RUMINATIONS:

WHEN IS ENOUGH, ENOUGH?

As I look about here in my sanctum sanctorum I see videotapes of movies which have had personal appeal: Excalibur, Dogma, The Shootist, Monty Python and others. Also videos of people with special messages: Malcom Muggeridge, Swami Rama, Deepak Chopra, Joseph Canpbell. Endless audiotapes from New Dimensions Radio with their priceless discussions between Michael Toms and Robert Bly, Richard Bohm, Pir Ilyat Khan, Dana Zohar, Amit Goswami and so many others. And then there is the music ranging from Hildegard von Bingen to John Tavener. A shelf of books on Vedanta, another on metaphysics, another on Christianity, another on Jung, and so many other books that will not get read this lifetime. All this stuff.

Is there an end to the seeking? Does the end of the quest come when all questions are answered? Would it ever be possible to answer all the questions? Considering the nature of the human intellect is it possible that there is even a boundary to the number of questions? And what is the object of all the seeking? Could it be a search for wholeness? Or put another way, an end to the pain of separation?

Our friends from India might say the object of all the seeking is freedom from the illusion of separation by recognizing the presence of the Divine within one’s Self and within others. Is that so different from the message of the Christ? Or the other great teachers?

One of the early Greeks - Plato or one of the other old geeks - came up with a creation story which says that humans were originally created as beings with 4 legs, 4 arms, and 2 heads. These beings were so deliriously happy unto themselves singing and dancing and pleasuring each other, neither paying attention to nor needing any of the gods, that one of the gods in a fit of jealousy sliced them all in two. Part of the fit of jealousy including wiring it up such that the chance of the slicees reuniting was slim to none. The result was a lot of unhappy 2-leggeds frantically scrambling about looking for their other half. Some were male and some were female, each desperately searching for their respective soulmate, whether it be male or female. They would try to fit in with this, then that--to no avail. Where once was raucous joy, happiness and freedom there was now misery, woe and dependence. In their misery they cried out to the gods for help with sacrifice, omens and ritual. What was once inside and part of oneself was now outside, unclear, and so distant as to be unreachable without the help of the gods. And we know about those Greek gods, don’t we? Just another bunch of sleazy politicians each feathering their own nests.

Some metaphor, huh?

So I ask myself: Just supposing one could assimilate all the golden wisdom on the tapes and CDs and in the books? Be able to understand the deeper meanings of the myths and tales? Participate in all the learned discussions, nodding knowingly? Just how much closer to the Holy One would one be? And the reply comes back, "No closer than now." Ouch. What do you mean? "There comes a time", it says, "when one is best advised to put down the books and listen. Not to the siren call of old familiar intellectual curiosity or of figuring it out, but to the song within. Sooner or later comes the realization that all those fascinating things are just that - things. And things nearly always drown out the heart-song".

When does one know it is time to put down the books and listen? And how does one listen? And to what, specifically?

There is the silence of a lost connection-------- then a minstrel’s distant voice singing

"The answer lies within--so why not take a look now?"

Thanks, Cat.       You remember Cat Stevens don’t you?.

On The Road to Findout - lyrics - Cat Stevens    

Yahoo Cat Stevens links