Unwise Investments

From the Tarot of the Masters, the Ten of Swords; from the Key to the Kingdom, the 'Seven of Hearts:'

We often think we do a pretty good job of trying to explain just how things are—until we actually experience the thing we’re trying to explain. Then we realize our words and ideas are like trying to grab a single drop of rain in a thunderstorm.

—Ed Brickell

          It's easy to get heavily invested in our ideas and beliefs. When we begin identifying them as who we are, we fall under the delusion that they are the ultimate truth. We don't realize that these intellectual constructs are merely personal viewpoints heavily influenced by our upbringing and memories of past experiences. Perhaps there is a grain of truth in them, but it is just one raindrop out of the whole thunderstorm. Ricklef's redrawing of The Death of Caesar illustrates the point when we realize we don't know everything (which most people would agree with, yet we all seem to have an opinion about everything anyway). The Seven of Hearts illustrates the death of Cock Robin from the nursery rhyme. The 'cock' part tells us there was a bit of strutting and crowing with this particular bird. Yet our cocky views can be disowned if we have a friend willing to point them out with respect and kindness. They can be (as in the nursery rhyme) the 'sparrow' that kills the cock (the confidence placed in them through ignorance).

If you really want to become skillful in your thoughts, words, and deeds, you need a trustworthy friend to point out your blind spots.

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu