The Vortex of Life


Vortices

People are pulled into the vortex of time, the vortex of money, the vortex of possessions, the vortex of passion, the vortex of power. All these whirling, swirling vortices take our liberty away. They catch us; they trap us. One may think: "I'm free. I'm safe." But get too close to the vortex and suddenly 'swoosh' you are drawn inside, perhaps unknowingly as it is a silent 'swoosh' which sucks you in.

I find myself stuck within the vortex of time and I cannot extricate myself. I further seem to be a captive of a strange sort of mentally constraining vortex; one might call it the 'action delimiting vortex'. This vortex feeds on the human tendency towards physical and mental laziness. Inertia draws us along and it is difficult to break. We naturally develop patterns of thought and behavior and they may indeed be wholesome and useful, but they too can trap us.

I try to break out of such patterns by changing jobs, countries, cultures. But no sooner do I settle in to Canada, Korea or Thailand, than do I meld into these established patterns. Luckily, the patterns outside Canada have been non-conventional and so helped me to stay relatively free of the enslaving vortices. When I am here in Asia I am outside the circle and hence outside the whirl.

The tendency to do what is easy and simple limits me. It also bores me. An important reason for leaving my present job is that it doesn't stimulate me as it once did. This is not to say that it isn't challenging, but that I am less ambitious after three years and so even here have fallen into occupational patterns. A significant draw to these patterns is that they require less energy than doing something for the first time.

A poem.

"What is it you want?"
the body asked the mind.
"Perhaps I can help."
"In lucid moments I fancy that
I want to be whole and free,"
replied the mind,
"But it's a question of how.
Here we are, contentedly discontent,
wandering, seeking.
I the source, you the shadow."
Mind reflected a moment while body rested.
Then mind continued.
"I need answers, but as yet am still
unsure of the questions."
At this point, body piped in.
"Observe me when I am balanced and calm.
See the flow, so smooth and easy.
This physical presence
knows without knowing.
It is free of mental complexity.
It is complete.
In action, without pretence , without effort.
When I am tired or sleepy, I will sleep,
so long as you do not interfere."
"But that is inertia," replied the mind,
"Which I fear is the enemy."
"You mean that what is natural is bad?"
Asked body. "Really, there is no enemy."
"No.No.No. I only mean that ..."
"Take a break from thought, mind" advised body.
"Let us be friends once more,
for in fact we are one.
That is our nature.
We are one and the same with the universe.
It is only your thinking
which divides us and dissatisfies you.
I hold a flower in my hand.
That is all."
.

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