Hello folks. I monitor FFL but don't have a lot of time to spend posting, and so have made only an occasional foray into expression here. This is a longer indulgence.
Prompted by the admiration for Dylan expressed on this list by diverse posters, by the suggestion a while back that commentaries on some of Dylan's memorable verses/songs/quotes could be a fun thing, and in honor of the release of his his new cd, I decided to put fingers to keyboard and comment *briefly* :) on one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite Dylan albums, "Love and Theft". For me, this song is one where Dylan hits it out of the park in terms of describing the "seeker's journey" or whatever we wish to call it, when one is on the cusp of awakening. Of course, it is all my interpretation, my seeing something in the lyrics that is meaningful to me, but hey, one could argue that's what we all do with all speech all the time anyhow. Some of the commentary is more generally about some of the ways in which "spiritual evolution" can happen (got to call it something) and some is more about my personal story with the TMO, but still generally applicable to other situations. ( I know, it's *all* personal.) It's not meant to be universal or to say everyone has to experience in the way I have, nor that their journey need be similar to mine. Ill ask your forgiveness and/or indulgence right from the outset as it's a bit long even skipping some lines. The text is, of course, multi-layered. The commentary is not meant to be definitive, but it's a beginning. Here goes; I hope you enjoy. I'll post it in three parts, one for each verse, so if you don't like it you don't have to bother opening the rest. :) Verse One "Every step of the way, we walk the line/" So many lines and layer's right away:e We have the thin line of discrimination between the seen and unseen, Being and existence, manifest and unmanifest, between being awake and asleep; walking the razor's edge. "Your days are numberedand so are mine/time keeps piling up" Very interesting lines, not only an obvious comment on mortality, but also about time itself, the piling up of moment after moment after moment that produces the illusion of continuity and veneer of reality to our experience and sense of self. Time, of course, does not exist "in reality" whether we are talking about lifetimes or just today. The yoga sutras have interesting things to say about time, as does Augustine's "Confessions". It is a central theme of philosophical and spiritual inquiry. On the other hand, the lines can refer to the eternal, ubiquitous, and inevitable growth towards enlightenmentyou will get there, I get there, we all will get there. "We're all boxed in, nowhere to escape/" There's nowhere to go in the field of the ignorance where *I-ness/ego" is the wily manipulator, always ready with another ruse, another desire, another gimmick to keep us bound to what is not. "City's just a jungle, more games to play/trapped in the heart of it, trying to get away/" The city represents the structure of that which is created to tame the mystery, to put order on chaos, to contain the uncontainable, explain the inexplicable. My city contained a lot of the TMO (which ended up being torn down because it was, you guessed itbad vastu ;-) ) but it applies to the entire edifice of mental constructs creating our social world. It's not a bad thing; it's just structure. "I was raised in the country; I've been working in the town/I've been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down./" One of my favorite lines, the country being the wild, natural, untamed, connected with the mystery. After wandering in the wild for many years I came to TMOpolis with it's alluring structures, science, technology, and society. It was a good place to come to, a little shelter from the storm and a good home, but there's the question of that troubledouble trouble. Trouble within the organization because as a free-thinking iconoclast with political and social values on the progressive end of the spectrum I kept opening the suitcase of a relatively free tongue and never could abandon notions of practicality and common sense. And you could say trouble within just from setting it down. If you're gonna work in the city you must, to some degree, become the city. "Got nothing for you/had nothing before/don't even have anything for myself any more/" Beautiful and multi-layered. From "It's become untenable for me to espouse the values and doctrines of the organization" to there not being anything to give because everyone already has it, to the impossibility of any jivan having anything to offer Being which is totally complete already. And nothing for myself? I've run out of excuses, let alone solutions; no more concepts, nowhere left to hide; all boxed in, nowhere to escape. "Sky full of fire, pain pouring down/There's nothing you can sell me/I'll see you around/" The conflagration of ego structures burning in perhaps what some refer to as the dark night of the soul before the dawn of illumination. Nothing can help and I'm not buying any more. And from the malls of TMOville, not another technique, not a pill, not a vastu home, not a course, not an idea, not hope, not guilt, not shame, not the glory of saving the world. Nada. Sayonara. "All my powers of expression I thought so sublime/ Could never do you justice in reason or rhyme/" As has been pointed out so many places including on this forum, many time, the Tao that can be spoken is not the Tao. "Only one thing I did wrong/Stayed in Mississippi a day too long/" I believe Curtis in one of his posts said something about how he probably could have left sooner than he did (sorry if I'm mis-paraphrasing you Curtis), and I think many may have a similar experiencewe know we're going to be leaving before we actually do. Don't think twice, it's all right. ... cont'd To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
