Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:
Q: What is today's wisdom?
A: "People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't find them, they make them."
- George Bernhard Shaw
"Cats are connoisseurs of comfort."
- James Herriot
Posts
When you take a long, protracted view at both the idea and experience of circumstance, you realize that neither cats (who have nine lives) nor ducks made of metal are permanent fixtures in life. Like all phenomena, they change, moment to moment. Simply, they are impermanent. That may at first sound very sad. But, here’s the good news: The animated cat, the inanimate duck, the sun, the rain, the earth and all beings are not separate from each other. You and I and this inanimate inner voice drawing of an animate cat and inanimate duck animating our imagination are all interconnected. This is the closest thing to circumstance you’ll find in life. Not so much the conditions surrounding us, but all conditions, and causes, inner and outer, set the stage for how life plays itself out. And here’s even better news, as the smiling cat knows: reality, as we know it, is how we respond to the formations that our body/minds present, moment to moment. In the conventional sense, I have little control over what arises in the world surround, but I have complete control over how I respond to it. I could respond negatively or positively. I can find just plain old shit on my plate or manure, which from my gardener’s perspective, is gold :) Imagine if we saw our lives as, not so much happening to us, but as teachings, moment to moment, whereby only goodness and understanding are taught. It’s like that `Highlight’ magazine, when I was a kid, I had to find the hidden figures in the drawing. That’s life. It’s kind of a game. Find the missing pieces and connect the dots. In fact, dedicate your entire life to just this. Seek at every moment the opportunity to realize that “circumstance” which is hidden, not out there but within you. I don’t like to give away the story’s end but this is what you’ll find in your seeking: love.
ReplyDeleteThe cat seems to say: "Look at me! I am enjoying myself even though I am in a tight spot right now." And, of course, the cat had involuntarily chosen that confining situation, by running from the dog and jumping onto the table into the duck bucket for safety.
ReplyDeleteSo, in line with your thoughts: We have little control over the world around us, even though we do make choices along the way and attached to each choice on our path comes a different scenario or surrounding. And as you say: "I have little control over what arises in the world surround, but I have complete control over how I respond to it. I could respond negatively or positively."
This cat decided to react positively and thus enjoys being in a duck bucket even though it's too tight for comfort.
As it is said by Hippolyte Taine: "I have studied many philosophers and many cats. The wisdom of cats is infinitely superior."