Somehow your publication got lost in my inbox, probably from my tired eyes. I suspected this to be the case so went to your homepage and happily found this article.
I love this--"Suffering and joy are inseparable, the opposites not of each other but of blandness.” I believe Jesus said something similar.
In my studies of Vajrayana Buddhism, Nirvana and Samsara are the two sides of one coin (although there is also the idea of nirvana being the state of enlightenment, but I don't need to get into the philosophical weeds :) )
All these things bring to mind the practice of meditation in which you don't resist any state of being, which ironically delivers a joyful, clear state.
Life is so full of odd and surprising plays of extremes. Personally, the excitement and fear of sharing anything I write is always with me when I press publish! Thank you, Meta, for these letters!
I really enjoyed your pairings in the writing process. You gave voice to my own thoughts... but of course more thoughtfully. The duality in these elements fascinates me. And the concept that joy and suffering are not opposites of one another but of blandness-- wow! Totally resonates.
Meta, it's been so interesting and rewarding to engage in this correspondence. Thank you for taking me up on my offer! I very much like what you say here about how the extremes or opposites are paired--in our lives but also in our writing lives, particularly. Yes, the joy of, say, launching a book often comes with the embarrassing envy of anyone who appears to be more successful than you. Or the misery of writing through, say, the middle of a manuscript comes with the satisfaction of simply taking time away from everything else in our lives. I think we're wise to remember that sometimes it's not going to help us to turn away from the "bad" side of the pairing. It's not really going to go away just because we're not looking at it! (I always remember--and maybe even accurately!--a quotation from William Saroyan who once said of a relative whose house was burning down "pay no attention to it. it will go away"--which was true, because, alas it did.) So, nope, we can't just pay no attention to the things that scare us or make us sad or mad. As my former rowing coach once pointed out about her teammate, we get better by going -towards- the thing we perceive to be an obstacle. Because that's how we learn and grow. So, let's embrace that twining, those pairs!
Somehow your publication got lost in my inbox, probably from my tired eyes. I suspected this to be the case so went to your homepage and happily found this article.
I love this--"Suffering and joy are inseparable, the opposites not of each other but of blandness.” I believe Jesus said something similar.
In my studies of Vajrayana Buddhism, Nirvana and Samsara are the two sides of one coin (although there is also the idea of nirvana being the state of enlightenment, but I don't need to get into the philosophical weeds :) )
All these things bring to mind the practice of meditation in which you don't resist any state of being, which ironically delivers a joyful, clear state.
Life is so full of odd and surprising plays of extremes. Personally, the excitement and fear of sharing anything I write is always with me when I press publish! Thank you, Meta, for these letters!
Meta
I really enjoyed your pairings in the writing process. You gave voice to my own thoughts... but of course more thoughtfully. The duality in these elements fascinates me. And the concept that joy and suffering are not opposites of one another but of blandness-- wow! Totally resonates.
Thank you again for awakening my thoughts.
Cheers,
Brian
Meta, it's been so interesting and rewarding to engage in this correspondence. Thank you for taking me up on my offer! I very much like what you say here about how the extremes or opposites are paired--in our lives but also in our writing lives, particularly. Yes, the joy of, say, launching a book often comes with the embarrassing envy of anyone who appears to be more successful than you. Or the misery of writing through, say, the middle of a manuscript comes with the satisfaction of simply taking time away from everything else in our lives. I think we're wise to remember that sometimes it's not going to help us to turn away from the "bad" side of the pairing. It's not really going to go away just because we're not looking at it! (I always remember--and maybe even accurately!--a quotation from William Saroyan who once said of a relative whose house was burning down "pay no attention to it. it will go away"--which was true, because, alas it did.) So, nope, we can't just pay no attention to the things that scare us or make us sad or mad. As my former rowing coach once pointed out about her teammate, we get better by going -towards- the thing we perceive to be an obstacle. Because that's how we learn and grow. So, let's embrace that twining, those pairs!