Butterflies
June 9th, 2010 → 4:00 pm @ Tom
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” (N. Hawthorne)
We begin this quest with persistent efforts to stay alert, refusing to roam in the maze of associative, unchecked thinking. This initial (and necessary) stage of effort can be compared to the caterpillar stage of the butterfly. Without this initial struggle, there can be no stirring up of dormant inner powers.
Just as the butterfly breaks free of the shell and flies, so intelligent effort gradually gives way to understanding. In the beginning, to quote author Vernon Howard, “We work hard because we don’t yet know enough to work easy.” The transition from hard to easy, therefore, is from effort to listening — from movement to catch the butterfly to receptivity that invites the butterfly, and when it alights, to cherish it.
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