The Embrace...

Everything is held in the Embrace of the Luminous Unmanifest...

~

This Eternal Embrace is
a dynamic stillness of Being
that holds everything as it is;
a holding space for everything to just Be...

~

We are held in this space of Divine Embrace -
a Vastness that just Is...

~

There is only ever the Embrace -
a deep compassionate Embrace for all life,
for all that is - as it is...

"The Mystery" embracing Itself in every expression of ItSelf...

~

Everything is suspended
in this ubiquitous space...

Rest in this space within...

And when we emerge from our rest,
we realize that we ARE the Embrace -
embracing Itself.

We ARE fluidly and interchangeably the Embrace -

Divine Intimacy...

Sweet Serenity...

Notes from my journal - 2009

~

Photo from the Internet

 

Tea with "Z"...

Today I had tea with "Z" - a wonderful Fellow Traveler who helps
me to see the "Truth" beyond my life-experience.  He helps me 
unwind the mind when I get a little too wound up in the thought
function of trying to figure it all out, and in my over vigilance about
the words I'm using, trying not to sound "dualistic, or "non-dualistic."
I sometimes find it hard having tea with "Z" because he tends to
deconstruct all the conceptual fabrications that I have built around
myself.  He points out to me, in the most non-judgmental ways,
where I am still hiding behind the words - defending, explaining,
clarifying - in an attempt to be "spiritually correct" so as not to
offend, so as to be understood, and where I'm still caring about how
I'm being seen.  Sometimes in this allowing myself to be seen in
the places where I am still attached there is an incredible feeling of
vulnerability, and a wanting to contract, to not see or be seen.  But
today "Z" invited me to see in a way that helped me let go of all
that.  (And here I want to explain that "we" really don't "let go" of
anything.  It dissolves when it is truly seen.  So you see the kinds
of word games I get into here, wanting to be sure you know that
I'm not caught in some dualistic way of thinking and expressing...:)

Anyway, what "Z" offered me in all my wrangling and entanglement
in thought and words today is this:  Who is having the thought that
you have to figure it out, that you have to know, that you have to be
vigilant about your words, about life?  What part of you says what
you know is not enough, that who you are is not enough, that the
way you express is not "right"?  In the moments of silence that
followed as I "checked in" internally (tea with "Z" is very
experiential:), I met the "internal monitor" - this hyper-vigilance
about languaging and expression, the "aspect" that tends to want to
monitor everything I do and say - and - I met the belief in 
inadequacy, in "not good enough."  And in that moment of meeting
them I saw that all there actually is, is Embrace.  There is only a
deep, compassionate Embrace for these "aspects" of the self. There
is just Embrace embracing, holding this vigilance, this
inadequacy, this not good enough belief.  In the seeing of this
all the contractions around the concepts relaxed - let go of me. 
In that moment of seeing I realized that what I had been struggling
with doesn't matter - the words, the vigilance, the inadequacy -
because it's all just being embraced - all the thinking and feeling
and expressing and doing.
There's only Embrace of all that is, as it is.  There is only
"The Mystery" revealing ItSelf in every expression.  It was what
I bring my attention to that fuels it into a fire of thought vigilance,
or thought frenzy that obscures the seeing of the Embrace.  I contract
into, become fixated on, and identified with those objects of attention,
unable to see beyond them; seemingly unable to experience the
Embrace of it all.

In this incredible opening of a doorway into seeing clearly there was
a sense of translucence, of everything being seen through - as it is -
just thought forms, or objects in Embrace, in Consciousness, in 

Awareness (sorry, the word thing again :) that are utterly translucent.
And with this also came the realization that I don't need to to explain or
clarify anything.  And then "Z"'s absolutely lovely words emerged into
clarity: "Don't focus on the words, on the thoughts, on the concepts, just
keep bringing your attention to the Embrace that holds it all."

In wordless wonder...

July 30, 2009

"Z" is Mitch Rosacker, now a professional, what I call a "perspective
changer" - or - "spiritual therapist" :) - although he may cringe at those
words.  He has his own practice called Self Discovery Studio - which
is lovingly known as the Ashram of Inverness. His apporach is
spiritually creative, sensitive to where you are, insightful, intuitive,
 encouraging and freeing.  He is also an artist by nature using art as a
way of opening to "The Mystery" within... 
I've sat with him many times over the years.

MM

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering
enhanced with Luna Pic

 

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

 

The Rhythm of Sadness...

 A deep rhythm of sadness
arises from my heart...
unexpectedly,
spontaneously...

It rises even though
I "know"
that before thought and feeling
"I" am Eternal Beingness.

The rhythm of sadness
is not assuaged
with the knowledge
that "I am That"...

It will not be held back, suffocated
by the sand bags of knowledge of
"the teachings,"
from the caverns of the mind...

It matters not to
"The Eternal"
that sadness and grief
arise in this mechanism called
"me",
like the tides of the ocean,
rising and falling
in a darkened harbor;
felt not seen...

It is held in the embrace of "The Eternal"
breathing me...

It just is - sadness,
rising and falling
through
me

I follow the rhythm of sadness
breathing into the Heart
where it meets
The Rhythm

of
"The Eternal"
and slowly
becomes

rivulets
of energy;
just energy,
decreasing in
intensity.

Only to rise again,
on the next tide...

Mystic Meandering
updated version 2/3/2021

~

Sadness is not something you need to fix,
cure, or transform.  It need not be healed, but held.
You need not shift sadness into some "higher" state, or
apply teachings so that it will yield into something else.
For it is complete and pure on its own.

With the fire of awareness and the ally of your breath,
touch your heart...

Go on a journey into the core of the feeling, the sensation,
the images, and the raw, shaky life that is longing to be held.

And listen.

It is by way of this journey that sadness will be revealed to 
be what it is, a bridge into the universal heart, a messenger
of power, mercy, and fierce compassion...

Matt Licata

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Dance with the Darkness - Author Unknown

The realization of wholeness is simply recognizing that
wholeness is the essential state of reality,
regardless of whether it is being experienced that way.

From: The Natural Contemplative

~

Everything is embraced/held by Pure Consciousness
including what we experience as "darkness."

Nothing is excluded, even the "darkness",
however that manifests in our minds.

You have to be willing to dance with the "darkness,"
which only means that you are willing to meet it,
to be with it, and not try to push it away;
not resist it as something absent of Light, but seeing
that the "darkness" is not the opposite of Light.

Just dance with whatever shows up...

The "darkness" is also part of the dance.

Nothing is excluded.

Everything is embraced.

It is Love dancing with ItSelf...

Author Unknown

~

Photo - artistic depiction of the earth via Uradiance

Embracing the Day

Rest, Dear Heart, Rest...

Embrace the day with Rest,
with clarity, with ease of mind...

Feel the warm, fluid rhythm
of Life around you;
upholding you,
carrying you
through the day,
landing you safely
on evening's shore,
through the twilight
and into the night...

And out of the darkness
a shining light...

Rest, Dear Heart, Rest...

Mystic Meandering
Nov. 29, 2018

~

Photo - Embracing the Day Mandala Art

I recently did an "8 Day Challenge"
presented by Donna Iona Drozda on becoming aware
of our natural rhythms with life; how we orient ourselves
to the rhythm of each day.  The above mandala was done
as a part of the process, representing the rising wave of our
Inner Rhythm reaching outward to embrace the day.  The
poem came as a result of drawing the image.

Iona's next "8 Day Challenge" will be in January.
You can contact her through her website:
Donna Iona Drozda Life Cycle Art/Life Programs.
Be inspired to live in balance with life!

~

"The Natural Rhythm is ever current, ever
within its organic flow,
allowing us to give voice to our
own creative expression of our Core Being
in the Heart..."

Donna Iona Drozda

Be Where Love Is - Rumi

My heart, sit only with those
who know and understand you.

Sit only under a tree
that is full of blossoms.

Not every eye can see,
not every sea is full of pearls.

My heart, sing the song of longing
like nightingale.

First, lay down your head,
then one by one
let go of all distractions.

Embrace the light and let it guide you
beyond the winds of desire.
There you will find a spring and

be nourished by its sweet waters...

Rumi

The Whisper...

The Rhythm of Sacred Silence calls me
back into ItSelf again and again...
It waits patiently while I move
through my stories ~ through my illusions;
my contractions of fear;
my brokenness...

The Rhythm invites me to dance ~

to sway to its movement ~

to hear its pulse, its silent language,
like a whisper in the background of noise
trying to get my attention.

I have to be quiet to hear The Whisper
speaking silently:
Come, be with Me,
Come, and be still,
Come, listen, hear Me,
Come, dance with Me,
Come, and be still...

 I turn my attention to listen curiously,
as if someone has spoken just over my shoulder ~
barely audible.
I wait and listen ~ aware of a subtle presence,
like butterfly wings.
The Rhythm rises ~ palpable.
It draws me to it.

I bow inwardly to The Whisper...
We embrace and dance in Stillness,
the sweet Rhythm of Love...

Mystic Meandering
March 2009

The Longing of the Heart...

It is your destiny to be Love...
The only "purpose" is to BE - Love.

Rest in Sacred Silence
where the ripples of luminescent Love
form and expand...

It is already there in your Heart ~
in the core of your Being.

Love is your sanctuary.

The Longing of the Heart
is there
to
draw
you
in
.
.
,

It's the Longing of the Heart for Divine Love,
for that which is True, Pure, Innocent,
 Whole and Alive
within
you

It's the Longing for the Embrace of
"The Beloved."

And...

It's the call of "The Beloved",
the pull of the Heart.

Follow the call -
the pull

The Longing is your Innocence;
the innocent Longing
for the affection
of Divine Embrace.

Let that innocent Longing carry you
Home...

Where you are held -
deep within
the Divine Heart...

Thrive in that Embrace.

That is Home...

That is Love...

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
circa 2004 - 2006

~

Photo - Mandala Art digitally altered

"The Pull"...

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

A magnetic pull of
Pure Being
calls
from within...
pulling ItSelf back to ItSelf...

In fluidity of being one feels suspended in a
deep internal womb-like Cosmos,
where there is endless depth and breadth,
fullness and emptiness,
all at the same time;
a subtle movement of awareness
aware-ing everything at once...

Collapsing into the Cosmic Waves of Being,
into Existence prior to manifestation,
everything within softens and opens,
like a delicate flower,
including the body,
touched by the subtle
rhythmic caress
of
the Unknown
 ~ breathing ~
~ embracing ~
surrounding ~ and filling;
unwinding the contractions
of body and mind.

There is a "sanity" in this Cosmic Silence
that bestows a soundness of Heart through Grace
that is beyond mere mental reason
and cognizance...

Finding this deeper Rhythm within
one loses a sense of "self"
and becomes...
"The Mystery"  ~

Breathing ItSelf...

The Breath of The Infinite

The Whisper of Love

Mystic Meandering
March 1, 2017

_/\_

A Humble Lover of "The Mystery"

~

Photo - Craypas oils, done with fingers

Vigil of "The Eternal Presence"...

Beholding the Beauty of the Placeless Place,
the Invisible Space of "The Eternal Presence",
prior to the world of form,
where You exist before your "self",
before the "you" was born...

Enfolded in the Embrace of Existence...
Surrendered to The Silence...
Immersed in the deep internal River of Stillness...
You find yourself
in the Hush of the Mystery:
the indwelling realm of "The Eternal Presence..."

Effortlessly breathing a cyclical rhythm.
Overtaken by Pure Silence.
Resting in the In-between:
The Liminal space - holding vigil -
at the threshold between time
and timelessness...

Awake - in the pre-birth twilight
within the Primordial Womb of Being,
from which all things are birthed,
and in which all things exist,
there is a profound sense of completeness;
a place of being fulfilled and emptied out
- simultaneously...

No "self"-realization, no holy revelations...
Only Awareness, and the pure ISness of Being - just being,
 in the fullness of the timeless Presence of Being - within...
Where Everything unfolds
in one continuous, ongoing moment.
No "present moment", nor past, nor future,
only the ceaseless unfurling
of the Liquid Life Stream,
without time...

~ as the body-mind wanders
through time ~

~

What words can convey
what can only be experienced...
And these jumble of words are only distortions
of the pureness of "The Eternal Presence."

_/\_

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings
Nov. 22, 2016

~

The Divine is experienced by the heart.
The Intellect, at best, can only trail behind and take notes.

Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana

There Is Always a Song - The Radiance Sutras

Strong or soft, wild or serene -
Wherever breath flows there is song.
Hear its whisper touching behind the face,
singing in the throat,
Dancing spirals in the sanctuary of your heart.

In this practice of listening,
A moment may come when you just want to lie down.
This is a doorway - surrender.
Fall into the wide-open embrace of life.
You are the instrument breath is playing.

All the meditations you have ever loved
Are vibrating in this luxurious hum,
Continuing even in sleep and dreams.
This is your school.  Just you and infinity.
The texture of the Self is untamed freedom.

Lorin Roche
The Radiance Sutras, 32

via: Being Silently Drawn

~

Photo - Mandala Art digitally altered

The Kiss of The Mystery...

There is an intimacy in deep Silence
that is indefinable, inexplicable, inexpressible
and hauntingly sublime...

A fluidity of

~ s p a c i o u s n e s s ~

A movement of Awareness,

a w a r e ~ i n g...

Everything is open

Pure 

BE ~ ing ~ ness

There is depth and breadth,
yet no boundary.

There is substance and fullness
yet - Emptiness...

It is a subtle, rhythmic

intimacy
of
the Unheard

embracing,
surrounding, and filling
every crack and crevice of existence...
Unwinding the contractions
of
body and mind.

There is a "sanity" in this Silence
that bestows a soundness of heart through Grace
that is beyond mere mental comprehension ~
beyond cognition...

Finding the deeper Rhythm within
one loses a sense of "self"
and becomes
The Silence ~

Breathing ItSelf...

"knowing" it is

The Breath of the Infinite

The Whisper of Love

The Kiss of The Mystery

*

Mystic Meandering
June 2016

~

Photo - Aurora Borealis
from the South Pole

The Aurora seems to take the shape of a round face
looking down, kissing the earth ~
The Kiss of The Mystery :) 

Courage - Oriah & O'Donohue...

I must find the ways, the people, the places, the practices
 that support me in being all
I truly am.

I must cultivate ways of being that let me feel the warmth
 of encouragement against
my heart when it is weary.
I must be fiercely and compassionately honest
with myself  about those choices and actions
that are inconsistent with my essential nature...
I must find the song lines that run through
my life, the melodies that remind me of what
I really am and call me gently back to
acting on this knowing.
I must learn to dance.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer

From: The Dance

I took her words and put then into prose poetry form.

No day or minute offers itself twice.
There is an amazing serenity
when life has been lived to the full.
When the true dream of life has been neglected
or postponed, there is helpless regret.
Life is a huge, urgent invitation.
As Rainer Rilke says:
It is so easy to lose your way -
to end up respectable, trusted and
admirably fulfilling your role.
Yet the whole time you could be suffocating
 inside and no one sees it.
So much depends on how you embrace
the world within you.
There is some limbo in which each
life is caught.
The air is poor in limbo;
grey is the one color there.
Stagnation is the status quo.
All things seem blurred in this half-sleep.
Boredom and indifference conspire to keep
the anxiety buried.
There is endless chatter, but nothing said.
Perhaps it is time to leave limbo.
To awaken: to really come alive…

John O’Donohue

These are his words that I put into
prose poetry form.

The Silence Calls...

Silence called me to the window again.
She beckoned me to come and be still,
to listen…

She waited for me to settle,
to be quiet…
Waited as I deepened
into her Stillness…

No agenda, She whispered…

I listened…

Put everything aside and just breathe, She said.
Be aware of My Breath, breathing you…
Experience my Presence,
Feel my Fullness,
Sense the Intimacy
in every cell…

From the depths of Stillness
I heard Her call again,
calling me back to HerSelf.
Like the Great Ocean pulling back
the waves on shore,
back to Itself…
The wave giving in to the pull…

The Great Silence called
again and again;
the silent rhythmic intimacy of wave and Ocean,
one and the same…

The Silence embracing ItSelf,
knowing only
ItSelf…

The Eternal Embrace…

Come – She whispered…
Follow the pull…
Give in…
Come Home…

Mystic Meandering

Aug/Sept. 2010

Photo: The inside of a seashell 

The Secret of "The Mystery..."

I bow to “The Mystery” of the Pure Being that resides within;
that which all seekers seek, called by different names…

I rest in the Heart of Its Pure Existence,
enfolded by Primordial Love;
Heart within Heart -
The secret of “The Mystery.”

The Embrace of Pure Being

opens my Heart to Its Infinite Love;
the secret of Its Mystery

I only need rest
in this Heart of Pure Love,
the True Guru of the Heart;
and let Love *live* me…

My Heart laughs and cries
at the clarity of revelation -
that there is only Love;
the Ancient Elixir of LIFE…

The secret of “The Mystery” ~

Love…

The secret of Life ~

Love…

~*~

Bowing inwardly
to “The Mystery”

I give my Heart to Love

Mystic Meandering
May 29, 2015

"I sense this Mystery" - Rilke & MM

“No one lives his life…

Disguised since childhood,

haphazardly assembled
from voices and fears
and little pleasures,
we come of age
as masks…

~

And though we strain against the deadening grip
of daily necessity…
I sense there is this mystery.

All life is being lived.

Who is living it then?

Is it the things themselves,
or something waiting inside them,
like an unplayed melody in a flute?

Is it the winds blowing over the waters?

Is it the branches that signal to each other?

Is it the flowers
interweaving their fragrances,
or streets, as they wind through time?

Is it animals, warmly moving,
or the birds that suddenly rise up?

Who lives it, then?

God, are you the one
who is living life?”

Rainer Maria Rilke

~*~

Life is the movement of “The Mystery.”

Life is the manifestation of “The Mystery.”

Life itself is “The Mystery” in movement with Itself,
 as Itself in form.

We are held in the embrace of “The Mystery.”

It wants to be known and seen.

It wants to play in the seeing of Itself.

In looking into “The Mystery” there is a sense of intimacy.

There is only deep, deep Love looking back.

We are held in the intimate gaze of “The Mystery”,

like the intimate gaze of lovers seeing into each other,

seeing beyond each other, seeing beyond the persona,
the mask, into the depths of Pure Being...

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Writings

January 2009

The Heart's Longing...

It is your destiny to be Love…
The only “purpose” is to BE – Love.

 Rest in Sacred Silence
where the ripples of luminescent Love
form and expand…

It is already there in your Heart ~
in the core of your Being.

Love is your sanctuary.

The longing of the Heart
 is there to
 draw
you
 in
.

.

.

It’s the longing of the Heart for that which is
 True,
Pure, Innocent, Whole,
and Alive
within
 you

It’s the longing for the Embrace of
”The Beloved.”

And…

It’s the call of “The Beloved;”
the pull of the Heart.

Follow the call…

The longing is your Innocence;
an innocent longing
 for The Mystery
of Divine Embrace.

Let that innocent longing carry you...

Come Home

Be at Home

In the Heart of “The Beloved.”

You are held there - deep within
the Divine Heart…

Thrive in that Embrace.

That is Home…

That is Love…

Mystic Meandering

Meditative Writings
circa 2004/2006

~*~

PHOTO: Mandala Art

Let Go and LIVE...

Let go

Let it all go:

Hope for the future.
Regret for the past.
Expectations for the present.

LIVE

Embraced in the space of
 Divine Emptiness,
resting at the still-point

with no conceptual framework for your life.
No scaffolding of thought or plan
to hold “you” together…

Dissolve in the great Ocean
 of your Infinite Beingness…

LIVE

without requiring life to be different,
without wanting to change what is
to suit you…

LIVE

Surrendered and emptied out
of the way your conditioned mind
 tells you that life must be…

Let go of your attachment to
 your inexhaustible patterns of fear
that keep you safe, but confined…

Let go

 into the Living Stream
that already carries you…

LIVE

Mystic Meandering

June 2014

Not Settling...

My mind wants to tell me that ‘just sitting’
 – sitting meditation - is not enough.

  But my Heart knows that ‘just sitting’
 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 Tao of life -
the inner movement of Beingness -
experiencing the embrace
and intelligence
of what lives us;
not resigned to
”just being human…”
not settling…

Being aware
of Humanness and Infiniteness -
as One Rhythm…
The Infinite manifest in the finite

The Truth of Existence…

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

Can we embrace
that
Life
as
who
we
are

The
Pure
Conscious
Awareness

that
breathes
us
into
existence
as
ItSelf.

Do we want to remember
who we are, what we are,
beyond
disturbances of the mind,
our insecurities,
our thoughts,
our feelings,
our beliefs,
and
impairments
of whatever kind…

Can we allow ourselves
to see/sense/know

The Infinite Presence
that
we
really

are
behind
these eyes,
this persona,
and
that which animates
this
body

That Heart of Being that we have longed for all our lives…

and not settle…

Can we quit pretending
that “we’re only human”
that we can’t know,
and take off the shadowy masks
that blind us
and see
the
pure

Light
of
Being
that
is
Here

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

Just be still
and look…

Open the inner eyes of the Heart
and
see
with
the Heart

It has always been here…

Feel it.
Experience it.

Don’t settle…

Mystic Meandering
August 3, 1012

Art: Infinite Light

“We have been raised to fear…our deepest cravings [longings/passion].
And the fear of our deepest cravings [longings/passion] keeps them suspect,
keeps us docile and loyal and obedient,
and leads us to settle…”

Audre Lourde

From Finding True Refuge Blog
Tara Brach