whereas

wheras it appears
that darkness
is closing in
on me,
i will not let it

remarks on 'Zen and the art of motorcycling', by R.M.Pirsig

This is a book i also have read numerous times, not tiring from it.

it showed that a perception of life embracing and 

combining 'rational' and 'irrational' is perfectly possible.

the story has not much to do with motorcycling and is not 

a book teaching Zen. it deals with the metaphysical quality of life ,

being there and with awareness. and awareness not just being Satori,

but going across the border of inactivity. you hear the water dripping 

from your kitchen sink: be aware and do something about it. learn to 

master your external stuff, do not just depend on it or it will

dominate you. not only to be your own master in theory but practicing it.

this is perfectly in harmony with being present in the now all the time.

anyway, this is not about ethics but about the 

ability to live as well as you can.

my very personal remarks go deeper for a good reason.

meditation is not the only life, Satori is not a goal.

just to be and stay innocent, pure as white snow,

is not possible as even inactivity will be being guilty.

a mature human will not aim at staying out

of all commitment. to seek detachment from

all feeling and desire is an act of fear, a fight

for survival. esoteric means 'more within', but

out cannot just to be closed out:it is there, present.

so 'just' to be is a no-way way.

whereas to be able to have moments of

joy, non-desire and enlightenment is a

very beautiful and happy experience.

to meditate is a wonder and gives wings

to each human.wings to fly and transcend

suffering and daily duties.

to feel love does not mean to love . without giving yourself

and allowing for vulnerability of heart,

there is neither real compassion nor love.

but this is very personal, an experience

not well digested.

rain drops ....

approaches

my approach to life is deeply from dream and modest confusion. it is, was and will be poetic even if not in writing but in experience. it is not without loving nor kindness, but rich with desire and astonishment and wonder. 

when one of the aborigines in Australia loses his dream path, he may sit down and die. i sit down and die, but will always get up again and walk into dream and presence travelling where the stars tell me to go. 

i do trust in life and death, all in one.

 

a tree is not a snake, a cloud is not the end

beer, water, food and a call

as the seagulls cry 

and as the rain falls

drop by drop

and the wind moves the sea

the spirit can fly

in all this presence,

the ocean is deep

and the soul does not care

if you fly or dive,

think or not think.

it knows all

and nothing,

the deep currents hidden

from the eyes of the mind.

take the monsters to light,

love and embrace them,

the water is rich with these,

there are always more.

the soul remembers pain

better than joy.

keep away, stay on your path,

i walk with wet clothes,

am soaked with rain and beauty.

i will die poor and naked

and i live naked and rich,

following dreams and the voice

of my blood and of  birds

calling my name in the sky

just me in Bardo, transient

from the hills of Levanto

Levanto: i sogni sono i tuoi

it doesn't matter what i call

it doesn't matter

what i call this

a bud, a flower,

beauty behind fences:

it calls its own name

out in the world

without knowing

White bird flying, Michael Kenna, Paris, 2007

on the helplessness of gods

we read in the bible that once god had created his world, he was completely fed up with the behaviour of his human beings, and he sent the deluge. this looks like 'The spirits that I summoned up, I now can't rid myself of  (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) (Goethe) when  man is not the master of his tools anymore.
i wonder if our way of suffering is pre-defined by this helplessness of an unimaginable god who either didn't know what he created and how to control it or who just didn't care what might happen with his toy once he got fed up playing with it.
that man is not the master of his tools anymore is to be seen each day, every day, we destroy each other and the very core and base of our life.
quite certainly we are not gods if we assume that a god is omniscient, loving, caring and in harmony with the universe. but we even cannot just assume this, we don't know.