Think au contraire for these daze.
- Kris Strell
- 19 hours ago
- 10 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
Au Contraire
On the contrary
Just the opposite
Conversely
On the Other Hand
However
Rather & Not at All
Vice versa
Poles apart
Think = opposites. Do = the reverse. Take = the contrary route. Antonyms = rule.
Educated within a structured value system, I am finding myself questioning these
well-established standards of modus operandi. & questioning ....
in SO many aspects of life these daze.
I look out in the world & am confronted with so many contraries.
I look out in the world & do not believe what I see & hear.
I look out in the world & see things just being made-up on the spot.
I look out in the world & wonder in disbelief, really ?? Really ??
I look out in the world & ponder : am I the one that needs to alter
my belief systems in order to make sense out of this non-sense ??
Wait a minute. Wait one doggone hold the fone minute here.
Do I need to make sense
out of this chaotic twisted new world order ??
And, if so, … why.
Why the need to understand crazy.
In the spirit of topsy-turvy & turvy-topsy thinking, I turn to those chill master Zen dudes who first emerged 1,525 years ago. Around the same time as when the Roman Empire fell. An empire that had actually existed for over whew 1400 years.
“ Zen originated in 5th-century China after Indian monk Bodhidharma introduced Buddhist teachings, although it became more prominent during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). The tradition, known as Chan Buddhism in China, later spread to other East Asian countries.
- 5th Century: The Indian monk Bodhidharma is traditionally credited with bringing Zen Buddhism to China. - 6th Century: The Chan school of Buddhism began to develop in China. - Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE): Chan Buddhism flourished during this period and became more prominent. - Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE): The tradition continued to evolve and spread. - 13th Century: Zen was transmitted to Japan and became known as Japanese Zen. - Later centuries: Zen spread further to other parts of Asia and eventually to the West, especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “ *
Here are some brief recaps of Zen type wisdom :
“ICHI-GO ICHI-E” - you will do something for the first ? time & the last ? time & never realize this until years later … or in other words, this moment, any moment, all moments, only happen ONCE. Enjoy it.
“GYO”- small tiny things eventually add up to great big giant things. Regular multiple minuscule actions have the power to transform the world.
"NAIKAN" - what did I get today / what did I give today ? Self - reflective no-nonsense logic. What did I mess up / what did I accomplish ? The All of it. Thoughtfully examine each day.
“ZAZEN”- No thing. Be still ; breathe. Let thoughts be easy come & be easy go. Do not try to meditate. Do not even try to clear the mind. Do not even “try.” Do No Thing. Be. Breathe. Sit. That’s The All of it.
“WABI-SABI”-finding beauty in the broken, the imperfect, in the incompleteness, in the impermanent. No Thing is perfect. Sounds like sound honest acceptance of the real world.
“ISSHOKENMEI” ( my personal favorite ) Give your whole self to what you are doing. No multi-tasking. Not partially present, not partially engaged, not partially committed, & definitely not partially partial. Put the phone down & then you wonder, why nothing is ever satisfying. Distraction distraction distractions.
“SHOSHIN” - keep your inner child alive and well & your well-behaved be-like-a-kitten curiosity. Keep inquisitive beginner’s open mind. Always be learning, not so rad to be a know-it-all. Experience what you are doing, as if wow for the first time.
DROP THE EFFORT - try to make something perfect & it will forever remain imperfect. Drop the effort & make things as natural as possible. Going with the flow as in, easy does it. Doing too too much is the same as destroying. Hmm over-thinking might fit in here somewhere.
DROP THE EGO - by dropping the ego you let go of failure, defeat, frustration. Remove false identifications. Become divine.
BE SPONTANEOUS - live intensely !! Past/future are figments of your imagination. Live for & in the current moment. Savor the present momentary moments.
EMBRACE THE UNCERTAINTY - Life is full of paradox with many surprising mysteries that unfold. Predictability & expectations are archaic. Why the need to know ? Know what ? The outcome before it happens ? Why ? Is this really more about control ? Or possibly a false sense of security. Another way to justify not taking those long overdue risks. Another way to say living in fear.
CREATIVITY IS A BEING - creativity occurs in all the so-called ordinary extraordinary things you do every day of your life. Every act is art. You, yes You are really a great artist.
“IKIGAI” - Find what makes your life meaningful by doing what you love, what you're good at, and what the world needs. Make four overlapping circles & label them, what you enjoy, what you’re good at, what the world needs, & what compensates you. That small overlap in the middle is your ikigai, or your sweet spot.
“ENRYO-ENRYO” - do first, speak later, … or, possibly, do not speak at all. Accomplish in quietude. Allow other people to make assumptions about what you are doing when they see the outcome. Silence is vastly undervalued my friend.
“MONO NO AWARE” - pay attention while, while, while & only while it is happening. Life is precious. Because it is not forever. Cheery blossoms fall quickly. Similar to Ichi-go Ich-e : the last time often does not proclaim itself as the last time. Also, somewhat similar to Issokenshi : stop staring into your device.
“KAIZEN” - continuous improvement. Progress is slow & gradual for all those monumental results.
“SANPO YOSHI” - It’s the one you’d have written for free, but someone paid you anyway.That’s the kind of deal.
“HARA HACHI BU “ - Eat until you are 80% full. It keeps you energized & prevents overeating. Weight Watchers would probably promote this practice.
“NANAKOROBI YAOKI” - “fall down seven times, stand up eight” Here is the math : you do not need to never fall. You only need to get up one more times than the number of falls. This is resilience : one more rise. You don’t need to be unbreakable, you just need to be stubborn. You can give up on all sorts of things, yet in the morning, you are still standing. And in that instant, you have won. The proverb says you won’t hurt, you won’t bleed. It just says : stand one more time.
“JINSEI, YAMA ARI, TANI ARI “ “life has mountains & valleys” Life is full of joys, life is full of heartbreaks. Do not expect life to be steady & flat. Life is climbing & falling. “Try not to resist life. Even when it pulls you down, be certain it will lift you up.” - Rumi.
“OUBAITORI” - do not compare yourself to other people. Everyone has their very own distinct particular unique path. Everyone has their very own timing for everything that happens to them in life.
Ok I like what I hear here.
I like this upside down quality, turning to an opposite way of doing & being than what we have always practiced in the west. These teachings & proverbs give me support & guidance for how I might view the world these days. These ideas help me right about now.
The single most similarity within the wisdoms rests in their contrary-type-thinking.
Let go of striving for that unattainable fantasy called perfection.
Let go of comparing yourself to Others & judging your remarkable attributes,
your noteworthy deeds your one single shining beautiful life by holding them all up to Others. You are you. Only you. Not dem. Not dopey dem.
Let go of the stressful worrisome need to know, the need for certainty to know in this tenuous changeable uncertain world of continual unexpected flux.
Let go in trying to do so much all at the same time when actually nothing really gets done.
Enjoy your precious moments that you have been given.
Understand that joy is fleeting, & sometimes so is sorrow.
Appreciate what is around you & surrounds you.
The impermanent is elegant.
Let go of the big striving.
The broken is beautiful.
And, most importantly,
be ok with being a.o.k.
Ok ?? You got dis.
I can very easily relate these teachings to the current times :
The west’s glorification & worship of youthfulness. The wrinkles the crevices the journey of aged wisdom that only comes with time, is so wabi sabi. I cringe at the actresses who puff & huff their plastic faces, lips, & beings with vain attempts at covering up their well-earned 14 carat gold strata.
The western culture preaches : “practice makes perfect.”- nuff said.
The current designation of an athlete being labeled as G.O.A.T. is pretty twisted. Greatest of all time is quite a stretch. More like, greatest for this moment in time., or G.F.T.M.I.T (gift mit?)
Western culture’s pounding peer pressure to “be” a certain way stunts individuality. Comparing. Popularity contests. Fitting in. One size fits all. Fads. Clones. Deep fake. Sheep. The outcome is the creation of non-thinking beings who lack discernment or analytical thinking & do not having the capacity for abstract thought. How do you think we got this far ? Think for your Selves. Or we all gonna get so lost.
People today walk/talk/live/be/are with face down in fone full-time. Let go of fone. Be hear now. Be with the rest of us. Let go of living life face down on phone. It is a phony hang-out tech-no dead unreality, zombies.
Having certainty in life is a falsehood. The need to know is unrealistic. Mother Nature will reiterate this fact quite clearly & tell you why in a single atomic moment’s time. Catch my drift ?
And…. So …
.
This only makes me want to ASK Mother Nature ;
How is it ? How is it ?? that we get to see ?? a sun rise every single morning ??
How is it ?? that the constellations of stars swirl round us every single night ??
And have for eons. !! How is that possible Mother Nature ??
How are you possible Mother Nature. How do you do it. And have for so long.
Do we take for granted ?
so many things ?
& on so many levels ?
The sunrise.
The seasons.
Like our heart beat.
Like blooming flowers
Like our thinking discernment ?
Like our constitutions.
Our declarations.
Our freedoms.
Our rights.
Our voices.
How much do we take for granted, only because some things
have been with us for as long as they have.
Do we ever question all these qualities of life spans.
Our slumbering belief that we're somehow immortal &
ignore deny refuse to accept the inevitable.
Add "time" to the list of things we take for granted,
only because we have had such an abundance only & only .... up til now ...
And …
Do we collectively hate change soooo much
that we are blind to anything that shakes up the status quo.
Is hate now thee status quo. The new normal.
& love the old outdated antiquated peaceniks love convention.
Out with the old in with the new.
Status quo = the existing state of affairs, esp. regarding social or political issues.
Latin for “the state in which.”
Is what is currently happening now actually a changing of the status quo.
It doesn't seem to be about political parties anymore, or predilections, preferences, a difference of opinions, or the once honored tool of exchanging ideas called a debate.
Where did listening go ?
Or hearing. Hello ??
How did rude replace respect so quickly.
This is, as if, the unspoken changing of the guard.
The arrival of forced upon us enforced change.
This does not even seem like politics anymore.
Elections ?? Fairness ?? Justice ??
Those seem like a thing of the never again past.
Really ??
Good is bad and bad is good.
Right is wrong & wrong is right.
Contrary contrariness reigns supreme.
I look out at the world now with contrary-starry-crossed eyes.
There is so much that I do not understand. Or get.
I can clearly relate my current state exactly to that same feeling I had as a 10 year old child :
My parents sent me to catechism. After the second class, I came home & announced : “Mom & Dad I have to talk to you.” All three of us stood in the kitchen.
My back was to the refrigerator. I vividly recall the scene like it was yesterday.
I proclaimed : “They are trying to tell me what god looks like.”
The catechism teacher had asked the students that night, what does god look like.
All hands, except mine, went up in the air followed by enthusiastic “answers” :
He’s an old man, yah yah, he has a long white beard, uh-huh, he wears a white robe.
I personally did not know or have a clue what god looked like, yet deep down inside,
I knew for a fact that to me, for me myself I, that what I was hearing was just a bunch of made-up malarky. I sat there in class, silent, in disbelief, cringeing inside, thinking to myself, oh brother…..this is just plain nutty.
That night afterwards at home, after I relayed what went down in class that night to my parents, Dad turned to Mom & they locked eyes. Dad said, “What do we do now Kid ?” (Mom’s nickname). Mom turned directly back to me & with no words, or discussion between them, nor even the slightest of hesitations, she said, “You don”t have to go back.”
My older sister was in the other room & she quickly loudly yelled out to them,
“Why did you make me go ?”
My respect for my Mom & Dad soared off the charts that night. They listened to me.
They heard me. I had discovered & found my voice at the tender age of ten that night.
I had listened to my gut. And because of that night, my older sister’s on-going ever mounting resentment grew even larger towards me. Her younger sibling had fearlessly spoken her own truth,
All the parts of this story are a parable of how I see these current times & daze.
I do not get what is going on.
I do not believe what I am hearing.
I know that the truth is something other than what I am hearing now.
Observing a world that feels out of control & just plain makes shit up.
And, bottom line, I ain’t buying what they selling.
I know who I am & that part of me is not up for change, alterations, modifications, nor conversions. Solid. Grounded. Both feet solid standing on the ground.
Feet down below my knees. I know who I am.
I positively extract shimmery glimmers of hope from Zen teachings.
They make complete sense to me because they all relate to how one interacts with the outside world. And. Actually. How one relates to one’s own inner world.
Zen wisdom appears contrary & has an opposite take on how to look at things, esp. when compared to western thought. A matter of cultural differences, eastern vs. western thinking. Wait. Hold it right there. Not, versus. Nope. Not opposed to, as in a sports or legal arena.
More, like this :
the possibility of the Zen way of thinking complementing,
adding to & benefitting the western way of thinking.
Twogether.
Yes. Much more chill like dat.
*wikipedia.