Convening of the Board

I:           I am the one who initiates, carries out, and monitors the progress of all decisions.

Me:    That’s fine, as far as it goes, but without Me, there is no one to experience life, no one to register the effects of causes, or record what is learned.

Mine: If you’re through boasting, let it be known to all present, here and now, that without the possessions and intellectual property of all that is Mine, you, my friends and colleagues, would not have a rack to hang your hats on or a pot to piss in.

I:         Very well. I’ll grant that experiencing and gathering the results of what I initiate is important, but you can’t deny that I am the one who articulates and pursues intentions. I am the central agent of change.

Me:   Good luck with those initiatives, intentions, and changes, if you don’t have Me to experience them. You’re like an archer who launches arrows into an ocean storm. Without Me, you would have no idea where they went.

Mine: And if those initiatives and their experienced consequences were not Mine, they might as well be the lowing of cattle. If it wasn’t my field, my cattle, and my farm, then everything would be meaningless, unpredictable, arbitrary and chaotic. Without my stake in the game, everything would be the roll of the dice.

I:         I wonder if I am the only one here who feels that we’re living in a box. Do you ever feel that we’re missing something?

Me:   That thought is not unknown to Me.

Mine: Try living in the street, if you think that four walls and a roof are such a problem. If you don’t like living in my house, with my furniture, my TV and my microwave, then join an ashram.

I:         Sometimes I wish there were someone I could consult, someone wiser, less self-centered, more balanced, less biased and possessive. I, Me, or Mine—aren’t we all severely limited to a single point of view? And even if we could change that point of view into a different one, wouldn’t we still be stuck in that different point of view? It feels like having cable TV and mindlessly channel-surfing, when what you really want is to fall in love, or skydive, or to be able to appreciate beauty deep within your being.

Me:   You must have read that somewhere . . . Just remember that if there is to be a different point of view, pass it by Me first. Wax lyrical if you must but don’t forget that it’s always Me who has to review anything new, in order to reconcile it, so that experience continues to make sense . . . Just saying . . .

Mine: Bring it on. If you have a better point of view, my agents of change will give it due consideration. Just don’t become a vegetarian of a communist. . .

I:         I have to say that I still feel pretty alone and unsupported. Sometimes when I hear how self-centered and possessive you both are, I wonder if I am to blame.

Me and Mine (in unison): Yes, you are to blame.

I:         OK. Blame is probably not all that useful. I just can’t help wondering if there is another way.

Chorus:

Across the sea
   In the openness of going
      Could I find my forgotten home?

In the openness of being
   For mine and me and even I
      Could an unsuspected freedom shine?

In the closed court of the self
   Can relationships and trust
      Be more than reflections of reflections?

Could I give myself away in time
   Could I abide in space and still be me
      Could I resonate within the presence of an open heart?