"but there is more than repetition, there is proximity, repetition gives rise to the differences that are time and space and meaning, but proximity determines the speed or turbulence of these lines of becoming" ~ David Read Johnson
when i and the other allow ourselves to remain in close proximity, in embodied encounter, with the rush of time and space moving between us, then all that the buddha said can be experienced, for all life is turbulent, all life is impermanent, all life is impersonal, and all life flows in an endless stream, dependent origination...
and it is in this close proximity, this collection of tremoring vibrations, that our souls light up, incandescence, like the coalescence of dust into stars, or like this gathering of lonely people from far and wide, into this one small space.
we are the banks that encase the stream, these repetitions of identity and name and sensibility that defines what is, that give us the solidity we have, yet we cannot resist the water, we place our feet in the river to feel its flow
as each act is repeated, as each entity affirmed, as each boundary is marked, the other calls forth, and the lines of becoming rush between us, confusing us, enlivening us, causing all things to rise and fall and turnabout
yes, as we approach the other, the flow of this lifestream increases, from here to there, and in this here to there we surmise an origin and end, a source and a destination
"oh that i knew that such a source actually exists! perhaps it is only the conjuring of proximity and repetition! certainly a real stream rises from out of the ground and spreads out to the sea, certainly i have emerged from out of my mother, not an abstract entity to be sure, but a real, unique body, as she emerged from hers and she from hers and so on until...... what, the original eve? monkey, fish, bacteria, stardust? where does this end?" ~ David Read Johnson
Being in Proximity to the Other David Read Johnson Apr 17 2004 https://2d452806-f22e-460a-bd3c-544fc604efea.filesusr.com/ugd/242f9d_392d9081f2954edba919f4756f03e215.pdf
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Excerpt (Part 2)
Artwork: “The Sungazer”, Daniel Watts (source)
PROXIMITY but there is more than repetition, there is proximity, repetition gives rise to the differences that are time and space and meaning, but proximity determines the speed or turbulence of these lines of becoming so i find myself here in the world which i see and hear and smell and touch and taste, let me walk in this pleasant woods, at first i am the witness and i see that everything is good for i am the one who takes the world in... it is like being at the ocean shore looking out to the horizon and seeing nothing and being seen by nothing, for there is no other shore... but at some point in this walk if I walk long enough i may begin to have a feeling that things in the woods are aware of my presence, that i alone am not the only witness, and i look for evidence of the presence of this awareness, perhaps in the sound of a branch snapping, the rustling of leaves, and in my imagination i feel i am being watched and i laugh to myself or hum a familiar tune to cast off this idea, only to be startled by the next rustling and try not to begin running. this pre-encounter with the other seems to form simply from my walking, if in the distance i were to see a figure standing by a tree, or i see two eyes looking at me from inside a cave opening, then a real encounter with the other would begin... and confronted with the other's presence, my heartbeat quickens, the pace of time increases. such encounters range in distance from those that allow plenty of room between us for maneuvering, the encounter being about presentation of our surfaces to each other, to those more personal in which we come in contact with our proximal spaces, that is, the spheres of immediacy that surround us and that define our personal space, in which we interact with most acquaintances. Then, moving further inward, where our proximal spaces overlap with each other, we enter intimate spaces, and then even further... territory we know as deep play or presence. as the banks of the river narrow, the stream moves faster
Photo: “Rushing River”, Donna Caplinger, 2012 (source)
STREAM AND SHORE the two lay next to each other, two banks and the unseen river flowing between, lines of becoming arising somewhere that way, upstream and flowing this way downstream. as the two close in on one another, the river moves more rapidly, white water, rapids, turbulence increases, rushing as it were between them, and then when the two move apart, the water slows, evens out, lays quiet, almost as if not flowing at all. when i and the other allow ourselves to remain in close proximity, in embodied encounter, with the rush of time and space moving between us, then all that the buddha said can be experienced, for all life is turbulent, all life is impermanent, all life is impersonal, and all life flows in an endless stream, dependent origination... and it is in this close proximity, this collection of tremoring vibrations, that our souls light up, incandescence, like the coalescence of dust into stars, or like this gathering of lonely people from far and wide, into this one small space. we are the banks that encase the stream, these repetitions of identity and name and sensibility that defines what is, that give us the solidity we have, yet we cannot resist the water, we place our feet in the river to feel its flow, as each act is repeated, as each entity affirmed, as each boundary is marked, the other calls forth, and the lines of becoming rush between us, confusing us, enlivening us, causing all things to rise and fall and turnabout, yes, as we approach the other, the flow of this lifestream increases, from here to there, and in this here to there we surmise an origin and end, a source and a destination, a home and the frontier.
Artwork: “Our Journey”, Gaia Orion (source)
SOURCE oh that i knew that such a source actually exists! perhaps it is only the conjuring of proximity and repetition! certainly a real stream rises from out of the ground and spreads out to the sea, certainly i have emerged from out of my mother, not an abstract entity to be sure, but a real, unique body, as she emerged from hers and she from hers and so on until...... what, the original eve? monkey, fish, bacteria, stardust? where does this end?...... how can there be a definitive origin? so perhaps one thought arises out of another, but there is no original thought that began.... only a flow from one to another.... yet which gives us a source and an end, time and purpose, origin and destination, that time and space and with them source and end arise out of repetition explains why the source can never be reached, never attained, and yet is not transcendent, for all rise up at once, beginning and end, here and there, as if from the vibrating ether, one cannot have present without past and future, cannot have here without there, cannot have your project without source and final aspiration! but all this is too much! the rapids become too turbulent, one is nearly pulled in, and heavens, could drown or be carried away! enough with proximity! enough with becoming! Give me some space! You are driving me crazy! LET ME BE! ...
Excerpt (Part 3)
David Read Johnson: The Playspace is the river... the stream that arises from repetition and proximity... Oct 6 2022 https://loveletterstofutureme.org/excerpts/david-read-johnson-the-playspace-is-the-river-the-stream-that-arises-from-repetition-and-proximity/
Artwork: “Rushing Water”, Richard Mittelstadt, 2020 (source)