Stealing Lines
Really good poem,
come to me, you come right here
come here now, sit here
with me if you dare.
I want to steal your source, take
it away with me
to some quiet room
where I will compose new work,
write ever more lines,
write myself away
from my gray withered old self,
become new again.
December 29, 2009 6:25 PM
I will not turn away from my responsibility. I promise.
Blame everything on one thing. It simplifies life incredibly, and yet it truly is not simplistic. If we believe from our hearts that all of our misfortunes can be attributed to self-centeredness, this must radically transform our lives.
Do we have reservations? Isn't there some part of the mind that says, "Self-centeredness is not such a bad idea. It got me my job, a good salary, my house and car. How can this be my enemy?" On the surface self-centeredness may seem like an aide who looks after our interests. There is one powerful answer to this: insofar as self-centeredness dominates our lives, it brings us into conflict with virtually everyone else. Because most people are dominated by self-centeredness, their interests are at odds with our own. There is bound to be conflict, and conflict gives rise to suffering.
Imagine what life would be like without self-centeredness. Would we give away all our possessions, waste away from malnutrition, and die prematurely of disease? No. This would be a partial lack of self-centeredness combined with a large part of stupidity. If we are to serve others effectively, we must take care of ourselves. A bodhisattva has no self-centeredness, but there have been people in all stations of life, including kings, who are bodhisattvas. If we free ourselves of self-centeredness and really concern ourselves with the cherishing of others, then our own welfare comes as a kind of echo.(p.67)
--from The Seven-Point Mind Training by B. Alan Wallace, edited by Zara Houshmand, published by Snow Lion Publications
we are born into, and die through, the self. i am beginning to think it is to go carefully between the self and others that a beautiful resonance is created, a music of living. it is in the self that i appreciate you, the trees soaked through on one side, the late fall's hornet. it is through you, through the trees soaked through on one side, and through the late fall's hornet, that i become free.
ReplyDeleteIf we free ourselves of self-centeredness and really concern ourselves with the cherishing of others, then our own welfare comes as a kind of echo. i like this very much.
and thank you for your response to my train piece, your poem, your love. i didn't get to say. i was off on a journey the next day. but i carried it/you with me. i always carry pieces of you with me. this is the way, isn't it?
xo
erin
Erin, I am secure in your good will. I feel you are reliable for this and that comforts me.
ReplyDeleteSomething has changed, maybe more that one thing, and I no longer have the time to put to this blogging what I used to. I am perplexed but settled, reconciled. I think in fact my health affects my presence here and that changes from day to day anymore.
As for cherishing others, as with all dangerous and powerful things there is a fine line, in this case between the intensity that leads to blessing and the smothering that leads to what we now call codependency.
I am very grateful for what we have between us, Erin, and I trust it will alway be a blessing, just as it has been for a remarkably long time now.