Finding Fono represents the flotsam and jetsam of words and images that float by my life. The entries are random and occasional. They may have interest or meaning - you decide. Surf in, read on, float by ...
With my word of 2013 being spaciousness my senses become attuned when this term appears before me. This week it happened in a circuitous way while watching Iain McNay interviewing Dr Amit Goswami on youtube (search 'Consciousness, Quantum Physics and Being Human'). Amit referred to the idea of consciousness being the ground of all being. Further to this he was drawn to the idea, the observer is the observed introduced by J Krishnamurti. Following up on this I found the connection to space.
In this sense Krishnamurti says "Space is necessary. Without space there is no freedom. We are
talking psychologically. It is only when one is in contact, when there
is no space, between the observer and the observed, that one is in total
relationship - with a tree for instance. One is not identified with the
tree, the flower, a woman, a man or whatever it is, but when there is
this complete absence of space as the observer and the observed, then
there is vast space. In that space there is no conflict; in that space
there is freedom. Freedom is not a reaction. You cannot say, " Well, I
am free". The moment you say you are free, you are not free, because you
are conscious of yourself as being free from something, and therefore
you have the same situation as an observer observing a tree. He has
created a space, and in that space he breeds conflict.
To understand this requires not intellectual agreement or
disagreement, or saying, "I don't understand", but rather it requires
coming directly into contact with what is. It means seeing that all your
actions, every moment of action is of the observer and the observed,
and within that space there is pleasure, pain and suffering the desire
to fulfill, to become famous. Within that space there is no contact with
anything. Contact, relationship has a quite different meaning when the
observer is no longer apart from the observed. There is this
extraordinary space, and there is freedom."
Like most children in the UK I was introduced to a board game called Monopoly at a reasonably early age. I can distinctly remember playing this game with my family one Christmas when I was about 10 years old. My dad said to me at the beginning when I asked to play - "you're not going to like this". Being as stubborn as I am I insisted on playing anyway unconvinced that a board game was going to upset me. And he was right, eventually as the game progressed I realised my Nan was going to be pushed out of the game because she was running out of money. And I did not like the inequity. What was most annoying is the rules did not allow anyone to help my Nan stay in the game by giving her some of their money. At this point I tipped the board up in the air in protest and left the room in tears.
Put simply Monopoly is a child's game that teaches us from the cradle how the economic system works. Money accumulates. The wealthy get richer and the poor get poorer.
Which brings me to the many recent reports, surveys and questionnaires on inequality, like the youtube clip above. I am astounded why so many of us are incredulous, surprised and shocked by what is an inevitable consequence of the economic system we live in.
I'm not for one second condoning neo-liberalism or the capitalist system that produces these inequalities.The system does absolutely what it sets out to do - make money. It doesn't for one moment make claims to make anyone healthier, happier or more whole. It is a money making machine - the end. So if the human purpose is to make money we've done well. However, if like me, you think the human purpose, our reason for being is something other than making money, then you maybe asking yourself what is the alternative.
And that's when I think back to my childhood and wonder what games I played that showed me another system other than the capitalist one. Well there were lots of sports games where we had to compete against one another, outwit our opponents and strive to be number one, the winner. I'm not sure if that is much different to the game of Monopoly. Then there were games like pass the parcel or musical chairs, where again one outright winner would emerge. I suppose the lesson was to win and lose with grace, whatever that means.
How about hide and seek? We begin in a hidden unseen fragmented state and slowly by searching the group comes back to wholeness. And yet we still define the winner as the last person to be found. Nevertheless, it maybe that we are getting closer to an alternative system. We could explore all the cooperative games. Few spring to mind, although I know they exist. Such games teach us how to have fun, be ourselves and also play together for a shared experience. No winners, no losers, simply players. Maybe in this type of system difference would still occur, but it would not present itself in the form of inequality. Just a thought.
I am left asking myself the question, how can we transform -them / us- dualistic thinking into -and / both- non-dual thinking?
This afternoon we went up close to Dartmoor near Hembury Woods to meet three amazing horses called William, Henry and Arthur. Despite the freezing cold temperatures we managed to spend a couple of hours hanging out with them in the fields. There is something special about being with other animals. It allows us to drop the human-ness and be our animal selves. William, Henry and Arthur live in the present moment and invite our authenticity. It's okay to be nervous, especially for someone like me unused to being around horses. They led the way in being natural, real and simply themselves. Our desire was to get a little closer to experience life through their eyes. To know the world in the way horses know the world.
Arthur has recently been brought back into the herd to be with William and Henry. This is a video of the moment they greeted each other again after a gap of 4.5 years.
Who said animals don't have feelings, emotions, cognitive awareness ... these three horse pals are as excited to be with one another again as any human reunion could match.
We spent a brief few hours with them today, saying hello, being amongst them as they ate their hay and walking them into their paddock while a few of us got to lead them on and ride on their backs. The horses are ridden mostly bare-backed. It looked so natural and from where I was standing they appeared to be enjoying themselves. I have a long way to go in building up my confidence around these huge powerful beauties. Their independence was quite apparent to me and yet them were playful and curious of us. A willingness to interact and communicate was palpable. William and Arthur adored the attention. A great way to spend the day!
What a difference a couple of days make. Yellows brilliance can change everything. Travelling through the Cornish countryside we came across a field of daffodils. Never before had I seen such a sight. From a distance it first appeared to me like a field of oilseed rape. To our surprise and joy as we came closer we realised the yellow was that of daffodils in full bloom enjoying a rare moment of sunshine.
Such strong unabashed displays of yellow can lift the soul to soaring heights of glorious joy. It is a colour of sheer unadulterated happiness. This field of golden yellow daffodils is yet another clear reminder that spring is here.
