Walk Softly Live Gently

Don’t know if anyone’s interested, but I found this a few years ago and thought to share it here during the Summer break. It might be fun to try. See explanation below.

I keep wondering

I keep wondering
about esoteric things

I keep wondering
about esoteric things
that may not matter

I keep wondering
about esoteric things
that may not matter
….unless they do

About this post; it’s called a nested meditation. It is usually done in a spontaneous way where you start the first line, perhaps a thought or idea and then repeat it adding a second line, repeat again with both lines then add a third and so on. I suppose you could add as many as you want though that would be tedious after a while. It is an interesting excercise. You never know what might come out of your head.

This can be done as a poetic excercise or a prayer/meditation type excercise, for instance you might take a short line from the Bible (or other book of scripture), perhaps Jesus saying….”Blessed are the meek” and run with that for awhile and see what insights might come. (A more complete explanation can be found below)

She said, I love you
She said, I love you
I said to myself, uh oh

She said, I love you
I said to myself, uh oh
then looked into her moist eyes

She said, I love you
I said to myself, uh oh
then looked into her moist eyes
my destiny sealed.

See Poetry Thursday for more poetics of all kinds

Thanks to all. Here is a more complete explanation for this practice for those who really want to try it: The Practice of Nested Meditations

Since the 76 nested meditations in Divinity in Disguise werepublished in 2003 (two of which are included in this essay), I’ve been asked many times how I write them. Many people are finding that the nested form is accessible and helps them move, in a few words, from surface observations or feelings into deeper layers of experience.
First, a few guidelines. There’s no need for every stanza to connect logically to the one before or after. Each stanza is its own separate meditation, as is apparent if you pause for a breath or two between stanzas in the two examples below.
Each stanza begins with the words from the prior stanza in the exact order and with the same spellings and line breaks. It might seem easier to allow oneself to rearrange words or use homonyms (e.g., soul and sole), but part of the magical feeling the nested form evokes comes from seeing that the exact words, in the same order, take us to such different places as a new line is added. The form brings delight in part because its tight structure — which would seem to straitjacket the writer — cannot prevent the piece from escaping to surprising enlightenment.
I honor you.

I honor you,
my soul.

I honor you,
my soul
companion, as you are.

I honor you,
my soul
companion, as you are
Divinity in disguise.

We are the strokes of life.

We are the strokes of life
upon you, a still-being.

We are the strokes of life
upon you, a still-being
painted masterpiece.

We are the strokes of life
upon you, a still-being
painted masterpiece
God is calling, “Claudia.”

The unexpected shifts characteristic of this form are achieved through changes in word meanings, punctuation, or inflection. The phrase “as you are” speaks its truth about unconditional acceptance in stanza three of the first example (left column), then surprises us as it takes honoring far beyond acceptance in the final line.
I use the acronym SCOPE to teach my method for writing nested meditations.
S how up with a pad of paper and a pen or pencil. The muse skips over your house if you’re not poised with pen in hand!

C alm your body, mind, and spirit with a few minutes of deep breathing.

O bserve your inner and outer world. Make note on paper of inner thoughts or feelings or outer perceptions (sights, sounds, smells). Let the flow be free.

P lay with one or more of the lines you wrote down in the step above. See if you can add another line that shifts the meaning in a surprising way. If not, rework the first line or choose another one to play with. Keep playing your way from stanza to stanza.

E njoy the enlightenment that often comes from such wordplay.

The SCOPE acronym also reminds us that this form can be used to zoom in on an experience (like a microscope) or zoom out for the big perspective (like a telescope). Either way, we can enjoy the enlightened awareness that comes through wordplay.