to be utterly without hope is also to be utterly without despair
to be utterly without hope…
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Ripples from a little-boat life
to be utterly without hope is also to be utterly without despair
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Fascinating statement. It doesn’t appear to be true of the friends I’ve made online who are chronically ill — when they give up all hope, they tend to fall into despair.
That said, your statement reminds me of this teaching that I love from Pema Chodron. It’s a commentary on one of the 49 slogans in the Seven Points of Mind Training: “Give up all hope of fruition”:
Give up all hope of fruition.
Give up all hope.
Give up.
Give.
First, so I don’t forget, thanks for the Pema Chrodron quotation.
I see your point. Both interpretations are possible. The one that equates hopelessness with despair, I think, is the more likely of the two. Within what might be called “the art of living,” the former is paramount. Without hope, seen as positive possibilities for the future, despair or some other negative mood, e.g., resignation, depression, resentment, etc., is inevitable. Usually, little if any action results and the despair, etc., deepens. Seeing, finding, exploring new possibilities for an “ailment” of whatever kind (say, chronic illness or chronic employment) underlies hope or some positive mood, e.g., ambition, resolution.
From the standpoint of “the joy or peace of letting life happen,” to be without hope is to likewise be without despair. Speaking about this realm, “the Unsayable,” is always a poetic act, never exact, and at best a pointer. I used “utterly” to point to the second interpretation. I first thought of using “truly,” but “utterly” conveys for me more of the element of surrender (or of finding oneself “surrendered”) to life as it is, to the always spontaneously unfolding of our lives — which, perhaps paradoxically, does not preclude taking action to improve our circumstances.
Here’s where I wish I was the author of the phrase “sailed into the mystic.” :-)