Friday, October 3, 2008

A Story About Lotus Tea








My favorite monk, who is often referred to as the most beloved Buddhist teacher in the West, is Thich Nhat Hanh. His teachings and practices appeal to people from various religious, spiritual, and political backgrounds. Nhat Hanh offers a practice of "mindfulness" that is beneficial for people of all faiths, by helping us resist and transform the speed and violence of our modern society. His life and teachings have deeply influenced millions of people, including scores of luminaries in different fields: politician Jerry Brown, civil rights champion Martin Luther King, Jr., eco-activist Joanna Macy, and Catholic mystic Thomas Merton - to name a few.


Thich Nhat Hanh (see Thich Nhat Hanh � Deer Park Monastery) once told a story in one of his books of his family's simple way of brewing their tea when he lived in Vietnam. He said that in the evening a family member would take the boat out on the river and find a blooming lotus flower. The beautiful lotus closes its petals each night, so while the flower was still open they would take some tea leaves wrapped in rice paper and place it in the lotus flower. After the flower would close its delicate petals, throughout the night the tea leaves would absorb the wonderful fragrance of the lotus. The next morning the family of Thich Nhat Hanh's would row the boat out to the lotus flower, remove the scented tea leaves, and proceed to brew the special tea right there on the little boat and enjoy the still morning quietly sipping their fragrant tea.





Such a simple practice, peaceful, mindful, and meditative, brought the family a connectedness to each other and to all of nature.








------------diane

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Rumi poem



Rumi is a 13th century Persian Sufi mystic, born in Balkh, in what is now Afghanistan. The general theme of his thoughts, like that of the other mystic and Sufi poets of the Persian literature, is essentially about the concept of Tawheed (unity) and union with his beloved (the primal root) from which/whom he has been cut and fallen aloof, and his longing and desire for reunity. - Text from Wikipedia


The following poem is one of my favorites:


Since You Are I, You Who Are Myself


Once a man came and knocked at the door of his friend.
“Who are you?” asked his friend. “It is I,” he replied.
The friend said, “Go away! This isn’t the time to enter!
There’s no place at a table like mine for the one
Who’s not been cooked in the fire of true gnosis?
Apart from the fire of absence and separation
What’ll cook the raw or free the uncooked from fraud?
The poor man went away and for a whole year of travel and absence
He was burnt utterly by the flames of separation.
His heart burned until it was consumed; he came again
To the door of his friend and knocked at the door
With a hundred signs of the utmost fear and reverence,
Terrified a wrong word should escape his lips.
From within, his friend called out, “Who’s at the door?”
He replied, “It is you who are at the door, O charmer of hearts!”
“Since you are I,” the friend said, “O you who are myself,
Enter; there’s no place in my house for two I’s.
~ RUMI

Monday, September 29, 2008

The Hummingbirds



Since April of this year, I've enjoyed the company of some tiny friends in my garden, the little hummingbirds. So cheerfully chatting, flitting about from flower to flower and stopping for a drink of sugar water from my feeders, they've added such life to my backyard.

It's autumn now. For the last two days, I've not seen them. One by one, the tiny creatures quietly left on their long journeys south for the winter. How did I not know they were preparing to leave? Did they try to tell me good-bye and I missed it? The feeders are hanging in still silence and only my past visions of the little creatures remain.

Goodbye my little friends. I pray for you a safe journey...............'til we meet again.

Winged Jewel
With wings spun of silver and hearts of gold,These tiny creatures our hearts behold.With angelic features and colors so bright,Make even the heaviest heart seem light.The magical way they flit through the sky,They appear, then vanish in the blink of an eye.They're sending a message for us to retrieve,Anything's possible for those who believe!

Written by: Christopher Griffiths


Q & A about migration of hummingbirds:



Ruby-throats winter in Central America from Mexico to Panama. At the northern extreme, a few rufous hummers winter in southern and coastal California and along the Gulf coast from southeastern Texas to Florida. Most winter in Mexico.



Q. Do hummingbirds migrate by day or night?


By day, except in one situation: when ruby-throated hummingbirds light out over the Gulf of Mexico, they are over water when night falls and must keep on going until the reach the other side.



Q. When do hummers leave their wintering grounds?

They time their return to the breeding grounds according to location. Birds that live in the southern part of the US begin their return migration as early as February. Birds that live further north in the East, or in the inland mountains in the West, time their return to coincide with the flowering of their food plants or sapsucker migration.

-----diane

Friday, September 26, 2008

A Limb Just Moved by Mirabai


A LIMB JUST MOVED

You taught Your songs to the birds first,
why was that?

And You practised Your love in the hearts of animals
before You created man,

I know the planets talk at night
and tell secrets
about
You.

A limb just moved before me,
the beauty of this world
is causing me to
weep.

------Mirabai


Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A New Sacred Morning


Morning
From the east comes the sun, bringing a new and unspoiled day. It has already circled the earth and looked upon distant lands and far-away peoples.

It has passed over mountain ranges and the waters of the seven seas. It has shone upon laborers in the fields, into the windows of homes, and shops, and factories.

It has beheld proud cities with gleaming towers, and also the hovels of the poor.

It has been witness to both good and evil, the works of honest men and women and the conspiracy of knaves.

It has seen marching armies, bomb-blasted villages and "the destruction that wasteth at noon-day."

Now, unsullied from its tireless journey, it comes to us, messenger of the morning. Harbinger of a new day.
----Clinton Lee Scott (September 28, 1887-September 28, 1985), a Universalist minister

Saturday, September 20, 2008

The Tao





Lao-Tse

Before creation a presence existed,

Self-contained, complete,


formless, voiceless, mateless,


changeless,



Which yet pervaded itself with


unending motherhood.


Though there can be no name


for it.


I have called it the "way of life."


Perhaps I should have called it


"the fullness of life,"


Since fullness implies widening


into space,


Implies still further widening


into space,


Implies still further widening,


Implies widening until the circle


is whole.


In this sense


The way of life is fulfilled.


Heaven is fulfilled.


Earth is fulfilled.


And a fit person also is fulfilled.


There are the four amplitudes of


the universe


And a fit person is one of them.


People rounding the way of


earth,


Earth rounding the way of


heaven.


Heaven rounding the way of life


Till the circle is full.


-Lao-Tse



Tuesday, September 16, 2008

THIS CLAY JUG by Kabir

THIS CLAY JUG

by Kabir


Inside this clay jug there are canyons

and pine mountains, and the maker of

canyons and pine mountains!


All seven oceans are inside, and

hundreds of millions of stars.


The acid that tests gold is there, and

the one who judges jewels.


And the music from the strings

no one touches, and the source of

all water.


If you want the truth, I will tell you

the truth:


Friend, listen:

the God whom I love is inside.

Sacred Hoop

Then I was standing

on the highest mountain

of them all.


And round beneath me

was the whole hoop

of the world.


And while I stood there

I saw more than I can tell


And I understood

more than I saw.


For I was seeing

in the sacred manner

the shape of all things

of the spirit


And the shapes

as they must live

together like one being.


And I saw that the sacred hoop

of my people

was one of many hoops

that make one circle,

wide as daylight and starlight.


And in the center grew one

mighty flowering tree


To shelter all the children

of one mother

and one father.


And I saw that it was holy.
- Black Elk





Saturday, September 13, 2008

Gratitude



A recent visitor to my blog made a comment on my past posting about "Hidden Messages of Water". He said, "I loved Emoto's books, and never looked at water the same way since, or drank it without gratitude for such a marvelous gift that is the source and sustenance of life."


My visitor's very appreciated comment made a huge impact upon me. I, too, have been unable to look at water the same way since. Every encounter throughout my day with water is now noticed with an awareness of its aliveness and my gratitude for it. Each morning I visit my backyard fountain and say a silent hello and give it my love. Water thrives on attention, as we all do, even the plants and trees we surround ourselves with.


Now I keep on hand a bottle of water to drink that has been blessed with the words " LOVE" and "GRATITUDE" written on labels for the water to "see". I was not expecting anything different about the taste of this water, but it has surprised me tremendously! The first time I tasted my water after it had been exposed to these beautiful words, the water was deliciously sweeter than usual. I believe it is showing me its appreciation of my attention and love directed to it, just as Dr. Emoto has explained in his books.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Do No Harm

There is a non-profit grass-roots movement going on across the continent. It's called: Do No Harm. Two internet friends started it with a common goal: to promote kindness. I admire the other many people who have committed themselves to spreading the word of this wonderful movement. The message is so simple that most people don't even understand what it means. Many of them, when given free bracelets or bumper stickers promoting the movement, are perplexed about the meaning and try to turn it into something complicated.

What does "Do No Harm" mean to you? It's a phrase that conjures up many different ideas depending upon your individual conditioning of your life. For many people, it simply means don't cause harm to anyone. For me, I include that meaning, but I take it a bit further. Perhaps it is because I had the fortunate experience of having a mother who was aware of the preciousness of all life, not just human life, and she shared that with me in many ways. She saw all life as sacred because she nearly died of TB when she was quite young, in her early twenties. She watched some of her close friends die of the disease, yet miraculously she was spared.

I was shown by my mother how to love and care for a simple, tiny flower, a baby fir tree just starting to grow, and a helpless injured bird. We took care of kittens, dogs, birds, turtles, and any creature that came our way. She showed me that the discovery of a beautiful stone was more precious than money, a feather left by a bird was a treasured gift, that even the smallest of insects feel pain and have the right to live, and our beautiful earth itself was a sacred spinning jewel.

Many people and children today aren't as fortunate to have had someone in their lives show them the sacredness of all live. The "Do No Harm" movement is needed to remind us to be aware of our responsibility to be kind, to promote kindness, and to teach young children kindness toward all living beings and our precious earth.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Resonating/Vibrating Human Beings


Do you ever wonder why you can feel emotionally close toward a certain person and not another? Even in a large extended family you may only feel a closeness to certain people and not to others in the same family. Think back when you were a child or a young adult and you loved someone deeply and then become separated by distance and many years, yet you'll often feel that same connectedness to him or her after much time has passed and be able to reconnect again quite easily. How is that so? We humans exist in a state of vibrational frequency unique to each person. We have the sensory skills to feel the vibrations of others, positive and negative. Almost everyone has had the experience of being in the same room with someone who is full of depressed thoughts or angry hidden emotions. The atmosphere emits a negative energy field that can be felt by anyone entering the room.

People who emit a similar frequency are attracted to each other and a friendship can easily be formed. You cannot resonate with someone else who has a fundamentally incompatible vibrational frequency. Dr. Emoto, a Japanese researcher and author of "The Hidden Messages From Water" says that "when two people resonate and fall in love, they rise to their highest level of capability. If a person with a capability of 10 who has only been using 5 parts of that capacity falls in love with someone with a level of 12, then he or she will naturally make use of the level -10 capability and show an increase in frequency. Love has the effect of raising our frequency level and making us shine."

When we think about what makes up our bodies, we know we are formed of atoms, nothing more. The magic is what is inside of each atom. The center is a nucleus with electrons rotating about at different numbers and shapes, creating a unique and particular set of vibrational frequencies. Within each atom is 99.9999% space. Whether we are talking about a human body, any type of life, or any object in existence, this is true. We only perceive these things to be solid mass, when we are all actually sort of a vibrating, rotating wave. Not solid at all!

Organic matter that forms human beings generates a frequency that can be represented by sound at approximately 42 octaves above middle C (the note near the center of a piano keyboard) as reported by Warren Hamerman in the scientific journal 21st Century Science and Technology's March 1989 issue. The middle C frequency is approximately 262 Hz. Forty-two octaves higher has a sound frequency of 570 trillion Hz. Since Hz means vibrations per second, this means human beings vibrate 570 trillion times a second!


Humans are the only animals with the capacity to resonate with all other creatures and objects found in nature. We hold a universe within us filled with frequencies of a cosmic proportion.

So what is it about love that causes us to raise our frequency level? The great spiritual masters Jesus, Buddha, and others are said to have a very high frequency level. When we experience or know this love, we come to acknowledge our sacred universe, recognizing our oneness of everything that exists, within us and outside of us. We find our own "I Am"-ness, we are then aligned with the universal love that transcends all things, all life, and manifests itself in us and in everything.

"God is in everything. He sleeps in stones, breathes in plants, dreams in animals and awakes in mankind."




Sunday, August 10, 2008

Sacred Water


I've just finished reading the book (twice!), "The Hidden Messages In Water" by Japanese scientist/researcher Dr. Masaru Emoto. Although, this has been out for several years, I've just discovered this miraculous book.

Mr. Emoto has visually documented molecular changes in water by means of his photographic techniques. By freezing water and taking a photograph of the ice crystal that forms, he has discovered many fascinating differences in the crystals of water from many different sources and conditions around the planet. Emoto's ezine newsletter can be subscribed to here: https://www.hado.net/index.php

His research has shown that water from pristine mountain streams and springs produces beautifully formed geometric designs in their crystalline patterns. Polluted and toxic water shows definitely distorted and randomly formed crystalline structures. Some waters produce no crystals at all.

Music, words and thoughts have been shown to have a direct impact on the water, also. Vibration exists in everything, even written words. When the word "LOVE" is shown to water, the water can be imprinted with these vibrations. Beautiful words have beautiful, clear vibrations. Negative words put out ugly, incoherent vibrations which do not form clusters. Heavy metal music produced no crystals at all.

What does it all mean? Emoto believes that all is based on HADO or Chi, a vital energy that comes ultimately from the circulation of electrons around the atomic nucleus. He believes that Chi changes according to the consciousness of the observer, "the way they see things".

Apparently water can respond directly to people's consciousness. Crystals reflected the panic during an earthquake and also the recovery period three months later. Tap water of Tokyo, which was formless, responded to the transmission of "Chi, Soul and Spirit" of 500 people to give a distinctive crystal. Certain gifted people have been able to make the most polluted, formless water respond to the "Chi of Love," or to prayer, to give the most remarkable symmetries of perfection.
A human begins its life as an embryo in water. A fetus is 90% water and an adult human is 70% water. We see that we all are connected by the water within us and on our earth and cosmo. We can positively influence another person by giving kindness, love, and gratitude to him or even by sending prayers or thoughts. Emoto's book will convince you beyond a doubt. It's a truly mystical treasure and will transform your thoughts about life and what it means to be alive.








Thursday, July 24, 2008

Being Present


Three Ways of Being Present
Living for Now versus Living in the Now
by Peter Russell

In one sense we are always in the present. Everything we experience is an experience in this moment.
Our memories of the past are experiences in the present. So are our thoughts about the future.

When people talk about not being present, they are usually referring to the attention not being in the present moment. When our attention is caught up in our thoughts about the past or the future, and we are no longer so aware of what is happening now.

Unfortunately, most of us spend too much of our time thinking about past and future events. We savor past delights, rejoice in past achievements, ponder whether or not we did the right thing, grieve over past losses and disappointments, get angry about the way things turned out. Or we anticipate future delights, plan our best course of action, worry about what might go wrong, fear not being in control of a situation, anguish over how others might respond.

Most of this thinking is unnecessary; a waste of time and energy. Moreover, it makes the mind tense, which is the very opposite of what all this thinking is trying to achieve—an easier, more peaceful state of mind.
This is why the wise ones have repeatedly urged us to be more in the present; to be here, now.

But what does it mean to be present? There are three principal ways in which people use the term.

1. Living for today. Not worrying about what happened yesterday; nor about what might come tomorrow.
This attitude definitely has its value. It may help us take life as it comes, and not get so caught up in unnecessary fears and concerns. It allows us to enjoy more of what life has to offer.
But it does not necessarily lead to a fuller awareness of the present moment. One may still be as caught up in thoughts as before, even if they be thoughts of today rather than yesterday or tomorrow.

2. Awareness of present experience. This is the starting point for a number meditation practices.
Whereas most of our thoughts are about the past or the future, our sensory experience is always "now". Thus many spiritual teachers advocate placing the attention on bodily sensations—points of contact with the physical world, the heartbeat, or the breath. The actual feelings in the body are in the present moment.
Then when the mind wanders off into some thought about the past or future—as it surely will—gently return the attention to physical sensations, and so back to the present.

3. Being at ease with everything. This often comes as the result of the long-term practice of meditation.
There is no longer the need to keep the attention to sensory experience. One is present to whatever is—including the arising and passing of thoughts about the past or future.
Some call this the witness mode. There is deep ease, and profound relief. There is an inner equanimity in each moment.

It simply is as it is.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Every Pair of Eyes

Do not look for the Divine somewhere in the sky. See God in every pair of eyes, in the mountains, water, trees, and animals. How? Only when you see God in yourself. Only Gods can worship Gods.
When you have reverence for the whole universe, you are in harmony with the whole universe. Then, you do not need to reject or renounce anything. When you have reverence in all your relationships, your own consciousness expands. Even small things appear to be significant and big. Every little creature appears dignified. It is the reverence in every relationship that saves the relationship. Cultivate the skill of having reverence for every moment in your life.
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Who are You?


I have seen my Lord with the eye of my heart, and I said: "Who are You?"
He said: "You."

- Mansur Al Hallaj, Diwan al-Hallaj

Every Creature

"Every creature is full of God, and is a book about God. Every creature is a word of God. If I spent enough time with the tiniest creature, even a caterpillar, I would never have to prepare a sermon. So full of God is every creature."
(Meister Eckhart, 13th C)

Friday, June 27, 2008

Calm Your Thoughts



There are many, many web sites you can Google on to find info and help on meditation. Here's a link to view some simple videos on the matter: http://www.how-to-meditate.org/videos/ It's nothing more than noticing your breath, being aware of your breath as you breathe in and then out, and being aware of thoughts that arise in your mind during the process. When thoughts come floating in, just calmly notice them, then let them go like a soft cloud floating by.

Why meditate? Because we all absorb wordly noise, thoughts, and emotions daily. Most of it is clutter in the mind that can create negative energy in the body. So, relax..........let's meditate. It's soooooooooo EASY!

A LESSON IN MEDITATION

Concentration on the Breath
A very simple way of meditating is concentrating on your breath. The breath is like a bridge between your body and mind. When you concentrate on your breath for a while, your body becomes relaxed and your mind becomes peaceful.
Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight.
Place your hands in your lap with the left hand on the bottom.
Keep your eyes half-closed or closed.
Concentrate on the tip of your nose. Notice your breath going in and out.

Lotus posture
Full lotus is the best sitting posture. Begin by sitting in half-lotus, then work your way up to full lotus.
Full-lotus- Sit on the edge of a cushion. Place your left ankle on your right thigh. Then lift your right ankle onto your left thigh.
Half-lotus- Lift your left ankle onto your right thigh.


------diane

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wisdom

Wisdom. We all want more of it. We are all in awe of someone who possesses it. But, wisdom is not about reading and studying more subjects and gaining more knowledge. What good is knowing about everything on earth and in the cosmos if wisdom is not applied with it?

So, how do we become wise? The Buddha said that insightful wisdom is understood when one recognizes three characteristics of existence:
All things are (1) impermanent, (2)ownerless, and (3) dissatisfying in the long run. Any other way of thinking is delusional.
The wisdom of understanding reality, as Lama Surya Das explains in his book, "Buddha Is As Buddha Does", is like an experienced sighted guide capable of leading the otherwise blind practices of generosity, ethics, effort, patience, and meditation. Helen Keller reflected a similar attitude toward wisdom: "To be blind is bad, but worse it is to have eyes and not to see."
An awareness of life, of Oneness, is seeing things just as they are, as well as how they fit into and effect the entirety. The Dalai Lama calls this the Third Eye, or the Wisdom Eye. This mystic eye, or the eye of wisdom, perceives unity, while the other two "normal" eyes see dualistically. A person with wisdom sees a clear, holistic, third-eye vision of the cosmos.
Every person has this "wisdom" within himself. It's there for all to discover. There is a dimension within you that transcends all wordliness and concepts. It is your best friend, your teacher, your guide, ally, and protector. Innate wisdom is like your higher power, God, or Oneness. When we go into stillness or meditation, there is a dimension within that taps into this wisdom, this God. It's in the Now dimension where all that is real exists.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Impermanence

Birds, stones, flowers, and crystals have all held special significance for the human spirit, as Eckhart Tolle explains in his book, "A New Earth". He says, when a human gives his still and alert attention to these beautiful but temporary manifestations of the underlying one Life, or one Consciousness, he can sense the divine life essence, the one indwelling consciousness or spirit in every creature, every life-form, and recognize it as one with their own essence and so love it as themselves.

Friday, June 6, 2008

The Wasp and the Baby Bird, a true Sufi story




Many times in my life I have found sad little birds and have stopped to leave little bread crumbs or seed for them, in hopes their lives will be made a little easier by my gesture. However, sometimes, I've found the condition of the poor bird is such that I haven't known how to help the creature. Here is a story, a true one, of an incredible little insect that did all he possibly could to help a baby bird:
This is from an amazing blog you'll want to check out that I found at: http://mysticsaint.blogspot.com/

Sidi was about thirteen years old and it was harvest time in the village where he went to visit his relatives. everywhere people were harvesting the grains, chafing the wheat etc.at one point a wasp came to his attention. it was picking up a single wheat grain each time in its mouth and flew back. after a while it came back again to pick another grain and flew.

When Sidi saw it happening for the third time, it came to him, "there's a story behind what this wasp was doing". so he decided to catch this wasp without doing it any harm.with all the enthusiasms of a teenage boy, thanks to a little box and very thin thread he caught the wasp. then tied the thin thread to one of its leg and let it go.interestingly, without delay it came back and picked up another grain in its mouth and flew away. now following the thread curious Sidi tracked the wasp as it started its return journey. after it flew about two hundred yards, it hovered close to ground and made a sound. from distance there Sidi saw a little nest on the ground, then heard the voice of a bird and it was opening its beak.
going down, the wasp dropped the grain into the opened beak of the bird. Sidi went close to the nest and took this bird in his hand only to find that this bird had no legs and it was blind.Sidi told afterwards that the whole chain of events was a great surprise to him and left a significant impact in his heart.
Sidi mentions that this story gives us a way and gives to all people a certain understanding how Love and Mercy should be expressed. this story is a teaching from Allah about deep love and true mercy that each human being aspires to. This story also tells the depth of love go beyond the human being and are also experienced amongst other creatures of Allah, like birds and insects.Behold! Allah is not ashamed to propound the parable of a gnat or even of something more simpler. (Qur’an 2:26)
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Monday, June 2, 2008

Everything's Sacred

"God forbid you should say of the rock
that it is only rock, when we know that there is nothing that is not God"
- a quote from a Kabbalist
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Monday, May 5, 2008

The Joy of Now

Eckhart Tolle
About Mr. Tolle:

Eckhart Tolle was born in Germany, where he spent the first thirteen years of his life. After graduating from the University of London, he was a research scholar and supervisor at Cambridge University. When he was twenty-nine, a profound spiritual transformation virtually dissolved his old identity and radically changed the course of his life. The next few years were devoted to understanding, integrating and deepening that transformation, which marked the beginning of an intense inward journey. Eckhart Tolle is not aligned with any particular religion or tradition. In his teaching, he conveys a simple yet profound message with the timeless and uncomplicated clarity of the ancient spiritual masters: there is a way out of suffering and into peace.

The following is from "The Power of Now"

* * *
On the surface it seems that the present moment is only one of many, many moments. Each day of your life appears to consists of thousands of moments where different things happen. Yet if you look more deeply, is there not only one moment, ever? Is life ever not “this moment?”
This one moment — Now — the only thing you can never escape from, the one constant factor in your life. No matter what happens, no matter how much your life changes, one thing is certain: it's always Now.

Since there is no escape from the Now, why not welcome it, become friendly with it?
* * *
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Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Being Separated from Awareness

Consciousness, or Being, or God, if you will, is in all living things. When we try to "find God" by using our minds as a tool , it is useless and frustrating. We end up in a state of suffering; for some it can be merely a mild discomfort, and for others it can be extreme, depending on how deeply the person is trying to "think" his way to be closer to Being.

I'll put it simply: the key is not resisting.

When we turn loose of the resisting by simply going into the quiet stillness, a centered place residing inside all of us, we can let all thoughts cease, all emotions, and just Be. We enter the precious Stillness. There we experience Being, or God. The ego part of who we are ceases to exist and the oneness of the real "you", the Consciousness, resides and is always there.

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Monday, April 7, 2008

"Stand Still" poem


"Stand Still"
by David Wagoner

Stand still.
The trees ahead and bushes beside you are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here, and you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen.
It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again, saying
Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are.
You must let it find you.
*
*

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Pointing the Way



As I travel my spiritual path, the teacher who is guiding me the most by pointing the way to inner peace is Eckhart Tolle.
The instant I began reading his book "A New Earth", I felt him leading and pointing the way to the truth in a clear voice like none I had ever heard. "The Power of Now" and "Stillness Speaks" are equally powerful and inspirational.

Not everyone who reads his books will be ready to receive his message. For those who are already beginning to awaken even just a little, you will find his teachings from his books/audios, videos to be a treasure.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Thousand Red Birds---a poem about faith

Thousand Red Birds

We clutch our tiny bits of faith in tight fists shoved firmly in our pockets.
We clutch it suspiciously, so unwilling to let it go we don’t want to lose it.
We clutch it fearing that once it is spent,we will be without hope, cast adrift, out of luck.
Help us loosen our grip.
Help us to pull our hands out of our pockets.
Help us to uncurl our fingers stiffened over time.
to grow,to shimmer,to pulse,to explode into the air
like a
thousand red birds.

– Phil Porter
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