Blog
Wednesday February 1,2012
The seeker is he who is in search of himself.
Give up all questions except one: "Who am I?" After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The "I am" is certain. The 'I am this' is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality.
To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not.
Discover all that you are not - body, feelings, thoughts, time, space, this or that - nothing concrete or abstract, which you can perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive.
The clearer you understand that on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker you will come to see the end of your search and realize that you are the limitless being.
-Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
Sunday January 1, 2012
Enlightenment is a Gamble
(excerpt from My Secret is Silence by Adyashanti)
Time to cash in your chips
put your ideas & beliefs on the table.
See who has the bigger hand
you or the mystery who pervades you.
Time to scrape the mind's shit
off your shoes
undo the laces
that hold your prison together
and dangle your toes into emptiness.
Once you've put everything
on the table
once your currency is gone
and your pockets are full of air
all you've got left to gamble with
is yourself.
Go ahead, climb up on the velvet top
of the highest stakes table.
Place yourself as the bet.
Look God in the eyes
and finally
for once in your life
lose.
Thursday December 1, 2011
Song of the Soul
as sung by Sankaracharya ... Light on Yoga
I am neither ego nor reason, I am neither mind nor thought,
I cannot be heard nor cast into words, nor by smell nor sight ever caught;
In light and wind I am not found, nor yet in earth and sky -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.
I have no name, I have no life, I breathe no vital air,
No elements have moulded me, no bodily sheath is my lair:
I have no speech, no hands and feet, nor means of evolution -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss in dissolution.
I cast aside hatred and passion, I conquered delusion and greed;
No touch of pride caressed me, so envy never did breed:
Beyond all faiths, past reach of wealth, past freedom, past desire,
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is my attire.
Virtue and vice, or pleasure and pain are not my heritage,
Nor sacred texts, nor offerings, nor prayer, nor pilgrimage:
I am neither food, nor eating, nor yet the eater am I -
Consciousness and joy incarnate, Bliss of the Blissful am I.
I have no misgiving of death, no chasms of race divide me,
No parent ever called me child, no bond of birth ever tied me:
I am neither disciple nor master, I have no kin, no friend -
Consciousness and joy am I, and merging in Bliss is my end.
Neither knowable, knowledge, nor knower am I, formless is my form,
I dwell within the senses but they are not my home:
Ever serenely balanced, I am neither free nor bound -
Consciousness and joy am I, and Bliss is where I am found.
Tuesday November 1, 2011
Desiderata
- Found in Old Saint Paul's Church, Baltimore; Dated 1692
Go placidly amid the noise & haste, & remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly & clearly; and listen to others, even the dull & ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain & bitter; for always there will be greater & lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all ariditiy & disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue & loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees & the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors & aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery & broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.
Saturday October 1, 2011
Song for Autumn
by Mary Oliver
In the deep fall don't you imagine the leaves think how comfortable it will be to touch the earth instead of the nothingness of air and the endless freshets of wind?
And don't you think the trees themselves, especially those with mossy, warm caves, begin to think of the birds that will come - six, a dozen - to sleep inside their bodies?
And don't you hear the goldenrod whispering goodbye, the everlasting being crowned with the first tuffets of snow?
The pond vanishes, and the white field over which the fox runs so quickly brings out its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its bellows.
And at evening especially, the piled firewood shifts a little, longing to be on its way.
Thursday September 1, 2011
Entering the Shell
Love is alive,
and someone borne along by it is more alive
than lions roaring or men in their fierce courage.
Bandits ambush others on the road.
They get wealth, but they stay in one place.
Lovers keep moving, never the same,
not for a second
What makes others grieve, they enjoy.
When they look angry, do not believe their faces.
It is like spring lightning, a joke before the rain.
They chew thorns thoughtfully,
along with pasture grass.
Gazelle and lioness having dinner.
Love is invisible except here, in us.
Sometimes I praise love, sometimes love praises me.
Love, a little shell somewhere on the ocean floor, opens its mouth.
You and I and we, those imaginery beings, enter the shell as a single drop of water.
-RUMI
Monday August 1, 2011
Black-eyed Susans
by Dana Faulds
It's all here in the single stalk of black-eyed susans,
two dozen small suns, rising on a single stem.
It's all here, the whole season of rain and dry days,
a summer of sunlight, the waxing and the waning moon, crickets, spiders,
and butterflies with stained glass wings.
It's all here, buds and roots drawing earthblood up through stalk and shoots, each blossom a universe,
no galaxy greater than the ring of golden petals joined at the dark center.
Answers not found in the fresh faces of the flowers are simply not worth seeking.
Friday July 1st
Cast all your votes for dancing
-Hafiz
I know the voice of depression still calls to you.
I know those habits that can ruin your life still send their invitations.
But you are with the Friend now and look so much stronger.
You can stay that way and even bloom!
Keep squeezing drops of the Sun from your prayers and work and music and from your companion's beautiful laughter.
Keep squeezing drops of the Sun from the sacred hands and glance of your Beloved and, my dear, from the most insignificant movements of your own holy body.
Learn to recognize the counterfeit coins that may buy you just a moment of pleasure, but then drag you for days like a broken man behind a farting camel.
You are with the friend now. Learn what actions of yours delight Him, what actions of yours bring freedom and love.
Whenever you say God's name, dear pilgrim, my ears wish my head was missing so they could finally kiss each other and applaud all your nourishing wisdom!
O keep squeezing drops of the Sun from your prayers and work and music and from your companion's beautiful laughter.
And from the most insignificant movements of your own holy body.
Now, sweet one, be wise. Cast all your votes for Dancing!
Summer Solstice - June 21st
Sun Salutation- Surya Namaskar
With hands in prayer, I face the sun, feeling love and joy in my heart.
I reach out and let the sun fill me with warmth.
I bow before the sun's radiance and place my face to the ground in humble respect.
I lift my face to the sun and then remember, to achieve such heights, I must be as the dust of the earth.
I stretch up toward its light trying to reach the greatest heights, and again surrender.
I stand tall as I remember the true sun is within me. -Himalayan Institute Publications
Wednesday June 1st
Springtime People
by Rainer Maria Rilke
We are no longer innocent; but we must make every effort to become primitive so that we can begin again each time, and from our hearts. We must become springtime people in order to find the summer, whose greatness we must herald.
Birdsong
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Birds begin their calls to praise.
And they are right. We stop and listen.
(We, behind masks and in costumes!)
What are they saying? A little report,
a little sorrow and a lot of promise
that chips away at the half-locked future.
And in between we can hear the silence
they break - now healing to our ears.
Monday May 2nd
From Thich Nhat Hanh
"There are many kinds of seeds in us, both good and bad. Some were planted during our lifetime, and some were transmitted by our parents, our ancestors, and our society. Our ancestors and our parents have given us seeds of joy, peace, and happiness, as well as seeds of sorrow, anger, and so on.
Every time we practice mindful living, we plant healthy seeds and strengthen the healthy seeds already in us. Healthy seeds function similarly
to antibodies. When a virus enters our bloodstream, our body reacts and antibodies come and surround it, take care of it, and transform it. This is true with our psychological seeds as well. If we plant wholesome, healing, refreshing seeds, they will take care of the negative seeds, even without our asking them. To succeed, we must cultivate a good reserve of refreshing seeds.
Friday April 1, 2011...watching the snow fall, yet again!
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves...
-Mary Oliver
Tuesday March 1,2011
The doorway to our next step of growth is always behind the urgency of now.
Now, more than ever, when all feels urgent, you must cut the strings to all events.
Now more than ever, when the weights you carry seem tied to your wrists, you must not run or flail.
Now more than ever, when each decision feels like the end, you must believe that each question is a beginning.
Now more than ever, when you fear that being who you are is a knife to those you love, you must be strong inside where no one has seen you, for loving from there can only make those you love grow.
Now more than ever, when feeling that you are the source and recipient of all pain, you must bow your head till the ancient channel from sky to heart can reopen, till you remember that you are a blessed piece of spirit-dust in spirit-wind. Now more than ever, you must breathe till your ounce of breath becomes the sky – again and again.
In this way, pray to know your place in the human family like you’ve never known it.
In this way, pray to have your True Self inch through your turmoil.
In this way, love yourself the way you love the emptiness of time. Love yourself the way you love your children or your dog or your dearest friend – without reservation.
In this way, today with all its hardships will spill into tomorrow, and decisions will become as clear as streams thawing.
~Mark Nepo~
Tuesday February 1, 2011
The Love Religion
The inner space inside
that we call the heart
has become many different
living scenes and stories.
A pasture for sleek gazelles,
a monastery for Christian monks,
a temple with Shiva dancing,
a kaaba for pilgrimage.
The tablets of Moses are there,
the Qur'an, the Vedas,
the sutras, and the gospels.
Love is the religion in me.
Whichever way love's camel goes,
that way becomes my faith,
the source of beauty, and a light,
of sacredness over everything.
-Ibn Arabi
(the light at the end of this poem is both subject & subjectivity)
Monday January 3, 2011
It seems appropriate to begin 2011 with a blessing. Enjoy this one from John O'Donohue...
A BLESSING
May the light of your soul guide you.
May the light of your soul bless the work you do with the sercret love and warmth of your heart.
May you see in what you do the beauty of your own soul.
May the sacredness of your work bring healing, light, and renewal to those who work with you and to those who see and receive your work.
May your work never weary you.
May it release within you wellsprings of refreshment, inspiration, and excitement.
May you be present in what you do.
May you never become lost in the bland absences.
May the day never burden.
May dawn find you awake and alert, approching your new day with dreams, possibilities, and promises.
May evening find you gracious and fulfilled.
May you go into the night blessed, sheltered, and protected.
May your soul calm, console and renew you.
Wednesday December 1, 2010
From Kabir - "Ecstatic Poems" translated by Robert Bly
"Are you looking for me? I am in the next seat.
My shoulder is against yours.
You will not find me in stupas, not in Indian shrine rooms, nor in synagogues, nor in cathedrals: not in masses, not kirtans, not in legs winding around your own neck, nor in eating nothing but vegetables.
When you really look for me, you will see me instantly -
you will find me in the tiniest house of time.
Kabir says: Student, tell me, what is God?
He is the breath inside the breath."
Monday November 1, 2010
Having lost life's sparkle,
I walked to the moon lodge - alone,
There to find some serenity
I could call up when the need arose.
I witnessed the miracle of reclamation,
As I counted my blessings once more,
My joy returned,
Overflowing,
As through the silence,
I bore witness
To the miracles
I had forgotten in my haste:
Tonight the moon burst!
Yesterday, I taught a child to smile.
This morning,
I found a rainbow on my doorstep.
Tomorrow,
I want to share my joy with you.
-Jamie Sams
Tuesday October 5th
Yoga is the practice of tolerating the consequences of being yourself. - the Bhagavad Gita
Be kind - for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
PLATO
Wednesday September 1, 2010
A hundred times a day I remind myself that my life depends on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give, in measure as I have received, and am still receiving.
-Albert Einstein
Monday August 2, 2010
You're It!
God
Disguised
As a myriad things and
playing a game
of tag
Has kissed you and said,
"you're it-
I mean, you're really IT!"
Now it does not matter
What you believe or feel
For something wonderful,
Major-league Wonderful
Is someday going
to happen.
-HAFIZ, the great Sufi Master
Friday July 2, 2010
Yoga as Prayer
Dedicate your practice to something meaningful and true. Initiate your practice from this place and let it become a prayer of spontaneous movement and joy. Sing or chant as you move and don't be afraid to take risks. Explore the unchartered seas of your body. Be the love you seek. Let your practice be the prayer itself, your body the temple.
-Julie Rapapport
Tuesday June 1, 2010
With That Moon Language
Admit something;
Everyone you see, you say to them,
"Love me."
Of course you do not do this out loud;
Otherwise,
Someone would call the cops.
Still though, think about this.
This great pull in us
to connect.
Why not become the one
who lives with a full moon in each eye
that is always saying,
with that sweet moon language,
What every other eye in this world
is dying to
hear.
-HAFIZ
Monday May 3, 2010
I am amazed at this spring,
this conflagration of green fires lit on the soil of the earth,
this blaze of growing,
these sparks that puff in wild gyration,
Faces of people streaming across my gaze.
-D.H. Lawrence "Enkindled Spring"
