An Eagle Circles

An eagle circles
O’er river islands where shells
Once became buttons


Just down the hill is the grandmotherly Fox River. Undeterred by the height and mass of the hill she simply made a turn to the west for a mile, nicely detouring before returning south on her path to the sea. The detour is occupied by five islands, which at one time were a site where early white settlers gathered shells which they used as the raw material for the manufacture of buttons.

My daily walk through the woods gave rise to the sight of an eagle (or maybe a hawk) flying circles over the islands. I stopped, the entire better to see, but through which eyes?

The eye of flesh sees the river with its water and islands; and the creature overhead –the colors, the smells, and the earth pressing up and air pressing down. It, like the eagle or its prey, knows nothing of time. This eye is mostly instinctual and by definition pre-rational.

The eye of mind takes all that in and more. It sees the connections through time -the settlers of old harvesting shells, and the plastic buttons, zippers, and the myriad of connectors of this day –physical, emotional, and mental. It sees that the number five is symbol of mind. It sees that birds may symbolize spiritual forces, and that the circle of their flight in its perfect form is symbol of endless spirit too. This is the eye of the rational or thinking mind.

The eye of spirit takes in all that and reaches for that which is the same regardless of the passage of time –psychological, cultural, or geological. It’s the eye of the Eternal; it is clearly trans-rational and open to those insights that originate from beyond duality.

Each succedent eye is held within the other. Like this!

The river, like us in life, meets obstacles on the path to the sea. Being undeterred means taking up a practice. There are many. Here’s one that works for me.


Karmayoga

Each thing for it’s own
Sake and time, without reward.
Obvious, Unseen!