Not my circus, not my monkeys ...

A post pops up on the Facebook feed (main source of information here in the Casa, not bothering with television, radio or newspapers ... though selecting the contributions is an art in itself ... part in my hands, part FB and their need for sponsored posts, part apparently random .... there is a theory that in another realm, the gods of FB drop things we need into the mix ...) whoops, carried away in parenthesis there ... next to a cute picture of a monkey the caption "Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my Circus, Not my Monkeys - Polish Proverb"

The post was picked up from a friend from FB and Findhorn Foundation, RB Chapman ... anyone having visited the Cluny College campus in the past six years will have seen and heard him in the foyer, singing and playing his guitar ... it resonated (the singing and playing and the post) ... so, in case it resonated with others, I shared it on ... and noted a few cryptic comments from FB and real life friends ... because it is not a precise statement of scientific fact (and sometimes those are questionable) but a proverb ... and proverbs are food for thought, capable of interpretation ...some years ago, on a bus from Lisbon to Evora, sitting next to an old Chinese/Malay/American bloke, a fascinating conversation ensued ... part of which included the news that in his childhood his Buddhist parents declined to tell him or his siblings very much, but threw them a proverb every day and their learning was discussed at the evening meal .... wonderful!

So, to pull from the Polish proverb some thoughts: it is not to reject empathy or compassion for monkeys or humans, but to discern whether their drama is really ours ... the teacher, Byron Katie, says it in another way, as a technique to settle the mind ... three types of business: our business, their business, God's business (for atheists, multi-theists and so on, this is only shorthand for things we cannot control. like the weather - though that is debatable apparently) ... when we focus on Our Business, things become much simpler .. and this does not mean not caring or helping or any of that ... sometimes those things are our business ...

Now to check the FB feed, see who is polluting the stream and may be pruned ...
( ... don't forget the conspiracy theory, which plausibly suggests that FB is a super duper DIY intelligence gathering operation ...)