The Ocean and The Wave - Fred LaMotte

...a wave does not need to go anywhere to merge with the sea.
No distance ever exists between the wave and the water.  At
it's peak, the wave may appear to be an individual, but at its
base, every wave is already the whole ocean.  Therefore, no
energy is required for a wave to return to its resting state. As 

the wave returns, in fact energy increases.  The practice of
meditation is not an effort to rise upward: it is settling down
to rest in the simplest state.

Meditation is not concentration, but de-concentration.
When the wave settles into the sea, it does not become
more concentrated, but gracefully expands into boundlessness.

Returning to the sea, a wave makes a gentle sound, sizzling
cool, fresh over sand.  As mind settles back into Source, there
is a faint whisper: the sound of the finite dissolving into the
Infinite...

Real meditation is not an attempt to rise above the physical
body.  Meditation is listening to what the body actually is:
infinite spiritual energy.  For every photon and atom of the 
body is permeated with the same creative sound - waves merging
with the sea...

The sea whispers in the wave:
so the Almighty whispers in every particle of the body.

Fred LaMotte
Uradiance
excerpt from his post:
"What the Ocean Whispered to the Wave"

~

Photo from the Internet

~

Day 4 of "The Pause"

 

Inner Listening - Danna Faulds

I'm trying to listen
at the level of the soul,
to hear the liquid gold
that flows in from Source,
to receive the mystery
with all my inner senses.

I can't tell you how I
do this exactly.  It's a
matter of attuning and
also choosing to receive.
It isn't so much a practice
as a way of life --
opting for quiet so I don't
miss the gifts that come
from who knows where
to keep me focused on
the truth.  I'm not sure why
inner listening means so
much to me, but I think
it's why I'm here.  Today,
what the universe has to
say to me is this: There is
only one consciousness
shining through the whole.
Open to it.  Breathe it in.
Receive it fully.  By being
yourself without shame
or excuses, you add your
small puzzle piece to the
infinite frame of the unknown.

Danna Faulds

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

"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 Soul of the Night - Chet Raymo

It is a thin membrane that separates us from chaos...

The space between the stars is silence.  How are we to 
understand the silence of the Universe?  Beyond the earth's
skin of our thin sky is silent.  Stars blow themselves to
smithereens, we hear nothing...

The fireball of Creation exploded from a pinprick of infinite
energy - there is no soundtrack - the Universe is silent...

If we converted the radiant energy of stars into sound what
would we hear?  The static of electrons fidgeting between 
energy levels in the atoms of stellar atmosphere;
 statistical, indifferent noise...

In the almost perfect vacuum of interstellar space, stars
detonate, meteors blast craters on moons, and planets split
at their seams without sound.

What's up there is just one galaxy after another, magnificent|
in their silent turning.....a primeval silence...  The silence of
that which cannot be named...

Chet Raymo
From: The Soul of the Night

~

"In a dark time the eye begins to see."
Theodore Roethke

Medieval Mystics embraced the darkness...
The Night is our window into the Infinite...

Few people willingly choose to walk the dark path,
to enter the dark wood...

Chet Raymo
From: The Soul of the Night

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering
Lunar Eclipse May 15, 2022

(taken with my cell phone :)

 

 

Go Further - Danna Faulds

Go further than your mind can reach,
further than your words can speak.
Go further than you know, outside of
your control.  Break your conditioning...

Like a twig plucked from a tree, carried a
great distance, and woven into a crow's
nest, you have no idea of your real destiny.

Keep going until there is nothing left, and
you are empty and bereft.  Hold that open
space.  Inhabit the place of not knowing
until grace tugs on your awareness and
says "Follow me into the center of chaos
and serenity.  Follow me to what you've
always been and always will be."

The truth of you is far beyond what you
imagine, simultaneously deathless and
here to be lived, then surrendered back
into the Infinite.

Danna Faulds
From: Limitless

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Held - Matt Licata

When we are able to "hold" our experience as well as allow
ourselves to "be held" by something larger than our personal
self, we learn to trust ourselves and the workability of our lives,
even in the midst of uncertainty.  We become better able to
respond to the challenges life will inevitably provide and trust
deepens in the basic wisdom that underlies even our most trying
experiences...  Over time, as we illuminate and befriend our
experience at deeper levels, we invite its meaning and intelligence
to disclose itself...  symbolically and metaphorically and begin
to realize that even during times of intense struggle and suffering,
we are contained within something immense and ultimately
trustable...

We are always, already being held by something infinite and vast -
the contemplative and meditative traditions provide a portal
into this larger, already existing dimension of experience...

Matt Licata

from - A Healing Space:
Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times

~

Photo from the internet

 

Child of the Milky Way - Chet Raymo

 I am a child of the Milky Way.  I am made of the dust of stars.
Every atom in my body was forged in a star.  When the
Universe exploded into being, already the bird longed for
the wood and the fish for the pond.  When the first galaxies
fell into luminous clumps, already matter was struggling
toward consciousness.

The star clouds of Sagittarius are a burning bush.  If there is
a voice in Sagittarius, I'd be a fool not to listen.  If "God's" 
voice in the night is a scrawny cry, then I'll prick up my ears.
If night's faint lights fail to knock me off my feet, then I'll sit
 back on a dark hillside and wait and watch.  A hint here and
a trait there.  Listening and watching.  Waiting, always waiting,
for the tingle in the spine.

Chet Raymo
from: Soul of the Night: An Astronomical Pilgrimage

With thanks to Cate Kerr
Beyond the Fields We Know

Photo - Cate Kerr

~

How can you explain the mystery of the Inexplicable?
You can only surrender to it...
My "medicine" - my wild comfort -
is the wonderment and splendor
of the Infinite Cosmos...
It soothes my Soul.

MM

_/\_

Come... Sit...

My heart, sit only with those who know and understand you.
Sit only under a tree that is full of blossoms...

Rumi

~*~

 Come... Sit...

The Unutterable said,
inviting me deeper
into Its Infinite Silence -
into the enduring "Mystery" that

Illuminates and Enlivens...
Breathing Life into existence...

Come... Sit...

Among the clutter of the mind,
between the chaos and confusion,
amidst life's disturbances and obstacles
that are hard to navigate...

Just listen

...in Stillness...

Come... Sit...

In the respite of The Great Silence
revealing all that is true
in this life experience,
and the Great Reality
beyond...

Come... Sit...

emptied out...
humbled...

opened...

Remembering the Eternal Being that you are...

Receding again into the UnBirthed
that birthed you...

Come... Sit...

Befriend the Luminous Silence..

Come... Sit...

Mystic Meandering

May 2016

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Kindness casts a different light - John O'Donohue

There is a kindness that dwells deep down in things;
it presides everywhere, often in the places we least
expect.  The world can be harsh and negative, but
if we remain generous, and patient, kindness inevitably
reveals itself.  Something deep in the human soul seems
to depend on the presence of kindness; something
instinctive in us expects it, and once we sense it we
are able to trust and open ourselves...

If we did not feel that some ultimate kindness holds
sway, we would feel like outsiders confronted on every
side by a world toward which we could make no real bridges.

The word kindness has a gentle sound that seems to echo
the presence of compassionate goodness.  When someone
is kind to you, you feel understood and seen.  There is no
judgment or harsh perception directed toward you.

Kindness has gracious eyes; it also suggests that your
vulnerability, though somehow exposed, is not taken
advantage of; rather, it has become an occasion for dignity
and empathy.

Kindness casts a different light, an evening light that has
the depth of color and patience to illuminate what is
complex and rich in difference.

Despite all the darkness, human hope is based on the
instinct that at the deepest level of reality some intimate
kindness holds sway.  This is the heart of blessing.  To believe
in blessing is to believe that our being here, our very presence
in the world, is itself the first gift, the primal blessing.

Given the nature of our beginning [our birth] - nowhere does
 the Silence of the Infinite lean so intensely as around the form
of  a newly born infant - it is no wonder  that our hearts are
imbued with longing for beauty, meaning, order, creativity,
compassion, and love.  

John O'Donohue
From: To Bless the Sapce Between Us

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

The Inward Pull

There is an intimacy of the Heart in turning inward,
following the pull of "The Silence"
that is hauntingly
sublime...

A magnetic pull of
"The Mystery"
pulls
from within,
pulling ItSelf back to ItSelf...

In fluidity of being one feels suspended
in an endless depth and breadth,
fullness and emptiness,
all at the same time;
noticing a subtle movement of awareness
aware-ing everything at once...

Collapsing into the Cosmic waves of Pure Being,
into Existence prior to manifestation,
everything within softens and opens,
like a delicate flower,
including the body,
touched by a subtle
rhythmic caress
of
the Unknown
~ breathing ~
~ embracing ~

surrounding and filling;
unwinding contractions
of body and mind.

There is a sanity in this Cosmic Silence

that bestows a soundness of Heart through Grace
that is beyond polarization...

In this deeper Rhythm within
one loses a sense of "self."
Conflict and chaos dissolve,
becoming "The Silence" ~

breathing ItSelf...

The Breath of the Infinite

The Whisper of Love

Mystic Meandering
March 1, 2017

_/\_

Photo - Cosmic Waves and Splash
Craypas oils - 2012

~

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

The Hush of "The Mystery"

The Hushhhh of "The Mystery"
silently moves through time and form...
Life living ItSelf...

Can you feel it? -
this hush of Silence that moves through you,
even when you are not trying to...

It often comes in sudden,
unexpected
breezes of awareness,
wafting through your being -
in and out of your noticing,
but never really gone ~

It waits for you - to stop - and listen -

to sense Its Presence...

It invites you - to enter
the cosmic seduction of
Its Love,
to follow Its Silence,
more deeply,
into the cavern
of Its Heart
that awaits you
in the depths
of Its repose.

Succumb
to what awaits you
in
The Silence of "The Mystery" ~

Love's Illumination

_/\_

Mystic Meandering

2013

~

I use the term "The Mystery" here,
but one can call it" The Infinite, the Unknown,
the Ineffable, Consciousness, Pure Awareness,
The Unamable, The Beloved, and of course,
God...

~

"The Mystery" is Life ItSelf, ever unfolding,
ever revealing ItSelf. We are always in a state of
discovering "The Mystery" and what IT reveals to us -
ongoingly.  What IT offers each of us is unique,
yet universal; speaking directly to our Hearts...

When I speak of "The Mystery"
it is always from my own *experiences* of it,
for I am acutely aware that I *know* nothing
*about* "The Mystery", only how "The Mystery"
reveals ItSelf to me...

Namaste

~

Photo - A glass sphere in glass floral pebbles
back lit from underneath

The "Infinite In-Between"

Art by Mitra Banejad

Cradled in the "Infinite In-Between",
like the space between words, or
the breathless pause between thoughts,
that space of Stillness of Being -
Pure Awareness unfolding ItSelf
within me...

I bow before the Mystery,
the limitless, boundaryless Infinite
Beingness that just IS;
that lives ItSelf through/as this body-mind.

I cannot help myself.
I must bow inwardly before the Ineffable
that fills this being...
The pull of "The Beloved" is so strong...

I am prostrate within - unable to move;
not out of some false sense of piety,
or self-negation, or false effort to attain -
but out of sincere and genuine adoration
for that which can't be named or spoken,
but which is Alive within me.
My Heart kicks in recognition...

It is the Nameless that calls to me, from within.
The deep Presence of the pureness of Existence...
The Living, Breathing Being that "I" am;
not the surface persona of thoughts, perceptions,
and feelings...  but the deepest Essence of Being
ItSelf invites me inward to ItSelf...
How could "i" resist...

I willingly succumb, collapsing internally into the Formless,
and find myself fluidly suspended in Its Breath,
Cradled in Its Rhythm,
Dissolved in the purity of Being beyond being;
the quintessential "Infinite In-Between"
of untainted Knowing Awareness.

Mystic Meandering
Sept. 7, 2018

~

Note:  the phrase "Infinite In-Between" just rolled out onto
the page in the Silence the morning that I wrote this - and
then the poem emerged.  I know someone will tell me there is
no "in-between."  I understand.  Sometimes the words just
come as they come, prior to mind or definition.  In this case
there is no particular "meaning" for the phrase "Infinite In-Between"
except my experience of it that morning as described in the poem.
My only "intention" in writing is to inspire, as I am inspired to write.
May it do so, no matter if your mind wants to argue with the words.:)

_/\_

Namaste

~

Top photo of painting via
In The Garden Of the Beloved

Intimacy With Silence

There is an intimacy with Silence
that is indefinable,
luminous and still...

A fluidity of

s p a c i o u s

Silent Awareness

A limitless depth and breadth,
that embraces, surrounds, and fills
every crack and crevice
of the body and mind,
soothing and aligning the "energies"
softening their flow ~ ~ ~ 

There is a sanity in this Silence
that is beyond
any acquired knowledge...

It is felt as

The Breath of the Infinite
The Kiss of the Mystery
The Whisper of Love...

~

I know that I am Home...

...resting in
The Primordial Womb
of Life!

~

Mystic Meandering
Aug. 8, 2018

Uncover the Original Center - Mark Nepo

Each person is born with an unencumbered spot -
an umbilical spot of Grace where we were each first
touched by God.  Psychologists call this spot
Psyche, Theologians call it the Soul, Jung calls it the
Seat of the Unconscious, Hindu Masters call it Atman,
Buddhists call it Dharma, Rilke calls it Inwardness,
Sufis call it Qalb, and Jesus calls it the center of Love.

To know this spot of Inwardness is to know who we are,
not by surface markers of identity.....but by feeling our
place in relation to the Infinite, and by inhabiting it.  This
is a life-long task, for the nature of becoming is a constant
"filming over" [covering over] of where we begin [began],
while the nature of being is a constant erosion of what is
not essential; to be worn back to that incorruptible spot
of Grace at our core.

When the film [covering] is worn through, we have
moments of enlightenment, moments of wholeness,
moments of Satori, as the Zen Sages term it, moments
of clear living, moments of full integrity of being,
moments of complete Oneness.

And whether the film is a veil of culture, or religious
training, the removal of that film and the restoration
of that timeless spot is the goal.  This is the only thing
worth teaching:  how to uncover that original center and
how to live there once it is restored.  The process of
return, whether brought about by suffering or love, is
how we unlearn our way back go God [to the core of Grace].

Mark Nepo
Excerpt from: The Book of Awakening

~

Photo of Tomato

I sliced a tomato a few weeks back and
found the white Christian cross in the center, and
in the middle of that cross, a little red heart.

Can you see it?!

Although I am no longer a Christian, or any other
religion for that matter, I still seek the Truth of
Existence and direct experience of "The Divine",
however one defines that for themselves.
I couldn't help but see the message in the tomato;
not a "Christian" message, but a universal message,
that no matter what one's religious identification,
regardless of "tradition",
The Heart, Love, is really the "original center" of
everything!

Namaste!

_/\_

Perfect Pleasure...

To be aware of the inner Presence of "The Divine"
gives great pleasure;
the perpetual awareness of Awareness...

To be blessed with the Grace of "Presence"
gives great Contentment;
the realization of ones Divine Nature...

To be embraced by the Silence of "The Infinite"
gives Bliss;
the Peace that passes understanding...

To rest in your "Divine Nature"
gives Perfect Pleasure;
the greatest Happiness...

To know the Ineffable Perfection of Being,
the felt experience of Divine Pleasure within;
is Love...

Mystic Meandering
January 28, 2018

~

Photo - Mandala Art
done by my 90 year old mother
(digitally zoom blurred for affect :)

God Pours Light - Hafiz

God
pours light
into every cup,
quenching the darkness.

The proudly pious
stuff their cups with parchment
and critique the taste of ink

while God pours light...

And the trees lift their limbs
without worry of redemption,
every blossom a chalice.

Hafiz, seduce those withered souls
with words that wet their parched
lips

as light
pours like rain
into every empty cup
set adrift on the Infinite Ocean.

Hafiz

Resilience - Nepo and Tesla

Some days I wake with a cloud around my heart,
and it dulls everything except the weight I carry deep inside.
Yet, just because I can't make it to the light today doesn't mean
that the light has vanished...

Mark Nepo

In the first hours post dawn,
at the edge of a dark night,
I awake,..

breathing labored,
fever peaked,
sweat running down my spine...

Inexplicable dread overtakes me...

But somehow the Light finds me
and I rise again to a new day,
facing the merry-go-round of life,
as we all do...
Needing a dose of inspiration,
and a bit of wisdom...

Here is my inspiration for the day.
Once again recognizing the larger context
in which we exist...

If you want to find the secrets of the universe,
think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.

Nikola Tesla

Transcription of Narrative:

Like a wave in the physical world, in the Infinite Ocean of the medium which pervades all,so in the world of organisms, in life, an impulse started proceeds onward, at times, maybe, with the speed of light, at times, again, so slowly that for ages it seems to stay, passing through processes of complexity inconceivable to men, but in all its forms, in all its stages, its energy ever and ever integrally present.

A single ray of light from a distant star falling upon the eye of a tyrant in bygone times may have altered the course of his life, may have changed the destiny of nations, may have transformed the surface of the globe, so intricate, so inconceivably complex are the processes of Nature.

In no way can we get such an overwhelming idea of the grandeur of Nature than when we consider that in accordance with the law of conservation of energy, throughout the Infinite, the forces are in perfect balance, and hence the energy of a single thought may determine the motion of a universe.

Nikola Tesla
The Electrical Review, 1893

via: Love is a Place
Thank you Alixe!

Invocation - Dolores Stewart

You who were with me before I was born,
dark shining on dark,
be with me now.
You who will stay with me after I die,
light traveling on light,
be with me now.

You who are nameless
in the marketplace of the ten thousand things,
how shall I call you?
You who are invisible between the stars,
how shall I see you?

You who nurture me with silent wisdom
speak to me now.
I am listening beyond the sounds of night,
I am looking beyond the sights of the day.
You who fill the infinite void,
travel on my shoulder now,
show me the way.

Dolores Stewart
From - Doors to the Universe

Via: Beyond The Fields We Know

~

The desire to go home
is a desire to be whole,
to be the point of intersection
of all the lines drawn through
all the stars...
that center called love.
To let the soul go wild,
to cease to speak
and be perfectly
understood.

Rebecca Soinit
Excerpt from - Storming The Gates of Paradise

(Ms. Soinit's words, my format)

A Mystic's "Spirituality"...

Being an unapologetic "mystic" at Heart, since childhood, means for me experiencing the living Presence of Life that animates all life.  Some call that God, The Divine, The Beloved, The Ineffable, The Mystery, Pure Consciousness, Infinite Being, Spirit, Brahman, the Tao, etc.  It has many names and forms.  It means being able to see and experience "The Mystery" in the every-day-ness of life; something I am still admittedly "working" to try to be more aware of - to be more aware of the Sacred in the entropy of world affairs, in the chaotic mundane personal affairs of life; the requirements of daily living; in the must do's and have-to's that always find their way to the top of my list, and seem to drive my life...

As a "mystic" I long to experience the depths of Ultimate Reality - immersing myself daily in the depths of Meditative Silence, listening to the Hush of "The Mystery."  Some may assume a "mystic" doesn't experience longing, or the darker feelings and frustrations with living the Infinite Cosmic Dance.  That has not been my experience.  A "mystic" just experiences them within the context of the Greater Reality - and learns to embrace them as part of the totality of experience.  Some feel that a "mystic" has special insights or powers, or visions, or is only interested in seeking "mystical experiences."  But for me it is not in "seeking" experiences (I have very few of them), but being aware of and open to the movement of "The Mystery", through its many expressions, living in the intimacy of "The Mystery," and at times experiencing an intimate encounter with what I know to be "The Divine", like my "Epiphany" back in 2013, or through "meditative writings", and celestial songs (poetry) that sometimes just spills out onto the page. Mystical "spirituality" acknowledges the universality of what most have come to call "God", "The Divine", or Buddha Nature (Dharmakaya), not associated with any particular faith, religion, or practice, but a transcendent truth - realizing that humans, at the very core of their being, are both "Divine" and human, formlessness in form, spirit in matter, Timeless in time...

Wayne Teasdale, a 20th century Christian Mystic, and author of A Mystic Heart says: "Mystical spirituality draws us into the depths of our Being, where we come face to face with ourselves, our weakness, AND with the Ultimate Mystery.  Spirituality is not external religiosity, not confined to ritual and liturgy.  It is a way of life that affects and includes every moment of existence...  It is a disposition to a life of depth..."

He goes on - "How we make the journey is what spirituality is really about - finding our own path. This means finding a way to [awareness of] the vast unlimited consciousness of The Divine, The Mystery within.  We are created for this 'spiritual journey' - the direct and immediate experience of Ultimate Reality, which knows everything as ItSelf.  Being infinitely aware, it knows in a unitive and universal fashion through awareness...  The spiritual journey is essentially one of discovering the roots of our true identity.  It is a process of returning to the totality of Consciousness, from which we have arise."

~

We cannot live in a world that is interpreted for us by others.
[We must] take back our own listening,
use our own voice,
see our own Light."

Hildegard of Bingen
12th Century Christian Mystic

_/\_

Namaste

The Infinite is Everywhere - Danna Faulds

I am everywhere present
said the [Infinite.]

Seek me in the stately trees,
or the melodies of sparrows
and you will surely find me.

Look for me in the Buddha's smile,
the countenance of Christ,
the words of the Koran and Sanskrit prayers.
I am always there.

Turn your attention to the sky
where the movements of the moon and stars
trace my beauty...

Experience true emptiness
and my presence permeates the void.
Now bring your focus closer
to your heart.

Grow still and find me within you.

Separation dissolves like salt water
when you experience your true identity as me.

Practice devotion and let go into the ocean
of my love,
or be the open space from which all things arise.

One and two,
duality and union,
are both true.

So I say be jubilant
and be at peace,
for inside you is the seed and the fruit,
the tree and the root.

Choose to be in communion with me
and see the whole of this
creation infused with one energy...

Danna Faulds
Yoga Practitioner and Poet

Excerpt From:One and Two are Both True
From: Prayers to the Infinite