A Time of Forgetfulness
The Players:
Players: Bob Ryan - Rhythm and Lead Guitars & Lead Vocals
Mike Garner - Bass
Recorded in 2007 at Lightkeeper Music Recording Studios
(Lyrics)
Words & Music by Bob Ryan (C)2007
Is it clearer? Now you've cleared your slate
Such a timely fate, and you find: you feel nearer
Through the veiling cloud, that cloying shroud
You wish you could hold your heart
Within the flame of that clarity
And keep it from the cold and dark
From a time of forgetfulness
We go deeper, like a miner delves
Deep into hidden shelves
Where you find – like the sleeper
Wakes to know the thing he's been practicing
You wish you could hold your thoughts
Within the flame of that clarity
And keep it from the cold and dark
From a time of forgetfulness
Exposed to the heat of the Flame
And a draught of the Water of Life
To be healed by that Invisible Sun
Freed from the rages of strife
Keeps the spirit from the cold and the dark
From any time of forgetfulness
We'll go wider, beyond the tribal wall
Beyond a nation's call; 'till we're free to climb higher
Above the spirit's grave, this choking haze
And we will hold our lives
Within the flame of that clarity
Away from the cold and the dark
From any time of forgetfulness
Forgetfulness
Forgetfulness
The spiritual journey, as much as anything, is a journey into the unknown. A journey of unravelment - finding, progressively, the truth about what is already so....a journey of discovery. It also can be seen as a journey of recognition, recognizing the truth of something you've never seen before. In another sense it can be described as a journey of remembrance. No one way of describing it does the truth of the journey justice.
But it is certainly true that while embarked on this journey, effort and experience give rise to insights, shedding increasing light into areas previously only dark or dimly perceived. This journey requires a process that can be described as "knowledge, volition, action and reflection." Like a spiral progressive process where knowledge is acted upon through the will, resulting in experience which is reflected and meditated on leading to new insights, new knowledge, which is in turn acted upon by means of the will resulting in new experiences which are reflected upon.....
New insights, each bringing with it a sense of clarity, fresh perspective, which, upon reflection, reveal new possibilities, new horizons, new dimensions. These in turn require adjusting what we think we know about ourselves and reality which in turn informs our choices and behavior.
Oftentimes the chain by which we move from knowledge to new knowledge is broken, and we lose ourselves for a time. The break might come at the point of volition, where we lack the will to act upon what we believe to be true. Sometimes it might be that we forget to reflect and meditate on the meaning(s) of an experience we've had, so that we don't actually learn the lesson(s) potenitally there. These situations need only be temporary as we work through what we need to learn. But these experiences of feeling lost often resemble being in a fog - emotionally, intellectually and spiritually, leaving us feeling disconnected and uncertain. Even the memory of earlier times of breakthroughs seem dim, and we struggle for a time, as if we move through a time of forgetfulness.....
