Tag: Mark Nepo

Zen and the Art of Listening.

[blockquote source=”Mark Nepo”]”“The exquisite risk is a doorway that lets us experience the extraordinary in the ordinary.”[/blockquote]

In his book, The Exquisite Risk, Mark Nepo tells the story of a dear friend who began to slowly lose her sense of hearing. With each conversation she found herself straining to hear all the words, until one day – she began to ‘listen’ in an entirely new way. Leaning in, she could see the subtle changes in body movement and gesture, the delightful warmth of those ‘smiling eyes’ – and, more importantly, she began to see the ‘face behind the face.’

Suddenly, a whole new world revealed itself to her – and, through the guise, and blessing, of this ‘disability.’

Ironically, it was through the loss of her senses that she ultimately gained awareness.

There’s an important question to be asked here, that is – how do we remain open to our pain, “to make our way through the drama of our bleeding to the stripping of our will, through the tensions of our suffering to the humility of surrender where we might learn the ordinary art of living at the pace of what is real.”

In other words, how do we begin to listen to that which truly matters? To slow down, and experience this life at the pace at which it was intended?

“We don’t have to go far to know this,” Nepo observes. “For our suffering quickly breaks down what we think we know and have to say into a more authentic and humble taste of being and feeling.”

Whether through illness or injury or the myriad of life’s circumstances—inevitably, we will face our greatest challenge yet:

To struggle through complacency or risk being new.

“For being human, we remember and forget. We stray and return, fall down and get up, and cling and let go, again and again. But it is this straying and returning that makes life interesting, this clinging and letting go—damned as it is—that exercises the heart.” – Mark Nepo

Indeed, it is only through this exercise of heart—that we may begin awaken that which has been with us all along; that is, the true spirit of the bodhisattva warrior.

And, did you know that when you’re still enough you can finally hear your heart’s truest whisper?

Softening to the Way.

I was reading a poem this morning, entitled The Epic of Gilgamesh. Written nearly four thousand years ago, it’s teachings are still relevant today – timeless in their ability to remind us of just what it means to be human.

“Gilgamesh, whither are you wandering? Life, which you look for, you will never find.”

The story begins with an introduction to Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk – born two-thirds god, and one third man. As a ruler, Gilgamesh was an invincible tyrant – cruel beyond all measure. He lorded over his subjects, causing them insufferable hardship and pain.

When the gods learned of his subjects’ pleadings, they created the wild man, Enkidu – perhaps, in hopes of keeping the mighty Gilgamesh ‘in check.’

Outraged by these stories of savagery and excess, Enkidu travels to Uruk to challenge him – certain that no one, not even the mighty Gilgamesh, could defeat him.

The two men engage in a heated battle, until Gilgamesh finally emerges victorious. As the story is told, Enkidu concedes to Gilgamesh – and, the two become inseparable friends.

Until the day when Enkidu takes ill.  When he finally dies, Gilgamesh is heartbroken.

It is the first time he has faced the reality of being human.

In his arrogance, Gilgamesh demands to see The Immortal One – wishing only to bring his dear friend back to life. A seer provides Gilgamesh with his vision – that of a long journey, with secret stones laid carefully along his path to guide him. The stones were to be provided to the ferryman for his voyage, but – when Gilgamesh stumbles on the stones, he smashes them in anger. When he is asked for the stones, he has nothing to give – a metaphor for the very way in which he had lived his life. That is to say,

We often break that which we need most of all.

A brilliant summary of the tale occurs in Mark Nepo’s book, “The Book of Awakening” in which he offers,

“In his blindness of heart he broke everything he needed to discover his way. With the same confusion, we too break what we need, push away those we love, and isolate ourselves when we need to be held most.”

Indeed, in my own life – I can recall countless tales of my own confusion. And, as Mark so eloquently desribes, “in the frenzy of my own isolation, like Gilgamesh, I have smashed the very window I was trying to open.”

When Gilgamesh returns to the city, he is empty handed but full of heart.

You see, my darlings – in the end, it’s always the journey which softens us to fear.

“Gilgamesh, fill your belly. Day and night make merry. Let days be full of joy, dance and make music day and night. Look at the child that is holding your hand, and let your wife delight in your embrace. These things alone are the concern of men.”

My goodness, what a most beautiful reminder…we live, we breathe, we bend, we break…but, we always seem to find our way back to center, once again.

 

 

The Art of Bodhisattva Listening.

[blockquote source=”Mark Nepo”]”“The exquisite risk is a doorway that lets us experience the extraordinary in the ordinary.”[/blockquote]

In his book, The Exquisite Risk, Mark Nepo tells the story of a dear friend who began to slowly lose her sense of hearing. With each conversation she found herself straining to hear all the words, until one day – she began to ‘listen’ in an entirely new way. Leaning in, she could see the subtle changes in body movement and gesture, the delightful warmth of those ‘smiling eyes’ – and, more importantly, she began to see the ‘face behind the face.’

Suddenly, a whole new world revealed itself to her – and, through the guise, and blessing, of this ‘disability.’

Ironically, it was through the loss of her senses that she ultimately gained awareness.

There’s an important question to be asked here, that is – how do we remain open to our pain, “to make our way through the drama of our bleeding to the stripping of our will, through the tensions of our suffering to the humility of surrender where we might learn the ordinary art of living at the pace of what is real.”

In other words, how do we begin to listen to that which truly matters? To slow down, and experience this life at the pace at which it was intended?

“We don’t have to go far to know this,” Nepo observes. “For our suffering quickly breaks down what we think we know and have to say into a more authentic and humble taste of being and feeling.”

Whether through illness or injury or the myriad of life’s circumstances—inevitably, we will face our greatest challenge yet:

To struggle through complacency or risk being new.

“For being human, we remember and forget. We stray and return, fall down and get up, and cling and let go, again and again. But it is this straying and returning that makes life interesting, this clinging and letting go—damned as it is—that exercises the heart.” – Mark Nepo

Indeed, it is only through this exercise of heart—that we may begin awaken that which has been with us all along; that is, the true spirit of the bodhisattva warrior.

And, did you know that when you’re still enough you can finally hear that heart whisper?