Me and Mine

Good Morning,

I remember reading a story by Mark Twain back in high school, It was about horse traders in Russia. What made the tale stick out in my mind was the fact that the story was told from the horses points of view. In the horses minds they were involved in various relationships with the people in the story, some nurturing and some destructive, but they never saw themselves as owned. Only the humans thought they owned the horses. The same can be said for various people around the world and the relationships they have with the land. Many tribes never have the concept of owning the land they live off of, at least until settlers or colonists arrive and tell them they no longer can live and hunt on their ancestors land, because now it is "owned" by someone else.

Ownership or "me and mine" take many forms. Another form of this is that of "role" of "self-image." We imagine we have certain defined roles to play in our families, at work and in society in general. We have expectations about what it means to play these roles, and we limit our thoughts, words, and actions to conform to these concepts. living in this way prepares the foundation for great resentment, rigidity and potential disruption when we wake up and realize that the role we are playing, isn't what we want for our life.

We see everyday this type of concept in various extremes. people see themselves as an American, a son, a daughter, a buddhist, or a teacher. If this is all we identify with then we are freezing our actions into that role. We can't be open to experiences that in "my" mind or a "daughters" mind wouldn't have. We become trapped in the prison of ego: a claustrophobic place that admits very little opportunity for insight, for new understandings and healthy relationships. If we always live under our self constructed labels we may never realize who we really are. There is nothing wrong with perceiving each other and ourselves in this manner. The point is to recognize theses mental constructs rather than believing it all actually exists.

By not being open to the truth, that ultimately we can own nothing (not even our personalities), we spend our entire lives making meaningless gestures somewhere next door to reality. Who wants to go through life like that?

Have a good one and may you live all the days of your life!

Peace and Love, Jim