photos of god eros and rip van winkle
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. - Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.
William Wordsworth
Yes,Eros is very much on my mind these days,not because of Valentines Day coming up soon . By Eros,I do not really mean romantic love,coupling,erotica either.The kind of Eros I mean to speak of is always on my mind in some form.I am thinking about the Eros of our life force,of our prana,our creative potential,our motivation to live and to love.As I write of this I have to include romantic love ,erotica,but that is only a small part of the picture.
In my daily service work,I see many children,parents,siblings,extended family persons.A common suffering that I see is this type of hazy ubiquitous ennui,boredome,lack of motivation ,a sort of Rip Van Winkle state of slumber,isolation.I think often and much about what gives us joy ,how to be receptive to joy and the proliferation of joy.As a parent and one who works wtih parents and children ,I wonder why some with great hardships seem content,curious,proliferative and others not.I used to think it had to do with having a secure base from which to begin one's life as described in John Bowlby's work or having a secure attachment to a primary care giver early in life as in the work of Jane Ainsworth.I think all of that is crucially and critically necessary and our survival is dependent on these early attachment relationships,however that is only a precursor, prerequisite for the proliferation of joy.Our society today is in a state of major flux,the notion of a two parent partneship is tenuous.the notion of how an embryo is formed,be it in one's own womb,someone elses womb or a petri dish is now possible.whose genetic material we are composed of now has even greater possibilities than ever before.Our planet ,the oceans,the stratusphere are evolving transmuting before our eyes.things seem to be less permanent,I think the evolutionary cycle is palpable now and it can be unnerving .it seems that we humans are more than ever seeking out practices to help ground us through this eruptive time in the history of earth and humankind.
But ,one thing seems to me quite certain as I observe myself and others and especially those responsible for raising the next generation of human beings and that it is nearly impossible,implausible,improbable,not withstanding of a miracle to raise a happy person ,unless the child sees,feels senses breathes your happiness and passion about living.it is not sufficient to be responsible or kindly or wise or noble.,I believe a happy curious motivated child is a happy curious creative adult.this can only come about if we are seeking ,finetuning,re-examining,repolishing our own passions and actively pursue them.this can be difficult as it go against the grain of our end product and not process oriented society.Everyday of my life a parent complains to me of their child or adolescent's misguided
behavoirs,their lack of motivation.often I want to unmask myself and ask the parent ,guardian ,what are you passionate about ,what lights you up ,when was the last time you saw or felt effervescent beauty that it brought tears to your eyes and it made you cry and you allowed yourself to weep or laugh in gladness.I think the path of a just responsible life is necessary or we would perish,but to neglect the nourishment of our souls is a no less a form of death.I think we need to refind ourselves and listen carefully to that quiet whisper that tells us to experiment ,take risks and go against the grain to prevent the calamity of an unlived, unrequited life.when a child remembers the glint of joy in your eyes ,your smile ,the sparkling moments of your life,they will naturally embrace and proliferate joy.
Bindi ,a yoga teacher of mine once told me of her yoga teacher Gwendelyn who was a woman in her seventies who practiiced ashtanga yoga and ocean surfing.Bindi told me that Gwen died while surfing in the Indian Ocean.Bindi seemed wistful ,but there was a glint of remembered passion that carries on and on ....if a child ,person grows in the presence of our own glow,it will and is the only air they know to breath.On this grey wintery february afternoon ,dearest readers and friends,may the air you breathe be filled with glowing joy and .....Eros
from Wikipedia,
Eros in Plato's philosophy
Plato refined his own definition. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself. Plato does not talk of physical attraction as a necessary part of love, hence the use of the word platonic to mean, "without physical attraction". Plato also said Eros helps the soul recall knowledge of beauty, and contributes to an understanding of spiritual truth. Lovers and philosophers are all inspired to tell the truth by eros, the god of love. The most famous ancient work on the subject of eros isPlato's Symposium, a dialogue among seven men (including Alcibiades), reclining in a Greek symposium, in which Socrates reveals his knowledge about the nature of eros, inspired by the teaching of Diotima of Mantinea. Eros, in the Socratic logos, can be defined as the longing for wholeness or completeness, a daemon whose aim is to reach the knowledge without ever owning her and is used to describe fulfillment between man/woman and man/Gods.
Plato considers eros to be philosophy, the love or desire of knowledge. Knowledge is the greatest of virtues and eros is the desire for the greatest of goods. Eros is therefore the desire for knowledge. Philosophy literally translates to a love of knowledge. It is important to note that Plato does not suggest that love must be for something physically "beautiful". In fact the greatest of goods will be eternal and physical beauty is in no way eternal. Yet, to achieve possession of the beloved's inner beauty and goodness will fulfill their need and emptiness to produce happiness. Happiness is the experience of knowing that your are participating in the good.[11]
Thomas Jay Oord defines eros as intentional response to promote overall well-being by enhancing or appreciating what is valuable or good.
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