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| Topic: Wisdom of the caterpillar ... | |
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Philosophically, I have long used the symbolism of a butterfly to describe the ‘internal’ work of becoming human. Those moments of transformation and awareness that take us as individuals and as a collective to new levels of conscious living…
I have also long described this human ‘evolution’ – for lack of a better word – as a spiraling inward … a letting go of who we are not to reveal that which we have always been … After using this symbolism for most of my life, I did not fully embrace the most important parts… I envisioned a caterpillar cocooning … and a butterfly emerging … with some ‘stressors’ and ‘life shifting shapers‘ in the middle … …but upon reflection there is more to be learned from the middle … “A butterfly is not just a worm with wings” I heard someone say. It is a whole new creature so how does it get that way. I am no scientist and know that this is a much more complicated process but it is the metaphor that I am after … There is an attack on the cells and a wasting of the caterpillar begins. Typically we think of counter attack … fighting against such aggression … but there are cells … imaginal disks that do not respond under attack. They wait. And when enough of the caterpillar has been eroded, the attack subsides and only then do the imaginal disks become active…they hold the keys …the structure and DNA of a butterfly. Imaginal …imagin-ation … holding the key … These imaginal disks are nourished by the death of the caterpillar. The old literally has to die to make way for the new. It is not a shift … it is a death …and a resurrection… Perhaps that is why transformation can feel like such struggle or be elusive. We are wired to fight against or run in the face of aggression … It takes discipline to find the stillness when under attack … it takes faith to imagine without certainty … and it takes courage to die so that you may live … I am indebted to the wisdom of the caterpillar. |
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I would have to say the true wisdom of the caterpillar it that it doesn't try to reason its existence or purpose. It does not struggle to define itself. It simply is and transforms into what it is without question or resistance. It simply is what it is and what it needs to be. Nothing more than that IMO.
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Edited by
ArtGurl
on
Fri 12/05/08 10:58 AM
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I would have to say the true wisdom of the caterpillar it that it doesn't try to reason its existence or purpose. It does not struggle to define itself. It simply is and transforms into what it is without question or resistance. It simply is what it is and what it needs to be. Nothing more than that IMO.
I agree with you ... but being a mere human I must question for that is my nature... Maybe next time I can come back as a caterpillar ... 
Thank you 
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I would have to say the true wisdom of the caterpillar it that it doesn't try to reason its existence or purpose. It does not struggle to define itself. It simply is and transforms into what it is without question or resistance. It simply is what it is and what it needs to be. Nothing more than that IMO.
I agree with you ... but being a mere human I must question for that is my nature... Maybe next time I can come back as a caterpillar ...
< The Taoist in me speaking> with any luck and enough of my karma cleared i can enjoy being something less confused and whose existence is little more quiet and unassuming as a human. I was considering being a tree or a plant of some kind.. preferably one that is prickly, stubburn and very hard to get rid of...lol 
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I would have to say the true wisdom of the caterpillar it that it doesn't try to reason its existence or purpose. It does not struggle to define itself. It simply is and transforms into what it is without question or resistance. It simply is what it is and what it needs to be. Nothing more than that IMO.
I agree with you ... but being a mere human I must question for that is my nature... Maybe next time I can come back as a caterpillar ...
< The Taoist in me speaking> with any luck and enough of my karma cleared i can enjoy being something less confused and whose existence is little more quiet and unassuming as a human. I was considering being a tree or a plant of some kind.. preferably one that is prickly, stubburn and very hard to get rid of...lol
Were you thinking more along the lines of a cactus or sow thistle? 
I kinda like the idea of a dolphin myself ... smart, playful, and really cool back flips ...
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a wonderous place,,,
Butterflies, trees and dolphins,, Hmmmmm I kinda lean towards the tree,, strong yet weak,, rooted yet unrooted shy at times yet beams within the light a few bird droppings dont seem to bother me either,,, 
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do me a favor though if you become a dolphin.. before you all start singing so long and thanks for all the fish and take off for another world. Hang a bright towel on some completely cluesless cactus so i don't get vaporized when they demolish earth to make room for an interstellar bypass. I'll be the one with the all the tequila next to it...lol
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a wonderous place,,, Butterflies, trees and dolphins,, Hmmmmm I kinda lean towards the tree,, strong yet weak,, rooted yet unrooted shy at times yet beams within the light a few bird droppings dont seem to bother me either,,,
nuthin a little rain can't clean up ...
Welcome to this strange place ((mom))
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do me a favor though if you become a dolphin.. before you all start singing so long and thanks for all the fish and take off for another world. Hang a bright towel on some completely cluesless cactus so i don't get vaporized when they demolish earth to make room for an interstellar bypass. I'll be the one with the all the tequila next to it...lol
Ohhhhhhhhhh Priceless
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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this is a wonderous place,,, Butterflies, trees and dolphins,, Hmmmmm I kinda lean towards the tree,, strong yet weak,, rooted yet unrooted shy at times yet beams within the light a few bird droppings dont seem to bother me either,,,
nuthin a little rain can't clean up ...
Welcome to this strange place ((mom))
Strangeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Nope this is Home Rain,,, What a coin-inydink
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do me a favor though if you become a dolphin.. before you all start singing so long and thanks for all the fish and take off for another world. Hang a bright towel on some completely cluesless cactus so i don't get vaporized when they demolish earth to make room for an interstellar bypass. I'll be the one with the all the tequila next to it...lol
I like your imagination! 
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do me a favor though if you become a dolphin.. before you all start singing so long and thanks for all the fish and take off for another world. Hang a bright towel on some completely cluesless cactus so i don't get vaporized when they demolish earth to make room for an interstellar bypass. I'll be the one with the all the tequila next to it...lol
Like your Adam's reference. I tried Daoism once, but it was all too confusing to those around me. I couldn't explain what I was and when I tried to explain what I wasn't, all I received was a series of perplexed looks and a bunch of: "Yeah! That's cool." Since; I have taken up Anarchy and that seems to workout a lot better. People can to relate to it more easily and tend have more to say on the subject. It's definitly a conversation starter. 
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Edited by
Jess642
on
Fri 12/05/08 01:09 PM
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I think I am more of a moth...
One of my observations of this 'life script' that I dutifully played out for so long... was that by avoiding anything and everything that remotely sniffed of pain... I avoided, ducked and weaved from. As soon as the universe dropped the house on me, (after ignoring the gentle hints, and taps on the shoulder of life)... I grew... I strengthened, resilience became part of the who of me again... I remember who I might be. A moth.
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I think I am more of a moth...
One of my observations of this 'life script' that I dutifully played out for so long... was that by avoiding anything and everything that remotely sniffed of pain... I avoided, ducked and weaved from. As soon as the universe dropped the house on me, (after ignoring the gentle hints, and taps on the shoulder of life)... I grew... I strengthened, resilience became part of the who of me again... I remember who I might be. A moth.
isn't it moths that like to fly too close to the flame?
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*****waving frantically at singed wings*****
errrr......maybe... 
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Edited by
Maikuru
on
Fri 12/05/08 01:24 PM
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do me a favor though if you become a dolphin.. before you all start singing so long and thanks for all the fish and take off for another world. Hang a bright towel on some completely cluesless cactus so i don't get vaporized when they demolish earth to make room for an interstellar bypass. I'll be the one with the all the tequila next to it...lol
Like your Adam's reference. I tried Daoism once, but it was all too confusing to those around me. I couldn't explain what I was and when I tried to explain what I wasn't, all I received was a series of perplexed looks and a bunch of: "Yeah! That's cool." Since; I have taken up Anarchy and that seems to workout a lot better. People can to relate to it more easily and tend have more to say on the subject. It's definitly a conversation starter.
Yeah i can totally relate. I just got through giving a lengthy attempt at an explaination of it and how i in incoporate it into my thinking and beliefs on the 60 absolute proofs that god exists thread. I am pretty sure alot of people are going what the HUH!! or that i am responsible for some poor person having a stroke, oh well more bad karma....i geuss, As much i got already racked on me in this go around. Diabetic, have seizures and i am stuck living in a nursing home. I don't want to even imagine what karmic wheels brought that upon me. None the less despite my best efforts what Lao-tzu said is true, Those who say do not know and those who know do not say. NOt becuase they don't want to say, its just their smart enough to know that its pointless to try...lol. I just keep trying hoping someone out their understands what i am trying say but failing miserably at..lol |
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I think I am more of a moth...
One of my observations of this 'life script' that I dutifully played out for so long... was that by avoiding anything and everything that remotely sniffed of pain... I avoided, ducked and weaved from. As soon as the universe dropped the house on me, (after ignoring the gentle hints, and taps on the shoulder of life)... I grew... I strengthened, resilience became part of the who of me again... I remember who I might be. A moth.
isn't it moths that like to fly too close to the flame?
hey they make balls for moths |
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hey they make balls for moths I had to earn my own...
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hey they make balls for moths I had to earn my own...
Which would you rather be: the moth or the moth ball? the fly or the fly swatter? either way its a pretty raw deal when you get the two of them together...
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Edited by
Jess642
on
Fri 12/05/08 01:32 PM
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hey they make balls for moths I had to earn my own...
Which would you rather be: the moth or the moth ball? the fly or the fly swatter? either way its a pretty raw deal when you get the two of them together...
Both and either the moth ball and the swatter are only deterrants... I like moths, they have an unacknowledged grace and beauty, that is more subtle, than their elegant showmen cousins,... furry little faces like teddy bears... an unobtrusive quiet way of going about things... and often blend right into their habitat. Dressed in Vegas showgirl finery, (as a butterfly) is a bit hard to fly under the radar...
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