We Are All Such Beloved Fools

The fool can beloved or not. Beloved fools are open-hearted and cultivate “don’t know” mind. Not-so-beloved fools think they know something, or know better, or are better. 

 What I can see, so far, is that takes courage and fortitude to watch closely enough, over a long enough period of time (maybe a lifetime?), to see when foolishness is taking a beloved form, and when not. And to be humble when “not.” Which in my own investigation is *not* as infrequently as I’d like.

 Have you done this yet? If not, that’s today’s invitation. Take a look, now and for as long as you can. Playfully and joyfully, but also with diligence. See what you see. See when your own fool is beloved and when not. Decide what to shift. Have fun with it. See how it goes. 

Transcript

Hi everyone, it’s Judi Cohen and this is Wake Up Call #536, coming to you from Oslo, Norway. What a cool place! 

We’re on Chapter Five of the Dhammapada, which is call The Fool. Here’s how the chapter begins:

How long the night to the watchperson, how long the road to the weary traveler, how long the wandering of many lives to the fool who misses the way.  … “My children, my wealth!” So the fool troubles themself. But how have they children or wealth? They are not even their own master. The fool who knows they are a fool is that much wiser. The fool who thinks they are wise, is a fool indeed.

This is maybe advice we’ve all gotten: don’t be a know-it-all. Be humble. It was about seven years into practicing law before I felt like I knew anything at all. I’m sure it was shorter for others – I’m a slow learner – but it was a good exercise in humility.

But plenty of times, then and since, I was the fool who thought they were wise. My only issue with saying this is, the Dhammapada can be kind of intense, so maybe we can have a loving definition of the fool? After all, in the Tarot, the fool is a beloved card, signifying openness, possibility, playfulness, and trust. It’s the “beginner’s mind” card. That’s why the title of today’s Wake Up Call is, “We’re all such beloved fools,” because, at least when we’re aware of it, sometimes it’s good to be a fool. 

But if we are talking about a fool as opposed to someone wise, someone on the path like everyone here, then what? Then the wisdom referred to in this chapter is the wisdom of being awake, of understanding that this being human is a bumpy ride; that our lives are, by design, just slipping through our fingers; that our constructs of ourselves are both far too sticky and not nearly expansive enough; that we’re all in this together; and that above all else, we’re here to care for one another and to lift each other up and to love. Or anyway that’s what I’d call wisdom.

Which is not so different from the wisdom of the law, which, at its best, is about not succumbing when clients bring us their bumpy-ride troubles day after day. And about remembering that whatever we’re able to accomplish will someday only be the dust of a long-gone civilization and legal system. And about knowing we really don’t know as much as we think we do, or wish we did. And about remembering that in the end we’re just here to care about and love one another.

Beginner’s mind, or the mind of the beloved fool, is sometimes called, “don’t know mind.” Which matches up with these first lines of Chapter Five: we’re all fools if we think we know, think we can see, any of what I just offered – and that certainly includes me for trying to articulate wisdom – in our household we use the phrase, “Often wrong, never in doubt,” to gently remind one another not to be so sure. To remember to soften the mind, soften the heart, live in beginner’s mind. To be more curious. I like that for myself, and for everyone. It feels like a gentler way to live, more open, more loving. 

And there are these lines from Chapter Five, too: If the traveler cannot find Master or friend to go with them, let them travel on alone rather than with a fool for company. Which maps onto a bit of dharma I’ve heard many times: if you can’t be in the company of wise friends, be alone. The invitation is to be humble, be curious, live in beginner’s mind or don’t know mind, and surround ourselves with other people also doing that.

I feel lucky to have good friends who are much wiser than me. I love being with them. Sometimes they have great ideas or insights, but sometimes just being with them and observing them seeing and articulating things clearly, is enough. They inspire me to study and practice more. 

They offer something else, too: when I’m confused or stuck in delusion or hatred or fear, I can borrow their wisdom. This is a practice I love: of sitting down quietly next to someone wise – or even just imagining they’re sitting nearby – and letting their wisdom support me. And, if I’m lucky, inform my understanding as well. I hope you have people like this in your life, too, or that you can recall someone like that who touched your life, and that you can call them to mind and imagine yourself wrapped in their wisdom. Or maybe wrapped in their love, which is probably not different. Ok so, be humble, cultivate beginner’s mind, seek out wise friends. 

Then the chapter gets intense. It says, the fool is their own enemy. The mischief they do is their undoing. How bitterly they suffer!  Why do what you will regret? Why bring tears upon yourself? Do only what you do not regret, and fill yourself with joy. 

Why do what you will regret? - great question. There are not tons of things I regret but there are definitely some. But I’d like to think that if I’d known I was being my own enemy, I wouldn’t have done them; wouldn’t have wanted to bring tears upon myself. Isn’t that true for all of us – we’d like to think we’d do things differently with the wisdom we have now? 

So, how do we avoid this mischief that’s our undoing? We follow the path. We engage in non-harming. We cultivate what James so often teaches about: the bliss of blamelessness (thank you, James!) and which has really settled into my heart as an aspiration. We communicate and act wisely, practice non-harming, and remember that we belong to one another. That seems to me to be the best way to avoid the mischief that’s our undoing.

And finally the chapter says, fresh milk takes time to sour. So a fool’s mischief takes time to catch up with them. Like the embers of a fire it smolders within them. …. They want recognition, a place before other people, a place over other people. … One way leads to wealth and fame, the other to the end of the way. Look not for recognition but follow the awakened and set yourself free. 

So again, cultivate beginner’s mind and be vigilant, since beloved foolishness takes time to see. And don’t try to become known as the leader or teacher or anything at all. Just pay attention, wake up, live into the bliss of blamelessness, and be free.

Let’s sit.