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Ouroboros
When we conquer our dualistic perception we turn it into understanding of the events and prejudices.
Myles Ryan
January 09, 2024
Ouroboros
Power and pain. Suffering and joy. Weakness and gratitude.
How to take responsibility for the events of life that are terrible and not your fault? These are the very events that are the hardest to accept but how we meet these events defines our ability to own our life.
It is what lies on the other side of the pain that makes the effort worth it.
One of the most enigmatic forms that recurs throughout history is that of the snake biting its own tail.
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
Very few symbols are so wide spread and have such diverse meanings associated with them.
It reveals something innately repugnant and intriguing. A deep fear and an irresistible interest are evoked at the same time.
The obstacle is the way.
The obstacle to a better future than that which we can see is often ourselves.
It is also our pain and history that is the biggest and most challenging impediment to our success.
Yet these “hindrances'' make us who we are. No one else has the unique mixture of experience and manner of looking at life that our experiences make possible.
As William Blake made so poetically clear. Joy and woe are just two experiences. They are part of what it means to be human.
Joy & Woe are woven fine
A clothing for the soul divine
Under every grief & pine
Runs a joy with silken twine
As a young man I really despised explanations. My experience was that explanation sucked the life out of the essence of the thing, took too long and was something people did to puff themselves up.
Mostly I still agree with this sentiment, however I have come to accept that explanation is an essential part of life. What I hated so much was the inner gesture that people would adopt when explaining, as though they were holding something over me.
Don’t we all feel crummy when arrogance shows its ugly face in the people around us?
How often is it that at the most important times of our lives we walk the tightrope between our best and worst selves?
It is this double edged experience that reveals the mystery of the ouroboros symbol. When we conquer our dualistic perception we turn it into understanding of the events and prejudices.
Death and rebirth
Experience and understanding
There is an uncanny way that opposites connect. This is the essence of ouroboros.