The Heart's Journey - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Everything, every particle in creation is surrounded by and
infused with Divine Light,  We do not see it because we
are veiled by our own darkness and forgetfulness, but it is
the Light of creation remembering the Light of The Divine's
own self-expression - the brush stroke of the Great Artist,,,

~

It's our own unique journey, our heart that is being broken
by love, our own sorrow and bliss.  It is called the journey
from the alone to the Alone, because we are left alone with
the cry of our heart and the places it takes us - both terrible
and beautiful - places where there are no books, or stories,
no words to comfort us, except the story of our own heart,
our confusion, longing and love...

~

Love's journey brings many scars, often scars of the heart,
and they do not all fade away, even if their drama has
lessened.  They tell us something about what it means to
be human, to stand at the place where the two seas meet...

And yet, because in the moments of real experience there
is no time,just the instant that is.  These stories do not
belong to any past; they are simply a part of the deepest
knowing of our self.

.~

allow this unending love to live within me...

 Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Quotes from: Fragments of a Love Story

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Return to a Deeper Rhythm - LLewellyn Vaughan-Lee

As our world appears to spin more and more out of balance...
there is a pressing need to return to a deeper rhythm, to the 
cycles that belong to healing and transformation, and the
seasons of the soul.  Returning we may find balance resurfacing
from deep within, a balance that reconnects and restores us...

If we are to participate creatively in these toxic times, to bring
rain to a land where the inner and outer wells have run dry,
first we need to be present "in another country where things
are in order."  And this "other country" can be found in the
space between the in-breath and the out-breath, where the
soul is present.  But first we need to reconnect, return to this
place of balance.  And the simplest way is through 
stillness and silence...

Silence draws us inward, away from the clutter and the
distractions of our outer life, to the deeper roots of our Being.

Here our soul nourishes us, here we can be replenished, and
here we can help replenish the world.....  In the silence we can
drink deeply of the waters of life that are still pure, we can
commune with the primal forces of nature, we can return to
what is sacred and essential to our life, and to the life of the
Earth.

Here in this "other country" the air is not toxic, and the miasma
of today's world in this post-truth era is not blurring our vision.
The laughter of children still rings true.  Stillness is here, and
the seasons are in balance.  Every in-breath and out-breath is
sacred.  The breath, the soul, the Earth and its seasons, are
linked together, nourished by each other. 
It is time to heal....

Llewellyn Vaughan-lee
Sufi Mystic
2017

Excerpt from an article published by Garrison Institute

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Listening for the Whispers of The Beloved - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

...listening is not an effort, not a technique...
Listening springs from the desire to be with the one
whom you want to hear ["The Beloved" - or however one
calls the Source].  Listening is a coming close, waiting for
Presence to materialize into words, to form ItSelf out of Silence.
Listening is a relationship, even in the silence when nothing is
heard.  Learning to listen is to allow our self to be present
without imposing or demanding, to hold a space where something
can be told, where meeting can unfold between.....lover and The 
Beloved; where openness is answered.  The lover is the one who
listens, whose being is born to listen for The Beloved. Without
the lover, how could the song of The Beloved be heard?

At the beginning we have to learn the art of listening, the art of
being present, attentive and empty.  We have to catch the still,
small voice of The Beloved, and not interrupt, not ask too many
questions.  We have to learn to be silent, because listening is
born from silence.  The listening of the heart is always an act 
of love, a coming together [communion], even when nothing is
heard. Listening is wisdom.  It is feminine, receptive, hidden...
Rumi knew how central a part it plays in our wordless
relationship with The Beloved.  He said:

"Make everything in you an ear, each atom of your being,
and you will hear at every moment what the Source is
whispering to you, just to you and for you..."

You are - we all are - the beloved of The Beloved, and in 
every moment, in every event of life, The Beloved is
whispering to you exactly what you need to hear and know.
Listen and you will discover it every passing moment. Listen,
and your whole life will become a conversation in thought
and action between you and The Beloved directly, wordlessly,
now and always.

We need to discover
how the heart listens to its Beloved.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Excerpts from an article called:
The Circle of Love
on Spirituality and Practice

~

Photo  from the Internet
Day 6 of "The Pause"

~

Days 7-9 of "The Pause" were spent in deep rest and self-care,
listening to Yoga Nidra - Deep Rest by Kathleen Knipp,
and "Allowing" by Adyashanti on a CD what I've had for
years.  I still take long pauses during the day, resting and 
listening for the whispers of The Beloved.

Namaste
_/\_

 

Listening for "The Beloved" - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

...listening is not an effort, not a technique...
Listening springs from the desire to be with the one
whom you want to hear ["The Beloved" - or however one
calls their Source.].  Listening is a coming close, waiting
for Presence to materialize into words, to form ItSelf
out of Silence.  Listening is a relationship, even in the
silence when nothing is heard.  Learning to listen is to
allow our self to be present without imposing or demanding,
to hold a space where something can be told, where
meeting can unfold between.....lover and The Beloved; 
where openness is answered.  The lover is the one who
listens, whose being is born to listen for The Beloved.
Without the lover, how could the song of The Beloved
be heard?

At the beginning we have to learn the art of listening, the
art of being present, attentive and empty. We have to
catch the still, small voice of The Beloved, and not
interrupt, not ask too many questions.  We have to learn
to be silent, because listening is born from silence.  The
listening of the heart is always an act of love, a coming 
together [communion], even when nothing is heard.
Listening is a wisdom.  It is feminine, receptive, hidden...
Rumi knew how central a part if plays in our wordless
relationship with The Beloved.  He said:

'Make everything in you an ear, each atom of your being,
and you will hear at every moment what the Source is
whispering to you, just to you and for you..."

You are - we all are - the beloved of The Beloved, and in
every moment, in every event of life, The Beloved is
whispering to you exactly what you need to hear and know.
Listen [for The Beloved] and you will discover it ever
passing moment.  Listen, and your whole life will become a
conversation in thought and action between you and The
Beloved directly, wordlessly, now and always.

We need to rediscover
how the heart listens to its Beloved.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Excerpts from an article called:
The Circle of Love
on Spirituality and Practice

~

Photo from the Internet

 

Listening to The Beloved - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

 ...listening is not an effort, not a technique...
Listening springs from the desire to be with the one whom
you wait to hear ["The Beloved"].  Listening is a coming
close, waiting for Presence to materialize into words, to
form ItSelf out of Silence.  Listening is a relationship, even
in the silence when nothing is heard.  Learning to listen is
to allow our self to be present without imposing or demanding,
to hold a space where something can be told, where meeting
can unfold between...lover and The Beloved; where openness
is answered.  The lover is the one who listens, whose being
is born to listen to The Beloved.  Without the lover, how
could the song of The Beloved be heard?

At the beginning we have to learn the art of listening, the art
art of being present, attentive and empty.  We have to catch
the still, small voice of The Beloved, and not interrupt, not
ask too many questions.  We have to learn to be silent,
because listening is born from silence.  The listening of the
heart is always an act of love, a coming together [communion],
even when nothing is heard.  Listening is a wisdom.  It is
feminine, receptive, hidden...  Rumi knew how central a part
it plays in our wordless relationship with The Beloved:

"Make everything in you an ear, each atom of your being,
and you will hear at every moment what the Source is
whispering to you, just to you and for you..."  You are - we
all are - the beloved of The Beloved, and in every moment,
in every event of life, The Beloved is whispering to you
exactly what you need  to hear and know.
Listen [to The Beloved] and you will discover it every
passing moment.  Listen, and your whole life will become a
conversation in thought and action between you and The
Beloved directly, wordlessly, now and always.

We need to rediscover
how the heart listens to its Beloved.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Excerpts from an article called:
The Circle of Love
on Spirituality and Practice

~

Photo from the Internet

A Fractured Reality - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Our contemporary consciousness seems so fractured.

Even the pandemic has constellated more fissures in our culture,
more tribalism, more discordant voices... 

It is as if the very fabric or our consciousness has become
distorted, that sees truth as a primal adversary, from a fractured
sense of reality. 

...in our present collective consciousness, we appear to have 
crossed over into a country where simple truths do not
reach us - there is no shared sense of reality...

I watch the stories swirl around and wonder if they are just
nightmares of a civilization that has lost its way -
patterns of denial to distract us from the failures of our
culture, with its increasing divisiveness...

There is a deep need to turn.....to the simplicity of what is...
to the true nature of everything...
We need to find a pathway that can return us to wholeness....

I find the only way to return, to embrace reality, is through
what is most simple, most ordinary.  By noticing what is
around me, the sound of the wind, the rain falling.  There is
a Cherokee practice that is similar to [Buddhist] mindfulness,
called, "the sound of the green forest humming"; the awareness
of the sound of the forest, the sound of the water and our breath.
When people are very well attuned they hear a certain sound 
and are mindful of that sound.  When they don't hear it they
realize they have stepped into a place where their thoughts
have become unbalanced.

Ordinary, everyday awareness can return us to a place of 
balance, where we are part of the living community;
a community not of internet bubbles, but of a primal
awareness [of nature]. Walking through this gate that is
always open, we can return to a quality of consciousness
beyond truth and lies, one that is more primal, spontaneous.
...we can leave behind a strange fractured world of distortions
 and breathe in air that is not toxic, walk on land that is
still singing.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi teacher

Excerpts from an article in
Emergence Magazine
called - A Ghost's Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

Infinite Unfolding - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

The Mystical Path
takes one into the depths of the Heart.
It leads you from the known to the unknown,
and then further into
the unknowable,
into a darkness brighter than
any light.

Nothing can prepare you for the Heart's journey,
for the places it can take you,
the depths and the heights
that are within you.
So many times  you think you are crazy,
bewildered and lost.
There are few signposts,
often little sense of direction.
It is our own unique journey.

It takes us to places where there are no
books or stories, no words to comfort us,
except the story of our own Heart,
our own confusion, longing and love.

We awaken to the simple and fundamental truth
that there is nothing other than 'God.'
Even the idea of a path is an illusion...

~

So what is this love story that unfolds within
the Heart of a Mystic?

How much of "our story" is [really] "God's story"?

...all one story,
One Light
split into many fragments,
yet always remaining
One Light...

This one story
is lived in millions of ways,
each story a unique fragrance of Love.
Every cell in creation lives its own love story -
its longing for the Source.
Human beings have the capacity
to make this story conscious,
to know the nature of their
hidden longing.

There can only ever be
one story,
because
there is only one Beloved,
and yet
we are part of this story;
our little "i"
must also be
a part of
The Beloved...

Infinitely Unfolding

Excerpts from:
Fragments of a Love Story
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Sufi Mystic

~

Please  note: I have taken excerpts from  the book
and arranged them in the form of a prose poem.

~

Photo: Mystic Meandering
Lotus Heart Stained Glass piece digitally zoom blurred

Beyond the World's Horizons - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Beyond the horizons of the world is a place that few know,
a place without borders, without loss or gain...  Something
within you mysteriously recognizes this primal emptiness,
the vast unknowing, the wonder of what is not.

There is no substance to form even images.  And yet, there is
a belonging that is stamped in the core of one's being, a belonging
that nothing can break.

Far away [from this place] is a place called existence.  It's full of
dreams. of opportunities, of life and death.  But here, in the world
beyond, there are no such dramas...  When all is dissolved, lost,
undone, we are what we [truly] are.

But the tears call us back into what people call life, into the strange
substance that weaves itself into form.  Yet even when we seem
stranded on this shore of existence, we can never forget that place
beyond the worlds that is always with you [within you].  It is at
the end and the beginning of every breath, more primal than even
silence...

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Excerpt from: Fragments of a Love Story

~

Let me sit here on the threshold of two worlds,
lost in the eloquence of silence...

Rumi

~

Photo - Sunset reflected on the top of the car

taken by my husband

Seasons of the Soul - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

For our ancestors the rhythms of the seasons were their calendar,
the rising and setting of the sun their only clock.  Today our clocks
 seem to spin much faster and it is easy to ignore, or even forget
these more primal seasons and their meaning.  And yet as our world
appears to spin more and more out of balance.....there is a pressing
need to return to a deeper rhythm, to the cycles that belong to
healing and transformation, and the seasons of the soul. 
Returning we may find a balance resurfacing from deep within,
a balance that reconnects and restores us...

If we are to participate creatively in these toxic times, to bring
rain to a land where the inner and outer wells have run dry,
first we need to be present "in another country where things are
in order."  And this "other country"can be found in the space
between the in-breath and the out-breath, where the soul is present. 
But first we need to reconnect, to return to this place of balance. 
And the simplest way is through stillness and silence.

Silence draws us inward, away from the clutter and the distractions
of our outer life, to the deeper roots of our being.  Here our soul
nourishes us, here we can be replenished, and here we can help
replenish our world.....  In the silence we can drink deeply of the
waters of life that are still pure, we can commune with the primal
forces of nature, we can return to what is sacred and essential to our
life and to the life of the Earth.

Here in this "other country" the air is not toxic, and the miasma of
today's world in this post-truth era is not blurring our vision.  The
laughter of children still rings true.  Stillness is here, and the seasons
are in balance.  Every in-breath and out-breath is sacred.  The breath,
the soul, the Earth and its seasons, are linked together, nourished by
each other.  It is time to heal.....

LLewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic
2017

Excerpt from an article published by Garrison Institute

Happy Spring Everyone!
Or Fall, as the case may be :)

~

...your breath is a bridge between you.....and the universe.

The breath is also a bridge between you, and space and time.
Breath touches the body and the universe,
 it touches you and that which transcends the universe.

Osho
The Book of Secrets

Wholeness - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

You search to find what the heart has always known, that there
are no boundaries to love.  Finding this leaves us on the edge
of our own expectations unaware of the simplicity of the
unknown.  For so long we have searched hoping, expecting
to find something - a realization that was longed for.  Always
you thought there was something to seek, a journey to make.
Now you stand on the precipice looking over the horizon of
your self.

Here there is no seeking, no looking, nothing to reach for, no
path to follow.  But within there is an answer, not in form, but
in substance.  There is a bigger wholeness hidden, waiting,
watching from behind our thoughts.

The wholeness has an unexpected purpose.....from across time
and beyond space.  There is another presence, another pattern,
not hidden, but unrevealed.  There is a tender sense of Silence.
In the moment of our own silence we are welcomed.  We need
to allow the Presence to become present, not in defined
moments, but in a flow.  The river is here.  The Silence,
unbidden, is always present; nothing is defined or captured.
This world is infused with this "other" - steeped in timelessness.

In that Isness, everything is included.  You, The Beloved,
the object of your prayer, and the will to unfold the Eternal
into the present, to cross the borders of time and space, and
saturate the now with Eternity.

Yet there is no "other."
You waited for someone to come, always you waited;
always waiting at the bus stop for the bus that never comes,
because there is nowhere to go.  You are fortunate to
disbelieve everything.

The world spins around a place of Silence.
You need to enter that Silence, and wait in the
Eternal Presence, for The Eternal that is already here,

amused with our seeking, with our thinking God is "other."

We only struggle with our self...

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Sufi Mystic

Take from: Fragments of a Love Story

~

Photo - glass ball with bubbles

The Play of the Universe - Swimme, Esmann, Vaughan-Lee, DH Lawrence

...the universe is not simply a place but a story,
a story in which we are immersed, to which we belong,
and out of which we arose.

This story has the power to awaken us more deeply to who
we are.  For just as the Milky Way is the universe in the form
of a galaxy. and an orchid is the universe in the form of a  flower,
we are actually the universe reflecting on itself.

from - Journey of the Universe
Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker

~*~

The Absolute is both unmanifest and a dynamic creative force.
From the creative force everything arises; both the world
as well as personal consciousness.  Everything is a blissful play
of consciousness, not an unreal illusion.

Excerpt from an article by
Jan Esmann
Shaktipat Master

~*~

Everything is ultimately a story.
My "life" is a story,
your "life" is a story,
all occurring simultaneously within the
vast cosmic Ocean of Consciousness/Awareness.
The story of The Eternal is being lived here...

The Ineffable Mystery of the Universe
takes a journey through
the story of life - as us...
The "Divine Drama" *is* our story -
and our "story" is the "Divine Drama"...

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
2013

~*~

The real mystery is how IT unveils ItSelf within us:
how the Beloved makes ItSelf known to ItSelf
in the fragile container of the human being.

In the midst of the Divine Drama there is a
human story to be told. But it's all "God's" story

being lived in human form...

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

~*~

We must get back into relation,
vivid and nourishing relation to
the cosmos and the universe...
For the truth is,
we perish for lack of fulfillment
of our greater needs.
We are cut off from the great sources
of our inward nourishment and renewal,
sources which flow eternally in
the universe...

D H Lawrence

~

Photo - The Om Universe
Craypas oils over acrylic
a work in process... :)

Listening Within the Heart - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

...listening within the Heart attunes us to The Beloved.
By listening within the Heart we develop the ear of the Heart,
the inner listening of the soul that can perceive at this higher
frequency.  Still, such listening requires both attentiveness and
discrimination, as it is not always easy to discriminate between
the voice of the ego and the voice of The Beloved.  But there is
a distinct difference.  The words of the ego and mind belong to
duality; the words of the Heart carry the imprint of oneness
 [wholeness]. In the Heart there is no argument, no you and me,
 just an unfolding [attitude of] oneness [unity].  The Heart
embraces a difficulty, the ego takes sides...

Listening, waiting for Love's words, turns us away from our
own needs to being attentive to the higher need. [the need of the soul]
In our need we call to The Beloved, and then wait at the doorway
of the Heart, listening for an answer.  But gradually, imperceptibly,
this inner listening becomes more important than our own need.
Our questions become fewer, our inner attention grows.
The Beloved begins to nourish us [the soul's need] with the response...

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

from: Prayer of the Heart

[brackets mine]

Via: No Mind's Land

~

Photo - light through Venetian Blinds
taken by my husband...

Mystical Presence - Vaughan-Lee & Campbell

To know that beneath all the divisions of the outer world

 there is a single stream of mystical [Presence]
is in itself a refuge and deep reassurance.
It is so easy to get caught up in the forms and images
of the outer world, and yet, as Rumi writes,"God does not
look at your outer forms, but at the love within your love."
And as I have discovered from my own journey into the heart,
there is a love that embraces each of us with a tenderness
and passion known only to lovers.
We are taken by love to love.

We begin this mystical journey with the simple act of listening
within the heart.  We bring the mind down into the heart,
into the feeling center of our self.  And here we wait and listen,
not to the sounds of the outer world, but to the silence
that is within our self.  This silence is nourishing, and draws
us deeper and deeper within.  It is the silence from which
love is born.  It nourishes us from the depths of our own soul,
[and] our outer, everyday life becomes more and more
grounded in the core of our Being.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic
From: The Prayer of the Heart

~

The divine manifestation is ubiquitous, only our eyes are not
open to it.  Awe is what moves us forward.
Live from your own center. The divine lives within you.
The separation apparent in the world is secondary.
Beyond the world of opposites is an unseen, but experienced,
unity and identity in us all.

See the radiance everywhere...

Sanctify the place you are in...

Joseph Campbell
Mythologist

The Universe is a Story - Swimme, Essman, MM, & Vaughan-Lee

...the universe is not simply a place but a story,
a story in which we are immersed, to which we belong,
and out of which we arose.

This story has the power to awaken us more deeply to who we are.
For just as the Milky Way is the universe in the form of a galaxy,
and an orchid is the universe in the form of a flower,
we are the universe in the form of a human.

And every time we are drawn to look up into the night sky
and reflect on the awesome beauty of the universe,
we are actually the universe reflecting on itself.

Journey of the Universe

Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker

~*~

The Absolute is both unmanifest and a dynamic creative force.
From the creative force everything arises;
both the world as well as personal consciousness.
Everything is a blissful play [story] of consciousness,
not an unreal illusion.

Excerpt from an article by

Jan Essman

~*~

Everything is ultimately a story.
My life is a story,
your life is a story,
all occurring within the vast cosmic
Ocean of Consciousness.
The story of The Eternal is being lived
here...

The Ineffable Mystery of the Universe
takes a journey through
the story of life - as us...
The "Divine Drama" is our story -
and our "story" is the "Divine Drama"...

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
2013

~*~

The real mystery is how It
unveils ItSelf within us;
how the Beloved makes ItSelf known
to ItSelf in the fragile container of the
human being.

In the midst of the Divine Drama
there is a human story to be told.
But it's all "God's" story
being lived in human form...

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

*

Photo - A mystery :)

The Primal Mystery - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Everything is illumined with Divine Presence.
The Beloved reveals [ItSelf] through life's myriad forms...

We make an image of the Divine to suit us,
to give us comfort and security,
to contain the pain of being human.
All images gradually fall away,
for they too are veils of separation,
denying the truth of union.

How can the Beloved be separate?
And when we call out to God
who calls out to whom?

Our cry is itself the Beloved's,
crying out to ItSelf...

The Mystery is that the Beloved calls to [ItSelf]
within our Heart...

The mystical path is the journey Home -
a return journey in which we "die" to
the false self and rediscover our
essential union with God -
the primal Mystery...

Real "spiritual awakening"
is the awakening of the heart
in which the Divine comes alive
within us through Grace...

Words of Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic
From: The Prayer of the Heart
I merely put the words together in prose poetry form

~*~

God is a metaphor for a mystery

that absolutely transcends all human
categories of thought.

Joseph Campbell

~*~

Photo: Mandala Art
"Into Infinity"
Mystic Meandering

Utterly Absorbed - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

“We have become conditioned to think that God
is something other than ourself -
but there is no separate identity.
We are utterly dissolved in God -
in a state of deepening absorption.

There is nothing but God...
Everything is illumined with Divine Presence...

The Beloved is present,
not as a personal God or Creator,
but as something both
inexpressible and intimate,
and is recognized as something
inseparable from the self.

In moments of absorption
only The Beloved exists.
This primal awareness
of the Heart is the foundation.

Immerse the self in the heart
allowing the energy of love
to slow down the mind
and its thoughts, until
eventually we arrive
at a state of receptivity,
in which we patiently wait
within the heart
for the words
of our
Beloved;
experience
Divine Presence;
and merge deeper into
the Silence that belongs
to Love…”

Words of LLewllyn Vaughan-Lee

Sufi Mystic
From: The Prayer of the Heart

I have taken his words from the book
and put them in prose poetry form.

~

Photo of sky and clouds color inverted

The Ocean of Love - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

The place where the two seas meet,
is the place where there is a simple meeting
of Divine and human:
the Divine purpose coming into form…
Here there is a light
that is held within the Heart.
It is the locus of the mystical journey.

Something comes alive within
our Heart and Soul;
we become nourished,
not by spiritual texts or teachings,
but by direct transmission.

The place where the two seas meet
is where one lives in the currents
of divine consciousness
and yet
is also held in the sea
of human experience.

There is a mystery present
in the real nature of a human being -
as a part of this limited world of forms,
of thoughts, emotions, and sensations…

…Once you have tasted the
Ocean of Love it is in your blood.
It is always calling to you,
sometime from afar,
and sometimes so close
you can feel its Presence.

We are surrounded by Love
in all of its intensity and wonder.
This is the Love that draws us
into the depths.

Through inner alchemy
is the promise of the Heart:
that Love will reveal its secrets…

Excerpts from: Fragments of a Love Story
by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
put into prose poem form.

~*~

Photo: Vortex Art
Mystic Meandering
2010

Threads of Connection ~ Rig Veda, Rilke, Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

“There is an endless net of threads throughout the Universe.
The horizontal threads are in space.
The vertical threads are in time.
At every crossing of the threads,
there is an individual,
and every individual is a crystal bead.

The Great Light of
’Absolute Being’
illuminates and penetrates
every crystal bead.
And every crystal bead reflects
not only the light from every other crystal
in the net, but also every other reflection
through the entire universe…”

The Rig Veda
The earliest Veda

~.~.~.~.~

“No experience has been too unimportant,
and the smallest event unfolds like a fate,
and fate itself is like a wonderful, wide fabric
in which every thread is guided by an
 infinitely tender hand and is laid alongside
 another thread and is held and supported
 by a hundred others.”

Rainer Maria Rilke

~.~.~.~.~

“…it is really just about love…
More and more I feel that all that matters
is the link of love that we each have within the heart,
and how we are drawn by
our longing for this love…
Follow the love,
be drawn by the
longing…”

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

~.~.~.~.~

Photo: Mandala Art
Indra's Net of Jewels
Slightly Radially Blurred

2013

Infinite Unfolding - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

The Mystical Path
takes one into the depths of the Heart.

It leads you from the known to the unknown,
and then further into
the unknowable,
into a darkness brighter than
any light.

Nothing can prepare you for the Heart’s journey,
for the places it can take you,
the depths and the heights
that are within you.
So many times you think you are crazy,
bewildered and lost.
There are few signposts,
often little sense of direction.

It is our own unique journey.

It takes us to places where there are no
books or stories, no words to comfort us,
except the story of our own Heart,
our own confusion, longing and love.

We discover the illusory nature of the ego.

The “I” is just an illusion, a veil of separation.

We awaken to the simple and fundamental truth
that there is nothing other than God.

Even the idea of a path is an illusion…

~

So what is this love story that unfolds within
the Heart of a Mystic?

How much of “our story” is [really] “God’s story”?

…all one story,
One Light
split into many fragments,
yet always remaining
One Light…

This one story
is lived in millions of ways,
each story a unique fragrance of Love.
Every cell in creation lives its own love story,
its longing for the Source.

Human beings have the capacity
to make this story conscious,
to know the nature of their
hidden longing.

There can only ever be
one story,
because
there is only one Beloved,
and yet
we are part of this story;
our little “i”
must also be
a part of
The Beloved…

Infinitely Unfolding

Excerpts from:
Fragments of a Love Story

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Please note: I have taken excerpts from various pages
in the book and arranged them in the form of a prose poem.

~

Photo: Lotus Heart Stained Glass Zoom Blurred

Threshold - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee...

In silence we become and then unbecome,
 know and are unknown.

For so long we have searched…..hoping,
 expecting to find something.

Always you thought there was something to seek,
 a journey to make. Now you stand on the precipice,
 looking out over the horizon of your self,

and you know it is otherwise.

Here there is no seeking, no lover lost and found.

There is no looking, nothing to reach for, no path to follow.

But within there is an answer, not in form but in substance.

The source brings something beyond the passions
 of day-to-day life to the surface,
 something we need to nourish rather than define.

There is a bigger wholeness hidden,

waiting at the corner of the moments,

watching from behind the thoughts.

You wait for something to happen,
 and there is nothing to happen,
 yet the happening comes closer,
 like a map that reveals your own garden
 as an undiscovered place,

that comes from across time and beyond space.

There is another presence, another pattern,
 not hidden but unrevealed.

There is a tender sense of silence…..

In the moments of our own silence we are welcomed,

as both stranger and friend.

We need to allow the presence to become present,

not defined in moments, but as a flow.

The river is here.

The silence, unbidden, is always present.

In the tranquility of the moment nothing is defined or captured.

This world is infused with the other,
 steeped in the dew of timelessness.

Just Isness.

In that Isness everything is included –

you, the Beloved, the will to unfold the eternal into the present,

to cross the borders of time and space,
 and saturate the now with eternity.

Yet, there is no other…

You were always alone but you thought it was
 a state of incompleteness.

You waited for someone to come,
always waiting at the bus stop for the bus
that never comes,

because there is nowhere to go…

You wait at the threshold of the other world,

struggling with your self…

when the other world is already present.

The real mystery is how IT unveils itself
within us;
how the Beloved makes ItSelf known
to ItSelf
in the fragile container
of the human being.

In the midst of
The Divine Drama
there is a human story…
But it’s all God’s story
being lived in form.

Excerpts from: Fragments of a Love Story

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Please note: I have taken excerpts from various pages
of the book, put them together and created this prose poem.