Ruth D picked me for this meme:
1. Grab the nearest book of 123 pages or more.
2. Open it to page 123.
3. Find the first 5 sentences and write them down.
4. Then invite 5 friends to do the same.
So I picked up Doubt and Certainty edited by Tony Rothman and George Sudarshan. The first five full sentences on page 123 are...
"At the time of self realization
at the moment of insight
arises the conviction truly
that you are, in essence, the World.
Many of us have had such experiences when, after long study, we suddenly understand a difficult problem in mathematics, or when embarking on a novel the structure suddenly materializes and the story, like a landscape, unfolds before you. At such moments the ego dissolves and there truly arises the conviction that you are, in essence, the World.
In the Upanishads, moments of illumination are associated with waking from the state of dreamless sleep into a fourth, superconscious state - turya. Here the "I" dissolves into union with the atman, the universal Self, the Brahman."
So there you have it.
What are you reading, Meggie, Barbara, Roberta, Frankie, Dave?
5 comments:
You sure ran into some great lines, Pauline...
That contemplative or "mystical" thread is there in all the world's major religious traditions. I believe that the essence of genuine spirituality is identity transformation that runs in just this direction.
"Transformation" is in a way a funny word for it. While change and even radical change is involved, I think it's fundamentally a matter of connecting more closely to what is implicit at us at our best all along.
I was fine til I got to the last sentence then it all fell apart for me!
I recently did this page 123 thing, but the rules seem to have changed! When I did it I had to dismiss the first 3 sentences and post the following 5! Or was it the other way round? Anyway I'd love you to read it. If you click on my name it should - in theory - transport yo there!
I have recently done this too, a little different certianly, but I might give it another go.
It might get me started again.
I seem to be in paralysis.
pauline, right now I’m reading Dostoyevsky’s “The Idiot”. When I checked the first five sentences from page 123, the words “absurd and tyrannical” are part of that text, and the content is “absurd and tyrannical” as well. Totally unsuitable for a light-hearted meme.
So I offer, instead, p. 123 of my ancient cookbook that I tend to peruse often. The subject is “EGGS”. That leaves this odd bit to contemplate –
“It is a good plan in testing new laid eggs to apply the tongue to the large end of the egg, and if perfectly fresh will feel warm, or they can be held to the light and if perfectly clear will be good; or try them in water – the freshest will sink first. Always keep them in a cool place.
It is said that covering eggs with a solution of beeswax in warm olive oil (one-third beeswax, two-thirds olive oil) will keep them fresh for two years.”
-- The Dominion Cook Book, 1899.
P.S. YUK...And so I laugh and wonder if the bigger end of the egg is cleaner than the other end?
Ha! What a cool idea!! I'm at a coffee shop right now with no book by my side (strange, I know). I'll have to do this when I get home!! Thanks for the tag :) xoxo
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