Once you begin to open your mind, there’s no way you can close it.
A simple seeker was meditating on the powerful symbolism
of the Tree of Life. It suddenly seemed to almost overpower
her with a feeling of intense devotion, when respect and
reverence were her usual spiritual limits.
Had they been self-imposed limits?
How could that possibly be?
Resistance.
To losing control?
Yes.
That’s possible, but, if it was then it would have been …
And still is?
But, it surely makes good sense to have at least a small
reservoir, or supply of …
Defensive mechanisms?
They do have survival value.
How can you explore the complexity of quality and intensity
of thoughts and emotions, and the ever-developing inter-
dependence between them, armed with …
Protection from them?
Not protection; distance.
How do they differ?
I explained that to you long ago. Once you begin to open
your mind, there’s no way you can close it.
Simple Seeker Society 
Hmmm … I have observed others attempt to close this opening over an entire lifetime! So much wasted energy, when why not press ahead. I’ve always been far too curious to shut anything down. 😉
Dear Bela, Yes, I agree that is does prove to be wasted energy, or is it? Sometimes we must stall for time, to consider the price of going further along the path that we instinctively know we must follow. And, yet, there are times the journey seems to demand (more or less forcefully, at times) that we let go of what’s holding us back. I want it all, and, Spirit has been patient with me, up to a point. And, then, my world falls apart; the bridge behind me has blown up, and I seem to have no choice but to move forward. The Saboteuur? Perhaps, but at such times I can feel Spirit’s energy, smugly suggesting that we should move forward. I wanted to choose to move in my own time, of my own free will. Is that asking too much? It must be. Free will, Spirit tells me, has its place, but he won’t tell me where it is.
Jean, I was referring more to people who pathologically attempt to shut down the gap that once leaked through ‘The Knowing.’ My mother, as an example, knew the multifold path to truth, but it did not accommodate the earthly lifestyle she had accustomed herself to. Instead, she spent most of her long life on tranquilizers, attempting to thwart her own emergence. I once thought it sad, but now I know it was simply her choice, not mine to enforce upon her.
Surely we have all made adjustments, sacrifices, small deals with the Devil, if you will. No judgment – I certainly have participated in my own learning curve. And it is a dance, as your words infer to me (forgive me if I misconstrue). Yet there is ever momentum that carries the Seeker further into the spiral, whether it takes bridges blowing up or simple shifts in perspective (or both!).
Wishing you all the best on your quest, and sending you Aloha from these islands!
Dear Bela, Thank you for taking the time (and much more) to focus on possible meaning(s) in what you read. That, in itself, is a precious gift that requires courage to accept the challenge of. Yes, there people in our lives who seem to have connected, at least intellectually, and they must be aware of the impossibility of complete separation of intellect from emotion and an upward pull to integration (Balance, on the central Pillar of Consciousness of The Kabbalah Tree of Life, with intellect a little lower and to the left. Passion is to the right, and level with Intellect. These two connect to each other and must learn to harmonize their unique energies, and the process, pulls them each upward, to balance (and peace). I had a brother who was, intellectually, much superior to me, in many ways. I envied his analytical mind. We shared a belief in the oneness of life and the essential non-existence of death. And yet, he clung fiercely to physical survival even while his body … Also, in so many ways he did not follow the Eightfold Path. He seemed to live a life that denied what he claimed to believe. We need people like that in our lives. It may force us to face our own possible hypocrisies. I love your expressing the possible, more gentle path of simple shifts in perspective. For whatever reason, Destiny, or Fate, or the two throwing dice (Thomas Hardy) to decide which path was for me, chose the way of struggle and loss.
I do wish I had your poetic skills.
.