One of the bequests to me from my mother's death is the gut revelation that we can't hold on to a single thing.
And I found a correlate: You can't get rid of a single thing.
The words I use to express these revelations are precise; they express the quality and character of the insight.
Yes, the first one maps well onto the Buddhist principle of non-permanence.
But in my own life, my cherished project which in shorthand could be titled, "Getting Rid Of" has filled me with hope for "World-Free-From." This is, of course, an antinomial contradiction, a presence which requires absence, and an absence which require presence, but that insight needs its own essay.
For me, the revelation that I cannot get rid of a single thing carries a deep meaning, a shaking of my foundation. It resonates with that other famous Buddhist insight which advises that your efforts amount to wiping off blood with blood. If I would borrow language from depth psychology, the self that you take yourself to be can only reinstantiate itself when faced with its own Negative. All that I must remove is indelibly glued to my skin, so to speak.
You are so right about the green of early spring. It glows, especially today as it drinks up the non-stop rain. Now it glows and glissens.
Thank you for writing this.
One of the bequests to me from my mother's death is the gut revelation that we can't hold on to a single thing.
And I found a correlate: You can't get rid of a single thing.
The words I use to express these revelations are precise; they express the quality and character of the insight.
Yes, the first one maps well onto the Buddhist principle of non-permanence.
But in my own life, my cherished project which in shorthand could be titled, "Getting Rid Of" has filled me with hope for "World-Free-From." This is, of course, an antinomial contradiction, a presence which requires absence, and an absence which require presence, but that insight needs its own essay.
For me, the revelation that I cannot get rid of a single thing carries a deep meaning, a shaking of my foundation. It resonates with that other famous Buddhist insight which advises that your efforts amount to wiping off blood with blood. If I would borrow language from depth psychology, the self that you take yourself to be can only reinstantiate itself when faced with its own Negative. All that I must remove is indelibly glued to my skin, so to speak.
Is that "permanent"? A koan!
Lovely comment, Diana