You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ category.
Treat each moment
With the motto
“Catch and Release”
And the wonders
Of the world
Will never cease
Live in acceptance
those who are openminded
don’t die empty-handed
the treasure of your life
will be overflowing.
Always on the move
And on the go
If I stopped
You’d see me blown away
By what I’m unaware of
So far what I have read from Anne Lamott’s Traveling Mercieshas been quite enjoyable and easy to get into. A lot of times when people deal with matters of faith and religion they can be really hesitant and choose their words carefully. Lamott is totally blunt and honest and even leaves a little room for cynicism, uncommon for Christian literature. Christian literature almost seems an unfair label for this work.
Although Professor Harrison asked us to concentrate on the stories within the regular chapters, I especially enjoyed the introductory chapters on her relationship with her family as young person and her evolving spirituality. As heroic journey is the favorite phrase of this class, this section stuck out to me because of all the changes it put on display. Lamott’s friend Pammy reminded me of Siddhartha’s friend Govinda, although Pammy was much less dependent. She is someone that stuck with Lamott no matter the situation especially in light of her alcohol dependence.
The introductory chapters were also a great example of “the call” that we always talk about when discussing the monomyth. Lamott’s family was not at all encouraging of her evolving christian faith but at the same time whatever she was going through, no matter the case, she always believed in God. Her parents and her social circle throughout much of her early life were of the progressive liberal agnostic/atheist outlook yet Anne couldn’t shake her feelings. For years she refused that call but eventually she answered it.
The Master of Two Worlds- group we came to the conclusion that, The Master of Two Worlds is the part of the heroes journey where he realizes that he can merge his old life with his new life because for him/her it is the point of realization that he can live in both worlds because he/she has came to terms with the conditions of his old life, and has experienced a new life but for him/her they are really similar than different and he/she can prosper in both.
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
By Rabindranath Tagore
The concept of “master of two worlds”, although often described a little differently, is something i’m quite familiar with. I spend a lot of time reminding myself of all the similarities that people share regardless of race, religion, gender, culture, and other concepts of social stratification. College is that time for most people to move on from the class system of high school and maybe mingle with the people you use to avoid. There’s more diverse groups of people and the more you hate them the more likely it is you will have to work with them.
I mentioned in my mid-term essay a lyric by the band page france that applies to this theme: “when our eyes close, we’re the same”. To me it is a short description of the barriers we build up around ourselves and what happens when we open our minds a bit.
I also like the song “Lets Get Out of the Romance” because it describes this way of thinking where a change of locale makes all the difference. For example, if you leave civilization and all your past ties to live in the woods, only to realize the problems haven’t changed, you still must confront them, only your location did.
How?
Having washed my face in the frozen stream,
And having lived in guest rooms for the last seven years,
And having doubled in size, admitting animal loving,
I still must find a way how:
How do I live with the romance of the world?
How do I live with the romance?
The lure of scenery.
How do I live with the romance?
The comfort and closed eyes.
How do I live with the romance and admit
That this might be the world where I belong?
How?
I’ll sing my song in the parking lot.
by Mount Eerie
Brand New Perspectives
Alone in my fortress
Weary of the world,
I looked out the window
Over all of creation.
Too close to the glass,
Each breath of hot air,
Fogged up my visibility.
Each step back,
Brand new perspectives.
A “refusal of the return: is described as a time when you are called back to your past life and existence when you have already moved beyond it. You fear that your new beliefs and knowledge wont fit in with the beliefs of your own community. Quite a common theme in literature especially in the film, “Into the Wild” where Christopher has drastically changed his world view as he became interested in Tolstoy, Thoreau, Emerson, and others who advocate self reliance. He can’t be like his parents and has no attraction to the American dream so he journeys into the Alaskan Wilderness seeking his own way. He never actually makes that return visit because of his death but I often wondered what would have happened if he had returned. There are hints that he will find more comfort in companionship with others but in the end there is no other conclusion except death. Who knows?
In my own life I had a return experience when I came back from my stay in the Buddhist monastery in Taiwan and had to adjust back to my old way of living. But I never fully made that adjustment because I had changed. I wasn’t reading about various Buddhist religious experiences but actually experiencing them. Vague ideas of Buddhism were now becoming realities within me. I wont say in any way that I really understand Buddhism much at all but this was more than book learning.
In class we often talk about how when we came home from college for the first time we have discovered that we changed and many of our relationships with our friends or family have changed. For me that is definitely true but I actually have found that I understand my friends and family even more.
stanley's blog 
Recent Comments