The Ever-Changing "Path" - a meandering

Once again Life is asking me to change my "path."
I am again embarking on what feels like a leap into
uncertainty, jumping off the "spiritual treadmill,"
and allowing myself to just BE,
letting go of the need to look through a particular
"spiritual" filter.
Although I am still drawn to all things "spiritual."
It's in my Soul, and DNA :)

I rediscovered recently how freeing it is to just be "me" - 
not trying to be more "spiritual", or something other than I am.
I don't have to be self-conscious about using the words
 "I", "me", and "my" - in some kind of pseudo "non-dualness",
as some traditions do...
 - because -
 it's all Source - expressing ItSelf. 
There's no need to make a distinction between self and
 Self, creating divisions where there aren't any.

I only need to BE, and let Source reveal Itself,
express Itself, live Itself as "me" - a wave on the Ocean of Being.

It's not about "me" being "enlightened", but rediscovering my
authentic, natural self - and just living it - just walking it.
It's a fluid "path", not static, and not always clear.

I continue to gradually shed the conceptual frameworks that
have defined and informed my "path" so far - the boxes of
belief that have tended to constrain my authentic expression.
And now trying to extricate myself from the life dramas
that have preoccupied my mind and life recently; although that
is proving to be harder than I thought.

This shift in consciousness is happening gradually, over time,
and I doubt that it's over.  There is no finish line to cross, no
destination to arrive at.  It's a never-ending exploration of the
Truth of Myself;  which sometimes feels like an
"existential crisis." :)

I no longer pursue a "path" or "teacher", but only a direct
intimacy/communion with "The Mystery"/The Divine/Source
(however one defines that for themselves) - listening and
waiting for the Inner Voice...

Asking: What is "The Mystery" calling me to now?

Mystic Meandering
April 2024

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Photo from the internet

 

Shadowy Beliefs - Alan Watts

Real courage is possible only through seeing.
It's not possible through belief in the divine self, 
which we all share in common, as if that were
something you could believe in.  This is only to
be discovered through not hanging on to anything,
not having any armor, not having any beliefs, not
having any kind of gimmick with which to try to
hold the weaving of smoke in position. You don't
need it.  If you really are the basis of the world,
you don't need a belief that that is so.

Alan Watts

with thanks to Love Is A Place

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Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Wandering Without a Trail...

Wandering without a trail,
my focus on finding The Truth
is realized as a self-made illusion.

Not needing to find yet another belief system;
no longer a need for a specific path
cut by others; not the illusion of 
future "enlightenment" through practices,
disciplines, or self-control...

Finding comfort in loosening the
constraints of  the "spiritual cocoon"
that I wrapped myself in for so long;
even the mantel of meditation
has become too heavy and is unraveling -
becoming frayed - like an old prayer shawl.

Reborn from the Chrysalis of my comforting beliefs,
finding freedom in Just BEing ME,
without suffocating concepts of dogma or doctrine,
or a defined "spiritual image"; instead, 
rediscovering myself...

Breaking free from the "spiritual" constructs;
the scaffolding of beliefs and ideas about
"spirituality" that propped "me" up;
caught in spiritual ideals and identities,
unable to fly...

Freed now from the cage of my own making
I can breathe, I can LIVE
intuitively, being moved from within,
listening for what calls to me...
discovering freedom in being open to where life goes,
as I wander without a trail...

Mystic Meandering
Nov. 18, 2019

~

Photo - taken by my father 1952/53

~

"our grasp of truth.....may not last forever.

Hermann Hesse

 

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.

 

"Spiritual Boutiques" - Fred LaMotte

 Why plant plastic flowers?
The fragrance of one silent rose
roars louder than a thousand suns.
At night, candles appear to shine,
but where is their glory
when dawn breaks open the sky?
You waste your money
in the market place of spiritual teachers.
Each of them has a little boutique.
But which one has a root or thread,
a lineage leading to the ancient weavers?
Can any of them spin this world
into the weft of stars?
Isn't it time to close up
these shops in your mind?
Wander out beyond the maintained trail.
The wilderness is nearer than you think,
closer than breathing.
Go there, meet your oldest Friend,
the one who whispers your true name
after all those centuries of being
faithful to forgetfulness.
Every time you said, "I believe,"
you fell a little deeper asleep.
Now is your chance to get lost and wake up.
Find true darkness.
The Beloved will use your bones for kindling,
your blood for a spark to light the wildering
blaze of his [Her] Face in your chest.

...that Face becomes your face...
The roar you hear is not a plastic flower.
It is the fragrance of one silent rose.

Fred LaMotte
Uradiance

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Sweet Scent of The Sacred...

Overcome with fatigue - exhausted,
I enter the Liminal Space of "The Sacred."
I listen for Her "voice" - Her Sound - Her vibration
in the space of Deep Rest...

...and find Her waiting...

Her sweet cedar fragrance briefly wafts through
the room and soothes my senses,
calming the "noise" in the body and mind...

In the Quiet, she whispers from within:

Let the mind rest in The Sacred,
take comfort in The Sacred.

There is nothing to do but let things unfold...

Nature is taking its course...
All will be made known in time,
and an "answer" revealed...

Stop everything:
all seeking for solutions
 to unsolvable dilemmas,
or attempts to shift consciousness.

Just allow the natural unfolding of all
circumstances in their own time...

Lay down all "spiritual trinkets"
that you "buy" into - to feel safe and
validated in your beliefs; to feel happy;
to feel "enlightened"; to feel "special."

Just cling to Me...

Communing with Me
in the Liminal Spaces
 all will be made clear.

Mystic Meandering

July 13, 2021

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Photo - Mystic Meandering