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37 : on absolute answers

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 

— Hebrews 11:1



Among the deepest human longings is the craving for certainty — for clarity, for definitive answers, for safe ground underfoot. But the spiritual path, like the desert, often refuses to give us that luxury. Instead, it strips away the illusion of control and invites us to walk by faith, by intuition, by listening to the Self rather than clinging to absolutes.


In The Temptations of St Anthony, Parentino conjures a terrifying array of beasts, distortions, and spectral distractions. These are not just external torments; they are psychic projections — manifestations of the unconscious flailing against disintegration. In Jungian terms, Anthony is confronting the autonomous contents of the psyche, the archetypal forces that resist transformation. What tempts him is not only sensuality or fear — it is the seduction of certainty, the false belief that we can fully control or understand our path.


But transformation requires that we tolerate not-knowing. Jung reminds us that individuation — the journey to the true Self — demands we surrender the ego’s obsession with clarity. The process itself is liminal, often chaotic. And this is where the Lotus Sutra’s radical insight echoes powerfully: every single moment contains the full range of possibility. Not knowing is not a void — it is a field of potential. In uncertainty lies creativity, emergence, surprise.


Our temptation, especially when in pain or fear, is to reach for the binary: right/wrong, success/failure, black/white. But the desert teaches us to dwell in the grey. The work is to stay present in the discomfort without fleeing into false certainties. This is an act of spiritual and psychological courage.


To navigate existential uncertainty is to walk through a fog, trusting that something within you knows the way — even if you cannot yet see the path. Certainty can give the illusion of safety, but it closes the heart and mind. Uncertainty, when embraced, becomes fertile soil for insight, growth, and the deepest kind of peace: a peace that doesn’t depend on outcomes.



Journaling Prompt: Where in your life are you clinging to certainty? What would it mean to loosen your grip and allow space for the unknown? Can you recall a time when uncertainty ultimately led you somewhere meaningful or transformative?





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