Rejoining the mainstream

I've rarely been mainstream before. I have for so long sought out the odd, the eccentric. From games to religions, I have deliberately chosen the obscure. I have indeed pursued exotic philosophies and taken tea with weird gods.

And why? Was it because I once agreed with a quote I read long ago that the majority is, more often than not, wrong, and that I have a greater chance of finding truth away from the beaten track? Or was it because by so doing and mastering such a subject, I could simply become a big fish in a small pond?

A different wind blows through me now and drives me to action. I renounce the position of outlier and rejoin the main bell curve. I turn away from the shallows to plunge into the main current. Yet at the same time I stay like the lotus, supported by the mud but bursting through the water into the sunshine - in the world but not of the world.

Why am I doing this? Because in the mainstream I find the most suffering; I find the greatest numbers of people that need help. And even if I can make only a small difference, I have a greater chance of making that difference. I know this may seem presumptuous to some, but where would be the compassion in turning my back?

"Water nourishes all things. Cold ice and hot vapour both withhold the gift. The way of warmth is the way of life." I know I have been fire and ice for too long and helped too few. It is time for me to leave the extremes. It is time for me to become as simple and as straightforward as water.