Balanced On the Edge

Camino de Santiago

Question Follow Up

In Tuesday’s post I began a line of inquiry based on the teachings of J. Krishnamurti. Here’s the question I gave to start the discussion, which is followed by the questions others posted in the comments section. The questions in italics are ones that occurred to me as I read through them again, one by one.

Thanks to everyone who participated. If you try something like this on your own blog, let me know. I’ll be there in the front row, raising my hand wildly.

What’s the missing puzzle piece?

What is the knot in my chest?
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paisley

Must not one first have viewed the puzzle, complete, as it is devoid of that one piece before they can even tell whether or not such a piece is missing?

When will I be complete?
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baskar

If so, can it be that there is no single ‘missing’ piece of the puzzle, but the puzzle organises itself through association?

Are humans much different than ants?
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christine

How do I know when something is complete?

How can you laugh at yourself more?
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jo

Is something incomplete more interesting?

What is interesting to me?
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dale

Is the puzzle missing the piece, or are we missing the puzzle? Or if it really is the piece that’s missing, is it missing the puzzle or is it missing us?

If I forget about the puzzle will the pieces disappear?
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Dave

If a poet goes missing on a volcanic island, will his poems be reduced to pieces of a puzzle?

Will I ever meet the poet who went missing near the volcano, or will I know him through his poems?
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ybonesy

Do we have to know what all the pieces are?

Will the pieces reveal themselves to me when I die?
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deb

Do missing puzzle pieces have genetic markers we can follow or can they disguise themselves entirely?

Is the sore place in my heartspace encoded in my DNA?
*
Julie

Why can’t I put the pieces back together in a different way, so there is no missing piece?

Is it my life’s work to become whole?
*
Michelle

Isn’t the missing piece an integral part of the puzzle’s history?

Will the mystery ever be solved?

essays and commentary

Published by

Christine

Responses

Lirone

May 8, 2009 at 10:28 am

Can there be a missing piece in an infinite puzzle?

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Michelle

May 8, 2009 at 11:06 am

Cool.

Here’s to the great mystery, my friend.

*chink chink*

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paisley

May 8, 2009 at 12:04 pm

very cool exercise… not only did i enjoy partaking, but i really enjoyed reading all the other responses…. what a great idea christine…

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Dave

May 8, 2009 at 9:02 pm

Your follow-up questions seem more spontaneous and are generally more interesting than the questions that prompted them. But the overall call-and-response pattern makes for a pretty fun read. Good blog-aware collaborative exercise, I’d say.

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Dick

May 9, 2009 at 4:30 am

Fascinating to read these calls and responses. I once attended a session with Krishnamurti at which he used just this method. Or tried to. I’m afraid it was a small group of very earnest American Seekers After Truth who wouldn’t let it work and kept demanding answers. It was fun watching strenuously peaceful souls all around trying not to show how utterly pissed off they were getting! JK just soldiered patiently on. I was introduced to him afterwards and had lunch at his table. Hugely sceptical about the guru cult as I was then (as now), I was totally won over by the guy.

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christine

May 9, 2009 at 8:53 am

Thanks, everyone, for your questions. I agree, Dave, people seem to love participating in someone else’s blog post, without having to turn it into a meme. It comes naturally to me, because I honestly have only questions for most of life’s riddles.

Dick, what a great story! I am wary of the whole guru thing myself. There are too many unscrupulous people out there. It’s too bad, because I’m sure there are a few good ones out there who are truly enlightened. Your story about the Americans rings so true. I wish people could just go with the flow. They wasted an opportunity to really learn something. It’s also about process, not outcome.

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jo

May 10, 2009 at 1:30 am

Yes and lots of unscrupulous would be gurus too……evil giggle. I enjoyed this very much too…..I usually react emotionally to things, so I loved redirecting that and letting my mind float off like a balloon.

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deb

May 12, 2009 at 3:43 pm

I love your responses to the questions. Got to the heart, deftly.

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Julie

May 12, 2009 at 8:33 pm

It was an awesome exercise, Christine. I had a hard time not saying, “Oh, that’s a great question!” Lol! I love your response questions. Thanks for doing this.

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