sacred & profane

The sacred and the profane: as we embark on a spiritual journey, this distinction is all important to us. The profane is what we have known for so long: the money, the job, the house, the car, the sex, the marriage – it is all profane, all the toys, all the entertainment, the distractions, it is all profane. And we have come to realise that there is no fulfilment to be found in it, and we turn against it, and we start to search for the sacred.

So this becomes a great duality for us. The sacred is what we are looking for, the future. And the profane is what we have actually known, the past. And we reject the profane, push it away, and try to grasp at the sacred. Of course, as we begin to feel the sacred, this distinction is useful. It allows us to focus all our energies on that which we have neglected for so long: the sacred, the sacred around us and the sacred within us. This is a small vulnerable seedling to begin with, and it needs to be nurtured. And this great duality between the sacred and the profane allows us to nurture the sacred, allows the seedling to grow into a sapling, and then into a tree.

But at some point, this duality also needs to be transcended. At some point on the journey, the sacred becomes strong enough within us to withstand the full force of life in all its ups and downs, in its vulgarity as well as its beauty, in its profanity as well as its sacredness. So eventually, we begin to feel the sacred in everything. We begin to feel the sacred in the profane. And if we are courageous enough, we can also see the profane in the sacred. And at this point, this duality begins to crumble away, and we know that all of life is both sacred and profane. And neither of these aspects is above the other, neither is below, neither is better nor worse. And eventually, from this balanced perspective, the sacred and the profane melt together and the words become empty and meaningless and we are left with what is, in all its glory.