“His Eye Is on the Sparrow”
April 27th, 2007
From “The Measure of a Man: a spiritual autobiography” by Sidney Poitier,
“I simply believe that there’s a very organic, immeasurable consciousness of which we’re a part. I believe that this consciousness is a force so powerful that I’m incapable of comprehending its power through the puny instrument of my human mind. And yet I believe that this consciousness is so unimaginably calibrated in its sensitivity that not one leaf falls in the deepest of forests on the darkest of nights unnoticed.” pp.196-197
“The grand consciousness I perceive allows me great breadth and scope of choices, none of which are correct or incorrect except on the basis of my own perception. This means that the responsibility for me rests with me.” p.197
“The whole process of survival tells us that there’s a morality to [these] natural rhythms, and that this morality is woven into the fabric of nature. For humanity, part of that fabric is the higher consciousness I was speaking of earlier. I feel that to aspire to that higher consciousness is to align ourselves with the natural order – in essence, to let go of the self. When we do this, when we rid ourselves of the petty little ego-drives that get in our way, we find ourselves much more in tune with the natural harmony, and good things can happen.” pp.199-200
Sounds like Surfing the Tao to me!
“His Eye Is on the Sparrow”, ref. Mr. Poitier, p. 206
“The grand consciousness . . . the responsibility for me rests with me.”
This is a very profound view. I have not seen or heard of such an explanation before. It was never clear to me that once the existence of such a consciousness was agreed upon, why an indiviudual should be accountable for his or her actions (or the lack of them).
Surfing the Tao is an excellent collection of views on a whole range of issues. I am glad to arrived at this site.