Delight In Difference

 In Diane Duane's delightful book Spock's World there is a truly exceptional scene where the idea of IDIC, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combination, and the taking of delight in the differences that exist, came from. And it is in the middle of the Crisis of Awakening that happens to Surak. The person who saves this world from it's inhabitants. It goes as thus:

   "But what do I do now? he thought.
   He sat there all night, wondering that. Somehow he had to stop people from killing each other that was plain. Or rather, had to stop them hating each other the killing would take care of itself, after that. Nothing really difficult, he said to himself, finding it funny to be so earnest and dry, even sarcastic, over an impossibility … one which he was nonetheless committed to bring about. He had chosen, had chosen life, and he knew, somehow, that even the simple fact of the choice mattered; if he died right now, it would matter not a whit less. But it would matter much more if he found some way to do something about this problem. There were several small earthquakes, mutterings in the sand, while he sat through the night thinking about this while T'Khut stood high, and the Red and White Eyes rose to look at him. The earthquakes were not frightening in his weary state, they felt like a friendly hand trying to shake him awake when he nodded. He wished he could awake, could simply wake up from this wondering and find the answer, and start doing something about it.
   And the earth quaked again, rather harder this time than before. Ah, come on, now, he said, for he was becoming inured to this, stop that.
   The quake got worse. Surak became uneasy and started to scramble to his feet.
   And subsided, as the. earthquake rose up before him.
   With frightened calm he watched the sand vibrate, heard it drum like a hundred ancient war-parties all around him. Well, he thought, as the bulge came up and up, I chose, and I suppose that was enough. And now I die—
   The sand started to slip away from the great shape it covered, as the Underlier arched its back against the night, huge as a house, as a hundred houses. It blotted out Seleya, it blotted out TKhut, and the sky. The low rumbling of its voice would have blotted out a real earthquake, had one had the temerity to take place right then. Terror was a poor word for what possessed Surak in that moment. His tongue clove to the roof of his mouth, and he shook all over. He had not thought that his death could be so big-that anything could be so big.
   And then his death spoke to him… and he found that he was mistaken about it being his death.
   The song was of incredible complexity and depth-the kind of melody you might expect a mountain, or perhaps a geological stratum, to sing. The thoughts that came with the song, that blasted into his head and crashed through him like a continent collapsing on him, were immense, wide, old-and so strange that he could not even begin to say what they were about. But he got a clear sense that this immensity, this ultimate power, was looking at his smallness, his delicacy, his tiny precision, with astonishment.
   And with delight at his difference.
   And suddenly everything shifted for Surak. The fear abruptly became awe, and the greatest possible pleasure to feel. How delightful to be so different from something how wonderful that there should be creatures so huge in the world, so strange! No need to understand them, particularly that might come with time, and would be an added delight. But it was enough to accept their difference, to celebrate just that, without anything added. Creation, in itself, was joy. The difference was joy, the celebration of it was joy. There was nothing that could stand against that Joy sooner or later it would triumph. All evil, all death, was a tiny, fretting, posturing thing that knew its own defeat was coming, and might rage and destroy as it liked. It was doomed. Celebration would win, was winning, had won now. Everything was one moment, and the moment was nothing but triumph and joy.
   As best he could, Surak looked up at the Undertier and gave it to understand as much.
   It roared. The sand shook, the earth trembled; the echo came back from Seleya until it seemed that a voice answered, many voices.
   Joy! said the roar. And nothing else needed saying. It fell silent, then, and slipped into the sand, silently, easily. The sand shook a little as it went, rippled, as water ripples when a fish slips into it.
   Surak watched it with calm delight, knowing that it was not going away, not really. Nothing could ever go away, not completely not after what he knew now.
   The sand grew still. It was as if nothing had ever been there.
   Surak sat for a few breaths then got up and brushed the sand off himself in a businesslike manner and headed back for the aircar. He had a lot to do. He knew now what needed doing. He knew what would finally kill fear the wonder, the appreciation, the delight in the Other.
   It would work. It might take a long time, but he knew it would work. He knew it."

This is what is called a Spiritual Awakening by some. It is also called a Moment of Transformation by some. There are many ways to label this experience. And it all leads up to a complete and total reorientation of the way that a person exists in this world.

One Becomes Someone Else and will never, ever be able to go back to the way one was before.

Now, for me, it is important to look at a couple of things here.

The first is when the Underlier was looking at Surak and looking "with delight at his difference". That is a profound Way of Being. Taking Delight in Difference. Seeing something and/or someone who is profoundly not like oneself, and finding Delight in everything that is profoundly not like ones self. In contrast look at us Humans. We are taught to Fear our Differences. We are taught that if someone is different they are Other and they are to be Feared. There is no Delight possible from that world view.

And for Surak the transition from Fear to Awe. A complete conversion of feeling from everything that makes everything dreadful into everything that makes everything delightful.  Imagine what that would do for us as Human Beings in everything.

Then really getting that Understanding is not required. That it is enough to Accept and Celebrate the Differences without adding anything to that.

The Creation of it itself was the Joy. The Celebration. The Wonder.

And the recognition that "All evil, all death, was a tiny, fretting, posturing thing that knew its own defeat was coming, and might rage and destroy as it liked. It was doomed". For is it not Evil and Death that causes us to Fear? To Fear Life, Connection, and everything that is Different? All things must pass and that is the Ultimate Fear that causes all other Fears.

And the final recognition that "Celebration would win, was winning, had won now. Everything was one moment, and the moment was nothing but triumph and joy". Joy, Celebration, Love, those are the antidote to Fear. And they will always win and now have won. We just need to act within that.

Joy. Celebration. Delight. love.

Those are the cure for all of the ills in this world today. They Have Won. They Are Winning. They Will Win.

Past. Present. Future.

We can live in Fear.

Or

We Can Live in Delight. In Joy. In Celebration.

Choose. Choose Now. Choose in Every Moment.

And know that in Choosing you make a difference.

Namaste 🙏