The Days Are Round - Jean Giono

Days begin and end in the dead of night. They are not 
shaped long, in the manner of things which leads to ends -
arrow, road, a person's life on earth.  They are shaped round,
in the manner of eternal things eternal and stable...

Civilization tries to persuade us we are going towards 
something, a distant goal.  We have forgotten that our
only goal is to live, to live each and every day, and that if
we live each and every day, our true goal is achieved.

All civilized people see the day beginning at dawn or a
little after or a long time after or whatever time their work
begins; this they lengthen according to their work, during
what they call 'all day long'; and end it when they close
their eyes.  It is they who say the days are long.  On the
contrary, the days are round.

Jean Giono

with thanks to Love Is A Place

~

Vortex Art - Mystic Meandering

 

This Moment in Time - Jorie Graham

What I tell my students, when they feel singularly unfortunate to
be born in this moment, is this is your moment, the moment your
soul showed up incarnate.  In this world.  It is an astonishing moment
to be alive.  You could have been born into a lull - instead you were
born into a tipping point. It's your one life and you've entered it at
a flexion point - a point when everything you do matters.  How
often in history does a soul get to live in such an era?  Don't waste it.
Show up for it.  With everything you've got.  Some will invent,
some will organize, some will witness, some will grieve, some
will console.  Live this life now.  Even if in fury and grief, live it.

You don't want to die not having lived.  It's incredibly easy to find
a way around experience rather than through it.  But you will have
cheated yourself out of ..... your life.  You are
here now.  Now is the time to live fully, not hide, not escape.

Jorie Graham

With thanks to Whiskey River

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

 

The Meaning of it all? - Unmani

Since I was a child I asked myself this question:
"What is the meaning of it all?  Why am I here?
What the hell is going on here?"

I was surrounded by facades and people pretending to know
a lot of apparently very important stuff.  There were so
many rules and so much mental information that must prove
that there is a secret meaning that they all know.  And this
meaning must be very grown-up, important and serious...

That knowing that I knew wasn't intellectual or any kind of
belief.  It wasn't some kind of special experience or state of
mind.  It was beyond all that.  It was, and is, a simple knowing
that whatever is happening.....is part of the movie of life.

Recognizing this and letting go of the usual chase for meaning
can leave you feeling very lost.....empty of anything that means
anything.....

What is left is simply the experience itself.....without needing
a meaning.....  This gives space to really experience Life fully.
Everything is experienced in an open and raw way, without any
overlay of meaning.  None of it needs meaning.  It is enough
as it is.  It is overflowing with Life expression, with Life playing
itself in this way or that.  This is the expression of Love.

Life is Love loving itself in this particular way, now, exactly as
it is in this experience.  This is the true meaning of Life.  The
raw experience without any need of any filter or overlay.
Nothing means anything, and yet, everything means so much
that is beyond all words.

There is no need for any extra meaning or mental labeling
or interpretation to Life because it is enough unto itself.
The only thing the mind can do now is bow down in
absolute reverence to the simplicity of Life as it is.

Our limited minds cannot know the true meaning of Life.....
It is only when you give up trying to know something
that will give you a special 'me' identity, that you see
how simple and obvious the true meaning really is.
Life doesn't care about the meaning you think you know.
It is simply living itself as it is.

Within the movie of a person's life, the only purpose or
meaning is to acknowledge this simplicity and live in
alignment with that.  It is all around you, in you, and
as you.  Just stop for a moment and see the mysterious
love song of Life to ItSelf.

Unmani

excerpt from a larger article
via No Mind's Land

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

The Days are Round - Jean Giono

Days begin and end in the dead of night.
They are not shaped long, in the manner of things which
lead to ends - arrow, road, a person's life...
They are shaped round, in the manner of eternal things...

Civilization tried to persuade us we are going towards something,
a distant goal.  We have forgotten that our only goal is to live,
to live each and every day, and that if we live each and every day,
our true goal is achieved.

All civilized people see the day beginning at dawn or a little after,
or a long time after or whatever time their work begins;
this they lengthen according to their work,
during what they call "all day long;" and end it
when they close their eyes.
It is they who say the days are long.

On the contrary, the days are round.

Jean Giono
Rondeur Des Jours
French Novelist

~

For Summer Solstice and the Natural Cycles of Life

~

Photo taken by my brother somewhere in New Hampshire

Sabbatical...

Deeply hidden within is a longed for “sabbatical life.”

Tired of "the journey", I am in need of respite - Primordial Rest.

– but life, it seems, has its demands...

  Still, I try to carve out some semblance of “sabbatical living” daily –

 despite the roller coaster ride of distractions and preoccupations;
 the daily requirements of life, health, family and relationship -
bowing to the inevitable and the Ineffable -
submitting to both...

  Spending time in Meditative Silence
is an infrequent refuge lately...

  But even in that Stillness I bobble on the surface of life,

 challenged by an aging body, the crises that others create,

 navigating the maze of family dynamics –
whirling havoc in my mind...

But a Deeper Rhythm calls from within...

"Sabbatical"

The Primordial Rhythm of Rest

"Sabbatical" is a very deep and vital need – like breathing -
 and requires Silence and Solitude,

like the Holy Quiet of a Natural Sanctuary;
  a lily pond found in the deep woods...
where only the Ineffable moves,
and converses in an
unspeakable language
that only Silence can hear...

I linger here - drawn into the depths of Silence
until I'm ready to move again
into life's currents,
  facing into the present realities of living,
 – and just live -

Listening...

 for the Deeper Rhythm within...
The Inner Sabbatical;
not its outward form.

 Opening to the hush of The Mystery
 revealing Itself through the every-day-ness of living...

Just Living...

Mystic Meandering
April 14, 2016

The Unseen Current - Ivan Granger

We have this idea…..that the strong individual must aggressively forge his or her path through life; that it is a fight that only the strong will succeed, and unhappiness is a sign of weakness and inaction.  It is the idea that fulfillment comes through force of will. [But] if we are pushing for a life that is not ours, and feeling frustration because it is not happening, that is a sign that we are still serving the [personal will.].

Most of us imagine that we have to somehow *do* life.  [But] life itself is not something we do or make for ourselves.  It flows through us and is not of our making. The soul has a path that naturally unfolds as we move through life.  When we understand life this way, there is an immense sense of relief - and rest.  …..what is required is not…..willpower, not some total life revolution, but simply…..to feel the deep currents flowing through our lives, and then to fully live the life that naturally emerges....  In this way, we stop obstructing divine will with our endless frustrated efforts and, instead, we allow ourselves to become [an] expression of that heavenly flow that has always been eager to pour through us.  All we really need do is ride the great current flowing through us unseen...

Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana