PLAYING and PARTICIPATING

Life has a game aspect to it. No matter what role we play we become part of the game of life. This view is one we must accept to live with wisdom. And yet there is a difference between being a participant and a player. We are participating in the game of life. When we become a full time player, we can become selfish and rely on deception. This is what the players do. no? So we see successful people who have energy and joy and we want to learn from them, yet many of them are players. What we learn, if we are not this kind of player is humbling. In the end, life plays us all. The one who stands between participant and player without wisdom, can get lost in an ethical conundrum. How do I play? And then we get serious, too serious, and then we try to get playful, but we are not centered on anything. We want the best case scenario but we are not allowing life to tell us what that is. We are trying to figure it out lost in the notion of what is playing and what is participating, doing what we are asked to do. The minute we try to figure out the best case scenario without a center, we have lose our wisdom.

We can see steps, take steps, but only life knows the best case scenario for us. Often, that is something we stumble into, blinded by our own desires for a certain outcome. Disposition is alway a thing. Some people jump into life serious and must learn to play at least a little. Some jump in the clown, the playful joker, and must learn to get more serious. It could be said the best way to begin our understanding of the game, is to begin serious, but loose, our playfulness not dead but respectful of life. Serious simply means we are starting off humbled by the journey, aware we will be humbled by the game of life no matter what we do.

It is a rush to be a player, an addiction. The charmer. The consciousness of the player is fueled by the reality that everyone suffers and dies. Deception is part of life, the survival game, so why not jump in? To walk a spiritual path, to not be sequestered, we become part of the game and we know this. Spirituality is not a denial of the game of life. For anything to manifest we must be connected to reality. The game allows us to prosper, or in some cases just survive. And yet if we are not wise, we can become addicted to the game. Inside we will carry a self hatred. Once we enter the game, it is filled with those playing, yet bound in ignorance. We would hope that all success fuels, or is fueled by wisdom, but this is not true. Not at all. Much is fueled by fear, by addiction, by the desire to be accepted. It is a mess, a jungle above as it is below in the human game. To this we cannot be afraid of the game. If we sink to the bottom out of fear of the game, we are stuck with the same conundrum. We have not wisely addressed the dilemma. If we attempt to escape into our spirituality, it will only kick us right back into the game. Here you go. Let’s do this again. For our spiritual paths to bind us to the divine but not allow us to see the game in a way that nourishes our wisdom, this is half of a path. We are hopping through life on one foot when we need to walk on two. Whether we shoot high or low, it is about how we choose to be humbled and what we want for our efforts and courage.

To this we have two layers of humility. One is the humility of humanness. It is that humility in the face of suffering and ignorance. This is part of our spiritual awakening. Phase two is humility in the face of the game of life. This is much more complex, at first. We want to figure the game out, but the game has itself figured out. We are players or participants, not constructors. Just as we rise in our spiritual being and people say what right do you have to be happy, we can rise in the game, and people say the same. What right do you have to play the game? And so the counter forces of life are ever present regardless of how high or low we sit, or stand. To rise is not to escape counter forces. This is how we can play the victim or the backseat self important philosopher. Someday I will figure this out, just give me some time.

We never figure anything out, from that position, the philosopher. Our highest wisdom knows the game. It is all about submitting to roles. The philosopher is a false role. However, one who inspires with a particular philosophy is not a false role. Philosophers are jealous of those who do things. They know they are the safe ones. And they are cheerleaders for pushing those who do things into things that cannot be done to watch them fail and f=justify their own laziness. The philosopher who resides only in their philosophy does not live in the real or present. They live in dream worlds, attached to what could be, or what should be, something everyone is attached to. Philosophers can push people from bridges as do generals. Try this. Do this. All while they are safely tucked away. That didn’t work, but I am trying. These are ill fated archetypes within us that can cause us to jump from bridges and deny our inherent wisdom about how to actually live.

IN LIFE WE ARE BOTH PARTICIPANTS AND PLAYERS. WE MUST LEARN TO BE BOTH AND YET THERE IS AN ART AND WISDOM TO PLANTING OUR FEET ON THE NOTION OF PARTICIPATING AND THEN PLAYING AS LIFE ALLOWS US TO, AS OPPOSED TO PLAYING AT THE EXPENSE OF OTHERS. LIFE IS A THING OF USING AND BEING USED. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT LOVE CANNOT EXIST NOR UNSELFISHNESS. WHEN WE PLANT OUR FEET IN THE PLAYER, WE BECOME OBSESSED WITH USING AND BEING USED. WE CAN LOSE THE ABILITY TO FIND THE JOY OF LOVE IN THE GAME.

Like all things, we earn our right to play in the game. We participate in order to be able to play. It is the child becoming an adult, and then earning the right to bring back a little of the child. Not to be a child, this is a great error. We cannot return to innocence. As a child this is a joy. As an adult, it is a lie we cannot live. Joy as an adult lies in wisdom. Innocence taking into account reality. This is participating and playing. In the end, as they say, up to you. How do you want to approach the game of life?

SUPPORT THE ORANGE ENGINE WITH LSW

Check out some of our branded goodies that help to fuel the our mission.

COMING SOON.