Sand between the fingers

Posted: January 5, 2009 | Author: Doug | Filed under: Buddhism, Dune, Religion | Leave a comment »

Paul shuddered. The universe opposed him at every step. It eluded his grasp, conceived countless disguises to delude him at every step. That universe would never agree with any shape he gave it.

–Frank Herbert’s Dune Messiah

Lately I’ve been reading the Dune series of books again, and rather liked this quote. It illustrates I think the First Noble Truth of Buddhism. Normally this is translated as “suffering is universal” or “existence is suffering”, but these are poor, dated translations. The sanskrit word was dukkha which implies that things are broken, not working right, and illustrates the stress, frustration and anguish that comes from it.

No matter how well you line up your life at a particular moment, something unexpected and possibly unknown changes this. We spend our lives trying to set up our environment a certain way we like, but it’s like a fist in that you can’t clench it very long. We can reach a state of peace for a short time, but things shift and change under our feet and we’re thrust back into unknown.

Yesterday, my wife, daughter and I went to the district of jiyūgaoka (自由が丘), which is in Tokyo, and has lots of nice shops, and caters more to foreigners. So, we went to Starbucks, ordered nice drinks (warm, slightly steamed milk for Baby) and sat down to enjoy the afternoon. Almost immediately, Baby knocked over her cup and the milk spilled all over the table, floor and my wife’s jeans, saturating them with milk. I sat there watching this oddly detached thinking of this very point. One moment things can be good, but the next something unexpected happens and everything changes. Of course, things can go from bad to good the same way as well. The point is that the Universe is incredibly elusive, and slips through your fingers like sand, constantly. Every time you try to give it shape, the shape changes, and one gets frustrated.

Instead one has to learn to accept this principle of existence and learn how to manage it. We can’t control life; it is too unpredictable, far too complex. We can only control how we perceive and manage it in our mind. We can only admire its fluidity.

Namuamidabu

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