“It is possible, if we have real courage, to live all of life as if in play. This does not mean being frivolous or lacking compassion toward others. It means to carry a light, trusting, and open attitude toward ourselves and the world. In Tibetan Buddhism it is said that what distinguishes human nature from that of animals is not intelligence but humor. To experience life as play one must learn to see with the eyes of humor. This helps us balance the tragedy of human existence with the wonder of it. Such an attitude requires courage because it demands that we open ourselves both to uncertainty in the outer world and to the irrational in the inner world.
A truly playful attitude, even if short-lived, can act as a catalyst to synchronicity. Moreover, an attitude of lighthearted openness reduces the shadow to a bare minimum, since the defenses are relaxed. As a consequence, coincidences are often delightful. At times, a positive sense of trust and openness will allow everyday problems almost to solve themselves, as opposed to the more usual sense of struggle against chance events that the Trickster so often throws in our path.
Opening the mind to a lighthearted, playful attitude, we may avail ourselves of intuition, which is a particular kind of gnosis, or knowledge, that seems to come through the now permeable borders of the conscious mind. Intuition is a type of knowledge emphasized in virtually all spiritual traditions. This is not to say that to be lighthearted is to become psychic, as the term is usually used, but rather that we may develop en exquisite feeling for certain situations, a feeling which, if trusted, often proves correct. Intuitive feelings hold a special relationship to synchronicity, a relationship that few people have actively cultivated.”
~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland
“True openness to experience comes via a connection through the Trickster to the archetypal Self. This openness is play, and play is the Trickster’s game – irrational, paradoxical, and creative.” ~ Allan Combs & Mark Holland
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