Grasp the Rope Where It Is

We can gauge the harmfulness of a thought by its potential for confinement.
How impermeable are its walls?
To what extent does it hold us captive?

This is where the implantation of an anxious thought affects both the development of the individual and the quality of their spiritual practice. It holds them back so much that it ends up detaining them.
The prisoner’s jailer-thought.

Yet it is when fear reigns over the mind that it is most necessary to return to prayer and meditation.

Also, this is the reason why, if spiritual practice is maintained despite an anxious context, it will tend to manifest itself more in its most outward (formal) forms, sometimes going as far as showiness or exuberance, or being limited to a few automatic recitations. It then corresponds to a practice from the realm of thoughts. This is no small thing.

From thoughts, we can call for something greater, just as it is from the eddies of wild waves that we call for help. Sometimes the call is heard and relayed.

It is also a rare opportunity for true practice, accessed by breaking through the walls of the room of thoughts,

or by opportunely stepping over a crumbling wall.
We then remember the great freedom that blows outside the courtyard, understanding that the watchtowers cannot see us nor the guns reach us.

We realize that the initial anxiety was a trap we jumped into.

Without our unconscious consent, it would not have closed, nor would it have held us back for so long.

This is why practice is so important in times of calm.
It prepares the whole being to find the way again when the walls are erected. Find the path,

Grab the rope
Where it is,
Muddy or frayed, grab it anyway,
Put your being on the path back,

Find silence,
Sit down,
Grab the rope,
Go back to the center of your heart.
From the rains of anguish pouring down,

From the doldrums, from the chaos around,
In the breath,
Go back up the path,
And free yourself.

©FJ July 2025
Recueils / Participation/