Reality can get a bit overwhelming at times. We all need an occasional break from the daily struggle. We need to be restored by the essential goodness of living. We need a happy place that reacquaints us with the joy of living. For thousands of years, we have called this place paradise.
The dictionary defines paradise as “a place of delight or bliss,” meaning exceptional happiness. It is a place where we can relax into living, knowing that “all shall be well.” It is a place where we feel safe. We feel accepted because we belong there. We are not a visitor. We are a resident homeowner who does not fear eviction. We can accept our responsibilities without hesitation because we are grateful to be in this paradise. Paradise is the place where we live, and move, and have our being in happy delight.
This word comes from the Greek Paradaisos or Royal Park. It referred to a place that was closed off and used exclusively by the gods. It grew out of the desert experience of the ancient Persians and was an oasis in a dry and parched land. Our most common image for a paradise is the Garden of Eden, a gated place where God strolled through the abundance. It was surrounded by flowing water and came with a single responsibility, to remain ignorant of good and evil. We could stay in paradise as long as we remained innocent of the ways of the world beyond the gate. We could stay as long as paradise remained clean and undefiled. Paradise was not “in heaven.” It was a place on earth.
This was no utopia, an idea of Sir Thomas More in his writing by the same name. Utopia is a composite Greek word that means “no place.” In using this particular word, More claimed that lives of perfection were not of this world. A utopia was a fiction that existed only in the mind. It was the unattainable goal that lived in stark contrast to the stark political realities of More’s chaotic society under Henry VIII. Utopia was a pipe dream of political perfection.
In comparison, paradise is a living reality for those with the eyes to see and the heart to embrace it. Utopia was a creation of the mind that lived beyond the living reality of our lives. Paradise is a living reality for those who live in innocence of the world. This innocence may grow out of a lack of experience with the world. But, it may also develop after a long and arduous journey back through those gates. In this brief post, I want to explore the latter.
The image above is from the North Shore of Oahu. We spent an hour or so at this spot after a long drive around the island. Construction detours and traffic, my two least favorite driving experiences, bedeviled our journey. Also, the people were not all that courteous on the road or in the parking lot. Besides, I had a schedule to keep and several other stops to make. I generally drive past such “paradises” because I am too preoccupied with the stuff in my head. I blindfold myself to the world around me because I have a schedule to keep. But this paradise was different. I suspect there was something different in me as well.
Once I got there, the place itself spoke to an emptiness in my soul. We spent an hour walking around the North Shore. I began to look past the crowds and found what Carlos Castaneda called a “place with heart.” It was a paradise. It was far too real to be a utopia.
When we reached this particular spot, we pulled off the busy main road and found a parking spot between a trash can and a closed vendor stall. The sound of crashing waves drew me to the sidewalk that overlooked the shoreline. I was transfixed. The crowds and noise behind me evaporated. I stood there, unable to move. I felt tiny when I looked out on the vastness of the Pacific Ocean. My mind knew that there was very little between Asia and me. I remembered reading about the Bonsai Pipeline that ended in this cove. These massive waves were nothing compared to the waves that arrived during the height of Surfing Season. They reached 50+ feet. These were a “mere” 25 feet. Their roar blended with the howling wind to create a rhythmic symphony that challenged the mastery of Mussorgsky and Stravinsky. Rainbows appeared in the mists of the shattered waves. They glowed with the promise of even greater delights. I could not turn away. I was enraptured. My soul found comfort as I wandered through that tiny piece of paradise.
Paradise overwhelmed me with delight. It lit up my life with wonder and awe. I stood in a liminal space, the edge of being itself where life stretched out into the great unknown. The tingle of unknowing and the wonder of the moment wrapped me into a deep sense of awe. It spoke to my soul. It shut off the voices that were urging me to move on to other places to see and things to do. And in that stillness came the soothing voice of grace and gratitude, celebrating where I stood and who I was. Paradise had called out and found me.
The essence of paradise is not that we have to go out and find it! Paradise has a way of finding us. How do we “get found” by paradise? It is really quite simple. We need to be ready when it shows up on the doorstep of our daily life. Here are a few ideas that I have found helpful.
Stay in touch with the state of your soul. Acknowledge your hurriedness and the world that is slipping by. Recognize when you are letting paradise slip by because you are distracted by lesser things. Listen to your inner dialogue. Review your recent memories. You can assume that you have missed out on at least one experience of paradise if your internal dialogue and memories have ignored them. Give yourself permission to slow down and look, listen, and stop when a glimpse of paradise comes into view.
Look past the noisy, clanging of the ego, the cynicism, and the despair. You will not find your paradise with anxiety or fear. Paradise cannot be found at all. Instead, slow down and pay attention to the edges of your life so that the eyes of your heart will be open when beauty, goodness, and joy appear. Stop and listen with the ears of your soul, as paradise announces itself in the shadows of your everyday living. You cannot reach out and grasp it. It is beyond your reach. You cannot shame or guilt it into appearing. It is far too honest for those games. Striving for it leads to anxiety and the fear that you will miss it. It will also guarantee that you will miss it. Slow down and pay attention to the wondrous mystery that lingers on the edge of your awareness.
Let yourself be awed. Awe means giving up control of our perceptions. Go where awe is experienced and let go of your expectations of what you will see and hear. Let the world show itself without any comment or explanation. Allow the moment to speak for itself. The first waves of awe will touch the edges of your soul. When paradise whispers into your soul, allow your delight as it overflows into your mind and body.
Lastly, admit that there is much more to life than we can ever really know. We are not smart enough to believe that we see, feel, and know all things. We are not really smart enough, perceptive enough, or experienced enough to know how the rest of our story will turn out. When we replace our unknowing with visions of utopia, we create depression and anxiety at how far we must travel to find perfection. But, by allowing awe, wonder, and gratitude to flow into our unknowing, we will find ourselves surrounded by paradise and be drawn further into the beauty and wonder of life. Embrace the energy that surrounds you, and the gate to paradise will open before you. Paradise will inform and guide your today and your tomorrow.
These steps make it possible to regain our innocence even after we have eaten a whole bushel of the knowledge of Good and Evil. In them, we find forgiveness for our personal experiences of evil. We discover the grace of loving acceptance of ourselves and others. Our second experience of innocence is an “eyes wide open” variety. We know the choices that are available to us and have found ways to fill our soul with the strength to choose “the better way.” We have found the path of faith, hope, and love, especially love.
We are not barred from paradise if we can reclaim the core of our innocence and see good and evil for what it is, rejecting or accepting responsibility for ourselves and those around us. We do not eat to serve our inner desires and passions. We eat in order to enjoy and find delight in the life that we have and that we share with those around us. Paradise can be a Hell on earth for those who approach it with greed and ego. But a soul that delights and takes responsibility for that delight can find a paradise to be a heaven on Earth. The gate is open to those with the body-mind-soul to see, hear, taste, and touch their way into the garden that awaits us in paradise.
Blessings,
Bob