Friends, to survive this threatening world and even before you dare to think about trying to change it, you need to create a fortress to which you can retreat when it becomes necessary, one in which you feel completely safe.
Now I’m not suggesting that you begin to build something similar to the one in the photograph (Neuschwanstein). A more modest fortress could be your own home or apartment, or a room therein. It could be a glade in a park or a flower garden or near the top of a tree or on a lonely beach. It could even be inside your own head.
I have two fortresses. One is on my veranda where there is an old, cane chair. This spot gets the early morning sun and it overlooks a garden. There is a statue of Buddha there and the insects and birds congregate. In the paddocks beyond, I often see kangaroos.
I feel warm and safe there because I can’t see any sign of other humans. There’s just me and nature and I feel part of it, part of its slow, patient rhythm.
The other involves meditation. Lying down where it’s quiet and darkish with my eyes closed, I imagine that I’m in an orange orchard. It’s warm and the fruit on the trees smells divine. I walk a little way then stop, breathing slowly and deeply.
Eventually I reach a set of stairs. At the bottom of them is a well. As I slowly descend the stairs, I cup one hand and, with each step, I put another worry into the cup. By the time I reach the bottom, all my worries are there. I throw them into the well and watch them fall until they disappear.
Beyond the well is a stone wall and in the wall is a stout door. I open the door. Inside is a room, one heavily fortified. It is filled with books and a fire burns in a hearth. I go in and lock the door. The room is warm and quiet and I feel perfectly safe. I luxuriate in the peace.
Of course, the images I have chosen can be changed to suit your own preferences. It’s a case of horses for courses!
Friends, see to your fortress. Make sure it is always there and that it is strong because the forces of darkness which fill the world will constantly test you, looking for a weakness.
i like the orange orchard bit; think i’ll try that for my next meditation session. i usually go to a lake i visit at which there are (usually) no other humans; just birds singing and the gentle lapping of the water at the edge of the lake.
the mind is a powerful entity that can re-visit (or visit for the first time) many places if we let ourselves relax for five minutes………………..
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Coco, it matter not what the images are as long as they transport you, relax you, empty your mind for a time of all the vexing issues that living throws at you.
I’m finding the chair in the sun works well at the moment but that’s because winter is coming and it’s so warm there in the early morning sun.
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Sounds like you have two beautiful spots to get away from the world.
For me it is my favorite beach, though that is mostly in my mind since I only get there one week a year. It is enough that I know I will see it again and get to spend a whole week with no connections to the real world and all the problems that world contains. Problems that seem everyday to get worse and worse!
Are we humans ever going to be able to create a real world that is even a tiny bit as nice for everyone as an imaginary one? We know the rich already live in such a world.
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David G Reply:
April 30th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Jeannie, the rich got rich because the poor got poorer! And the poor are poor because they are the non-thinking producers and consumers who support the capitalist system that the rich exploit. It’s a vicious cycle.
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