The heart of the poem I feel is in the image of Moses fallen to his knees before the lit bush or the man removing his shoes to enter heaven only to observe that they were standing on holy ground the whole time. All of us go on pilgrimages and journeys of one sort or another and long for personal transformation. This poem tells us that we do not need to go looking for "it" but that we perhaps need to 'look' in a different way - and that we are in fact on the transformative path now. Waking up, is all about waking up to the awareness that we have in a sense arrived already - this very day where we live, work, have our being is the context in which we are transformed continually by the act of living - becoming conscious of this fact is I feel helpful to anyone who seeks any sort of enlightenment or enlargement of consciousness. It would of course be an act of hubris to think that I am in any way 'enlightened' in any great spiritual sense, but I think the concept of 'Mindfulness' that this poem is implying has helped me along on my own shambling way.
The key is I feel, not to shut oneself up in a cave and meditate but to live fully engaged with the world in a detached ('non attachment') way - which sounds like a paradox (which it is) (there is truth in paradox). Live fully, responsibly, morally, without hubris or ego, transcending the self (putting others first) and embracing fully without 'attachment' ---- much easier said than done of course.
"The real miracle of life is that we are something rather than nothing. We can lose our identities and names and gain new ones like a pilgrim, only to find significance in all that we had taken for granted."
I have known Kelvin for nigh on 50 years now. We recently met, had a few drinks and a meal together and talked solidly for over 4 hours.
I asked him at one point, "What do you make of our friendship? " - I said, "In many ways it is an unlikely friendship because we are in fact quite different people." He thought about this and then replied saying that our lives, going back to our school days, especially our individual spiritual development has had many parallels, and he went on to explain what he thought some of those were - and I think he is correct in that.
He is correct, and if he wasn't then I would never have understood the poem or he would have never posted it.
C.S.Lewis in his book "The Four Loves" states that the nature of romantic love is such that two people sit face to face and look at the object of their obsession - and that the nature of friendship is such that two people sit side by side and look together at the mutually shared interest.
I think that the basis of my friendship with Kelvin is that because of what has gone before in our personal history, we both hold this poem in high regard; we both understand this poem, and it is this shared understanding and desire for personal transformation that is part of our friendship - and my own world is richer and fuller for that friendship and the insights that he brings and shares.
The
poem brought forth the image of Moses removing his shoes, only to
observe that he was standing on holy ground the whole time. This reveals
that we long for and commence on pilgrimages and journeys throughout
our lives, only to discover we were standing on that transformative path
all along, and that we did not need to go looking for it. - See more
at:
http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2014/05/david-whytes-solace-the-art-of-asking-the-beautiful-question#sthash.5hdzBWSV.dpuf
The
poem brought forth the image of Moses removing his shoes, only to
observe that he was standing on holy ground the whole time. This reveals
that we long for and commence on pilgrimages and journeys throughout
our lives, only to discover we were standing on that transformative path
all along, and that we did not need to go looking for it. - See more
at:
http://thebottomline.as.ucsb.edu/2014/05/david-whytes-solace-the-art-of-asking-the-beautiful-question#sthash.5hdzBWSV.dpuf
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