Destiny - Markham & Maharshi

There's a destiny which makes us brothers;
none goes his way alone.
All that we send into the lives of others
comes back into our own.

Edwin Markham
1852-1940

My mother wrote this on the first page of my little
autograph book when I was 7 or 8 years old... :)

~

Whatever is destined
not to happen
will not happen;
try as you may.

Whatever is destined to happen
will happen; do what you may
to prevent it.

This is certain.

The best course of action, therefore,
is to remain silent.

Ramana Maharshi

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~

Photo from the Internet

 

A Pathless Pilgrim...

I continue to walk a “pathless path” (read here) – and yet there is a focus…  I am not “called” to any particular “spiritual path”, although I have meandered down many over the course of my life.  I am no longer “seeking” anything “out there” – not “God”, nor even “enlightenment.”  And still, there is a sense of a contemplative “pilgrimage” of sorts – an exploration of the vastness of the Divine inner landscape, a deepening into The Mystery of the Divine, The Mystery of Existence, plumbing the depths of The Mystery of God-Consciousness and seeing how IT unfolds within me - what IT is calling me to…   It is a way of life actually, a continuous unfoldment, a “returning” to the core of Being, what I now refer to as “the God Space”: the silent, still core of Infinite Being from which everything arises and emerges into being…  For what is “God” but the Eternal OM – the Infinite Sound of Being, the Infinite “Emptiness” of the Cosmos that *isn’t* “empty”, the Silence that isn’t silent, the Stillness that isn’t still, but pulsates with the Rhythm of Life that flows within us and through Existence.  It is the genderless spaciousness of Pure Awareness where there is no separation *or* union, just the Isness of Being – Divine Essence – Innate Presence - our True Nature…

~*~

“This moment in time and space is an eggshell,
personal identity is a sheath.
The breath of God is breathing through it…

Remember the deep root of your Being.

Give yourself to the one who already owns
your breath and your moments.”

Rumi

You must always keep in mind that a path is only a path.

Each path is only one of a million paths.
If you feel that you must not follow it,
you need not stay with it under any circumstances.
Any path is only a path.
There is no affront to yourself or others in dropping a path,
if that is what your heart tells you to do.

But your decision to keep on a path or to leave it

must be free of fear and ambition.

I caution you: look at every path closely and deliberately.
Try it as many times as you think necessary.
Then ask yourself and yourself alone this one question:
Does the path have a heart?

All paths are the same.  They lead nowhere.
The only question is: Does this path have a heart?

If it does, then it is a good path.
If it doesn’t, then it is of no use.

Carlos Casteneda

“Wanderer, your footsteps are the road,

and nothing more;

Wanderer, there is no road.

The road is made by walking…

By walking one makes the road,

and upon glancing behind

one sees the path that will

never be trod again…

Wanderer, there is no road –

only wakes upon the sea…”

Antonio Machado

“The Self is like a powerful magnet within us.

It draws us gradually to ItSelf…

It is the [Divine] magnet

that is pulling us towards ItSelf.”

Ramana Maharshi

~

  ~

   ~

Surrender

    ~
   ~
~

Top Photo taken by my father
1952/53

All Paths Lead "hOMe"...

“…our lives only make sense when understood as a sacred quest for the True Self.”

“…all human beings are born with the seed of Awake, Conscious mind.

“…this inborn seed of Consciousness will call to us, and, finally will
compel us on our pilgrimage to Awakening…”
”…the True Self for which we are searching
is also searching for us.”

Stephen Cope
Yoga and the Quest for the True Self
(caps are mine)
See an excerpt from his book here…

“The Self is like a powerful magnet within us.
It draws us gradually to ItSelf…
It is the [Divine] magnet
that is pulling us towards ItSelf.
Thus the process of finding the Self
is a form of Divine Magnetism.”

Ramana Maharshi

~*~ 

Contemplative Art:

All Paths Lead “hOMe”

(Unfortunately the photo
is not a good representation.
It flattens the textured look.)

I woke up Monday morning knowing I wanted to get back to painting again, not just the mandala art, but painting on canvas. I pulled out an old canvas that I had been working on last Fall, that I could not redeem.  It had the most awful bright orange color right in the middle of it (wish I had gotten a photo J) – you can still see specks.  WHAT was I thinking! Lol…   So I painted over everything with Green and Cobalt Turqoise – the orginal base colors.  The only form remaining was this cross-like form in the middle (formerly painted orange J).  My painting experience tends to be very visceral. So for whatever reason I started using my finger nail on the layer that I had just painted after it was partially dry, scratching at areas of paint, revealing an almost black layer below – giving the painting a textured, worn Patina-like look. (The top photo gives it more of a blue look, and doesn't really show the detail.) You can see it better in the close-up below.  I then painted the Gold OM/Aum in the middle - ancient symbol of the Infinite - as to what we are constantly being drawn to.

In contemplating this piece, it reminds me that we’re all oxidizing, we’re all returning to our original state of Being, not only physically, but even our sense of self/me is oxidizing - if we are on a path of "awakening."  The sense of "me" gradually wears away as we move into a greater awareness of Being.  No matter how many paths we’ve taken, or how well-worn our path may be, all paths still lead “hOMe” – to the Awakened Self, the Divine within that draws us to ItSelf…

The Sacred Adventure...

“True adventures start with an inclination to enter the unknown.”

Sarah Ban Breathnach

Life is asking me to redefine “the path,” – again - to deepen into a new adventure – a new way of seeing, being, and living.  I am embarking on what feels like a “Sacred Adventure” – a new step into the unknown, opening to new directions, new perspectives, new attitudes, new awareness. Being open to what is really living this Life called “me” – and – at the same time, allowing myself to just be who I am.  As Ramana Maharshi said to those who were searching for the Truth – “Be as you are…”   I didn’t realize how freeing it was to allow myself to just be myself…  I don’t have to strive to know the Truth, to be “spiritual” or “non-dual” – or “enlightened.”  I can just be who I am – as that is who Beingness IS.  Imagine that! :)  I don’t have to be self-conscious about using words like “I”, “me”, “my” – in pseudo non-dual awareness – because it’s all just Awareness, all Consciousness expressing Itself – no distinction needed.  Imagine that :)  I don’t need to worry about whether I’m coming from the ego-self (“little me self”).  I only need to BE and let BEingness reveal ItSelf, express ItSelf, live ItSelf – through “me.”  


I continue to gradually shed the conceptual frameworks that have defined and informed my life so far – the boxes of life that have tended to constrain this authentic expression of Being; extricating my sense of self from the life dramas as well.  This shift in consciousness may take some time.  But some days it feels like I am waking up to a new adventure of Life in which I am finding an incredible sense of Aliveness, peace, adventure, laughter, lightness and boldness – a new passion for Life living Itself through this mechanism called “me.”   Realizing that Life truly IS a Sacred Adventure of Being…  Hope you come along…

“You’ve got to make a conscious choice every day to shed the old -
whatever ‘the old’ means for you -
old issues
old guilt
old patterns
old responses
old resentments
old rivalries
[old beliefs]

We no longer have the luxury of wallowing
in what’s held us back;
the emotional baggage…
[spiritual labels and definitions]
[misconceptions, mis-identifications]

Both authenticity and adventure require
the willingness to shed what’s safe
and predictable
in order to
embrace
a new
passion,
your authentic life…”

Sarah Ban Breathnach
Something More
Excavating the Authentic Self

And so I have been asking myself: what is it that allows this Beingness that I am to come Alive within?  What is it that allows this Passion of Being to come alive and really live ItSelf here, *through* this vehicle called “me” – and what I have called the “me-mechanism.”?  What allows me to experience this Aliveness that is inherently my Inner Being?  I didn’t *try* to experience it. I can’t explain it.  It is just there!

And how about you?  What inspires you to walk *toward* Life?; to walk into the unknown?; to *live* the  Passion and Aliveness of your Being? 

“…question and quest beyond the distracting entanglements…towards the pure light of understanding.”

Uma – Secret Notebooks – WildPages