DETACHMENT OR ENGAGEMENT?

[Pravin Kumar]

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Detachment or Engagement?

Early exiting a very violent movie show,
By a well-meaning friend I was ‘corrected’,
Saying I should not let my reaction grow,
Just remain equanimous, not dejected.

But one watches a film to be entertained,
Not to sit in a state of detachment,
If the movie is abhorrent what is to be gained,
By enduring it through non-attachment?

Equanimity can result from renunciation,
By not fully engaging in worldly life,
And stilling thought by meditation,
So that one may avoid needless mental strife.

But that diminishes the potential of the body/mind,
As an instrument through which Consciousness may,
Enjoy and fully experience that which we ‘find’,
Sensations and thoughts which in Awareness display.

For Awareness is Consciousness at rest,
And manifestation is That in motion,
Thus every experience with which we are blessed,
Arise in and are witnessed by This Ocean.

So the attempt to remain in a ‘steady state’,
Rather than live spontaneously,
Does our usefulness greatly underrate,
And deny That life’s full variety.

Whereas, if one identifies with (and as) That,
This overcomes existential angst and fears,
Mind/body seen as just an ephemeral fact,
Thus unnecessary mental suffering disappears.

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From 'Poetry From The Happiness That Needs Nothing' inspired by a chapter of ''The Happiness That Needs Nothing". For more see comment on photo

COLIN DRAKE