Independent Thinking

From the Morgan Greer Tarot, the Page of Pentacles; from the Goddesses and Sirens Oracle, "Amatarasu:"

          The Page of Pentacles is often called "the student," but he's not your average bookworm. Ginny Hunt, in a wonderful post on 78 Notes to Self, used a quote attributed to Will Rogers to describe him: "There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin'. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves." He reads, observes and then tests things out. Yet even the Buddha advocated this approach: "Do not believe anything just because I said it, because a great elder has said it, because you’ve read it in a sacred text. Put it into practice – see for yourself what is true." Sounds like a solid plan to me (except for the electric fence part).
          Amaterasu, a sun goddess of the Shinto faith, has been assigned the keyword "self-esteem." That word makes me think of conversations like this: "Where do you want to go eat?" "I don't know, where do you want to go?" "What movie would you like to see?" "I don't know, what movie do you want to see?" I think at some point most people doubt themselves to the point where they look to others to tell them what to do. They become like the moon depending on the sun for its light. It feels too risky to make a mistake, be wrong, or disagree with another person's opinion. But self-confidence isn't about being superior and knowing it all; it's about independent thinking. As Chogyam Trungpa explained, "We do not have to be ashamed of what we are. As sentient beings we have wonderful backgrounds. These backgrounds may not be particularly enlightened or peaceful or intelligent. Nevertheless, we have soil good enough to cultivate; we can plant anything in it."