So, wandering the hills, with a mixture of sunshine and showers ... pondering the question of suffering and finding the gardening metaphor apt ... you dream of a beautiful garden in which to wander .... the one you have is full of weeds, brambles, stinging nettles and frankly a mess ... there is suffering and in this case the cause is clear: your dream is impossible because of the state of your garden ... before doing anything about the mess, you could simply change the dream and imagine instead a nature sanctuary ... harvest blackberries in autumn ... carefully collect nettles for soup, tea or for fertiliser ... enjoy the abundance of insect life ... listen to the birds singing, the bees humming .... to be honest, this is tempting for the writer, who is a lazy gardener ... but the neighbours are not impressed and you really dream of a space for flowers and vegetables, with spiral paths ... so an effort is required ... the weeds, nettles, brambles are removed ... the space is restored to bare earth ... a blank canvas on which to create your dream ... with more effort the space takes shape, as seasons permit, the flowers bloom, the fruit falls, the spuds are ready to dig ... and if left untended, of course, the weeds soon return along with the suffering of a lost dream ... this story has some basis in reality at no. 7, with some expert help from proper gardeners ... and indeed it has reverted to a mess, untended and now with the rubble from the fireplace awaiting collection ... the writer, however, is not suffering and not just because he is along the terrace at no.4, with its more developed structure of mature shrubs, deck and raised beds ...
Does the no-self story sit in this garden too? Well maybe, inasmuch as the somebody has opinions, concepts of a proper garden ... though nobody could easily enjoy the weedy mess or the blank canvas, a nobody who lacked compassion for gardening neighbours would be better wandering footloose without garden or any sustained companions to feed the somebody ...which is where the everybody, or a new somebody appears, with neighbours to consider ... and if you sense this topic is losing touch with reality, please do write .... Facebook World has quite a few Friends exhibiting symptoms of plot loss, having started off along similar routes, maybe drug assisted ... finding anguish instead of bliss, not anchoring .... skipping stages ... getting stuck in unhelpful dimensions ... not to mention some seeming inauthentic ... quoting insights of the sages endlessly, even teaching from the books they read .... not living it ...
Time to wrap up the rambling .... the sun is shining and a second walk calls ... maybe collect some new season wild garlic for supper ... even connect with "real" humans to earth the wilder flights of imagination ... and note to self and no-self that interbeing wants exploring ... indeed developing if the projects are to take form ...
No comments:
Post a Comment