Pierre Pradervand 458 words, 16K views, 7 comments
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On Aug 13, 2009Somik Raha wrote :
Upon reading this piece, I wondered who the friend in a hurry was. It was not until I meditated that this became clear. It was me - the friend in a hurry, who needed to hear this. What is funny is that until there was stillness in my heart, I could not see this.
I loved the passage for its rich metaphors - it contains various powerful ides. A big idea is that we are all decision-makers, not to be tossed about by the sea of life, but in charge of ourselves, if only we take possession. Possession precedes attachment, and is closely related. Indeed, we keep hearing exhortations to detach, but detachment is a negative idea. It is much easier to attach to a higher ideal. And possession is a powerful tool to make that attachment happen. I choose to possess higher ideals, and the lower ones will fall by the wayside. Right now, I possess time, and am not in a hurry. When taken to love, I possess the ability to love much more than myself.
Finally, reading about stillness is one thing, but when the experience of meeting others who come from this space is quite incredible. Friends of ours had brought their visiting parents over for dinner. My friend's wife remarked she couldn't believe that her in-laws were not bored AND not interested in watching TV. They were both content at enjoying the sunset in the lawn, without needing to even speak to each other. If you think they are from a different planet, they actually are. They are from a village in India, where stillness is still to be found as a norm and not the exception. After dinner, we went for a walk to the East-West bookstore on Castro, and I was pointing out the various Japanese and Chinese restaurants on each side, when suddenly, my friend's father stopped in his tracks with an exclamation, "My God! What a massive tree!" As I looked up, indeed, in front of City Hall was this remarkably tall tree, that I had never noticed before on Castro Street.
--- After Wednesday ----
An allied thought is about how I might escape the net of delusion that has been thrown on me. There are two ways - one is to shrink my ego to a miniscule level so I slip through the nets, and the other is to grow so large that the net cannot encompass me. The idea of possession belongs to the second approach - as the possessor of everything, I am attached to and the possessor of all there is. Once this idea settles in, I need nothing, and nothing can shake me. I am free to move amongst my possessions, as the need arises, without being tied down to any one. Perhaps being tied to all and tied to none are two sides of the same coin, as someone (I think Ketan) pointed out last night.
On Aug 13, 2009 Somik Raha wrote :
Upon reading this piece, I wondered who the friend in a hurry was. It was not until I meditated that this became clear. It was me - the friend in a hurry, who needed to hear this. What is funny is that until there was stillness in my heart, I could not see this.
I loved the passage for its rich metaphors - it contains various powerful ides. A big idea is that we are all decision-makers, not to be tossed about by the sea of life, but in charge of ourselves, if only we take possession. Possession precedes attachment, and is closely related. Indeed, we keep hearing exhortations to detach, but detachment is a negative idea. It is much easier to attach to a higher ideal. And possession is a powerful tool to make that attachment happen. I choose to possess higher ideals, and the lower ones will fall by the wayside. Right now, I possess time, and am not in a hurry. When taken to love, I possess the ability to love much more than myself.
Finally, reading about stillness is one thing, but when the experience of meeting others who come from this space is quite incredible. Friends of ours had brought their visiting parents over for dinner. My friend's wife remarked she couldn't believe that her in-laws were not bored AND not interested in watching TV. They were both content at enjoying the sunset in the lawn, without needing to even speak to each other. If you think they are from a different planet, they actually are. They are from a village in India, where stillness is still to be found as a norm and not the exception. After dinner, we went for a walk to the East-West bookstore on Castro, and I was pointing out the various Japanese and Chinese restaurants on each side, when suddenly, my friend's father stopped in his tracks with an exclamation, "My God! What a massive tree!" As I looked up, indeed, in front of City Hall was this remarkably tall tree, that I had never noticed before on Castro Street.
--- After Wednesday ----
An allied thought is about how I might escape the net of delusion that has been thrown on me. There are two ways - one is to shrink my ego to a miniscule level so I slip through the nets, and the other is to grow so large that the net cannot encompass me. The idea of possession belongs to the second approach - as the possessor of everything, I am attached to and the possessor of all there is. Once this idea settles in, I need nothing, and nothing can shake me. I am free to move amongst my possessions, as the need arises, without being tied down to any one. Perhaps being tied to all and tied to none are two sides of the same coin, as someone (I think Ketan) pointed out last night.