"At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,There would be no dance, and there is only the dance."
---T S Eliot, Burnt Norton
Polarity and the still point....where opposites exist and do not exist. Isn't this the place we need to find in all of our lives? The partners must be present for the dance, but we rest in the stillness. Applications are everywhere. If only one of the partners fills our consciousness, the dance does not take place and neither does the stillness and the rest......
Ann,
ReplyDeleteYou should not have any difficulty posting a comment.
The restrictions are all eliminated. Perhaps CharliP
can try to post. He posted a comment on the earlier
item....?
Charlie
Thanks, Charlie. I love the photo!
Delete"Polarity and the still point . . . where opposites exist and do not exist" . . it reminds me that I'm somewhere on the continuum at any given time, and I can rest in the still point, or I can move toward one extreme or the other. It's all within - the dance takes place when there is tension (not necessarily a negative tension) between the points. ??? This could mean something different for every reader.
Ann
Ann... I think you are precisely right. Living in the tension, in the "between." That is what
ReplyDeleteconsciousness is, or the realization of life on the spectrum is becoming conscious. No dance...no real Life. You summed it all up very beautifully!
This is also expressed in the Kabalistic work - and in our DNA, etc. - don't you think? - from center to center up the Tree of Life. Perhaps the "still point" is at the crossing points. On the Tree there is a point of inactivity or "still point" between the centers - a balance point on each path before the impetus toward the next center or sephiroth on the Tree. You've given me much to ponder. Thank you . . . :-)
DeleteAnn
Yes, the Kabbalah is full of polarities, horizontally and vertically. Up the Tree of Life. It is the basic understanding of the Siferot or Sephiroth, as you say. The topic of my Streth program on February 13th is Lucid Dreaming, and i am wrestling on finding the polarities and still points. One main one seems to be that in lucid dreams there are no external senses, as in waking. All is within. In a lucid dream there seems to be both elements of waking awareness, and an awareness which negates waking life...flying dreams, for example. So, I guess there is an inter-dimensional still point. Another polarity seems to be the dream itself, and our recognition that we are dreaming. I am not an expert or very experienced in these things, but it is intriguing. I am going to send out an interview of Dr. Stephen LaBerge, who is a scientist and a practitioner of lucid dreams. You are on my distribution list, so you'll get it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ann!!
Exciting! Don't forget my "dream guru" Robert Moss. He's a master of the dream world. http://www.soulfulliving.com/dreamingsecretwishes.htm
DeleteThis is a nice quote from Robert Moss, this morning on Facebook:
ReplyDelete"Our earliest poets were shamans. Today, as in the earliest times, true shamans know the power of song and story to teach and to heal. They understand that through the play of words, the magic of the Real World comes dancing into the surface world. The right words open pathways between the worlds." - R.M., Dreamways of the Iroquois