today’s singing light in the dark pilgrimage is dedicated to Pete Seeger who died 5 years ago today, the father of folk music and a shepherd extraordinaire still calling us to embody our better angels by singing love… “It really boils down to this, all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” —Martin Luther King, Jr. with every breath and step on the pilgrimage i contemplate how we all best serve the whole… i believe the bedrock of this query is understanding that all our relations prosper only when we realeyes we are part of a greater whole and our survival, our sustainability is intricately linked in the same way we are intricately interconnected to every thread in the web of life. It is, always has been and always will be a story of cooperation. Just as all the 70 trillion cells of my body cooperate to make me work, so must the 70 trillion cells to the 70th trillion power cooperate for the cosmos to expand harmoniously… yes, Martin saw that the will to connect is our most essential impulse and how what affects one of us, affects everyone of us and how could it not since we are one body-mind-spirit-soul made up of trillions of cells to the infinite power… since every thought, word and deed affects all our relations, may we all walk in wonder, saunter in awe as shepherds, as lightkeepers, as sheltering arms, as beloveds all walking each other home to the frequency of right thought, right speech and right action… i’ll close with the words of another pilgrim on a journey and wisdom lover… Belong to your place by knowledge of the others who are your neighbors in it: the old man, sick and poor, who comes like a heron to fish in the creek, and the fish in the creek, and the heron who manlike fishes for the fish in the creek, and the birds who sing in the trees in the silence of the fisherman and the heron, and the trees that keep the land they stand upon as we too must keep it, or die. This knowledge cannot be taken from you by power or by wealth. It will stop your ears to the powerful when they ask for your faith, and to the wealthy when they ask for your land and your work. Answer with knowledge of the others who are here and how to be here with them. By this knowledge make the sense you need to make. By it stand in the dignity of good sense, whatever may follow. Speak to your fellow humans as your place has taught you to speak, as it has spoken to you. Speak its dialect as your old compatriots spoke it before they had heard a radio. Speak publicly what cannot be taught or learned in public. Listen privately, silently to the voices that rise up from the pages of books and from your own heart. Be still and listen to the voices that belong to the streambanks and the trees and the open fields. There are songs and sayings that belong to this place, by which it speaks for itself and no other. Find your hope, then, on the ground under your feet. Your hope of Heaven, let it rest on the ground underfoot. Be it lighted by the light that falls freely upon it after the darkness of the nights and the darkness of our ignorance and madness. Let it be lighted also by the light that is within you, which is the light of imagination. By it you see the likeness of people in other places to yourself in your place. It lights invariably the need for care toward other people, other creatures, in other places as you would ask them for care toward your place and you. No place at last is better than the world. The world is no better than its places. Its places at last are no better than their people… ~ Wendell Berry ~ may we wander as shepherds singing light in the dark illuminating a path to our one heart…
for this day of celebrating the astonishing light of being, i share my journey of the last 1154 days of aspiring to walk lightly in good company, beloved community, the sangha of letting go, a caravan of re-joy-sing as we surrender in service to the implicate order awakening to that which cannot be named… quantum leaping into the void (vortex of ineffable dimensionality) whose signposts can only point to where we are wandering as… hollow reed, drop of dew, bubble floating in a stream flickering light, phantom of the night, luminous, numinous dream coming home to true emptiness, place of great silence, ground zero of all being whirlwind spiraling silently while dancing stars form effortlessly in open spaciousness of great mystery ~ The Real Work It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings. ~ Wendell Berry ~ ~ may we all awaken to the inner call of the heart, hear our soul song, let go, let go, let go to trust in cosmic flow dancing and singing under the iridescent circle of great mystery rainbow…
let’s turn all the dirt in this world to shiny gold
come let’s be a new spring a love reborn
find our aroma from the essence of all who emit heavenly fragrance
like a fresh tree bloom and spread all the blessings right from inside ~Rumi ~ here we are in the last days of the first moon of this turn around the sun, in the moon of dreaming, the moon of stardust, of all there is… i’m re-minded and re-heartened daily by cascading down like water deeper and deeper into the dream cave to how important awakening to the dream within, the soul song here in the deepest recess of our one heart, to how important this act of creation is… like brother martin, like you, i have a dream of my personally and all of us collectively being more aware of our unity realizing there is only one of us here and each of our thoughts, words and deeds affects all our thoughts words and deeds… i will be silently present with you now echoing the words of Rumi as we dwell for this moment in dreamtime, the stillpoint of creation… may your dreams come alive today, may our dream come alive today as we fall in love again…
Dear Siddhizens of the Cosmos, the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists issued their annual Doomsday Clock statement yesterday proclaiming 2019 as A new abnormal: It is still 2 minutes to midnight… the new abnormal describes a moment in which fact is becoming indistinguishable from fiction, undermining our very abilities to develop and apply solutions to the big problems of our time risking emboldening autocrats and lulling siddhizens around the world into a dangerous sense of anomie and political paralysis… “Humanity now faces two simultaneous existential threats, either of which would be cause for extreme concern and immediate attention. These major threats—nuclear weapons and climate change—were exacerbated this past year by the increased use of information warfare to undermine democracy around the world, amplifying risk from these and other threats and putting the future of civilization in extraordinary danger. Though unchanged from 2018, this setting should be taken not as a sign of stability but as a stark warning to leaders and citizens around the world. The current international security situation—what we call the “new abnormal”—has extended over two years now. It’s a state as worrisome as the most dangerous times of the Cold War, a state that features an unpredictable and shifting landscape of simmering disputes that multiply the chances for major military conflict to erupt. Dire as the present may seem, there is nothing hopeless or predestined about the future. The Bulletin resolutely believes that human beings can manage the dangers posed by the technology that humans create… But threats must be acknowledged before they can be effectively confronted. The current situation—in which intersecting nuclear, climate, and information warfare threats all go insufficiently recognized and addressed, when they are not simply ignored or denied—is unsustainable. The longer world leaders and citizens carelessly inhabit this new and abnormal reality, the more likely the world is to experience catastrophe of historic proportions… Today, citizens in every country can use the power of the Internet to fight against social media disinformation and improve the long-term prospects of their children and grandchildren. They can insist on facts, and discount nonsense. They can demand action to reduce the existential threat of nuclear war and unchecked climate change.” may we speak truth to power…
deepest bows to grandmother spider… always weaving a web of such amazing, intricate interconnectedness demonstrating beyond the shadow of a doubt that we live in a cosmos of implicate order, great mystery unfolding… today is the 1865th day of walking this spirit path along the rainbow trail, a day celebrating a long held dream’s flowering, a day of re-membering a lucid dream of three years ago on this very day, a potent dream of grace… i’m in a car and we’re winding around a mountain road when i realeyes no one is driving the car… i look around and feel the presence of pure love auto piloting the vehicle and in that moment i know i can relax and trust this journey… looking out to the left, i see beloved ocean below flowing in and out and i am filled with peace, love and joy as we continue our spiraling trek around the mountain into the land of rainbow sky where i breathe this moment of awe and rest on the trail of wandering in wonder knowing everything is grace, especially important on a day like today to be reminded and to hear the lost falls’ echoes rising from the river below the river whispering… be here now standing in the center one with cosmic flow…
as we step forward, the path behind vanishes a sand painting scattered by winds to the sea as rainbow bubbles floating up to the sky promising never ending magical mystery…
at the end of this trail, when breathing it in i’ll step into the portal wondering what the next adventure will be… when this trail is done, i shall feel i’ve just begun… when the trail is done, i shall dance circles around the sun…
may every moment be a dance in the field of lovingkindness grounded in peace passing all understanding bubbling up from the underground river below the river, the river of joy… shanti shanti shantihi
in stillness this moment seeing sparkling waters, leaping dolphin, awesome field of wonder…
a day of walking in beauty so intense it feels a blowtorch has seared my eyes – thank you beloved – for this gift of synching into the stillpoint to breathe, to inspire… i just real eyesed how i love being pilgrim, poet on journey… infusing each breath with soulful presence, trusting in sweet surrender… to the flow, the pathless path where this moment, every moment is taking baby steps into stillness… a sacred pilgrimage to inner gaia’s heart soaring on love’s vast wings…
thank you for moment after moment of singing and dancing beauty, swirling deeper and deeper into ultima thule, the great beyond within…
“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied into a single garment of destiny. We are made to live together because of the interrelated structure of reality. It all boils down to this; that all life is interrelated.” ~ Dr. Martin Luther King ~ today we celebrate Martin Luther King’s life of service and prophetic call to action, i’ve been deeply immersing myself in his words since his ninetieth birthday on the 15th, today i came across this beautiful poem honoring him and want to share it here… The Drum Major of The Freedom Parade ~ Margaret Burroughs ~ (For all children who wondered about the tragic event of April 4, 1968 at Memphis.) My children, my children, remember the day When the Drum Major of Freedom’s parade went away. Stop crying now little children and listen And you will know for the future what really did happen.
You will know why your father was solemn and grim And why mother’s eyes were wet at the rim. You will know why the flags flew at half mast And why all the buildings were shut tight and fast.
The Drum Major was down in Memphis that day Helping the workers to win a raise in pay When an evil assassin’s bullet Snuffed his bright young life away.
That’s why we were all so saddened that day When the life of the Drum Major was taken away. Who will come forward to stand in his stead? Who’ll be the Drum Major in the Freedom parade?
My children, our Major was such a good man Whose life was based on the divine plan. He loved this country, its people black and white And believed that all should be imbued with the right.
That’s why we were all so saddened that day When the life of the Drum Major was taken away. We are looking for someone to stand in his stead We now seek a new leader for the Freedom parade.
Do you know my children that he bore the brunt, He marched unafraid right up in the front He marched for Justice for children like you And a bountier life for your parents too.
That’s why we honor Martin Luther King He tried with love to make Liberty ring. He wished everyone in our tortured country To live together in peace and harmony.
That’s why we were all so saddened that day When the Drum Major’s life was taken away. Do you know someone who can stand in his stead? Do you know someone to lead the parade?
I hear you my children. I hear what you said. That you children yourselves would lead his parade That you’ll carry the banner of the Drum Major dear And march on to full Freedom without any fear.
Our spirits are lifted, our sorrows subside. You children shall lead us with Dr. King at your side. You children of Freedom will stand in his stead. You children of Freedom will lead the parade.
March on my children to his distant drumbeat. March on my children, keep alive his heartbeat. When this Peace and Freedom is finally won Then will Martin Luther King’s work be done. ~
may all we children of freedom lead the parade to peace, justice and liberation…
what a potent day, the day to share an image showing us the astonishing light of our being and it synchronistically falls on this supermoon, full blood wolf moon with total lunar eclipse, the last eclipse in this series of Leo/Aquarius eclipses that began with the total soular eclipse in my hood in august, 2017… over these last seventeen months, we’ve been deepening in the expression of our truth and bringing it to the collective and now it’s the moment to get our act together and take it on the road… yes we are feeling the energy of the lioness – hear us roar – witness Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s fierce call to action rally speech at the women’s march yesterday… it is said that blood moons are potent omens of great change and i’m feeling and experiencing being the transformation we want to see in the world… are you also feeling like a mermaid/merman emerging from the sea ready for rebirth and real-eye-sing the deepest desires of the heart? this leo moon is calling us to be lionhearted – authentic, integrous, fearless, creative rebels with a cause singing a new song of the earth, our soul song of beloved community living as one cosmic heart being, living, knowing we belong to each other and love is who we are…. howlelujah, beloveds!
as far back as the Montgomery bus boycott in the 1950s, King talked prophetically and consistently about “the triple evils” that stand in the way of creating the beloved community: racism, militarism, and economic injustice… making connections between systems of institutionalized racism and reliance on militarism and violence to solve problems as well as economic institutions that keep many in poverty and help the few amass tremendous wealth, his words ring as true today as sixty years ago and in the marches this weekend, we hear the echoes… representatives from native communities around the world came together in Washington, D.C. on friday for the first-ever Indigenous Peoples March… organized to rebuke the violence and injustices that Indigenous Peoples often face—from the murder of native girls and women to police brutality to having unceded tribal lands torn away by colonizing governments and fossil fuel corporations… standing in solidarity to speak truth to power also brought out many people across the planet for the third annual Women’s March…
and many stand daily along the border for justice and right action to prevail… so much is unspeakable now and so much that breaks our hearts is breaking so many hearts and our one cosmic heart wide open as we real eyes the eternal truth that we are one…
