Walkabout

"The end of our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time" T.S. Elliot. This may sound nonsensical but Elliot is making the point that we often fail to see how things are and the process of exploration often only leads us back to where we started. However in the light of a greater understanding we see again what we once were aware of but couldn’t comprehend at the time.

These apparent journey circles are prevalent throughout our own lives as well as in global events, as history continues to repeat itself. We are surprised to realise that sometimes what we come to understand was in fact already right in front of our eyes. Sometimes we need a detour to get to the essence; we need the long voyage of contemplation and evaluation to finally see the place for the first time.

There are some similarities to the aboriginal Australian expression Walkabout a ritual journey in which one treads in the Footprints of the Ancestors. Walkabout is still a time when a young person is sent into the wilderness to learn more about him or herself. Aborigines look upon their lives as a re-enactment of the journeys and quests of their ancestor heroes. Aborigines on a Walkabout sing Dreamtime songs as they go, each verse of which corresponds to some physical landmark - a hill, a rock, and a waterhole created by the Sky Heroes. Following the verses from point to point, they keep to preordained routes, song-lines, through the otherwise trackless bush.

So while we meditate and reconnect to our ancestry, heritage and our purpose in life, exploring the interconnection between the past and present and all that is alive around us, we can again be made aware of the essence of what’s just in front of us, what is there at the present moment.

Av Lasse Larsson 08 sep 2003 12:47