Sometimes, it seems that yesterday's light - a light that once allowed us to see clearly in dark times...has dimmed...or it flickers out of control, and what once acted as a tool that helped us to see...becomes a distraction - a blockage - that prevents us from seeing clearly.
We feel safe in a well-lit place; it provides a sense of security and well-being. For so many (me included), the dark is a place filled with sounds that we cannot identify; secrets from the realm of the unknown - a place where fear patiently awaits to keep our mind company...perhaps. And in the darkness, the mind creates...and what it creates is fantasy - and minds...cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy.
Lights (whether gas or electric) are mechanical devices - like our brains. They are filled with switches and pathways, and perhaps most importantly - energy that flows! Lights (and minds) are both tools created to serve us; to help us see and understand; to help us grow and make sense of what we came to learn and be...or so it seems to me.
If the light is not working properly, then there's always a reason - the energy flow is blocked - why?
I took apart one of my wall gas lights up to our camp this past week because it was not working properly. For a year it's not worked right and so...I've relied on the only other gas light we have...on the opposite wall. But, having a light that doesn't work is a distraction - and distractions like to find a home in the back of one's mind - always asking for attention...a task that needs to be completed before we can let go and move on - FIX ME!!!
And so, I did a bit of Googling, and found the schematic for the light fixture, and armed with that plan, I took the light apart...
And inside the narrow pipe, through which the propane gas flows, I found a tiny web - a web spun by a spider that long ago abandoned his home. While the spider was gone, he left behind a barrier to future flow. It was a lesson for me that the spider left behind - a lesson to grow from...and finally, I sat before his podium and digested my meal.
It wasn't hard to clean out the blockage, yet it required me to take action, which is something we too often put off till tomorrow. There's always a reason - a blockage to the free-flow of energy; there's always a reason, whether it's a gas light...or a mind. Sometimes we can clear the blockage on our own...and other times, we may need to ask for help. Unfortunately, it is often seen (from a cultural view) as a weakness to ask for help - we should be able to fix it on our own - yet, I believe the opposite is true; that it is the strong who are capable of asking for help when they hit a roadblock...knowing a better world exists on the other side of the problem.
I've spent a couple over-nights up to our cabin in the past week - a couple nights where I've read beneath the gas light that for over a year...didn't work. Now it's brighter than ever - not just because of the free-flowing gas - but also because I gave it a new mantle (the old one had a couple holes in it, which decreases the brightness of the light...and allows spiders access to the light's inner workings). And, no longer does my mind dwell upon the light I avoided fixing; no, instead it revels in the light provided by the light I fixed!
And its brightness made me realize that the other gas light on the other wall...had dimmed...because it too, had a couple small holes in the mantle. And so, yesterday I replaced that mantle as well, which will make the room a bit brighter at night during reading time...and spiders will not be able to gain access to where they don't belong...for now.
Maintenance is important - gas light maintenance...and the maintenance of our mind. This experience has made me think a bit about the webs that tend to accumulated in human minds (including my own); webs left behind by spiders that no longer exist. I listened to a passage from the book, "The Four Agreements" recently that went something like this: "Only humans pay over and over for the same mistake - we get punished or we punish ourselves for past mistakes or transgressions every time we "think" about them - or another reminds us about them, rather than being punished just once - suffer for it just once - learn from it once...and then move on." And isn't it the same for perceived transgressions of others against us - we hold on to them long after the lesson should have been learned; or the experiences that "hurt" us (physically or psychologically) - experiences that left such a large rock on our path that we cannot find a way around it...and we become stuck in a place void of true happiness - a place that becomes stale and unfulfilling (some would call this place Hell). Webs without spiders serve no purpose. Webs with no spiders need to be cleared from our mind in order to allow the energy of our life to flow freely...and joyfully.
Lessons come to awaken us, or so it seems to me - perceived problems are lessons; not something to be avoided or complained about or clung to as an excuse for the way we live our lives. Problems arise to help us grow in wisdom - they help to spur action and help us change course when old roads no longer bring us to desired destinations. By taking action and overcoming perceived problems we not only learn and grow, but we also allow flow to resume - taking action is the way to clear blockages. Sometimes problems arise to help us grow - alert us to webs that have taken up residence where they serve no purpose other than to block us from the light we need. Like the Adirondack stream with ever-flowing water - there will be rocks to flow around or over...but they don't stop the flow. In fact, it is the water traveling over and around the rocks that makes the flow visible and audible - that makes the music we so so love to be in the Presence of...perhaps.
No comments:
Post a Comment