"I was sitting by the ocean one late summer afternoon, watching the waves rolling in and feeling the rhythm of my breathing, when I suddenly became aware of my whole environment as being engaged in a gigantic cosmic dance. Being a physicist, I knew that the sand, rocks, water and air around me were made of vibrating molecules and atoms, and that these consisted of particles which interacted with one another by creating and destroying other particles. I also knew that the Earth's atmosphere was continually bombarded by showers of cosmic rays . . . but until that moment I had only experienced it through graphs, diagrams and mathematical theories. As I sat on the beach my former experience came to life; I saw cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses; I saw the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I heard its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord of Dancers worshipped by the Hindus."
- Fritjof Capra
The Tao of Physics
Fritjof Capra (born February 1, 1939) is an Austrian-born American physicist. He is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, and is on the faculty of Schumacher College. Capra is the author of several books, including
The Tao of Physics (1975),
The Turning Point (1982),
Uncommon Wisdom (1988),
The Web of Life (1996), and
The Hidden Connections (2002).
Resurrection
The toothless goddess
smiles vacantly at my hope.
I am old and smell
bad, smell like cold flesh
from an empty gray coffin.
How I feel sometimes,
how it is this day
of days. It is said of Him,
said He rises up
but I see no sign.
You see through all the whitewash.
God, I miss you so.
April 5, 2010 7:29 PM
Modified May 10, 2012
For some reason this struck me strongly Christopher. the last line is a dozy...
ReplyDeleteWander
While true at some moment or even many of all my lives, this poem is not a statement that is true of this one at this time. I wrote it more than two years ago.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever see the movie "Mindwalk"? It's fantastic -- after I saw it the first time, I took your mother to see it. And then saw it a few more times. I really wish they'd release it on DVD.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember it. It's on U-Tube. I am watching it as I write to you.
ReplyDeleteWait, it's Google video. I just googled it.
ReplyDeleteSee my next post
ReplyDeleteWoohoo!
ReplyDeleteWhat did you think?
It was well done, frank and honest, is what I thought. The problem with thinking like the best scientists is as well presented as its accuracy. Yes, when we embrace systems theory we come far closer to the truth of things, and yes, we still have to approach problems piecemeal.
ReplyDelete