An Affair of the Heart - "A Simple Man"

A Spiritual Autobiography of a fellow traveler and Friend

Free on-line book with PDF here

From the Preface

  

You should only trust what you Know in direct experience. All
else is hearsay, concept, theory, and conjecture; the interpretations,
by others, of their experiences, after the fact.  This book is about
none of that.  I don't present an interpretation of my past experiences
or ongoing experience.  I don't hold forth a theology, cosmology, or
notion of the "Truth."  Any seeming assertions are merely questions,
cloaked in possibility.  Whatever commonalities may exist in our
mutual experience, each of our Paths is unique.  If I describe the
Path I've taken, it isn't to inform, instruct, or suggest such a Path
to you, but only to Evoke Love and Longing, to ignite the Ember
at the Heart of your Being.

the Author

~

The author calls himself "a simple man" - sharing his "spiritual
journey."  I know him as a man of depth and devotion to the path
of Love, and The Beloved.  It's an amazingly authentic story of his
"spiritual quest" from childhood on.  Leaving the walled villages
of traditional religion, to wander in the "Spiritual Wilderness", 
looking for the fulfillment of his Heart's Longing.  He experienced
the Great Sorrow and Suffering of the world and its Breathtaking
Beauty, while tasting different spiritual teachings and philosophies
along the way with various "spiritual teachers."  He relentlessly
questions all he was taught to be "true" - discovering the Perfume
of The Beloved is in the Nature of his own Essence.

His writing is honest, genuine, passionate and humble...
I found much resonance and commonality in our spiritual
experience...

An amazing story.  I loved it!
Take the journey with him!

An Affair of the Heart

~

MM

 

"HERE" and "THERE" - Chuck Surface

There is a... a Space, Within,
A Place at the Very Heart of my Being,
Where Nothing exists, but Existence.

Not a space, of course, or a place, really,
But although unseen, ungraspable, "There",
It is Palpable, Visceral, Experienced "Here".

The Kingdom of Heaven, our Inner Sanctum,
"There", yet closer than the jugular, "Here",
The Essence we Are, before "we" are...

The "Am" before "I Am".

I will not speak for you, or others,
And become, thus, yet another theologian,
Preaching the "Truth" of all things.

But perhaps you have tasted this Wine,
Even if only as the Softest Ambience,
That Imbues, Surrounds, Enfolds in Love?

I am not in accordance with those,
who pronounce this Essence transcendent,
Beyond all qualities and attributes.

For when "I" Died, yet Remained,
An Attribute like non other was Revealed,
"There", at the End of all things...

Where Beginning and End do not exist.

A Rapture, an Ecstasy, beyond expression,
Beyond all dualities, without opposite,
"There", in the Heaven of Nonexistent Existence...

Where Heaven and Hell do not exist.

And a touch of that Ecstasy followed me "Here",
When "I" and Creation returned from "There",
So that "I" was never quite  "myself" again...

Where self in form and formless Soul coexist.

Existing "Here" as myself, but... not,
Moving in space and time, but... not,
Being both "Here" and "There"...

Where Space, Time do not exist.

Wounded and broken in my Humanity
But accompanied, through that Imperfection
By that Rapturous Perfection, Shining...

Where Perfect and Imperfect do not exist.

Chuck Surface

~

Photo - Mandala Art

The Pathless Path - reloaded...

This post was originally written in 2011
but is still timely for me...

I find the older I get the more I want to experience Truth directly,

and leave the many trodden "spiritual paths" that I've been on all my
life behind.  Even as a child I wanted to know "God" - a child's
understanding of God.  Then my search evolved and expanded to
include finding "myself" - whoever that was :), the Truth, Wisdom,
peace of mind, and last, but not least, the search for "Enlightenment."
They are all the same"path" under different disguises.  And now,
through all these many paths, I am feeling the need to settle, deepen,
and re-discover a sense of inner Truth; not by following a particular
external path - but by intuitively listening to the voice of my Heart;
experiencing Inner Beingness directly, through spending time in
Silence (which I avoid so easily).  Now if Life would only cooperate
and provide a less chaotic, disruptive, distracted life!  Just kidding -
maybe...  :)

 Being on a "spiritual path" implies that one is going somewhere,
seeking "Some - *thing*" at the end of the journey - like
retirement after a life of working; or a magical pot of gold at the end
of the mythical rainbow; or even the mystical "Holy Grail."  Or maybe
one is even seeking an end to something, like suffering, pain,
ignorance, their humanness, or the end of seeking.  But what if there
was no need for "a path",, no need for seeking the illusive big
"Some-thing" that spiritual seekers seek?  I find myself in this place
of questioning - again...  I have been down the "seeking road" -
many times.

The path of "Enlightenment"/"Awakening"/"Self-Realization",
particularly the path of what is known as Advaita or "Non-Duality",
has lost its luster, its pull, its certainty for me - much like the other
paths I have taken throughout my life.  It's just another construct.
  And I'd rather not describe Truth by a negative - with no-me, no-self,
 no other, no world - as Truth is all inclusive - including duality,
 me, self, other, world.

Even if one follows "a path" (which can be any path) there is no
guarantee that we will discover what we are looking for, and life will
not suddenly become easy or flowing with bliss.   We won't necessarily
lose our personality, with its quirks, our conditioning, or neuroses. 
Our thoughts will not stop, neither will our surface struggles, or
 our pain,  or our stories.  Walking "a path" doesn't even guarantee
 that we will  actually see life differently from either the mountain top,
 or nose to the ground;  or suddenly find our "purpose" -
as if there's only one. But no one tells us  this about "the path."
 It has to be a Self-discovery - for ourselves -  even if we have a
"Teacher" or follow a "Teaching"  to point the way.

Years of seeking, realization, recognition, and then forgetting, and then
remembering, and then forgetting again - brought me to the realization
that discovering (or rediscovering) this Being Self/Truth that we are,
 is through awareness of and deep intimacy with The Silence within;
through continually coming back to the Heart of Being - the space of
Silent, Still, innate Wisdom - which of course is wherever we are at the
moment, not off in the distance somewhere.  It's not a place. 
"The path" doesn't go anywhere.  There is no reward at the end. 
It's an inner pathless path...  And that's my "path" - rediscovering
 this inner Silent,  Aware Wisdom.  It's an inner pathless path
 of remembering; remembering the underlying Rhythm of
 Life ItSelf -

Ommmmmm...

"A mystic is content with nothing less than
to touch the Truth in its most universal purity"

Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana

~

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

Returning is the motion of the Tao.

Lao Tzu

~~

Photo - taken by my father
1952/53

The Purpose of the Journey - Joseph Campbell

The purpose of the journey is compassion.

When you have come past the pairs of opposites,
you have reached compassion.
The separateness apparent in the world is secondary.

Beyond that world of opposites is an unseen,
but experienced, unity and identity in us all.

Joseph Campbell
from The Hero's Journey

~*~

Compassion is knowing that
you are part of everyone,
and everyone is a part of you - is you.
When seeing this there is no longer judgment,
just a deeper understanding and respect
for our humanity -
a deeper compassion.

In the deep Stillness of Being
there is a deep compassion for everything that is.

There is compassion for the world
when seen as a whole - in context.
The nature of our Being is deep compassion.

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
c. 2004-2006

~

Photo - from a friend of a friend...

Plumb the Depths of Being...

Do not be afraid to
plumb
the
depths
of your Being;
or what you have believed
to be the Truth...
Question
everything
you
have
learned.

Take the journey deeply inward
to your beginnings - and endings;
to the Silent hum
in the Heart
of all Life
that sings,
and
see
for
your
self.

There are many caravans to follow,
those aspiring to "enlighten" you
with their words,
left like firewood to light your way,
along the road...

But only in Sacred Silence can the journey be made
to the Heart of Being;
to discover the depths of Being - of Primordial Love...
the depths of That which you are;
That which wants to
live,
express,
and Love

Here...

Do not let fear stop your descent
into the inner Vastness;
the Deep Ocean
of your illumined
Heart...

Be still,
and open...

Follow the plumb line
of your breath,
past the Furies and the Sirens
into the soft ebullience
of Love...
and quiet Joy,
waiting for you,
like ethereal
liquid pools
of Light
drawing
you
in

Rest Here

In
the
depths
of
this
Alive
Silent
Loving
Awareness

Listen to the endless
Rhythm already
holding
you
in the cradle
of the Heart...

Feel
the
pervasive
Divine Presence
of Life

in
the
depths of
Sacred
Silence
within
that animates
every cell,
every atom,
every sound,
every thought,
every feeling ~
until you know

THIS

as

your
Self

Simply Living...

_/\_

Mystic Meandering
April 17, 2012

A Humble Lover of "The Mystery"

~

Photo - Vortex Art
done with fingers and craypas oils
2012

Walk The Divine Life - Clare Blanchflower

What will it take
to rest
all your weight on to the foot
that walks the divine life?

What will it take
to saturate the
fear of living
With the peace
of loving presence?
To dance in
the freedom of reality

Dive deeper
than this surface
of mind that thinks
it knows something
Stop questioning
the grace that life
is spilling out
and rest
Listen
Be

What will it take
to feel,
to truly feel
it all
Right down to the
transparent
bones of clarity
And admit
you know not
what to do
Know not how to
live
Crack open

Rest your forehead
to the ground
Bow at the feet of life
In the glory of
your personal
disempowerment
Meet the true power
that you are
The richness
of love
that swoons in the
heart of Being

Allow praise
to dance on the
tip of your tongue
Allow gratitude to tumble
from your lips
Trust that
the idiosyncrasies
of life
are happening
for you
by you
are you

Fall into the silence that is
roaring with aliveness
Drowning out
the voice in
your head that wants you
to dance a small dance
in a circle
around and around

What will it take
to recognize
that life is
blessing you with
the honour
of unfolding
from your smallness
into the largesse of Being
Whole

Allow awe to take up residence
Be taken
by your unknowing
May the tears of surrender
swirl into a river of flowing love
that carries you
right to the heart of your
inner most Being

Clare Blanchflower
Original title: "Fierce Grace"

~

Photo - Incredible contemporary art piece
that the photo does not do justice to...

My interpretation?:

One standing single-pointed
helping the other to take the step...

There Is Always An Open Doorway - Licata

Perhaps Life has no interest in us living up to some image.
It doesn't need or want us to be "perfect", or "divine",
 or "awakened", or "healed."  Or manifesting all the things
 we think we want...
It is only ever offering its invitation to fall heart-first
into an immense field of not-knowing - not knowing how to live,
not knowing how to accept, not knowing how to "get awakened",
not knowing how to "heal," and not knowing how to resolve
the ways of love...
And in this not-knowing,
life is there waiting for us,
 revealing its mysteries...

You are so exhausted, so tired of chasing around some fantasy
of a "spiritual" life that you were told was the right one
by some teacher, author, or expert who has figured it out
and come to some fundamental resolution to love
and its untamed creative wildness.

You are longing for rest.
To rest in your True Being.

In the very center of your heart,
there is always an open doorway.

It has nothing to do with wiggling into some conditioned
state of consciousness, other than the pure one that is here,
or with seeking some mythical sustained transcendent experience,
or with any sort of movement beyond the messy world of intimacy,
confusing unresolvable love, and human vulnerability.
It wants so badly for you to walk through, to meet for the first time,
this unbearable longing to go home,
to behold for the first time the
miracle of this precious human body,
of *these* thoughts,
of *these* feelings,
of *these* passing states of consciousness,
exactly as they have been given by an unseen grace.

For in just one moment of caring enough -
of somehow resisting the call to exit this experience for another -
what you see is that it is all made of love,
crafted out of the substance of love,
all the way through,
from inside-out and outside-in.
And no matter what the details,
love has somehow configured itself
as your unique life,
and has offered itself as a gift...
waiting for you to enter inside and hold it,
exactly as it is...

Matt Licata

(Matt's words, my format)

Unique Lunatics - Chuck Surface

[.....]

There are only a few lunatics,

who through no choice of their own,

have minds consumed with Wonder,

Hearts Aching with Longing,

who are, in a unique way...

Troubled.

It's a Blessing, not a curse,

to be thus consumed, thus distracted,

so that even amidst life's joys and sorrows

one cannot escape the ever present Question

spoken wordlessly, in the Heart of Being...

What is this...

This... being alive...

This experience of existing...

And... What am I?

A kind of Madness,

there in each breath, and heartbeat,

filling us, in the same instant,

with Unbearable Longing,

and Longing's Fulfillment.

A Longing born of that which is Longed for.

Containing, like a seed nurtured in the Heart,

the Fulfillment of the Heart's Desire.

Longing and Fulfillment, impossibly...

Present, both at once.

I find these fellow lunatics, occasionally.

And over tea we chat of the Great Mystery,

of Her inexpressible Beauty.

Words spoken in Love and Wonder,

of that which cannot be spoken.

[.....]

Chuck Surface

Excerpt from the poem: "Troubled"

Chuck's poems can be found on

In the Garden of the Beloved

and Facebook

~*~

Tea Anyone?

Caverns of the Heart...

How does one express
what is unspeakable
when the deep caverns
of the Heart, once closed,
 open
and
Primordial Love begins
its rhythmic ascent.

“Love”
emerges endlessly
 from an unfiltered,
unguarded space
where Pristine Love ItSelf
breathes
the

Rhythm of the Heart

Sitting on the clef, feeling this new Rhythm of Being begin,
the word “Love” hardly seems adequate,
as The Rhythm has much more depth, richness, and fullness…

It is the deep Breath of Formless Being
breathing ItSelf *through* the Heart;
a soft, clear Rhythm
continuously
unfolding ItSelf in the Heart
wave by wave…

It is the
synchronous Rhythm of
the depth of
Pure Being, Pure Sublimeness;
and much, much more…

It is the human heart coming into sync
with the Primal Rhythm of the Heart of Pure Being;
felt as an endless Openness, Bliss
and Aliveness,
much more profound
than the word “love”
can convey -
as we experience it

 in manifest existence…

There are of course no words to truly describe “IT”…

Words are only phantoms of our
felt experience…

There is only the Silent undulating Rhythm

from the deeply lit caverns of the Heart

Experienced as Love…

Wondrously Inexpressible…

Mystic Meandering
June 22, 2015



~

Top photo is a picture of my hands/fingers
held up to the sunlight, turned on its side…
I loved the affect that came out:
light seeping through the cracks
in what looks to me like caverns of the Heart.

(My interpretation of course J)

Plumb The Depths...

Do not be afraid to
 plumb
 the
 depths
of your Being,
of Truth;
to question
everything
you
have
learned

Take the journey deeply inward
to your beginnings – and endings;
to the Silent hum
 in the Heart
of all Life
that sings,
and
see
for
your
self.

There are many caravans to follow,
those aspiring to "enlighten" you
with their words,
left like firewood to light your way,
along the road…

But only in Sacred Silence can the journey be made
to the Heart of Being;
to discover the depths of Being ~
of That which you are;
That which wants to
 *live*,
express,
and love

Here

Do not let fear stop your descent
into the inner Vastness:
the
 deep Ocean
 of the awakened
 Heart…

Be still,
 and open…

Follow the plumb line
of your breath,
past the Furies and the Sirens
into the soft ebullience 
of Love…
and quiet Joy
waiting for you,
like ethereal
 liquid pools
 of Light
drawing
 you
 in

Rest Here

In
the
depths
of

this
Alive
Silent
 Spacious
  Awareness

Listen to the endless
 Rhythm already
holding
you
in the cradle

 of the Heart…

Feel
 the
pervasive
contentment
of Life

Here
in
the
depths of
 Sacred
 Silence,

that animates
every cell,
every atom,
every sound,
every thought,
every feeling ~
until you *know* 
THIS
*as*
 your 
Self

Simply Living…

Mystic Meandering
April 17, 2012

Art: Craypas Oil sticks

2010

Oriah, Mooji, Foster & No Mind's Land...

“The blessing of a new year is the reminder that we can begin again and again –
 not just in January, but whenever we need to, with each dawn, each breath.
  Some days I begin again dozens or hundreds of times.
  We will all inevitably at times become distracted and weary.
  We will wander from the clarity of knowing that is beyond articulation and understanding,
 the moments of sitting in the center of what we are
 and why we are here,
 the awareness that is rooted in Love.

Often it is the deep longing to reach for the Beloved within and around me that helped me begin again.
  But sometimes I lose even this, cannot find the end of the thread of that longing that will take me home
 to the Infinite Love I have tasted in moments of grace.
  And then I find, to my astonishment, that even this lack, this loss of feeling and faith,
 when willingly experienced fully,
 can make me available to the longing that guides me home…”

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Copyright 2015

“Let the untrue be exposed and thoroughly burned.
Let whatever is untrue [be burned up] as it is recognized as false.

Wake up to the recognition of your Eternal Self.

Stay in the Heart.
Keep your eyes on
’The Beloved’

Your world may feel like it is being turned upside down.

Do not be disheartened…
It is your good fortune that your ‘world’ is being crushed.

Let your [world] be upside down so that what is true can
 reveal itself and begin unfolding
 in its authentic expression as True Life and Being.

Grace is helping you in every way.
Trust it…”

Mooji

(Above photo:  Zoom blur of a fire in our fireplace J)

“May you speak your deepest truth,
following nothing and nobody
but your own unique path
with some kind of crazy conviction
and an ancient courage
that emanates from beyond
mind…

Be willing to stumble sometimes,
to fail, to fall,
to not know,
to sometimes walk blindly
into the night,
to love without fear,
and to love fear
if and when it arises…”

Jeff Foster

(Above photo taken by my father circa 1952/53)

~*~

Let me to introduce you to Michel Bellegarde over at

No Mind’s Land

Michel has a wonderful blog site full of inspirations and resources
from Krishnamurti to Rumi, and everything in between: sages, mystics, scholars…

  It is where I found Chuck Surface.

Michele creates his own inspirational You Tube videos as well, some of which can be viewed
on his blogsite.  He posts inspiring quotes and poems from various authors and poets,
including myself.  J

Visit No Mind’s Land and let your Spirit Play! 

Make a Journey of Love...

Make your journey to be a journey of Love,

for all is Love…

Open daily to Love.
It is always there,
always available…

Make yourself available
to Love

Feel Love’s Presence
carrying you…

Each day step into
the channel
of Love’s call…

It is time to see things new -
through innocence and Love…
Despite the pains and frustrations,
wounds and traumas
that are emerging
through the physical body
and collective body.

Embrace it all in Innocence…

This is the lesson:

To see Love in everything.
It is the Divine Truth of all things…

The deep change you need comes through/from
the confluence of Love within you…
Pay attention to its flow,
its music,
its message:

There is nothing but Love.

It is your destiny to BE Love

from which you came
and which you are…

It is your Truth and your Substance…

Let the seeds of Love grow within you
to blossom and flower into its fullness.

It is already there in your Heart -
in the core of your Being.

~*~

This is the same Amaryllis plant from my previous post.
The light from the sun showing through the petals
gives it this yellow tinge and glow.  It also
actually had little sparkles on the petals
which I couldn’t capture with my camera…

The Amaryllis plant is a symbol for many things
one of which is opening to the infinite expansiveness of Love

giving the strength to dance intimately with Life
 and speak from the Heart
with clarity and compassion…

~*~

Verses under photos are from my
meditative writings
2004-2006

A Sappy Love Story...

I am always deeply moved by the kindness of strangers.  I don’t mean acts of courtesy like when someone allows you to go ahead of them through a door, or at an intersection on the road, or ahead of them in line at the store, but unexpected acts of genuine kindness that make a deep impression in the heart, and leave it open.  This was one such occasion.

Friday I drove over to a local craft store to look for an item to use in a painting that I had had an image of in a meditation last week.  When I drove into the parking lot a large, bright yellow and black Monarch butterfly flew over the left top edge of the windshield and down in front of me – flying just ahead of me.  It felt like I had been gently and unexpectedly graced from another realm.  It certainly got my attention…  It flew on and I turned into a parking slot – wondering if there was any significance to it…  Usually when something like this shows up right in front of my face, it means I need to pay attention to something.  Butterflies represent a process of metamorphosis, morphing into their True State, breaking through a self-imposed cocoon, opening their “wings” more fully and taking flight.  I didn’t know that the cocoon of my Heart was about to be opened!

I also unexpectedly found what I was looking for in the store and quickly headed for the check out counter.  I was the only one at the counter, besides the cashier, or so I thought.  The item was not very expensive, but still I enquired if it might be on sale, as I had noticed 50% off tickets on some of the shelves around where I found the item.  It wasn’t.  So the woman rang the item up and gave me the total.  I was about to pay when I was suddenly aware of a tall woman standing next to me.  In a soft-spoken voice she said: “Wait a minute, I think I have a coupon here.”  At first I was confused, and then realized she had dug out a rumpled up coupon worth 40% off any item and handed it to the cashier for my purchase!  It meant a savings of over $7.00.  I was gobsmacked!  Had she been standing there all along and I hadn’t noticed her!?  Had she heard me ask the clerk about a discount?!  I had no clue where she came from!  Really!  Like the butterfuly that was suddenly in front of my windshield!  I was overwhelmed and a bit in shock…  I turned to her and met her large soft eyes, and humbly thanked her a couple of times, and then left with my package – and my heart opened; most likely never to see her again…  Gone like the butterfly…  Amazing…   I found more than my “item” on this errand! J  It seems I found my True Heart again - the soft , open Heart hidden within the cocoon…

When I got to the car I started crying – and cried nearly all the way home – as my heart softened and opened even more…  Sounds sappy maybe, but I am always moved by these acts of connection and kindness with total strangers when least expected.  And I thought how often I do not act out of kindness towards others in this way, but put my blinders on, feeling overwhelmed by crowds and noise, staying in my cocoon,  just wanting to get the errand over with, consequently less *aware* of those around me.  I wondered how many opportunities for kindness I have missed along the way…  I now will be paying more attention, being more aware, and keeping my heart open – letting those rumpled-up heart wings unfold…

What touches your Heart deeply?

~

Photo: The shadow looks like
a butterfly wing to me J

Sabbatical Days...

Surprisingly, this week opened up several “sabbatical days”  in my new experience of “life as sabbatical” – days of quiet inner rest, getting in tune with the Oceanic Rhythm of Life again, moving intuitively and spontaneously, letting the days unfold, meeting each day as it presented itself, without agenda – without should haves, or should not haves – or resistance to what was, but allowing each day to be what it was, moving me through the day, trusting that Life would move in the way it needed to.  And it did…

I started reading a wonderful book by Jeff Foster that is well worth the read, called: The Deepest Acceptance: Radical Awakening in Ordinary Life.  Not surprisingly it is about accepting our life experiences no matter what they are.  But more than that, it is that Life ItSelf (the Being that we are deep within) accepts every experience, including all our feelings and emotions, no matter how we label them.  Life circumstances are already deeply accepted at the depths of Being Itself – the Ocean of Consciousness.  The experiences of our lives are like waves in that Ocean, and are never separate from that Ocean. In that sense, it is about awakening from the illusion of separation from the Ocean of Being that we all are – that deeply connects us all…

This view, which I have heard many times throughout my “spiritual” meandering, is now being heard as if for the first time, and changing my orientation to life and living.  The more I read, the more I realized that *everything* is deeply okay – no matter what the life experience is. That even though our surface life may be painful, filled with challenges, with fear, anxiety, depression, grief, anger, sadness, and dysfunctional families J, those feelings, experiences, and families are just waves on the surface of the Ocean of Consciousness. And ultimately *everything* is allowed, is deeply embraced by this Inner Oceanic Living Consciousness of Life. The waves are not separate from the deep Oceanic movement of Life, but are, in essence, the Ocean ItSelf moving through life.  With this realization I deeply relaxed, letting go of resistances to life, and slept well for 3 nights, instead of fighting the waves.  I began to get a taste of true freedom - no longer fighting with life…. And yet emotions and feelings continue to move through, like waves.  Sometimes I contract as if to keep them away – then remember - “everything is deeply okay.”

As I was being absorbed by this new awareness that “everything is deeply okay”, no matter what the circumstances, I felt the Heart of Love began to open up, ever so slightly, revealing ItSelf for just a few minutes – just enough to catch a glimpse of a larger Love.  It was an all-encompassing, non-perosnal Love for *all* life, all of humanity, and the dance of Life that is being played out here, even what we label as “darkness.”  It is a compassion for the struggles of humanity, which is part of the dance, without being affected by the struggle, or the need to fix it.  It’s more a deep open space of Love that allows everything to be; allows us to be who we are…

In knowing that “everything is deeply okay” there is only a deep bow to life, a deep honoring of life, a deep regard for life, an awe of life and the way Life plays Itself out here.  The  *Essence* of LIFE is living ItSelf in form.  And the miracle is that it’s all deeply okay, however it is. 

“Everything is deeply okay.” I keep repeating these words like a mantra, which takes me to deeper levels of peace, awareness and openness to life. As I feel the truth of this more deeply, I relax and find myself living life *from* a  deeper place of Inner Being that just IS – spacious and open to all of life experiences - where everything is embraced and loved just the way it is.  This is freeing…

~

“Life cannot be good or bad.
Life simply is,
appearing as all there is,
what we label as
good or bad…”

“From a place of deep acceptance of the way things are,
in seeing the inherent perfection of life itself,
one is still totally free to do what one is moved to do:
to help, to change things, to make a difference.

It’s just that our actions are no longer coming from
the root assumption that reality is broken
 and needs to be fixed,
and, underneath that, the assumption that
each of us is separate from life.
Any movement that comes from the assumption
that life is broken will simply perpetuate
the disease it wants to cure.

Acceptance is all about seeing reality,
seeing things as they actually are,
not as we hope or wish them to be.
And from that place of alignment
with what is,
all creative, loving and intelligent
action flows naturally.”

“Great freedom lies in fearlessly facing the
darkness
and finally coming to see
that the darkness is inseparable from light.”

All quotes: Jeff Foster
From: The Deepest Acceptance

~

Photo: Shadows on a Wall

Sacred Circles - Mandala Art

This is my new creative endeavor – creating and painting mandalas - also known as “sacred circles,” or Yantras, using sacred geometry, as taught by Guada in a Free Class at Guada’s Circle.

In a recent previous post – Focus As A Gateway – I was explaining how I felt a need for focus and balance as a way to bring the mind to a place of stillness.  Creating and painting this mandala gave me that focus and balance, and an inner meditative Stillness of Being.  I’m hooked! :)

Geometric mandalas are a sacred anciet art based on the language of patterns, like an underlying cosmic blueprint, an art form of the cosmos, revealing that our existence is inseparably and inherently one with the matrix of the Infinite – an inseparable, *inherent* union;  the circle being the symbol of this wholeness, or Oneness.  My limited understanding is that this oneness with the Divine, the interconnectedness of matter and spirit, is symbolized in the space where two circles cross each other forming what is called a Vesica Piscis – symbolically where Divine Consciousness and Human Consciousness are One; reminding me as I make the mandala that the Sacred is intimately present within – is both Here and Everywhere in the Universe simultaneously - meaning everything is sacred.

The seed of life at the center of many mandalas represents the heart of Existence itself, expanding into form; a symbol of sacred propagation of Life ItSelf; the Vesica Piscis symbolizing the Womb of the Universe from which all life arises.  Of course not all mandalas start with the seed of life pattern; but are obviously just as sacred, using other sacred symbols, such as the sanskrit OM(AUM) symbol at the center.   Buddhists and Hindus have used sacred geometric mandalas as symbols of the interconnectedness of the workings of the cosmos and meditative aids – or Yantras.  The Buddhists are also well known for their incredible sand mandalas that are “destroyed” after being meticulously created by monks over days and days as a symbol of the impermanence of life, and non-attachment.

I love creating mandalas as an art form; the creative design using the precision of sacred geometric patterns, and the detail of painting them in; the focus in the creating of it, and the balance that emerges in the design.  Just like the “spiritual path” – a combination of focus/practice, balance/equanimity, and the meditative Silence of just Being.  In most of my art experience I seem to work in circular fashion naturally, either circles, spirals or vortexes, as if it is primordial. See Something About Circles for an explanation and a look at my early Vortex art.

This is the basic seed of life pattern made with a compass:

See the Vesica Piscis in each intersection of a circle

From this template you can create a different design by erasing lines and adding other lines to make different shapes and designs.  The possiblilities are infinite. :)  In the mandala that I created, I added straight lines and a star pattern emerged, so I just went with it, making it a focal point; erasing parts of the outer circular lines around it, except the ones surrounding each point of the star.  I also created a wave line through each petal of the seed of life at the center, giving it a more fluid look.

I darkened this so you could see the design better

I then outlined each petal, and started filling in on one side with a water color pencil, which turns into water color paint when water is applied with a brush!  Quite amazing actually.  I like the effect in the purple star points.  They look like amethyst crystals with varieties of shading and light…

Not quite complete?

I contemplated filling the rest of the circle in with more color, but intuitively it felt complete.  Part of the process is listening intuitively to how the “painting” expresses itself, how it speaks to you, as in any artistic process….

Be sure to check out Stacy Wills’ mandala creations at A Magic Mom and Her Mandalas.  Some of them look like stanined glass windows!    Be sure to scroll down to see a variety of her mandalas using geometric design patterns.  She has recently begun using a different creative style and technology to create a more fluid affect.  

~*~

“In reality only the Ultimate (Infinite) is…
the rest is a matter of name and form.”

Nisargardatta