Clues On Higher Ground

UB40
197 words, 22K views, 9 comments

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Moon and stars sit way up high
Earth and trees beneath them lie
The wind blows fragrant lullaby
To cool the night for you and I
On the wing the birds fly free
Leviathan tames angry sea
The flower waits for honeybee
The sunrise wakes new life in me.

And every hour of every day I'm learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground...

The fishes swim while rivers run
Thru fields to feast my eyes upon
Intoxicated drinking from
The loving cup of burning sun
In dreams I'll crave familiar taste
Of whispered rain on weary face
Of kisses sweet and warm embrace
Another time another place

And every hour of everyday I'm learning more
The more I learn, the less I know about before
The less I know, the more I want to look around
Digging deep for clues on higher ground...

UB40 is pop-culture band, and above are lyrics of their song 'Higher Ground'. The accompanying photo is from two sisters who are on a two thousand kilometer walking pilgrimage across the sacred Narmada river in India.

SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the learning that helps you know "less about before"? Can you share an experience of a time you were motivated to dig deep for clues on higher ground? What helps you empty yourself to regain your deep curiosity for higher ground?

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9 Past Reflections

On Mar 10, 2019 Marc wrote :

I have always been mesmerized by poetic song lyrics. I relate to the learning that helps us know "less about before" as follows: the more we learn, the more we become aware of how little we know. In learning, we must shed our misconceptions of the past. This process is both humbling and exhilarating.

I am motivated to dig deep for clues on higher ground every time I am confronted with new insights that challenge my previous constructs. What helps me empty myself is to immerse myself in the process of learning, whether it be through observation, listening, reading, playing (e.g. a musical instrument), etc. I find that once I immerse myself, the process becomes the habit, and the insights that emerge spark a natural curiosity for this higher ground.

1 reply: Mich | Post Your Reply

On Mar 9, 2019 David Doane wrote :

The present is. The past is memory and the future is anticipation. When in the present, I am with what is, whatever and whoever that may be, including stars and trees, birds and bees, fish and seas, others and me. When in the present, I want to know less about before, and less about next, and embrace more and more the intoxicating here and now. The present is my higher ground, and time in the present is a digging deep that motivates me to dig deeper into being in the present.

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On Mar 6, 2019 Sandip Sheta wrote :

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.

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On Mar 5, 2019 Joan t Parkin wrote :

The song celebrates simplicity and Natural world as significant Teacher.. why nor? Our children are lookingi into screens and phones many hours of their lives. Their future is blindness and physical disability. Higher ground is freedom..eyes up. ..wings engage. Humans are challenged to throw away comfort and ignorance every day...perhaps they will answer a planetary wake up call. To live life with grace...certainly hope so...i do. It is my priority to experience ..not codify my Reality.

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On Mar 4, 2019 Dr Phiroz Poonawalla wrote :

Love the poem

Takes you to a different state

Poems more of it Insallah

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On Mar 2, 2019 Jagdish P Dave wrote :

By relating to what's happening in the present moment helps me to know "less about before". In the present moment there is awareness of what's happening here and now. This here and now consciousness is pure consciousness unclouded by the past and the future.In this stateof consciousness I feel free from the past bondage and future anticipations.By being fully connected with the flow of the present moment, my eyes see the world within and withoutfreshly. My ears hear the untarnished sounds within me and without me. Being present creates spaces in the holes of the flute of my life and I hear the sound loud and clear. When I give myself room from the noisy and fast moving world, I feel the presence of alive silence which helps me to go deeper within me to know myself, to look at myself from a wider and clear perspective which takes me on a higherground. As the ancient Hindu prayer says, " Lead me from untruth unto truth, from darkness unto light." Such daily pr... [View Full Comment]

1 reply: Amy | Post Your Reply

On Mar 2, 2019 David Doane wrote :

We can learn from the past and have plans for the future, but living is present. Being in the present, and learning in and from the present, helps me know more about the present, not about the past, and opens me to want to learn more in and of the present. Higher ground is the present -- it's what's happening, it's alive, and by attending to it and digging deep into it I discover clues and facts about it, and am alive here and now. Being present and attending to the present foster my curiosity and desire for more in the present. Knowing that the past and future are imagination, knowing that the past is memory and the future is anticipation, and knowing that it is only the present that is, fosters my curiosity to learn more and more in and of the present.