The Inner Sanctuary - Christiane Singer

It is essential to take care of that heaven within us, 
invisible to others, this sanctuary that life has built us and
populated by the messengers, those who, in multiple ways,
have inspired us, led us to the best of ourselves.
In all the places inhabited by suffering there are also guards,
thresholds of passage, intense knots of mystery,

These areas so feared, however, reflect the secret of our being
in the world, or as mythological saying puts it: where the dragons
are laid, treasures are hidden.  Hope should no longer be looking
to the future but to the unseen.  Only the one who bends towards
his heart as in a deep well finds the lost track.

Christiane Singer
French-Austrian writer, essayist and novelist

with thanks to Michel at No Mind's Land

Photo - the internet

 

"Sanctuary" - a meandering...

The word "Sanctuary" arose in answer to a question I asked
"The Universe": what is needed now? - with all the emotional
chaos I've been experiencing in life lately - especially the last
6 weeks.  And since I won't be packing up and moving to a
monastery any time soon, I wondered how I could "create"
this "sanctuary" that is required for my well-being - not as an
escape, but as respite for the Soul...

I ended up creating a "Sanctuary" of sorts in our bedroom
several months ago in anticipation of our current "visitor"...

Laying in the "sanctuary" on the bed creates a wonderful
space for rest and silence and solitude, when I can get there,
usually not until late at night.  Laying there I also notice
body sensations - the residual effects of daily engagement
with the "visitor", heaviness and tightness of the gut, chest
and throat; muddled mind, and aching muscles from left
over resistance, and tightness of the jaw; vestiges of the
mental and emotional gymnastics to keep one step ahead
of the "visitor's" manipulations to get her latest "fix": faking
a toothache, and other assorted games, to get what she wants...
Endless wanting...  Endless games...

In the "Sanctuary" however, everything is allowed and 
embraced, seen and acknowledged: the fear, the anxiety,
the anger, the sadness, and even the "visitor" - as the
Presence of Silence envelopes them all.  In "Sanctuary"
they are only waves upon the deeper Ocean of Life

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 them all."

I relaxed a bit, held in the Infinite that consumes the
past, present and future; experiencing the felt sense
of Presence once again - at least in that moment...

"Sanctuary"

"Sanctuary" is a place of deep nourishment for me and has
been difficult to access lately.  It is a place to incubate, to open
to the depths of the Soul and explore the Ineffable. It offers me
an invitation to turn around, to return to the inner cosmos of
Being; to rest from the thinking mind, and experience the
Primordial Rest and Solace of Silence and Solitude - 

simply Being.  In tune to  some extent with the Inner Cosmos
of deep Silence and Stillness.

Photo - Mystic Meandering
Meditating Monk,
Mandala Art - Cathedral Windows
and OM painting

The Solace of Solitude...

My Soul needs the solace of Solitude,
finding its Rhythm again
in the deep silent space of "Home";
The Sacred Silence within...

The comfort of the deep Silence
brings everything into perspective...

I breathe into my Soul
and my Soul breathes into me...
a mutual breath...

I fall into sleep, into the deeper
 Rhythm of the Sanctuary of the Soul -

and rest...

Mystic Meandering 
Nov. 25, 2022

~

Photo - Mandala Art
Mystic Meandering
2013

 

 

The Heart's Longing...

It's your destiny to be Love...
The only "purpose" is to BE - Love.

Rest in the Sacred Silence of the Heart
where the ripples of luminescent Love
form and expand...

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

Love is your sanctuary.

The longing of the Heart
is there to
draw
you
in

.

.

.

It's the longing of the Heart for that which is
True,
Pure, Innocent, Whole,
and Alive
within

you

It's the longing for the Embrace of
"The Beloved."

And...

It's the call of "The Beloved;"
pulling at your Heart.

Follow the call...

The longing is your Innocence;
an innocent longing
for Divine Embrace.

Let that innocent longing carry you Home...
To the Heart of "The Beloved."

You are held there - deep within
the Divine Heart...

Thrive in that Embrace.

That is Love...

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
c. 2004-2006

~

Photo/Art - Mystic Meandering

The Sanctuary of Silence - Dada Gavand & Angeles Arrien

You cannot meet God through the mind,
nor experience the timeless through time.

Thought cannot touch the transient.
Only with freedom from thought
and from mental cravings and ambitions
does the energy become
whole, tranquil and pure.

Such inner purity and humility
will invite the hidden divinity.

The pure consolidated energy
with its silence and fullness within,
awaits in readiness to meet the divine,
to experience what which is beyond the mind.

There across the region of time
beyond the frontiers of the mind,
within the sanctuary of silence,
resides the supreme intelligence,
the timeless divine.

Dada Gavand

~

I trust the Mystery.  I trust what comes in silence
and what comes in nature where there's no diversion.
I think the lack of stimulation allows us to hear and
experience a deeper river that's constant, still,vibrant,
and real.

Angeles Arrien

The Refuge Within - St. Teresa of Avila & Angeles Arrien

There is a secret place.
A radiant sanctuary.
As real as your own kitchen.
More real than that.
Worlds within worlds.
A clarity so complete you will
never again forget.

This magnificent refuge is inside you.
Enter. Shatter the darkness that shrouds the doorway.
Step around the poisonous vipers that slither
at your feet to throw you off course.
Be bold.  Be humble.
Put away the incense and forget
the incantations they taught you.
Ask no permission from the authorities.
Close your eyes and follow your breath
to the still place that leads to the
invisible path that leads you home.

St. Teresa of Avila
Mirabai Starr translation

~

I trust the mystery.  I trust what comes in silence
and what comes in nature where there's no diversion.
I think the lack of stimulation allows us to hear and
experience a deeper river that's constant, still, vibrant,
and real.  And the process of deep listening mobilizes
exactly what's needed at that time.

Angeles Arrien

With thanks to Michel
at No Mind's Land

Listen to Trees - Hermann Hesse

Trees are sanctuaries.  Whoever knows how to speak to them,
whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth.
They do no preach learning and precepts, they preach
undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

[.....]

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer,
then a tree has something to say to us: Be still!  Be still!  Look
at me!  Life is not easy, life is not difficult.  These are childish
thoughts.... Home is neither here no there.  Home is within you,
or home is nowhere at all.

If one listens to them silently for a long time, it reveals its kernel,
its meaning.  It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's
suffering, though it may seem to be so.  It is a longing for home....,
for new metaphors for life.  It leads home.  Every path leads
homeward, every step is birth, every step is death...

When we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and
the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve
an incomparable joy.  Whoever has learned to listen to trees no
longer wants to be a tree.  He wants to be nothing except what he is.
That is home.  That is happiness.

Hermann Hesse
Trees: Reflections and Poems

via: Love Is A Place

The Great Mother - The Tao - Lao Tzu

It was in the beginning.
It will remain forever.
It is impersonal, eternal,
immutable, omnipresent,
bodieless, immaterial.
It is nameless.
It is indestructible.
It is the first cause
from which all
substances
take their origin
and all phenomena flow.

The great Tao
is all pervading.
All things depend on it for life.
It is the Mother of all...

It existed before the personal God.
It is the father of God.
It is the producer of God.
It is the originator of heaven and earth.
It is the mother of all things.

It is the sanctuary where all find refuge...


From the introduction to the translation
by Stephen Mitchel

~*~

The Tao is the Mother.
It is the mother of the Universe,
the Infinite,
born before the existence of
Heaven and Earth.

~*~

The Tao is called the Great Mother,
empty, yet inexhaustible.
It gives birth to infinite worlds.

It's always present in you.

Tao Te Ching

Thrive in Sacred Silence...

The Sacred Silence of the night calls to me in the hours between 12mn and 1am – when the noise of life has settled.  It beckons me to the window to sit – in a kind of mystical communion with “the Divine” *through* the open window – a metaphorical opening to a larger Reality – that brings awareness of a larger Reality and shifts my paradigm while breathing in unison with the Breath of Life that breathes me - *aware* of a Sacred Presence.

My *Being* craves this Sacred Silence, as if craving ItSelf.  It is the same Sacred Silence that is within all things; the deep Rhythm of Silence that permeates all life.  And so I sit at the open window allowing myself to be breathed, to be touched by Silence, to be known by Silence…  The air is still – no sounds – no breeze – so quiet, only the smells of the night.  But the earth is not sleeping, it is alive with Sacred Silence!

In my experience there are “layers” of Silence that blend and merge (for lack of better words to describe what I experience).  Sacred Silence is not the same as being silent, or still, or the silence of doing quiet things that quiets the mind into stillness, even though these can become portals to a deeper awareness of Sacred Silence. Time in silence or stillness everyday without agenda is very therapeutic, clearing the mind and energy field.  But there is a deeper layer, a deeper space of Silence that brings awareness of the Sacred, and a direct experience of the Rhythm of that Silence that fills us, that feeds us, that nourishes one’s Being – and - is recognized *as* one’s very Being – one’s Divine Nature…

The Sacred Silence is my sanctuary, my sabbatical, and my sanity - the place where I lose my sense of self/me – my persona, my roles, my self-identities, my mind meanderings - and become truly Aware of what is really occupying this space called “me.”  I *need* this deep Sacred Silence to *thrive.*  In the deep Silence I can *hear* the silent voice of the Cosmos whispering in the night - instead of the “noise” of the requirements of daily life driving me…  At the window the veil opens to reveal a communion with The Sacred that is already taking place…  All I need do is show up – and surrender into “The Silence…”

Thresholds - John O'Donohue and Rumi...

“Like Spring secretly at work within the heart of Winter,
below the surface of our lives
huge changes are in fermentation.
We never suspect a thing.
Then when the grip of some
long-enduring winter mentality
begins to loosen,
we find ourselves
vulnerable
to
a
flourish
of

possibility

and we are suddenly negotiating
the challenges
of
a threshold…

At any time you can ask yourself:

At which threshold am I now standing?
At this time in my life, what am I leaving?

Where am I about to enter?

A threshold is not a simple boundary;
it is a frontier
that divides two different territories,
rhythms, and atmospheres.

Indeed, it is a lovely testimony
to the fullness and integrity
of an experience or a stage of life
that it intensifies toward the end
into a real frontier
that cannot be crossed
without
the heart being passionately
engaged
and
woken up.

At this threshold
a great complexity of emotion
comes alive:
confusion,
fear,
excitement,
sadness,
hope.

This is one of the reasons
such vital crossings
were always clothed in ritual.

It is wise in your own life
to be able to recognize and acknowledge
the key thresholds;
to take your time;
to feel all the varieties of presence
that accrue there;
to listen inward
with complete attention
until you hear
the inner voice
calling you
forward:

The time has come
to cross.”

John O’Donohue
Excerpts taken From: To Bless the Space Between Us
and put into prose poem format...

“Remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary
is inside you.”

Rumi

~

Whatever “threshold” you find yourself at
in the coming year,
I hope you make a peaceful passage.
May your life journey
be illuminated
from within
bringing
you “home”
to
the
Heart

~♥~

Photos taken by Hubby
Sunrise, Dec. 23, 2013

Notice the “angel wings”
at the top of the top photo J

Frenetic Flow...

I’ve been violating my own natural rhythms of life this week, getting caught in the frenetic flow of the crazy Season.  You know, that time of year when human kind reverts to its animal nature competing for the best deals and the best gift, turning “giving” into greed. J  Did you *see* those lines wrapped around the big box stores on Thanskgiving Day, and customers camping out on the sidewalks in order to be the *first* in line, and those images of people beating up on each other to buy an i-pad!? – or whatever the newest technological device is…   It seriously warps my “spiritual” image of humanity each year, as apparently this is what the world is about – for some…  The world at large continues in its craziness, especially at this time of year.  Our conditioning and beliefs run deep.  I remind myself that I don’t have to follow the pack in their frenzie.  I am *so* very aware that I have been allowing my mind to take me on that mythical sleigh ride with those illusive reindeer – “Get-er-done” and “Get it over with” – and of course their leader – Resistance… J  What can I say…  Maybe I require a new consciousness…

I ventured out on a couple of shopping excursions this week.  Consequently I am feeling a little shell-shocked tonight.  My nervous system has been significantly overstimulated by all the noise, people and chaos, as well as the expectations of “The Season.”  I have a sensitive body, and am a Mystic at heart, so I need Silence, Solitude and Sabbatical on a *daily* basis, which I will take tomorrow (Friday) - purposely setting the day aside for Silence, meditation, and rest; becoming aware once again of that silent Rhythm of just Be-ing, finding a fluid flow with Life. 

I am very aware that I easily lose The Rhythm of Silence within – on a daily basis – swimming up stream, tuned to the “world’s rhythm.”  When I don’t get Quiet, I can’t *feel* the Silence within, and can’t follow the inner Flow, and a frenetic way of thinking takes over, (can you tell ? lol:) driving me through the day. I am aware of the need for a change in vision, needing more than just a new lens, but a deep shift within.  Unfortunately spending time in “Silence” seems to find its way to the bottom of my “to-do” list at the end of every day, which means it isn’t getting done.  Not that spending time in “Contemplative Silence” consciously is a “doing” – I realize that it is a way of Being – one which I haven’t evidently entrained with yet, so by the end of the day I have lost that *sense* of Rhythm, and the *awareness* of the Eternal Flow and crave time in Beloved Silence – my sanctuary… 

And then, unexpectedly, I am graced…  As I lay in bed before sleep, I cup my face in the palms of my hands, following the breath, and begin to *feel* the Silent Rhythm of Being again, recognizing its familiar Flow…  It was never completely gone…  I simply had to get Quiet…  When I am in that space the craziness of the world doesn’t matter.  There is only Sweet Peace…

“Our minds have become cluttered with so much programming
that we scarcely feel the intuitive currents of life,
which set the spirit free….
The spirit calls the heart to respond to its desire

 to break free of the imaginary bonds of
belief and fear,
and awaken from the dream of ego,
to new vistas of liberating insight…
opening to flow in new directions and new visions of life…”

Adyashanti

"Contemplative Spirituality..."

Once again I am feeling the pull to “sabbatical life” as I did this past summer, which never materialized.  Life kept me preoccupied, my continual lament.  Maybe “contemplative life” is only my idealization of “spirituality.”  And yet – this inner need for Silence and Solitude continues to beckon me.  I have carved out moments of solitude for myself here and there within the reality of my life as it is – yet, something within still calls; calls for the shedding of old paradigms again, emptying myself of all that is irrelevant and extraneous - to just BE. 

It is not a “contemplative” life in the religious sense that calls to me. One does not need to be a Christian in order to be a “contemplative”, nor cloister one’s self in a monastery.  I left the religion of my childhood many years ago, wanting something deeper.   Neither is a contemplative necessarily one who “ponders” everything in the mind – but, is more one who seeks the Truth of Existence through Silence, through an intimate relational, experiential spirituality with “the Unknown Self” that resides within; waiting in the space of Silence, without agenda or expectation, for the presence of the Eternal to reveal ItSelf.

Mirabai Starr, author and teacher of Philosophy and World Religions at UNM-Taos, and student of Ram Dass, defines being a “contemplative” as a “practitioner who has carved out a space inside herself through the intentional cultivation of stillness.”  She says that through “surrender one sits in prolonged silence and waits for the presence of ‘God’ (however one defines that) – being aware of the presence of that which transcends our individual self – deepening into our experience of Source.” 

Ivan Granger of Poetry Chaikhana  says:  “A mystic is content with nothing less than to touch the Truth in its most universal purity.”  Ahhhhh – music to my mystic heart. J  While some may make a disctinction between a “mystic” and a “contemplative”, I do not see the dividing line.   In our Hearts, we “both” want to *know* the Truth.  We both want to “experience” the presence of the Eternal in our lives – no matter what our “spiritual practice” may be.

I am essentially unattached to either, not identified with any religion, or label really, even though I use the term “mystic”, or “contemplative.”  I am just someone who has a passion for Truth and communion with what some call “The Divine” – which I know as "Silence", the Infinite Essence of our Beingness.  This passion is what compels me in life, and what compels me to write… 

When sitting in meditative Silence there is a sense of *meeting* the quintessential Silence that embodies and animates all life; a sense of the Ineffable in you recognizing ItSelf, and an inherent *knowing* that you are that Essence of Being as well.  The key is staying open and becoming *aware* of that Essence, feeling the intimacy that is already there – waiting for our recognition – our awareness of its Presence…

“Contemplative spirituality”, undefined by any religious affiliation, is still just another label for my mind to wrap itself around.  In reality, at least this reality J,  it is about taking deep refuge in the inner Sanctuary of Silence, allowing oneself to lose one’s self in communion with the Infinite Silence that is alive, aware and awake; that doesn’t make distinctions, but only knows ItSelf as Life ItSelf – as us… 

Photo:

Out the window

at 3am with flash J

True Refuge...

This magnificent refuge is inside you.
Enter…
Shatter the darkness that shrouds the doorway…
Be bold.  Be humble.
Put away the incense and forget
the incantations they taught you.
Ask no permission from the authorities.
Close your eyes and follow your breath
to the still place that leads to
the invisible path
that leads you home.

St. Teresa of Avila

She was an Anchorite
living in a *sealed* room
inside a medieval cathedral.
In a sense locked away...
Thus the strength of her words.
Usually there was only a small
window in the opening of the
sealed wall with which to
converse with visitors and
monks...

~

True
refuge
is
embedded
in
our
own
Being

When we sense the
silent,
inner wakefulness
that is here,
we
come
home

to

a

boundless
sanctuary

Tara Brach
From: True Refuge

"Serenity Sabbatical..."

B left this morning in another attempt to visit his mother…   Fortunately this time he made it without a car glitch…

I am always saddened by his departure, even though I look forward to the “alone time.”

We always leave little cards for each other, reminders of our love, and little words of encouragement for the time apart.  This morning I found this card under my pillow.  He had made the card himself, finding these stylized Japanese symbols on-line - supposedly the symbol for “serenity” – adding the word “sabbatical”, knowing that this was my intention - to use this time to deepen into communion with Beloved “Silence.”  This means stopping the daily routine, finding the Inner Sanctuary and resting there; withdrawing from the internal chaos, sinking into Sacred Silence - and listening; withdrawing the mind from the quest for whatever it is I *think* I’m still searching for: the quest for “answers” to the cosmic questions, and the mental gyrations that go with that - allowing the mind to come to rest as well – just BEing.

 On the inside cover of the card there was another Japanese symbol for “awakening.”   “…..meaningful awakenings,” he wrote in his note, “revealed through venturing into the unknown, through the presence of Awareness, riding the rapids on our pathway to the Eternal Sea – the Ultimate Reality”

Love doesn't get any better than that :) Someone who knows your deepest Self...

And so over the next few days, that’s exactly what I’ll be doing: taking a “Serenity Sabbatical”, standing at the edge of the Unknown, dwelling in the Silence between thoughts, conversing with the Universe, J becoming aware of the Eternal Sea, the Inner Rhythm, the indwelling spontaneous movement of LIFE – again and again – carried by the Inner Flow of Being…

See you on the other side! J

“The finite man longs for the Infinite.
The love that makes the stars,
moves also the heart of man,
and a law of spiritual gravitation
leads his soul to the Soul of the Universe.

Man sees the sun by the light of the sun,
and he sees the Spirit
 by the light of his own inner spirit.

The radiance of eternal beauty
shines over this vast universe
and in moments of contemplation
we can see the Eternal…

Juan Mascaro

(From – Introduction to his translation of the Bhagavad Gita)

Via – Love Is A Place

Life As "Sabbatical"...

July 1^st became the beginning of a refocus of life and direction, becoming clear that I must re-discover what is important for the Spirit within to thrive; what is important for this expression of Being to feel enlivened; getting clear on how IT wants to move through life.  I’m still “getting clear.”  It’s an imperative that I can no longer ignore.

The word that came up that day was “Sabbatical”, the theme: “life as sabbatical.”  Just the sense of this enlivens me!  Much like the word “Sanctuary” did back in April.  There is something pulling me towards “sabbatical” as a way of life. It has been all my life actually, and I must pay attention.  It’s like a deep need that *needs* to be met, like the body’s need for air and water.  Without it you shrivel and eventually die.  It’s like knowing that you were born a different gender than your true gender, and you also know you cannot thrive unless you allow the Truth of who you are to be lived.  The same thing is true for the life of Spirit: to live in a way that honors and expresses the Life of Spirit within, that otherwise would shrivel.

This does not mean that I am going to take a sabbatical *from* life, or go on an endless retreat, or live as a saddhu in a cave, as much as those ways of living appeal to me ;)  It is much deeper than that.  It is more being devoted to the Inner Life, contemplatively, creatively, and meditatively in a way that LIFE/Spirit/Being shows me, following the intuitive movement of Life lived as “sabbatical.”  Just as the wave does not move separately *from* the Ocean, but can only move as the Ocean moves *it* - that, to me, is “life as sabbatical.”  Not a sabbatical *from* life, but *within* life - *living* from the Inner Flow of Spirit within, from the Heart of the Infinite Abiding Spirit, or Lotus of the Heart…  I know that some of you are already living this way.

“Sabbatical” as I am using it here, for me, is really an “inner path”, an inner “sabbatical” – following the inner Truth of one’s True Being, one’s Essence, or True Nature – not one’s ego-needs, wants, or desires, or wranglings of the mind in constant philosophizing *about* the Truth.  It is about *living* the deeper inner Reality of Being – intentionally, experientially, consciously, which so far I have been distracted from – by life J, but which still deeply calls to my Heart.  It is a way of living that is vitally *aware* of the Abiding Inner Spirit – continuously.    It is about deepening *into* this Inner Abiding Spirit of Being.  And I have no idea how this will take shape, or what it will look like.

The dilemma is, how to live this “sabbatical life” *without* withdrawing from life to follow this inner Pull of Consciousness, but creating an environment and lifestyle conducive *to* a “sabbatical life” (contemplative life) within life – relieving the burden of daily obligations and external distractions; living the Truth of the Heart according to the Rhythm of the Infinite.  I believe this *is* the Heart “Calling.”  For me this means to deeply experience the Essence of Life, of Being, the Spirit of Life, in a contemplative way; to be meditatively devoted to the Infinite within; to recognize it, to feel it, to *know* it – intimately.  THIS – intimately communing with the Infinite that we *are* in the Eternal Now, and allowing That to live me is - “Sabbatical.”

Photo:  The camera went off by mistake
while “under the hood” J leaving this blur of color.
I digitally enhanced it by adjusting the “levels”
on Adobe Fireworks.
To me it looks like a woman celebrating Life
with arms in the air.
But that is most likely my projection
as I move into a new way of Being
in the world. J

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! :)

Window Perspective...

I have been an insomniac the last couple of nights. Last night I went to the window to sit.  For those of you who haven’t been reading here long, I started a “practice” for myself about 2 years ago that I call “Window Sitting” – as a way of being aware of and communing with deep Silence.  See  "Window Sitting" Has Resumed.         .

Anyway, I haven’t been “window sitting” in a lonnnng time – months - due to life circumstances that changed our sleeping schedule and didn’t allow for late sitting, and activities next door at the times I wanted to sit.

But last night around 2am, unable to sleep, I went to the window.  I was immediately drawn in to the Silence that is always there/here – waiting to be noticed.  I recognized the deep Silence and took a deep breath.  After basking in the Silence for some time noticings and words flowed – as they always do at the window…

Crickets chirp a slow, subdued rhythm tonight.
 A short, gentle rain shower abruptly passes through
 in a simple wave of sound and movement.
It catches my curiosity for the ways of Life.
 Raindrops plop on the broad leaves of the neighbor’s garden,
as if fairy folk were at play.
A car passes through the neighborhood delivering morning papers,
headlights and sound stirring the darkness,
while the night still sleeps.

  The cool night air, the smell of moisture,
 and the feel of my breath fills my nostrils.
   The rhythm of the night, the steady, soothing pulse of Silence
 finally subdues this mind, body and heart…

At night life is sleeping and awake all at the same time.
Maybe we are too…

An occasional breeze wafts through the screen,
and touches my face, as if to say –
Hello - I remember you. 

I smile -
and silently reply,
I remember you too…

  The quiet is palpable, refreshing, comforting...
  Odd noises I cannot identify do not disturb this Silence.
 All sound at the window
soothes…

Only the inner turmoil of a body-mind malfunctioning
 ringing through these ears attempts to drown out the Silence…
  But being at the window crumbles the constructs
about what is happening in this body
that keeps me from sleep…

I *love* the silence of the night.
  It allows me to be *awake* to Infinite Silence,
 to experience the Silent *Aliveness* of Life,
 more poignantly…
 

The Heart of The Infinite speaks
 more clearly at the window – at night.

A new perspective is born out of Silence…

Everything drops away into silent peace,
 into the stillness of the Heart,
 and I know all is well…

Entrained to a new rhythm,
no longer feeling out of sync.

I have found my “sanctuary” again,
the sanctuary of Silence
 where “The Beloved’s” pulse and mine
 synchronize,
 and rest returns…

I have missed the heightened awareness of experiencing
 just this moment,
just this sound,
just this smell,
the infusion of Life
 at the window.

I have missed this rendezvous with Silence –
the intimacy with the Heart of “The Beloved” –
 that always “waits” in Silence…

I am immersed in Silence,
 wrapped in Quiet,
 comforted, consoled by “The Beloved’s”
 living Breath…
 

I am grateful for this sleepless night,
 to get to hear the music of Life,
 the Symphony of Silence once again,
that only stillness can hear.

I forget -
 this opening,
 this portal,
 this window,
of Silence
that lies
beyond the veils and shadows of life,
 where the simple rhythm of Life lives
 at the pleasure of “The Beloved”

 who plays all the chords and all the notes of the symphony….
 In Silence…

 My body begins to find the rhythm - recognizing the symphony…

Amazing how a simple window can change perspective…

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
Aug. 23, 2012

Note: “The Beloved” here refers to Pure Awareness,
Pure Beingness, Pure Consciousness,
which is the Source and Ground of all Life.