Most of us spend our entire lives avoiding an inner opening.
It is that quiet itch at the back of awareness that makes us
squirm and turn away. And when it really presses on us,
it can arouse terror, as if we were facing down death.
It is that quiet itch at the back of awareness that makes us
squirm and turn away. And when it really presses on us,
it can arouse terror, as if we were facing down death.
...to approach it is to face death. It is the death of our old
worldview, the death of patterned awareness, the death of
our limited notion of who we are. All we thought ourselves
to be stops - and so it is a sort of death. To feel that grace
approaching , to welcome it, requires a wild sort of courage.
worldview, the death of patterned awareness, the death of
our limited notion of who we are. All we thought ourselves
to be stops - and so it is a sort of death. To feel that grace
approaching , to welcome it, requires a wild sort of courage.
It requires courage and, yes, surrender. We have this idea
that spiritual opening is a terrible effort. No. That unfolding
wants to occur within us. The only effort is to let go of our
endless strategies to halt the process. We all feel it, a gentle
prodding to let the heart open, to know ourselves truly, to be
present and radiate ourselves into the world.
that spiritual opening is a terrible effort. No. That unfolding
wants to occur within us. The only effort is to let go of our
endless strategies to halt the process. We all feel it, a gentle
prodding to let the heart open, to know ourselves truly, to be
present and radiate ourselves into the world.
That opening is insistent, trying to happen within us. Call it
grace, if you like. The question is before us: Do we
courageously accept the invitation?
grace, if you like. The question is before us: Do we
courageously accept the invitation?
For those of us who live in modern urban society, think how
hard it is to stop the ticking of the clock. From an early age
we internalize the sense of time and progress and deadlines.
Yet, in doing so, we forget that these are all just concepts,
just one way to understand the unfolding of being and
experience. That sense of time is a powerful tool for doing
and accomplishment, but it isn't inherently real. It doesn't
have much to do with who or what we are. There is a flow
of days and months, but they are the surface current of a
much deeper timelessness.
hard it is to stop the ticking of the clock. From an early age
we internalize the sense of time and progress and deadlines.
Yet, in doing so, we forget that these are all just concepts,
just one way to understand the unfolding of being and
experience. That sense of time is a powerful tool for doing
and accomplishment, but it isn't inherently real. It doesn't
have much to do with who or what we are. There is a flow
of days and months, but they are the surface current of a
much deeper timelessness.
It is fascinating how we use the hyperactivity of thought to
define the world. The other thing about thought: it creates time.
When thought settles down, we discover timelessness. ...the
mind comes to rest, not in the head, but in the heart.
define the world. The other thing about thought: it creates time.
When thought settles down, we discover timelessness. ...the
mind comes to rest, not in the head, but in the heart.
Having come to rest, we remember. It is not through intellection
but through stillness that we remember. Remember. Re-member.
To remember is to finally see how the apparent separation of
reality actually fits together in a single wholeness. Discursive
thought can only ever examine pieces of the whole. To re-member
is to have the full vision of Wholeness, as things actually are.
But this vision is found in timelessness and stillness, through the
quiet mind unfiltered.
but through stillness that we remember. Remember. Re-member.
To remember is to finally see how the apparent separation of
reality actually fits together in a single wholeness. Discursive
thought can only ever examine pieces of the whole. To re-member
is to have the full vision of Wholeness, as things actually are.
But this vision is found in timelessness and stillness, through the
quiet mind unfiltered.
Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana
Poetry Chaikhana
~
Photo - Mystic Meandering
