Names

Names

Confusing
the map and the territory..
But beyond this confusion
we mask our real Self
by naming and worship of facts..
Life becomes as protection
of this confinement
this prison 
of our limited selves..
Eventually this illness
calls out for help
and the map is searched
searched and again searched
until and hopefully one day
we ask of the gaps in the map..
We experience music without
knowing who wrote it
and at last
we are on a path
of recovery
knowing now that
 grace has always
saturated the territory..
And all of the names
which have misled
are revealed as 
 made of grace
also...

“It is possible I never learned the names of birds in order to discover the bird of peace, the bird of paradise, the bird of the soul, the bird of desire. It is possible I avoided learning the names of composers and their music the better to close my eyes and listen to the mystery of all music as an ocean. It may be I have not learned dates in history in order to reach the essence of timelessness. It may be I never learned geography the better to map my own routes and discover my own lands. The unknown was my compass. The unknown was my encyclopedia. The unnamed was my science and progress.” Anais Nin

“A large part of man can never find its expression in the mere language of words.  It must, therefore, seek for its expression other languages – lines and colours, sounds and movements.  Through our mastery of these we not only make our whole nature articulate but also understand man in all his attempts to reveal his innermost being in every age and clime —It is the duty of every human being to master, at least to some extent, not only the language of the intellect, but also the language of the personality which is the language of Art.”  Tagore