No coasting
Michael McCaffrey wrote an article this week titled “Truth as a moving target” about the myth of final awakening. In it, he takes apart the idea that realization is a plateau where truth gets revealed, the search ends, and things stay conveniently put from there on out.
As Michael points out, the moment you decide an insight is final, you stop looking at what’s actually in front of you, and you drift from the realization. Yesterday’s clarity hardens into today’s dogma.
I’ve been there plenty. Every real glimpse I’ve had came with a pretty much immediate urge to bank it and set it up as a trophy. Frame the moment, write the plaque, sit back and relax. And every time, the plaque was all I had left by morning.
I mentioned to Michael in the comments that I doubt there’s any point where you get to coast for free. His reply was perfect: it’s like surfing. Getting up on the board isn’t the end of anything. You have to stay balanced, navigate the wave in real time.
The complaint hiding inside the wish for a final, irreversible awakening is I don’t want to have to keep showing up. But showing up is the fun part! A wave you can stand on motionless isn’t a wave. It’s just a floor.
The one thing I’d add to Michael’s piece is that there is one thing that doesn’t move: the fact that you’re here at all. That was as true yesterday as it is right now. But it’s a lived experience, not a possession you can pocket. It’s only ever available fresh, in real time, right now.