Feed And Water The Plant...
I am just back from a visit to Kassiopi where I have been interviewing Nikos Tsirimiagos...
It was his idea that I write a running book... The seed was sown, and 'Encounters on the run' was conceived... As the weeks and months go by, we will see what springs forth, what is born....
At any conception, there is a space full of promise...
The mistake that can be made is to believe that once the idea, the person, the project is born that we are completely in charge of its journey and that we have control over its life...
It is the painful journey for many parents and children, the parents having an idea of which way the child might grow, where they might go... Which may not suit the child's essence one bit...
It is the same philosophy, when working in the lives of people...
Many years ago I was given a Buddist statement, this is not the exact quote, but it is the sentiment...
'Feed and water the plant, which way the plant grows is up to the plant... It is important not to let the mind interfere of believe it knows the direction of the plant, for this is the cause of much pain and suffering... If you work this way, whether it takes a lifetime, a hundred lifetimes or a thousand lifetimes your practice will be at peace...'
When I read these words,I knew that this was my own orientation, and the only way to work with people....
It seems the way to nourish all human beings, whether they be our child, our client, our friend, our lover, our colleague, our partner, our spouse...
However hard it can sometimes be to really practice... We do not know truly know the path another treads...
It is also a fluid way to allow an idea, or a creative project it's blossoming....
Once something is conceived it has its own life...
I am noticing this with 'Girlfriend for a year'.... It is out of my hands now, the book has its own life... My writing was crafted by Simon into wonderful shape, and now Emily is polishing it, enhancing it...
Once it has its flight time, and take off has happened, my book will belong to all who read it. It will be interpreted and received and shared in all manner of different ways....
I have witnessed Anadi create Imedialibrarysports over the past two years.... It has changed out of all recognition from the initial product... He has responded to the requests of those using the platform, and the service that has evolved, is something alive, and moving and ever expanding...
It seemingly has its own life, which Anadi is responding to rather than trying to control its direction....
It takes discipline to remain still and to go with the flow. Paradoxically it takes discipline to let go of control, and to respond to what is happening in each moment....
Discipline is a strange word as it has negative connotations - this is the definition I found of 'discipline'...
'The practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behaviour, using punishment to correct disobedience...'!
This doesn't sound great...!
Self discipline has a more position definition....
'Training and control of oneself and one's conduct, usually for personal improvement.'
For me the second one resonates within my own spiritual and life practice - the top one is what my teachers tried to impose on me...!
They tried to direct my course - within me was the desire always for self improvement... There could have been a meeting point, had they had been able to go with the flow with me.... Ha ha!
They might tell a different story....
My sister Rosy used to tell bed time stories to her children about the naughty antics of Auntie Julia when she was a little girl... !
My interview with Nikos...
During our conversation we established that in numerology terms we have the same birth number - 5 - which according to Dan Millman's life path numerology represents... 'Freedom within discipline...'
This resonated for Nikos, he has discovered freedom running in the mountains... And he believes that discipline over oneself gives you the freedom to do what really pleases you....
'If all comes from self discipline...'
This has been his lifelong philosophy, he doesn't remember ever being any different...
The orientation always been at the core of his being...
Nikos philosophy echoes my own orientation - a lifelong one too - and once more demonstrated to me how we will unconsciously been drawn to one another, through energetic similarities... Whether these are positives, or similar hurts and wounds, or recognising our disowned self being lived out in the mirror of someone else's life...
Relationship is the mirror in which we discover ourselves and can grow into all that we can possibly be...
