Clouds

So very different from me

What would it be like to be, but be in a very different way, without an ego – this part of us, that says ”I“ and sees everything from a personal perspective? Not to want, not to cling, not to chase – just be? Well now, isn’t that how the world around us ist? 

This state happens to be very much what mindfulness practices and meditation leads us to. This episode has a playful poem that invites you to let your mind go on a journey beyond itself.

Chapters:

• 00:00:00 Intro
• 00:00:26 Clouds – Solo
• 00:01:47 To be without an I
• 00:07:02 Clouds (Remix)
• 00:11:52 Outro

Transcript

Clouds

Clouds have no sense of being
No sense of becoming and loosing
Dissolving themselves

Clouds just are
Ever changing
A bit of nothing
Quite something they are

Clouds come and they go
Come rain or shine
In their passing
Is where they are

©️ Laughing Brook/Peter Müller 2025

To be without an ego

Do you have a meditation practice? If you ever tried meditating or any other form of contemplation, you will very quickly learn that you may try to meditate with all the best intentions, but as soon as you quiet down a waterfall of thoughts and notions starts blubbering in your mind. This can be very frustrating, as it keeps you from reaching that serene state of meditation you’ve probably heard off and got motivated to try meditation in the first place .

It is quite a demanding and trying path to follow along, and I wish I could tell you I’ve mastered it. But to be honest, I’m just stumbling my way like the rest of us. I’ve had my moments, they were impressively deep if not life-changing, yet I still feel very much like a beginner. There are a lot of things to learn along this path, though, and quiet a few things I learned came as a complete surprise, as I would have never expected them. 

One of the things I discovered along the way is how inseparably I used to be identified with what goes on in my mind. This includes both my mind and my emotions, but the mind was a bit easier and quicker to identify than my emotions. 

Thoughts and emotions determine hugely how I perceive the world – I mean, everything! It is indeed like a pair of glasses I am looking through – they transform everything I see. As long as I am not aware of those glasses, things simply are the way my glasses make them look, rose-tinted or blue, or whatever it is inside of me. This is a huge topic, as eventually it includes my worldview – that is, what I consider to be real. Over the course of my life I dropped quite a few presumptions which then allowed me to approach experiences in a more open way. This eventually has lead me to accept things as real that I had considered complete bollocks or outright impossible before. Those changes played a major role in making me into the person I am now, so it was quite profound. And this is an ongoing process that probably will only be finished once I die. Learning is one aspect of life that keeps us alive, I would say.

So, back to meditation and this insight about being identified with my thoughts and emotions. This may sound like a hair-splitting detail, but once I got there I’ve noticed a sense of being, a presence that goes beyond I – or ego, as it sometimes is called –, beyond the ever present chatter of the mind.

At the heart of all spirituality is a path that leads away from this I and into a beyond that defies words and descriptions, even though many have tried to describe it nonetheless. Words like eternity, beyond, Nirwana, Tao or Heaven speak of it.

But what if I allow myself to sink into this Other, this world beyond I? It is a curious exercise to lay back and watch the clouds. Just allow myself to sink into them and imagine: what would it be like to be without an I.

Outro:

So back from cloud busting. This episode is about to fade away. As always, please subscribe if you haven’t already, leave a rating at the platform you are listing, and spread the word and tell a friend. 

My name is Laughing Brook, I am a poet, dancer, mystic, nature coach and man whisperer. 

Thank you for listening, and – keep on flowing, bumping and jumping with the stream of life.