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The Invisible is Also
to Be Trusted
by Susanna GENDALL (New Zealand)
Revised layout leads to wider eyes . .
. and we have a Hawaiian activist, Jim Albertini, amongst
some guilt for American past and its hefty contributions
to globalisation, saying: "The rose needs no speech,
she spreads her perfume". He speaks of repentance of
the past, which comes through a little shakily. "Those
who do not look back at their origins cannot find their
destination" (Bishop Labayen). There is a sense that
the invisible is also to be trusted.
The tension between words and action is
illuminated -- the ability to blend words and action proves
more difficult in the doing. Lovely interaction by Rajaram,
who sings a 'raga', "a string of musical variants that
is within one note." It is believed that the raga exists
in everyone. Provides relief from any potential inclinations
towards duality, etc.
The spirit and the body are one
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Nalin Swaris and his Buddhist perspective
is beautifully non-Buddhist. He speaks of needing to find
a way to "use language without subscribing to some
of its assumptions" (the globalisation issue of yesterday
is articulated). He speaks of one's general implicit belief
that concepts are more important than the body, and this
projects itself upon the earth as we see it. It is only
when the spirit and body are one and not seen as separate
entities that there can be any room for true and legitimate
action for the world/life/oneself.
Masculine/feminine issues arise without
clichés - the feminine body and masculine spirit.
It is only through each that the other can exist. The Buddha:
"when dying, a woman reminds him that it is only when
his senses are satisfied that his spirit can operate."
Caution against words
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Caution against such words as 'spirituality',
particularly in its potential to be translated as 'mental
ecstasy'. The existence of everything only in relation to
everything else: "we are being breathed!". In
seeing the body (earth, mother, etc.) as inferior we are
inferiorising the spirit. "We are holy not because
we are in some other realm but because we are full of holes".
A sense that awareness is not a matter
of extensive defining processes, but is like "a mother,
who even in her deep sleep is mindful of her child".
Some way of overcoming the uneasiness about
the starting and ending points of such concepts as religion,
spirituality, and ecology.
Where the secrets lie
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Afternoon is gentle, small group sessions
offer room for quieter voices. Symbolic ceremony where the
village people join us to blend water and earth, but it
is in the giggles of these children where the secrets lie..
We are reminded of where we are , these villagers know better,
traditional songs light up faces.
Slide session. The crucial impact of humanity
upon nature, the lives that are endangered through individualistic
convictions. Overall, a progressive day, new energy.............
- From Fireflies Ashram, near Bangalore,
India, Asia, June 22, 2001
- Asian Continental Meeting
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