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 Mason's
Meditations
If
you're looking for something to chew over, some thoughtful seeds
for mental cultivation, bookmark this page for Jeff Mason's fortnightly
meditations. To think in or take away...
Number
5. Having, Doing, Being
It
is hard to be a shadow flitting across the face of the sun and disappearing
from sight. This flight of life is slowed by Having and Doing, but
stopped by Being. Our need to acquire "things" and to surround ourselves
with mementos of the past is an attempt to Be someone, a person
with an identity and a history. We give ourselves a property qualification.
At the end of life all our possessions pass into other hands, just
as our Being itself passes into the memories of others.
To
seek one's Being in doing is more fulfilling and more true. Through
action we acquire skills instead of "things." These possessions
come to life not in the having but the doing itself. One becomes
an accountant, for example, by learning how to read and write, how
to handle numbers, how to analyze, judge and evaluate financial
data. It is by jumping through the appropriate hoops that accountants
receive their qualification, and similarly for other professionals
and skilled workers of all kinds.
Having
looks for Being in the past. Even dreams of making a fortune and
buying all kinds of "things" have a backward looking cast, since
the satisfaction that comes from possessions is always after he
fact. Doing looks for Being in the future, since actions have aims
that the actions are designed to bring about. Therefore, even though
we are more secure in our own abilities than in our material possessions,
we are not totally secure in either of them. Being is something
we wish to possess but never can attain completely while we are
alive. Sometimes, however, on a sunny or rainy day, when we least
expect it, something will appear that is so beautiful or sublime
that it takes our selves away. We forget our possessions and material
worries. We forget what we have to do. For a moment, time is put
away and we are left standing with the ground beneath our feet and
the sky over our heads. This may be as close to Being as we ever
get.
Mason's
Meditations will next be updated on February 1st 2001
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Previous
Meditations
4.
(1st January
2001)
3.
(15th December 2000)
2.
(1st December 2000)
1. (15th November
2000)
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