I’m known as a Taoist by some, a Sufi by others, and (generally speaking) a pretty calm, emotionally balanced guy by almost all…

It’s rare that I lose my temper, experience dramatic, uncontrollable emotions or (on certain days) seem to ever move along the spectrum at all in fact.

At least that’s the story I manufacture for myself at times.

Reading Alan Watts, however, recently reminded me of something rather wonderful!

How would a Taoist behave if being eaten by a shark? That was the question he asked. And it’s a good one! With a whole range of silly or sincere potential answers…

I got the answer wrong (a terrible Taoist I am, actually, as I tell my Tao students often, though they assume I’m just trying to be modest).

My instinctive answer was that of peaceful surrender: that a true Taoist would accept his/her fate willingly and allow death to arrive quietly as if almost none the wiser. The ‘truth’ however, as well argued by Watts, is that presence (and true awareness) is simply an appropriate response to one’s environment. Nothing more, nothing less.

If hungry then eat. If tired then sleep. If being eaten by a shark… Yell for your life! Scream in pain! Shout for help! etc etc.

It dawned on me, immediately upon reading, that: yes! a Taoist is just the most ordinary human there is… not a superhero… not a genius… not even one who stands out in the crowd…

As the great Anthony De Mello also reminds us: What does it matter if one is enlightened? What can one hope to learn from such a person? For another must find it in himself/herself anyhow…

‘Those who know don’t say. And those who say don’t know’ (as the famous saying goes)

If you’re a little disappointed by this argument so far, I invite you to reconsider the difficulty (and importance) of such a task. Because, can you really do it? - be so ordinary…

Do you ask for help? Do you cry when sad? Do you listen to other peoples’ advice? Do you dare to take a nap when tired?

Perhaps we even need to be eaten by a shark (or something similar) in order to remind ourselves of our fragility… Maybe this is why we enjoy extreme experiences at times… Because then we finally allow ourselves some humility, some surrender, some honesty…

The river is in flow because it’s always changing. It reacts appropriately to its context. It moves as the world moves; adapts to other things, other forces.

Be like the river, my dear.

And if you see a shark (or crocodile) heading your way… you know what to do!

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