There's a joke that I can't quite remember, attributed to Winston Churchill in the one I heard, that involves him and a conceited upper class woman. She huffs that she would never do this or that, but when given a certain situation, she says she would readily agree to it. The joke ends, "Now that we have determined what you are, we only have to settle on the price." It refers to prostitution and implies that given the right price, even this upper class lady would take the cash and do the deed.
Yes, I wish I had the whole joke, but my outrageous younger brother and I often have a fun time with this idea, usually using sex as the topic. Would you (to make a mild version), give Donald Trump a big sloppy French kiss for 10 million? Hell yeah, we say, even though to us it would be revolting. We reason that the grossness of it would be worth the great life we would have afterwards. It does not have to be about sex, however - humiliation is a great source for the outrageous. Would you, for instance, strip naked and stick a dyed-pink ostrich feather up your backside, then waddle around quacking like a duck for a minute on video for 10 million bucks? Again, with a little pause about the video that we know would quickly go viral, we agree that we would. Now that we know who we are, as Winny supposedly said, it is just a question of the price.
Maybe it's not true for real life, but we think we'd sell ourselves in these impossible scenarios. Needless to say, my brother and I are not the most highly evolved beings. (Oh yeah, the money would have to be counted, certified, and up front, of course.) The humiliation or disgust, we figure, would be temporary and the rewards beyond imagination. Even on video, we could always claim with a high degree of certitude, that hey, buddy, you'd do it for 10 million, too.
In Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, the wise protagonist joins the material world for a few decades of business deals, losing and gaining, but mostly gaining, what he doesn't really care about - which is why he usually gains. He is just playing the game because he knows what he'll get at the end - eternal bliss - even though material comfort and gain are antithetical to his beliefs. In this Hindu-colored story, he is only doing what comes to him from his karma, his earthly duty, but always with his eye on the prize, Christianity's 'pearl of great price." For someone of our time and culture, the advice would be - do what it right for your situation but never become attached to it. It is nothing compared to what you will receive. Therefore, the slings and arrows of fate - with its trials and humiliations - will simply pass. You've got a much better life ahead of you, one with rewards beyond imagination.
Of course, the main problem of this analogy (there are more than a few) is the certainty. We would want the money up front for that sloppy kiss. But what is the certainty of the pearl of great price? Some believe it to exist, others feel it and know it, while others doubt or downright do not believe. However, even the doubter can look to the benefits of this attitude. If you cannot be upset by bad circumstances, if your ego cannot be angered or twisted by humiliations, if people cannot guilt you or pressure you to do what you do not want to do, what a wonder! If instead you can keep calm within, and can hold on to the beauty that for most of us is only a passing emotion, what a great experience the world could be.
To have a deep knowledge of this prize is of infinite benefit, but there is a solid reason for this noncommittal attitude that all of us can agree upon - that our problems in our little time on this little earth should be of no great concern, for they are almost nothing in the tumultuous swirling of the cosmos. If we could gain this sense of the macrocosm in our own microcosm, a whole world of hurt could be, if not avoided, at least ameliorated. And, better still, in such calm ego-neutral territory, that great pearl might just happen to shine through. FK
Yes, I wish I had the whole joke, but my outrageous younger brother and I often have a fun time with this idea, usually using sex as the topic. Would you (to make a mild version), give Donald Trump a big sloppy French kiss for 10 million? Hell yeah, we say, even though to us it would be revolting. We reason that the grossness of it would be worth the great life we would have afterwards. It does not have to be about sex, however - humiliation is a great source for the outrageous. Would you, for instance, strip naked and stick a dyed-pink ostrich feather up your backside, then waddle around quacking like a duck for a minute on video for 10 million bucks? Again, with a little pause about the video that we know would quickly go viral, we agree that we would. Now that we know who we are, as Winny supposedly said, it is just a question of the price.
Maybe it's not true for real life, but we think we'd sell ourselves in these impossible scenarios. Needless to say, my brother and I are not the most highly evolved beings. (Oh yeah, the money would have to be counted, certified, and up front, of course.) The humiliation or disgust, we figure, would be temporary and the rewards beyond imagination. Even on video, we could always claim with a high degree of certitude, that hey, buddy, you'd do it for 10 million, too.
In Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, the wise protagonist joins the material world for a few decades of business deals, losing and gaining, but mostly gaining, what he doesn't really care about - which is why he usually gains. He is just playing the game because he knows what he'll get at the end - eternal bliss - even though material comfort and gain are antithetical to his beliefs. In this Hindu-colored story, he is only doing what comes to him from his karma, his earthly duty, but always with his eye on the prize, Christianity's 'pearl of great price." For someone of our time and culture, the advice would be - do what it right for your situation but never become attached to it. It is nothing compared to what you will receive. Therefore, the slings and arrows of fate - with its trials and humiliations - will simply pass. You've got a much better life ahead of you, one with rewards beyond imagination.
Of course, the main problem of this analogy (there are more than a few) is the certainty. We would want the money up front for that sloppy kiss. But what is the certainty of the pearl of great price? Some believe it to exist, others feel it and know it, while others doubt or downright do not believe. However, even the doubter can look to the benefits of this attitude. If you cannot be upset by bad circumstances, if your ego cannot be angered or twisted by humiliations, if people cannot guilt you or pressure you to do what you do not want to do, what a wonder! If instead you can keep calm within, and can hold on to the beauty that for most of us is only a passing emotion, what a great experience the world could be.
To have a deep knowledge of this prize is of infinite benefit, but there is a solid reason for this noncommittal attitude that all of us can agree upon - that our problems in our little time on this little earth should be of no great concern, for they are almost nothing in the tumultuous swirling of the cosmos. If we could gain this sense of the macrocosm in our own microcosm, a whole world of hurt could be, if not avoided, at least ameliorated. And, better still, in such calm ego-neutral territory, that great pearl might just happen to shine through. FK
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