"The Companion" - a meandering...

"The Companion" is unidentifiable, nameless,
identity-less - and - indwells us.
"The Companion" is a felt sense of Presence within;
beyond all concepts of "God", religion, deity, or
enlightenment...

"The Companion cannot be reduced to a name, or
label - it's beyond that...
You can't wrap it, or trap it, in a conceptual framework.
It's beyond concept...

"The Companion" is a felt resonance...
that helps align us with the internal frequency of
our Essence, our Being, our Soul -
even when we don't recognize it.

It's what attunes us to the Essence of our Being -
inexplicably...

"The Companion" is always within us;
noticed as an inner stillness
when we pay attention to it.
It's been there all along - comforting.

We just haven't been aware...

~

Companion from the Unseen
Mysterious Friend of the Heart
You comfort me, and sustain me
and free me from my darkest night.

Mystic Meandering

Sept. 28, 2022

Written after a conversation with my husband
about something we were both experiencing back
in Sept - and we called it "The Companion" to give
a sense of what if feels like within - but which is
beyond even that description...

~

Photo - Northern Lights from a Calendar 

 

Holy Hush - Yahia Lababidi

Silence is the inescapable force in our lives - a constant presence.
Contemplatives, poets, and thinkers alike, have long hinted at
a wisdom beyond words, straining the limits of language
and sense, to describe the ineffable.

Silence is not the absence of failure of words, but instead
somehow exists before and beyond representation, a primordial
essence that lurks beneath our constructed world.  In the immortal
formulation of Tao Te Ching: 'Returning to the root is silence/
Silence is returning to being.'

It is in silence, that things patiently unfurl, open up and trust us
with their secrets or reveal their hidden natures...

Silence can be difficult to define.  For it is not merely the
absence of sound, but may be perceived as an actual physical
presence - a holy hush,  the elemental silence found in the
natural world, where Time appears to collapse and one is 
afforded glimpses into Eternity. Silence is the solemn 
companion of nature and can presence like the very
pulse of Being.

Krishnamurti describes this mystical state: 'And it is only
where there is space and silence that something new can be
that is untouched by time/thought.  That may be the most holy,
the most sacred - may be...  You cannot give it a name.  It is
perhaps the unnamable.'

One is said to 'enter' and 'emerge' from this state, as though it
were an actual physical territory.  We cannot forcibly break-in
and enter, or rush through this portal to arrive at a meditative-
reflective state; but instead must patiently wait to be granted
access...

The Christian philosopher, Max Picard said:
"Silence is listening.  And as attentive practitioners of this
metaphysical art may sense, it can sometimes be unclear who
is doing the actual listening...  us, or Silence itself...

Otherwise, dissimilar spiritual traditions - Hindu, Buddhist,
Taoist, Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Native American - all
agree on the importance of observing silence as a tool for 
inner transformation...

Yahia Lababidi
Egyptian-Lebanese poet and "thinker"

Excerpts from an article entitled:
"Notes On Silence" 

With thanks to No Mind's Land for the link :)

 

The Sacred is Here...

 The Sacred is Here...

  The Sacred is Here...

   The Sacred is Here...

Om Namah Shivaya

 

~*~

She gently and quietly invites me
deeper into Her inner realms...

She infuses me with Her Grace...
from within

She is my guru, my teacher -
ever teaching through Her Quiet Presence,
Her soft energies, and whispers of
Love.

Mystic Meandering
Jan. 5, 2021

_/\_

Om Namah Shivaya is a Sanskrit phrase
meaning
Salutations to the auspicious one

~

Personal Note: This poem emerged as a result
of direct experience of the movement of "The Sacred"
within during meditation, which I have also called
"The Mystery", or "The Silence" - not based on
belief or concept, but just being open to that which
enlivens us from within - The Presence of the Ineffable.
"She" also whispered: "Always come back to the
feeling of The Presence within."

"She" is a reference to how I experience the energy of
"The Sacred", which feels feminine to me.
"She" is always Here.. :)

_/\_

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

"The Friend" - "The Guru"...

"The Friend" - "The Guru"
is not a person -
but the Presence at the Core of your Being...

"The Friend" - "The Guru"
knows your Heart
and responds to your Heart
with the felt sense of Presence -
embodied...

"The Friend" - "The Guru"
is seen only with "Felt Sight"*
from within...

It holds no identity, no title, no status
and no space or distance
from you...

You are always sustained in
The Silence of "The Friend" - "The Guru."

Get to know "The Friend" - "The Guru",
which is the Silence at the Core of your Being...
It will teach you what you need to know...'

Sit with "The Friend."

Befriend "The Friend."
Do not look to the world
to befriend you...

Mystic Meandering

Aug 2020

*Note - Thank you to Ginny Lonsdale
for her words "Felt Sight" :)

See her wonderful website/blog with
writings and poetry @
Footnote from a Moment

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Your Outlook Matters - John O'Donohue

Sometimes when we look out, the world seems dark.
War, violence, hunger and misery seem to abound.
This makes us anxious...  What can I do in my private little
corner of life that could have an effect on world events?
Believing ourselves to be helpless, we hand over our
power to forces and systems outside us that then act in
our names; they go on to put their beliefs into action; and
ironically their actions are often sinister and destructive.

We live in times when the call to real presence is urgent.
We need to rediscover the careless courage, yet devastating
simplicity of the little boy who, in the middle of the
numbed multitude, in naive Socratic fashion, blurts out:
"But the emperor has no clothes."
When spoken, the truth can bring down citadels of falsity.

The spirit of a time is incredibly subtle [or not], yet a hugely
powerful force.  And it is comprised of the mentality and spirit
of all individuals.  The way you look at things is not actually
a private matter.  Your outlook actually and concretely affects
what goes on.  When you take back your power and choose
to see the possibilities for healing and transformation, your
creativity awakens and flows to become an active force of
renewal and encouragement in the world.  In this way, even
in your own hidden life, you can become a powerful agent
of transformation in a broken, darkened world.

John O'Donohue
From: To Bless the Space Between Us
(written in 2008!)

~

Intuitive Art - Mystic Meandering

If you look closely you can see little "beads"
scattered in the painting and the larger one in the purple heart.
They are Snowflake Obsidian from a bracelet I once wore,
and just happened to find them in a little plastic cup.  I had placed
them in a particular order on the painting that was lying on
my work table, and then accidentally hit the canvas, scattering
the little beads over the black and white swirls of the painting. 
I left them where they were, and glued them to the painting. :)

The properties of Snowflake Obsidian are:
Brings about balance, removes negativity from
 a space or person, and  promotes a sense of calm and
 inner centering - where our real power lies.

Amazing!

The Inner Cosmos...

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

Walk as if the "Divine" were in your shoes,
walking you -
The Inner Cosmic Being that you are;
undivided by earthly "tribes"
of politics and religion,
earthly boundaries,
or the divided mentations of
mediocre minds...

Fall into the Inner Rhythm of
the Inner Universe,
the ubiquitous Primordial Essence
inherently everywhere at all times,
fluidly in and through all 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 Internal Silence
beyond artificial boundaries,
beyond the bluster of buffoons and bullies
with mouthfuls of meaningless words...

Just Breathe...

Wait...

for the movement of the
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

A Zen Moment

Each of us needs to withdraw
from the cares which will not
withdraw from us...

Maya Angelou

~

Our State of Colorado is now under "lock down" for the
next 4 weeks, due to the coronavirus, as many others
are as well...  During this period of sequester I hope to
stay as healthy as I can, and use this time of "sheltering"
to nurture myself, to turn inward and experience Peace and
 a sense of inner Presence, and the deep inner Silence once
again; to de-stress and disentangle from the collective energy
 of fear and panic...
May you all stay well during this stressful time...

I'll still be posting along the way :)

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

The Embrace...

Everything is held in the Embrace of the Luminous Unmanifest...

~

This Eternal Embrace is
a dynamic stillness of Being
that holds everything as it is;
a holding space for everything to just Be...

~

We are held in this space of Divine Embrace -
a Vastness that just is...

~

There is only ever Embrace -
a deep compassionate Embrace for all life,
for all that is - as it is...

The Divine embracing Itself in every expression of Itself...

~

Everything is suspended
in this ubiquitous Presence of Life Itself...

Rest in This...

And when we emerge from our rest,
we realize that we ARE the Embrace -
embracing Itself.

We ARE fluidly and interchangeably the Embrace -

Divine Intimacy...

Sweet Serenity...

~

Notes from my journal - 2009

~

Photo from Shutterstock
digitally altered

The Deep "I" - Tim Freke

How we experience life depends on how conscious we are.
When we only pay attention to the surface of life
we're only superficially awake.  But when we look deeper
we can become deep awake...

I'm conscious of being alive...
But what is life?
I am experiencing this moment,
but what is this moment?

See the world with curious eyes.
Become intensely aware that you exist...

I am the mysterious presence called "I" that is
experiencing a stream of experiences.

But what is this "I"?

The Deep I is Awareness...
It has no tangible form...

We connect with each other Deep I to Deep I
all the time.  We are the Presence of Awareness that
can't be seen.  We are the formless spirit connecting through form...

Deep I to Deep I

When we see that, we become deep awake...

Tim Freke
Philosopher
Excerpts from his video
"The Deep Awake Life"

~

Photo - Eye of God Mandala
2013

A View of Death - Joan Ruvinsky

Below is a transcript of a conversation that Joan Ruvinsky had with one of her Friends that was sent out in a recent newsletter from Joan's organization: Pathless Yoga.  Joan knew she was facing death, as she had end stage lung cancer.

When this body goes, does THIS [our Beingness] go?

The body is here and THIS is here - both/and...  There is one alive-space of us, and the room, and the wall, and everything else...  If global sensing is primary, the experience of me will become non-localized.  In other words, who I am is being interpreted right now as if I am a body-mind.  But the experience after I die is that there isn't a localization, that essence (called me) is just another flavouring of pure, dimensionless being.

When this body goes, does THIS go?  I'm going to say it the way Jean [Klein] said it because perhaps his wording is better than anybody's: the body is an expression of THIS.  The ocean comes up and makes this Joan wave and then this Joan wave recedes back into the ocean.  If you are looking just from the surface, yes a body has died and that person no longer exists.  If you are looking from beneath the surface, you see that yes, there is no body, but THIS still exists.  Whether I am here or not, IT is still here. This expression of IT, this tip of the wave, has come back into the ocean...  Right now you relate to the tip of the wave as well as the ocean.  The big question now is: "What is going to happen?" In your outer experience there will not be a body, but is your outer experience the truth?  What will happen in your inner experience?

There may be grief because the expression of THIS is going to be gone.  THIS is not going to go away.  And when it happens that the expression goes away, let's see, let's see what's left.  It is an experiment!  We don't know...  This everythingness... this presence... what will happen to it?  When you just stop and just close your eyes and listen within, when the background becomes the foreground, what will happen then?

Joan Ruvinsky was "reabsorbed", you might say, into the Great Ocean of the Ineffable Mystery of Being March 21, 2016.  She was evidently conscious during much of the dying process, and could describe her experience, until she could no longer talk.  Amazing...

~*~

Photo - Craypas Oils Art
Radially Blurred

Enlightenment Is ~ ?

“’I’ am not enlightened.
Nor am ‘I’ unenlightened.

Neither label could ever apply to what ‘I’ Am.

The true guru is everywhere.
The true ashram is the Heart.
The true satsang is every moment.

Know yourself as unlimited awareness/consciousness
and let the little ego dance its dance;
and be free wherever you are…

The Light is on.”

Jeff  Foster

“Enlightenment means waking up to what you truly are;
awakening from the dream of separateness
[from what you truly are].

You are the divine emptiness,
the inifinite nothing.”

Adyashanti

Emptiness Dancing

“It’s all just Consciousness playing Itself out in form.
Enlightenment is turning the switch on and
seeing
that which is already there…

There is only Primordial Presence manifesting,
Consciousness manifesting ItSelf as form -
waiting for you to recognize the Consciousness
that you are…"


Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
2004-2006

"Ultimately, enlightenment is
awakening to the Stillness in everything -
the still Presence in everything...

No longer seeking for answers - just BEing
Resting in the stillness of Primordial Awareness
Being the Stillness that you ARE..."

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
2004-2006

Sunrise!

Yesterday I commented on a fellow blogger's blog – Beyond the Fields We Know – on her series, SayYes to Life! – that I was never up at dawn, because I am a night owl, and an insomniac, so I don’t normally see the sunrise…  And that I wished I could see it…  Well, as Life would have it, I awoke this morning at 5:30 am, for what reason I don’t know.  My husband was up at 6:01, as usual.  I peeked at the clock… J  I tried to turn over and continue sleeping, but I could hear noises – that I don’t usually hear of course.  It was hubby puttering around in his office and down in the kitchen…  So I thought what the heck and clamored out of bed and went down to see if the sun was coming up.  Low and behold there it was!  The sunrise this morning was at 6:04 am.  I was probably up at 6:11, grabbed the camera and quickly took these photos through our dirty windows. And was back in bed by 6:30 am….  Still unable to sleep, I am back up posting this…    This was not the most colorful sunrise, but one I actually got to see! LOL    Be careful what you wish for. :)  The words below the photos are from John O’Donohue…

"May you awaken to the mystery of being here,
and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence."

"May you experience each day as a sacred gift
woven around the heart of wonder."

Primordial Intimacy...

“The key is constantly ‘returning’ your awareness to the awareness of Primordial Consciousness, Primordial Presence, Primordial *Life* before form.  We are constantly challenged to wake up and remember this…”

This came out of a conversation with my husband the other day, in the face of life’s challenges that are currently occurring here on an ongoing basis that I lament about and feel pulling me away from this deeper sense of Awareness.

However, I also know that intentional and conscious awareness of Primordial Silence is the key to “remembering” – for me.  The Primordial Silence of Life calls to me, like and old friend – inviting me, waiting for me to respond, to come and be still – to be aware.  All I need do is consciously turn within and *meet* It - the Primordial Life *in* everything, the Primordial Silence that *is* Life - and feel It, experience It, open up to It.

I’ve been trying to put a *face* to this Primordial Silence that just IS – with names like Spirit, or The Infinite, or The Divine, or God, when in Truth, it is the vast nameless Unknown – and even that is still an attempt to name it, to bring into focus what is simply Divine Simplicity - Awareness that cannot be “person-ified.”

Intimacy with the “Divine” (Primoridal Consciousness) is what we are “made” for – stripping everything else away, all resistances, all ideas and names *about* what that is, or thoughts *about* what it should look like, and allowing the veils that keep us from this Divine Communion of Silence to drop away…  Letting Primordial Silence/Presence permeate every cell – rather - *recognizing* that it permeates every cell – that IT is WHAT we are, and have never been separate from.  This *awareness* of Primordial Silence is the medicine, the elixir of Life – dissolving everything that has allowed us to believe in separateness from this Divine Intimacy that is eternally present in ItSelf – in us.

It is a conscious endeavor to remember that no matter what is going on, there is always Intimacy with Primordial Silence – the Ground of Being, of Existence and all that exists.  I just need to keep re-turning to It: the awareness of Primordial Intimacy with Life ItSelf!

Photo: raindrop on screen
digitally colored

Sanctuary...

In meditation last week the word “sanctuary” arose in answer to a question of “what is needed?” with all the emotional chaos and over stimulation that I have been experiencing in life lately – like the last 3 years J.  And since I won’t be packing up and moving to a monastery any time soon, I wondered how I would “create” this emotional and physical sanctuary that was required for my well-being – not as an escape, but as respite.  As synchronicity would have it, dear hubby was going to be out of the house on Friday and Saturday for several hours each day.  At the time I thought I would use this time to catch up on some cleaning.  Instead, Life required “sanctuary” and I knew it as soon as he left.   As I shut the door behind him, I felt an immediate call to Sacred Silence – the refuge that truly nourishes my Heart. 

I went to my meditation space, lit a candle, burned incense, rang a bell and sat.  Breathed – and settled.  I relaxed into the inner Silence that enlivens this being – my true Sanctuary.

I began to notice body sensations – the remnants of anxiety and depression: heaviness and tightness in the gut, chest and throat; the foggyhead, the aching muscles from left over guardedness.  And vestiges of the mental gymnastics that keep me bound to living on the surface of life.  I felt sadness emerge from the depths again in waves, and acknowledged its presence.  It rose and dissipated with recognition.  In “Sanctuary” everything is allowed and embraced, seen and acknowledged:  fear, anxiety, anger, depression, sadness, even happiness and joy, as the Presence of Silence envelopes it.  In “Sanctuary” they are only waves upon the deeper Ocean of Being.

In the “Sanctuary” of inner Stillness I asked: What is the deeper need?

I listened deeply for the Voice of Silence that always whispers the Truth.

“Sanctuary" was the reply once again.
"Rest in the inner Sanctuary,
aware of everything:

thoughts, feelings, sensations, body;
the pulse of Silence, and
the Rhythm of Life running through it all."

I relaxed deeply, held in the unborn, pre-existent, ever flowing, ever fluid, ongoing Infinite Now - the ground of our being - that comsumes the past, present and future; experiencing the felt sense of Presence once again – “Sanctuary.”

“Sanctuary” is a place of deep nourishment, embraced by pure Presence.  It is a place to incubate, to open to the depths of Reality and and explore the Eternal Now.  It offers an invitation to turn around, to return to the inner cosmos of Being; to collapse the mind, the self, and let go of conceptual reality, experiencing what is Real – the Isness of Being ItSelf – Primoridial Existence  - simply Being.

“Sanctuary” is the internal Stillness of the peaceful contentment of a tranquil heart and mind in tune with the Cosmos.

“We must get back into relation,
vivid and nourishing relation to
the cosmos and the universe…
For the truth is,
we are perishing 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.”

DH Lawrence
~*~

Photo:
Indra's Net of Jewels Mandala
digitally radially blurred...
Magic! :)

Serenity's Sanctuary - Primordial Presence

There is only Primordial Presence.

Being manifesting Itself –

waiting for you to recognize the Being that you are –

the Primordial Presence that spawned you.

This does not require anything.

You do not need to stop the mind, stop your thinking or emoting,

erase your ego or thoughts.

Just sit back into the Primordial Presence that you ARE and

recognize the Self – Isness.

When you recognize the Self, then all that you have been trying

to “transcend”, transmute, transform, or otherwise manage,

control, or get rid of, will fall away, will dissolve into Presence.

Allow this to happen – naturally – on its own,

without trying, without the gymnastics,

just the calm and quiet sitting back on the lap of Being.

~

Appearance is not what you are.

It is you that gives it a label.

See behind the label, the image, into the Stillness.

Re-direct all thoughts into Stillness (Presence).

Re-direct all energies into Stillness (Presence).

BE the Stillness and just let It Be: suspended Isness,

without a need for activity, label, function.

~

There is no “awake” and “unawake” – no “awakening.”

It’s all just Consciousness playing Itself out in form.

There is only Awakeness.

“Enlightenment” is like turning the light on,

turning the switch on and seeing that which is already there –

already Awake.

~

Suspend in Beingness/Presence

Just Be It…

Sweet Serenity...

~

Mystic Meandering

Meditative Writings

Funky Art :)

Serenity's Sanctuary - The Vastness of Being

What rises and falls, rises and falls within the context of

the Vastness of Being.

What arises are adaptations, not aberrations, not even fragmentations.

What arises are conditioned reactions, based on the lack of

knowing your Beingness –

your true Presence, the backdrop for everything that happens.

~

Mind creates and functions in predictable, habitual patterns.

Being responds spontaneously in the immediacy of the moment –

to meet each moment with freshness, newness, innocence,

curiosity, delight, with un-focus – that is – it can be

distracted by whatever grabs its attention with a sense of

discovery and openness.

~

Life happens.

Conditioning happens as a result.

Unwrap yourself from the shell of conditioning and

rest in the ever-stillness of Primordial Presence.

See and experience everything within that context.

Keep sitting back into the lap of Being –

The Embrace.

~

To be free is knowing yourself *as* Being –

the Essence of our Divine Nature.

Sweet Serenity...

~

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings

Photo: Street light through Birch branches