Ram Dass
This week I am pondering books with another quote that has sat with me a while (on page 32/106).
When I think about what these words of Ram Dass might mean, I like how they give value to words as things: to their beauty, their imagination, their capacity for joy or thrill or excitement, their cleverness and their importance. He suggests we are fascinated by words.
I imagine that perhaps as a guru of sorts, that words were a thing of fascination for his followers. Perhaps they hung on his every word and found wisdom, insight and knowledge within them. Perchance they dissected them and investigated them and delved deeply into their meaning.
And then I like that he suggests that yes, that can be fascinating, but the real place for connection is away from the words; in the quiet places of contemplation and of sharing.
Or so I imagine. I think it might also suggest that whilst we love reading a great book; that it is in the quiet of our minds and in our moments of reflection that we make the truest sense of what the words have to offer.
I quite (quietly) agree
ReplyDeleteSo much happens in that quietness doesn't it Liz? Go well.
DeleteLaurie Anderson talks about the Torah's black fire of words and the white fire of the spaces in between in her 3rd Norton Lecture
ReplyDelete"though the black fire is holy, the white fire is holier
it's teachings are so deep they cannot be put into words
the same as love"
the lecture is available to watch til 7am tomorrow morning (our time)
here's the link
https://youtu.be/D0545gJeG9o
Wow - that is very synchronous Mo - and she no doubt says it a whole better than my ponderings. I am forever intrigued by how some things have a synchronicity around timing and appearing and becoming visible to us...go well.
DeleteF - I'm inclined to agree with the notion that it is the quiet reflection or how we quietly fill in thew story with our mind - we all bring stuff to the written word. B
ReplyDeleteSo very true - and in that quietude we link and recall and add meaning...
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