Life as it is - a meandering

Religion is a heavy mantle some people wear -
robes of ritual, dogma and doctrine...

Advaita is a heady game some people like to play -
self/no-self?

Non-duality - a conundrum -
not two - but not one...

I'm tired of all these heavy "games" I've played
in the "Spiritual Game"...

It's time for me to just step out of the way -
to let myself unfold -
and not entangle myself in the many webs
that constrain and constrict that Flow.

Maybe some ancient saint or sage had it all figured out -
maybe not...

My inner sage tells me it's about acceptance,
about empathy, compassion; about living life as it is
the best I can without living up to some "spiritual"
ideal: Someone else's beliefs, someone else's "way",
someone else's "truth"; the "right" perspective, or
"right" thinking... 

Needing to listen to the
deeper Rhythm of my own Soul/Essence/Being...

But strong primal instincts arise,
unable to "spiritualize"
the rawness of emotions into - pretty language...

The practicality of Buddhist Wisdom draws me now -
not as a religion or belief system, but as day to day
wisdom for getting through...
The wisdom of accepting what is, of just being present,
of mindfulness, of caring and compassion, of stepping
out of the way of the experience and just seeing what unfolds,
letting go of expectations, the need for solutions,
 and the need to control - allowing life to happen
as it does...

No more lofty goals of "enlightenment" -
just fulfilling the requirements of ordinary daily living
in the midst of global and personal chaos
- in my new role as "caregiver" -
doing what needs to be done
as life keeps living itself
 as it is...

Mystic Meandering
Dec. 12, 2022

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Photo - Mystic Meandering

Hubby and Emmy sleeping....

 

"The Game" - a meandering...

"You don't play the game,
the game plays you"

Yellowstone

~

I am being played by Life...

I am not responsible for how
"The Game" is played out or how it ends.

I'm just a "player" in "The Game."
I need to let it play out -
to step aside and let it play -
let it unfold.

Beliefs don't matter.
It's all like a play, a movie, a dance, a story, a "game."
Choose your word, the one that resonates with you.
Some call it a dream...

I have to ride it out, and
not take "The Game" seriously.

I'm not in control of "The Game."

You don't direct the dance,
the dance directs you,
and there's nothing but
the dance...

It's all part of a larger "Game" that we
cannot even comprehend.

There are many depths, many layers
to "The Game."
There are multiple levels all playing at
the same time.

Each day you have to "see" how "The Game"
will play out - how to play "The Game" that day -
how you're going to play.

It's kind of like Alice in Wonderland,
where the game changes depending on
which rabbit hole you go down, or which
door you go through - what fantasy you
choose to play.

Each day a new fantasy or a continuation of
an old one, an old theme that keeps getting 
replayed - but who chooses?  Are there doors
that you must go through as part of your life
experience?  Did Alice have a choice?  It seems
she just fell down the rabbit hole -
into another reality,
another game...

What hole will I fall down and what doors will I have
to go through in the life experience, Life Game -
and what hat am I going to wear? :)

Mystic Meandering

Nov. 17, 2022

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Photo - Mad Hatter hat
from the internet

 

 

Grace Comes...

Grace comes unbidden...

Her soft Presence comforts in the
coldest dawn and darkest night,

and sits with us when we are broken,

beaten down by the "life game"...

She is the antidote for an aching heart
and struggling body...

She hears your silent tears...
and walks with you...

Grace brings you love and kindness
to endure the crosswinds that bite...

Grace comes...

to bind the wounds from those
who tried to suffocate your voice,
who tried to kill your spirit...

She softens the heart
and clears the pain from your vision...

She is always with us,
even in the death of the body.
She is "the beautiful woman sitting on
the fence," come to take you "home."
or to your next "journey" - wherever
that may be...

She is singing your homing call...

There is nothing to do but surrender
and let Grace sing her song of Love
to your weary heart...

Listen...

Mystic Meandering
April 8, 2021

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The reference to"the beautiful woman on the fence"
is something my mother experienced during her
dying process 3 1/2+ years ago...
Hospice said she was hallucinating, but we knew
she was "seeing."
She saw a beautiful woman sitting on the fence out her window,
at the top of a small incline.  On many occasions she said:
"the beautiful woman on the fence
has come to take me on my next journey."

Grace Comes...

~

Photo - blurred section of a painting
by Rod MacIver

 

World Insanity - Chelan Harkin

 Oh world,
I've been trying to convince you
of my sanity for far too long!
Trying to hold it together,
play the part.
I'm ready for the sacred undoing!
I'm ready to give up the game.
I'm delighted to say I've lost!

Here is my raw, naked heart,
my soul is ready to strip down
and streak through social conventions!
I am tired of pretending with you
that I'm ok with anything short of the sweetest,
most tender intimacy.
I'm un-signing my name
from the social contracts
enabling extreme blandness and terrible distance
from our hearts!
Come close and I will kiss your face,
come closer and I will offer you
every jewel in my soul
come closer still and I'll delightedly
give you my very life
and then go into my closets to see
what else I have in there for you!
Friend, it doesn't take much
to destroy social norms,
all it takes is to crack open
the sacred, wild barrel
of love in your chest
and offer it to whoever
might pass by.

Chelan Harkin
Original title: Oh World!

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And, for Love's sake, wear a mask!!! :) MM

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Photo - Mystic Meandering