What we want:
Moments
Of lucidity
Or better yet: of crystal clarity
Rare are those moments
And thoroughly hidden
Searching hardly
Pays off, but
Finding does
The art is to live
So that it comes to pass
That clarity, now and then
by Martin Bril
translated from Dutch by Kristine
This poem, by the Dutch writer and poet Martin Bril, has been hanging in my mum’s bathroom for years, and when I was looking for a poem with the theme of ‘clarity’, it came to mind. But in Dutch of course! So this is my attempt at translating it, which of course is harder than it seems…
It’s always struck a chord with me, that sense of finding rather than searching for, and creating the conditions rather than engineering the thing itself. It reminds me of Rob Nairn’s instructions for meditation: a bit like letting yourself fall asleep, not trying too hard because that only makes it more illusive.
I remember a teaching he gave on Holy Isle, where one participant, a well-spoken English gentleman, asked a question about what he called ‘actual meditation’, which I think we could translated as ‘moments of crystal clarity’. What enabled it to happen? Rob started to speak and then turned the question back to the gentleman, what did he think it was enabled by? “The grace of God”, said he without missing a beat, and for once the ever eloquent Rob only nodded.
The art is to live so that it comes to pass…
PS … but we can help the chances of that happening through training in mindfulness! There’s a new course in-depth course for beginners or refreshers starting soon…
Photo by Katherine McCormack on Unsplash