The insatiable is infinity itself, life without end. As physical beings, beings who are going to die, we are eager consumers of a smorgasbord of infinity.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
The offerings include the excitement of the lottery—infinite funds for a finite life; food from all nations—a bottomless pit of sensory delight delivered overnight with Amazon Prime; sex that defies aging or physical limitation—arrangeable in minutes or just seconds online; never-ending attention from without—every moment an opportunity for the ding of a text, a note to my self-importance.
Indeed, we all share in the angst of Faust. The taste of immortality delivers us to make a pact with the devil. Choose your object: sugar, gold, fame or flame, all are imbued with the fiery passion of the immortals. When we commune with our chosen magical substance we taste infinity and become prey to the insatiable.
For the Buddhists, this is life in the bardo, channeling the false gods of The Matrix, whom we so quickly give our life blood to in exchange for the thrill of their maya wares. For the Shamans of Ancient Mexico, this is the workings of the flyers, parasitic spirit entities that feed off the excitement of the human central nervous system.
Lest we get too anxious about the entities that entice us, know that we are only vulnerable at the point of our personal Achilles heel, and we all have at least one! Perhaps its source is in our DNA—some genetic karma—or in the social context of our birth and family history. Whatever its source, it must be encountered; avoidance is ultimately never an option. And with encounter comes the challenge of mastery.
And so be thankful to the self-serving duplicitous spirit entities that point us to our deepest challenges, our fixations on insatiability, the playing field for our deepest reason for being in this life. Though we feel captive prisoners to these entities and blame ourselves for our weaknesses, if we can suspend judgment of both the entities and ourselves we are freed to a clearer view of reality and the possibility, the one iota of a chance, for total freedom.
Total freedom, from a shamanic point of view, is life freed of the trappings of the insatiable. For Buddhists, it marks the end of the cycle of reincarnation, as lust, the energy of attachment, is transformed into acquiescence to the will of one’s own true spirit. To be alive in human form, doing the bidding of one’s own true spirit, is real communion with infinity.
Once we accept our lethal attachments without judgment, we must become warriors. Most likely, we have all had a very extended stay in basic training: Earth School 101. This is the groundhog day, the cause and effect course of repetitive indulgent behavior. For most, passing this course may require lifetimes—as it should. You are done when you are done, no judgment.
For some the dance with the insatiable is fatal, and so that bardo continues. Others survive to the tipping point, where the lust for the insatiable becomes acquiescence to the true spirit. This is a magnificent achievement.
For others, like the Buddha, finding the middle way to moderation is the winning ticket. Here, all sides of the ego self are both included and limited in acquiescence to the overarching guidance of one’s true spirit. Boredom, patience, and sacrifice are the weapons mastered in this course at Earth School.
– Photo by Jan Ketchel
Once the ego is in full surrender to the will of the spirit the real magic begins in human life. Synchronicity is the language of the spirit and, as Jung pointed out, synchronicity is spirit assembling matter to further its cause. When ego channels the true spirit, positive synchronicities abound and life on earth is filled with magic and joy.
Of course, sometimes there is need for course correction and then negative synchronicities appear. No judgment, simply correct course! When in doubt, ask your true spirit to give you its opinion. It might arrive immediately in a sudden flash or, more likely, in the synchronicities that appear throughout your day.
Guidance abounds, but so do the insatiable offerings of bardo spirits. Choose wisely, or immediately forgive yourself and do better next time!
Straddling the bardo,
Chuck
