In Herman Hesse’s Siddartha, you are taught that the only thing the enlightened one needed to know was how to think, how to wait, and how to fast.  He called these the three noble and invincible arts.  It’s somewhat telling when you look at the world around you how very little you see of those three things.

{Siddartha Speaking} “Listen my friend!  I am a sinner and you are a sinner, but someday the sinner will be Brahma again, will someday attain Nirvana, will someday become a Buddha.  Now this ‘someday’ is illusion; it is only a comparison.  The sinner is not on the way to a Buddha-like state; he is not evolving, although our thinking cannot conceive things otherwise.  No, the potential Buddha already exists in the sinner; his future is already there.  The potential hidden Buddha must be recognized in him, in you, in everybody.”

I quote Siddartha not because I am keen on Buddhism.  I quote Hesse because the thought that our futures, our potentials, our paths are already within us is something I am starting to really believe.  Even in hard times, I have slowly come to realize how much thought and personal perspective really propel one forward – for better or for worse.  One of my favorite things to say is “Je sais L’avenir par coeur.”   I know the future by heart.  That’s because the future resides within me.  It resides in all of us.  Our future is the Nirvana that we all seek.

Like I wrote in my previous post, 2010 is going to do things to this blog.  I’m going to take a step back from my life as often as I can to think, to wait, and to fast.  I think these skills will bring new perspective to my life, will help me change the timbre of my soul, and elevate me to where I need to be.  With that, I will also be able to help those around me – playing whatever role that I am meant to play.