All Existence is Baffling
“We do these things not because they are easy but because they are hard.”
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
Be it computer expertise, musical ability, piloting skills, muscular growth, mental learning, human evolution, etc., the AUM of Life dictates and requires that mechanical nature be baffling at every stage. No one wants to go swimming in some fetid pond filled with putrefied water. Such water is not altogether dead, but it is certainly dormant. It lacks the freshness, vitality, clarity, and cleanliness we value. Its capacity to dissolve, hold, and carry minerals is also greatly reduced. Naturally, how much stuff can you carry in your sleep? What makes water come alive? Not just movement, which we might call flow, but that which interrupts the flow, which we call baffles. From rapids and reefs to winds and waterfalls, whatever interrupts the flow of water and causes turbulence—flow forms such as vortices, eddies, whirlpools, and even crashing waves—creates structured, living water. Water that is far better at dissolving and carrying more dissolved elements, which makes it better at all its jobs, from nourishing life to flushing away waste. In fact, water treatment facilities around the world incorporate baffles since they improve the efficiency and efficacy of grey water and septic treatment systems.
We, like water, become more structured, alive, and capable when we face ordeals, encounter hurdles, overcome obstacles, pass tests, triumph over adversity, and conquer the mountains in our lives. This is what was expressed in Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and constitutes the upward spiral of every process of evolution, growth, development, learning, manifestation, et al.