Monika's weekly inner voice drawings:
Q: What is today's wisdom?
A: Nature spirits are weaving the fabric of spring: Enjoy!
"My spirits were elevated by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was blotted from my memory. the present was tranquil, and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipation and joy.
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
"It is written on the arched sky; it looks out from every star; it is the poetry of Nature; it is that which uplifts the spirit within us."
- John Ruskin
Posts
PINEAPPLE HEAD, JUMP ROPES, AND THE MOTIONING OF TIME
ReplyDelete“And the wheels of the bus go ‘round and ‘round.” My son, Teo sings this song all day long. And I ask, “What does he know of motion and time?” In physics, motion is a change in position of an object with respect to time. In a way, it is the most spiritual of scientific concepts in that it speaks to the only thing that is permanent: change. And the understanding of change opens up an infinite field of compassion because the understanding of change, or impermanence forever frees us from the afflictive negative emotions engendered in unhealthy attachment.
The experience of loss is completely predicated on the attempt to cling to that which is impermanent. This is the telling of Monika’s new drawing. But, what’s most significant in this drawing is that most of this (e)motioning occurs beneath the level of conscious awareness. What I see here is the pineapple bird head as a tree of life. Notice the roots at the bottom of its head. Underneath the tree is what is occurring underground, or within the unconscious. This is where all the fun takes place--unconscious motivation and conflict—and what causes ignorance. Without effort (and help), the unconscious is literally ignored. And that’s dangerous.
Notice how all the figures in Monika’s unconscious are focused on the conscious mind and how each one, though connected to the whole, is spinning or motioning like a wheel. This is the changing dynamic of the unconscious shifting, moment to moment, from one conflict to another. But, here’s the paradox, as the focusing (orientation) reveals: though these forces cause suffering, they also hold within them the source of light or understanding. By reaching into the unconscious forces and drawing them out into conscious awareness, the beginning dissolution of the ego is activated. As the knowing self is strengthened, the awareness honed mirrors back the illusory nature of self existence. This most profound and subtle of experiences. But, most importantly, because no thing exists independently, there is infinite manifestation motioning into love:
at night even the most
inconspicuous of dreams
blaze in the buttered fields
helianthus of gold, euphorbia
of spurge
dawn the night spills into
yellow levitating dawn's
white brume, fire
flickering then burning
then burning out, dropping
seeds like pine like temptation
like the surging fragrant
madness of a yogi feasting
on the heart's flame
--PL
Your well rounded interpretation leaves me thought-free and speechless :) And I cracked up about the "pineapple head" :)
ReplyDeleteSo, wisdom with humor is such a delicious feat. Thank you!