A Strange Predicament
When I stop to consider the facts they astonish me.
There you are, couched in your own skin, and
Here I am in mine. No matter how close
We must each do our own living.
Your heart cannot be persuaded to pump my blood
My lungs will not consent to breathe for yours.
It is an odd arrangement.
Inside me, a mansion of memory and anticipation.
A place other people may visit, like a museum.
Inside you, a similar mansion, that I can visit
With your permission, gaze at pictures on the wall.
But only until closing time.
And is this not a strange predicament?
This seeming and inescapable individuality?
The hard shell of ‘I’ that we live inside,
Like soft-bodied sea creatures.
When did we choose this? On whose ill-advice?
How different the world would be
If we could waft through different identities
As easily as the wind inhabits the trees.
Then the woman selling flowers at the street corner would be me.
And the crumpled leaf of the half-blown rose in her bucket would be me. And the man reaching into his back pocket to pay for the bouquet – me. Me. Me. Me.
Then I would not be ‘I’ any more. And neither would you.
No not at all and never again.
Once out of the bottle no genie of sound mind
Ever chooses to return
To such cramped, uncom-
fortable quarters.
What comes up for you as you contemplate the ability to waft through different identities? Can you share an experience where you felt an invitation to leave cramped, uncomfortable quarters and live more expansively? What is a practice that inspires you to go beyond small identities?
1) Different Identities - I keep questioning who decides these and for what purpose. How can any being be different when one day we all leave? Still exploring what are those barriers which stop us from seeing the truth as it is and not as we want it to be.
2) I constantly question what i think, do, say or act. this way i may contradict what i said before, probably i can see/ understand things differently now. It is all perspective and i would like to explore all possible perspectives. Who knows there may be yet another way to see/do.
3) I question, juggle, find out, ask, LISTEN, evaluate ( limitation is my own knowledge to understand and experience ), and the best Meditate over it. If something is good for me and benefits others too i DO It.
Absolutely beautiful!
This was pure poetry which touched me. Made me realize the fickle nature of our selfish desires.
Beautiful!
Seeing the little self (ego) trapped in a 'hard shell', closed to the limitless beauty just outside!
Made my day today :-)
when i decreses universal one ness appears on horizon,then one can not love me and mine and you and yours.inner and outer are in oneness whole creation one family ,the word others does not exist,live laugh dance in that spirit .always unconditional love.n.n.c.
One of the best poems I have read in a long time. Thank you Pavi for this beautiful piece .Helped me to dive deeper and helped me to tap into my real self , the self that is connected to every thing else.
So beautifully penned with a simple example on oneness! What sadhana it takes to get into the skin of another identity? When, we tangle in the game of deceiving ourselves of our own identity, how can we know identity of another? Until we shed "I" the ego, the attachment to our bodily success and failures, happiness and sorrow, we can not fathom the deep meaning of "I", the reason why we are who we are and how to menifest into who we should be.
It takes such a long time to know ourselves (and do we ever really complete that process?) that imagining ourselves as other people would make the task of self-knowledge even more daunting. The meaning of this plan of God's to make us physically separate, yet psychically unified is interesting. The 'other' as stranger invites both curiosity and fear. And does not knowledge of the 'other' help us know ourselves? And does not increased knowledge of ourselves help us get closer to the 'other.' Wise, wise God.
A beautiful simple poem, yet such depth of meaning! Thank you for writing.
This kind of reminds me of a line in a Lenny Kravitz song where he sings, "I am one and you are me." What we see in ourselves we can easily see in others and what we see in others (if we're not in 'ego mode' and comparing ourselves) we may just as easily see in ourselves.
Beautifully crafted. Prompts me to remember Tagore:
"He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon."
We are all expressions of God, thus we are ALL GOD.
I felt small and alone till one day I suddenly woke up in a world where I was in all and all was in me. This was in 1992, pulled down the shutters to my businesses and started to support others find that same world in them. There are billions of faces on our planet and each one is me. Feel inspired and tickled to be part of this service world. Thank you Pavithra.
So well said Pavithra ! So much ,philosophy, knowledge, common ( or is it uncommon ) sense and.....But
after tasting everything on offer,we would come back to the original fit given by the Lord, as that would be the most deserved, and give heart-felt Gratitude to Him
amazing insight, very well expressed:))
Everyone is a spiritual being having a human experience- each experience is different.
This is pure and total GENIUS!
AMAZED am I! Thank you ( so much) for sharing your mind's eye!
