Welcome...

Come meander with me on the pathless path of the Heart
in these anecdotal,
sometimes inspiring, sometimes personal meanderings of the Heart's opening in the every-day-ness of life...

Monday, April 28, 2014

Sunrise!


Yesterday I commented on a fellow blogger's blog – Beyond the Fields We Know – on her series, SayYes to Life! – that I was never up at dawn, because I am a night owl, and an insomniac, so I don’t normally see the sunrise…  And that I wished I could see it…  Well, as Life would have it, I awoke this morning at 5:30 am, for what reason I don’t know.  My husband was up at 6:01, as usual.  I peeked at the clock… J  I tried to turn over and continue sleeping, but I could hear noises – that I don’t usually hear of course.  It was hubby puttering around in his office and down in the kitchen…  So I thought what the heck and clamored out of bed and went down to see if the sun was coming up.  Low and behold there it was!  The sunrise this morning was at 6:04 am.  I was probably up at 6:11, grabbed the camera and quickly took these photos through our dirty windows. And was back in bed by 6:30 am….  Still unable to sleep, I am back up posting this…    This was not the most colorful sunrise, but one I actually got to see! LOL    Be careful what you wish for. :)  The words below the photos are from John O’Donohue…

"May you awaken to the mystery of being here,
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence."



"May you experience each day as a sacred gift
woven around the heart of wonder."



Thursday, April 24, 2014

Life is a Stream of Events...

While lying in bed late one night this week, talking with my husband about ‘life events’ that have recently arisen, groping for perspective, feeling inundated with yet more “events” to deal with, day after day, recognizing how I continue to live from habituated patterns, *reacting* to life events – usually resisting them - still identified with the little me always swimming up stream, trying to keep my head above water, feeling drowned by the stream of life - he made this statement: “Life is a stream of events. Events will always happen.  Events come and go.”  The context of his statement was to say – if we see that life is always a stream of events, then we won’t feel so overwhelmed by them, they won’t trip us up as much because we can adapt and adjust and manage them.  Sounds a little like the Tao to me – to see that no matter what happens Life is a Flow, and we are in that Flow as well.  It was helpful to begin to see a way to re-orient my way of going down stream…

He also shared with me this prayer that he says silently to himself every morning as he faces each day:

“Equip me to respond to life events as they come today.  Help me to adjust and adapt with Divine Purpose, and discern what is needed.”

I asked for clarification on his meaning of “with Divine Purpose”:

In essence, he told me, what this is saying is, meeting life as it comes by “plugging in to the Divine” (his words) – the Cosmic “Flow of the Universe” – meeting the “events” of life through seeing the Divine Flow, or Cosmic Flow, of all things, and through *awareness* of our Inner Divine Beingness – flowing with life as it happens, not getting *focused* on the obstacles/events, or seeing the events as obstacles, allowing them to distract – which I tend to do.  He said by seeing that everything *is* the Divine Flow, we can be assured that it is flowing the way it is supposed to – no matter what happens…  When you don’t fight it, you can begin to experience the harmony of the Flow.

Wow!  B knows nothing about Taoism, but he has intuitively “tapped in” to “the Tao” ~ ~~~ The Flow…   Amazing…


“Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind rest at peace.
The ten thousand things rise and fall
while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish,
and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness,
which is the way of nature. “

“If you are willing to be lived by it,
you will see [the Tao] everywhere,
even in the most ordinary things."



Lao Tzu


Sunday, April 20, 2014

A Mystical Spirituality...

Being a “mystic”, for me anyway, means experiencing the living Presence of Life that animates all life.  Some call that God, The Divine, Pure Consciousness, Infinite Beingness, Spirit, Brahman, the Tao, etc.  It has many names and forms. It is being able to see the Sacred in the every-day-ness of life – something I admittedly am still “working” on – meaning - I am trying to be more *aware* of the “Sacred” in the mundane affairs of life, in the requirements of daily living; in the must do’s and have-to’s that always find their way to the top of my list, and drive my life...  Learning to actually *see* that it's all “The Mystery” living ItSelf here - as I believe it is; that it is the play of the Infinite Cosmos.

A Mystical Spirituality pertains to direct communion with this Ultimate Reality.  We are always in communion with Ultimate Reality, whether we recognize it or not.  Some may assume this means that a “mystic” doesn’t experience the darker emotions, or frustrations with life.  Some feel that a “mystic” has special insights or powers, or visions, or is only interested in seeking “mystical experiences.”  But for me it is not in *seeking* experiences, but being open to the movement of “the Mystery” and its expressions, *living* in a sense of mystery, and at times experiencing an intimate encounter with what I know to be “The Divine”, like my “Epiphany” back in November, or through “meditative writings” many years ago, and poetry that sometimes just spills out onto the page.  Mystical spirituality acknowledges the Universality of God/Christ Consciousness, or Buddha Nature within, which is not associated with any particular faith, religion, or practice, but is a transcendent spirituality – realizing that humans are both “Divine” and human, both form and formless, spirit and matter.

Wayne Teasdale, a 20th century Christian Mystic, and author of A Mystic Heart, says:
 ‘Mystical spirituality draws us into the depths of our Being, where we come face to face with ourselves, our weakness, AND with the Ultimate Mystery.  Spirituality is not external religiosity, not confined to ritual and liturgy.  It is a way of life that affects and includes every moment of existence…  It is a disposition to a life of depth…  Mystical spirituality is profoundly transformative when it inspires in us the attitude of surrender to “The Mystery,” to the spiritual awakening of mankind…” 
“How we make the journey is what spirituality is really about – finding our own path.  This means finding a way to the vast unlimited consciousness of The Divine, to The Mystery, (or Buddha Nature) within.  We are created for this ‘spiritual journey’ – the direct and immediate experience of Ultimate Reality, which knows everything as ItSelf. Being infinitely aware, it knows in a unitive and universal fashion through awareness of non-duality and non-separation, of no distance between ourselves, the Ultimate Mystery, and all other beings…  The spiritual journey is essentially one of discovering the roots of our true identity.  It is a process of returning to the totality of Consciousness, from which we have arisen.” 
 “Everything is part of an undivided wholeness where each being reflects this totality.  Non-duality means ‘not-two’, and yet, ‘not-one.’  That is, in the relationship between Divine Reality and human being there is a subtle distinction, but not a separation.  And so the relationship is said to be non-dual.  Human beings are *essentially* Divine.” [or Buddha Nature, or Pure Consciousness, etc.].

In a sense then, Easter points us, not to “redemption”, but to the “revelation” of our “Divinity”, or True Identity – discovering again what is already here, that which we were never separated from, but have not always recognized:  the Infinite that continually shines in the depths of our being - as our origin. 
~

“We cannot live in a world that is interpreted for us by others.
[We must] take back our own listening,
use our own voice,
see our own Light.”

Hildegard of Bingen.
12th Century Christian Mystic

~

Photo: a "mistake" :)
Have no clue what this was.
Digitally colored.


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Be Where Love Is...

"My heart, sit only with those
who know and understand you.

Sit only under a tree
that is full of blossoms.

In the bazaar of herbs and potions
don't wander aimlessly,
find the shop with a potion that is sweet.

If you don't have a measure
people will rob you in no time.

You will take counterfeit coins
thinking they are real.

Don't fill your bowl with food from
every boiling pot you see.

Not every joke is humorous, so don't search
for meaning where there isn't one.

Not every eye can see,
not every sea is full of pearls.

My heart, sing the song of longing
like nightingale.

The sound of your voice casts a spell
on every stone, on every thorn.

First, lay down your head,
then one by one
let go of all distractions.

Embrace the light and let it guide you
beyond the winds of desire.

There you will find a spring and
nourished by its sweet waters
like a tree you will bear fruit forever."


 –Rumi



I was lamenting to a friend recently about the dynamics of my family of origin and how challenging it is to be around an angry alcoholic who hates the world and acts with disgust toward everyone, making faces at both my mother and me...  TMI?  J  Maybe, but this is the reality of facing into life as it is…  I sometimes want to recoil, and find my heart contracting in the face of such disdain - not wanting to be wounded again, vowing that *I* do *not* have to endure this behavior - clearly failing in the "unconditional love" department. :)  And yet, I return and try to keep the Heart open once again...  But I also made this comment to my friend: “I need to be where Love is…” – as Rumi points to in his poem – to be in the unprotected ease and openness of people who *know* LOVE.  But do any of us really *know* Love - the pure Essence of Love…  Sometimes our families of origin are not where we find Love – the unconditional kind of Love that nurtures, and allows us to flourish.  I'm sure some of you have already experienced this…   And so, where do I find this Heart of Love, how do I come to know this Love more deeply myself, so that I may be present in and to a family who doesn’t *know* real Love, but is caught up in the matrix of their madness?   

It is in the deep Silence during meditative times that I experience this expansive Love the most.  We are immersed in this vast open *space* of Love that holds us and embraces us without condition - from within...  The Heart of Love is within. 
“And so the journey continues…  Your Heart takes you…..to an endless landscape of love that knows no boundaries.  And the wind is real and the snow continues to fall and the love continues, and will always continue.  So you can leave behind those old worn clothes that you called your existence, those ways you used to walk when you thought you were alive.  Because here in this place that is like no other there is the freedom you always knew, a freedom that belongs to love.
Do not be discouraged…..when the wheels of existence carry you always along roads you would rather not travel.  There is this other land, this landscape that belongs to love.  This is the place where the two seas meet [meaning where human and Divine meet], where existence reveals its secrets, where time uncovers what always was, even if you have never seen it before.
 You *are* the place where the two seas meet, where love is uncovered…  There is always this place, the vastness [of love] that calls to us.  Remember, it is always here.  It cannot be anywhere else."

 Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic
From: Fragments of a Love Story


You might also be interested in reading the post:
Prickly Personalities 
about how I met this prickly situation two years ago...

Photo:  My new Amaryllis in full bloom!
Evoking Love J



Friday, April 11, 2014

Unbreakable Life...

“Everything is a gift on this unbreakable path
that you call your life -
the laughter,
the tears,
the times of great
sorrow,
the experience of
 profound
loss,
the pain,
the confusion,
the times you
believe
you’ll never make it,
even the overwhelming
heartbreak of love -
even if you forget that,
or cannot see that,
or lose faith.

But even the loss
of faith
in the show [life]
is part of the show.

Everything happens
for your awakening,
for your growth,
for your inspiration,
for your exploration -
even if you forget that
and fall
into
distraction
and
despair.

So you are always
exactly
where you
need
to
be

Life can be trusted absolutely,
even when trust seems
a million light-years away,
and life cannot go ‘wrong’,
for all is Life…

Understand this,
know it in your heart.
It is profoundly simple,
as simple as breathing,
as natural as gazing
up at the stars at night
and falling
into
silent
wonder.

The Universe is more beautiful
than you could
ever imagine.”




“God hugs you.
You are encircled by the arms
of The Mystery.”


Hildegard of Bingen



Friday, April 4, 2014

Divine Fire...

I want to walk through life
truly *seeing* - truly Aware…

Awake to the Truth of Existence

Open to LIFE…


I want to See *everything* as the expression
 of Divine Beingness;
every leaf that drops,
or snowflake that falls,
every being…
with the same innocent wonder
and amazement
as I did as a child;
as if truly *seeing* Life
for the first
time.

I want to be in love with Life again…
if ever I was…
Maybe loving Life in new ways…

I want to hear
Divine laughter
In my
Heart
and
experience
Divine
intimacy
in
my
being

Let me be free from the entanglements
of the mind
that keep me compliant
and complicit
with the world’s ways…

Let me embrace
every thought,
expression,
and feeling
as it arises
without
trying
to
confine
it
or
suppress
it

Life
 is a passage,
endless pathways,
and I want to risk
not following
the rules
of
the well-worn
paths.
Instead,
rising above
the familiarity
of “the path”
to feel
the Essence
of Life
that lives
this
life
that
”I”
am
/
The
Divine
Fire



Mystic Meandering
meditative writings
2012/14

~

Photo: Amaryllis flower
 radially blurred