“Surrender to this light, this Divine consciousness, this Divine joy, and this Divine peace, the victory of Love and the glory of life. Allow and bring this light into the whole body, the conscious mind, the subconscious, and unconscious mind. Through this Love you’ll experience the fullness of life. ~ Sai Maa ~ welcome tothis sacred day of celebrating the light as Victory Day in the Hindu Navaratri (Nine Nights) Festivalt and as Day of At-One-Ment, Yom Kippur culminating the Jewish high holy days of awe, also a time of deep reflection and practice… ~ today invites our celebrating transformation and the victory of divine light, divine love, divine feminine creative energies activating and spreading throughout the cosmos… ~ A million suns are ablaze with light, The sea of blue spreads in the sky, The fever of life is stilled, and all stains are washed away; when I sit in the midst of that world. Hark to the unstruck bells and drums! Take your delight in love! Rains pour down without water, and the rivers are streams of light. One Love it is that pervades the whole world… ~ Kabir ~ ~ may we bathe in the illuminated radiance of love that lights up every imaginal cell of being in the unified field of consciousness… ~ every outbreath, an emptying… every inbreath, a re-membering… ~
every outbreath, an emptying… every inbreath, a re-membering… ~ what a gift to share the peace pilgrimage, the pathless path, feeling our way along the rainbow trail, dancing deeper into mystery, meeting each moment fully, breaking our one heart wider open to the fragile/indomitable beauty that is ours to be in each moment… ~ yes, the caravan of re-joy-sing, a merry band of imaginal cells, is on the move on this sacred day of awakening returning to stillness and to celebrate falling down the rabbit hole, the wormhole, the vortex of the stilling wave… ~ leaping with wild abandon into the great beyond, the void, the truth of the cosmos – uncertainty – we are journeying on a pathless path of heart guided by the inner muse of wisdom… Surrender Imagine Makemagic Play Lightly n Equanimity a day of celebrating simply… wind song, water song, earth song and birdsong in the blessed silence of our one sacred, still heart… ~ a day of slowing down, softening, emptying, re-membering, always sauntering in beauty deeper and deeper into the core, feeling the plates of the earth continuing their millions of years of shifting and morphing as the waters of life carve arteries of flow delivering us into this moment, this beautiful moment of imagining the impossible dream real-eyesed…
“Each of us is a moving center, a space of divine mystery. And though we spend most of our time on the surface in the daily details of ordinary existence, most us hunger to connect to this space within, to break through to bliss, to be swept away into something bigger than us…” ~ Gabrielle Roth ~ ~ “I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.” ~Hafiz of Shiraz~ ~ every outbreath, an emptying… every inbreath, a re-membering… ~ yes, let us all re-member who we are… light waves born of the great light weaver… relatives, let us join together as one with our ears to the ground listening, listening to mama gaia’s heartbeat drumming throughout the earth of our being… ~ i come out of the darkness into light i come with nothing i know nothing i am empty of all things ~ i’d love your joining me in the quantum field out beyond, the seasky of great mystery, the akasha of ethers of quintessence, the sea of love energy, of infinite possibility, of rainbow mystery, this sacred space of the unified field of consciousness where we come together to create a cosmos of peace guided by love… ~ let us sync into the stillpoint with our breathing in quintessentially to the count of five and holding it quintessentially in our bellies, the wisdom space to the count of five and breathing out the light from our bellies through our heart and third eye into the infinite skysea of light and as we continue breathing in the rhythm of waves, may we wander in wonder…
i was awakened earlytoday by light and a light beingheading off on an adventure and discovered that for the umpteenth time over the last two going on three moons quite a problem with internet communications and i’m truly feeling being the pilgrim with no home but the path the soul would have me take…
blessed be and thank you, thank you, thank you for another day to lie fallow and resting in the soulful self immersing in the warm rays of a beautiful indian summer day with little miss firecracker and the central sun…
a day of breaking, bending, wearing out, emptying to come back into fullness
every inbreath, a re-membering, every outbreath an emptying…
today’s pilgrimage is one extended moment of celebrating, feasting St Francis and his call to be an instrument of peace… to amplify this celebration of St Francis on his feast day, i turn to his namesake, Pope Francis who turns to him in the introduction to his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home: . . . I believe that Saint Francis is the example par excellence of care for the vulnerable and of an integral ecology lived out joyfully and authentically. . . . He was a mystic and a pilgrim who lived in simplicity and in wonderful harmony with God, with others, with nature and with himself. He shows us just how inseparable the bond is between concern for nature, justice for the poor, commitment to society, and interior peace. . . . Just as happens when we fall in love with someone, whenever he would gaze at the sun, the moon or the smallest of animals, he burst into song, drawing all other creatures into his praise. He communed with all creation, even preaching to the flowers, inviting them “to praise the Lord, just as if they were endowed with reason.” His response to the world around him was so much more than intellectual appreciation or economic calculus, for to him each and every creature was a sister united to him by bonds of affection. That is why he felt called to care for all that exists. His disciple Saint Bonaventure tells us that, “from a reflection on the primary source of all things, filled with even more abundant piety, he would call creatures, no matter how small, by the name of ‘brother’ or ‘sister.’” . . . If we feel intimately united with all that exists, then sobriety and care will well up spontaneously. The poverty and austerity of Saint Francis were no mere veneer of asceticism, but something much more radical: a refusal to turn reality into an object simply to be used and controlled. may we live in simplicity harmony and compassion for all our relatives…
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there… ~ Rumi ~ what a delight to meet with you this moment in the openhearted field beside the spacious and expansive windswept sea… just as the waves bring me home, being with you brings me home to the interconnected web of our interbeingness… in such a wild and wide open space, such a heart opening place, though our meetings in the outer world may be fleeting and rare, that connection of interbeing, the meeting in the inner world is now all the stronger with the visceral imprint now encoded in cellular memory … a day out of time, a day in spirit, inspired by love and the deep peace of running waves… may we all return with the breath in this moment to our communal home, the watery womb of our grandmother sea’s flowing iridescent streams of love energy… let us close with the deep celtic wisdom of Brother John echoing from the depths of the eternal sea… “Either we are in the universe to inhabit the eternity of our souls and grow real, or else we might as well dedicate our days to shopping and kill time watching talk-shows… Let’s not let our days fall away like empty shells and miss all the treasure… The sacred duty of being an individual is to gradually learn how to live so as to awaken the eternal within you.” may we all awaken to the eternal within us… thank you and deepest bows for walking home with me catalyzing and inspiring awakening the eternal now moment of the openhearted field…
i awaken today with these words of the buddha flowing through me – how apropos for a month devoted to opening the heart and synchronistic in that today is the international day of compassion… now, let’s listen to another master of the compassionate open heart… ~ CULTIVATE AN OPEN HEART Story by: Dalai Lama I believe that every human being has an innate desire for happiness and does not want to suffer. I believe that each of us has the same potential to develop inner peace and thereby achieve happiness and joy. If one has a positive mental attitude then, even when surrounded by hostility, one will not lack inner peace. On the other hand, if one’s mental attitude is more negative, influenced by fear, suspicion, helplessness, or self-loathing, then, even when surrounded by one’s best friends, in a nice atmosphere and comfortable surroundings, one will not be happy. In my own case, at the age of 16, I lost my freedom, and at 24, I lost my country. I have been a refugee for the last forty years, with heavy responsibilities. As I look back, my life has not been easy. However, throughout all these years I learned about compassion, about caring for others. This mental attitude has brought me inner strength. One of my favorite prayers, translated roughly, is: So long as space remains, So long as sentient beings remain, I will remain, In order to help, in order to serve, In order to make my own contribution. That sort of thinking has brought purpose to my life. No matter how difficult or complicated things may be, if we have this type of mental attitude we can have inner peace. Spiritual growth need not be based on religious faith. I believe that the methods by which we increase our altruism, our sense of caring for others, and by which we develop the attitude that our own individual concerns are less important than those of others, are common to all major religious traditions. Though we may find differences in philosophical views and rites, all religions advocate love, compassion, and forgiveness. And even persons who do not believe in religion can appreciate the virtues of basic human values. Since our very existence and well-being are a result of the cooperation and contributions of countless others, we must have a proper attitude and way of relating to them. In the past, countries, regions, and even villages were economically independent of one another. Under those circumstances the destruction of one’s enemy might have been a victory for oneself. Today we are so interdependent that the concept of war has become outdated. When we face problems or disagreements today, we have to arrive at solutions through dialogue. We cannot destroy our neighbors! We cannot ignore their interests! Doing so would ultimately cause us to suffer. Non-violence does not mean that we remain indifferent to a problem. On the contrary, it is important to be fully engaged. However, we must do so in a way that does not benefit us alone. We must not harm the interests of others. Non-violence, therefore, is not merely the absence of violence. It involves a sense of compassion and caring. I strongly believe that we must promote non-violence at the level of the family as well as at the national and international levels. We must try to develop greater perspective, looking at situations from all angles. Usually, when we face problems ,we look at them from our own point of view. We even sometimes deliberately ignore other aspects of a situation. This often leads to negative consequences. Sometimes, due to a very small matter, a fight starts between a husband and wife, or a parent and child. If you focus merely on the immediate problem, then yes, it really is worth fighting and quarreling. It is even worth divorcing! However, looking at the situation with more perspective, we see that though there is a problem, there is also a common interest. You can come to feel, “This is a small problem which I must solve by dialogue, not by drastic measures.” We can thereby develop a non-violent atmosphere within our own family, as well as within our community. Another important practice in training our minds involves learning to distinguish between the negative qualities of conceit or arrogance and those of positive pride or self-confidence. In my own practice, when I have an arrogant feeling, “Oh, I’m somehow special,” I say to myself, “I’m a human being and a Buddhist monk. I thereby have a great opportunity to practice the spiritual path leading to Buddhahood.” I then compare myself to a small insect in front of me and think, “This little insect is very weak, with no capacity to think about philosophical matters. It has no ability to develop altruism. In spite of the opportunity I have, I behave in this stupid way.” If I judge myself from this point of view, the insect is definitely more honest and sincere than I am. Human emotions are very powerful and sometimes overwhelm us. This can lead to disasters. I think that anger and hatred actually cause more harm to us than to the person responsible for our problem. Imagine that your neighbor hates you and is always creating problems for you. If you lose your temper and develop hatred toward him, your digestion will be bad, your sound sleep will go, and you will have to start to use tranquilizers and sleeping pills. You will have to increase the doses of these, which will harm your body. Your mood will be affected, and as a result your old friends will hesitate to visit you. You will gradually have more white hair and wrinkles, and you may eventually develop more serious health problems. Then your neighbor will be really happy. Without having inflicted any physical harm he will have fulfilled his wish! If, in spite of his injustices, you remain calm, happy, and peaceful, your health will remain strong, you will continue to be joyful, and more friends will come to visit you. Your life will become more successful. This will really bring about worry in your neighbor’s mind. I think that this is the wise way to inflict harm upon your neighbor. You must not consider tolerance and patience to be signs of weakness. I consider them signs of strength. When we are faced with a person or group of people wishing us harm, we can view this as an opportunity to develop patience and tolerance. We need these qualities; they are useful to us. And the only occasion we have to develop them is when we are challenged by an enemy. So, from this point of view, our enemy is our Guru, our teacher. Irrespective of their motivation, from our point of view they are very beneficial, a blessing. There is a Buddhist practice where one imagines giving the source of all joy to another person, thereby removing all their suffering. Though of course we cannot change their situation, I do feel that in some cases, through a genuine sense of caring and compassion, through our sharing in their plight, our attitude can help alleviate that person’s suffering, if only mentally. However, the main point of this practice is to increase our inner strength and courage. I have chosen a few lines that I feel would be acceptable to people of all faiths, and even to those with no spiritual belief. When reading these lines, if you are a religious practitioner, you can reflect upon the divine form that you worship. A Christian can think of Jesus or God; a Muslim can reflect upon Allah. Then, while reciting these verses, make the commitment to enhance your spiritual values. If you are not religious, you can reflect upon the fact that, fundamentally, all beings are equal to you in their wish for happiness and their desire to overcome suffering. Recognizing this, you make a pledge to develop a good heart. It is most important that we have a warm heart. As long as we are part of human society, it is very important to be a kind, warm-hearted person. May the poor find wealth, Those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find new hope, Constant happiness and prosperity. May the frightened cease to be afraid, And those bound be free. May the weak find power, And may their hearts join in friendship His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso is the head of the Tibetan Government in Exile and the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people. ~ may we radiate compassion in widening circles…
welcome, openhearted october, a moon where every day the pilgrimage is a devotion to cultivating the open heart of flowing love, peace and joy! i pray you awake today, with a child’s open heart and a beginner’s mind somewhere aware that this beautiful moment has been quietly forming and waiting for the perfect moment to present, to presence…. thanks be for courage kindling our one sweet heart to open to what is and to trust the destination is the journey… we don’t have to know where we are going, how could we in this river of life that’s fluid and dynamic, moving from moment to moment only asking that we simply be open, one with the tides of life… deep bow to green tara, goddess of enlightenment and compassion, for revealing that this is a moment for surrendering suffering to the river of joy, the river below the river, the waters of life always flowing through the deep well of our one being… may we all open our one heart as wide as the sky, as deep as the ocean and smile at this revelation of new life… the open heart promising all is well… ~may we all be peace, may we all be love may we all flow in beauty with an openheart as guide…
today is such a special blessing the space moment as we close this sacred moon of september, a moon of being silently drawn by the pull of love – thank you, dear Rumi, and happiest of turns around the sun… blessing the space of a moon of our witnessing the world turned upside down on both inner and outer planes, one long moon moment of resetting… join me now on this high sand dune with panoramic water views to celebrate the fire dissolving into water, to savor the harvests of the trials faced, the suffering now seen as the grace of awakening, the bittersweet letting go of the small protective self in service to the higher purpose of the all that is… thank you for sitting with the council of elders around the central sun as we reflect upon and share the full filling moments that live forever… A Brave And Startling Truth We, this people, on a small and lonely planet Traveling through casual space Past aloof stars, across the way of indifferent suns To a destination where all signs tell us It is possible and imperative that we learn A brave and startling truth And when we come to it To the day of peacemaking When we release our fingers From fists of hostility And allow the pure air to cool our palms We, this people, on this small and drifting planet Whose hands can strike with such abandon That in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living Yet those same hands can touch with such healing, irresistible tenderness That the haughty neck is happy to bow And the proud back is glad to bend Out of such chaos, of such contradiction We learn that we are neither devils nor divines When we come to it We, this people, on this wayward, floating body Created on this earth, of this earth Have the power to fashion for this earth A climate where every man and every woman Can live freely without sanctimonious piety Without crippling fear When we come to it We must confess that we are the possible We are the miraculous, the true wonder of this world That is when, and only when We come to it. ~ Maya Angelou ~ may we all awaken today…
holy synchronicity! i’m back to posting on this special day of sharing the astonishing light of being and this image i had named blessing the magical pilgrimage which is so perfect for this moment of pilgrimage and yes, batwoman, i love the synchronicty of it being the first night of navaratri… so, beloved sangha of imaginal cells, join me in a magical mystery tour, a pilgrimage into the depths of our one heart… imagine we’ve met in the field pictured here and as we deeply conspire together, see and feel a bubble of light surrounding your physical body and extending out about four feet around you… now imagine this bubble is a window, a circular skylight and simply with your intention open the window as wide as you can and connect with the enormous steams of light flowing down from the upper worlds, the plasma fields, the akasha, the sammi, the energy flow of creation flowing through you and breaking up and releasing any blockages, issues, dams to compost them into the deep earth… the sammi, the electric light stream continues to flow down into the earth engendering a reciprocal response from our earth mother with an ascending magnetic flow of energy of unconditional love whispering that it’s safe to be here, all is well… feel your heart opening and your mind stilling as these two streams of energy flow simultaneously creating a sense of loving peaceful presence as we expand out and deepen further and further into the planet, the soular system, the galaxies out to the edges of creation and beyond where we experience SELF as the infinite one, the one consciousness, we are the drop dissolving into the ocean of being, surrendering to, softening into flow… may this doorway between the worlds always stay open in each wild and beautiful moment and may we step up as conscious, co-creating imaginal cells of liberation breathing in the new /old template of peace…
