Reflections

Until my mind
Is clear, calm and still
I will always be lost
In my reflections

Gull and Pilings
Howe Sound
Sea to Sky Highway
Britannia Beach
British Columbia, Canada

2016

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1

Serendipitous Web Life. : ) on December 26, 2016 at 7:32 am
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Beautiful depth in the photo…darks and lights without the harsh shadows . I noticed the reflection in the water of the waves are wavy. Interesting.
Just curious…. when you create your pretend worlds, do you use a photo, or is the image in your mind?

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- 2
  
  Patrick Jennings on December 27, 2016 at 11:01 am
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  Thanks!
  
  Creation, whether words or worlds, is typically a bit of both. In this one, for example, “lost in my reflections” is a direct reference to the reflections of the pilings and how the seagull’s reflection is lost in the ripples. If the water were calm and still, the sea gull’s reflection would be clear.
  
  All of that serves as metaphor for Eastern philosophical concepts of mindfulness, quiet mind, clarity and attachment to thoughts (my “reflections”).
  
  Where my mind comes into it is a bit more subtle. I am fairly convinced my best ideas and words come not from my mind, but somewhere … other. One wise friend refers to it as channeling the wisdom of the ancients.
  
  I am beginning to think of my body as an antenna tunable to that wisdom, and my mind a bit of firmware that converts the signals received to words and concepts. The experiences held in my memory, the way of thinking performed by my mind, these inflect (define the fidelity) of what words find their way to the page.
  
  In that sense, perhaps a photograph sets the wisdom radio that is me to a particular frequency?
  
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    Serendipitous Web Life. : ) on December 27, 2016 at 11:12 am
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    That is such a wonderful response-I am so glad that I asked! My appreciation for trying to help me understand. I certainly believe the line between the physical and the spiritual is as tiny as we allow it to be. It appears you look for the spiritual in all the beauty around you, which is rare. : ). I will meditate in this…
    in the meantime, you brought a smile! : )
    
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    - 4
      
      Patrick Jennings on January 3, 2017 at 6:29 am
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      <smile> I’m glad you asked too… I learned a lot in the reflections required to write it.
      
      I try to look for the beauty and spirituality in everything. Most of the time, it’s not too difficult to find. But sometimes…
      
      “To a practitioner of Tendai, everything is wonderful.” ~ Saicho, founder of Tendai Buddhist sect in Japan
      
      This quote and the work of Byron Katie (esp. “A Thousand Names for Joy”) are particularly inspirational when having a hard time finding beauty or spirituality. =)
      
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5

Patrick Jennings on December 27, 2016 at 8:21 pm
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<smile> Thanks! I’m glad this has been insightful for you.

I am learning to look for the spiritual in everything.

Everything is spiritual. We think we are the radio — the antenna, and the firmware. But we are the signal. What we think of ourselves as individuals — the radio — just provides a means for manifesting one expression of it.

Or something like that. ; )

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