Philosophy

.
OPENING THE EYE OF AWARENESS
my philosophy on life

To start with.. a few of my thoughts in living poetry
at the very heart of what I believe and try to live my life.....

My Life is the Wind

It cannot be controlled,
captured or restrained,
as a wandering albatross on the wing,
always with the irresistible urge to move on,
like a sunrise in the morning,
life is dawning,
like a roller in the ocean,
life is ceaseless emotion,
this restless body of mine,
always high on the glorious depths of emotion,
like a wind that's always blowing,
life is growing,
the soul at peace with this difficult notion,
so I always live,
treasuring every moment,
always knowing,
that its forever changing,
forever flowing,
the wind is life,
to be me,
to discover I,
to question all,
my destiny and most passionate devotion.

Rhuari Hannan Jan 89 Swan Bay Tasmania
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        .... My Life is the Wind
                It cannot be captured
                     or Restrained......

             like a snowflake,
               from the ether of a fluffy cloud,
                 become a dew-drop of rain,
                   a babbling brook,
                    now a raging violent river,
                     exonerably I will find my way
                       back to the sea
                         from whence I came

nothing can stop this voyage of rebirth
yet again and again

Rhuari Hannan March 99 Scotland
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I Grew into the Mountainside

I grew into the mountainside,
became moss and lichen upon the rocks,
took root in frost-splintered crevices,
in between storm-weary herbaceous fans,

I blended into icy-cool waters,
of a rippling tarn,
embodied myself in the last soggy drifts,
of forgotten winter snows,

I became the emerald blades
    of dew-dropped grass,
the nocturnal feast of wombats out to graze,
and even the gentle mist from waterfalls,
taking leave back into the blue of sky,
so consumed by silence
         reaching back,
            beyond all consciousness,
finding only love and inner peace,
leaving the last remnants of self behind

Rhuari Hannan Cradle Mtn Tasmania Dec 88
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Being ?

Being?
I will always be,
   have always been,
     nothing created,
      yet nothing destroyed,
        fragments merely rearranged.

I am everywhere,
everything,
eternal……..

Then what is space?
what is existence?
what is time?

Rhuari Hannan Dec 88 Swan Bay TASMANIA
©COPYRIGHT

Opening the Eye of Awareness

What does this mean? For me it is about raising ones awareness of life and the world beyond the small confines that we live in and our limited experiences dictate. Its about developing loving compassion and understanding for what lies beyond the narrow confines of ego.

I have been privileged to have been given by 2 loving parents the best possible start in life. I grew up in the tiny seaside town of George Town on the northern Tasmania coast on the waterfront. Here i had the most adventurous childhood with the sea in my front yard and the wild Australia bush in the back. My parents were keen nature lovers so we had a very active outdoorsy life, sailing on the weekends or camping and bushwalking. We had fantastic holidays that to this day still ring with memories of excitement and adventure. Frequently we would sail to one of the myriad islands surrounding Tasmania in our family yacht to have holidays akin to the of Robinson Crusoe on uninhabited wilds mystical isles. On other holidays we ventured into the rugged rainforests and mountains of Tasmania's interior. Its very fair to say the the sea and mountains have had a huge impact upon my life

I have since embarked upon a life of self discovery rather than following the traditional path of career and the neat wooded path laid out for us through the forest of life. I chose a life of eternally challenging myself, of facing things that i feared or disliked. In doing so I have lived and worked all over the world, doing many different jobs and living vastly contrasting lifestyles. From this I have discovered a great inner freedom and happiness to live by my heart rather than societies conventions and expectations. Life for me should be "living poetry", and I can truly say that most of my life has been as such. My poetry is my journal of my life.

Being a very independent thinker, and quite a loaner much of my life I think I have been largely uninfluenced by fads, fashions, peer group pressure or external philosophies. Much of my philosophy on life is related to my relationship to nature, the world and humanity as I find them. Loosely speaking I have found much to echo in Buddhism, particularly the Tibetan Mahayana form that reflects my beliefs in life. Like all belief systems and religions there myriad layers of cultural interpretations and flavours that must be peeled away to get to the essence of the real belief. Buddhism is an incredibly complex belief system, (not a religion per se) and indeed very hard to give a simplistic summary of. Its very much a way of life to me, in the way we behave, to the world we live in and the people inter react with. For me there is no god in the form of say the Christian one, or in the Islamic Allah. It is about an inner potential to develop ones self for the benefit of the world and society we live in and our own enlightenment. There is almost much in ancient Taoism that rings true for me also.

My diagnosis with Multiple Sclerosis in 2003 brought massive changes to my life. I see this piece of news only as adding a further dimension and richness to my life. (if somewhat painful and harrowing in nature) Acceptance of reality is second nature to me. I do feel now that much of my spiritual journey thus far in life, has been a preparation for this seachange. For me change is the most predictable aspect of life. It is something I have constantly embraced and now forever grateful of. To follow is a poem that I think most eloquently describes my feelings:

A SUMMER SHOWER

A summer shower settled upon the wood,
cleansing sun-drenched leaves of deciduous trees,
awkwardly unsettling certain "certainties",
abstracts of illusions,
that had become concrete within the maze of the mind

a time now for a 1000 different dreams and plans,
to be arranged and rearranged a 1000 times more.

Oh how life is life the summer rain!
a liquid shapeless ever-evolving form.

the long cool shadows of solitude,
have befallen me once again,
never far from my side,
sometimes temporarily obscured,
by life's sunny brilliance.....
..... or the blackness of despair's night-curtain.
occasionally revealed,
by a cold luminescence of a lonely moon

in my nakedness of my darkest hour,
my "aloneness" penetrates to the fore,
my vulnerability however I perceive as no weakness,

....... From honesty and truth
I need no place to run from and hide

even the joyous moment I cannot cling to as the past
like the thundercloud is swept way be impermanence,
      leaving a different aspect and mood,
as the little wood blazing in the brilliance of steamy summer's sun,
     with unsullied fluffy white clouds lazily floating
          in a horizon of the deepest indigo-blue........

The Wandering Albatross

Collerige made famous the belief that has been echoed my many a sailor - "The Albatross, the Mariners Curse". Sadly many Long-Line Fisherman haven't paid heed to the superstition that to kill an Albatross is bad luck. For me the Albatross symbolizes in life much that I empathize with. It is an enigmatic creature that lives for sometimes years, flying miles from the nearest land. So little is really know about its life, with its solitary habits always on the wing in the stormy wastes of the turbulent Great Southern Ocean. I like that a bit to my own outer and inner life. For me there is much in life that the Wandering Albatross symbolizes. There is much yet in my journey of life yet to come that I am sure!