The Autumn Tree
- smcculley
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree. ─ Emily Brontë
The planetary seasons are examples of octaves. When a season ends, and another begins, there is a transition. This is the Si-Do interval. Si-Do intervals occur at the very end of one thing and the beginning of another.
The tree sheds its life-giving leaves in the Fall, awaiting the regrowth of Spring buds by passing through the Winter months (another octave). The birth of a baby is the end of gestation and the beginning of a life on Earth as an individual. Death is the end of a life and the beginning of the transitional mystery.
The Si-Do interval is the space in between, the transition between these “notes” of a process. Autumn summons an end to the growing season and blends into winter. Winter is the time when plants rest, and some animals also rest. Many people also hunker down for the shorter, darker days.
Every day provides opportunities to bridge the interval, to close the gap when one thing ends, and another begins. Oftentimes, the transition is incomplete, unfinished. For me, I can see that I typically fail to finish the first thing, and I just start the next thing. It takes energy and conscious effort to overcome the natural pull of skipping the ending part.
These examples are illustrative, but not necessarily so practical. Making the Si-Do interval more personal, I know firsthand that it's hard to read a book from cover to cover, to really finish it. It is also hard to write something and truly complete it. Did I proofread that letter or memo before sending it? Did I deliver the message I wanted to? It is also really hard to sit through a concert—perhaps even a piece of music you really love or a group that you have been looking forward to hearing—and actually maintain your attention and presence through the entire concert from the first note to the applause. Many times, I am out the door physically (if not mentally) before the applause subsides.
This idea has relevance psychologically and figures into my day-to-day life in the Work because when I’m trying to be present, I need to eventually stop trying and let go. Effort is wonderful, but eventually I need to collect the prize. To just be present, just Be. There is a funny saying in life about money that you can't take it with you. And yet people will continue to amass wealth till the very end of their lives as if they could take it with them. I don’t take Work ‘I’s and efforts with me. (Please note that no true effort is a waste, however.) Divine Presence is its own manifestation and reward. A higher state of consciousness is of another World.
The Si-Do interval is a critical moment in which one prepares and practices bridging, a way to sustain and hold the Work. Then the Higher Centers eclipse the machine, as mentioned above. Another, more concrete example might help to clarify the Si-Do.
Identification always leads to the expression of negative emotions. To break the mechanical process, it is necessary to actively avoid identification and the expression of negative emotions. This personal struggle invariably produces moments of failure and disappointment. Disappointment in not being able to do the work at a level that brings about and keeps a higher state. The machine's answer to that “dilemma” is self-blame, self-pity, or self-denigration. This is a Si-Do interval. When I feel that sense of disappointment and self-denigration after making efforts or catching myself asleep, I know the flavor of the Si-Do. Here is the moment to bridge the Si-Do interval, to become more than a machine identifying with objects and identifying with itself. One is free at this moment.
The next time you look out upon a gray autumn landscape, ask yourself, have you shed your leaves, have you prepared for new growth? Why does one season come and replace another, if not to instruct? I am so fortunate that I have many tools, signals, and reminders to do the Work. If I can choose to remember the Si-Do intervals in my daily life, and transform my big and small mistakes to bring me back to the moment, I become more than I am.
I want to bridge the Si-Do interval of my life. I want to become more than is possible. Bridging a Si-Do interval is impossible, and that is exactly what I am doing. Please join me and let me know your questions.
The time will come when every change shall cease,
This quick revolving wheel shall rest in peace:
No summer then shall glow, nor winter freeze;
Nothing shall be to come, and nothing past,
But an eternal now shall ever last.
─ Petrarch
Today, Friday, December 12, is the last day to register for an event on December 13! Hope to see you there.
Don't miss the chance to attend; please register for our Saturday, December 13th, online meeting, “Wisdom Schools: Hidden Teachings of Awakening.” Click on the link for more details:
Autumn Landscape, Taki Katei
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