On Trust
The word "trust" , the noun, is defined by the dictionary as :"Firm reliance on the integrity, ability, or character of a person or thing."
Trust is something we rely upon in our daily lives in people around us as they rely us. The social fabric cannot hold together without this trust. It's not something that is tangible but, as the definition says, a reliance on the integrity, ability or character of a person or thing. Reliance. We rely on trust to make good our lives, for the better or worse, depending upon our choices.
We place trust in many people mostly because we are unable to do it all ourselves. We place trust in our governing officials, those elected to run our country. We place trust in all our leadership including teachers for our children, our religious leaders, our police and military to do the right thing as prescribed by our laws and also common sense. All these are trust factors. We trust in our god(s) to do what it right for us... a very big trust given we have never actually come face to face with this god we trust implicitly to take care of us in our times of sorrow, despair and extreme hardships.
Overall, humanity is trusting. Instilled into us from our early childhood by caring parents, supportive families, close friends and enjoyable associates... they all contribute to the human trust factor. It's a good thing because the alternative is dis-trust... a very uncomfortable, reluctant acceptance of suspicion in another person or thing. "Can I ever trust so-and-so ever again after s/he stole my keepsake?" or "Can I trust eating this jalapeno pepper after reading about salmonella that had been found in some of these peppers..?"
Years ago I wrote the following 'cecilism' -
Trust your path
wherever it may lead
and
remember always
that the path
has been
traversed
by others
before you
to make
your own journey
less filled
with
hazard and doubt
___________
This is another reliance thing... but we are asked to rely upon our own chosen path. This has a parallel to having trust in our spiritual powers, i.e. god(s). We must rely upon ourselves to a very large degree. Not only is it our own responsibility, but to over-rely on others places the responsibility on those people that more than likely have their own fair share of reliance issues. We've got to learn when we need to rely on others and not take advantage of others... many times a delicate balance.wherever it may lead
and
remember always
that the path
has been
traversed
by others
before you
to make
your own journey
less filled
with
hazard and doubt
___________
How much trust should one have? The pool of trust is infinite, but our patience is limited. There are those that have absolute trust in everything. Interestingly, Osho's Zen Tarot, has a card, The Fool, which represents this level of total trust.
I underlined " that which is really yours nobody can steal from you" because that is extremely important to realize, not just know. What is really the true authentic you, your 'I' , is not a tangible, material item that can be stolen. Who can steal the wind, the waters, the mountains or the fires that spew from the earth..? This is very Zen... a very beautiful and honest practice. When Osho says, "go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe." That is having such an absolute trust in Now that anything else falls short of Truth.From: Osho Zen Tarot : The Transcendental Game of Zen
A FOOL IS ONE who goes on trusting; a fool is one who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it.
Be a fool in the Taoist sense, in the Zen sense. Don't try to create a wall of knowledge around you. Whatsoever experience comes to you, let it happen, and then go on dropping it. Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, here-now, as if just born, just a babe.
In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you...let them. They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you. And each time you don't allow situations to corrupt you, that opportunity will become an integration inside. Your soul will become more crystallized.
How many folks do you know that have this ultimate Trust? So very, very few including ourselves. We have so far to go as the humans we are, with the potential we have, to be so completely tuned in to Now that all else will evaporate into the ether. But this all takes time, discipline, practice and, yes, trust. If we cannot trust ourselves and our path first, we have no hope of putting trust in anything beyond that. Trust then becomes some five letter word that only implies reliance without knowing, without becoming trust. It takes infinite Trust to accept infinite Trust. It will come, one forward step at a time into the Now. That you can trust.
cecil
27 july 2008
Today's Image of the Week
Neo-Deco Datura
Photo & Photoplay: C.B.Lee
Photo & Photoplay: C.B.Lee
A lot!
