Life and Enlightenment

Life is a series of mistakes that you hopefully survive while having fun

The first step towards enlightenment is understanding this

Compassion for yourself and for all life in the universe is the second step

Once these two experiences and realizations are reached full enlightenment is possible


Note: You are welcome to disagree with me about the first line. In some ways that is the point. To include you in asking questions about your life and for that matter everyone's.


I had a strange experience this summer. I'm presently 62 however, I have had a lot of my lifetime tied up emotionally, spiritually, by friends, family and acquaintances around the Mt. Shasta, California area.

The last time I lived there, however, was 1992. Though I have returned to ski, hike, visit friends somewhere between 1 to 4 or more times per year, the longest time I had been there was under 1  week.

In 1998 I almost died from a heart virus. Since I expected to or thought it might be likely I would die for about 7 months, I psychologically prepared for death in every way I could think of. Part of this was shutting out my life before 1998 emotionally so I could completely be in the present to deal with right now every moment I had left. So, after I recovered emotionally it was like I was born in 1999 and I celibrated my return to life by going to Europe with 2 of my children and my mother (which was the last big trip before she died).

However, this summer my wife and two daughters and I decided to rent a house for a month in Mt. Shasta. I was sort of horrified the first 4 days I was there as all my memories of my parents, the religion I was raised in, my first two marriages etc. that all to one degree or another centered (at least in spirit) around Mt. Shasta. So, it could be said that I was haunted by my life before 1999 during those 4 days.

When I tried to make sense of my life: I couldn't. And this only made me feel even more confused.
Finally, in desperation I took 1999 until the present and the first 4 years of my life and I found that made some sense. And all the rest of my life reminded me of the lines in an I Ching symbol, with each disjointed segment of my life being one of the lines. Originally, I was frustrated because my life from 1952 until 1999 made no sense at all to me until I realized that most people's lives are like this by the time they get to age 62, with all the dreams you had turning in your mind into mistakes that you made because you didn't understand one thing or the other about the situation, the people involved, their intentions, your own intentions etc. etc. etc.

So, I suppose the statement: "Life is a series of mistakes you hopefully survive while having fun" begins to make much more sense than I ever wanted it to. And what is the point of all these mistakes?

To learn to have compassion for yourself and all other beings who are also making horrendous mistakes while hopefully having fun too.

And for those of you who aren't having any fun at all? Why are you alive if you are not having fun?
What is the point of being alive at all if you can't get any enjoyment out of it and are simply here to make others and yourself miserable?

If life isn't fun like two otters playing then it is nothing at all. So go have fun having compassion for yourself and all other beings. Everything else is pretty meaningless in the end!