AND FOR NO REASON
And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.
And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun's mouth
And dissolve.
And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.
And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!
When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That
I Am.
("The Gift" - versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)
After my previous post, Caught in the amber, I had a very stimulating discussion with a friend who sent me the above poem as a response. The carefree lilt in Hafiz's poetic voice is exactly what I yearn for, but I must admit that more often than not, I am forever seeking answers to the many whys and wherefores that life present us with. Call it design, programming or personality, it seems to be the human condition to want to know, and especially to want to know why. Which of course we cannot in many cases, or should we insist, our limited view may hinder and hamper us into living into a much wider reason than we could ever imagine.
I do believe that there are divine reasons for why things happen, but I do not think we can or need to always know in order for us to lead meaningful lives. I do not believe that full knowing always leads to full understanding. Neale Donald Walsch, author of the trilogy Conversations with God, has this to say about the subject: "Why?" is the most useless question in the universe. The only question with any meaning is "What?" Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower you. Asking "What do I want to make of this?" does exactly the opposite. Here is a great secret: the Why of anything is to produce the What of everything.
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| Photo by Ralie du Preez |
And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.
And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun's mouth
And dissolve.
And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.
And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!
When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That
I Am.
("The Gift" - versions of Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky)
After my previous post, Caught in the amber, I had a very stimulating discussion with a friend who sent me the above poem as a response. The carefree lilt in Hafiz's poetic voice is exactly what I yearn for, but I must admit that more often than not, I am forever seeking answers to the many whys and wherefores that life present us with. Call it design, programming or personality, it seems to be the human condition to want to know, and especially to want to know why. Which of course we cannot in many cases, or should we insist, our limited view may hinder and hamper us into living into a much wider reason than we could ever imagine.
I do believe that there are divine reasons for why things happen, but I do not think we can or need to always know in order for us to lead meaningful lives. I do not believe that full knowing always leads to full understanding. Neale Donald Walsch, author of the trilogy Conversations with God, has this to say about the subject: "Why?" is the most useless question in the universe. The only question with any meaning is "What?" Asking "Why is this happening?" can only disempower you. Asking "What do I want to make of this?" does exactly the opposite. Here is a great secret: the Why of anything is to produce the What of everything.
This reminds me of the advice of another great poet. Rainer Maria Rilke, who put it this way:
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."
I was reminded that most poets are seekers, searching and struggling with questions and producing wonderful work. I have to agree. Serious searching often lead to seriously good art. I am not so sure though that it delivers the answers we seek, but it may lead to insight, self knowledge, some acceptance or at the very least, emotional release in the creative expression of the quest.
What to do then? Should we ask or should we not? If we ask why, it may lead among other things, to interesting exploration, art, new scientific breakthroughs. If we don't and simply live the questions, it may lead among other things, to unexpected adventures, art, scientific breakthroughs.
Which seems to leave us with a paradox on our hands. And it being seemingly the building blocks of Mystery, asks not to be understood, but maybe to be allowed to lead us ever deeper into what we know not, and to expand us, dissolve us in Hafiz's language into the Truth that we are.
Matilda
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