Bright Day On The Water

Bright day on Beaver Creek.  Being on the water reminds of me of how we see.  The world is composed of five movements; earth, water, air, fire, and space.  Everything else is elaboration on these movements and added complexity to satisfy our longing for knowledge.  Of course we talk and think about science and the chemical elements with their atoms listed in the periodic table.  We say that objects and beings are composed of atoms that are subject to the laws of physics and chemistry, as if this explained what we see and do.  Even further in our conceptual cave, we talk about quantum physics and the particles that make up atoms, until reaching the ultimate particles.  Then finally we move into the space-time continuum and attempt a grand unified field theory of everything.  At the end of the day, we are still in a boat, paddling up the creek, with life but a dream.

In any event, what we see and respond to are the five movements.  So paddling on Beaver Creek through a sunlit afternoon actually immerses us in the theory of everything; spontaneously and all without effort.  We do not arrive at any conclusions about the nature of the universe and we are relaxed into the rhythm of sun sparkles and waves.  This is the reality that wave-particle theory of atoms and photons aspires to.  As we feel the imposed separation of subject and object that science assumes, there is a deep emotional reaction that yearns for understanding our source and meaning.  This source is wildness and the five movements; earth, water, air, fire, and space.  By actually thinking and creating art in the forms of the five movements, we may recognize our nature.  Consider the center of a wheel.  It is undefined, yet pervades all wheels.  The center is everywhere, undefined and pervasive.  We are like this center, moving through a dream world of perceptions and images that are spokes on a wheel which becomes organized by our movements.  Deconstruction will drive you crazy with endless details.  Reconstruction will set you free, whole again.

Posted by michael