The Mental Pause
I am going through the Mental Pause. Not the menopause. This comes about the same time, though. Some advaitists teach this as an actual principle, can you imagine? They would have us do this on purpose! They advocate being in a room and staying with the emptiness. Not wondering why you came into the room in the first place. Was it to get some peanut butter or to defrost the refrigerator. Do Zen masters have this problem. Do they just sit and forget stuff, like milk and bread on the way home from the zendo. Are there patriarchs of peanut butter?
The old master sat with
his tongue stuck to the roof
of his mind.
Yum.
I am an advocate of all things tasty, fresh and good for you. I just can’t always remember it. So I end up eating Fritos and Cheetos and Cheeze Whiz and Cocoa Puffs with whole milk instead of soy or almond milk. I am like that in my impermanency. My thoughts are definitely impermanent. That is perhaps why I cannot finish what I start. War and Peace, to me, might include installments of Tvgasm.com and Facebook pages of my nearest and dearest jillion friends. I don’t Twitter because I don’t have time for the inanity. Stop the inanity. Now there’s a good Tweet.
The new master sat
with his iPad
watching the old frog
plop into the virtual pond.
Blog. Tweet.
As I travel through the badlands of this essay on the old gray mare of my mind, I suddenly decide to alight and encamp among the blog rushes growing wild around the virtual pond. Soon I am lost in thoughts of assorted and sundry enlightened ones blogging about their spiritual virtuosity. The reeds and clarinets of awakened egos are suddenly giving me a headache of monstrous proportions. Before I know it, I will be just another nondual celeb faking it until I am making it. So onto the final haiku:
I dismantled my walking stick today
and sat down on the ground of my being.
Ouch.
Vicki Woodyard
http://www.bobwoodyard.com
Posts
8 comments:
Very good and soul-ringingly TRUE!
Hi Vicki,
I very much enjoyed reading this post, it has struck a chord in me. I love the honesty, creativity, humor, transparency, and slight lovable human messiness. I just discovered your website, and then your blog, through a link from Leo Hartong's website (and I found Leo's website through a link on Joan Tollifson's website). I have bookmarked your blog and website and I hope you will continue the blog. The virtual world is a strange place, and enlightened egos are strange things, I have fallen into the enlightened-ego delusion myself at times...Maybe stuff to wake up from isn't bad, it's the sleep/dream from which awakening wakes up, two sides of a coin. Thank you for your post. Colleen
Oh well. My picture would'nt upload for some reason. No biggy. Appreciate your blog and your experience. Also your Nurturing website. I sort of limit myself to Adyashanti,Jeannie Zandi,and You for my influences with the Course in Miracles Jesus for good measure. He says ones inheritance can either be accepted or rejected by us, but we don't establish it or make up the rules. It is what it is. Sort of comforting amidst the melieu of society(New age or otherwise), and my own zany body and mind. Peace,Catfish,and Hush puppies to you. (Darn, no third choice)
Hi, Colleen,
I visited your blog briefly and loved what I read....I try to poke holes in my self-image...like you do with a cake recipe. You know, where you bake the cake, poke holes in it and pour luscious liquids in...
Chris, thank you for being here. I resonate with the folks you mention....the truth shines through some windows better than through others....
Anonymous....who are you? You said you couldn't sign in for some reason. But you can put who you are in the body of the comment. I won't bite. Unless you are made of chocolate, that is.
Thanks for responding and visiting my blog Vicki. I feel we are kindred spirits and I look forward to reading further blog posts.
Love the mental pause image...you have a true wit-a thoughtful clever posting! Will support your book with a donation.
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