Everything Has To Go

Recently

“All of us are like eagles who have forgotten that we know how to fly. The teachings are reminding us who we are and what we can do. They help us notice that we’re in a nest with a lot of old food, excrement, and stale air. From when we were very young we’ve had this longing to see those mountains in the distance and experience that big sky and the vast ocean, but somehow we got trapped in our nest, just because we forgot that we knew how to fly.

We are like eagles, but we have on underwear and pants and shirt and socks and shoes and a hat and coat and boots and mittens and an iPod and dark glasses, and it occurs to us that we could experience that vast sky, but we’d better start taking off some of this stuff. So we take off the coat and the hat and its cold, but we know that we have to do it, and we teeter on the edge of the nest and take off. Then we find out for ourselves that everything has to go. You just can’t fly when you are wearing socks and shoes and coats and pants and underwear. Everything has to go.”

~ From The Pocket Pema Chodron
By Pema Chödrön

This entry was posted by } bird { on Friday, September 4th, 2009 at 6:16 am and is filed under blogalog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Comments

Victor Caballero says:

September 17, 2009 at 12:50 am

Beautiful, just beautiful. When I read this, my jaw dropped and I thought to myself “Holy Cow!”. I’d like to write my story about how the eagle impacts my life and how it relates to “Everything Has to Go”.
It’s a love affair – the eagle and I. For years I’ve been thinkin’ eagles. For the past year, I tend to spot anything in the sky that might resemble the eagle. I mostly spot falcons and turkey buzzards; I watch with mesmerization. I believe that my native ancestral spirits “guide me” through these experiences, cuz the “rush” of bearing witness to these great birds is indescribable. I believe there is a message in everything and for me, seeing the eagle is most profound.
This August while vacationing at Lake Anna, Virginia, I had the priviledge of seeing many North American Bald Eagles. They fly with such grace and power. These sightings were more bold and incredible than any video/photo I’ve ever seen! I first saw the Bald Eagle on a boat ride. Once spotted, it suddenly rotated it’s beautiful body, descend and dart into the water. I saw the splash through the trees and after further glance, saw the eagle flying away as it left the scene of it’s hunt. WOW! This made my heart beat fast and kept me feeling a sense of “awe” for hours. (Can this experience lead to another, grandfather? F***inA!)
Every other morning I’d go for a walk to the lake and swim. My ritual during my walk was one of giving thanks for the beautiful sky, the clean air, the bountiful trees, the perfect water…and then go for my swim. As I’m swimming along, I saw a bird Falcon/Eagle? dive into the water just 50 yards from where I was swimming. Oh, my God! I am truly having a moment of divinity. For that moment, I felt as one with all of my surroundings. BLISS! The eagle, it’s powerful, it’s graceiful, it’s free, it’s courageous, it’s wise, it’s spirited… it’s a hero.
Perhaps the eagle is here to help me/us remember. If the “stuff” is symbolic of our “self”, then that seems more appropriate to me. I have been known to resist change in my “self”. I have sat and waited to “fly”. Once I stop focusing on all that “stuff” and say “goodbye” to me, I fly. No more of the me that waits in the nest for the mountains to come to me. I am the Mountain. Dig.

Ms. Wakame says:

September 17, 2009 at 1:16 pm

Yes, you definitely are a mountain Victor.

Wow this comment is fantastic on so many levels. First off cheers for not commenting on the Facebook note.

I always knew you were extremely physically in tune but I had no idea you were this kind of thinker. I so regret not having hung out with you outside of the clinic setting when I lived in Austin, we’d have soooo much to talk about. Anyway, that’s not to say I won’t live in Austin again in the future – that place is always on my mind :)