We Will Be Absorbed!!

We will be absorbed!!!

I’m feeling very blessed to have discovered a beautiful piece of music by experimental folk quartet ‘Spiro’’, titled ‘We Will Be Absorbed’.  The live performance (available on Spotify) is introduced as a:

“Very joyful view of what happens to us when we reach the end of our days on this orb and get reunited with the cosmos.  We will be absorbed.”

On hearing this I felt an instantaneous sense of joy, it’s so inspiring to hear people sharing a more holistic view of death, which recognises out true place in the cosmos.

Popular culture, and indeed society as a whole, more commonly portrays death as a horror that lingers in wait for us:

Well, he'll leave you standin' and cryin' in this land.

Well, Death'll leave you standin' and crying in this land.

Well, he'll come to your house but he won't stay long,
Look in the bed and your father will be gone.

Death don't have no mercy in this land.
(Gary Davis)

This view of death creates in many people a huge sense of life burdening fear.  I can recall a phase in my life where the fear of death was so crippling that I could not face the idea of living. If death was such a cruel and empty end, what was the point in going on, I had once misguidedly thought to myself.

Such a depressing view of death is enforced by the belief that death is the ultimate end, an event at which our little egos say good-bye for good, as we enter a dark abyss.  Funerals enforce this view of eternal darkness, standing in black; people cry hysterically at their loss and for the END of their beloved.

In contrast Spiro’s beautiful tack presents death, in a stunning musical journey, as a joyful end to our human lives, at which we are reunited with the totality of things.  This view recognises that it is only the ego that dies (an illusion which veils us from our true benevolence), and that this human life is but a wave on the ocean, and when our times comes, we shall return to the great depths from which were born.

Of course the death of our loved ones is sad, and tears born from our love are beautiful testaments to our compassion for others. But let’s celebrate the lives we live and view our reunification with the cosmos as the show stopping finally.

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance."
Alan Watts

Home

In difficult times, when we feel a sense of hopelessness, many of us begin a search for a way out of our suffering. Our immediate search often leads us to a doctor, who in turn prescribes us with medicine or a trip to a psychologist. These prescriptions for some people are enough to make life liveable, but for others, myself included, they only serve to make as feel more distant from a true sense of contentment. After all, living our lives reliant on drugs or regular trips to a man in a white coat, hardly paints a picture of, well-being.

This leads many of us to turn our search towards spirituality, and inevitably, towards ENLIGHTMENT. Enlightenment is offered, sold and held like a carrot on a stick by countless religions and gurus, all wishing to cure out woes through devotion, blind faith and often with a fistful of dollars. Countless seekers end up in India believing that they will find enlightenment at the feet of one of thousands of gurus, who will awaken them for the price of a sacred mantra or meditation retreat. In reality they are most likely to find cheesy feet and disillusion.

I didn’t find my freedom in India, I found it on YOUTUBE, at the screen of an American philosopher named Alan Watts. Watts who sadly died at a young age in 1973 has fortunately been uploaded countless times by ‘fans’ of his work. I use the word fan, as Alan Watts was as much a ‘cosmic entertainer’ as he was spiritual leader. He shared with his audiences his translations of eastern philosophy, in much as the same way a comedian shares his jokes, in good humour. And that is why he made such a meaningful impression on my life, because a man who makes light of himself, can be rightfully be trusted to make light of the world around him.

In his lectures, writings and videos, Alan Watts delightfully invites us to experience enlightenment (reality) for ourselves, so that we may find out who we really are. For you see, as I have discovered with Watts, the suffering that leads us on the search for freedom, begins because we mistakenly identify our whole being with something that we are not, a small and isolated EGO. Watts shatters this false illusion and opens up our consciousness to its full magnificence, the totality of the cosmos. He takes us home and frees us from ourselves.

My hope for this blog is share with you the wisdom of Alan Watts, and other great thinkers, through links, posts and in some cases my own humble translations, in the hope of helping you to find HOME or making you smile.

Out of View

Before our eyes met

Love lie waiting out of view

I was missing you

Empty

Give up the search, all will be revealed.
Hope for nothing, the universe will appear.
Let go of fear, grace will carry you home.
Love without attachment, compassion will fill your heart.
Be empty like the sky, and stars will shine for you.

Inner Child

The boy in me that won’t let go,

 dreams once more  of living freely.

To artlessly follow in life’s abundant happiness ,

and laugh in rapture of its bloom.

Visions of playful folly echo in memories that dare not be forgotten, and

fleetingly, release me from the veil of maturity.

A child of this earth, forever shall I be.

Smile

Thank you for your smile,
I hadn't seen one for a while. 
My mood was rather blue, 
until I caught sight of you.
I know it wasn't much for you to do,
but now I'm happy because of, YOU!

Hazy Days

When you wake up feeling hazy,
and all together lazy, 
pop on the kettle, let your tea bag settle, 
and with a smile, welcome in the day.