William Stafford is a poet whose writings I didn’t particularly know, until Matt Trinetti’s blog on Substack introduced me to this poem. I could see it – that highlight in bold is mine. It is the core of the poem.
Reminded me somehow about the work of W Carlos Williams, and Robert Frost.
The way it is – by William Stafford
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
That unbroken thread is the thought-leadership of the international Ramakrishna-Vivekananda movement. It seems to have spread across the world.
The vice president of that relatively young order of monks is coming to London on the 13th August – the following day, on 14th August 2024 there is a public meeting, starting at 10 am. Here is the flyer with its registration link.
Easy routes to it – Get on the Elizabeth line, from London and get off at Taplow – then share an uber with your friends to the Vedanta Centre, Blind Lane, Bourne End. A working monastery, with a meditation hall, and stunning gardens.
Or just walk up from the British Rail station at Bourne End off the Maidenhead line – nice brisk 25 minutes. Ruth Harris (Oxford Professor will be speaking too, on her book). If you can’t get there, join the meeting on Zoom. There is a zoom link to it on that registration page.
You might hear something that might lead you to live your life more deliberately. You know that saying by Thoreau:
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
There is always that danger. Are your sufferings and triumphs all that there is?