Saturday 20 November 2010

When You Do Dance, I Wish You a Wave o' the Sea, That You Might Ever Do Nothing but That.


There is a lot of thought put into the quality of life, the actions, the motives, the intentions; there is profound judgment put upon those actions, and many hierarchies spring into existence; lists and names, desirable traits and defects of character, formulas for living and commandments for behaviour. It is all understandable. Perhaps it stems from the story of survival, and useful fear, and the need for protection. Maybe this fear of death so many of us desire to conquer is a necessary tool for survival. These stories of heaven and hell, afterlife, rebirth, karma and purdah are simply the mind's natural response to the need to survive.

Existence itself just exists, and does not judge. All states are equal, all objects equivalent. All motives are accepted, all actions simply are. Good and bad may be, light and dark, object and subject, killer and victim; but for there to be appearance, there must always be opposing forces, and they are what they are, as we have all noted, over many apparent ages; the manifestation changes constantly, but the pattern changes little. Existence cares not for the outcome of the story; all outcomes are identical. We have become caught up in the story and its outcome. Existence is here and now. The story, and this identity we protect and need to survive, is icing on the cake, fun and painful, satisfying and distressing, but entirely unimportant.

It doesn't matter which dance is performed. All the dances that exist, exist, and they all must be. There is simply dancing. All types are necessary. It is all dancing, this life, and some dancers appear to be more proficient than others. Some dancers are highly skilled, and some seem to have a natural rhythm. Some dances are ugly and warlike, others beautiful and airy. The dance happens now, and it is always now, and we are always dancing.


Maybe you've caught the dance theme of this blog entry....in keeping with that, and entirely opposing (it's necessary after all) the themes of oneness, witness Fred and Ginger in the pinnacle of this particular, innocuous human achievement: the pas de deux. And remember - whatever Fred had to do, Ginger had to do backwards, wearing heels!
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15 comments:

Brenda (betaphi) said...

It doesn't matter. All outcomes are identical. The story is unimportant.

It's a stretch, alright, trying to see this, but on my tippy-toes I can almost do it.

Anonymous said...

Wow, the dynamic duo! What energetic resonance between the two. Allegorical of the unitive primordial dance of 'Shiva and Shakti'.

-Suki

Anonymous said...

Of all Fred's meaningless, unimportant performances, this is one of the most meaningless and most unimportant. It really meant nothing to me.

Check out another one with Fred here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWIKAYBZ9qY&feature=player_embedded

Anonymous said...

FOR A DANCER

Keep a fire burning in your eye
Pay attention to the open sky
You never know what will be coming down
I don't remember losing track of you
You were always dancing in and out of view
I must have thought you'd always be around
Always keeping things real by playing the clown
Now you're nowhere to be found

I don't know what happens when people die
Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try
It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear
That I can't sing
I can't help listening
And I can't help feeling stupid standing 'round
Crying as they ease you down
'Cause I know that you'd rather we were dancing
Dancing our sorrow away
(Right on dancing)
No matter what fate chooses to play
(There's nothing you can do about it anyway)

Just do the steps that you've been shown
By everyone you've ever known
Until the dance becomes your very own
No matter how close to yours
Another's steps have grown
In the end there is one dance you'll do alone

Keep a fire for the human race
Let your prayers go drifting into space
You never know what will be coming down
Perhaps a better world is drawing near
And just as easily it could all disappear
Along with whatever meaning you might have found
Don't let the uncertainty turn you around
(The world keeps turning around and around)
Go on and make a joyful sound

Into a dancer you have grown
From a seed somebody else has thrown
Go on ahead and throw some seeds of your own
And somewhere between the time you arrive
And the time you go
May lie a reason you were alive
But you'll never know


"For A Dancer" by Jackson Browne

Willie R. (I just had to mention my name!)

No One In Particular said...

Hi Brenda, yes, it's the biggie.

No One In Particular said...

Hi Suki, I wonder if Shakti has to do her goddess thing backwards, and in heels.

Anonymous said...

Yes,I admit it is quite a feet! :)

-Suki

No One In Particular said...

Hi Andrew, that clip means even less! Fred's other partners were a bit neglected but Eleanor Powell stands out - what an all-rounder she was. He only danced once onscreen with Ann Miller (my favourite) presumably because she towered over him a bit. However, it was great when they did:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGnA92OoOZQ

No One In Particular said...

Hi Willie, what an apropos poem!

Oscar Grillo said...

This is truly beautiful!!

No One In Particular said...

Hi Oscar, thanks, and I meant to comment back on The Full Story that your picture of the coach and boy was even better than usual...terrific shading.

number7 said...

You seem to not just understand this but more. You seem free of delusion.

That's awesome well done. Please take a look at my blog if you got some free time, there will be articles there that will definitely interest you

Stephen

Anonymous said...

'It doesn't matter' and 'it's just a dance' may sound cosmic and transcendental and 'truth' but surely they are judgments just like any other...no? They are the ego playing at being enlightened (whatever the hell that is). Experience cannot be expressed for as you say it is prior to expression. So there can be no interpretation of it, no understanding of it. When it is formulated in such ways it is not actually experience but a thought ABOUT experience. So the basis of all religious, mystical texts are just conditioned thoughts, as is the case with your blog. You see experience cannot be described or experienced. Thus there are no enlightened, privileged 'aware people'. Awareness (if it exists) is not human. We will only ever know it vicariously through the prism of thought which is different for every person. This formulation of 'nothing matters' (a very constant theme in advaita circles) is just a palliative. Enlightenment, in the traditional sense of the world, is totally impossible.
More at http://awareconsciousness.blogspot.com

No One In Particular said...

Hey A.C., therein lies the paradox of trying to describe, conceptually, what is before all concepts yet includes them. Therein lies the fun. "Fun" being an entirely relative judgement, of course!

No One In Particular said...

Hey StePVhen, sorry I didn't answer you earlier, thanks, delusion arises don't worry! I will definitely check out your blog.