May 6th

Metaphor

Spirituality is
Applied poetry.
Metaphysics is
Applied metaphor.

All the methods that we have for knowing Tao came from observing the outside world and then applying it to the human dilemma. In the past, the body was seen as a microcosm of the universe, spiritual energy was compared to the sun, the duality of the body was matched to the duality of day and night, the habits of animals were copied for their innate wisdom, and the psychic centers of the body were imagined as opening flowers. Even if we apply these ideas today, they yield results.Metaphor is essentially a way to shape thoughts. The insights of poetry can often guide us out of our problems; the imagery of an opening flower is often used in meditation. Yet poetry is only a sensation of the mind and there is no opening flower inside of us. Human beings take objective reality and absorb it partially through a poetry of the mind. Without this, there could be no sense of humor, no creativity, and no spirituality. For until we make the connection between all things, we have no way out of the isolation that often infects us.

Personal Interpretation


When in doubt we have always looked to Nature for the answers. It is a practice that continues today. The psychic centers of the body are envisioned as opening flowers, the sun as the symbol for the spiritual energy that fills our forms. Poetry is the result of Nature's impact upon our minds and hearts, and our imagining of reality is often poetic. None of us see the same world, not entirely. Rather, the way in which we interact with our world and the correlations we create in our quest for understanding determine reality for each of us. To be otherwise is to be isolated, and that does not seem to be in our natures.