The fact that life is so difficult is because we have made it so. Why? Because otherwise there would be no stumbling blocks to ponder and nothing to get excited about or to rejoice in. The whole thing would be a rather dreary affair.
77
Whoever wants to fly must have a simple and transparent spirit. A spirit with a bird’s-eye view is itself a bird and can fly. A spirit which sees only gray clouds is itself a cloud and it hangs limply in the air. Use your wings! Whoever risks nothing has no fun.
An Exkursurs on Death
It is important to think of death, yet we weigh ourselves down with such thoughts. What is there to fear? The reality is that you and I will continually be born again and again. The world constantly recreates itself anew with every new-born, every blossom, every butterfly, and every rusty nail. Objects come and go, are never really there, because in the next instant they vanish. No matter what we reach for, by the time we get it, it is gone. A certain continuity lies at the root of this continual coming and going. It is no different with life and death. Death, like a parlor trick, is only a cleverly concealed act of transformation. A transformation which at first is unfathomable, later mistaken, and because we mistake it for something else, we fear it for no reason.
Look a little further, and you will understand that fear, too, is part of death and belongs to it. There is nothing to know about death, for it is not a condition which can be experienced. There will be neither fear nor anything else. Nevertheless, it is important to reflect upon it. Even if it is difficult, you can sense that all things seem only half so important or sizable when they are removed from their traditional settings. To struggle against the inevitable, helps to ease your thoughts. You realize that you no longer need to cling on and hold fast. You realize how useless that is and you let go … And, since there is nothing which can be done against it, why not find amusement in it?
Men have long pondered this question. Many strange results have come of this. Many believe that the world was created by some being with a human-like form. Others, on the other hand, claim that the world is the resultant aftermath of a „big bang“. But the world has no origin, it is yet to be. And the endpoint of this evolution will be another beginning.