But I wonder how many realise its real significance?

Sure the scholars will tell us the deepest meaning of his immortal words but ask yourself - am I being or not being?

Well, if you have never asked yourself that question, then this might come as a bit of a shock or at best, a complete connundrum. Either way there is a real purpose for asking.

Just think of it - most of us in life spend our time concerned about the Having and the Doing.

We run round like frenetic souls lost in the emotions and commotions of life with all its turmoil and uncertainty. The thought of enjoying a heavenly, blissful life is sought from getting things, having this or that and doing the other.

Sound familiar? It should be unless you are one of the enlightened - which I know you are, but perhaps you do not know it quite yet... but bear with me on this one.

When we, usually, stumble upon an answer to our prayers, a light in the darkness, a long sought after solution we thank our lucky stars, praise the Lord or who/whatever and career on, piling on the having, doing etc.

The goal of course is promising ourselves that when things are really sorted we will lie back and just Be... till then its all hands to the pump to have IT.

You see this really is not the answer. You and I know precisely how much sweat and toil it all involves and that is beyond the buying into the bromides we were brought up with such as there's no reward without toil - No pain, no gain etc.

It is because we have allowed ourselves to be yet another rat in the pack.

What we need to become is a Dumb Rat.

Urrghh! I hear you say. Dumb? Rat?

Yes, being a Dumb Rat we do things that others do not do. We approach life in another way, we become the deviants to the norm. (for an explanation on the Dumb Rat theory visit the Dumb Rat Society and hear how that great maestro of human development, Larry Wilson, explains it (it's really good, by the way).

Now ol' Will Shakespeare got it in one.

Being is the goal, it is the paragon of success, and it is also the beginning rather than the end.

We all can appreciate that this world looks upside down and back to front. That is because we have made it so.

We here, I am certain, all desire change and for the natural balance in life to reassert itself.

This will happen when we dispose of the having, doing being order and learn to Be first, Do next and then the Having will naturally fall into place.

By learning how to Be, we acknowledge and accept ourselves for who we are, because we know who we are and in that knowledge we naturally Be-come. The Doing then becomes a joy and a gift. When we gift ourselves with this approach, of course Natural Law responds by gifting us in return and our Having is naturally and effortlessly taken care of.

This is the Great Game of Life - I would strongly suggest that we all actively play it - because the outcome, whether we know it or not is that, as inevitable as night follows day - we are going to win.

See you on the playing field!

Jonathan Louis Trapman
Author, Visionary and player in the Great Game of Life