Friday, December 27, 2013

Reflections: a Synchronicity?







I belong to a group on Facebook where members share their dreams. This morning I posted the following on that page:

I slept long and well last night--over eight hours, unusual for me. I remember only a snatch of the many vivid and busy dreams I was having: I was in the basement of my house and found that there were foreign students living in at least two different rooms down there. I went into the room of one student, who was Chinese. He was very friendly, but not very fluent in English. We shook hands. He was able to make me understand that he could hearing me pounding on the keyboard of my computer through the ceiling of his room at night.
A couple of hours after getting up this morning, I decided to find a book in my personal library that I had been meaning to reread for a long time, but had never gotten around to reading--"Jesus and Lao Tzu, the Parallel Sayings" edited by Martin Aronson. Once I held the book in my hands, I decided that I would write a blog post on it later today. Having made that decision, I suddenly connected that inspiration to my dream. Forever Jung.
The first section of the book is titled “Simplicity,” which seems to be a thing that I need more of -- in my soul, if not in my life in the external environment. I have simplified my daily actions to a great degree, but my inner life has remained overly complicated. I have suffered great losses over the past two years. Right at the time of each of these crises there is much pain to be dealt with. But each event also entails many necessary activities, the very busyness of which is a firewall against the onset of despair. Only when the last crisis is past and is not immediately followed up by another can each loss be felt in its fullness, and the real pain begin. As I write this today, I think I am as close to despair as I have ever been in this life.  Therefore, simplicity:

Jesus:

Martha, Martha, you are busy and bothered about many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which shall not be taken from her. ~ Luke 10:41

Lao Tzu:

If you keep your mouth shut
and guard the senses
life is free of toil.
Open your mouth
always be busy and life is beyond hope. ~ Tao Te Ching 52

Jesus:

Unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ~ Matthew 18:3

Lao Tzu:

Being the stream of the universe,
ever true and unswerving,
become as a little child once more. ~ Tao Te Ching 28

Jesus:

Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God. ~ Matthew 5:8

Lao Tzu:

Reveal your simple self,
embrace your original nature. ~ Tao Te Ching 19


This seems as good a place as any to stop. This, too, could become too busy. To quench despair, let go of the circumstances causing the pain--embrace your original nature--become as a little child once more: trusting.

Jesus:

Your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ~ Matthew 6:8

Lao Tzu:

The Tao of heaven does not ask,
yet is supplied with all its needs. ~ Tao Te Ching 73