Fire in my Soul - Barns Courtney

I am flesh and I am bone...
Rise up...
I've got fire in my soul...
Rise up...

Do you walk in the valley of Kings?
Do you walk in the shadow of men
Who sold their lives to a dream?
Do you ponder the manner of things?
In the dark...

I am flesh and I am bone...
Rise up...

I've got fire in my soul...
Rise up...

Do you walk in the meadow of Spring?
Do you talk to the animals?
Do you hold their lives on a string?
Do you ponder the manner of things?

In the dark...

I am flesh and I am bone...
Arise - ting ting - like glitter and gold...
I've got fire in my soul...

Rise up - ting ting - like glitter and gold...

[.....]

Excerpts from lyrics to a song called
Glitter and Gold
By Barns Courtney
that touched my soul...  ting ting :)
Even the lyrics to an ordinary rocker song
can speak to your soul :)

 

Child of the Milky Way - Chet Raymo

I am a child of the Milky Way.  I am made of the dust of stars.
Every atom in my body was forged in a star.  When the
Universe exploded into being, already a bird longed for
the wood, and the fish for the pond.  When the first galaxies
fell into luminous clumps, already matter was struggling
toward consciousness.

The star clouds of Sagittarius are a burning bush.  If there is
a voice in Sagittarius, I'd be a fool not to listen. If night's faint
lights fail to knock me off my feet, then I'll sit back on a dark
hillside and wait and watch.  Waiting, always waiting,
for the tingle in the spine.

Chet Raymo
from: Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage

~

Photo from the Internet

~

How does one explain the mystery of the Inexplicable?
I can only embrace it... My "medicine" - my wild comfort -
is the wonderment and splendor of the Infinite Cosmos
of which we are a part - suspended in the Milky Way.

It soothes my Soul.

MM

_/\_

 

A Mysterious Engagement - Terence McKenna

Do not dwell in the mistakes of the past.  Do not lose yourself
in the castles of the future and do not give your authenticity
away to experts, gurus, government commissions, bosses,
wives, mates - take back your mind and body and begin to
engage with the fact that you are alive, you are going to die.
Nobody knows what being alive is and nobody knows what
dying is.  You're involved in a mysterious engagement where
every living moment presents you with mystery, opportunity,
and wonder.  There is no mundane dimension, really.  If you
have the eyes to see it, it's all transcendental. 

Terence McKenna

with thanks to Whiskey River

~

Photo by Cate Kerr
Beyond the Fields We Know

 

Deepening Wonder - Jeff Foster

I do not believe in anything.
I have no religion.
I have no god, including the gods of money, science, and atheism.
I have no fixed theories about reality, including that one.
I see heaven and hell, karma, reincarnation and the search for
enlightenment as beautiful fairy tales.
I have no guru, no lineage, no teacher, and so everything
 teaches me.
I see doubt and profound mystery as my most trusted companions.
I walk no path except the one appearing directly in front of me.
I have no home except this sacred moment.
I trust nothing at all, except whatever happens.
I find no meaning in life except the fearless living of it.
I know that today could be my final day.
I feel grateful for all that was given and all that was taken away.
I see the inherent limitation of language and yet love to play
with it.
I see the joke in using the words "I", "me" and "mine" and yet
delight in using them.
I realise that I am not my story, and realise even that ins't true.
I find it impossible to say anything about myself, for experience
is constantly changing.
I find it effortless to talk about myself, for who I Am never changes.
I know that on the deepest level I am profoundly equal to you.
I know that these sentences are pale imitations of truth.
I do not believe in anything.
I have no religion.
Except the in-and-out breaths.
And endlessly deepening wonder.

Jeff Foster

with thanks to No Mind's Land
and photo too.

 

Love Floats...

~ Love ~

wafted through my being one night;
a simple, unassuming
gentle, tender, openness of love
that just
floated
t h r o u g h ~~~~

Don't know where it came from - or why...

It's imponderable...

It moved through
like a feather of light;
a moment of in-spiration
here and gone,
awakening the 
Heart.

It came without reason...

Just ~ Love ~ loving.

Somehow I knew
that our deepest purpose,
our deepest Truth
is this "Love"
that softly glided through,
unannounced...

We cannot contrive this
Love, this purpose...
grasp it, or hold onto it.
It is not a goal, or concept.
It is not "we" who love
but simply Love loving,

on its own,
without effort.

Love happening...

Unbidden
Unexpected

"We" merely remain open
and allow
Love
to come,
to move in us,
and through us.

Like a fragrant breeze
that drifts
through an open window,
softly kissing the air,
startling the senses
awake...

and before dissipating,
silently whispers...

All there is,

is
~ Love ~

~

And so it is...

Mystic Meandering
May 17, 2015

~

Photo -  Mystic Meandering

 

Sacred Fog - Sarah Carlson

As one drops in
and widens,
there can be a sense
of being in a sort of
sacred fog.
There is a softness here.
Though that which
once anchored
has altered,
there is safety, too.
Rhythmic waves
create a gentle harmony
that blends with breath and heart.
Vastness may not be visible,
yet is both discernible
and inclusive.
This sacred fog
can allow for
that which aches or tugs
or threatens
to disperse
as light once more
works its way
around and through
from above.

Sarah Carlson
Meanderings of the Heart

Posted with permission of the author

Sarah is publishing her third book called:
Tender Light Softens,
which includes the above poem.
See her blog: Meanderings of the Heart
for more poems and info about her books.

~

Photo - Sarah Carlson

 

Lost and Found - 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 bush does is lost on you,
you are surely lost.

Stand still.
The forest knows where you are.
You must let it find you.

David Wagoner
Original title: "Lost"

1999

~

Photo - Mt. Rainier Forest
Fred LaMotte

 

The Path of Time - Andrew Colliver

Mercy, there have been revelations.
Grace, there has been realization.  Still you must
travel the path of time and circumstance.

The further you go, the more it comes back to paying attention.
The rough skin of the tallowwood, the trade routes of lorikeets,
a sky lifting behind the afternoon clouds.  Staying close to the
texture of things.

People can go before you and talk all they want,
but only one thing makes sense:
the way the world enters and finds its voice in you:
the place you are free.

Andrew Colliver

with thanks to Being Silently Drawn

~

Photo - from the internet

 

"Wisdom Mother"...

Art: Meganne Forbes

Don't fill your head with the "voices" of others -
the so-called "teachings" of others...

Don't seek what you need in the external world
of techniques, and foolish games of
clever worldly wisdoms.

Instead, seek the company of the Innermost Essence
of your own Being - in the Silence of Being;
The True Wisdom - The Innate Wisdom;
The Inner Voice of Inherent, Intuitive Wisdom...

Trust the "Wisdom Mother" within...

Mystic Meandering
June 11, 2022

 

True Silence - Fred LaMotte

...Silence is the fountain of creative wisdom,
not suppression of thought.  Silence is the wellspring of
cosmic energy, not the negation of our work.  Real Silence
cannot be created by thinking of it, only by dissolving the mind
into astonishment.  True Silence is the boundless ever-expanding
heart of the matter, enfolded in an inviolable flame of bliss.

Silence transcends the world that echoes out of it, and the world
cannot go back and possess it.  Though all good thoughts flow
from its depths, Silence transcends thought.  And thought cannot
go back and think it.

The bridge to Silence is grace, the grace of one already steeped
and drowned in Silence.....one whose body vibrates with Silence,
every atom saturated with uncreated bliss.

[.....]

Is not everything on earth the dance, the theater, the dirge, the hymn,
of  Divine Silence...

Fred LaMotte
Excerpt from Hymn to Silence
Uradiance

~

Photo from a calendar

 

"Window Sitting"...

I used to have a "practice" that I called "window sitting", where
I would sit in a chair at an open window late at night, leaning on
the windowsill, pressing as close to the screen as possible, breathing
in the night air and the silence.  Gazing out the window into the
night was calming and soothing, heightening my awareness of
the Stillness, the Silence that permeates everything.  It is tangible -
almost magical.  It was a wonderful experience - basking in the 
silence of the night, listening deeply to the sounds of the quiet, smelling
the night air; experiencing the soft aliveness of Nature; opening
into the Silence at the Core of my Being; feeling the Rhythm of
Existence.  I don't remember why I stopped, and may revive it
again.  It is a space where I become more *aware* of the Inner
Landscape as well.  I scribbled notes on scratch paper in near
darkness when Silence sang to my heart.  Every fiber of my
being swooned for this delicious nightly rendezvous with The
Silence of Being.  I am ready to hear that melody once again.

Here's a "scribble" from my first night of "window sitting"
back in May 2010.  The window calls to me again.

Nothing in nature is struggling...
Everything is at peace...
Everything in nature is the peace of the Silent Stream -
the Eternal Stillness...

The trees are peaceful.
The plants in the neighbor's garden are at peace.
The grass sleeps.

Everything is exquisitely - peaceful...

I feel myself returning to what I know to be true -
to the authentic Stillness of Being within,
allowing myself to be touched by this Stillness...
Befriending the Silence...

Recognizing this deep space of Silence as Home...

There is a feeling of intimacy,
as this still Silence wraps itself around me,
embraces everything that is,
infusing everything that lives...
It is so palpable, so Real...

Basking in the Pure Silence of the Night -
just listening,
just experiencing,
just Be-ing - Stillness

Mystic Meandering
May 2010

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

"Niksen" - Chuang Tzu

Heaven does nothing: its non-doing is its serenity.
Earth does nothing: its non-doing is its rest.
From the union of these two non-doings
All actions proceed.
All things are made.
How vast, how invisible
This coming-to-be!

All things come from nowhere!
How vast, how invisible -
No way to explain it!

All beings in their perfection
Are born of non-doing,
Hence it is said:
"Heaven and earth do nothing
Yet there is nothing they do not do."

From: Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu

~

I recently read an article in a Time Magazine Special Edition
on Mindfulness, about "Niksen" - the concept of doing nothing.

Here is an excerpt...

It is a Dutch concept that means to do nothing, to be idle, or do
something without purpose.  The idea is to manage stress and
recover from burnout in our chaotic and busy world.  It's as simple
as simply sitting in a chair, looking out your window, or passively
listening to music, or taking a walk in nature.  Where mindfulness
is being present in the  moment with focused attention, Niksen is
more about carving out time to just be, letting the mind wander
rather than focusing on details.

In the Netherlands Niksen has been historically dismissed as
laziness or unproductive.  But as stress levels rise globally, so
does the crushing health impacts, like burnout, that are getting more
and more recognition from the medical community, and doing
nothing is increasingly being reframed as a positive stress
relieving tactic.

Doing non-purposeful, simple tasks allows the mind to wander
which can boost one's creativity and foster creative problem solving
and even induce inspiration, and getting clarity about what action to
take in order to meet a situation.

It can be somewhat challenging for some to just sit and stare out a
window, especially when you are used to *doing* something all the
time.  But dare to be idle - rest - and *allow* life to run its course.  Be
without purpose, carve out time to do something actively passive -
like looking out a window.

Letting the mind wander is not about being caught up in rumination.
We need to train our minds to wander in a way that is imaginative
and creative and ease our way into downtime - doing nothing -
balancing our busyness with non-doing.

Excerpt from:

"Meet Niksen - The Dutch Concept of Doing Nothing"
by Sophia Gottfried
from: Time Magazine Special Edition
Mindfulness: Your Path to Health and Happiness
Aug 15, 2022

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

The Power of Quiet - Malidoma Patrice Some

The power of quiet is great.
It generates the same feelings in everything one encounters.
It vibrates with the cosmic rhythm...
It is everywhere, available to anyone at any time.
It is us.
The force within that makes us stable, trusting and loving.
It is contemplation contemplating.
Peace is letting go - returning to the Silence that cannot enter
the realm of words because it is too pure to be contained
in words.

Malidoma Patrice Some

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~

Photo from Death Deconstructed

 

Wrapped in Wonderment - Miriam Louisa Simons

no longer working to get free

(or fix or heal or please)

no longer needing to understand

how any of this is possible

not to mention

knowable

I rest

entirely wrapped

in wonderment

Miriam Louisa Simons

Echoes from Emptiness

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

The Rhythm of Rest...

I flow on the swells of the Great Sea.
Out beyond the thought stream,
in the deep calm of the Stillness
rising and falling in the endless, subtle
rhythmic movement beyond time;
a Stillness that ebbs and flows naturally.

Here is the gateway to deep Rest,
an attunement with the deep inner Silence,
where everything falls into
the Rhythm of Rest.

I allow myself to be taken by
"The Rhythm",
suspended in the mystical breath of the Cosmos,
the Silence of pre-existence.

Its Stillness holds me, sustains and supports me -
Is deeply Me...

And I realize everything is suspended in this
Essential Rhythm of Life.
 In some mysterious way,
We breathe, and are breathed by
"The Rhythm."

Immersing myself in "The Rhythm"
I deeply Rest
in harmony with the Universe...

Ommmmm...

Mystic Meandering
March 2022

~

Photo Art - Mystic Meandering

 

Guru - Fred LaMotte

A teacher fills you.
A guru empties you.
A teacher gives knowledge.
A guru awakens
the knower.

One transmits information.
The other transmits wonder
without words.
Your mind thirsts
for certainty.
Your heart years for
breaking open.

If the yearning is intense enough,
the guru could be a cricket.

Fred LaMotte

Uradiance

[Or - an Iris with a hidden face :)]

Photo from Uradiance