The Inherent Playfulness Of Existence

Tiger explores the inherent playfulness of existence—a perspective that invites us to see life, and ourselves, with fresh eyes. Often, we get caught in cycles of stress, seriousness, and striving to fix things, believing that our worth is tied to how much we accomplish or how well we overcome life’s challenges.

But what if the deeper truth is that you are already whole and complete? What if the stories you tell about your past, the worries about your future, and the emotional weight of the present are not rooted in reality but in imagination?

Take a moment. Breathe. And join Tiger — in exploring the playful nature of what it means to be alive.

Please note: This track may include some explicit language.

Transcript

What exists before we take something seriously?

And such a thing might be hard to put into words,

But what we might say is a space of openness where all is allowed.

And if all is allowed,

You can see in that space of openness,

There's also no fear.

Do you see this?

That space isn't even afraid of you being afraid?

And let me just use spiritual language here.

Do you see how this would indicate a God that is unconcerned?

As anything goes,

It's all allowed.

There's something that comes upon my heart that's very specific to explore.

And I feel that it will encapsulate a lot of the topics recommended in the chat section.

But I want to point to what I'm going to call the Inherent Playfulness of Existence.

And somehow invite ourselves to embrace a spirit of playfulness as we engage our great human adventure.

And what an adventure it is because so often we get wrapped up in a sense of seriousness that has the capacity to seemingly strip the joy from our lives.

To the point of feeling stressed out and anxious.

Ultimately afraid of some impending doom.

Which is so perfect for the nature of an adventure,

Is it not?

For there to be any flavor of adventure,

There has to be this element of fear that wonders if it's all going to be okay.

And can we acknowledge something here before we really dive into this playful quality that permeates existence?

Let's look at our direct experience for a moment.

And this is a meditative exercise.

To realize that here we are right now.

Just acknowledge that for a second.

We've been through this whole life that we've had.

As far back as we can remember.

We've been through countless experiences that could be defined as high and low.

And everything in between.

We've had moments of intense sadness.

Beautiful joys.

Intense uncertainty.

And moments where everything felt perfectly guided.

We've gone on an adventure called being human.

And here we are right now.

Wherever you're at on this journey,

Whether you're 20,

80 or 95.

We simply are where we are.

Now let's recognize something.

In this moment right now.

If we can look at the reality of this moment.

And by reality,

What I mean is not what you imagine.

Not what you believe,

Think,

Hope or want.

But to kind of step outside of all that mental commentary.

And just look at the reality of this moment.

Can you see?

That the reality of what you are.

Is whole and complete.

Can you see that right now?

In this moment you are abundantly taken care of.

Now again,

We're not asking the mind's opinion about this.

Where the mind says,

Yeah,

But I don't have everything that I want.

Which is just more thinking.

Yeah,

But what about this and what about that?

Which is about yesterday and tomorrow.

Or something that's not actually here right now.

But to recognize the reality of what you are.

Where you've gone on this great human adventure.

And yet here you are,

Whole and complete.

Do you see that there's a deeper reality to what you are?

That's been untouched by your journey thus far.

And I really want to drive this point home.

And we have to kind of,

Potentially for some,

Work our way through the mind's noise.

Because it has a lot of things to say about yourself that aren't really yourself.

There's this more true aspect to what we are.

That is inherently untouched by everything we've gone through.

And I'm just inviting you to acknowledge that aspect of yourself.

Now let's look at this as well.

Can you see that the life you've lived thus far.

Everything you've been through is very similar to a dream.

Because when you look back at your life,

You can say a bunch of things happened to you.

But do you see that that bunch of things that happened to you is a story of something happening to you?

Essentially what we're saying happened is also what we say things mean.

And the invitation is to see,

Well,

It doesn't really mean that.

I can think it means that.

I can say it means that.

But those are my ideas about it.

And those ideas didn't really happen in reality.

And can you see that your past,

The story you tell about your past,

Is an idea?

It's a particular perspective.

And so whatever movie we paint about the adventure we've been on is just that,

A movie.

It's a story we've been telling.

And my goodness,

And this is playful,

Don't take this seriously,

But see what I'm pointing to.

Can you see just how much of your past is an adventure through your imagination?

Through the stories you tell as you go through this and that experience.

In fact,

If you notice any elements of excitement or any elements of fear,

Can you see how that's only responding to imagination?

It's just responding to the stories you're telling about what you think is happening and what you think it means.

So even your emotional response throughout that whole journey wasn't actually responding to reality.

It wasn't responding to what was happening.

It was responding to what we think about what we think is happening.

And I say this just as an invitation to see just how much of our lived experience is actually being lived out in the mind.

Which,

In a gentle and playful way,

Is to say it's not as serious as we make it out to be.

And of course,

We can see this if we look with a humility and a healthy dose of self-honesty at our great capacity to make things a much bigger deal than they actually are.

And of course,

That's happening in the imagination.

How many times have we been through an experience where we thought it was the end of the world and a week passes by,

A year or a decade,

And we look back and we realize how funny it was?

And as I've mentioned before,

This is illustrated beautifully in the example of a child who drops their ice cream cone.

For them,

It's the end of the world.

And I see a great parallel in that and everything else that I take so seriously.

Because,

Out of everything that I've worried about my whole life,

And I wonder if you can see this too,

If I were to examine all of that energy of worry,

Like roll it up all in a ball,

All the stories of worry,

Of anxiety,

Of stress,

And I had this ball and I was looking at it and I said,

Okay,

What is this about?

What is this worry about?

And the conclusion I come to is that I was afraid that I wouldn't make it to this moment right now and be whole and complete.

That I somehow wouldn't make it,

And not just make it and be alive,

But be whole and complete.

To be enough.

And when I look at the reality of what I am,

Again,

Not all the stories,

Not the bullshit in the mind,

But the reality of what I am,

It's so obvious that what I am is whole and complete.

Because if I was missing anything,

It would simply be the mind saying that I'm missing something.

This would be the flavor of that attachment or finding our identity in the world of form,

Which is just finding our identity in the mind's content.

Which is a whole other topic and something I've talked about a lot.

So why do I mention all of this as we prepare to talk about the intrinsic playful nature of existence?

Well,

Maybe you can see a little bit as I touch on the realization that as I see it so much,

If not all,

Imaginary,

I see that it shows me it's not nearly as serious as I make it out to be,

Which is an invitation to see that it's not serious at all.

And what exists beyond all units of seriousness,

What exists before we take something seriously.

And such a thing might be hard to put into words,

But what we might say is a space of openness.

Where all is allowed.

And if all is allowed,

You can see in that space of openness,

There's also no fear.

It's so open and it's so unafraid that you're allowed to be afraid.

Do you see this?

That space isn't even afraid of you being afraid.

You see this space,

It doesn't put up any restriction.

It doesn't say,

You can't imagine this,

You have to imagine that.

You can't be this,

You have to be that.

It's a space of openness.

Anything goes.

And this is the landscape of existence.

It's all allowed.

And I find that interesting.

Do you see how,

And let me just use spiritual language here to help illustrate a point.

But again,

Don't take it seriously.

Do you see how this would indicate a God that is unconcerned?

Anything goes,

It's all allowed.

Now,

Can you see playfully,

The reason why God might not be concerned is because God knows it's all imaginary.

God knows that there's nothing you've been through that actually touches the fabric of reality.

Which is also like saying,

God knows that anything you imagine yourself to go through doesn't touch the realness of what you are.

Actually,

If we associate this with the sense of worry that you wouldn't make it to this moment and be whole and complete,

God knows you're going to make it and be whole and complete.

So God is unconcerned.

There's this extension of freedom that says,

Go on your adventure.

Believe,

Imagine,

Think,

Whatever you want.

It's all allowed.

And I don't know if we can completely unravel this,

So let me just speak as if I'm talking about the conclusion.

Part of why it's all allowed is because there is this underlying mechanism,

Which I will call the sacred and conscious design of life.

Where this whole landscape has been set up to expose more love.

Meaning that no matter what path you travel on,

What adventure you choose,

It serves a sacred purpose of love expanding.

And there's a lot we can get into that where the mind wants to argue about this,

That,

And the other.

But again,

I've done lots of videos on that.

But that's the conclusion.

Is that this whole thing is happening so that love might expand.

Which is also to say so that love might be seen.

Which is also to say that this whole thing is about love.

Which is also to say that it's not really that serious.

Which is also to say it's quite playful in nature.

And if we want to illustrate this a bit more.

About how it's playful in nature.

One of the illustrations I use quite a bit is looking at the nature of any game.

And even though I've said this a thousand times,

Let me dive back into it.

Do you notice when you're playing a game,

Let's say you're sitting around with a group of family and you're all playing Monopoly.

Do you see that the person who believes the money is real isn't any fun to play with?

Just get the visual of that for a second.

Right?

You're all sitting around trying to enjoy this game.

And the person next to you really believes that the points in the game matter.

So much so that they think the points define their worth and value.

Meaning,

If they don't win,

Then it means something about them.

Ultimately saying they're less than.

And if they do win,

It means they're worthy.

It means they're enough.

And fundamentally,

This is the problem human beings are trying to solve.

One of conquering or fixing an imaginary self inadequacy.

And so this game is played with an effort to conquer that quest.

And so it's almost a matter of survival,

Right?

It's the one thing we want most.

And so the one who believes the points are real really,

Really,

Really needs to win the game.

And do you see that fundamental belief that the points are real makes the game serious?

It turns it into a serious game,

But it's not seen as a game.

It's seen as something that really matters.

And when you wake up and realize that not only do these points not matter at all.

But all of the pieces and the board and everything else is going back in the box when we're done.

You start to realize that the point of the game has nothing to do with winning or losing.

The foundation of the game,

The opportunity of the game is to,

Let's say it's a couple things.

It's to engage in your human experience in a way that allows you to learn and grow.

And it's to engage with your fellow human beings.

Which is to enjoy a shared experience.

Which is like honoring the experience of life together.

Do you see that's the more sincere opportunity of a game?

Because also notice this.

Learning and growing is an intrinsic aspect of play or being alive.

Where when you engage a game that resonates,

A game that is genuinely interesting to you.

You automatically learn and grow.

In fact,

Contrast that with being told that you have to learn something when you're not genuinely interested.

Which means there's no play.

How much difficult it is to learn.

That is so extraordinarily telling.

I remember this as a child,

Engaging the things that I was genuinely interested in.

And I wasn't trying to learn,

It was just a natural consequence.

And because I had a natural enjoyment,

I would spend more time on it,

Which means I would learn even more.

Much like the work that I do.

It's something that I enjoy doing,

So I guess it's a matter of opinion,

But I feel like I get better at it.

But again,

The moment I start taking it seriously,

The moment I think my worth and value is wrapped up into it.

The more difficult it becomes,

The more frustrating it becomes.

And the more of an obligation it seems to be,

And the less I learn.

This revolves around so many different aspects of being human.

Where fundamentally,

In some way,

All of these different roles and aspects are a game to be played.

Something that we can engage,

That ultimately adds value to our lives.

Now furthermore,

Before we are so quick to say that this or that game sucks,

We can recognize that there are games to be played within the games we're playing.

For example,

There's the game of health and well-being.

Where from a particular perspective,

I can play that game in a way that it sucks.

Where I'm not interested in it,

I don't enjoy it,

I don't engage it,

Therefore I suffer the consequences,

And I label it as dumb,

And I wish life was different to the point where I didn't have to yada yada yada.

Do you see that's a particular way of playing that game?

And likewise,

There are different ways to play the game,

Which is also a different way of perceiving it.

Which is interesting too,

Because it shows us that the games that we're playing in life,

We're not so much interacting with the game as if it's out there,

But we're interacting with it in a way that shows us our relationship to it,

Which is also to show us how we see it.

For example,

If you're playing a game and it seems like a shitty game,

You're seeing the game in a very shitty way.

Which is why it looks like a shitty game.

Just as easily,

If you're genuinely playing a game that you're not interested in,

And you don't need to be playing,

To look at that playfully,

You can simply step out from playing that game and find a different game that resonates.

But like I said,

I understand that it might seem like there are games that we have to play that we can't step away from.

However,

There are more playful ways to play those games,

And that might be a worthwhile question to explore.

To examine the way that you're currently playing it,

To see how you're making it more difficult than it needs to be,

Which will be,

In some way or another,

Wrapping your worth and value around it,

Which is taking it personally,

Thinking it means something about you,

Which makes it serious.

And then to see it from a different perspective,

One that recognizes that it doesn't really matter,

Or matter nearly as much as the mind is making it out to be.

Which is also like realizing it's not personal.

Do you notice this about the games that we play?

Taking the point seriously is taking the game personally,

Thinking it says something about you.

And that will always add a degree of tension and frustration to the game that you're playing.

Same with the conversations we have with other people.

The more you take personally what other people are saying,

Which is to play the game of conversation and relationship,

The more you take it personally,

The more you think it means something about you,

The more serious the game becomes.

Now,

What I also find that's interesting about this is,

As you explore the nature of insight and wisdom,

Or spiritual pointers,

I find that they are all in some way trying to help us see things more clearly,

Which is to see things as they really are.

Which is really quite interesting because it's not so much something that says you should see it this way,

Which is like saying this is what you should believe.

Rather,

It's pointing us to see what's actually true,

Which is to see things beyond what we turn them into,

Like the taking things personally.

That's us turning it into that.

But the truth of the matter is it's not really personal.

And there's so many examples of this with spiritual pointers that these aren't methodologies or prescriptions on how you should live your life and what you should believe.

They're an invitation to be still and get quiet in mind and question what's really true.

Because what you'll recognize is the suffering and the conflict,

The drama,

The seriousness.

It's responding to the mind's content in a way that believes the mind's content is true.

Like,

If you knew it wasn't really true,

You wouldn't respond emotionally to it,

At least negatively emotionally.

Which is like saying if you knew it wasn't real,

You wouldn't be threatened by it.

And so spirituality,

In this invitation to be still,

It's saying be still and know.

Discern the difference between what you imagine and reality.

Discern the difference between what you turn things into and what's actually going on.

My goodness,

There's so many things to explore here.

Because I watch this in my,

You know,

Daily life as I be a fumbling human being making their way through.

Where I'm constantly just making shit up that irritates me.

And then I have to listen to that signal,

Which is the emotional disturbance.

It's an alarm that says I'm not seeing things clearly.

And when I feel that emotional disturbance,

I ask myself,

What do I think is happening that's not actually happening?

Which is also like saying,

What do I think this means that it doesn't really mean?

What am I turning it into?

What's really true?

There's so many games that we play that we really think are serious.

And that's fine,

That's part of the game.

But the,

Let's say,

Ultimate spiritual discovery.

And again,

It's not an expectation,

It's not a should.

But it's when you see the truth of what actually is,

You can't help but smile.

In fact,

To go further,

You can't help but love everyone and everything.

And I understand how that might sound absurd.

And if it sounds absurd,

But you're open to the possibility,

Then I invite you to keep coming back here to hang out.

Because at some point it's got to crack itself open.

It really shows us to what extent we are hypnotized by the mind's content.

And can we acknowledge that?

And again,

This takes a depth of self-honesty and humility to get honest enough with yourself about these things.

Like,

Can you be honest about how much you're hypnotized by the mind?

How much you believe the mind's content?

When it's actually not happening and when it's actually not true.

Which is almost like saying,

In a gentle and playful way,

Can you admit how lost you are?

See,

Again,

Even in that game,

You can see it from two different perspectives.

You can see the reality of how much you get lost in the imagination,

And that can be serious or it can be playful.

And the more serious it is,

The less you want to admit it.

But when you see that that too is not serious,

Then you can just admit it,

Which is like a beautiful dose of humility.

Like,

It's okay.

It's okay to be human.

Which is quite fascinating,

Because the more these things are okay,

Then the less of a problem they are.

Because the more they are a problem,

The more they will create problems in your life.

It's like saying,

The more you take yourself seriously,

The more difficulty you will encounter.

The more you think the points are real,

The more points you will be afraid of losing.

And these are all of the little illusions that we get trapped by that we are gently unwrapping and seeing that they're not real at all.

It's the proverbial onion.

Layer by layer,

Illusion by illusion,

We're unwrapping it all,

Hopefully getting to the core that realizes nothing is serious.

And again,

I say that playfully and gently because I understand what it's like to believe in the seriousness.

And if somebody comes along and tells you it's not serious,

You want to punch them in the face.

I get it.

But hopefully,

If you're in this space watching or listening,

Then something within you is open to the possibility that there's a beautiful truth out there that isn't bound to the insatiable content in the mind.

That there is a liberation that's been spoken about for thousands upon thousands of years.

A deep spiritual truth about what you are,

About what is real and true.

And you're just struggling a little bit to see that.

And that's perfectly fine.

It's part of the process.

Again,

It's important to allow that to be what it is,

Right?

Not pretend like everything's fine.

But to allow the truth to be the truth.

How can you bring healing to something if we're not willing to acknowledge that the perceived unhealing is showing itself?

And this is what we do as human beings a lot of the times is we pretend things aren't bothering us when really they are.

Which means we're ignoring them.

Which means we don't want to look at them.

Which means we don't have an opportunity to bring healing to them.

And that's why these things build up so much that eventually you're forced to look at it.

And that's in service to you.

Because something within you craves a particular healing.

Craves to move beyond this.

And so sooner or later it's going to just bring you to your knees where it's like,

Okay,

Now we have to look at this.

How many times have we experienced that?

Which is why it's completely fine if you don't want to do it right now.

Luckily for you,

The pain will grow and become unbearable to the point where,

Okay,

Now we have to finally look at it.

No rush.

But knowing that there's this beautiful invitation that doesn't demand and there's no rush,

That invitation is also saying that if you'd like to look at it now,

We can.

Which is really just a beautifully open space of non-judgment that says I love you regardless.

It's the most epic safe space.

Because again,

It's like realizing the reason we don't look at these things is because we're afraid.

And what we're ultimately afraid of is judgment.

And in the space that is reality,

Which we might also call to be rested in the heart of God,

To say it poetically,

You realize that in life there is no judgment.

And so you are more than free and allowed to feel however you feel,

To think whatever you think,

And it doesn't jeopardize your worth and value.

It serves a great purpose.

My goodness.

All right.

That feels complete for now.

Talking about the intrinsic,

Playful nature of existence.

Yeah,

Chew on that.

See what happens.

Thanks for hanging out with me.

Reviews

Listen to this one every evening or night before sleep or if I wake up at night 🌙 thank you Tiger for all you create and share 💜

I think this talk is true for me in every area, with the exception of grief. And as you mentioned the, yeah but… I’ll keep an open mind that it might possibly include grief too.

I resonated with the part that says we can love everyone and everything - and through my grief. Like the poem says, grief is love with nowhere to go. Today I take all that love I have for my late husband and I become a channel of that love to everything and everyone I meet each day. And that feels good.

I’m really enjoying your talks. So much wisdom and spoken in a voice that I can relate to. Grateful. 🙏🏼🌸💜

Thank you 🙏🏼

Thank you so much 🙏