My love of learning is personal, however the fulfilment that comes from sharing ourselves with others is universal. Today I read a passage of Carl Jung's that took my breath away, and immediately my hand moved to call a friend, blurt out the passage, and explore its implications, its potentials, its reality in our lives. I never made the call. Half way through dialling I thought: Is there a more constructive way to record my fascination than interrupting friends during Sunday brunch to read them passages of Carl Jung?
I realize also that not everyone can dedicate themselves to exploring the inner life of our species. My resolve to do so awoke with some power six years ago, and while everything that flows through me leaves its residue, so much of what once inspired me has now slipped into unconscious memory. The notes are crumpled. The pencil marks are smudged, illegible.
So, in order to keep my friends a little longer, to modernise my note-taking, and to expand the reach of important ideas, I'll start a blog.
My life is already pretty full, so posts are likely to be short, occasional, and to the point. I'll also refrain from expounding on my own ideas here, in part for ethical reasons associated with my profession, and in part because this isn't about me. My intention is to casually build a resource of cross-cultural ideas that made me stop and think. My garden is full of such seeds, some blossomed and blossoming, and others just beginning to unfurl. Perhaps by letting a further few out into the sun, they may grow more readily in my garden or yours, and on their own strengths nourish man's most ancient and consistent preoccupation: who am I, what is my purpose, and how do I transform suffering into wisdom and love?
~
I realize also that not everyone can dedicate themselves to exploring the inner life of our species. My resolve to do so awoke with some power six years ago, and while everything that flows through me leaves its residue, so much of what once inspired me has now slipped into unconscious memory. The notes are crumpled. The pencil marks are smudged, illegible.
So, in order to keep my friends a little longer, to modernise my note-taking, and to expand the reach of important ideas, I'll start a blog.
My life is already pretty full, so posts are likely to be short, occasional, and to the point. I'll also refrain from expounding on my own ideas here, in part for ethical reasons associated with my profession, and in part because this isn't about me. My intention is to casually build a resource of cross-cultural ideas that made me stop and think. My garden is full of such seeds, some blossomed and blossoming, and others just beginning to unfurl. Perhaps by letting a further few out into the sun, they may grow more readily in my garden or yours, and on their own strengths nourish man's most ancient and consistent preoccupation: who am I, what is my purpose, and how do I transform suffering into wisdom and love?
~
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, unremembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not known, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea. Quick now, here, now, always-- A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything) And all shall be well and All manner of thing shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one. ~ T.S. Eliott |  |
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