I’ve been reading ‘Stillness Speaks’ by Echart Tolle and almost every page makes me want to stop and think and write down what’s there.
Among many things he says is this – ‘Whatever you accept completely will take you to peace, including the acceptance that you cannot accept, that you are in resistance.’ Reading this made me think of Aung San Suu Kyi and her years of resistance and huge sacrifice. Perhaps you saw the interview with her at the weekend, if not you can watch it again here.She was also on the cover of the latest Amnesty magazine.
For me she is inspirational – without her example and her long years of imprisonment under house arrest it’s hard to imagine Burma’s transition to democracy – but she is also enigmatic and the price paid by her personally and her family, especially her sons is beyond anything I can imagine. I’ve been trying to think about all of this by writing and collaging…
sit in the forest of teak/hardwood, small/flowers
flower like bull-hoof / trampling the long grass/from within
wear yellow Paduak/ in your hair / spring blossoms
you the piano key, pewter vase, raw silk scarf, planters cooling
splinter like glass/in the cupped hands/of power
Some lines (not necessarily in order yet) from a poem.
Read more about human rights in Burma http://www.amnesty.org.uk/burmainfo
Hi Avril,
I wonder how people (like Aung San Suu Kyi) can live their whole lives is sacrifice? It is beyond my poor imaginings. I have not read Eckart Tolle’s “Stillness Speaks,” but what you’ve written of it interests me. Are you getting rain there? t is so dry and windy here in the mountains of CO – always the threat of wildfires. I am gardening, hiking, and (of course) reading. Enjoy your summer!
Hi Barb – yes we are getting endless rain – it’s really heavy and today was almost like winter. I’m managing to get the garden done in between downpours but everything is like a jungle – so no threat of fires here! I think you would like Eckhart Tolle it is very much about being present and living in the NOW – like you! Enjoy your summer too!
A x
What you write here makes me think what selfish lives we lead and how small are out problems and concerns compared with this. I like your collaging and your words. In some ways it makes me feel less than still, although I can see that she has grace and stillness in her, wx