2009-12-08

Fragments (1)

- March 11, 1987 -

We must not complicate the issue with laws upon laws
and rules upon rules...

We must learn to see beyond these limits.

Mental complexities are the product of a conceptual mind
weaving patterns with fixed concepts,
and the result is ultimate entanglement in that web.

And then, we have to continually refer
to those laws and rules
again and again,
to disentangle ourselves.

And so the process repeats in an endless cycle - until -
Until we clearly see -
what is actually happening.

Then the chattering mind reveals itself.
It does not have the answer -
It has many answers - depending on the mood,
the environment,
and the stimuli presenting themselves.

A complete picture of mental fragmentation
becomes apparent.

How can there be unity,
even a semblance of a wholesome life,
when the mind is totally fragmented
with a patchwork of complex concepts,
each one competing for prominence,
and each one, at the same time,
trying to figure out what the others are trying to say ?

In a quiet moment, somtimes, just stop all activity,
and observe the mind.

Don't interfere !
Just watch what it is doing.
The chatter that echoes
through that maze of fleeting thoughts
will astound you !

Out of this confusion must come order
before one can seriously consider anything else.

Can we see anger as it starts to move
through that mental maze ?
Then having spotted it, can we see
the consequences of expressing that anger
before it moves any further ?

Can we see the strings, the sutures,
that attach us,
and surgically bind us
to a concept, an idea, a feeling,
and make us one with that thing ?

Why must one be attached to anything ?
Do we enjoy being limited, and enslaved
to a mere idea, a concept ?

Surely, we have a potential to be greater than that !

Now if one is not careful,
here is where one falls into a trap.
Realizing that there is a disturbance, or disharmony,
one usually looks for the law, or rule
that will explain the governing principle.

That is to say, that one assumes
that there is a law or principle of action
for every problem situation,
and then one proceeds to apply some neat,
memorized formula
for guiding one back onto "the path".

It's nice and neat, and makes one feel good.
If, after a while, one approach hasn't worked,
then one tries another formula - and another -
and so on, and so on, and so on.

The problem here is that the formula is not permanent,
and neither is it dynamic. It is fraught with limitations.
Every time the same sort of problem reappears
the same principle, or law, or rule, or whatever,
has to be applied again, and again.
And the battle continues,
even when one thinks that the problem has been solved.

What has happened,
is that one concept - the formula, or law, or rule,
has been applied to another concept
- the problem.

It is a battle of concepts that ensues,
and the fragmentation continues,
one concept trying to master another.

The mind is still chattering.
It has not been mastered.
One is still attached to ideas, to concepts,
to controlling principles and laws.
They are all concepts.

So, how does one escape such a dilema ?

As long as concepts of any sort
are masters, or the motivators,
the controlling factors in life,
then we are attached to them by implication;
they being our possessions,
and we, in reciprocation, being their slaves.

That is being enslaved to one's own possessions
to the point where the possession
and the possessor are indestinguishable.

They are one and the same thing.

If you are angry
then you are anger.

If you have a concept that a certain law
controls a certain function,
then you are that law,
and consequently,
you are limited by the definition of that law.

Then another law takes over, and another,
until you really don't know who
or what you are any more.

Fragmentation and conflict prevail,
and the cycles of mental chatter continue.

The adage or perhaps axiom
"KNOW THYSELF" has been presented to us.
What does it mean ?
It is more than simply knowing about oneself.

An individual, a living thing,
changes moment to moment,
and what you knew about yourself last week,
or a minute ago,
is already too late for the present moment.

First of all,
to know oneself is to understand the principle
of how the mind functions,
for that is the medium,
the instrument which manifests the sum total
of our consciousness
at any moment.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly,
one must be able to perceive
the relationship of the instrument
to its origin,
and the intent of its manifestation.


....................._oOo_

2009-12-06

Poet of the Heart

- written October 29, 1985 -

A thought belabors his endless toil,
A poet at heart, a worker of soil -

The sky above, the earth below,

And space beyond with worlds to know.



. What power guides, what secret lies
.
For man to find beyond the skies ?

. And wisdom sings a holy
hymn -
. The dawning skies are deep within.


... Learned men do speak and tell
... Of knowledge, and power as well.

... And boldly they do proclaim
... The countless virtues of the same !


But what of joy and what of beauty ?

What of love, and what of duty ?

Asleep, this inattentive lot

Who wander the cavities of thought !
.

. What thought can remark
.
. Beyond all amusement,
.
. That joy is a spark -
.
. And beauty is movement ?


.... Can knowledge claim the throne above
.... With power as its deputy ?
.... Can it displace the work of love

.... Where duty leads to harmony ?


Behold, a wakeful poet of the heart,

A worker of soil, enacts his duty -

Joins the chorus and lives his part

In a song of joy, the symphony of beauty.


........                     ..............._oOo_