Monday, October 26, 2009
impulse
i missed my picture today on the way to visit a friend in the hospital. i knew what it was before it happened and didn't do anything about it. there was an ancient man with burnt mocha skin hobbling across a still intersection. he carried a cane and had a radiant white beard, was draped in multiple layers of what looked to be tapestries and i sat on my instinct to take out my phone. moments later, as i crossed his path, he lifted his hand up from under the tapestries, he gave me a still wave led by his pointer finger toward the sky and nodded, always keeping eye contact.
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truly one of my favorite pictures you've (not) taken! The kind of presence you embodied in your tale will serve you well always. Be on the lookout for clues and things that "bump" you and alter your course slightly. If something happens to shake one of your beliefs, maybe it is in need of transformation. Don't take these things personally. Look at them as opportunities to get things right-er. THIS is "the life!" The rest is distraction. Paying bills, following the rules that order our daily existence, maintaining our bodies, homes, cars, our Things...These are just as good an opportunity as any to practice presence in the face of sometimes mind-numbing routine. By doing so, you fortify the positive, expansive, yes-to-life frame of mind you employed during your encounter with the old monk. You seemed fully absorbed in the moment, in the 'other.' Go with your intuition and remember that mind and emotions are temporary phenomena, and that which runs the show is eternal, numinous, mysterious, radiant, glorious, and still. These are mere words, and the topic is unknowable on a cognitive level--it must be felt and experienced and integrated into a deep and inexplicable knowing beyond the mind and ego. BTW, your ego is necessary to allow you to function and interact effectively with the rest of the world (without it you would lose all survival skills [no fear of dangerous situations, no ability to 'sort things out' in a crisis or emergency] methinks) so don't demonize the ego or try to kill it off, unless ascension is your gambit!!!
ReplyDeleteOne last thing: I believe that this is all personal...friends, strangers, & loved ones can all help you find your way, but be wary of the priest class and the carnival barkers, as they have things other than your best interest at heart, and even if they're personal intentions are the best, I am leery of tidy answers that involve a dependency on a building, book, or guy in a bizarre costume [think church figurehead]. One last thing....I really don't KNOW too many things, so take ALL of this with a big grain of salt and see if any of it squares with your experiences/beliefs. I DO know that you are loved and cherished by the 'universe,' and I love and cherish you, too.
Take outstanding care of yourself. Good physical health enhances your results and clarifies the physical feedback loop on which you rely for your intuition. Sometimes we treat ourselves poorly. It is temporary and incidental. If we have patterns of treating ourselves un-loving-ly, we can find a much more benign substitute and use that for a while until we can work our way out of the abusive cycle. Forgive and love yourself and others--for everything!!--or else you will punish yourself and those around you mercilessly. Seek out people for whom you can be of service. Nothing relieves an anxious mind like focussing attention on another and lovingly being there for them.
love, pa.
You hit on some big themes in my life:
ReplyDeleteBe on the lookout for clues and things that "bump" you and alter your course slightly.
Go with your intuition and remember that mind and emotions are temporary phenomena, and that which runs the show is eternal, numinous, mysterious, radiant, glorious, and still.
Sometimes we treat ourselves poorly. (I needed to hear this:) It is temporary and incidental.
Thanks all of it, especially this:
THIS is "the life!" The rest is distraction. Paying bills, following the rules that order our daily existence, maintaining our bodies, homes, cars, our Things...These are just as good an opportunity as any to practice presence in the face of sometimes mind-numbing routine.
be wary of the priest class and the carnival barkers, as they have things other than your best interest at heart, and even if they're personal intentions are the best, I am leery of tidy answers that involve a dependency on a building, book, or guy in a bizarre costume [think church figurehead].
I DO know that you are loved and cherished by the 'universe,' and I love and cherish you, too.
Seek out people for whom you can be of service. Nothing relieves an anxious mind like focussing attention on another and lovingly being there for them.
FROM MEGAN:
I can't tell you how much this all aligns right now. I hope my pictures tell at least a bit. Lots of love to you, Pa- as always and forever.
Daughter Megs