Inspire, move & touch: The New Ten Commandments

Inspire, move & touch: The New Ten Commandments

CHARLUS-THOUGHTS AND RUMINATIONS: Der Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke

CHARLUS-THOUGHTS AND RUMINATIONS: Der Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke

Der Panther by Rainer Maria Rilke

 I'd be remiss to let you escape without a taste of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke

(if you dont know of his work already)

A personal favorite: Der Panther or "The Panther"

It comes from a period when Rilke spent a great deal of time at the Zoo, the Jardin Des Plantes in France-

There are several astonishing poems from this collection, it is noteworthy that he was studying alongside the sculptor Rodin during this time, who suggested Rilke spend time there at the zoo in order to truly "see" the animals-

I think this translation among the best:

 Translation by Walter Arndt:

The Panther

His gaze has been so worn by the procession
Of bars that it no longer makes a bond.
Around, a thousand bars seem to be flashing,
And in their flashing show no world beyond.

The lissom steps which round out and re-enter
That tightest circuit of their turning drill
Are like a dance of strength about a center
Wherein there stands benumbed a mighty will.

Only from time to time the pupil's shutter
Will draw apart: an image enters then,
To travel through the tautened body's utter
Stillness--and in the heart to end.

Some other translations here ( I also like Stephen Mitchells)

http://thefoolsparadise.com/der-panther/index.htm

the energy of the mind

embracing my inner hunter t

deflecting thoughts of either grandiosity or failure

hey they are one in the same

just two kinds of conflict

aristotle said

"the energy of the mind is the essence of life"

so precise

its getting out from under your mind that is the challenge

i know the way i should think

yet i dont or cant sustain

maybe one day i will be my own master


(this blog was typed with one hand)

Peripheral

Letting go of outcomes and the gravity lifts...If I didnt know any better, I would write the next line so it rhymed with Buddhist. But I do know better, then to resort to rhyme to try and fill what is obviously a lack of something worthy to be said. Maybe thats the lesson though, always striving to say "something", even better, "something worthy". Thinking of the landscape of books I have read and I don't recall the worthiness of the prose, I recall the author and what they "represented". I am trying to sing that way too, to sing like a reflection and not as the actual. To find a new groove as they say...

I am getting better at navigating the way through THOUGHT, with peripheral vision instead of exact sight. Peripheral is my goal in all parts of my life right now. I aim to look at my flaws with peripheral. To look at my gifts with peripheral...to write a blog entry in the peripheral...to put forth my voice, just this way in new songs because they are coming, I feel them like strange loves whom I do not know...

Mercury has turned direct, father is feeling better, the dog has been ruefully woebegone (his true self again) and as for me, It's been easier for me to be around me...

Sylvester and The Magic Pebble

Today I read a children's book ( Sylvester and the Magic pebble) to a college classroom of Adults ranging from 20 to 60. I looked up at several points to find faces totally mesmerized and engaged. Big open eyes and imaginative expressions all around the room. Granted William Steig wrote a masterpiece, but I cant help but wonder at what point did it all become so complicated? It seems as if adult life is about conquering new and revolving struggles. With each chink our armor becomes more resilient, our souls more whole. Maslow, the famed psychologist developed a hierarchy of needs model:

"Self-Actualization" the highest attainment we can seek. What is self actualization? I wonder what you think it is?

After seeing the childlike expressions on all those adult faces, lost in a children's story,

I cant help but imagine it means recovering the self- unconscious inner child that lives and breathes (yet lost) in each and every one of us.

To return to Sylvester and his Magic pebble, I pose to you these questions:

What makes us feel empowered? Is it control? Or is it releasing control and falling into the liquid stream of life?

Ask yourself,

IS IT BETTER:

"To Get What You Want" or "To Want What You Get"?

Setting The Intention on TRUST

Are you ever fearful about what may happen to you in the course of your life? Do you look backwards and recall painful events only to anticipate those same events coming in your future? This creates anxiety and an unsettled energy in the body/mind unit-

The fact is, pulling your self into the present moment is really the only choice based in rationality that we have. Of course, this is harder than it seems because our imaginations are powerful machines and when a thought form descends on us, we believe this to be reality.

A simple exercise I use, is this prayer:

" I pray that all negativity created by my own imagination is released from the top of my head, my crown chakra and it dissipates into the emptiness of the world"

Then, I repeat a mantra word to myself, you can choose your own but the word I use is "Trust"-

Today, lets move beyond the prisons of our past and into the limitless possibilities of what waits before us. Move into "TRUST"

-Marc

TIGER TIGER BURNING BRIGHT (Blake)

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