Have you ever wished for a tabula rasa or a blank slate? I don't know about you, but as for me, I crave a blank slate. To be free from your past seems like it could be very open and refreshing. And the idea that the future doesn't exist and is only the creation of the moment in everything we make it to be. I think that is an amazing thought.
In the novel Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert, Herbert writes, "Let the future remain uncertain for that is the canvas to receive our desires. Thus the human condition faces its perpetual tabula rasa. We possess no more than this moment where we dedicate ourselves continuously to the sacred presence we share and create" (118). The one part of the statement that has stuck with me is to remain in the moment and let everything remain unwritten. We as humans are able to create each new moment for ourselves and for others.
I know I have already expounded on living in the present moment, but I think it is an important thing to realize and share with others. I suppose its like being a missionary and sharing a truth you have discovered in this life. But the present moment is not everything. It is sharing the joy of the present moment with those around you that becomes truly an amazing experience.
Whether it is destiny for some people to be placed in our lives at specific moment or not doesn't matter. It is what is created in the shared experience that does matter. Many instances in my life, previously, have been seen as negative experience for me, but when seen through new eyes and with a blank slate, those experiences helped to shape me into who I am today. And some of the people with whom I have had these shared experiences, have helped me to find the path on which I find myself.
I've mentioned my being bullied before, in previous blogs, and have spoken of the sadness and pain that stemmed from the moment. However, as I look at that experience, not with the eyes of a tortured youth, but with a clean slate and bright eyes, I see that those moments have allowed me to have empathy for those who suffer. Those moments of pain and sadness at the hands of others have allowed me to try to ease the suffering of others where I can. Also, looking at a clean slate, I can learn to forgive those people who caused me the pain and to thank them. Thanking them may sound a little too much, but because of the paths that we were all on and what we chose to do, I was able to become a better person.
As for shared experiences, when I first started at Utah Valley University, I took an English class that I chose at random because it fit with my work schedule, but little did I know that random selection would put me in the classroom of Ronda Walker-Weaver. She was (is) a great teacher, and that's all, at first, I saw her as, but I gained a friend and a mentor. Ronda helped me onto the path on which I am continuing. I was, at the time, trying to decide between an anthropology major or an English major. Ronda gave me some advice. She said that if I got my English degree and still wanted to do something else, that my English degree would not hinder me, but would rather help me with my other endeavors. That advice sent me meditating while walking through the halls. When I stopped, I sat down and looked up to see the English department in front of me. I took it as a sign. If it wasn't for Ronda and her advice she gave me that day, I don't know where I would be.
If we "let the future remain uncertain," live in the present moment, and "dedicate ourselves...to share and create," we can create a wonderful present moment. We can "share and create" moments of bliss rather than shared experiences in pain. We can establish ourselves in the joyous here and now. And we can "stand in the sacred human presence" because we are all sacred beings given purpose in this world. I want to share in that purpose and make every present moment count. Don't you?
In the novel Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert, Herbert writes, "Let the future remain uncertain for that is the canvas to receive our desires. Thus the human condition faces its perpetual tabula rasa. We possess no more than this moment where we dedicate ourselves continuously to the sacred presence we share and create" (118). The one part of the statement that has stuck with me is to remain in the moment and let everything remain unwritten. We as humans are able to create each new moment for ourselves and for others.
I know I have already expounded on living in the present moment, but I think it is an important thing to realize and share with others. I suppose its like being a missionary and sharing a truth you have discovered in this life. But the present moment is not everything. It is sharing the joy of the present moment with those around you that becomes truly an amazing experience.
Whether it is destiny for some people to be placed in our lives at specific moment or not doesn't matter. It is what is created in the shared experience that does matter. Many instances in my life, previously, have been seen as negative experience for me, but when seen through new eyes and with a blank slate, those experiences helped to shape me into who I am today. And some of the people with whom I have had these shared experiences, have helped me to find the path on which I find myself.
I've mentioned my being bullied before, in previous blogs, and have spoken of the sadness and pain that stemmed from the moment. However, as I look at that experience, not with the eyes of a tortured youth, but with a clean slate and bright eyes, I see that those moments have allowed me to have empathy for those who suffer. Those moments of pain and sadness at the hands of others have allowed me to try to ease the suffering of others where I can. Also, looking at a clean slate, I can learn to forgive those people who caused me the pain and to thank them. Thanking them may sound a little too much, but because of the paths that we were all on and what we chose to do, I was able to become a better person.
As for shared experiences, when I first started at Utah Valley University, I took an English class that I chose at random because it fit with my work schedule, but little did I know that random selection would put me in the classroom of Ronda Walker-Weaver. She was (is) a great teacher, and that's all, at first, I saw her as, but I gained a friend and a mentor. Ronda helped me onto the path on which I am continuing. I was, at the time, trying to decide between an anthropology major or an English major. Ronda gave me some advice. She said that if I got my English degree and still wanted to do something else, that my English degree would not hinder me, but would rather help me with my other endeavors. That advice sent me meditating while walking through the halls. When I stopped, I sat down and looked up to see the English department in front of me. I took it as a sign. If it wasn't for Ronda and her advice she gave me that day, I don't know where I would be.
If we "let the future remain uncertain," live in the present moment, and "dedicate ourselves...to share and create," we can create a wonderful present moment. We can "share and create" moments of bliss rather than shared experiences in pain. We can establish ourselves in the joyous here and now. And we can "stand in the sacred human presence" because we are all sacred beings given purpose in this world. I want to share in that purpose and make every present moment count. Don't you?
No comments:
Post a Comment