I have a somewhat double attitude towards books. I used to love them, now I try to keep a safe distance.
What about reading? There is something very strange about words. They make an imprint on our mind and psyche, but the whole thing is like a chalkboard. You write on it, then you erase what you have written.
Words somehow both write (on the paper that are us) and erase (the words just written). The mind seems to be a mini blackboard, with very limited space. The reading in a quotation book shows this; read ten great thoughts and try to remember the first one. Gone, erased, it has left room for new, later quotes.
This seems to lead to the conclusion that if we really want to GET something we should sit with it, stay with it, don’t go anywhere else.
I suppose this is what is called “meditation”. It can also be medication against all the centrifugal, restless thinking and thought-chewing that many of us are occupied with
One thought at a time — enough. Watch out for the dangers of quantity.
