Find Your Radiance - Hermann Hesse

Each man has only one genuine vocation -
to find the way to himself,
to discover his own destiny,
and live it out wholly and resolutely
within himself.
Everything else [is] only a
would-be-existence,
an attempt at evasion,
a flight back to the ideals of
the masses: conformity, a
fear of one's own inwardness.

Hermann Hesse

~

Your work is to discover your work
and then with all your heart
give yourself to it...

The Buddha

from: Living in Balance
Joel and Michelle Levey

~

We're all just walking each other "Home."

Ram Dass

~

Photo Art - Mystic Meandering
 Radiance Vortex
2024

 

The Inner Cosmos...

Give no regard to the voice of Fear that
divides and conflicts you;
whether from within or without...

Walk as if the Divine were in your shoes,
walking you -

The Inner Cosmic Divine;
undivided by earthly "tribes"
of culture and religion, and politics;
earthly boundaries;
or the divided mentations of
mediocre minds...

Fall into the Inner Rhythm of 
the Universal Eternal Energy,
the ubiquitous Pulse
inherently everywhere at all times,
fluidly in and through life.

Do not listen to the 10,000 teachings
in your head that you have
accumulated over the years,
all trying to tell you what is true,
which way to go,
and how to be.

Just sit, be still, breathe, and listen...

for the Inner Cosmic Rhythm,
until you feel the
Inner Cosmos
move
you

Fall into the Deep Internal Silence of the
Inner Cosmos,
beyond artificial boundaries and lines,
beyond the bluster of buffoons and bullies
with mouthfuls of meaningless words....

Just Breathe....

Wait....

for the movement of the
Inner Cosmos to lead you...

Then you will know what is true,
which way to go,
and
how to Be...

Mystic Meandering
2017

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

looking into a blue glass partially
filled with water...
looks like a window
with city lights,
or the night sky...

It's magic  :)

 

Window Wonderments...

My Medicine is the Quiet and Stillness of the Night
at the window...

I hear crickets tonight and and smell wet grass.
I see all kinds of light from the neighborhood
and the big office buildings' lights on the horizon.
I feel the coolness of the night air...
I take a deep breath and begin to unwind...

Suddenly I hear the sound of a helicopter overhead...

Oh! - and I can see the moon!  When I lean way into
the screen and look East...

Partially hidden by clouds and tree leaves.
I try to take a picture, but the screen gets in the way...
So I just sit, head up against the screen,
watching the moon hiding in the wisps of clouds
passing by...

~

The Night is my Friend.
The Quiet, The Peace, The Stillness
The distant lights of worker bee buildings
and the warm glow of "home lights" in the
windows of the houses nearby...

The distant sound of late night traffic
that does not disturb;
the stately trees, silhouetted, motionless in
the Stillness with a single cricket chirping.

And the moon...

~

I look down from my second story perch.
I see that I must sweep the pea gravel in the
Zen Garden walkway below;
trampled by tree cutters dragging tree limbs;
Roofers and painters walking through,
carrying long ladders -
paying no attention to where they step,
or to the pavers that make the walking path -
trampling stone and gravel.

~

Watching the moon reminds me that we are
part of a larger Universe, a grand Cosmos - with
a bigger "story" - an expansive context - in which we live.
It fills me with wonderment at how the Universe works;
what "intelligence" created it all to make it work the way it
does, like clockwork.  Everything in its own function,
working together.  And why the earth is so crazy with
its human species creating chaos, suffering, and struggling...

~

I enjoy this "window time."

What I'm really trying to do sitting here,
late at night at the window, is to connect
with Source, The Silence of Existence;
to energetically *feel* it...

~

12:28 am -
Time to slip into sleep...
I shuffle the body to the bed
and lay down...

Peaceful having
communed with the Night...

Mystic Meandering
Aug 24, 2024

from notes written at the window :)

~

Photo - Moon hiding in the clouds
taken from the window
through the screen :)

 

Come to the Window...

Come to the window tonight...

Become Friends with the Night
and The Silence...

Let The Silence strengthen you.
Surrender the day into
the Night;
The Silence
and 
Find the Treasure of Silence
that lifts the veil...

Hear the OM of Silence
that pervades all sound.
Fathom the depth of OM
as it reverberates *through*
the Night;
the pulse of the Universe;
the Rhythm of Life
sung - in silence - by The Silence.

Drop into The Silence and rest...

The mind lets go
rocked by The Rhythm

of Silence

that cradles
the weariness...

Love begins to soften the eyes,
the brow, the tension;
Love of The Silence;
the Love that inhabits The Silence.

The day dissolves,
fixations loosen,
thoughts become insignificant.
There is only the Aliveness of the Night
enfolded in Silence...

Everything is magical
when seen from the window
of Silence...

Mystic Meandering
August 10, 2015

~

Photo - My new window seat :)

 

"Window Sitting" - a meandering...

I used to have a "practice" that I called "window sitting" many
years ago, where I would sit in a chair at an open window late
at night, in the dark, 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
mystical.  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.  It is a space where I became 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 long to hear that melody again.

Here's a "scribble" from my first night of "window sitting" back
in May 2010.

~

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 bliss of 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
Cat window sitting :)

 

Inner Rhythms - a meandering...

I've been rediscovering my "Inner Rhythms" again through my
funky "art"; the Inner Rhythm of Being, of the Soul, that
John O'Donohue talks about here, and how that wants to 
move in and through me. 

I receive postings from Nature Artist and Writer, Rod MacIver
from his website, Heron Dance.  He has spent a lot of time
in nature, paddling in a canoe, getting in touch with his
Inner Rhythm.  He reflects on the larger context of
"inner rhythms."

"A balanced life is based on its own rhythm.  If you don't set
your own rhythm, and have the discipline to follow it, your
life will move at the speed of the culture around [you], which
moves too fast.  The space we make for quiet time affects our
thought patterns and, in turn, the quality of our lives."  And,
he asks: "To what extent is the rhythm of your life a result of...
adapting...to the flow that surrounds [you]."  Or, I even say,
to the people around you.  Have we entrained to the people
around us so much that we end up living their rhythm?  
I know I have...

I felt  resonance with his words, knowing that I need to find
that sense of the deeper Inner Rhythm again, not just my
own personal daily rhythm with life, getting through the day,
but the Flow with the Inner Rhythm of Being; the undercurrent
of the Flow of Life within - from which all movement arises;
creating color and movement on paper helps me do that...

It calls me into the Silence of my own Being,
and the pulsating Rhythm of Life.
At peace again...

Mystic Meandering

~

Funky Art 
Rhythm

2024

 

The Soul's Rhythm - John O'Donohue

We should not force ourselves to change by hammering
our lives into any predetermined shape.  We do not need to
operate according to the idea of a predetermined program or
plan for our lives.  Rather we need to practice a new art of
attention to our inner rhythm...  This attention brings a new
awareness of our own human and divine presence.

It is far more creative to work with the idea of mindfulness
than with the idea of will.  Too often people try to change
their lives by using the will as a kind of hammer to beat their
life into proper shape.  The intellect identifies the goal of the
program, and the will accordingly forces the life into shape.
This way of approaching the sacredness of one's own
presence is externalistic and violent.  It brings you falsely
outside of your own self and you can spend years lost in the
wilderness of your own mechanical, spiritual programs.

You can perish in a famine of your own making.

If you work with a different rhythm, you will come easily and
naturally home to your self.  Your Soul knows the geography...
  Your Soul alone has a map..., therefore you can trust this
 indirect, oblique side of your self.  If you do, it will take you

  where you need to go, but more importantly, it will teach
you a kindness of rhythm in your journey. 
There are no general principles for this art of being.
Yet the signature of this unique journey is inscribed deeply in
each Soul. If you attend to your self and seek to come into
your own presence, you will find exactly the right rhythm
for your life.  The senses are generous pathways which can
bring you home.

John O'Donohue
from Anam Cara

with thanks to The Beauty We Love

~

....belong first in your own interiority.  If you are in rhythm
with your self and connected to that deep, unique source
within, then you will never be vulnerable.
  You will be able to stand....on the ground of your
Soul, where you are at home.

John O'Donohue
from Anam Cara

~

Art - Mystic Meandering
Craypas oils done with fingers
"Ocean Splash"
2012

 

Balance - MacIver & Levey

Your inner world guides you without you knowing it.
Our thought patterns determine the quality of our lives.
That inner process works at the depth of each of us
carrying the meaning that has been trying to establish
itself in our existence.  It embodies the potential of who
we are when our life expresses itself as a whole.
Silence helps...

A sign of balance is a comfort with silence, both Silence
within and silence without.

Rod MacIver
Artist/Writer
Heron Dance

~

Balance can be sensed in terms of the waves of the Ocean.
...at a deeper level, the changing tides of such "waves" are balanced
by the profound reality of an unchanging "Ocean" within you;
Just as the Ocean is the water that forms all waves, 
The Ocean within you is the universal reality or essence
that dwells within all beings... 

[Some call this the Silence]
 Discovering the Ocean is vitally important for the
 discovery of balance, because it
provides a place of peace for you to return home to, despite
the chaos of the day.

...keep balanced on the waves of our challenging lives...

Joel and Michelle Levey
From: Living in Balance

~

Personal Note:  For many years the Inner Silence was my refuge.
Then life fell out of balance about 2 years ago through unexpected
life circumstances and I was unable to *access* the Silence,
or maintain balance, literally.
My energy and body are really out of whack.
Returning to doing my funky art vortexes seems to be helping
to find a sense of inner balance again, but I need to rediscover
the deep Inner Silence of Being and align with that.
One step at a time...

MM

~

Photo - Wave Vortex
Craypas oil with fingers
Mystic Meandering
Aug 2024

 

Alegria! - Joy - a meandering...

"If you have no hope - Create!"

"I see a light shining - Alegria!"

Two nights ago (Aug 11) we were watching the closing ceremonies of
the Paris Olympics.  As the athletes walked into the stadium,
I tried to read what country they were from printed on their
clothing.  I could have sworn one said "Alegria."
And I said: "Alegria?  Where's that!?"
Later I read it again, it said "Algiers."

Something went off inside when I read it as Alegria.
That was a Cirque du Soleil artistic circus performance many
years ago that we watched, and one of the opening lines was:
"If you have no hope - Create! Alegria!" (which means Joy)

Two nights ago that remembrance sparked a light in me to
Create again...

I got out the card table and pulled the poster board and Craypas
oil sticks from beneath the bed, set up a space and began to
Create...  Resulting in the above picture - just movement and color.
That's all that was needed.

I felt the heaviness that I've been carrying lift; a release occurred 
as something within gave expression through color and movement...

I felt the stuck energy unlock.  Having been swallowed up by my
current life experience, I knew my energy was out of sync.

The act of creating heals, frees,
and ignites something within...

I thought: Maybe creating is a way through;
a reclaiming of myself; a realignment...

I'm sure most true artists know this...
I just had to experience it for myself;
to feel it...

And how awed I was to experience that
"The Divine" (however called) speaks
through ordinary means,
like watching TV :) not just in moments
of silent meditation...

Alegria!

Mystic Meandering
Aug 12, 2024

~

Photo: Funky Vortex Art
Aug 2024
Mystic Meandering

 

Overwhelmed...

Tired of being"on top of things"
"putting out fires", making decisions
for others who aren't available to themselves.

I'm going to hang a shingle out -

"Not Available Today
Taking Care of Myself
And Don't ask me about tomorrow..."

We'll see how far I get with that.

I'm finally being honest with myself,
and everybody else...

Is this unloving, uncompassionate;
to save one's own sanity;
to not put others first;
to not be self-sacrificing...

I finally "let go" of having to be emotionally available,
trying to be constantly available.
I finally just stopped...

We'll see how long that lasts,
as life as it is still requires me to be...
- available...
I can't just stop - caring,
being kind..

However I can't engage in
 life as it is anymore.

A change is needed.

I "accept what is",
but my Soul needs something more...

Life as it is, as I'm living it, is a spirit killer
and I can't apply more "spiritual band aids"
- I bleed right through them.

I take a deep breath
Tension drains from the body ...

I'm not able to attend to life, 
I need Life to attend to me!
(Oh I forgot, there is no "me",
 or so some say..)
Is this self-centered, narcissistic,

indulging in my dark side?
Or - LIFE-centered...
I'm not sure anymore...

Although the "spiritual pundits" will
tell me the "I"  that I Am can't be broken;
that somewhere within there is an
"Unbrokenness" -
once found, not lost;

I evidently can't access it.
I carry too many burdens...

So I'm embracing my brokenness
and letting it be real,
letting it be seen - no longer hidden
behind "spirituality."

~

There are so many of us broken - fractured
in some way...

And non-duality tells us that can't be so;
that there is no 'self/me" to be broken.

I'd rather be broken, than an obnoxious
pretender spouting cliches to the masses
of broken people who want to believe in
their unbrokenness -
but who secretly wish
to put out a sign:

"Not Available"

Mystic Meandering

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

A Candle in the Wind - Monica Dayakar

There are a lot of weird ideas about this...

Awakening...  Enlightenment... the shift in perception...

A natural fall out...  thinking that everything will change after
the shift...

That enlightenment means that they will no longer be human...

Even sages are sublimely human...

I heard someone say...

"We do not become selfless doormats..."  !!

And yet... yet...

Including this one...

It is...
Till it isn't...

That's simply another idea
Of better... bigger...

Sounds real nice...

Selfless doormats is it, too...!!
Those that are...  simply are...

I know I was...

Till I wasn't...

LOL

Tried really hard not to be...

A scurried attempt at now being this shiny, brave new thing..

It didn't work...

Oh...

Tears...

And thereby hangs another tale...

Any attempt at replacing one idea about yourself with another...
Well...
Is the belief in the mentally fabricated self...

And apart from it...

There isn't one...

Circling within the dream
She learnt to pirouette perfectly...

What is not included in the gambit  of "being human"...

Yes...

It's all a dream...
[or so they say]

Ideas upon ideas...
All made up...

Seeking ideas of perfection... of what this should look like...

Tears...

Or not look like...

Across the board...
Humanity
The best and worst life has to offer...

A few days ago
Anger rose in me..

Of an intensity, that would put rage to shame...

I was shocked to the core of my being...!!

That I was even capable of it...

And whence had I abhorred it so... in another...

Lay in me too...

I just kept mumbling to my self....

"It's just unacceptable... just unacceptable..."
And kept shaking my head from side to side...

The core of my being ripped to shreds...

And I wept tears of blood...  that would inundate an ocean...

I guess... no one's exempt...

Shift or no shift...

And when all was lost...

And no ground beneath the feet...
Heck and no feet...
And no brownie points for Being...

A pretender under many guises...
I AM the biggest con-act in town...

Dressed as a cop...
Trying to catch a thief...

A lot is lost in translation when we can't see
each other's hearts...

And love guided her footsteps
To places she'd never been...

To the dark corners of her heart...
Where she's hid...

Face to face with herself...
In all shades of blue and pink...

A rainbow exploded...
And she disappeared in a wink...

And she flung her clothes to the wind...
Running naked like a mad woman,,,

No description fit...

And she laughed and cried...
A new born babe...

It ends where it began...
It was ever so...

And all notions of emptiness and fullness...
Cried in the dark,,,

As she wept and laughed...
A candle in the wind...

Monica Dayakar
13/01/2016

Facebook

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~~~

Your thinking that you have to make an effort to get rid of 
this dream of the waking state, and your making efforts to
attain Jnana (realization of Self) or real awakening, are
all parts of the dream.

Ramana Maharshi

with thanks to Love Is A Place

~~~

Photo Mystic Meandering

 

Basket Case...

Into the 3rd day of roof replacement.  12 hours a day of
pounding, banging, and nail gun on the roof.  Pure torture,
which no notions of "enlightenment", "awakening", or
"spirituality" can assuage.  Life is just challenging at times

 and enough sometimes to test one's sanity...
Thus this humorous photo of one of the new Panda Bears
at the San Diego Zoo wearing a basket, because
I know how it feels!   I LMAO :)
  It was part of a larger video that went
around of the new Pandas...

Will be back when I regain my sanity,
if I do... LOLOL

Mystic Meandering
not so mystic today :)