Secrets

 

we dance around in a ring and suppose
but the Secret sits in the middle and knows

By Robert Frost

 
The first time I read this verse I got goosebumps. It felt like an invisible finger poked into my heart and mind and swirled them all around until I was dizzy. Some type of mystery was being revealed that was so slippery, I couldn’t quite grasp it. Years later when I took up meditation I realised the true significance of this verse to me.

Speculation on what the poet meant is rife, there is dissension all over the net. Some even dispute the authorship of this verse. Yet the beauty of poetry, is that it is open to interpretation. Once the author releases his poem to the public, he no longer has ownership of its meaning. It resonates with something that is already inside the reader. The fact that so many argue over the meaning of this verse, is laughably ironic!

If I was ever abducted and transported to an alien galaxy faraway and they asked me to sum up my comrades on earth, I’d quote this poem. It is way more profound and succinct than I could ever be.

On that note I’ll leave you with another verse written two thousand years earlier. It’s not quite as elegant as the one above but it’s just as wise and beautiful.

 
when we understand
we are at the centre of the circle
and there we sit
while Yes and No
chase each other
around the circumference

By Chuang-tzu

 
May all beings find their centre!

Photo Credit: Ashley Batz via Unsplash