What a beautiful explanation of how the initial experience of love usually fades as time passes. But it is understandable that the hectic and often frantic circumstances of living in the world as it is today usually causes the lovers to be distracted and ultimately utterly overwhelmed; hence losing that foundation of love: seeing each other’s inner self.
I can't believe that over 50 years ago my grade 7 language arts teacher had us read Siddhartha. And then I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and then in young adulthood my ego took over and I began performing holiness as a "born again" believer. But the watcher within me eventually got through, and I let the pretense go. Your piece today, and the one you referred to, are both received with gratitude. There is peace there.
Thank you, Brother, for taking the inquiry one branch further, until the tree becomes a conversation. I am moved by this.
You have entered the question beneath it.
The second verse you quoted, “when he sees the other, his grief passes away,” feels like the completion I left unspoken. You have offered it back as a gift.
And yes, the ego re-forms when attention relaxes. Recognition is not the end. It is the beginning of a living practice.
First, being seen unsettles who we thought ourselves to be. Then we turn and discover the one who has been seeing all along.
What a beautiful explanation of how the initial experience of love usually fades as time passes. But it is understandable that the hectic and often frantic circumstances of living in the world as it is today usually causes the lovers to be distracted and ultimately utterly overwhelmed; hence losing that foundation of love: seeing each other’s inner self.
I can't believe that over 50 years ago my grade 7 language arts teacher had us read Siddhartha. And then I read Jonathan Livingston Seagull, and then in young adulthood my ego took over and I began performing holiness as a "born again" believer. But the watcher within me eventually got through, and I let the pretense go. Your piece today, and the one you referred to, are both received with gratitude. There is peace there.
Thank you, Brother, for taking the inquiry one branch further, until the tree becomes a conversation. I am moved by this.
You have entered the question beneath it.
The second verse you quoted, “when he sees the other, his grief passes away,” feels like the completion I left unspoken. You have offered it back as a gift.
And yes, the ego re-forms when attention relaxes. Recognition is not the end. It is the beginning of a living practice.
First, being seen unsettles who we thought ourselves to be. Then we turn and discover the one who has been seeing all along.
I am deeply grateful.
🙏🙏
This certainly is a profoundly expanded relatable version of Upanishad.