Over the centuries, sages have attempted to pass on the spiritual truths they have discovered in their lives. The problem is that ‘knowledge’ you gain in life is totally subjective. Life is a chaos-system of the highest degree. There are so many variables that affect everyone’s actions that using one’s life to establish ‘truths’ is as hopeless as trying to define the future by the imagined ‘interaction’ of the stars.
I’m an atheist, and yet, The Tale of the Lifesong is deeply spiritual. How can I write it? Because atheism (or any ism or ity) is a point of view, and when I write, I lose myself. I am inspired.
In that state, I cannot instruct or preach. I am an instrument and the Lifesong is the music. I am not trying to offer you the Truth; I am dancing and invite you to join me. Isn’t being alive beautiful?
As to the truths that might lie within the Lifesong, I don’t think life has truths and laws, it is an organic and fluid situation … we are always required to engage the present moment, to evolve; to be alive. Truths and laws are, in a way, laziness, the natural tendency of the mind to simplify things and to find patterns in recurring events. In this respect, ‘truth’ is what we need to guard against. It can lead to narrow-mindedness, arrogance and fundamentalism.
The wisest path I can see is to reflect on one’s situation and try to consider all the consequences before acting. We are always learning, and never ‘know’ the truth of how to live. Intuition can be helpful, but when we believe our intuition guides us to Truth, we end up ‘knowing’ that the earth is flat, that witches must be burned, and that the charming conman really can save us from the impending disaster of our own spiritual annihilation.
What I suspect is that spiritual knowledge is too individual to be taught, but some people have a magic about them, acquired through the choices and actions that form their character. They’ve got it, but they can’t pass it on very easily. That’s why the wizards (the learned) are not nearly as powerful as the sorcerers (the self-taught) in the Tale of the Lifesong. And the Lifesinger simply enlivens, not claiming any knowledge for her own, but willing to share the joy with everyone.
To me, that power is worth more than all of them put together.
