shadows on the wall

Plato and the Baal Shem Tov

The people watch shadows projected on the wall
from objects passing in front of a fire behind them,
and give names to these shadows.
The shadows are their reality.
Plato, the Republic

לֹֽ֣א תַֽעֲשֶׂ֨ה־לְךָ֥֣ פֶ֣֙סֶל֙ ׀ וְכָל־תְּמוּנָ֡֔ה אֲשֶׁ֤֣ר בַּשָּׁמַ֣֙יִם֙ ׀ מִמַּ֡֔עַל וַֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר֩

בָּאָ֖֨רֶץ מִתַָּ֑֜חַת וַאֲשֶׁ֥֣ר בַּמַּ֖֣יִם ׀ מִתַּ֥֣חַת לָאָֽ֗רֶץ

You should not make for yourself an image or any manner of likeness, 
of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the waters under the earth;
Exodus/Sh’mot 20:3

The goal of knowledge is not knowing
The Ba’al Shem Tov

*******************

We humans
In our journeys 
Across time and space 
Across the generations
Have often sought to know
Have often sought to name
Have often sought to represent
The Mystery of Life

And yet 
In the end
We cannot name 
That which cannot be named
We cannot know
That which cannot be known

The seers
The mystics
The prophets
Of many cultures 
In many times  
Knew and know 
That everything is fluid
That all is change

Rivers and clouds
Ancient rocks too
Change in each moment

An ancient text 
Reaching back in time
Calls out
Even now

To limit the human urge to name
To limit the human urge to control 

Knowing 
That all efforts
Are futile
Knowing
That all efforts
Veil the mystery

Knowing
That perhaps
All efforts
In some way
Might even impede 
The flow and unfolding
Of life itself

This call 
Might be
A reminder
To we humans
To all men
To all women

 To remember
To live 
In the unfolding 
Ever changing moments

While listening 
For secret chords
That might move us
To make music

Move us
To make music
Not only with notes
But with lines and colors too

Move us
To make music
With our very lives

All the while 
Listening 
Over and over again
For those secret chords

That hint of mystery
That hint of beauty
That hint of passion
That hint of knowing

So we can 
Dance and sing
Laugh and Love
Across the flowing rivers of life
And live moment after moment
With wonder and joy

************************ 

I am the wisest man alive
for I know that I know nothing.
Socrates

 Life is Flux
Heraclitus