How To Fall In Love With A Rock

[Guest guest]

What a lovely, inspiring story, Bret!

 

My feeling is that, while you became enamored with a rock, the object

of your love might just as well have been a butterfly, a sock, a spare

tire, a flower, or a traffic light. The rock in this story seems to

stand for a fragment of the all that is. The rock just happened to be

on your path that day, but any other object would have induced the

same reaction. It seems to me that it's the unity of all things that

you actually experienced. The love for everything, and the selfish

possession of nothing.

 

It's good to have you back!

 

Sel

 

, Bret Arenson

<bretarenson wrote:

>

> Hello The All-

>

> I haven't posted for quite a while but I think I need to write about

> this. As of late the change of perception which turns my surroundings

> into a magical land full of detail, vibrancy and association has been

> coming almost everyday with moderate duration at the least. In this

> situation I believe my task here is to relax and observe, not get to

> excited about the occurrence, be a detached but attentive witness. It

> is remains to be mostly a spontaneous happening which I can elicit it

> to a degree, but not consistently to the highest plateau it can take

> me too.

>

> Last Sunday I went with my friend to a drum circle in the redwoods, a

> regular gathering for the folks in the area. After sitting in the

> circle for a while, clapping rhythms to the drumming, I decided to

> take a short walk. I had already been already feeling the edge of

> the excitation I described above above and wanted to take a look

> around. I found a trail that took me around some trees to a secluded

> spot on a small sloping hill in the sun. I began to observe my

> surroundings and to feel the change coming in me. Next to the trail

> there was a nice rock formation protruding from the ground which I

> decided to stand next to. There I began to concentrate more on my

> body and surroundings to elicit the experience even more. Soon I was

> standing with bent knees while intense kryias were racking my body. I

> was feeling the intensity of the exicitation as it was running

> through me. This is not something unknown to me, but I was taking the

> time to bring it on as fully as possible in a natural environment

> which I don't remember ever doing before.

>

> After a short while I decided to return to the group. I was already

> conscious of the fact that someone might come up the trail and see

> what I was doing so I was already feeling conspicuous. but I wanted

> to keep the feeling in my body while returning to the group so took

> my time going back so that I could. I walked at a moderate pace

> stopping at times to overcome my self-consciousness as it came while

> approaching the group. It came to mind that there was something I was

> carrying on my back the way the sensation felt from the hips up the

> spine to the shoulders and head. I played with the idea of that I was

> bringing back what I had found to the gathering.

>

> Soon enough I was back at the circle with the excitation well enough

> in form. I didn't know what to do with myself at first but noticed a

> standing woman next to me who was shaking. She seemed like she could

> have been having kryias as well but possibly it was a ritual exercise

> of some sort. In any case it allowed me to let go of my self-

> consiousness and to concentrate again. I was looking about the people

> in the circle and letting it come on while trying to relax, not

> shaking so much but pacing a bit and allowing it all to grip me. My

> vision was definitely enhanced and all looked particularly beautiful

> and intriguing to me. Eventually the excitation was such that I began

> to shed tears at what I saw before me, relaxing to let them flow

> naturally.

>

> Everything around me in all direction was vivid and intricate. I

> looked at the ground and decided to pick up a grey colored rock about

> the size of my fist. If everything was so amazing to me then this

> ordinary rock would have to be too and so I wanted to investigate it.

> After I picked it up I began to roll it in my hands looking at it. It

> became the most beautiful thing there turning in my hands. I was

> filled with awe and began to sob and shed tears stronger than before.

> I began to feel a great connection to the rock and although I didn't

> think of this at the time but it seems that it became my beloved.

> Soon I thought of putting it back on the ground but also felt that I

> needed it near me. But knowing it was a rock I thought it best to

> just let it go and dropped it back to the ground. I then sat in the

> circle for a bit witnessing all that was happening and then walked

> around the group a short ways. I had paternal feeling for the

> participants that somehow they all belonged to me in a way.

>

> Now I am trying to be cool about this all as that is my main

> directive, but, as intense as it was, I cannot help but think what

> falling in love with a rock can mean for me? What does this

> experience say about all my efforts and desires of procurement and

> all my struggling for the avoidance of suffering which all come back

> to me soon enough? What is there that I can bring from the one side

> to the other to inform me on a better way of living? Or is there a

> lesson like this here to be found at all? If falling in love with a

> rock is absurd then what in our lives would not be absurd? Should I

> try to cultivate this again? And to what purpose? Should I in the

> future be nervous when I am with my lady friend while passing a rock

> for fear that she will become jealous? Certainly it is a long path

> from the ecstatic to the normative. It is one I am becoming more

> familiar with, despite all the questions .

>

> Reasonably I can make no decision here. But when I think of it

> intuitively I hear that this is about stewardship, taking care of

> others, the other. I am not sure how falling in love with a rock

> logically leads to this but that is what I am hearing and maybe I

> will learn more later.

>

> However, as a last note, I think the best lesson already learned was

> allowing the rock to drop back to the ground.

>

> Love Bret

>

>

[Guest guest]

Oh, Bret! How beautiful! I'm right there with you at this drumming

circle (I love those too, in fact going to one at a friend's house

Sat.!!!) And I've been to the redwood and sequoia forests so totally

see them in my mind.

 

I have felt something like love for a rock, a tree, a plant, a hill, a

bird. Something about it resonates strongly with me. Not speaking to me

in words but in feelings, it becomes a part of me. Yes, I've been in

love with a few rocks. I brought some of them home with me, at great

inconvenience (mostly to my husband, who carried them! LOL) But your

lesson of letting it go is a step beyond what I've been able to do so

far. A good one!

 

Thank you for letting us be there with you in spirit. What a special

thing!

Love,

Valarie

[Guest guest]

Hi Selena-

 

Thanks for reading. Yes, you are right, the choice was pretty indiscriminate. I

think it was

the focus I afforded to it that made the distinction. But it also makes me think

about the

distinctions I make in my everyday affections and how in they are so different

from this

indiscriminate distinction which is not based on quality or circumstance of the

object. Not

to say everyday distinctions in affection are bad, just very different.

 

Be Well-

 

Bret

 

, " selena255 " <selena

wrote:

>

> What a lovely, inspiring story, Bret!

>

> My feeling is that, while you became enamored with a rock, the object

> of your love might just as well have been a butterfly, a sock, a spare

> tire, a flower, or a traffic light. The rock in this story seems to

> stand for a fragment of the all that is. The rock just happened to be

> on your path that day, but any other object would have induced the

> same reaction. It seems to me that it's the unity of all things that

> you actually experienced. The love for everything, and the selfish

> possession of nothing.

>

> It's good to have you back!

>

> Sel

>

> , Bret Arenson

> <bretarenson@> wrote:

> >

> > Hello The All-

> >

> > I haven't posted for quite a while but I think I need to write about

> > this. As of late the change of perception which turns my surroundings

> > into a magical land full of detail, vibrancy and association has been

> > coming almost everyday with moderate duration at the least. In this

> > situation I believe my task here is to relax and observe, not get to

> > excited about the occurrence, be a detached but attentive witness. It

> > is remains to be mostly a spontaneous happening which I can elicit it

> > to a degree, but not consistently to the highest plateau it can take

> > me too.

> >

> > Last Sunday I went with my friend to a drum circle in the redwoods, a

> > regular gathering for the folks in the area. After sitting in the

> > circle for a while, clapping rhythms to the drumming, I decided to

> > take a short walk. I had already been already feeling the edge of

> > the excitation I described above above and wanted to take a look

> > around. I found a trail that took me around some trees to a secluded

> > spot on a small sloping hill in the sun. I began to observe my

> > surroundings and to feel the change coming in me. Next to the trail

> > there was a nice rock formation protruding from the ground which I

> > decided to stand next to. There I began to concentrate more on my

> > body and surroundings to elicit the experience even more. Soon I was

> > standing with bent knees while intense kryias were racking my body. I

> > was feeling the intensity of the exicitation as it was running

> > through me. This is not something unknown to me, but I was taking the

> > time to bring it on as fully as possible in a natural environment

> > which I don't remember ever doing before.

> >

> > After a short while I decided to return to the group. I was already

> > conscious of the fact that someone might come up the trail and see

> > what I was doing so I was already feeling conspicuous. but I wanted

> > to keep the feeling in my body while returning to the group so took

> > my time going back so that I could. I walked at a moderate pace

> > stopping at times to overcome my self-consciousness as it came while

> > approaching the group. It came to mind that there was something I was

> > carrying on my back the way the sensation felt from the hips up the

> > spine to the shoulders and head. I played with the idea of that I was

> > bringing back what I had found to the gathering.

> >

> > Soon enough I was back at the circle with the excitation well enough

> > in form. I didn't know what to do with myself at first but noticed a

> > standing woman next to me who was shaking. She seemed like she could

> > have been having kryias as well but possibly it was a ritual exercise

> > of some sort. In any case it allowed me to let go of my self-

> > consiousness and to concentrate again. I was looking about the people

> > in the circle and letting it come on while trying to relax, not

> > shaking so much but pacing a bit and allowing it all to grip me. My

> > vision was definitely enhanced and all looked particularly beautiful

> > and intriguing to me. Eventually the excitation was such that I began

> > to shed tears at what I saw before me, relaxing to let them flow

> > naturally.

> >

> > Everything around me in all direction was vivid and intricate. I

> > looked at the ground and decided to pick up a grey colored rock about

> > the size of my fist. If everything was so amazing to me then this

> > ordinary rock would have to be too and so I wanted to investigate it.

> > After I picked it up I began to roll it in my hands looking at it. It

> > became the most beautiful thing there turning in my hands. I was

> > filled with awe and began to sob and shed tears stronger than before.

> > I began to feel a great connection to the rock and although I didn't

> > think of this at the time but it seems that it became my beloved.

> > Soon I thought of putting it back on the ground but also felt that I

> > needed it near me. But knowing it was a rock I thought it best to

> > just let it go and dropped it back to the ground. I then sat in the

> > circle for a bit witnessing all that was happening and then walked

> > around the group a short ways. I had paternal feeling for the

> > participants that somehow they all belonged to me in a way.

> >

> > Now I am trying to be cool about this all as that is my main

> > directive, but, as intense as it was, I cannot help but think what

> > falling in love with a rock can mean for me? What does this

> > experience say about all my efforts and desires of procurement and

> > all my struggling for the avoidance of suffering which all come back

> > to me soon enough? What is there that I can bring from the one side

> > to the other to inform me on a better way of living? Or is there a

> > lesson like this here to be found at all? If falling in love with a

> > rock is absurd then what in our lives would not be absurd? Should I

> > try to cultivate this again? And to what purpose? Should I in the

> > future be nervous when I am with my lady friend while passing a rock

> > for fear that she will become jealous? Certainly it is a long path

> > from the ecstatic to the normative. It is one I am becoming more

> > familiar with, despite all the questions .

> >

> > Reasonably I can make no decision here. But when I think of it

> > intuitively I hear that this is about stewardship, taking care of

> > others, the other. I am not sure how falling in love with a rock

> > logically leads to this but that is what I am hearing and maybe I

> > will learn more later.

> >

> > However, as a last note, I think the best lesson already learned was

> > allowing the rock to drop back to the ground.

> >

> > Love Bret

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Hi Valerie-

 

I hope those rocks you collected look good in your house. As beautiful as this

was one to

me in the moment I think it really belonged back on the ground. The decorative

part, the

paying homage, was in our interaction. Maybe it saw me as beautiful as well, in

the

moment, but I don't think it would want me there with it on the ground either. I

still have

the story though, and I suppose the rock still does too.

 

God Bless-

 

Bret

 

, " Valarie Vousden "

<vjvousden wrote:

>

> Oh, Bret! How beautiful! I'm right there with you at this drumming

> circle (I love those too, in fact going to one at a friend's house

> Sat.!!!) And I've been to the redwood and sequoia forests so totally

> see them in my mind.

>

> I have felt something like love for a rock, a tree, a plant, a hill, a

> bird. Something about it resonates strongly with me. Not speaking to me

> in words but in feelings, it becomes a part of me. Yes, I've been in

> love with a few rocks. I brought some of them home with me, at great

> inconvenience (mostly to my husband, who carried them! LOL) But your

> lesson of letting it go is a step beyond what I've been able to do so

> far. A good one!

>

> Thank you for letting us be there with you in spirit. What a special

> thing!

> Love,

> Valarie

>