In the pool
| Let’s change the metaphor. Another way to view our situation is this. We are here as in a giant swimming pool. As infants and children we are guided around the wading pool at one end, finally allowed into the shallow part of the pool, and eventually we learn to swim properly and can navigate all parts of the pool as grown-ups. I’m of course talking about immersion in the world of adult life. "Maturity" comes to mean satisfied and successful immersion in the pool. And life there has many rewards, as I’ve said. How easy to forget: If you pay attention only to the water, only the water exists. You may even come to resent those who report that something other than water exists, calling them foolish, misguided, irrational, immature.  But. The pool is not all. We were not in the pool at the beginning. We had to
learn to swim. And we will not be in the pool at the end when we die.Perhaps then it’s worth thinking about learning to leave the pool on occasion, to climb out, dry off, and lie in the sun for a bit. Perhaps the sun, presented to the resting mind-body out of the pool, offers "food" which cannot be got another way. So in this metaphor, we're moving toward a way to learn to get out of the pool voluntarily and lie in the sun for a bit. Or, in the title metaphor, the technique gives you access at will to a mental saltlick. Let's pause here and take a little "immersion" test to see just how deep in the pool you are. |