Great post, as ever, Cynthia. I've been meaning to tell you for some time that you are awesome (kinda scarily so), but I've been too embarrassed. Hey! You're awesome (phew, I did it!).And now a little, discreet plea to reclaim the language from the mystagogues. What folk have been describing, the experience of being so absorbed in activity as to forget oneself, is called samadhi. Nothing mystical there, right?
Whether one is absorbed in the aiming of an arrow, in driving fast round a race track, in meditation, or thought, or by just fishin' what we are doing is achieving samadhi.
Not that I'm making a plea for people to start using the word in everyday conversation. No great need, English has managed fine without a word to describe "being so absorbed in what one's doing as to forget oneself". It's just that I dislike the way mystagogues take perfectly ordinary everyday experiences and try to make them sound special and far-out, only attainable by realised souls! I call bullfeathers on that nonsense!
Did I mention that you are awesome? Gotta go! (blush).
Jonti
-- never a premie
