A LOVING LOOK AT THE REAL
It has been said that to contemplate is to look lovingly at the real. Life gives us many opportunities to do that from many different levels of understanding.
What is "real" may be what we call everything that we hear, see, or experience in our everyday lives. Looking lovingly at these might mean different things to different people. For me it would mean allowing whatever is unfolding to be what it is without a whole lot of comment or resistance unless my very life were in danger.
Everything we say or do is our own creation because it is our interpretation of how things are and how we chose to respond to it. So sometimes I just observe myself or others popping off or behaving in insane or unloving ways and just kind of say something like, "Isn't that an interesting creation?" That puts me on neutral ground and keeps me from having the urge to correct or to judge and it keeps my head cooler and my heart more open. We tend to not do that when the happening is a loving, peaceful, happy, or exciting one. But it probably wouldn't hurt to get on neutral ground with that one as well and note that this too is a creation even though we might think it is pretty "cool".
Another way of looking at "real" lovingly is not really different from the one I just described. There is only One thing that is real, the one creative and Divine Power that some call God. All the rest is just what the Buddhist call "illusion". It is what we make up, what we create, and that would also include our ideas about ourselves, others and God. Any time we call these things "real" we are in danger of creating "false idols". We give power and meaning to these idols and often would lay down our lives or kill someone or hurt someone who does not share our "religion" or our belief of the importance of these idols but they are not "real". There is only one Reality, one Power. To look lovingly upon this reality is to put everything else into a more realistic perspective.
When you watch a movie you sometimes get so engrossed in it you forget your surroundings. You become unaware of yourself or who or what is around you and you are so focused on the movie and what is happening that you may feel sad and cry or you may laugh or your heart might start racing in fear or concern about what is happening in the movie. The story is made up, created. The people in it are actors. It isn’t real but it feels like it when you get lost in it. But now and then you “wake” up to realize that you are in the movie theater or your home watching something not real. You can do the same when you are reading a book. You get lost in the story and for that time it is real to you.
So to me, to look lovingly at reality is to know this truth and to try to remember it as often as I can until perhaps I won’t get so caught up in the story.
What is "real" may be what we call everything that we hear, see, or experience in our everyday lives. Looking lovingly at these might mean different things to different people. For me it would mean allowing whatever is unfolding to be what it is without a whole lot of comment or resistance unless my very life were in danger.
Everything we say or do is our own creation because it is our interpretation of how things are and how we chose to respond to it. So sometimes I just observe myself or others popping off or behaving in insane or unloving ways and just kind of say something like, "Isn't that an interesting creation?" That puts me on neutral ground and keeps me from having the urge to correct or to judge and it keeps my head cooler and my heart more open. We tend to not do that when the happening is a loving, peaceful, happy, or exciting one. But it probably wouldn't hurt to get on neutral ground with that one as well and note that this too is a creation even though we might think it is pretty "cool".
Another way of looking at "real" lovingly is not really different from the one I just described. There is only One thing that is real, the one creative and Divine Power that some call God. All the rest is just what the Buddhist call "illusion". It is what we make up, what we create, and that would also include our ideas about ourselves, others and God. Any time we call these things "real" we are in danger of creating "false idols". We give power and meaning to these idols and often would lay down our lives or kill someone or hurt someone who does not share our "religion" or our belief of the importance of these idols but they are not "real". There is only one Reality, one Power. To look lovingly upon this reality is to put everything else into a more realistic perspective.
When you watch a movie you sometimes get so engrossed in it you forget your surroundings. You become unaware of yourself or who or what is around you and you are so focused on the movie and what is happening that you may feel sad and cry or you may laugh or your heart might start racing in fear or concern about what is happening in the movie. The story is made up, created. The people in it are actors. It isn’t real but it feels like it when you get lost in it. But now and then you “wake” up to realize that you are in the movie theater or your home watching something not real. You can do the same when you are reading a book. You get lost in the story and for that time it is real to you.
So to me, to look lovingly at reality is to know this truth and to try to remember it as often as I can until perhaps I won’t get so caught up in the story.
posted by Brendisima | 3:55 AM
|
1 comments
