There is a Zen story of a monk in a monastery who was going into town the next day for supplies to prepare for winter. He planned on buying rice, vegetables, cloth, and firewood at a marketplace in the nearest town. He informed the master of the monastery that he would be leaving the next day. The master replied simply, “You might.”
The master reminded the monk that nothing was certain in life. While we can try predict our future, and even have some degree of accuracy, anything could happen. Plans change, emergencies pop up, and the events of life tend to go off in a new direction when we least expect it. We might not want to have a master constantly reminding us of life’s uncertainty. However, a simple acknowledgement of this fact helps us live in the moment.
Nothing in the future is certain, but we live like it is. We take our futures for granted. A mind craves certainty. There might be better odds, but nothing is certain. This master questioned the certainty that everyone else so blithely accepts. The future is a complete unknown. Yes, it was probable that the monk would go to town the next day. Barring a catastrophe or even a change of plans, but both do happen.
This unconscious belief in certainty limits us. It creates impossibility where none exists. Yes, if a patient has a disease, they might continue to have it, but it is also possible that they could have a spontaneous remission. A mind that accepts certainty rejects possibility and then ignores opportunities. I’m not saying that all diseases have the possibility of remission. I am saying that a mind closed by certainty will ignore the idea of it even being possible.
If anything is to be possible, nothing must be certain.
Our minds are built for survival. Minds built for survival crave certainty. We cannot control all of the variables of life, but a mind will want to control as much as it can. It does that through the illusion of certainty. Yet, our survival is so rarely on the table anymore. We are not struggling day to day with life and death, but our mind doesn’t know that. It operates in threat detection mode, always scanning for problems now and in the future.
To mitigate threats, it plans. Plans feel certain. Plans are an attempt to control future outcomes. The mind likes to ignore the fact that nothing is truly controllable. That is why people are so caught off guard when disaster hits. The mind says, “But I made plans!” A slight inconvenience becomes the end of the world to a mind that is certain. “This is a disaster. How can my favorite restaurant be closed tonight!” This is the discomfort with uncertainty in action.
What if we could live a little more in uncertainty? We don’t have to constantly question it like the monk. Being in the flow of the moment requires a certain level of acceptance of and openness to the unknown. This is freeing. It happens when we don’t identify as much with the certainty craving mind. The more comfortable we are with uncertainty, the more we tend to live life with less judgement, fear, and worry.
This comes from a trust in life itself. Life is infinitely creative in the moment. Life is gracefully responsive to the moment. We just tend to miss this fact because we become distracted by the stories our mind tells. Life is very good at dealing with the unknown. Just look at a tree struck by lightning. While it grows sideways, it keeps going. Life is our safety net when the plans don’t work out. The planning mind never really controlled life anyway.
Rest in the knowing that life is not certain, and you are ok, even within that turbulent uncertainty.
Resources
My name is Rich Life and this is a Realization Reading. I invite you to take part in a transformative conversation.
If you liked this, learn why you can’t mess up at being human.
Much of my writing is based around the 3 Principles understanding of Sydney Banks, and enlightened Scottish mystic. Learn more about him here. The 3 Principles of Mind, Consciousness, and Thought he discovered helps us to understand the nature of our experience.
Those who explore this understanding find that their lives transform. Read more articles if you would like a richer experience of life. If you would like to connect, let me reach out to you or sign up for my mailing list and get Insights in your Inbox.
Please help me reach more people with the message that the core of who you are is peace, love, and connection. Share this article with someone you care about.
Your vibrant life is a single thought away.
Leave a Reply