Escape
When we get out of the glass bottles of our ego,
And we escape like squirrels turning in the cages of our personality
and get into the forests again,
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves.
Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taught with power,
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down,
we shall laugh,
and institutions will curl up like burnt paper.
D. H. LAWRENCE
4 comments:
Thank you friend.
An old Zen koan and one of my favorites from when I was a boy:
Q. There is a goose in a bottle. How to get the goose out of the bottle without hurting the goose or breaking the bottle?
A. There - it’s out!
The glass bottle of ego is brittle and too confining even for one autumn leaf. Living within the pervasive cult of personality is very much like living in a squirrel cage. Stepping off the hamster wheel is easy, because we always and unfailingly step off into our original nature, into the open space of not knowing ourselves. If we are willing to remain in this space of not knowing, and pass through the shivers of fear and the seduction of want, “unlying life will rush in.” It can do no other when the space is uncluttered, open and receptive. We wake up laughing, and find “unlying life” infused with an exhilarating freshness and delight. The challenging part in living an awakened human life is keeping our fidelity to this awakening moment to moment. One way to keep our integrity, our wholeness, is to simply appreciate what is, moment to moment, forever. Then the stream of awake, unlying life will always be available, rushing in and pouring out.
Thank you for your love and appreciation, your celebration here in Graceful Presence.
Aki
I'm drunk from reading inspiration, and you just put me over the top. My God! Seriously, my soul is dizzy!
There go my intentions for a "productive" evening! Thanks, and blessings.
Reminds me of how I had been feeling about the "church," I just wanted to be free from the mold of protocol, Sunday piety, exclusiveness, and behavior misconstrued as holiness. Now that I have escaped from that bottle and that wheel, and dealt with the cold and fright, I am really discovering what it means to enjoy life in Christ. It is such a beautiful experience and I really appreciate you posting that poem.
"...but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves."
Ah, yes! When we fear no thing, everything becomes and adventure, the most daring- losing our self for our Self.
Thank you for this post!
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