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 memorialize it like a trophy. Once the lived experience becomes just a memory, you’re left staring at a plaque that’s meaningless absent the presence that produced it.
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; it’s the beginning. You have to stay balanced, ride the wave as it unfolds.
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 motionless wave would be pointless to ride. You’d just be standing in place, inert. Where’s the fun in that?
There is one thing that stays constant: the fact that you’re here at all. That was as true yesterday as it is right now. But it’s a lived experience that keeps unfolding moment to moment, not a possession you can put on the mantle. It’s only ever available fresh, in real time, like a wave.