Entering the experience of “Poetics of Imagining” by Richard Kearnney brought thought and feeling in the realm of being, having and doing. It began with the expressed statement:
…Whenever this imaginative function is lacking, human consciousness loses its
freedom and falls victim to surrounding circumstances. No longer able to envision
alternative modes of experience transcending our present state of affairs, we
despair- we fall back into unfreedom. Imagination’s power to suspend the natural
attitude in favor of the phenomenological attitude of free variation is…(p.23)
“…I know that nothing belongs to me
But the thought which unimpeded
From my soul will flow.
And every favorable moment
Which loving Fate
From the depth lets me enjoy…”
This letter represented by Mephistopheles in Goethe’s Faust (Faust as a dramatic description of the conflict between being and having) expresses the quality of being with the utmost simplicity.
Being in the present moment and turning back I see an active dance of ideas, influences, concepts, belief systems, philosophies that came and stayed… and some of them left quietly the space of my own truth. A Daoism’s wisdom says, “Human kind tends to think that spiritual growth comes thru gaining knowledge, but the real spiritual enlightenment starts with getting rid of the unnecessary one”.
A poem, an image, a word, a movement, a sensation have become in a certain moment, time and space an essential piece of philosophy. Some exist consciously or subconsciously, waiting to be provoked and than materialized. The intensity is colorful and it is often impossible to stop the moment of happening and say: “this is what defines me”. I came to the realization after long struggling in practicing attachment and detachment in interaction with the physical reality, that no matter what I achieve on my pathway I can never express the fullness of the self. The grandiose nature of our spiritual identity is endlessly expressible…its perfect in its own unperfection.
Most of all experiencing life in awareness not intellectualizing it has been a deep intention of mine. I find continuously moving forwards simplicity, totally wanting to live fully, with no doubts and when is time to go, I can leave dancing within the light. Every moment I enter the duality of what it is, shifting from seeing absolute meaning to feeling the absolute meaninglessness. Beinsa Duno (1927), a spiritual master of the beginning of 20th century stated: “The most difficult art of all is to create your own life. This is when you become a master.”
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in 1957 inaugurated the Spiritual Regeneration Movement, establishing the art of Transcendental meditation. In 1963 he finishes the book “Science of Being and Art of Living” where he unfolds the wisdom of the Veda and Vedic Literature taught to Maharishi by Guru Dev. I was 17 year old, when I came across with his teachings of truth in which I found a piece of mine. He expresses that “All levels of peace and happiness, creativity, intelligence, and power are nothing but levels of being. One extreme of being is absolute, and the other is the grossest state of relative existence.”(p.67) The main goal is achieving the level of “pure being ”, defined as being in the stage “peace of mind” as formulated by Dalai Lama. (1999)
When a human enters the space of the creative process intentionally or intuitively, he moves from one stage of being towards another, a more pure one, form one stage of imagination to another. A dimension of inner freedom is achieved where the mind and heart communicate in stillness. In this moment we are opening the door towards liberation (detachment).
“The freedom of the mind is freedom from the bondage of experience. On this point the whole philosophy of bondage and liberation of life turns.” Dalai Lama (2001)
The concept of being I believe is essential in understanding my (our) nature and the endless possibilities of creativity and it’s imaginative power. According to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1959) the way to contact the being is thru transcendental meditation. It is my belief that another way is the creative process. Practicing and experiencing both, I observe increase of energy, clarity of mind and emotional harmony. It is fascinating that the deeper I go, the process became more silent on the level of pure being. In creative arts therapy sessions the most powerful ones have ended in fulfilled silence.
According Maharishi (1959) creativity lies in the nature of absolute Being, creation is its play, and evolution is its expansion in its Beingness. During our human experience the conscious mind reaches levels of more pure consciousness, where different levels of creation in different forms keep on evolving.
Erich Fromm (1976), not to exclude the philosophical presence, treats the concept of being from more anthropological and psychological points of view. He understood the alternatives having or being to be “two fundamental modes of existence, or two different kinds of orientation toward self and the world, two different types of character structure whose respective dominance determines the totality of how a person thinks, feels and acts.” (To Have or to be? p.24)
Between 1974 and 1976, while working on the book “To Have or to be?” Erich Fromm wrote far more manuscript and chapters than actually he used in the book, which was published in 1976. Some of these chapters are later published in the book “The Art of Being”. They deal entirely with “steps towards being” that the individual can take in order to learn “the art of being”.
It is tremendously interesting that during the same year 1976 World Government of the Age of Enlightment, a non-political, non-religious, global organization was established with sovereignty in the domain of consciousness, authority in the invincible power of Natural Law, and activity in purifying world consciousness, with the participation of the people of over 120 countries.
Erich Fromm defines the mode of being and having from different aspects: security-insecurity, knowledge and knowing, solidarity-antagonism, activity-passivity, joy-pleasure, sin forgiveness, here, now past, future, etc. I deeply respect the multi-dimensional views on the concept discussed and the depth of interaction of Eastern and Western thought in his writings. According Fromm “having refers to things and things are fixed and describable. Being refers to experience, and human experience is in principle not describable”. (p. 98)
A very important moment is that “being implies change”, “being is becoming”. The perspective of knowledge and knowing in relation to being fascinated me. “Knowing in the mode of being, means to “see” reality in its nakedness. It does not mean to be in possession of the truth; it means to penetrate the surface and to strive critically and actively in order to approach truth ever more closely”. (p. 135)
Master Eckhart (2006) reflects it further: “Knowledge is no particular though but rather it peels off and is disinterested and runs naked to God, until touches him and grasps him.” (p.172) What a powerful beauty of truth.
These are fragmented reflections within me brought thru two extraordinary souls: Erich Fromm and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who made their deep marks in the elevation of the human consciousness and overcoming suffering on the pathway of Love and Happiness (when the East meets the West). The dance must go on…
“Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Bring the Earth your love and happiness.
The Earth ill safe
When we feel safe in ourselves.
From call me by true names: The Collected Poems of Thich Nhat Hanh
Just be…just be… in your endless spirit…
Ralitza...I am reminded of your unique qualities and spirit which can see across cultures and philosophies and bring them together in essence. This kind of thinking can change our world in the name of humanity..Susan
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