I loved the poetic metaphors in this piece. Two stuck out for me. One was, "(I want to) see my child unravel through his eddying transformations." Who is the "child?" To me, the child is the gift in each one of us. It is what we get to work on our entire life. The parenting metaphor fits well, because we can choose to completely ignore the child and have it go nowhere. Or, we can exercise so much control over it that we completely strangle it. Alternately, we can be enlightened parents, remembering Kahlil Gibran's sage advice, "Children are not of us, they are through us," and accept that our gifts are not us or of us. We can nurture the gifts we come with, and bring them to a point that they blossom and serve others. But to even recognize and develop the maturity to get out of the way of our gifts, we have to sit.
The second metaphor that stood out for me was "the same organic immersion that sets a snow goose flying ten thousand miles every winter and spring." What organic immersion sets off the goose on its heroic journey, without even realizing its heroism? I submit that all of us are heroes - we've had this moment of organic immersion, when, after spending 9 months as water creatures, we took a heroic leap out and became land creatures. That is a heroic act! Of course, some people need a little more help than others, but the heroism remains.
The root of heroism is the impulse that is generated from a recognition of truth, and a great desire to honor it and manifest one's true nature. It then follows that to develop heroism, one must sit. :) When this impulse comes forward, one does not have to make any choices - like the snow geese or the baby does not do any cost-benefit analysis. It just is true to its own nature.
Finally, a story on recognizing what is leading to an organic impulse. I was involved in communicating something harsh to a friend in a professional setting. Although what I had to communicate was a consequence of many events, and was truthful, I felt it was not the whole truth. So I sat, and tried to observe my mind. It soon became clear that I had a lot of compassion and good wishes for my friend. Therefore, I had to honor this truth. So, when I wrote my mail, I started with strong wishes for my friend's well-being. Then, I delivered the harsh message that was my duty to deliver. I ended again by wishing for friend's well-being. My friend responded by reciprocating the compassion for me and others, leading to more good wishes being sent around from my other colleagues as well. But, what struck me was the inner peace in my heart, and a firm grounding in my wish for my friend's well-being, and a dedication to carry out my duty at the same time.
On Oct 22, 2009 Somik Raha wrote :
I loved the poetic metaphors in this piece. Two stuck out for me. One was, "(I want to) see my child unravel through his eddying transformations." Who is the "child?" To me, the child is the gift in each one of us. It is what we get to work on our entire life. The parenting metaphor fits well, because we can choose to completely ignore the child and have it go nowhere. Or, we can exercise so much control over it that we completely strangle it. Alternately, we can be enlightened parents, remembering Kahlil Gibran's sage advice, "Children are not of us, they are through us," and accept that our gifts are not us or of us. We can nurture the gifts we come with, and bring them to a point that they blossom and serve others. But to even recognize and develop the maturity to get out of the way of our gifts, we have to sit.
The second metaphor that stood out for me was "the same organic immersion that sets a snow goose flying ten thousand miles every winter and spring." What organic immersion sets off the goose on its heroic journey, without even realizing its heroism? I submit that all of us are heroes - we've had this moment of organic immersion, when, after spending 9 months as water creatures, we took a heroic leap out and became land creatures. That is a heroic act! Of course, some people need a little more help than others, but the heroism remains.
The root of heroism is the impulse that is generated from a recognition of truth, and a great desire to honor it and manifest one's true nature. It then follows that to develop heroism, one must sit. :) When this impulse comes forward, one does not have to make any choices - like the snow geese or the baby does not do any cost-benefit analysis. It just is true to its own nature.
Finally, a story on recognizing what is leading to an organic impulse. I was involved in communicating something harsh to a friend in a professional setting. Although what I had to communicate was a consequence of many events, and was truthful, I felt it was not the whole truth. So I sat, and tried to observe my mind. It soon became clear that I had a lot of compassion and good wishes for my friend. Therefore, I had to honor this truth. So, when I wrote my mail, I started with strong wishes for my friend's well-being. Then, I delivered the harsh message that was my duty to deliver. I ended again by wishing for friend's well-being. My friend responded by reciprocating the compassion for me and others, leading to more good wishes being sent around from my other colleagues as well. But, what struck me was the inner peace in my heart, and a firm grounding in my wish for my friend's well-being, and a dedication to carry out my duty at the same time.