parameters of our comfortable self-image. So we cling to what we've been conditioned to believe, and whenever the boat is rocked we cry out, «Deception!», not realizing that the deception arises from within. We think we're tricked by other people, by circumstances of life, etc. It is a courageous person who acknowledges with Goethe: «We are never deceived. We deceive ourselves.» Trickster is the Master of the illusory world because Trickster realizes that maya does not mean that the world is illusory; it rather refers to our self-deception whereby we delude ourselves into thinking the world is a certain way. With this realization, Trickster rises above the snares and pitfalls that come from falling into this delusion. He or she is then free to play with this illusory nature and not get entangled in it, and even use it for transformation. By not resisting or scorning Trickster's tricks, we loosen up the cement of the towering walls we have constructed of How Things Are Supposed To Be, and open ourselves to a larger vision of life, above and beyond the field of our self-interest and self-conception. When Life then plays a trick on us, rather than bemoan our cruel fate, we can smile and say, «Ah yes, it's Trickster again,» and welcome the demise of the old and cherished situation or belief so that a new revelation or breakthrough can arise. This is why the Sufis particularly have stressed shattering: shattering the conceptions, shattering the beliefs, shattering the ego-image. «Shatter your ideals upon the rock of Truth.» (Hazrat Inayat Khan) By continually masking, then unmasking and remasking the hoax—making us acutely aware of the deceptive nature of life—Trickster ultimately leads us to Truth. As the Sufis say, the veil over the face of the Beloved both conceals and reveals what it covers. Trickster at this developed stage of realization can be seen in the Madzub [who is the wandering Sufi madman or madwoman, drunk on the ecstasy of God]. The Madzub dwells in the Valley of Perplexity, the Valley of Bewilderment, a stage every seeker must pass through in the path of spiritual awakening. At this point, all human logic and reason totally break down before the staggering vision of The Way Things Are. Here, all human structures, codes and behaviors are so absolutely meaningless that the one lost in this vision becomes an anomaly of human experience. His or her words and actions are a mystery and defy all human convention. The rules just don't apply, because he or she has stepped outside the framework. Trickster in this guise has only to throw us a glance, blow us a kiss, or shine on us a smile, and our universe will be created anew. –=*@*=-
