Beyond the Edge of the Board

Recently I've been wondering what it would be like to transcend. The thought occurred to me as I sat in on a meeting one night. The participants (I was merely there as an observer) were arguing with each other. It seemed obvious to me that the issue being discussed wasn't worth the way people were treating each other--which is probably true in most arguments. The discussion was largely inconclusive by the end, at least on a superficial level, but on a deeper level it certainly accomplished the engendering of ill-will and distrust between the parties involved. And so I thought to myself in that moment: What would it be like to transcend?

It reminded me of a scene from the David Lynch/Mark Frost television series, Twin Peaks. In this particular scene FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (played by Kyle MacLachlan) is being interviewed by Internal Affairs agents who are investigating him on various, serious charges. The charges are false, but if convicted Cooper would not only lose his job with the Bureau but also go to prison. He chooses not to defend himself, and the investigating officer goes off the record to urge him to "play the game" in the right way--to make "the right moves." In response, Cooper says: "I've been doing a lot of thinking lately. And I've started to focus out beyond the edge of the board." Beyond the edge of the board. As I sat in that meeting it occurred to me that that's where I want to be. As Cooper explains when asked what he means: "The sound the wind makes through the vines. The sentience of animals. What we fear in the dark and what lies beyond the darkness...I'm talking about seeing beyond fear...About looking at the world with love."