You know what happened to Jack. His mom said to take the cow to market and sell her. He traded the cow for some beans and his mom was not at all pleased. Ok, as I heard it, it turned out ok in the end, although it was a close call at times and the mom and the boy benefitted from the illegal appropriation of funds and property of another person.
But what I am thinking about is the deal: want to buy some magic beans? That is the same sort of moment, the moment of possible magic, some big gain, some bargain that will turn everything around. That is the moment when Stephen Cope (Yoga and the Quest for the True Self) felt his heart sink a little. He was part of a yoga class and he was one of the instructors. The main teacher came in to speak to the class. The teacher spoke of his own experience as a student and it seemed to the class that he was about to reveal some magic insight he had himself learned from his own teacher. The adult students grew extra still and alert, ready for some magic.
He recognized that alert readiness and it was another sign that calm acceptance gets shoved aside for what might be magic powers, secret knowledge. There are moments of magic: when we meet that special person at the dance, when we get that letter of acceptance or employment. In psychology and learning theory, it is well known that the machine that pays off intermittently is the one that most firmly gets our attention. Maybe this time, we will hit it big. We have seen people hit it big. We have heard of winning the lottery. Maybe this time, it will happen to us.
A basic part of us wants the gold at the end of the rainbow and we want a final answer to our doubts and fears. We want to hear that "Psst" in the market, even though we know that magic beans are likely to be a scam, even though we might get caught by the giant and eaten. What if we do win the golden goose? What if all our problems are solved forever?
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