Knocking on doors

Why that's important

Wandering Hermit, image designed by me & made by chatgpt

Here are some intriguing themes on doors. The theme of purposeful seeking relates to the last post on IAR – ritual as having intention, paying attention, and doing things repeatedly.

“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” William Blake (1757-1827), The Marriage of Heaven and Hell

Ok William, but how do I cleanse my doors of perception?

“Asking the proper question is the central action of transformation – in fairy tales, in analysis, and in [Jungian] individuation.* The key question causes germination of consciousness. The properly shaped question always emanates from an essential curiosity … Questions are the key that causes the secret doors of the psyche to swing open.”

This quote is from Clarissa Pinkola Estés, a poet and Jungian psychoanalyst. It is found in her 1992 book, Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype, p. 52. *Jungian individuation is a psychological process of self-discovery, integrating all the aspects of one’s psyche (conscious, unconscious, light and shadow). It is the mark of psychological maturity.

So it looks like asking questions, having an open and curious mind, and not sticking to the same-old, same-old ideas is a way to cleanse those doors of perception. And on the door-knocking theme, we have this famous saying of Jesus:

Matthew 7:7 “Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.” Same in Luke 11:9, from the Q sayings source.

This saying is often quoted as a comforting reassurance about the mercy of God. That may be, but the main point of this saying is the action component for us. In English and in the original Greek, the verbs “ask, seek, and knock” are in the imperative voice. “Do this.” As I read it, if you don’t ask then don’t expect to get. If you don’t seek, don’t expect to find. If you don’t knock on doors, don’t expect any to open for you.

And I will let the comedian Milton Berle has the last word.

Milton Berle: “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”