Life is complete and timeless in Daydreaming on the Porch
- May 24, 2022, 4:26 p.m.
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- Public
…Repeatedly bring yourself back to yourself and then, from within this present self-awareness, realize that instead of being connected to the “you” who is always struggling to get something, hoping to become someone, trying to resolve things — surrender yourself to the understanding that the whole issue of who you are is already resolved. Let go and know that Life is complete, timeless, and so are you. Do not go into imagination. The self you imagine will be a secret extension of the self you wish to escape. Everything you need to pray, to wake up, to be new is right there with you without having to “create” it….
From The Lost Secrets of Prayer by Guy Finley
I found this passage in a book lying on top of a box in the hallway, and which is one of many unread books in my collection. In my storage system in which I don’t have nearly enough shelf space, I put those books I plan to read soon on top of the boxes so they won’t be out of sight. Then I can pick them up and read them whenever I want ( or at least flip through the pages and imagine what it would be like to read it from beginning to end).
The above lines just happened to catch my attention and they seemed to tap into a state of mind or feeling I have had about prayer and meditation lately. I don’t spend time at this like I should, instead catching moments of quiet, contemplative bliss in brief increments on my walks out with my camera. I can’t even lie in bed and just think. My mind seems to always be so full of thoughts and things I want to read or look into, filled up also with desires and wants and perceived “needs.” Rarely does any of that come to fruition. The hardest task in the world is trying to resolve things in your mind once and for all. As Finley says, I feel like I am in a state of constant incompleteness. I am trying to become, even at my age, someone I maybe imagine I should be, rather than accept this person that I am and always have been. No continuous cycles of regret. I should be past that. Life is indeed complete. If I constantly want something, or perceive some need that is “necessary” to fulfill me or complete me as a human being, I am trapped in that loop of continuous neediness and desire, pushed back by repression, reasserted again with guilt and anxiety, then repressed once again.
The question is, How does one actually let go of the past or the present and realize that all one needs for happiness is already there? It doesn’t have to be something I need to find or create, only to have to rediscover and recreate it later. Instead of sin, fear, guilt, and repression, hope, confidence, courage and expression of my true self shoud prevail, that self I am constantly running away from in hopes that some other self or way of life or imaginary person will make me happy or complete.
I know that when I wake up in the morning, the slate will be washed clean and I am free to start over again, just as the sun rises and sets.
Last updated May 24, 2022
ConnieK ⋅ May 24, 2022
We are all fearfully and wonderfully created. Everything we are, everything we've done, is already known. I like and agree with this perspective.
Deleted user ⋅ May 25, 2022
Nice entry. 🙂👍
A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ June 01, 2022
I admit for myself, like you, the questions and yearning to know seems endless, as if, at some point I can finally tell myself, oh, I am wise now. But we all know that point never comes. So, in the midst of all that craziness, we can stop sometimes and just be still and, in that stillness, maybe actually find wise-ness. I am no Bible scholar, but I think there is peace in the Psalm 46: Be still, and know that I am God And, I would add, even if it is just for a few minutes.
Oswego A Pedestrian Wandering ⋅ June 01, 2022
Wise words, indeed, and I heartily agree. The quest for knowledge leading to some kind of lasting wisdom is ceaseless for me, I accept that. And learning g for me in every imaginable form has always been lifelong.
At the same time I know that I am surrounded by more books than I can ever properly read. However, they are like old friends and contain timeless wisdom, truth and beauty. So I take comfort in knowing they are there.
I spend a lot of time at a large nearby state park where I mostly have it to myself and have several favorite spots to sit and meditate in my own fashion. One is near a marsh and tidal creek with a wide expanse leading to the ocean. There’s often a cool breeze from the oceans that makes it pleasant even on the hottest days. So it’s at places like that where I can be “still.” That verse from Psalms is one of my favorites.