Underneath the surface appearances, everything is not only
connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all
life out of which it came. Even a stone, and more easily a flower
or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to
yourself. When you look at it or hold it and let it be without
imposing a word or mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder,
arises within you. Its essence silently communicates itself to you
and reflects your own essence back to you. This is what great
artists sense and succeed in conveying in their art. Van Gogh
didn't say: "That's just an old chair." He looked, and looked,
and looked. He sensed the Being-ness of the chair. Then he sat
in front of the canvas and took up the brush.
connected with everything else, but also with the Source of all
life out of which it came. Even a stone, and more easily a flower
or a bird, could show you the way back to God, to the Source, to
yourself. When you look at it or hold it and let it be without
imposing a word or mental label on it, a sense of awe, of wonder,
arises within you. Its essence silently communicates itself to you
and reflects your own essence back to you. This is what great
artists sense and succeed in conveying in their art. Van Gogh
didn't say: "That's just an old chair." He looked, and looked,
and looked. He sensed the Being-ness of the chair. Then he sat
in front of the canvas and took up the brush.
When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a
sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long
time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became
possessed by thought. A depth returns to your life. Things
regain their newness, their freshness. And the greatest miracle
is the experiencing of your Essential Self as prior to any words,
thoughts, mental labels, and images. For this to happen, you
need to disentangle your sense of I, of Being-ness, from all
the things it has become entangled with, or identified with...
sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long
time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became
possessed by thought. A depth returns to your life. Things
regain their newness, their freshness. And the greatest miracle
is the experiencing of your Essential Self as prior to any words,
thoughts, mental labels, and images. For this to happen, you
need to disentangle your sense of I, of Being-ness, from all
the things it has become entangled with, or identified with...
The quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels to things,
people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality
becomes, and the more deadened you become to reality, the
miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and around you.
In this way, cleverness may be gained, but wisdom is lost, and
so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness. They are concealed in
the still gap between the perception and the interpretation. Of
course we have to use words and thoughts. They have their own
beauty - but do we need to become imprisoned by them?
people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality
becomes, and the more deadened you become to reality, the
miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and around you.
In this way, cleverness may be gained, but wisdom is lost, and
so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness. They are concealed in
the still gap between the perception and the interpretation. Of
course we have to use words and thoughts. They have their own
beauty - but do we need to become imprisoned by them?
You easily lose yourself in them, become hypnotized into implicitly
believing that when you have attached a word to something, you
know what it is. The fact is: You don't know what it is. You have
only covered up the mystery with a label. Everything has
unfathomable depth. But all we can perceive, experience,
think about, is the surface layer of reality.
believing that when you have attached a word to something, you
know what it is. The fact is: You don't know what it is. You have
only covered up the mystery with a label. Everything has
unfathomable depth. But all we can perceive, experience,
think about, is the surface layer of reality.
Do you think that combinations of words could ever explain
who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even
what a tree or stone is in its depth?
who you are, or the ultimate purpose of the universe, or even
what a tree or stone is in its depth?
Eckhart Tolle
From - A New Earth
From - A New Earth
~
Photo - Mystic Meandering
