No one ever outgrows anything, do you think?
Isn't it more like folding frothy egg whites into a batter ... all bubbly and light and bit by bit not noticeable at all, but still, for all that, part of the important mix.
And yet too, there are things that seem to be in the rear-view mirror -- all outgrown and left behind.
....
How I dislike listening to enthusiastic chatter about spiritual life and its beneficial effects these days. I can acknowledge that I agree more or less, but that doesn't mean I want to listen to its stale perambulations any more than I want to listen to equally-enthusiastic diatribes from the humanists or atheists ... which I also agree with more or less, but there too the staleness seems to swallow all succulence.
Is there a yo-yo champ in the crowd or a philosophy of spider webs or someone learning to walk on his hands ... something that ensorcels with ... with ... with whatever is ensorceling?
Maybe we could say that spiritual life, between the widest bookends, has to do with foreseeing the future. Death is the biggie on that list of things to see, but I also think that there is a battle royale to fend off the death imposed by the present moment ... you just know that in a moment or two, this moment will be dead, gone, lost, evaporated....
Like frothy egg whites in the batter.
I'm taking a long slow walk with death, through a world of chattering monkeys and cheerleaders. The monkeys amuse me, the cheerleaders are tiring. Either show me your boobs or get outa my face.
ReplyDeleteOld Charlie,
DeleteLooking for cheerleaders to just show you their titties, are you now? You're such a dreamer!
You probably need to log on to a Senior Dating Service. You might get lucky. I've a 75 year old friend who looks like a shriveled lizard, and sees 8 different doctors. He signed up to one service and posted his actual picture and he's getting emails locally and from across the country. I had to laugh: He was getting email notifications to make dates while we had lunch.
The dream is to be offensive enough that i wont have to listen to them.
DeleteIt's a given that a person new to spiritual practice comes at it with some naïveté and some true, fresh enthusiasm based on the teachings, teacher, group, setting, etc. She or he often makes some expression of the emotion and new insights. Usually, these expressions are quite genuine.
ReplyDeleteSo on what basis do you label those expressions of emotion and insight stale? Sincerity? Creative Literacy?
Who's the one who has "been there done that"?
I raise my hand.
As for me I try to absorb some of the energy of the new comer. But then I don't just read to words of someone writing on a blog or forum. There are some really good things about dealing with people in the flesh.
Just breathing in and breathing out. It's an absolute necessity. As a practice it may be boring, or the most calming thing ever, or the most exciting thing ever: I AM alive.
Wish there were a little thumbs up here --- I really like this comment. That "been there done that" really needs to be guarded against, at least by me, now that I'm 81. Sometimes I can still remember, at least when I'm reminded like this.
Delete"Either show me your boobs or get outa my face."
ReplyDeleteCharlie -- Since this is my blog, I claim the unreserved right to plagiarize your words.