Wordplay: Saudade
Writings: Read this one out loud … …. The Waking
The Waking
by Thoedore Roethke
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go.
We think by feeling. What is there to know?
I hear my being dance from ear to ear.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Of those so close beside me, which are you?
God bless the Ground! I shall walk softly there,
And learn by going where I have to go.
Light takes the Tree; but who can tell us how?
The lowly worm climbs up a winding stair;
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
Great Nature has another thing to do
To you and me; so take the lively air,
And, lovely, learn by going where to go.
This shaking keeps me steady. I should know.
What falls away is always. And is near.
I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow.
I learn by going where I have to go.
Theodore Roethke, “The Waking”
from Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke.
Copyright 1953 by Theodore Roethke.
Thoughts: Dream on, dream off
“To die before you die is not just a quaint saying. It speaks to a very real experience that directly relates to one’s spiritual awakening. The important thing to realize is that you are grieving over a self that never was. It is the grieving over shadows and dreams. And yet, to let go of the dream of who we thought we were and what we thought reality was, is something we will all be called to do sooner or later. And it often comes as a surprise to discover our ambiguity over relinquishing our hold on the dream state.
“But let me emphasize again that the dream state is a dream; it never really was or is. And yet we take it to be true, and then grieve its loss. Perhaps getting very close on the illusory nature of what you are letting go of will help in allowing it to die.
“As Jesus said, ‘Let the dead bury the dead.’ As if to say, ‘Let’s get on with it.’”
~ Adyashanti, End of Your World
Poetry of music: Playing for change, with the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple”
If there’s a video that encompasses the global impact of the Grateful Dead, it’s this one as musicians in Italy, Israel, Ghana, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Illinois and many other states and countries come together to contribute to this montage centered around “Ripple.” Among the musicians included David Crosby, Jimmy Buffett, David Hidalgo and of course, Bill Kreutzmann, along with a slew of others.
The video was created in support of the Playing for Change Foundation’s music schools and programs for children worldwide. More information on the “Ripple Effect” campaign can be found here. Watch the full video below.
Poetry of music: Melancholy Morning, with Joe Bongiorno
If you haven’t heard Joe Bongiorno before, you are in for a treat. If you have, you know what I mean!
Check out the rest of his work at his website…
and, for now, sit back & close your eyes for Melancholy Morning from his Somewhere Within album.
Thoughts: Dark & light, hand in hand….
“Life is glorious, but life is also wretched. It is both. Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energizes us. We feel connected. But if that’s all that’s happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever. The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction. On the other hand, wretchedness–life’s painful aspect–softens us up considerably.
Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person. When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody’s eyes because you feel you haven’t got anything to lose–you’re just there. The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes. We’d be so depressed, discouraged, and hopeless that we wouldn’t have enough energy to eat an apple.
“Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other. One inspires us, the other softens us. They go together.”
Pema Chodron, Start Where You Are
About Brother Ian
Over the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.
In the spirit of noting that organized crime, organized baseball, organized labour, and organized religion tend to engender controversy & occasional discord, I promise to be neither organized or critical of those who are.