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Getting back to that wonderfully named professor from the University of Chicago, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and his book Flow: "Paradoxically, it is when we act freely, for the sake of action itself rather than for ulterior motives, that we learn to become more than what we were." (We give the situation itself permission to teach us things, rather than simply retain our preconceptions.) We are now gaining energy from the situation, as with a religious icon, and this is our first glimpse into the concept of
synergy. (On a woodworking show I once saw on TV, the master carpenter said "The wood itself teaches you how to work with it.")
With this in mind, the following quote from the great writer Tolstoy now has more meat to it: "There is no
aspect of life in which real wisdom cannot be displayed."
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Entropy
As we focus on the massage table, we are giving a person's energy reserves a new lease on life. In the words of Mihaly, we are now marshalling energy from the situation rather than having it drain us.
We're now operating in contradiction to a law of
physics that the universe works in the direction of
entropy, scattering its dimensions of matter and
energy. Says Mihaly: when in the state of flow, we have a sense of being in a world where entropy is
suspended.
Said the great Buckminster Fuller: "The physical is
inherently entropic, giving off energy in ever more
disorderly ways. The metaphysical, however, is anti-entropic, methodically marshalling energy. Life is anti-entropic. It is spontaneously inquisitive. It sorts out and endeavors to understand." (Synergetics:
Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking, 1975)
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According to Edgar Cayce, who says direction is always provided for those who seek the light, man brings order out of chaos by virtue of his compliance with Divine Law (notice the capitalizations). Bringing order out of chaos is an anti-entropic exercise, which may be among mankind's highest responsibilities or else the Divine Power would never have given us such a capability in the first place.
As expressed by secular-spiritual/often-boring writer Marianne Williamson: According to the ancient Egyptians, the very purpose of our lives is to preserve order in the
cosmos. Fuller suggested that this role was one of our highest functions as human beings and that its capability is a gift, not to mention a harrowing responsibility.
I'm aware of no other massage book or manual that specifically discusses the
anti-entropic role, so we're heading off onto some new ground here.
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Trimtab
If we assume for a
moment that any person called to a higher purpose wants to make an impact on the world, we'll also assume they face great difficulty in choosing an assigned role or path. Let's now assume that part of the solution lies in the anti-entropic effect of living life as if it were the tea ceremony.
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The great Buckminster Fuller chose the analogy of the trimtab on a ship or airliner to clarify this role. A trimtab is a mini-rudder that nudges the main rudder. So with a slight nudge here and there, a great ocean liner can change direction in the middle of the sea with minimal force. Said Fuller, "Everything we do - even the littlest things - affects the rest of the Universe." We seek to have great impact, and we can do it from right here in our chair, right now.
Our purpose and intention, however, must be for the good of all, ourselves not
excluded. Said Carl Jung, "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human
existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being."
At this point we begin to give up our egotistical notion that we contain the power to effect change from fully within ourselves. We need to call upon a Higher Source. Wrote the great mystic St. Catherine of Siena (1347-1380) in a message relayed to her from above, "The soul enamored of My Truth never ceases to serve the whole world in general."
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