Listening to The Beloved - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

 ...listening is not an effort, not a technique...
Listening springs from the desire to be with the one whom
you wait to hear ["The Beloved"].  Listening is a coming
close, waiting for Presence to materialize into words, to
form ItSelf out of Silence.  Listening is a relationship, even
in the silence when nothing is heard.  Learning to listen is
to allow our self to be present without imposing or demanding,
to hold a space where something can be told, where meeting
can unfold between...lover and The Beloved; where openness
is answered.  The lover is the one who listens, whose being
is born to listen to The Beloved.  Without the lover, how
could the song of The Beloved be heard?

At the beginning we have to learn the art of listening, the art
art of being present, attentive and empty.  We have to catch
the still, small voice of The Beloved, and not interrupt, not
ask too many questions.  We have to learn to be silent,
because listening is born from silence.  The listening of the
heart is always an act of love, a coming together [communion],
even when nothing is heard.  Listening is a wisdom.  It is
feminine, receptive, hidden...  Rumi knew how central a part
it plays in our wordless relationship with The Beloved:

"Make everything in you an ear, each atom of your being,
and you will hear at every moment what the Source is
whispering to you, just to you and for you..."  You are - we
all are - the beloved of The Beloved, and in every moment,
in every event of life, The Beloved is whispering to you
exactly what you need  to hear and know.
Listen [to The Beloved] and you will discover it every
passing moment.  Listen, and your whole life will become a
conversation in thought and action between you and The
Beloved directly, wordlessly, now and always.

We need to rediscover
how the heart listens to its Beloved.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Excerpts from an article called:
The Circle of Love
on Spirituality and Practice

~

Photo from the Internet

Into The Forest Alone...

"The Forest" traditionally is a threshold symbol of entering
the unknown, the deeper nature, or the spiritual world.  In
fairy tales it usually represents a passage though difficulties
and an opportunity for "transformation" of some kind.  I also
see it as a sanctuary, refuge, a place of deepening.  This
entering the "Dark Forest" happens sometimes when I have
lost (intentionally or otherwise) the framework which gives
structure to my life, when I must find my own way, and be
true to the call of Self,  Shamans, poets, holy men and women
sought refuge in the forest, as a healing place.  Going into
The Forest represents a return to the Primordial Self - beyond
societal, cultural, conceptual and spiritual frameworks.  In a
way, it is like returning to the child's heart of innocence -
just following the longing of the Heart once again; trusting
that I will emerge from "The Dark Forest" with clarity.  As a
child I often went into the forest next to our house as a place
just to sit, to listen and commune with nature, and write
poetry.  It was a place of directly experiencing what I knew
then to be "God."  Now known by other names...

And, since I don't have a "Dark Forest" handy, and I am spooked
by the things that go bump in the night, my Forest will have to
be that interior space of Silent Awareness - navigating the inner
Forest of the Unknown - as well as the unknown difficult
practicalities of everyday living.

I am willing, I say inwardly, to enter the Unknown - the Forest.
To trust Intuition to take me through.  I am ready to step over
the threshold and see where the Unknown takes me...

Care to join me :)  Are you willing...

~

"The familiar horizon has been outgrown;
the old concepts, ideals,
and emotional patterns no longer fit.
The time for the passing of a threshold
is at hand.

You enter the forest at the darkest point,
where there is no path.
Where there's a way or a path,
it is someone else's path;  each human being
is a unique phenomenon.

The idea is to find your own way..."

Joseph Campbell

~

Midway upon the journey of life
I found myself within a dark forest,
for the straightforward pathway
had been lost...

Dante Alighieri
The Inferno

~

Also see my post The Pathless Path

Utter Stillness...

Utter Stillness,
within and without,
comforts, nurtures,
claims me...

Sweet repose in this Stillness...
beyond noise,
beyond feeling,
beyond thought,
beyond story.

Utter Stillness does not anticipate,
does not seek.
It just IS...
awareing,
seeing,
knowing.

To *reside* in Utter Stillness
is pure Being,
pure Awareness,
pure Life...

From the Spaciousness of Utter Stillness
life is just experienced...

no conclusions,
no interpretations,
no judgments,
no reactions,
no labels...

Just Life being lived...

Utter Stillness...

Sweet Refuge...

Mystic Meandering
2010

To Touch "The Divine"...

To touch “The Divine” imbues
a quiet stillness of being;
feeling the pulse of energy

coursing through your body,

feeling yourself in the
 formless field of Silent Aware Beingness,
feeling the Living Presence hum through every cell,

being absorbed in Its Rhythm of Silence;
and feeling the body respond
to ITs Touch…

To touch “The Divine” ~
not an entity - as such,
not a “god” or “deity” – as such
but a formless field of energy
that we float through
and that floats through us,
brings a harmonious wholeness
in reciprocal
 oneness

To touch “The Divine” in the
 Great Silence
is complete rest,
complete release,
complete equanimity,
surrendered wholly to
”the Divine”

Not a surrendering – as such,
only allowing oneself to be
Touched;
to feel the
The intimate Touch of

 “The Divine”

 within ~

It can’t even be called “Love” – as such
It is way beyond “Love” - as we know it...
It is a sublime energy,
a deep stillness
that cannot be
described,

 or named
by words

Only felt,
experienced,
in the body,
in the energy field
and substance of the body,
through direct awareness…

And all one can do is breathe
and say thank you~
Thank you for the Mystery of
this wondrous, ineffable
  Divine Touch

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
Dec. 15, 2015

On The Exit Ramp...

B took an unexpected trip to see his nearly 91 year old mother last weekend at the Care Facility in New Mexico, near her daughter, where she has been now for more than a year.  She is what he calls – “on the exit ramp.”  She is not “dying” at this moment in time – although we weren’t sure, as she had recently been hospitalized, the body possibly shutting down, and we thought this might have been it.   Still, she is clearly on the exit ramp of life.   She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s several years ago.  She still recognizes her son, and remembered who I was, even though I was not there on this trip.  But there was no enthusiasm in the recognition as in previous visits this past year… 

The first day he just sat with her at her bedside for hours as she slept.  The staff would get her up to eat her meals in the dining hall – via wheelchair, but she kept her eyes closed – not engaging.  There is no emotional expression anymore, except a look of confusion or worry.  She appeared to be on automatic, as if blank, withdrawn into herself.  Sometimes there were glimmers of understanding, sometimes not…  And yet, she seems to be *aware* at some level.  She cannot hear, has a Cochlear implant – which helps, but not completely.  She would occasionally open her eyes to see if he was still there – but was otherwise unresponsive – less engaged; although, she has learned some simple sign language with a couple of members of the staff, and seems to respond to them, which was surprising…

And we wonder, has she truly reached the end of her life, or does she have many more years living like this… Of course nobody really knows…

In one of B’s communiqués to me, in response to my question about how he was feeling about all this, he wrote:

Acceptance of her present place and behavior on the exit ramp.

Yes, of course, acceptance of where she is, and whatever behavior she is displaying on the exit ramp, without trying to *make* her respond, or converse, or be what *he* wants her to be.  And so he sat, quietly, in her wheelchair next to the bed, just being present, silently reading his Kindle as she slept…  The only question she asked: Are you going to be here?  We think she meant, when she woke up.  Maybe this is why he wanted to go alone.   So he could fully *be* there, be fully present, without distraction…

On the second day she was roaming the halls in her wheelchair when he arrived. He was quickly in tow, following behind as she walked the wheelchair, until she was ready to go back to bed.  In the photo below she is taking a break and seems to have fallen asleep again… Yet, we aren’t sure if she is truly sleeping, or just turning inward – disengaging from the world…  “But where does she go?” – my sister-in-law asked…

B continues to amaze me with his wisdom in this situation.  I don’t know why it amazes me, it just does.  Perhaps because it’s usually what *I* need to hear.  He reminded me through this visit with his mother that it is about learning to see how life plays itself out from the perspective of the Eternal Being that we are – that embodies the body; that is non-reactive to, and non-judgmental of what is happening, but is just Aware…  And this is the key, to always return to this internal space of *Awareness* of the Eternal Being that we all are.  That no matter what life dramas/events we are entwined in/with, we can return to that place of Silent Awareness within.  Our Eternal Being accepts every situation and others with a sense of openness and curiosity, with a sense of compassion, with no need to “fix” it/them – *allowing* everything.  I know this is true…  I just need reminders…  And it doesn’t mean that one doesn’t *feel* anything about what is happening either.  Even the feelings are allowed to play themselves out.  I learn so much when I actually *listen* to him. J  When I’m on the “exit ramp” I want him sitting by my side to usher me across the threshold…  But of course, we’re all already on the “exit ramp” aren’t we… J - some just further along than others…

Divinely Human...

My mind wants to tell me that ‘just sitting’
- sitting meditation in Silence – is not enough.
But my Heart/Spirit knows that
’just sitting”-
in Silent Awareness

is exquisitely enough…

It is
communion
with the
Infinite
Beingness
of all
life

It is the “medicine”
for every ailment…

It is the Light that brings awareness
to all hidden places…

It is the Spaciousness
from which all knowing
and all needed action
arises
with
clarity

Heart says:
Spend as much time as possible
’just sitting’

in the depths
 of Silence
communing

with the
 inner movement
of
    Eternal Being…

experiencing intimately
 the embrace
and intelligence
of what lives us;
not resigned to
”just being human…”

not settling…

But being aware
of our Humanness and Infiniteness
as One Rhythm,
playing together…
The Infinite manifest as finite,
the formless in form:
The Truth of Existence…

Humanness infused with
such Suchness
that we are enlivened with
a Life
much vaster
than
”just”
our humanness…

Can we truly embrace
that

enlivened
Life
as
who
we
are

The
Pure
Conscious
Awareness

that
breathes
us
into
e
x
i
s
t
e
n
c
e

Can we allow ourselves to remember
what we *really* are,
beyond
disturbances of the mind,
our insecurities,
our thoughts,
our feelings,
our beliefs,
our
self-image,
our self-identities
our roles and labels…

Can we allow ourselves
to see/sense/know
The Infinite Presence
that
we
are
behind these eyes,
behind this persona,
animating this body:

The Heart of Being

that
we have longed
to know
all our lives

Don’t settle…

Can we quit pretending
that “we’re only human”
that we can’t know…

Can we
take off the shadowy masks
that blind us,
and
SEE

the
Infinite Conscious Awareness
that we are…

That we are Divinely Human…

You don’t have to wait lifetimes…
It’s right here, right now -
everywhere…

Just be still
’just sit’
in
Silence

and
listen

Open the eyes of the Heart
and
SEE

Our “Divine Essence”
 has always been here

Feel IT

Experience IT

Don’t settle…

Meditative Writings
original -August 2012
reworked May 2014

~

“Divine Essence” is also:
Buddha Mind
True Nature
Infinite Consciousness
Pure Awareness

Eternal Being
Presence

~~~~

Photo: Yin-Yang Lotus Mandala
May 4, 2014

Journaling as Meditation...

I want to draw your attention to a guest post I wrote over on Aarathi Selvan’s Weblog.  Aarathi asked if I would write on “The Nature of Contemplative Journaling.”  Aarathi has been one of my dear blog friends for a while now.  She lives in India with two small children under two!  She is also a Psychotherapist, Writer, Mindufulness Guide, and student of Contemplative Art and Photography.  She has recently created a new website where she explores meditation, mindfulness, mental health and spirituality.  Thank you Aarathi for this opportunity to write!

For me “journaling” is not only about bringing mindfulness and awareness to my life, relationships, and spirituality, but is a meditative practice to turn that awareness to the deeper space of inner Silence…  Read more at the link below and then enjoy browsing through Aarathi’s lovely space…

http://aarathiselvan.com/2013/12/27/the-contemplative-nature-of-journaling/

I also want to mention an excellent book on journal writing that was helpful to me some 20 yrs ago.  It is called: Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Quest by Christina Baldwin.

Perfect Pulsing Silence...

This piece below was written during a practice I call
 “Window Sitting”
 when I sat at an open window late at night in silence,
 experiencing the "Rhythm of Silence"
that permeates all Nature; just being aware, just noticing -
just listening to the sounds of Silence,
experiencing the smells and feel of Nature
 out the open window -
 writing in the dark of night, or sometimes in moonlight,
at the window sill…

May we all find The Rhythm of Silence
in these hectic times ~ ~ ~

Perfect Pulsing Silence

Perfect pulsing Silence
Utter Stillness
Breath-giving Life.

This is what I come to the window for ~
to sit in utter and complete Silence – the pulse of Life;
to smell, feel and sense 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 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,
feels cool,
smells refreshing,
inviting me to be aware…

I gaze inward
to the Silence within,
that is mirrored out the window,
in the silence of the night.
It’s all the same Silence…

The Rhythm of Silence begins ~

I sit back in the 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 Silence;
all life, all breath, all death, all movement
occurs within this vast space of Silent Awareness
that we are…

In The Silence of awareness
I know that 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 the Mystery…

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

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
May 2011

~♥~

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

Intimacy With Infinite Silence...

I *am* nameless, and formless...

I *am* Infinite Silence.
Alive, Aware, Ever-Present
Silence…

“I” dissolve into the Great Ocean
of Silent Awareness,
Silent Beingness;
non-existent Existence
that just IS!

Silence is That which LIVES,
the formless Essence of Life -
nothing else…

Everything is dissolving…
The form dissolves into energy,
into fluidity,
into Infinite fluid Silence.

I *feel* my “self” dissolve.

Silence turns into Joy,
into excitement, and curiosity -
innocent once again;
a natural process of metamorphosis
into the True State
of nameless Silence.

I *love* the nameless Silence that I am!
The fluid Silence of Life
Open and Aware

Intimate…

THIS is JOY!

Mystic Meandering

Meditative Writings
August 26, 2013

~

Photo: Shadow of my husband...

You might also like:
Intimacy with Deep Silence
or some of my other
prose poetry and meditative writings
listed under "Poet" in the right hand margin...

Reflections - Alzheimer's

Our time visiting with B’s mother last weekend was poignant.  It went much better than expected.  We had been told by family members that she was unable to see, hear, and was pretty much withdrawn into herself, having been diagnosed with "Alzheimer's."  We were unexpectedly surprised, as she was quite coherent – recognizing both B and me.  “She” was not absent, not blank.  She could see, not well, but well enough to recognize us, and could read large letters on her birthday cards.  She could hear with the aid of her cochlear implant, although it was intermittent.  We soon let go of the imposed label of “Alzheimer's” and just experienced her as she was – engaging with her as she was – not having expectations for how she was supposed to be – either way – coherent or confused.

We had been instructed by family members that it was okay to ask her questions, but we found that barraging her with questions to see what she could remember was unnecessary.  There were many things she remembered. Instead, after an initial barrage of questions, we just sat there with her, quietly, just being present with her, enjoying the silence without expectation of interaction.  B and I sat across from each other while his mother gently rolled back and forth in her wheelchair between us; which I found interesting behavior.    Before long she spoke, saying she had to be in the care center (which she thought was a hospital) until she got “better” (meaning until her broken arm had healed – which it has) but did’t think she would get out of there.  She said she just wanted to go home.   She wanted to know if she could come live with us…  We were told that Alzheimer’s patients do that.  They want to leave (escape) and go “home” – wherever “home” is in their minds.  But we were struck by her question.  It was deliberate and pointed right at B.   She turned away from me as if I wouldn’t hear, and asked: Can I come live with you?  Oh dear… What do you do with that!

It was quite clear from our time with her that although she clearly had diminished capacity, memory, and had moments of confusion – often asking if her mother was going to come to her birthday party, and repeatedly asking us how long we were going to be there, she also was quite *aware* and knew exactly what she did and *didn’t* want.  Had she lost connection with herself?  It didn’t appear so to us.  Her personality was still quite in tact, including mannerisms of speech and nuance of affect that I clearly remember. 

Her birthday party was filled with laughter, as she quipped that she was surprised that she had lived that long, hoping that she would have more birthdays “here” (in the care center).  You could see the pleasure as well as the lostness on her face.  Interesting. 

On our last evening there, after an agitating incident in which I innocently tried to get her to eat her dinner, she told me I should go have dinner and come back later, then closed her eyes and withdrew somewhere into herself, and rapidly rolled her wheelchair back and forth at the table, occasionally peeking to see if I was still there.  I began to wonder if it would be better if I left the room.  This went on for nearly an hour.  They said she was soothing herself with this movement.  But what was she agitated about – was it the loss of control, being directed to eat when she didn’t want to.   She was clearly angry.  Was she not able to handle the emotion, and this was her way of soothing it – like an autistic child?  Who can say…

Later, we each went to her to tell her that we were leaving.  When it came my turn, I was tentative as I bent down, looked in her eyes and said I was leaving.  With sad eyes she said, you’re leaving with B aren’t you… as if she had remembered that we were leaving the next day, resigned to the fact of our departure.  Once again I was surprised.  She lifted her hand and placed it on my face as we stared into each other’s eyes.  A poignant moment of connection…  Someone is still “home”…

Photo:
An unfinished mandala,
like an unfinished life…

Breakthrough - Acceptance and Awareness...

I’ve been hidden behind a cloud of depression the last couple of weeks.  Dealing with an aging body that doesn’t allow me to do the things I once did with ease; dealing with family dysfunction that tends to keep life in constant chaos, like an undertow of unconsciousness pulling me under; and just the challenges of everyday life with its distractions that keep pulling at me – resisting the pull…

Last week I returned to a regular sitting meditation practice that became part of the breakthrough.  Sitting in meditative Silence without agenda, bringing awareness to what is Aware within, is healing.  Not needing life to *go* a certain way, or needing to *do* something about the way life is going; not needing to *react* to life, but resting in the inner space of Silent Awareness.  Unless one has experienced this deep Awareness of Being, it is hard to explain, and sounds rather boring, maybe even anxiety provoking to sit in the space of Silence.  But it does make a difference.  You become aware of an aliveness in the Silence that speaks, that has rhythm, that is aware.  A recognition arises that you are that Silence, that Awareness.  And you realize that it is this Pure Awareness/Consciousness – the One Reality - that is living us and what we call “my life.”  I must be reminded of this all the time.  It is the mind that keeps dragging me into the shadows of unawareness and non-acceptance, where I beat myself up.

This morning, as I was waking, the words “accept life” came to me.  Really!? J Where have I heard that before! J  Another breakthrough.  Yes, of course!  I was excited as I began to feel “acceptance” for life welling up within.  The cloud started to lift.   I had in mind that I would get up and do my “normal” routine, then meditate, start a mandala, read, do laundry, and maybe do the budget – with acceptance of course - maybe.  Instead, I was distracted by a rather lengthy conversation with my husband, reading inspiring blogs, and unexpectedly wrote this blog post!  I did eventually sit in silent meditation late in the afternoon. J But the day unfolded completely different than I had anticipated.  The mind said: “I should have done such and such…”  Acceptance said, all is as it should be.   

Acceptance is not new, of course.  This is what most great Spiritualities teach – Acceptance and Awareness – the keys to living freely and peacefully…   In seeing life as a distraction, or only seeing the distractions in life that keep *me* from what I *think* I really want, anger and frustration arise - daily, which led to depression (anger turned inwards).  I was identifying with the small disgruntled, unhappy “me”, unaware of the Spacious Awareness of Being that accepts life as it is in a fluid dance of living.  I had forgotten how to dance with life.  It seems for me to be an ongoing process of revelation.

In becoming aware and accepting there was a sense of release and freedom, a sense of anticipation, not expectation, about life without dread of what the day would bring. In Meditative Silence one begins to see life more holistically; that life just is the way it is.  From the space of meditative Awareness there is acceptance and allowing for everything – including depression – that needs to be brought into daily living.  And, I am once again reminded that it’s how we *see* life that makes the difference - the perception.  That too is a key to staying open and aware to what life offers us.

“Think in ways you never thought before.
If the phone rings, think of it as
carrying a message,
larger than anything you’ve ever heard…

When someone knocks on the door,
think that he’s about to give you
something large:
tell you you’re forgiven,
or that it’s not necessary to work all the time,
or that it’s been decided that
if you lie down
no one will die…”

Robert Bly
excerpt from Morning Poems

Via – Love Is a Place

Who’s knocking at your door?
What message is life bringing you
disguised as a distraction, as depression,
as frustration?

You might be surprised!
Knock, Knock… J

A Pause for Momentary Insanity...

What a week!

We have been anticipating that DH would be hired permanently by the company he has been working for as a contract-to-hire for the last year.  Instead, DH was given notice on Tuesday that he will NOT be hired, although there was every indication in December that he would be.  So this came as quite a shock.  It was a moment of insanity – the expectation of a certain outcome and then given another. We had unconsciously become attached to this outcome, *believing* life was going to go a certain way.   Instead we are at the edge of the unknown again…

Word has it that the “Fiscal Cliff” scared the higher up mucky-mucks at corporate.  So they pulled in the reigns on the budget and let go of managers and purged the contract-to-hire people - the reality of the corporate world.  What a landslide we have found ourselves in, scrambling – putting us in survival mode once again.

DH was very philosophical about it, saying that he saw this as an invitation to a new adventure.  That’s just who he is, how he sees life, even though he was riding the wave of anxiety and fear as well.  But this was not the “adventure” I had in mind!  - I reacted.  I was just beginning to relax and breathe again, believing we might actually have some financial security and stability again after many years of living without it. And I was surprised at how quickly I was pulled under by the waves of shock, disbelief, numbness, depression, anxiety and anger…  And I also felt a very deep sadness for DH, who has gone through this so many times in the last 10 years as the economy continues to fail.

The next morning I awoke and felt the grip of fear in my gut, and a deep crushing void in the middle of my chest where my Heart was supposed to be. A heart wounding cry rose from deep within, from a depth I have not known before, as if a death had occurred  - a death of a constructed life that we thought was real - collapsing  - again; the death of the ‘self’ with its idea of the way life should be - collapsing…  Waves of emotion passed through… And I learned how much depth there are to these waves and how easily it is to get caught in their undertow.

And then there was the call to Silence – a deep inner Silence of Being – a collapsing into just Being…  And in that Silence of Being a realization that everything happens to collapse what you have identified with, the deconstruction of self-identifications of who you think you are, the beliefs, the ideas, the opinions, the mental constructs of the way you think  life should be… And the insight came that everything is based on interpretation, how we interpret our circumstances.  The awareness arose that every experience is an opportunity to awaken to That which lives deeply within us – our True Beingness that just IS – beyond the emotions, beyond the pain, beyond the chaos of life’s circumstances, beyond our self-centeredness.   LIFE unfolds on its own terms, not how I wish it to…  So we unfold with it…   How easy it is to forget this…

As I awoke this morning I turned inward to the awareness of that familiar feeling of inner Beingness – the deeper Reality that life takes place *in.*  I slipped out of momentary insanity, out of the ego’s grip, into the awareness of the Greater Reality of Being that is always here – that just IS - that silently lives every experience in every moment.  When I keep turning inward to Beingness, trusting and resting in THIS, I am at peace with what is…

“There is a force which gives you life – seek That.

If you want to find the greatest treasure
don’t look outside,
look inside and seek That…”

Rumi

Photo: Eeyore
Sorry for the graininess

It’s kinda like life is at the moment J

Remembering...

“The greatest illness is forgetting what we are.
Life is about remembering who we are
through the space of our innermost Being.
Turn toward the essential stillness within…”

Michael Harrington
From Illness to Stillness
(read an excerpt here)

“At the edge of restful darkness
the sacred life force calls to us,
asking us to remember…

We feel the longing to go home
to what we are…

It is the impulse of the life force
within us…

Surrender…

You will see this inner essence,
this innocence,
like a bright thread woven throughout
the center of your life…

Living it consciously is why we are here…

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

“Experience directly the invisible,
ever-present current of Being
that underlies and gives rise
to the world.”

Joan Ruvinsky

“We must let ourselves be led
by the inner thread of Silence
and intuitive Awareness,
beyond where all paths end,

to that place of sacredness
where we go innocently -
not once but continually…”

and discover

“There is only Being ItSelf
through you,
as you,
and as all that exists…

echoing through eternity…”

Adyashanti

“A mystic is content with nothing less
than to touch the Truth [of who we are] in its most
universal purity.”

Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana

~*~

May we all “touch the Truth”
and remember…

Blessings of Love and Light
in the eternal Now…