...a way of seeing beyond inner and outer.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

On singing waiters and self-awareness.

The heinousness of the all things rhinovirus has passed, leaving in its wake nothing more than extra cold medicine and an occasional lapse into uncontrollable sneezing, which I can deal with easily.  Have tissues and sanitizing hand cleaner.  Will travel.
Except I'm not.
A secondary  infection has taken root,
in my psyche.


small self: *not happiness
The All: "It's a beautiful day. Go take a walk."
small self: "I hate you. I hate the waiter from last night.
 (he started singing to me. 
It completely weirded me out
 and I've yet to recover fully
 from the trauma
 of a strange man singing,
 "I want you." to me.  
I'm too old to have to put up with this sort of crap...
Then again,
 it could have just been some bad mussels.)
 I hate mussels. I hate me. I hate Wednesdays. I hate cold. I hate the sunshine."
The All: "Fair enough.  How's that working for you?"
     My small self went for a walk, but only so it could tell The All about the many ways it wasn't working for me, after which, it started working again.
     This leads me to believe faith isn't so much about the mindless belief in the unbelievable as it is a pact between your small self and the All. I couldn't disagree more with Nietzsche when he said, "Faith means not wanting to know what's true." I couldn't agree more with Khalil Gibran when he said, "Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof."      
      
Self Knowledge XVII
And a man said, "Speak to us of Self-Knowledge." 
And he answered, saying: 
Your hearts know in silence the secrets of the days and the nights. 
But your ears thirst for the sound of your heart's knowledge. 
You would know in words that which you have always know in thought. 
You would touch with your fingers the naked body of your dreams. 
And it is well you should. 
The hidden well-spring of your soul must needs rise and run murmuring to the sea; 
And the treasure of your infinite depths would be revealed to your eyes. 
But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure; 
And seek not the depths of your knowledge with staff or sounding line. 
For self is a sea boundless and measureless. 
Say not, "I have found the truth," but rather, "I have found a truth." 
Say not, "I have found the path of the soul." Say rather, "I have met the soul walking upon my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths. 
The soul walks not upon a line, neither does it grow like a reed. 
The soul unfolds itself, like a lotus of countless petals. ~~Khalil Gibran

2 comments:

  1. "A pact between your small self and the All." - I love that. What a great way to put it! And the banter between the two made me smile. Sounds familiar.

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  2. Jeff,
    In one way, I'm seriously glad I'm not the only one afflicted with onboard socialization, on the other hand, don't you occasionally wish the guru would just shut up and let you mope? ;)

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