Thrive - Leo Hartong

What environment do you thrive in?
Plants need different conditions to thrive in
and when you try to grow it in a different environment -
it can't thrive.

It's not about preferences,
or about "accepting life as it is" -
but knowing what you need for your spirit to thrive.

It is about the recognition of what it truly is
that lives, thinks, sees and breathes
through and as you...
The Essence of your Being
that appears as you.

Leo Hartong
Excerpt from: From Self to Self

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Turn... Turn... Turn...

Turn
inward
towards Me,
”The Beloved;”
the Face of your Self;
the Light in your Heart;
the space of Pure Awareness…

Turn from the voices of the unconscious,
- the land of the living dead -
the voices of confusion, hatred, violence;
the ones who distract
you from *knowing*
the Truth…

~ Turn ~

~

~ Turn ~

Turn and listen

in
deep
Silence,

in
the
Chalice
of the Heart

until you hear
what needs
to be heard
in your
heart.

~

Turn inward from the stimulation
of life being “sold” to the masses;
with its false delusions of the Real;
including the “spirituality” vendors,
who sell you their “frameworks”
to keep you seeking, striving,
believing you need more,
leaving you empty…

Come – sit with Me.

Sit in solitude
with Me…
Hearing,
Seeing,
Aware-ing,
Knowing Me.

Silently
listening
within

where
“I”
thrive
in
the

S
i
l
e
n
c
e


~ Turn ~


“I” am Here…

~

Mystic Meandering
copyright
Oct. 16, 2011

~

Photo ~

In looking for a photo for this post
I found this one in my files.
It is a picture of the September Full Moon
through the skylight.
What captured my attention
when I saw it in my files
was the reflection of what appears
to be an “inner window” or door.
I did not notice this
when I took the photo,
but only saw this afterward,
and after turning the photo :)
In a sense it is what this poem
is about – turning and going inward,
metaphorically through the inner
window/door.
Just sitting, turning towards Silence,
and meeting that spacious Awareness
that is always there…

Waking Up - again...

After what feels like *months* of contraction around “family tending”, family dysfunction, and the resurrection of unconscious emotional baggage, I woke up yesterday morning to Awareness again… Meaning – I became aware of that vast field of spacious Awareness that is the ground and function of our Being; a spacious stillness that is just there/here, aware-ing life, *being* life… It was like realizing something I already knew, as new – and my body-mind relaxed. Interesting. I felt the weight of the present circumstances lift. I felt lighter, fuller, taller, thinner (heh-heh) and Aware… The energy of Beingness hummed through my body like a familiar pulse. One could also call it Chi, the Life Force, Buddha Nature, Christ Consciousness, God-Consciousness, Supreme Intelligence, Inner Being, Nowness, Presence, Awareness, whatever your particular frame of reference is. The awareness of ‘This’ that we know as our Being is a very grounding feeling; a feeling of “connection” – of knowing that Life is being lived through the body.

When I physically woke up yesterday morning, I felt the usual angst about, and chaffing against, the day. I also had the thought – I’m tired of waking up like this, of going through life like this… I then remembered a breathing practice I used to do each morning before getting out of bed and started breathing into the Lower Dantien, (or Hara). As I did, my angst settled, and the internal Life energy started to move. Beingness “woke up” inside. Something inside was aware of every sound, feeling, sensation and thought, *without* immediately contracting around it in some kind of reactive response of judgment, or dislike. Even thoughts about family were just noticed to be thoughts. Awareness of this inner awake, aware Presence became my “goal” for the day. Part way through the day I lost “consciousness” :) (lost the felt sense of awareness of this ever-present field of Awareness) but - the awareness of un-awareness was just noticed too. I was just being/doing what was called for in each moment and being okay with whatever arose. It was a totally different orientation than the last several months – and totally welcome – finally…. Something so simple as awareness can seem so difficult when one is entrapped in the chaotic mind.

I also realized that this was probably one of the “gifts” of the Owl that had shown up for 3 days last month – the reminder to be still and aware – just being aware of the presence of Life flowing within, the presence of Presence, etc…

I recognized that my Inner Being/Spirit thrives through awareness of this field of Awareness that we all are: The awareness of our True Nature – the awareness of the Silent, Still, Awake, Aware Presence within - our Divinity, our Aliveness, however you know that to be. I rediscovered again that ‘This’ is where I really thrive – in the Breath and Pulse of Awareness.

~ ~ ~ ~

There are so many ways to wake up to and thrive in our Beingness. I so appreciate all of my blogger friends who shared how their Inner Being/Spirit thrives in the previous post. It helped bring me back to awareness of that Beingness, and how we nurture That. Here are highlights of the “thrivers” that I put together from everyone’s comments:

Time in places of Natural Beauty and quiet…
~
Listening to Dharma talks
(satsang/spiritual teachers)
~
Time to contemplate, be still and listen…
~
Connection with, and supporting others…
~
Love
~
Kindness and Compassion
~
Being authentic
~
Being in touch with ones wild nature
~
Paying attention to the senses
~
Lots of free time
~
Meditation
~
Exercise and Music
~
Cappuccinno - really? ;)
~
Creating/Creativity
~
Following the Breath
~
Awareness of Beingness
~


May we all sense our Inner Being thriving!

~ ~ ~

Photo: Last night’s Full Moon
as seen through a dirty skylight window
creating a “moon shadow.”

Nice effect – eh? :)

Thriving...

Fall in Colorado, before “the Freeze”, is really a melding of Summer, Fall and Winter. It’s as if Nature isn’t really ready for the change of season. The natural cycles and rhythms of Nature can seem to be a little out of sync. One day near 90, then a dip into the 40’s with rain/snow mix leaving a wisp of white, and then back to Fall with its crisp Autumn night air, flashes of color, and “Indian Summers” – and hooing owls :). Yes, she is still in the neighborhood! Ya hoo! :)

It’s a playful mix of learning to live in transition with no clear delineations or definitions, just a fluid movement of all 3 seasons blending into one before “the Freeze.” Blooming Impatiens expand, overflowing the limitations of their container with full exuberance, while the Maple leaves overhead begin to turn yellow, although I found this one with a touch of red.

The first snow is Nature’s signal of a new season to come, leaving a brief taste to tantalize the senses. And then a melting of the mantle to allow Fall to finish her song – to thrive once again before the hibernation of nature begins.

After the first snow – a show of endurance from the Petunias reclaiming their life color in one more flare before the hard freeze. In my being there is this same blend: an exuberance - felt as restlessness and erratic energies; an excitement for the shift from Summer heat into colorful, cool Autumn. Thoughts of hot chocolate, apple cider and popcorn waft through, as well as the feel of fatigue and an inward pull to start settling in for Winter’s inner hibernation.

These signals of Nature remind me that I need to pay attention to my own cycles and make some changes in order to live according to my Natural Rhythms, to thrive according my True Nature. But recently that has been my dilemma: How to honor my natural rhythms – while life and the needs of others pull me away from those rhythms. I find myself asking: What is needed for my Essential Nature to thrive… What is It pulling me to… What environment allows Being-Spirit to thrive… Or, is it really just a matter of attitude, just accepting life as it is? Am I still attached to a personal me who just wants her way? That is what I am looking into…

“What environment do you thrive in?
Plants need different conditions to thrive in
and when you try to grow it in a different environment –
it can’t thrive.
It’s not about 'preferences',
or about 'accepting life as it is' -
but knowing what you need for your spirit to thrive.”

“This is about the recognition of what it truly is
that lives, thinks, sees and breathes,
through and as [the person].
It is the One substance – Presence Awareness…”

“…preferences, likes and dislikes are recognized
as some of the countless ways the One appears
to ItSelf…”

Leo Hartong
from his book: From Self to Self


How about you…
What allows your Spirit, your Inner Being, to thrive?

Creating A Heart Tree

Our beautiful 30+ yr old River Birch, the centerpiece of our front yard, is in trouble. It only leaved out on its lower branches, although a few small branching cascades of leaves managed to find their way up a few of the higher branches. She did this 5 years ago as well, and we managed to save her. With a severe drought this winter, and a dry winter the year before this aging tree didn’t have the oomph to fully leave. She didn’t completely “wake up” from her winter slumber. Even though we have had record breaking rain this May, it was not enough to help her thrive. Sometimes I feel like that too – not fully leaved, not fully awake, no oomph, not thriving, worn out from the droughts of life. So we called the “tree man”, asked his advice, which was the same as we got 5 years ago - a 50/50 chance treatment would work. So River Birch has been deeply fed and treated for bugs. She will need some dead wood pruned, but nothing too drastic as we don’t want to shock her anymore than she already is. Too bad I can’t call a “tree man” for what ails me! I need deep root feeding and debugging!

I was inspired by a recent post on ZenDotStudio about a “Heart Tree” she discovered beside the road, and decided to create a Heart Tree out of River Birch - *for* River Birch. I had some stone hearts that I have found in our back yard and on walks over the years and laid them at the base of the tree. I sprinkled a little sage at her base and solicited a little help from the Faerie Kingdom with a little wee-folk door laid up against the trunk, and some metal garden faeries dancing nearby… Hmmm - Imagination, Inspiration, Fun, Creativity and Love – good for what ails me! I am getting too bogged down in words, thoughts, beliefs; in the distractions of life, the needs of family, and yes, even the “spiritual path” has somehow suffocated that spark of Life within – that passion for Living, Creating, Being.



So I’m curious to know – what enlivens the flow of Life within you? What deeply feeds the core of your Being? What allows the *Life* that you are to come alive?


If you would like to contribute a stone heart that you have found you can email me at mysticmeandering@gmail.com and I will send you my address.

~*~