Let's Begin The Day - The Disease Of Certainty

Dear friends,

I was listening to the car radio recently when a person referred to what he called the disease of certainty and I thought this called for a short morning meditation where we would make a resolution to open our minds to different possibilities.

Let's begin by taking a moment to settle into quietness.

Feel the chair you're sitting on or the cushion and bring yourself to a state of presence by noticing you're breathing in and you're breathing out.

You might like to close your eyes to help bring you fully into the moment as we allow ourselves a one minute pause.

Welcome back.

In a world of constant change,

Certainty can feel like an anchor offering us a sense of control but certainty can set up walls between people.

It can blind us to the fact that other people have different ideas and different perspectives.

If only we were more prepared to listen to what they have to say.

If we were prepared to try to understand where other people are coming from,

We might find good reason to change our own views and at least our listening would lead to greater understanding.

Just consider for a moment situations where you are certain that your point of view is right.

Could it be that you are afraid of uncertainty,

Afraid of being wrong?

Or could it be that you are simply afraid of change?

Bring yourself to an awareness of your breath again and as you breathe out let that feeling of rigidity soften just a little.

Krishnamurti tells us the ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.

Let this be our intention for today as we sit in meditation.

Today without judgment,

Let us observe our own beliefs,

Our own patterns of certainty and remembering to become self-aware as we go through the day,

Not simply doing but noticing that we are doing.

Consider the words of the Sufi mystic Rumi,

Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing,

There is a field.

I'll meet you there.

What would it be like if we were to meet people whose views differ from us and to meet them in an atmosphere of openness and possibility?

May we release the need to be always right and the fear of ever being seen to be wrong.

May we overcome this disease of certainty.

Doubt can be a good teacher.

When we allow ourselves to doubt we can be a good teacher.

Doubt can be a good teacher.

When we allow ourselves to doubt we open the door to deeper questions and new insights.

Doubt will be seen as a valuable companion to us.

When we look around our world today we can see widespread evidence of this disease of certainty.

People settled into camps on the left and on the right,

Each seemingly convinced of its own position.

This can apply to everything from unwavering devotion to a particular product brand up to the unquestioned devotion to a particular political philosophy.

We have all so much to gain by considering the fact that we are all the same.

We have all so much to gain by considering the fact that maybe,

Just maybe,

We might not be entirely right.

We must ask ourselves why we believe we are right and we must be open to trying to understand why other people believe they are right.

Just imagine the gain that there would be for all of us if we were to try harder to see things from the perspective of the other person.

When we cling to our beliefs without question we miss the opportunity for dialogue,

For growth,

For deeper connection.

We miss the opportunity for inner peace and even for world peace.

Now happily not many of the certainties which we hold on to give rise to actual hatred or worse.

In many cases all we suffer from are lost opportunities and that is great enough loss.

But many of the unhappy situations which we see in the world can only be brought to a successful conclusion by dialogue.

Let's have another 60 second pause for reflection.

Welcome back.

And speaking of dialogue and the importance of dialogue,

As you'll know I live in Ireland where for many years in the north of this small island there were seemingly intractable differences which led to injury and death for far too many people.

But happy to report these long-standing differences were largely resolved.

And peace was re-established through dialogue.

Looking back over the bad years it really appeared as though this conflict could never end.

And yet it did.

How?

It ended through the opposing parties stopping to consider where the others were coming from.

The peace dividend in Northern Ireland in the last quarter century The peace dividend in Northern Ireland in the last quarter century has been remarkable.

It's an example which could be followed everywhere and anywhere.

It has been a real antidote to this disease of certainty.

A disease which has given rise to so many casualties in so many places over so many generations.

The message is simple.

None of us has the complete picture.

You may have come across a Sufi parable about a group of blind men and an elephant.

Each man touches a different part of the elephant.

One the trunk,

One the leg,

One the ear.

Each man is convinced that he has the correct reading of the situation.

The man who touches the trunk believes this is a snake.

The one who touches the leg says no this is a tree.

The man who touches the ear exclaims you're both wrong.

I know it's a fan.

Each of them has only his own idea as to the truth.

In the same way our individual beliefs are limited by our own experience.

Only by opening ourselves to the other's perspectives can we see the greater whole.

Today may each of us have the courage to embrace uncertainty.

May we have the wisdom to know that true understanding arises only when we let go of the need to be certain.

Namaste.