Gary ~ May 29

 

Role Play

 

 

It's all just role play as far as I'm concerned.  I see it play out that way more and more as I grow older and older and get ready to face death.

 

The big question, in spiritual circles especially, is "Who Am I?" and there is an entire spiritual path and practice dedicated to answering that one specific question alone.

 

According to the sage that made that question famous- his name is Ramana Maharshi-, if you can answer that one key question to your complete satisfaction, then you have solved all your problems in one fell swoop forever. It's called the path of Direct Inquiry and almost all spiritual seekers have taken a shot at answering that one supreme question "Who Am I?" with varying degrees of success.

 

I happen to know of many who have succeeded and many, many more who have come up short,  It's not an easy question to answer, except in the most superficial of ways.  So many seekers I have known have just walked away, scratching their heads.  The thing is, no one can answer that question for you, for only you know the answer to the riddle of your own existence.  It's not something you can pay someone or cajole someone into providing the answer for you.  No, you are totally on your own in this regard.  Enlightenment or Awakening is not a group sport.

 

I like to deal with the question on two levels: the relative and the absolute.

 

On the relative level, Who I Am is an actor.  As in:

 

 "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts."

As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7

 

I have made my entrance and am presently enjoying the many roles I am playing in the romantic comedy called The Life and Times of an OK Actor.  At the same time, since I have read the script and know how the play ends, I am looking forward to making my exit soon as well.  After all, you can't stay on stage forever, no matter how great an actor you might happen, perchance, to be.

 

But in the meantime, I intend to play it to the hilt, and by that I mean all the roles that I am currently playing and the roles I may take on before my light goes out and the curtain closes on my very temporal performance.

 

Konstantin Stanislavski remarked, "There are no small parts, only small actors". Dabbs Greer, a bit actor, once said: "Every character actor, in their own little sphere, is the lead".

 

None of the parts I play are small.  They are all important and they all deserve my full attention. There are no throwaway lines, each line being an important line in the ever-unfolding drama of my life.  And it IS all about me.  I am the star of this particular show and therefore I am the central character in this comedy,  and everything revolves around me.  If this sounds egotistical or narcissistic, you are missing the point.

 

It's only egotistical and narcissistic if the actor identifies with his or her role or roles and thinks, or vainly imagines, that that role, or those roles, are actually Who the actor is.  This is the fatal flaw, or the fundamental untruth, that many fall prey to in their quest to know TRULY Who they Are.

 

The relative is one thing and the absolute quite another, yet, when the absolute is grasped, grokked, or gotten, everything falls beautifully into place and it is seen that the absolute is the relative and vice versa, the relative is the absolute.

 

Once that little issue is taken care of, or solved, then the roles played become even more enjoyable and even more meaningless at the same time.

 

Empty and meaningless and full of fun and divine delight at the very same time.

 

It may seem paradoxical, but as Jed McKenna used to say, "The only paradox is that there is no paradox."