Dear Larry and Carol,
Thanks for your emails.
"We are not here to see through one another. We are here to see one another through."
I turn 72 this August and, except for people's kindness, find less and less reason to focus wisdom except as it is incarnated in behavior.
There is "talking the talk."
And "walking the walk."
And often it seems that focusing the former distracts from the latter. (Not always, but often.)
My limited involvement with meditation suggests that the mind is a "bubble machine" and our thoughts are the bubbles.
We attach to them because they are distractions. https://www.etymonline.com/word/distraction (It is not coincidental that "distraction" is central to the phrase "driven to distraction" - a kind of low level lunacy.
Distraction "takes us away" from the "straight shot reality" of our lives and how that straight shot -- taken "neat" (as Brits say when drinking liquor straight) -- can be the place where "we" meet.
But make no mistake.
Meeting is seldom (rarely?) easy.
For me - and for many - meeting seems too real.
"The bubbles," on the other hand, provide (or seems to provide) protection, insulation, escape.
Begging the question... protection, insulation and escape from what?
Four Quartets
Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot is a work of four poems: Burnt Norton (1935), East Coker (1940), The Dry Salvages (1941), and Little Gidding (1942).
Contents
Burnt Norton (1935)
Towards the door we never opened
Down the passage which we did not take
Footfalls echo in the memory
Point to one end, which is always present.
What might have been and what has been Time present and time past
Are both perhaps present in time future
And time future contained in time past.- I
- Into the rose-garden. My words echo
Thus, in your mind.
But to what purpose
Disturbing the dust on a bowl of rose-leaves
I do not know.- I
- Go, said the bird, for the leaves were full of children,
Hidden excitedly, containing laughter.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
Time past and time future
What might have been and what has been
Point to one end, which is always present.- I
- 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.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.- II
- Time past and time future
Allow but a little consciousness.
To be conscious is not to be in time
But only in time can the moment in the rose-garden,
The moment in the arbour where the rain beat,
The moment in the draughty church at smokefall
Be remembered; involved with past and future.
Only through time time is conquered.- II
- Words move, music moves
Only in time; but that which is only living
Can only die. Words, after speech, reach
Into the silence.- V
- Or say that the end precedes the beginning,
And the end and the beginning were always there
Before the beginning and after the end.
And all is always now. Words strain,
Crack and sometimes break, under the burden,
Under the tension, slip, slide, perish,
Will not stay still.- V
- Desire itself is movement
Not in itself desirable;
Love is itself unmoving,
Only the cause and end of movement,
Timeless, and undesiring
Except in the aspect of time
Caught in the form of limitation
Between un-being and being.- V
- Sudden in a shaft of sunlight
Even while the dust moves
There rises the hidden laughter
Of children in the foliage
Quick now, here, now, always—
Ridiculous the waste sad time
Stretching before and after.- V
I only recently discovered the life and work of Baba Amte, "A Man With An Oil Can."
Pax-Shalom-Salaam
Alan
PS What is the sound of one hand slapping? 
On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 2:37 AM LJB wrote:
Alan and Carol
The people I am relating to now are in retirement age and/or passing away. Especially my friends with disabilities .
I find myself taking stock of the things I have or have not done or planned for.
I know that the doctrine of karma exists but a person cannot foresee complications or outcomes of choices we make or of expectations of oneself and others in life in general.
I would think by now I'd be wise and understand these things?
But reality slaps everybody in the face.
Happy New Year
Sent from my iPad
| cs |
3:26 AM (6 hours ago)
|  | |
Hi Larry - and Alan -
We do think karma exists… but like most things, there is no way of proving it. My out-of-body experience (unbidden or planned for - I was supposed to be killed and was not - I asked to come back - mainly to spare my family) left me with certainty that consciousness of all of us, goes on, forever. There is a ‘higher power’. That has given me some peace of mind. What you may have wanted to get accomplished in this life, will be rectified over many lives. Take some comfort from this.
It is very hard to know if we had a ‘successful’ life this time. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Live as good a life as you can… be kind and forgiving to others in your life — while never losing track of the people and things that need to be corrected… this does not give a pass for accepting the cruelty of some people. But recognize that the good people far outweigh the evil. The evil takes a bigger focus because of the damage they do to us and this world. The world is transitory but the soul is not. The feelings I had on the other side, were peaceful and warm. We endure as best we can. And keep going forward.
Yes, you would expect (hope??) that wisdom comes with aging… haha maybe not. But learn what you can and especially, be kind. Others suffer and we should bear up as best we can and have great sympathy for all who do. Life is meant to be a learning experience… some of us just undertake more ‘lessons’ than others… maybe it hastens our release from the Wheel in shorter order. All our questions will be answered.
We look forward to seeing you in chat whenever you come in. They are your friends too. Many suffer more than others. But we will look out for each other.
Happy New Year to you both.
With love,
Carol
We do think karma exists… but like most things, there is no way of proving it. My out-of-body experience (unbidden or planned for - I was supposed to be killed and was not - I asked to come back - mainly to spare my family) left me with certainty that consciousness of all of us, goes on, forever. There is a ‘higher power’. That has given me some peace of mind. What you may have wanted to get accomplished in this life, will be rectified over many lives. Take some comfort from this.
It is very hard to know if we had a ‘successful’ life this time. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Live as good a life as you can… be kind and forgiving to others in your life — while never losing track of the people and things that need to be corrected… this does not give a pass for accepting the cruelty of some people. But recognize that the good people far outweigh the evil. The evil takes a bigger focus because of the damage they do to us and this world. The world is transitory but the soul is not. The feelings I had on the other side, were peaceful and warm. We endure as best we can. And keep going forward.
Yes, you would expect (hope??) that wisdom comes with aging… haha maybe not. But learn what you can and especially, be kind. Others suffer and we should bear up as best we can and have great sympathy for all who do. Life is meant to be a learning experience… some of us just undertake more ‘lessons’ than others… maybe it hastens our release from the Wheel in shorter order. All our questions will be answered.
We look forward to seeing you in chat whenever you come in. They are your friends too. Many suffer more than others. But we will look out for each other.
Happy New Year to you both.
With love,
Carol
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