Finding the Rhythm - a meandering

 

”A balanced life is based on its own rhythm. 
If you don’t set your own rhythm, and have the discipline
 to follow it, your life will move at the speed of
the culture around [you], which moves too fast. 
The space we make for quiet time affects our thought patterns
and, in turn, the quality of our lives.
To what extent is the rhythm of your life a result of…..adapting…..
to the flow that surrounds [you]." 

Rod MacIver

 Or I would even say, to the people around you. Have we entrained
 to the people around us – living their rhythm?  I  know I have…

I feel a resonance with his words, knowing that I needed to find
 that sense of the larger Inner Rhythm again,
 not just my own personal daily rhythm with life,
but the Flow with the Inner Being, commonly called the Tao,
 the undercurrent flow of Life within – from which all movement
arises.

The only way I know to do this is to turn within to The Silence
where  The Rhythm of the Inner Being is felt – the Rhythm of Silence
 ItSelf.  Being in The Sacred Silence is what brings me joy,
and a felt sense of Presence.   Finding that Inner Rhythm,
The Silence of Being, is “Divine Communion.” 
 This, for me, is the True Rhythm, the Rhythm of Pure
 Being ItSelf – the deep undercurrent of Life that animates all life
 – which is The Silence.
  This is what calls to me – over and over again.

But the hypnosis of the world keeps me magnetized to the ways
 of the world and pulls me out of this deeper way of living and
 knowing. We are conditioned to be drawn to the external drama
 of the world, to chew on it, teethe on it…  It’s the pablum
 of the matrix we live in.  But no one trains us to turn within
 to the Quiet Inner Presence of Silence. 
And so we follow the rhythm of the world (the civilized, political,
 chaotic world), with its hypnosis of separation from our Inner Being,
instead of turning  inward to the Awareness of the Inner Rhythm;
to that interior space of The Rhythm of the “Great Mystery”
 that pulsates Its Aliveness within us, and does not depend
on a name, label, or identity – or the world’s rhythms…  

Mystic Meandering
2015

 

~

Mandala Art:  Mystic Meandering
 Bliss Lotus Mandala
2013

The Beauty of the Night...

I love the darkness of night,

when all is still in my part of the world,
and The Silence of the Universe fills the body
and Heart....

No distractions, no disturbances...
I settle into what really matters -
The Silence of Being, the Nameless
- just breathing...

I would rather be awake during the darkness
of night, than enduring the brashness,
cacophony and chaos of the day.
The darkness is comforting, calming...
There's a Beauty in the night's darkness
that can be felt...

It is The Silence of Life ItSelf
that matters most to me;
an odd duck, I know.
Not "day driven" - going from
one task to another,
seeing how much I can get done;
maybe it's my age,
and waning life energy.

The simplicity
of night's quiet darkness
soothes me and allows me to access
the deep space within, again.
Deep calling to deep...

For now, though, I must let go of
the night's allure -
and fall into sleep.

Mystic  Meandering
March 21, 2025
2:05 am

~

I can hardly wait for "Window Sitting" to
begin again.   :)

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Full Moon July 2022

 

Silence is the Portal of "The Mystery"...

Rendezvous with the Great Silence
through the Inner Window
of your Heart -
the portal of "The Holy Mystery"...

Sit quietly and listen deeply,
with no agenda or expectation,
leaving the Window of your Heart open -
waiting for the Song of "The Sacred"...

Feel the caress of Silence begin,
like a breeze,
inviting you in
with Its gentle breath,
breathing in your Heart...

The Silence is always there
opening Itself to you  - always -
blessing...

Turn inward to the Inner Sanctuary,
bow to The Sacred Silence within and
enter the Cosmic Mystery,
the Ineffable Vastness...

Settle into the Rhythm of the Primordial Silence.
Feel the soft dance of intimacy absorb you,
in this silent rendezvous...

All life, all breath, all death, all movement of life
occurs within the Holy Silence
that enfolds us...

In this intimate embrace of the presence of "The Mystery"
know that everything is living according to its
Natural Order, is following its
Natural Rhythm - the Light and the Dark;
the Rhythm of Life living Itself...
Including the life you think you have created...

All life is being lived by "The Holy Mystery"...

All is the pulse of Silence...

All is the pulse of the Cosmos...

Mystic Meandering
Dec. 24, 2024

_/\_

~

"The Holy"
dwells among us
in us
and through us...

Holy-Holy

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Hold to "The Silence..."

Late at night,
holding my hands over my Heart,
I hold close to The Silence
when all is quiet;
my comfort, companion & Friend.

It's been a couple of years since we've
held each other intimately;
the intimacy of the deep
Silence of Being within...

The abstractions of "non-duality"
do not help me now,
they leave me - untouched, cold.

I'm on a different path now,
that is not yet clear to me...

I want to be deeply touched - by
the Ineffable Mystery - The Silence - at
the core of my Being; to be moved again
by the intimacy of Sacred Silence -
that I once closely knew...

It takes an environment of quietness to quiet the mind -
from the "noise", distractions, and stress of daily living;
accessing a sanctuary of Divine Silence within
so that I may be gently touched by The Mystery
and directly experience Its Fullness....

Not a conceptual Silence - but tangible;
Not an abstraction, but a Living Presence,
that can be touched - that wants to be found...

It waits for you...

Mystic Meandering
Dec. 11, 2024

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

The Pulse of Life...

\

Perfect Pulsing Silence...
Utter Stillness...
Breath-giving Life...

This is what I come to sit for;
to sit in utter and complete Silence of Being -
the pulse of Life;
to feel and sense "The Silence",
to feel its Aliveness,
to hear its Song...

Sitting in the silence of not-knowing
puts one in a place of really listening,
with no agenda or expectation,
leaving the space open for "The Silence" to speak,
to calm the mind and soul
and sing Its Song to the Heart...

I listen deeply for the Song of Silence...

A breeze touches my arm gently from the window
inviting me to stop and listen more deeply...

I gaze inward
to "The Song of Silence" within,
that is mirrored
in the sounds of silence in the night,
just outside my window...

It's all the same Silence, infusing everything...

I feel "The Rhythm" of Silence begin -

I bask in my chair
listening to the pulsing Silence
within and without,
feeling Its familiar Rhythm
through my body,
feeling the dance of intimacy begin again...

Nothing disturbs The Silence...
Nothing disturbs the depth of It...
Nothing prevents Its Song
from being sung ~

In this intimate Silence I am reminded that
everything occurs within this Divine Silence.
All life, all breath, all death...
 All movement occurs within this vast space of Silence
that WE  ARE...

In "The Sacred Silence"
I know everything is living according to Its
natural order - is following Its natural order,
including this life I call mine...

All life is being lived
by the hush of this Ineffable Mystery...
that birthed the Cosmos...

All is the pulse of the Great Silence ~

the Pulse of Life ~

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
May 2011
updated Dec 12, 2024

~

I know I've posted this one many times,
under a different title,
but *I* needed to hear it again :)
to type it out...

And actually made some changes...
May it soothe your Soul...

_/\_

 

 

Unknown Wanderer - Ed Crowley

People often
ask me where
I live and what's
the name of my 
hometown road
I smile
as I tell them
it's nowhere

Yet
it's everywhere
and it's simply

my humble abode
I'm the
Unknown Wanderer
and hence
I simply wander
then I pivot
Awareness around
Into the stillness
of the Silence
as I lay my soul
down in Rumi's field
Where the
Beloved Ones
teachings are revealed
If you want to know
where I call home at
the end of the day
look up at the stars
It's beyond your vision
but if you look
long enough you'll
sense me there
spinning like a Sufi
in the boundless
galaxy
of the Milky Way

[.....]

Ed Crowley

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~*~

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field.  I'll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase 'each other'
doesn't make any sense.
The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the door sill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep."

Rumi

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

A Far Bigger Reality? - a meandering...

 

When "window sitting" in 2010 with only the bright moon lighting
the night, the non-dual concept of "me-no-me" (or self-no-self) arose...
I scratched some notes out on the windowsill in the moonlight:

"Window sitting", like meditation, takes the focus off the "me"
and puts the focus on what is Aware within me - The Silence -
at the Core of my Being - or some call it Consciousness...
This Silence (for me) unwinds the "me" - slows it down -
gives it space...

*

Pondering the non-dual concept of whether there's a "me" or no-me
is tedious, divisive, and not very helpful - a conundrum that keeps me
 focused on the "me" as if the "me" is arguing its own existence. 
The thought arose that the tree does not argue whether it is a tree
 or not...  It just bes the tree. (Yes, that is what I wrote.) :)

The so-called "me" is like a lens through which the Essence or Core
of my Beingness sees the world, sees life, how it engages with life...

*

Recently (2024), while sitting in The Silence, these words floated
through: "there is a far bigger Reality than 'spirituality', or 'religion',
or 'non-duality.  It is a Reality inclusive of our entire personal
human existence, and human experience - as "me."

*

The sense (back in 2010 window sitting) was that we have to open
the "aperture" of the "me" - to take in the larger view, to not fixate
on *things*, like thoughts, ideas, beliefs, feelings, circumstances,
people, etc.  We have to soften our gaze to see the bigger Reality....

I/me became aware in this moment, sitting at the window, that there
 is just a fluid sense of Beingness at my Core, (the only way I know
 to describe it) - that which is Aware within me, as me, call it the
Divine Consciousness - or Essential Nature - was I now "no-me?"
And other questions arose:  Is it true that there is no "me"?
"How can that be true" (as non-dualists would argue that there is
no me - and no tree...) (I no longer ask questions regarding such
unanswerable abstractions - or maybe I just don't understand the
concept).

The sense arose in me (back then) that there is a "me" function of
"Consciousness;" a practical function.  Like a thought function, or
body function, there is a "me" function... a "me" mechanism...
(Some call this the ego)

The "me" is a function of our Divine Nature/Consciousness - not
its enemy that needs to dissolve, as some teach.  It's a conditioned
function - by life's experiences - habituated to perform in certain
ways, but that also allows the Essential/Divine Nature to express
Itself through this "me" - this human - as me...

Mystic Meandering
Nov. 2024

~

Photo taken by my brother
on the coast of Gloucester, Mass

~

You don't possess Life, Life expresses itself through *you*.
Your body is a flower that Life let bloom; a phenomenon
created by Life.

Ilchi Lee

~

The "religion" of the future will be a cosmic religion.  It should
transcend a personal God and avoid dogmas and theology.

Covering both the natural and the spiritual, it should be based
on a sense arising from the experience of all things, natural/human
and spiritual, as a meaningful unity.

Albert Einstein

Night's Solace - Cheryl Sanders Sardello

We are fortunate to have night's solace in the silence that is
created by the dark.  Here we can lean into the unknown,
setting aside the oppressive weight of our carefully
constructed version of who we think we are.  We can
remember how to see in the dark with our ears,
perceiving the Silence in the holy echoing and resonance,
its calling forth a knowing that is from the Soul. 
The Silence sends us on a different pilgrimage.

Cheryl Sanders Sardello
from - Silence: The Mystery of Wholeness

~

Photo from the Internet

 

Silence, the Immortal Food - Christian Bobin

For a long time I let this slow movement towards the Unknown,
this highest form of knowledge, be fulfilled in me:
the adoration of Silence.
It is never in vain that we give way
to this elementary beauty which seizes the Soul
in the spiral of a star or anything in the world...

It [The Silence] illuminates the night and its angelic sister,
solitude.  And it is by developing in us this silent attention
mute to the day, that we will find our place in the Absolute
that surrounds us.

It is ours when all is lacking and all is far from being,
to give our life the patience of a work of art,
the flexibility of reeds that the hand of
the wind wrinkles, in homage to winter.
A little Silence is enough.
A little of this immaterial food that The Mother dispensed
and burned it into infinity...

Christian Bobin
the Simple Enchantment

with thanks to No Mind's Land

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Notes From The Window - 9-27-24

Sitting at the window in The Silence of just Being
soothes my Soul - it *feeds* the Soul.
The Stillness is powerful tonight...

The Silence within and the night hold me
in Quietude...

I feel emotionally "safe" here in The Silence 
and know that this Silence is my Core,
it is The Silence of the Soul.
I just bask in its Peace...

~

The Silence of the Soul at the window is what
I need.  I've been using bandaids again:
techniques and strategies, though helpful,
they are not what nourishes the Soul...

When I'm at the window at night,
I feel a sense of well-being inside.

I relax and breathe - even when I still
get caught in the negative meanderings of
the mind - I return to The Silence within,
and am at peace...

Mystic Meandering
Sept. 27, 2024

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

Silence Beyond Mind - Maitreya Upanishad

It has been said:
There is something beyond our mind,
which abides in silence...

It is the supreme mystery beyond thought.
Let one's mind and subtle spirit rest upon that mystery
and nothing else...

...When the mind is silent,
beyond distraction,
then it can enter into a world
which is far beyond the mind...

Then one knows the joy of Eternity...
Words cannot describe the joy of the Soul
when one is one with Itself...

As water becomes one with water,
fire with fire,
and air with air,
so the mind becomes one with the Infinite Mind
and thus attains freedom.

Maitreya Upanishad

~

When I can intrain with a deeper Silence of simply Being,
the mind is not in chaos and I can experience the Sacred
in the chaos...  I have only known a few of such
fleeting moments... :)

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

The Troll in the Mind - Mark Nepo

We spend so much time
anticipating what will happen next that we miss
the whisper of Heaven that unfolds wherever we are.

Though I have known and survived
many forms of pain
fear is the troll in the mind
that anticipates more.

And just as a loud noise prevents us
from finding the peace in the center of silence,
fear prevents us from finding
the inch of Heaven [Silence] in the center
of whatever moment we are in.

Yet, no matter how much I've been through
and how much I've learned,
I can't stop the wave of anticipation.
No one can.

It is part of being human.

Mark Nepo
(a cancer survivor)

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering
A dried rose petal with one
eye at the top of a big schnoz.
Looks like a troll to me :)

 

Rediscovering Sacred Silence - Jean Klein

Silence is our real nature.
What we are fundamentally,

is only Silence...

It was before the beginning of all things.
It is causeless.
Its greatness lies in the fact that it simply is.

Silence has no opposite in noise.
It is beyond positive and negative.
Silence dissolves all objects.
It is not related to any counterpart
which belongs to the mind.
Silence has nothing to do with mind.
It cannot be defined but it can be felt directly...

Silence is freedom without restriction or center.
It is our wholeness,

neither inside or outside the body.

Silence is joyful, no pleasurable.

It is not psychological...

Silence is holy.
Silence needs no intermediary.
It is healing.
There is no fear in Silence.
Silence is autonomous like love and beauty.
It is untouched by time.
Silence is meditation, free from any intention...

Silence is the absence of one's self...

Sound, which comes from Silence, is music.
All activity is creative when it comes from Silence.
It is constantly a new beginning.
Silence precedes speech and poetry
and music and all art.

Silence is the home ground of all creative activity.
What is truly creative is the word, is Truth.

Silence is the word.
Silence is Truth

Jean Klein

with thanks to Being Silently Drawn

(Jean Klein's words, my format)

~

Photo - Vortex Art
2011

 

Perfect Pulsing Silence...

Perfect Pulsing Silence...
Utter Stillness...
Breath-giving Life...

This is what I come to sit for;
to sit in utter and complete Silence of Being -
the pulse of Life;
to feel and sense "The Silence",
to feel its Aliveness,
to hear Its Song...

Sitting in the silence of not-knowing
puts one in a place of really listening,
with no agenda or expectation,
leaving the space open for "The Silence" to speak,
to calm the mind and
sing Its Song to the Heart...

I listen deeply for the Song of Silence...

A breeze touches my arm gently from the window
inviting me to be more acutely aware...

I gaze inward
to "The Song of Silence" within,
that is mirrored
in the sounds of silence,
just outside my window..
It's all the same Silence, infusing everything...

I feel "The Rhythm" of Silence begin ~

I sit back in my chair
listening to the pulsing Silence
within and without,

feeling Its familiar Rhythm,
feeling the dance of intimacy begin again...

Nothing disturbs It,
Nothing  disturbs the depth of It,
Nothing prevents Its Song
from being sung ~

In this intimate Silence I am reminded that
everything occurs within "The Great Silence."
All life, all breath, all death, all movement
occurs within this vast space of Silence
that we are...

In "The Silence"
I know everything is living according to Its
natural order - is following Its natural order,
including this life I call mine...

All life is being lived
by the hush of this "Mystery"...

All is the pulse of the Great Silence ~
the pulse of Life ~

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
May 2011

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

A Non-Path Path :) - a meandering...

I am feeling the need to settle deeper into the interior, and 
rediscover a sense of the inner Truth of Myself; not by following
a particular external path - but by intuitively listening to the 
Inner Voice; by spending time in Quietude, and "The Silence"
(which I crave, but so easily avoid by getting distracted on
non-essential things.).

"The Quest" - for me then - is to discover the Deeper Reality of

Myself.  I have forgotten how to be ME!  In a sense, what I was
"designed" for; one could say my Soul's "calling"...   Some call it
the Self (or Higher Self), but I get hung up on those words, because
the big "S" Self is not another self hidden somewhere inside us with
a big S on it that we have to "become"/discover.  But it's the discovery
of, a remembering of, having a felt sense of, the authentic, natural
self, beyond mind, beyond religion, beyond "spirituality."  Who are
 we really?   What is the "Deeper Reality"? I thought maybe I knew, 
but I haven't really met Her - yet...  Hopefully I will find the Deep
Quiet of the Heart, and the Illuminating Light of the Soul.

The path of "Enlightenment"/"Awakening"/"Self-Realization",
particularly what is popularly known as "Non-Duality, wasn't
IT for me, with its attraction to the mind and its abstractions and
mind games. It is just another construct, a belief system.  I found
out that the "Emperor has no clothes!  And I'd rather not describe
Truth by a negative - with no-me, no-self, no other, no world - as
Truth  is all inclusive - including duality, me, self, other, humanity,
and the world.

Even if one follows a "spiritual path" (which can be any path), life
will not suddenly become easy or flowing with bliss, although there
may be little epiphanies and "awakenings" here and there. We won't
necessarily lose our personality with its quirks, and become an
emotionless automaton. We won't lose our conditioning, or our 
neuroses.  Our thoughts will not stop, neither will our surface
struggles, or our pain, or our stories.  Walking "a path" doesn't even
guarantee that we will actually *see* life differently, or suddenly
find our "purpose" - as if there is only one.  But no one tells you
this about "the path."  It has to be a self-discovery, even if we have
a "Teacher", a "Path", or use a "Teaching" to help point the way.

It is different for everyone, of course.  I'm only reflecting on my
own experience here...

Years of seeking, realization, recognition, and then forgetting, and
then seeking again, then remembering, and then forgetting again, etc.,
brought me to the realization that discovering (or rediscovering) the
Essence of who I am is, for me, through awareness of and deep
intimacy with "The Silence" within; through continually coming
back to "The Silence of Source" - the space of Stillness, and
innate Wisdom - which of course is wherever we are at the 
moment, not off in the distance somewhere.  It's not a place.
"The path" doesn't *go* anywhere.  There is no reward at the end.
It's an inner pathless path...  And that's my "path" - again :)
rediscovering the inner Silent Truth of Myself, directly;
experiencing the underlying Rhythm of Existence Itself, and
within that the Truth of Myself...

Mystic Meandering
April 2024

~

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

~

Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind rest in peace.
The ten thousand things rise and fall
while the [inner] self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then
return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness,
which is the way of nature...

Returning is the motion of the Tao.

Lao Tzu

~~

Photo - Mystic Meandering
taken at the Denver Botanical Gardens

 

Silence Lost?...

Entering "The Silence"
the place of deep inner Silence and Stillness...

Relaxing...

Listening deeply for the Inner Voice.
Following its sound.
Finding its Rhythm in the fluid, instinctive
inner River...

It is the space of The Sacred...

This aware, awake space is curious and unafraid,
wants to engage, to see, to know,
to experience ~

...and be experienced...

This space is deeply compassionate,
deeply open.

...and is waiting to be known...

Pure Awareness
flows through here ~

the life blood of The Sacred.
It flows around the obstacles of my mind,
and moves toward every disturbance,

filling every mind-made crack and crevice,
wanting to meet, soothe, comfort, and embrace.

In "The Silence"
there is only patience, listening
and deep rest...

It is a gentle refuge
that feels like Home...

Mystic Meandering
Nov. 2010

~

Vortex Art - Mystic Meandering
Craypas Oils with fingers
March 2024

~

Personal Note:

In 2010, and for many years, encountering the deep
Silence of Being for me felt like encountering "God",
"The Beloved", "The Sacred", "The Ineffable."

I basked in The Sacred Silence, absorbed, feeling the
sense of Presence, of something vaster than an image of
"God" that I hold in my mind; something which is
ever-present and personal...  The Deep Silence within
is the Heart of Being, "The Mystery" - my refuge.

Over the last 17 months I have "lost" the "sense" of
Intimacy with The Deep Silence within, getting
consumed by the *content* of my current life
experience...

The Great Silence has been my Companion, my Helper,
my Sanctuary, my "Teacher" for many years, and I hope
to regain that inner sense of Communion, to be able to
access the Deeper Dimension of The Silence again,
as this is the only way I will get through this period
in time, with its struggles and challenges...

Intellectually/conceptually I understand that "The Silence"
- however one calls it - "God", "The Beloved", "The Divine",

"Awareness" is always here - never "lost."
What is "lost" is the felt sense of intimacy with "The Silence
of the Sacred", my "Source."
I miss it - like a dear Friend...

But as of this post I do feel it slowly returning...
Or is it me that is returning to the Source :)

MM

March 2024

 

"I" am LIFE...

"I" am LIFE existing here...
not a concept...

"I" am the Essence of Life
living itself out
here...

I cannot say that I am "Christine" -
nor a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu,

Sufi, Buddhist, Non-Dualist, Taoist,

or Mystic...

Mother, daughter, sister, friend,
or wife...

not a dream,
or an illusion...

"I" am simply LIFE ~ existing ~
playing all these roles...

The weight of existence
occurs when I try to
cling to an identity...

~

"I am a

f

e

a

t

h

e

r

on
the
breath of God."

Hildegard of Bingen says ~

and even the
identity of a 
"feather"

is
too
heavy

~

It's only a metaphor

~
~
~

I follow the breath
to its
Source,
the
Silence,
and
realize
I am being
breathed

~
~
~

The "task" then
is to surrender,
to
the
Infinite
Breath of
LIFE

that
"I"
am

~
~
~

Mystic Meandering
2014

~

Art - Mystic Meandering
"Explosion of Life"

Craypas oils

2012

 

Who Are You? - Thomas Merton

Be still
Listen to the stones of the wall.
Be silent, they try
to speak your

name.

Listen
to the living walls.

Who are you?
Who
Are You?
Whose Silence are you?

Who (be quiet)
are you (as these stones
are quiet).  Do not
think of what you are
still less of

What you may one day be.
Rather
be what you are (but who?)
Be the unthinkable one
You do not know.

O be still, while
you are still alive,

and all things live around you
speaking to your own being,
speaking by the Unknown
that is in you and in themselves.

I will try, like them, 
to be my own silence:
And this is difficult.
The whole world is secretly on fire.
The stones burn, even the stones.
They burn me.

How can man be still or listen to all
things burning?  How can he dare 
to sit with them when
all their silence

is on fire?

Thomas Merton
In Silence

with thanks to  Love Is A Place

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Photo - Mystic Meandering