Sunday, July 30, 2006

Our Wholeness
By Don Iannone

Nobody can give you
what only you
must give yourself
to become whole.
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17 comments:

Margie said...

Don,
Just stopping in to see what
words of poetic wisdom you have for us today, before I go on a long hike.
Very good poem... and so very true.
Noone can make us whole but ourselves.
I feel very whole and complete as I head out to be with nature.
The only thing missing is I
am still waiting for the rain ...
we need it so badly!
Have a great day!

10:26 AM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Margie and enjoy your hike in nature.

10:30 AM
Kai said...

wonderful.

2:15 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Thanks Kai.

2:25 PM
Anonymous said...

Im suppose to study for my spanish exam, however I have been surfing on poetry and trying to understand does a poet have a right to create a poem or be inspired to write a pome based on another poem...I always get touched by the poems I read and I wonder if I have right to look at that poem and creat a new poem out of it.... This is one of the poems means so much...the meaning carries deeper meaning ...Thank you for sharing it

Nobody can give you
what only you
must give yourself
to become whole.

One day I would reread this poem and take a deep breath and allow myslef to shut the world out of my system and your words to bring the feeling ...arousing new words of your timeless poem..
Nasra

5:26 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Nasra...Thanks for stopping by. There is a fine line in this matter, as you know. My advice is build upon it in your own way. Poetry is designed to share and touch others...as you know so well. Blessings.

5:37 PM
Bob said...

I think this is a thorny issue. Sometimes we need others' feedback to make ourselves whole.
Maybe I'm wrong though?

6:10 PM
Anonymous said...

Sage words.
To love others you must love yourself.
To give to others you must respect yourself and so on. That circle includes ourselves. Reminds me of a mandala.

8:10 PM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Rob...we need others clearly. But I believe there are some (many) things we can only do for ourselves.

Silvermoon...it is like the mandala. Good parallel. Thanks for your comments.

10:08 PM
sea said...

Beautiful words in their truth. It is only when we realize that the fullness of love and wholeness of our existence resides within ourselves and cannot be discovered by looking outward that we are able to achieve inner peace and harmony. It is then that our experience of ourselves can be expanded in the sharing of our lives with others. The beauty of your poem is that you use so few words to say so much. Thank you for blessing me with these powerful and profoundly moving words tonight.

12:14 AM
anonymous julie said...

I had a lovely conversation with a very dear friend tonight, centered around the thoughts of wholeness and brokenness. If there's anything to be said of good or bad, better or worse, I think that's it...

12:30 AM
CE said...

Awareness. When one is aware of what is without justification or condemnation. This brings courage and endurance. We can't give this to ourselves. There is no giver. Only the given.

1:52 AM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

To all...thank you and I hear and work to understand what you're saying. Engagement is wonderful, isn't it?

More words begin to appear once we engage. Such a simple poem can evoke so many ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

Our original nature, in my way of thinking, is that we are whole. We only think we are separate. The Buddhists call this a mental affliction. And of course as many before us have said, we are not who/what we think we are. We are the whole beyond words and our sense of wholeness comes ultimately from the deepest sense of "I am-ness" we can find. Not an "I am-ness" sense related to a separate self-being, rather a sense of "I am-ness" stemming from the recognition that we do not exist as a separate I of self, but we exist only in being one with all others. And "all others" refers not only to human others but all sentient beings.

There are two ways to think about what we call wholeness. The first points to the notion that each of us is a "separate whole" or an "individual whole" in the sense that there is a permanent self or personality from all other perceived selves and personalities.

The second notion is that there is no separate or individual whole. Instead we are all part of one shared whole.

The sense of wholeness and what we "seek" is quite different in each. The first is more western and the second is more eastern.

Thanks Imemine for sharing. I find that often the presence of 'the other" is what we seek. It's a reflective need. The mind-spirit can give us wholeness or partialness and separation. We must choose for ourselves, and then learn how to live within that wholeness.

Seawave...thank you. What you said is pretty much consistent with my own view of this "experience process." Relationships are essential to our spiritual growth because we are all connected to one whole and by relating to/with others we come closer to realizing the whole.

Anonymous Julie...thanks. Wholeness as non-brokenness is very powerful. The perception of brokeness stems from the view that we are somehow something other than who and what we think we should be. Wholeness is the perception that we are complete and "one." Wanting is the source of all suffering in life. Our wants shatter us. They cause us to experience ourselves as "broken" and not whole.

I bow to each of you. Namaste!

6:33 AM
dumbdodi said...

Don, do we need to give up certain things to become whole?

4:26 AM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Dumbdodi...very good question. Thank you. I would say: "Only our illusions about not being whole."

7:51 AM
Linda Jones Malonson said...

You are right, of course, but another can make you aware of that wholeness ---

8:43 AM
Don Iannone, D.Div., Ph.D. said...

Amias...thanks! Another interesting discussion here.

There are several ways to look at this one. Allow me to offer three possible vantage points. Take your pick, or please feel free to offer yet another.

In the first view, there is no "other" because all is one and there is no separate or permanent "I-self" or "other-self." Both are illusory. In this sense, there is no permanent ego-self or personality called "Amias" or "Don." This view is more eastern in its origins. Awareness in this case is shared consciousness because all is one.

In the second view, separate selves are recognized and there is an "I-self" and an "other-self." In this case, there is an "Amias" self and a "Don" self. This is more western in its origins, but there are eastern versions of this view as well. Awareness is achieved in this case by bridging separate consciousnesses.

The third view comes from depth psychology (Jung, et. al), where "others" are recognized as archetypes, which are considered universal (mother, father, child, inner advisor, victim, healer, warrior, wise seer, trickster, God or the divine, and many others) and because of their universal nature, they are a part of the collective unconscious shared by all. In this sense, there are many archetypes at work and play in the personality we call "Amias," and in the personality we call "Don." Awareness in this case is achieved by bridging consciousnesses.

2:53 PM

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