Infinite Spirit/Divine Flow - Trine

There is an Infinite Spirit of Life behind all [life] -
a divine flow from the Infinite Source through the individual.
If this is true then the life that comes by this inflow to man
is necessarily the same in essence.  It is a difference in degree.

Our life as individual spirits is continually coming from this
Infinite Source by means of this divine inflow.  If our lives are
directly from this Infinite Spirit that is manifested in the life
of each [then it]is identical in quality with that Source, just as a
 drop of water from the ocean is, in nature, in characteristics,
identical with the ocean, its source.  How could it be otherwise?

Doesn't it not then follow that the only limitations are the
limitations he [man] sets to himself, by virtue of no knowing
himself?  Recognizing our true identity brings our life into
harmony with the same force.

The great central fact in human life, is the coming into a
conscious vital realization or our oneness with the Infinite Life,
and the opening of ourselves fully to this divine flow.

Ralph Waldo Trine

From: In Tune with The Infinite

published in 1897

~

Photo Aurora Borealis from a calendar

 

The Power of Poetry - Ari Honarvar

Artist - Puisi 

...poetry is as much a part of a person as her heartbeat.
We can take refuge in the power of poetry.

Rumi not only understood the power of poetry, but also
found the sweet spot of language somewhere between
the clinical sterility of political correctness and the 
vulgarity of fanaticism.

He brought the traditional masculine God from the sky
and passionately embraced it as his genderless Beloved.
He and other poets like him closed the gap between us
and the divine until the Beloved was inside our beating
hearts - transforming the image of a rigid God of fire
and brimstone into the story of bittersweet longing
and union.

We partake together and the flow of emotion and creativity
merges, making it possible for us to participate in what we
long for: a deep connection with the divine...
[a deep *knowing* of the divine in us/as us].

Ari Honarvar
From: Rumi's Gift

[brackets mine]

Artist - Puisi

The Unseen Current - Ivan Granger

We have this idea…..that the strong individual must aggressively forge his or her path through life; that it is a fight that only the strong will succeed, and unhappiness is a sign of weakness and inaction.  It is the idea that fulfillment comes through force of will. [But] if we are pushing for a life that is not ours, and feeling frustration because it is not happening, that is a sign that we are still serving the [personal will.].

Most of us imagine that we have to somehow *do* life.  [But] life itself is not something we do or make for ourselves.  It flows through us and is not of our making. The soul has a path that naturally unfolds as we move through life.  When we understand life this way, there is an immense sense of relief - and rest.  …..what is required is not…..willpower, not some total life revolution, but simply…..to feel the deep currents flowing through our lives, and then to fully live the life that naturally emerges....  In this way, we stop obstructing divine will with our endless frustrated efforts and, instead, we allow ourselves to become [an] expression of that heavenly flow that has always been eager to pour through us.  All we really need do is ride the great current flowing through us unseen...

Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana

Stepping Into The Stream...

About a month or so ago the phrase “stepping into the stream” came to me, and the question – what if I just stepped into the middle of the stream and let go – figuratively speaking.  The insight that came with this was that it meant letting go of the shore of course, not just the one side, but *both* sides.  And that it was not about going from one shore to the other, not about crossing the river/stream, but about letting go of both sides and just being *in* the stream – the Cosmic Stream of Pure Consciousness, the stream of Eternal Beingness – allowing the internal flow of that to take me. I began to understand that what was required was a total immersion in “Divine Consciousness” – a total surrender; a total bowing – not my will but thine kind of bowing.

The letting go was about loosening my grip on *my* hold on life, my take on life, if you will - letting go of holding on to the physical world, the mental constructs of what *seems* to be true that keeps me holding on to the edges.  Buddhists would call it letting go of the attachments we hold onto, the identities, the roles, the beliefs that we have taken on and are attached to – that we *think* gives us a sense of security, stability, permanence, even “spirituality” – but that really keeps us holding on to the edges of the true Living Stream of Divine Consciousness.

In metaphorically “stepping” into this Stream, which is another way of saying becoming more deeply *aware* of what is really Aware within us, becoming conscious of the vast Consciousness that we are, we have to let go of our *identification* with our small self dramas - allowing the Cosmic Stream of Consciousness to take us, absorb us into ItSelf.  By consciously “stepping” into this Stream, turning my awareness towards the Infinite, I am saying that I am willing to let go of my attachments.  I am willing to surrender who I *think* I am to the seamless Divine Flow, trusting that as I step more deeply into the River/Stream, it will dissolve all my ideas and illusions about being a separate self from the Ocean of Consciousness that I/we actually am/are.  This will continue to be the step for me, to knowingly step into this Current and *trust* the River – the Divine Stream of Life – The Mystery of Divine Consciousness, and move in ITs Way more fully.

It’s a lot easier writing *about* this than actually stepping into the Stream and letting go – letting myself just rest in the silent awareness of the vast field of Consciousness that we truly are, which is not affected by our thoughts, feelings, emotions, ambitions, or life circumstances that are happening to us personally – or in the world for that matter.  Ultimately, everything is allowed and everything collapses back into the silent stillpoint of vast Consciousness – while IT remains undisturbed.  But we need to experience this for ourselves, to consciously *feel* what it’s like to step into the Stream of this vastness of awake, knowing Awareness within – the living Consciousness – and see where it goes.  It’s a continuous, ongoing step taken moment to moment…

Photo: Sunrise on Merrymeeting Lake, NH

Taken by my brother 2009

Gearing Up to Gear Down...

My inner Spirit calls me to a quiet life, to long periods of Silence, wants hibernation and repose.  Evidently it doesn’t know that it is “Spring” on the calendar and I must “gear up.”  My “surface life” requires me to “gear up.”  And I am having trouble reconciling the two; being faithful to one and responsible to the other.  Sounds dualistic I know, but it is the way of things here, trying to find the balance and flow, the Yin and Yang of life – the harmony between doing and being…

There is “Spring” cleaning and repairs that have been long needed on the house – like roof and soffit repairs, requiring researching roofers on line, making phone calls, leaving messages for call backs that keep me tethered to the phone, and being available for on-sight estimates.  And then there’s yard work - repainting garden chairs and planter tubs.  I think a nice Red Salmon color, or Cinnamon, or Terra Cotta would be a nice change. J   And then weeding out winter’s waste – and pruning trees – and….. and….. and….

And yet, the chamomile is blooming already

 and the tarragon and catnip are rising, despite the fact that the tubs have not been painted.

 But there is no thyme growing this year – interesting play on words, don’t you think… J

The lovage replanted itself over here by the fence in the rocks.

But “Spring” is not the only reason we are “gearing up.”  We are “gearing up” because we want to “gear down” – to simplify our lives, to rid ourselves of the physical clutter that has accumulated over 35+ years of marriage and 17+ years of living in this house.   And so I have to start somewhere!  And this seems like the best place – in the basement - often likened to the sub-conscious where our inner clutter lies… J  This should be fun…

There is a neighborhood garage sale mid-May where we will try to sell a lot of this “clutter” stuff, which means cleaning out the garage.  Then we will start an e-bay store to try to sell the more “valuable” clutter. J  In the mean time it means several rounds of decluttering - deciding what to throw out, what to give away, what goes to garage sale, and what goes to ebay. It’s a daunting task – at least from my current perspective.  When I *think* about it all I start to feel overwhelmed.  So much for meeting life events as they come – they are coming too fast, and I am feeling a little out of control. J  So as you may have gathered I am resisting.  Like writing this blog post instead of digging into the rubble of my life J 

I discovered that the mind loves the “busyness,” finds it soothing, because it has a focus, “to do” lists, going from one thing to the next on the list, which doesn’t leave much time for meditative Silence and time for just Being – which I need a lot of.  I’ve not had a quiet day yet this week – and I can feel a case of the crankies coming on. J  But I took some time perusing what needs to be done in the back “garden” today, snapping photos, and felt the Presence of Silence in the solitude there.  I’m thinking this is where I’ll start – scraping planter tubs and chairs, and weeding out the detritus…  Very therapeutic… J

Part of the reason I want to gear down is to have more time for living what truly matters, not burdened with house and chores, which means letting go of the clutter that tends to take up the time - and dam the Life Flow... This requires listening to a deeper Flow - the deeper internal, intuitive Flow of Inner Being that runs through me, and through life; paying attention to the Spirit of Life within – to what *feels* right and what doesn’t; getting the priorities straight – waiting for the “yes” – putting the Inner Flow first.  Letting myself sink into those Silent depths within for only a few minutes a day reminds me of the deeper Flow that remains undisturbed by the chaos of life events, the Flow that actually carries me through the day…

~

“We are all innately aware that
 a deeper truth exists within us
than our day-to-day existence
and mundane concerns…
We must live life from
this more encompassing
state of Being -
and understand our
divine nature -
giving us
a means
to
enliven
a
truer identification
with
 the
 stunning
 beauty
 of our
    Being.”

Dennis Holtje

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