The Story of the Old Monk

There was once a revered old monk in a monastery. Every day he went out and took care of the garden. He didn't shy away from hard work despite his age. The other monks worried about him and one day decided to hide the shovel that he always used for his work. The monk said nothing and stopped working just as the other monks had hoped he would. A few weeks later he died!

It appears the monk took the missing shovel as a sign from above to just let go. Catering to the garden had given him life's meaning while without it nothing could keep him on earth anymore. That is exactly how death works - it is a decision. For most of us these changes happen subconsciously and we experience death as an event beyond our control. But for some big souls it can be an active choice as well. Nothing is really strong enough to beat us, but when we hear the voice inside that it is time to let go, we do sooner or later.

Viktor Frankl in his book Man's Search for Meaning had a strange observation that confirmed this thesis. During his stay in a Nazi concentration camp he noticed that whenever someone was found smoking a cigarette, that person would often die within a few days afterwards. During those times cigarettes acted as currencies, so lighting a cigarette meant that you were literally setting money on fire! Frankl took this as a sign that they had simply given up on life. Conditions were so so tough during these days that only a strong will for surviving gave you a shot of making it to the next day.

Sun Tzu once claimed, "victory is reserved to those who are willing to pay the price." Well, we are that powerful, we can accomplish whatever we set our heart on. But then there are the times when we are unwilling to pay the price. That's when we are ready to move on. How do we know when it is time to fight and when it is time to move on, you might ask. Well, that depends on your mission in life. As long as you have one and are willing to see it through no matter what the price, no one can keep you from it.

On the Temptation to Give In

On a sleepless night, I googled 'self-hypnosis' and found a number of interesting entries: how to make you fall asleep with self-hypnosis, how to gain self-confidence, how to experience a tremendous orgasm, how to seduce others into sex, how to change gender and how to grow a bigger penis. Whether any of these programs work I honestly cannot tell you, because hypnosis has never really worked for me. Perhaps my will is just too strong, but I have to admit that when I looked into the spinning wheels at 2am in the morning, I felt attracted to the idea that one could just let go and let a different force take over.

Viktor Frankl was a holocaust surviver and reported in 'Man's Search for Meaning' that whenever he saw inmates smoking cigarettes you knew that they would be gone in a few days. Cigarettes were a currency in the concentration camp days, so when you saw someone lightening one up, you knew that he had given up on life. Burning money figuratively and literally was a powerful symbol of giving up on life- 'I am done brother, you can take me whenever you like!'

I also remember someone in the self-help community I used to visit stating that he was done with all the light-working and that he had found another cult instead that goes in the opposite direction: devil worship. I told him then that while the devil is nothing but a psychological force, it nevertheless is a pretty powerful one. 'So you are not lost even if you join the cult', I said, ' but with every step that you take down this road, turning around the car will get harder and harder'. I never heard back from him.

I have a number of times compared the spiritual journey to stairways - you can walk upstairs and you can walk downstairs, it is your choice at each step of the way. Always walking upwards, always consciously choosing to follow the light, requires effort. Most of the time we try to do our best with the occasional letting go on a Saturday night when we know that the heavy lifting will start on Monday mornings anyway. So despite our occasional step back, we tend to drift upwards towards the light almost naturally over time, cheered on by our soul siblings in disguise.

I think that every moment we have a shot at turning the car around, just as every moment we have a chance to say no to the soothing voice that wants to lull us into sleep so that we are to drowsy to notice that we are falling into the spinning vortex. Your spiritual siblings stand next to you and with every step that you take towards darkness, they will scream louder and encourage you to reach for their stretched-out hands. Just take it, no force in this world is strong enough to prevent you from coming Home. All you have to do is to take the first step; the second will come naturally to you, as will the third.

In Search For Meaning

Man's main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life.
(Viktor Frankl)

I remember having long discussions with the girlfriend of a roommate about religion when I was a student. She was Jewish and at one point in the discussion told me 'Well, God died in Auschwitz'. I didn't really know what to say in response then. Today, I think I would. After all, it was Viktor Frankl who developed the book 'Man's Search for Meaning' while being in a concentration camp. We are all one. Someone played the willing German who participated in the gruesome killing, someone played the helpless Jew who was slaughtered like a lamb, while someone else played the hero who either fought the Germans or rescued innocent Jews. It is us who participate in this movie over and over again until at one point we get that we are all one, and that every injury we inflict on others, is really us hurting ourselves.

I agree with my friend, how should we be able to find meaning in the execution of  6 million Jews. We can't, yet, we can admire Viktor Frankl's willingness to find meaning in his concentration camp nightmare. He has inspired millions of psychology students with his courageous insights and can be considered as the grandfather of the positive psychology movement. So today I would say to my friend let's hope that humanity has outgrown this bloody part of our history, but let's stay alert and see whether the themes of discrimination, fear and abuse can't be spotted in little things here and now. All of these can give us meaning and offer another opportunity to grow and transcend. Yahweh is present just as She was during these dark days of humanity. Search for meaning in everything that happens to you today and you will surely find her.