The Principle of Growth
It is 3 AM.
The strength of the pain came back after a lot of walking on Governors Island and downtown Manhattan, drunk with city views, drunk with walking.
The pain, the body’s shaking, the murmur along the nerve-ways make it impossible to sleep. I go to the studio.
The words come pouring easily and without a break all the way to the end. I am too tired to read what I wrote. I leave them as they are and go back to bed. I come back to them in the afternoon. I add words between the lines, to make things connected and this happens easily too:
It grows
It is like fire
And like a kick-starter
For what will come
The different fires
Are close to each other
And supportive
Your duty is
To just allow it to grow
Your tool is
The atmosphere
Within which it appears
This is the main thing that you can make
It is tangible
It is like wilderness
The fire burns and disappears
But the principle of growth
Stays on as the invisible guide
It is right here
And it is wonderful.
I used to be a graphic designer and an illustrator. I became involved with the Chan Meditation Center and studied meditation and Buddhist knowledge with the late Master Sheng-yen from Taiwan. For twelve years I was in a process of deepening my meditation. I had many more experiences and insights and my life changed. After having illustrated more than 40 children’s books and writing two of them, I left this career too and went to New York University to study art therapy.
You can see more about Giora’s work on his blog and website
