Understanding

A mathematician says understanding the universe

opens opportunities everywhere

complexity is a path enjoyable to hike.

You may surprise yourself,

you may become a disciplined thinker.

Two Birds

They can be a child and her aunt
But they are two birds: a gull and a blue heron
Their backs facing each other
In awareness of my approach
Walking towards them one small step at a time
Their eyes, their wings, their feet in complete stillness
I turn around after I take a photo
With gratitude for their courtesy.
Is it a mystery
When fear is stilled and comprehended?
Is it easy to step into simplicity
And why is it a stuggle to stay?
Sometimes you have to withdraw your rational mind
And the insistence to understand.
It’s a long way, a long way.

note: I finished reading Abandon, A Romance by Pico Iyer.I’m starting anew book: Beyond The Sky And The Earth, A Journey into Bhutan by Jamie Zeppa.

I just discovered a minimalist artist, Agnes Martin and heard the voice of Sissel Kyrkjebo, both for the first time.

Understanding

 

Listen, begin the understanding
Empty your heart for new experiences
The garden is in bloom.

 

You wonder

Nature can dazzle, sometimes becomes too absorbing

temperature can change while on the road

one moment in the nineties then dips into sixties

The sky darkens, hail as big as marbles starts falling, bombarding the car

your emotions show like a pre-determined consequence

you drive faster, the children suddenly quiet.

The sky brightens and back to nineties again

You explain to the children what’s happening

They start singing and laughing

You begin driving evenly, gentle on the curves

On the rest area you will stop and have a picnic.

When you look for pleasure you find meaning,

when you look for meaning you find understanding,

understanding can lead to renewal of the spirit.

And you wonder why labor pains always start at night.

 

listening to talks while reading & thinking

Think of deep problems

“whenever you open a window in the universe

you are likely to be surprised.”

Don’t you know

a river can flow both ways?

O, you are so creative.

“Thoughts worth thinking should not just be understood, they should be experienced.” – Count Harry Kessler, May 1896,

note: quoted in Reinhold Messner, My Life at the Limit

If you can help

You discovered
you can talk to animals
big cats, a jaguar
you can be yourself
without stutter.

You wanted to tell
other children
what you went through
a broken child,
misunderstood.

You wrote a book
to give them a voice
to express what’s inside them
pain, fear, sadness.
They didn’t have
to stutter or be afraid.

note: based on an article in NPR:
http://www.npr.org/2014/06/08/319420681/a-boy-and-his-jaguar-speak-to-children-who-feel-misunderstood