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Entering the Castle
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April 23, 2003
NOTE: WE NOW HAVE A DUCK PAGE ON SITE…..A PLACE TO SHARE YOUR ADVENTURES OF NOTHINGNESS, OF EMPTY SPACE, AND OF THE WONDERMENT THAT ACTUALLY EXISTS IN THAT NOTHINGNESS, LIKE THE PRESENCE OF GRACE, THOUGHTS, CREATIVE MUSINGS……APPRECIATION OF ONE'S OWN LIFE…..NOTHING AT ALL IS MYSTICAL BLISS….XOXOXO
SO, NOTHING NEW IN YOUR LIFE?
Musings by the Duck of Zen
Well, I phoned a friend the other day to catch up with life and when I asked "What 'cha been up doing?", she replied, "Oh, nothing much." As soon as she mentioned the magic code word…"nothing"….I knew I had a potential duck on the end of the phone…or a "duck inpotentia" just hanging around….doing what all Ducks do….nothing.
So I said, "How can Nothing be new? Nothing is the oldest something in the world…and so much of it. Why, it's every where….nothing here and nothing there."
"What's wrong with you?" she asked.
"Me? Why Nothing at all." But then I inquired, "So how can Nothing be new?" Of course, I was asking the great cosmic question….and she, of course, not yet being a Duck, thought I was referring to ordinary, ho-hum, physical life stresses….(which do not affect Ducks at all).
"Because nothing IS new in my life. Same old - same old. What are you talking about?"
Now see, that's just what I mean….Ask a simple cosmic question, and what happens? I asked about NOTHING and she got frustrated with me….for no good reason….See what's wrong with the world? As I pointed out to her, "Just because you don't understand NOTHING is no reason to get like uptight here". (Note how the proper use of English takes a back seat in casual conversation….and so it should.)
So I told her that the good thing about NOTHING being new was that it allowed room for something to appear. Doing NOTHING, I said, was endless positive space - empty, uncontaminated, free-floating psychic territory.
Well, it soon became apparent that some people just don't get it, and in this case, she was completely in a fog. I could have changed the subject, maybe brought up something "meaningful" to chat about so she could feel more comfortable and in her intellectual home territory, but……I could have cared less about her comfort at that point. I was a "Duck on a June Bug" - I was a Duck with a mission….So, I asked her, "I gotta know something. Are you content or discontent that NOTHING is new in your life?"
Even the best of friends can become short-tempered with us….but as I said, who cares, although I could sense the irritation level rising….but allow me to repeat myself - who cares?
"What kind of question is that? I don't know. I've never thought about it."
I fiddled and faddled and waited for her to come up with some thing, and finally…finally she said, "I guess I would prefer that something new would happen in my life. It seems like NOTHING ever changes." She made that statement not even realizing….can you imagine????? - not even realizing that she had just named one of the fundamental cosmic laws and one of the great Universal paradoxes: There is NOTHING new under the sun and Everything is always changing. Take note of the paradox - both are truth.
Now I ask you, how do you break it to someone that she is spouting cosmic revelations while lamenting about the empty Zen-like atmosphere of her life….She wasn't even noticing that it was precisely because she was in the midst of NOTHING that the sacred meaningless of it all could occur to her…She was actually in a mystical state…That is not an easy message to communicate to someone who is convinced that she has a boring ho-hum life.
I realize that appreciating the bliss of NOTHING at all takes some getting used to, especially since we've become so desperate to fill in all empty places. I remember going into someone's home who prefers a wide open uncluttered atmosphere. The other guest remarked that the empty feeling in the room made the room feel so "clear" - -whatever that meant. And of course later, as the two of us left this home, she remarked, "Of course I could never be comfortable in such an empty space. It's very cold. I need all my stuff around."
I asked her, "Is that the way you keep your mind - filled with stuff?"
She laughed, and said, "Sure my mind is filled with stuff. I got stuff on my mind all day."
"Wow, what's it like to have 'stuff-on-the-brain' all the time?"
She said that was life….stuff-on-the-brain, or something always on her mind.
I asked her what she would do if she woke up one morning with NOTHING on her mind?
She said that was impossible, that she could not imagine having NOTHING on her mind, much less doing NOTHING. She insisted that she had to have things to do all day long or she would go nuts - right. The thought of having NOTHING to do, nowhere to go, a nonexistent agenda even for one day caused her voice to go up an octave. I think she thought I knew the alchemical formula that could zap her life into empty space instantly. I should have let her continue to think that, but I saw no advantage to that…so I asked her if she had a palm pilot, since that was obviously her idea of fate, destiny, choice, and freedom. She had absolutely no potential as a Duck….she was a duckless individual….maybe next lifetime.
On to our woman WITH Duck potential - our unaware mystic Duck inpotentia….We parted hysterically laughing as I told her about the Duck Club. No point in being more serious than we have to, I say. (Bush is serious enough for all of us). She thought the very idea was hilarious, but what does the Duck Club do?????? NOTHING, I told her - and that's the point. To appreciate the bliss of empty space filled with NOTHING at all is the ultimate mystical experience….when one finally can.
Love, from the Duck of Zen
PS - I have to tell you that I am getting such a kick out of all the ducks that are arriving in my office…..don't be surprised if some of them start circulating back to you…..Who knows where the Ducks will land next?????
Oh, and while we're on the subject…..never forget that Ducks are always in a family, care for each other, make great mothers, and are masters at intuitive navigation….
