[Image: Many Questions No Answers, by Norwegian artist Trine Meyer Vogsland
(acrylic on watercolor paper; 24x32cm)]
From whiskey river:
LXXII
If all rivers are sweet
where does the sea get its salt?How do the seasons know
they must change their shirt?Why so slowly in winter
and later with such a rapid shudder?And how do the roots know
they must climb toward the light?And then greet the air
with so many flowers and colors?Is it always the same spring
who revives her role?
(Pablo Neruda [source])
…and:
Self-inquiry is simple. It does not require you to do anything, change anything, think anything, or understand anything. It only asks you to pay careful attention to what is real.
I have two sons. When they were about four, they both went through a phase of having nightmares. I would go into the room and switch on the light. Two small eyes blinked at me from the corner.
“What’s the problem?” I’d ask.
“Daddy, there’s a monster in the room,” a timid voice would reply. Now, I had more than one choice of how to respond. I could tell my frightened boy that it was not true, there was no monster, go back to sleep. That response is the equivalent of reading a book that says, “We’re all one, there is no problem, just be with what is.” Fine ideas, but they don’t help much. I could also have offered to feed the monster cookies, talk with the monster, negotiate. That approach is like some kinds of psychotherapy. Treat the problem as real, then fix it on its own terms. But the only real solution I ever found was to have a good look. Under the bed, in the closet, behind the curtains, we undertook an exhaustive search.
Eventually my sons would let out a deep sigh, smile at me, and fall back to sleep. The problem was not solved but dissolved. It was never real in the first place, but it took investigation to make that a reality.
(Arjuna Ardagh [source])
…and:
XIV
And what did the rubies say
standing before the juice of pomegranates?Why doesn’t Thursday talk itself
into coming after Friday?Who shouted with glee
when the color blue was born?Why does the earth grieve
when the violets appear?
(Pablo Neruda [source])
…and:
The best way to find out things… is not to ask questions at all. If you fire off a question, it is like firing off a gun; bang it goes, and everything takes flight and runs for shelter. But if you sit quite still and pretend not to be looking, all the little facts will come and peck round your feet, situations will venture forth from thickets and intentions will creep out and sun themselves on a stone; and if you are very patient, you will see and understand a great deal more than a man with a gun.
(Elspeth Huxley [source])
