Unraveling the Enigma Mandala

Unraveling the Enigma Mandala

It was a day of synchronicity and deep emotion, a day that would strike a chord over a year later to provide great meaning and understanding at a time when I needed it most. As I traveled across the barren landscape of the high desert to meet Chrissy at a local bar for a late lunch and a drink, I passed a graveyard and thought what should adorn my headstone? The thought of the triskelion sat well with me, after all it is the symbol of three infinite spirals; representing the life, death and rebirth action cycle, it was already a dear symbol to me, so much so it was even my first tattoo, it all seemed to align. The thought passed and I arrived at the tavern and greeted Chrissy, the bar was mostly empty and we chose seats at the end of the bar top. As we began talking I noticed a mug hanging high above the bar directly in front of me, on it a well pronounced triskelion printed on the glass! Had this been an Irish Pub the likelihood of this symbol appearing would have been far less but it wasn’t a pub, it was more of a western slash hippie type of establishment, but regardless of its rarity, it was a meaningful coincidence since I had just been thinking about the very symbol, given its timing of appearance and history in my life I found it to be a very pleasing sight! It was this synchronicity that led to the next part of our conversation, that led to yesterday’s epiphany, that led to me writing this article that is now finding you and hopefully serving you the reader in whatever capacity you may need right now in your journey through life. All things are connected…

Like the Mandelbrot our conversation spiraled into life and death, simulation theory, dreams, quantum physics, the paranormal and beyond but it was this moment I remember most vividly of the afternoon. I remember trying to articulate to Chrissy the greater design of life and the meaning of our death when I began to choke up. On the verge of tears I attempted to explain a powerful scene from the movie, ”Conversations with God” an adaptation from Neil Walsch’s book. I am not often emotional and described by many who know me as stoic, so this overwhelming sense of emotion brought on by a simple reflection of a movie I had watched several months before was truly out of left field. The scene in which I was trying to tell Chrissy about was the one in which Neil is at a book signing giving a talk and is suddenly interrupted by a distraught woman who discloses the recent death of her adopted teenage son who was struck by a drunk driver. The lady begins to scream at Neil questioning how his God could do such a terrible thing and goes on to further explain her grief adding that they waited until the boy was fifteen to tell him he was adopted and when he learned this he acted out and never called her mother again. She promised him that when he became eighteen that she would track down and reunite him with his biological mother. The grieving mom continues to breakdown in front of Neil and the crowd at the book store when Neil has a moment of clarity, a vision of sorts and takes the woman’s hand and looks her in the eyes and proceeds to tell her that her adopted son’s birth mom had passed away a few years ago and that the only way for her son to meet and be with his real mother and for her to keep her promise that she made to him he had to die. The woman realizes the profound truth in his words and embraces Neil in tears. 

One might still view this account of Walsch’s response through a narrow lens and find it unfair, unjust and maybe even appalling in that no adolescent should ever be cut down in his prime, however I find beauty and comfort in this bigger picture concept of life and death. Here is where the dots really begin to connect to something larger than our own individual egos and that we are a part of something unique, a fragment of source becoming the expression of existence in all possible outcomes. Last night it dawned on me, connecting Neil’s story to what David Bayer echoed in his book, “A changed Mind.” Bayer addresses a similar concept of an age-old question of how a perfect system with an all loving god could allow for death and other perceived unjust tragic events. Answering with a similar esoteric nature Bayer asserts that all these so-called "travesties" are worked into good at the end and evolve into something much more grand. For it is suffering that spurs growth and in Bayer’s own anecdotal example, the loss of his dog, his best friend, ended up teaching him more about love. The concept of duality is once again rearing its head at me, the principle of polarity stands true for you cannot know one without the other and in Bayer’s case loss only strengthened his love. Our sense of right or seeing the totality of a situation, the whole picture if you will, is often obscured by our nearsightedness in that moment of fixation as we wallow in our self-created suffering. For the truth is the reality of this universe is unraveling itself in a much more complex plot twist like the movie “Inception” rather than your run of the mill slap stick comedy of frat boys trying to get laid. Whatever this reality truly is, this source of intelligence, this universe appears to be designed for the purpose of our consciousness and its evolution. Why, because the facts support it and in its own simplicity, to know thy self, to be… To embody the expression of the expressed in superposition, in other words, we are the universe experiencing itself infinitely in all possible states.

 I am certain I am not alone in this thought, but the greatest turning points in our life are often borne in struggle and suffering and only down the road we are able to look back with gratitude and say something to the effect of that terrible experience (insert your example here) was the best thing that ever happened to me. That partner who left you heart broken, that battle with an illness, that loss of a loved one, it led to something greater, it taught you a valuable lesson, it jumpstarted growth, it invoked necessary change, it led you to who you are now! That person now is a greater version of yourself or in the process of becoming a greater version of you. This is the evolution of the spirit, the evolution of wholeness and knowing that we are more than just our physical bodies.

It has been said that we are creatures of comfort, but I contest this at a deeper level. Robert Monroe talked about one of his out of body experiences where he grew bored of whatever astral plane he was inhabiting which was a paradise to most by his description  and yet he still chose to come back to this earth life system, why? Perhaps as he put it, we are addicted to the human experience, perhaps it is our purpose as some speculate as the change we endure in a lifetime can be quantified in moments of knowledge and growth. After all, what knowledge could be gained from a perpetual state of equilibrium static? If knowledge and love are the greatest take-aways from this life experience as the Near Death Experience suggested by many, then it is impossible to gain either of these without impermanence and without experiencing the polarities of life. The old adage of no pain no gain does not just apply to the gym, it applies to life. So learn to embrace the change, swing on the pendulum  and welcome any challenge that may come your way, for there are no problems, only opportunities for growth. Always remember the universe is working to transmute those struggles into something worthwhile and good.