Source Text
How does one pay for her generous gifts of time, attention and energy? I asked how to hear and to see. I said I do not see others or even myself as really human and alive. I seem to be isolated from everyone and blind to everything. The reason for this seemed to me to be self-occupation, which strikes me as almost the essence of being satanic.
“Movements will help you. In the Movements, the important thing is not the positions, but the impulse, the energy, from one posture to another. And nobody can teach that; you have to watch it within yourself.”
She said, “I cannot do it, but I have to try. If a connection is not made, stay in front of the lack of connection. It is necessary to know this lack. I cannot do it, but it can be done in me; and I have a part to play. “The Earth is in exchange with higher levels of existence. For this an apparatus is needed. Mankind is that apparatus. This exchange is not automatic; it requires work.”
She advised against torturing the body; that would produce a wrong relationship. If one notices something which is bad or harmful for the body or the mind—something which makes one dull or less sensitive—one naturally stops, as one naturally refrains from eating poisonous substances.
Madame de Salzmann makes a clear distinction between ‘thought’ and ‘associations’. Thought has direction and action; associations merely turn in reaction, but have no action. What I ordinarily call thoughts are only accidental associations. In response to a question of mine, Madame de Salzmann said, “Watching the breathing can help in deepening and maintaining sensation. That is how one becomes aware of the energy of the body. “Make a demand on yourself. If you do not succeed in making a connection, deprive the body of what it likes.”
I felt that my body was too heavy and that I was not sensitive enough to see the harm done by the wrong placing of the foot. I suppose the body is like a musical instrument. A sensitive and accomplished musician is likely to be more aware of the various subtleties of the instrument than a novice. It seemed so clear that one needs to see a little before one can even realize the fact of one’s blindness. Those who suffer for their fragmentation are already in purgatory; they may possibly hope for wholeness, for it is said that His Endlessness occasionally visits the aspiring souls in purgatory.
It is absurd but true: it is difficult to accept that if my eyes were open, I would see what I do not ordinarily see. I see neither the terror of my present situation nor the wonder of what it could be. It is plain and obvious that as long as one is asleep, all progress is a dream.
Both in the morning at home and in the evening at the Maison, I made a special effort to prolong my cross-legged sitting for meditation. I experienced interesting sensations in the body and an unusual deepening of breathing. I can now sit for forty-five minutes. It is interesting that Dogen Zenzi thought that Zen is nothing but sitting rightly (zazen). I should work at extending my meditation to one hour. I can make at least this effort since I do not really understand what Madame de Salzmann means by bringing the mind and the body to the same strength in a relationship with one another. Madame de Salzmann makes it clear that the function and purpose of a human being is to become a link, a conduit, for higher energy to come down to the Earth—to bring Heaven down to Earth. Our Father who is in Heaven may do His will here on Earth as He does in Heaven, but this is possible only if the
River Ganga which flows in Heaven—above the head or on top of it—may flow down to the Earth, the body, and irrigate her.
Endless doubting is an escape from working. But one cannot be parochial about the Work.
AI Summary
Heart Without Measure by Ravi Ravindra presents key insights from the Taoism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
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