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Post by zazeniac on Jun 16, 2021 10:12:50 GMT -5
A pair of lovely creatures, doves, built a nest in a bush inside our property. My wife was concerned because the bush is only around six feet high.
She ran into the nest by accident when she went to trim the bush and saw a white little head peeking at her through the foliage.
There were two eggs in the nest and we observed them tending to it for many days. The female, much smaller, sat on the eggs while the male perched on the highest point on our roof looking out for danger I presumed.
One evening my wife complained that she was uneasy about the location of the nest so close to the ground.
Sure enough, the next morning when she went to check on them, she found scattered feathers and body parts strewn about the yard.
When she checked the nest, the eggs were gone.
We were quite sad and angry that the beautiful little nest had been so savagely defiled.
Probably a possum or some other nocturnal predator had killed the birds and made a meal of them and their eggs.
It's interesting how the mind operates to assuage the grief and sense of loss.
"Look at it from the predator's perspective. What if he/she were starving with little babies to feed of its own."
"Pigeons are the slaughtering cows of the bird world. Not the brightest creatures, but reproduce in abundance."
It seemed something was marshaling a plethora of arguments to avoid the sense of loss and discomfort.
Accepting the horror seemed to not be an option. Perhaps the reaction is related to survival. Perhaps we as a species were once prey and the biological mechanisms are geared toward these emotions. Or perhaps the previous statement was a component of avoidance.
It seems at times that this endeavor, this seeking peace, God, enlightenment, is also, for some, an act of avoidance, a rejection of the human experience, a girding against the horrors that exist or an escape.
Is there difference in how we use this search? Either to inure against feeling or to open ourselves and accept it all, love it all, the whole mess.
Or is what we seek beyond concerns like this. Is this also an avoidance or denigrating of creation.
The Tao Te Ching makes a case for suppleness versus rigidity, expansion versus contraction.
I'm no expert so invite your comments.
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Xiao
Full Member
Posts: 184
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Post by Xiao on Jun 16, 2021 10:19:21 GMT -5
"I become ugly for the sake of beauty
I become hostile for the sake of love
I become cruel for the sake of kindness”
(Excerpt From: Rupert Spira. “A Meditation on I Am.)
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Post by andrew on Jun 16, 2021 10:37:08 GMT -5
I'm staying at an Airbnb right now, my daughter was gardening on Saturday with the property owners. She came in later and told me that they had found an injured blackbird and that the property owners felt it best to leave it be, as they felt it would recover. I knew my daughter well enough to know that it went against my daughter's instincts, who would have preferred to either care for the bird or call professional assistance. She went with the property owner's preference, as she wasn't in a position to argue. I listened, didn't comment, and didn't think much about it quite honestly.
Next day, I'm driving up the path and see the bird in front of me, wounded on the path. I jump out and instantly see the bird is in a very bad way. I go into overdrive, as tends to be the case in these kinds of situations, told my daughter to run to the house and get a box, and we would call professionals. Meanwhile, I sat with the bird and did Ho'oponopono (I'm sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you). There was enormous love for the bird in that few minutes, in fact the bird tried to hop towards me but it's leg was broken. My daughter came back with the box, we got the bird in, and we tried to give him a bit of water. He died 2 minutes later.
I went inside and there was a strong eruption of sadness, the tears flowed strongly for a few minutes. In a very short space of time, I had established a deep personal relationship with the bird. And yet, if I hadn't seen or spent any time with the bird, and my daughter had later reported that it died, I would have felt nothing at all. And of course, the fact is, millions of birds die every day, and I feel no sadness.
I'm not saying this to teach anything, or to ask anything, I'm really just offering it as a way of illustrating the oddity of the human experience.
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Post by zendancer on Jun 16, 2021 11:39:46 GMT -5
A pair of lovely creatures, doves, built a nest in a bush inside our property. My wife was concerned because the bush is only around six feet high. She ran into the nest by accident when she went to trim the bush and saw a white little head peeking at her through the foliage. There were two eggs in the nest and we observed them tending to it for many days. The female, much smaller, sat on the eggs while the male perched on the highest point on our roof looking out for danger I presumed. One evening my wife complained that she was uneasy about the location of the nest so close to the ground. Sure enough, the next morning when she went to check on them, she found scattered feathers and body parts strewn about the yard. When she checked the nest, the eggs were gone. We were quite sad and angry that the beautiful little nest had been so savagely defiled. Probably a possum or some other nocturnal predator had killed the birds and made a meal of them and their eggs. It's interesting how the mind operates to assuage the grief and sense of loss. "Look at it from the predator's perspective. What if he/she were starving with little babies to feed of its own." "Pigeons are the slaughtering cows of the bird world. Not the brightest creatures, but reproduce in abundance." It seemed something was marshaling a plethora of arguments to avoid the sense of loss and discomfort. Accepting the horror seemed to not be an option. Perhaps the reaction is related to survival. Perhaps we as a species were once prey and the biological mechanisms are geared toward these emotions. Or perhaps the previous statement was a component of avoidance. It seems at times that this endeavor, this seeking peace, God, enlightenment, is also, for some, an act of avoidance, a rejection of the human experience, a girding against the horrors that exist or an escape. Is there difference in how we use this search? Either to inure against feeling or to open ourselves and accept it all, love it all, the whole mess. Or is what we seek beyond concerns like this. Is this also an avoidance or denigrating of creation. The Tao Te Ching makes a case for suppleness versus rigidity, expansion versus contraction. I'm no expert so invite your comments. Yes. Accept it all; feel it all; love it all, the whole mess. What we are IS the whole mess. |
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Post by laughter on Jun 16, 2021 12:49:46 GMT -5
Sorrow at the loss of gentle beauty is only human. We're all, only human. Looking for any sort of resolution to life - emotional or intellectual - is the absence of connection with the divine, which is the common human condition. Even if you'd tried to move the nest higher the parent-birds might have abandoned it, but then again, you wouldn't be regretting not having tried (presumptuous of me, I admit). Looking away, ignoring what happened will only store up more subconscious pain. It is harsh, but the question before you is perhaps .. how do you intend to keep looking? And by that, I mean, by what method and by what orientation? Those questions aren't rhetorical, but I'm not looking for an answer - more presumption, I know. |
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Post by zazeniac on Jun 16, 2021 17:31:51 GMT -5
Sorrow at the loss of gentle beauty is only human. We're all, only human. Looking for any sort of resolution to life - emotional or intellectual - is the absence of connection with the divine, which is the common human condition. Even if you'd tried to move the nest higher the parent-birds might have abandoned it, but then again, you wouldn't be regretting not having tried (presumptuous of me, I admit). Looking away, ignoring what happened will only store up more subconscious pain. It is harsh, but the question before you is perhaps .. how do you intend to keep looking? And by that, I mean, by what method and by what orientation? Those questions aren't rhetorical, but I'm not looking for an answer - more presumption, I know. Yes. We considered moving the nest. But there was no point in moving it on the same bush and there were no appropriate trees nearby. I'm almost certain they would have abandoned the nest. The wife always wants to intervene to save animals. Chasing off hawks with rocks. I'm more likely to let nature be. As to a search, as Assissi said " what I'm looking for is what is looking." It takes recognizing though. But a lesson for me has been, the more you close yourself off, the harder things seem to come at you and they will break you. Not a bad thing. As one wise lady suggested when things fall apart, it's an opportunity. |
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Post by laughter on Jun 17, 2021 10:47:57 GMT -5
Sorrow at the loss of gentle beauty is only human. We're all, only human. Looking for any sort of resolution to life - emotional or intellectual - is the absence of connection with the divine, which is the common human condition. Even if you'd tried to move the nest higher the parent-birds might have abandoned it, but then again, you wouldn't be regretting not having tried (presumptuous of me, I admit). Looking away, ignoring what happened will only store up more subconscious pain. It is harsh, but the question before you is perhaps .. how do you intend to keep looking? And by that, I mean, by what method and by what orientation? Those questions aren't rhetorical, but I'm not looking for an answer - more presumption, I know. Yes. We considered moving the nest. But there was no point in moving it on the same bush and there were no appropriate trees nearby. I'm almost certain they would have abandoned the nest. The wife always wants to intervene to save animals. Chasing off hawks with rocks. I'm more likely to let nature be. As to a search, as Assissi said " what I'm looking for is what is looking." It takes recognizing though. But a lesson for me has been, the more you close yourself off, the harder things seem to come at you and they will break you. Not a bad thing. As one wise lady suggested when things fall apart, it's an opportunity. The mouse population got to levels here where I finally had to do something about it. They have these humane traps nowdays that are a tube they walk into so I can release them. I put some food out for each one. First one got a box with food and paper towels in it but the creatures in the woods where I left it have torn that apart now. Location undisclosed, total relocated population to date is 6. They're the cutest g0d@mned things. Can't believe I used to kill them. Mercilessly.  |
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Post by zazeniac on Jun 17, 2021 13:12:50 GMT -5
Yes. We considered moving the nest. But there was no point in moving it on the same bush and there were no appropriate trees nearby. I'm almost certain they would have abandoned the nest. The wife always wants to intervene to save animals. Chasing off hawks with rocks. I'm more likely to let nature be. As to a search, as Assissi said " what I'm looking for is what is looking." It takes recognizing though. But a lesson for me has been, the more you close yourself off, the harder things seem to come at you and they will break you. Not a bad thing. As one wise lady suggested when things fall apart, it's an opportunity. The mouse population got to levels here where I finally had to do something about it. They have these humane traps nowdays that are a tube they walk into so I can release them. I put some food out for each one. First one got a box with food and paper towels in it but the creatures in the woods where I left it have torn that apart now. Location undisclosed, total relocated population to date is 6. They're the cutest g0d@mned things. Can't believe I used to kill them. Mercilessly. The wife's the toughest person I know. Showed her a mouse I'd caught in a bucket in the garage and one leap took her to the hood of the car. I don't get it. I think they're cute as well. Is it some female gene thing? |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2021 13:29:33 GMT -5
The mouse population got to levels here where I finally had to do something about it. They have these humane traps nowdays that are a tube they walk into so I can release them. I put some food out for each one. First one got a box with food and paper towels in it but the creatures in the woods where I left it have torn that apart now. Location undisclosed, total relocated population to date is 6. They're the cutest g0d@mned things. Can't believe I used to kill them. Mercilessly. The wife's the toughest person I know. Showed her a mouse I'd caught in a bucket in the garage and one leap took her to the hood of the car. I don't get it. I think they're cute as well. Is it some female gene thing? I wonder... maybe a collective memory of some kind, or darwinian selection, related to the Black Plague. It was carried by rats, and it butchered people by the millions for generations. |
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Post by laughter on Jun 17, 2021 15:43:06 GMT -5
The mouse population got to levels here where I finally had to do something about it. They have these humane traps nowdays that are a tube they walk into so I can release them. I put some food out for each one. First one got a box with food and paper towels in it but the creatures in the woods where I left it have torn that apart now. Location undisclosed, total relocated population to date is 6. They're the cutest g0d@mned things. Can't believe I used to kill them. Mercilessly. The wife's the toughest person I know. Showed her a mouse I'd caught in a bucket in the garage and one leap took her to the hood of the car. I don't get it. I think they're cute as well. Is it some female gene thing? I'd guess that maybe because they're so small and move so quick that they can kind of seem like really big bugs. Their little eyes peering out of the trap though .. heartbreaker! |
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Post by laughter on Jun 18, 2021 10:26:52 GMT -5
But at least you got out of the house for a bit |
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Post by zazeniac on Jun 18, 2021 10:45:37 GMT -5
The mouse population got to levels here where I finally had to do something about it. They have these humane traps nowdays that are a tube they walk into so I can release them. I put some food out for each one. First one got a box with food and paper towels in it but the creatures in the woods where I left it have torn that apart now. Location undisclosed, total relocated population to date is 6. They're the cutest g0d@mned things. Can't believe I used to kill them. Mercilessly. You leave them alone? After the trauma of a capture? In a foreign land.. frightened and disoriented? A snake, bird or cat will have them by nightfall. You're a monster pretending to be a saint. A "laughing" monster at that, and he has the nerve to call me a "maniac!" 😇 |
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Post by zazeniac on Jun 19, 2021 10:30:35 GMT -5
The wife's the toughest person I know. Showed her a mouse I'd caught in a bucket in the garage and one leap took her to the hood of the car. I don't get it. I think they're cute as well. Is it some female gene thing? I wonder... maybe a collective memory of some kind, or darwinian selection, related to the Black Plague. It was carried by rats, and it butchered people by the millions for generations. Maybe. Not a predatory threat, but perhaps a resource threat. Could they be programmed to recognize and react to that. Maybe we're programmed to react to the predatory threat. Mind riffs. |
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