“responding to the gift”
yes, there is great need for wisdom
and ethics and discipline
yet, there also needs
to be the Wonder
the still moments
when wide open silence
is the purest expression
of our love
in response to the gift
of life
the small big things
“gratitude for the small-big things”
let me give thanks
for these days
of mobility,
good eyesight,
and freedom from pain.
for my voice,
sense of balance,
and healthy lungs and guts.
for all that works so well
that gives and lives in constant service
to this body i call home
let me give thanks
the art of remembering
“above the fog”
this seems to be a hurdle
we all face
the remembering
of our best intentions
of kind, skillful ways
and qualities that nurture the heart
of humanity
easy to talk about, to write about
much harder to practice
living life from our genuine core
each of us making their many attempts
to rise above the fog of forgetfulness
for the joy of it
“entwined”
today
i will companion the day
for the pure joy of it
cheering on the ever-changing clouds
welcoming the newborn mushrooms
witnessing and marveling at it all
while Life and i holding hands, skip along
change the world
“shine upon all equally”
our words
change the world
spreading far and wide
long after they have left our lips
our communications
with others and with ourselves
ultimately decide the quality of our lives
may our words then
be spoken from the heart
with the clean intent to uplift one another
listening
“as if for the first time”
me and my ears
went on a playful date
voyaging together on the ocean of sound
hearing as if for the first time
until the familiar became wondrous again
where what we thought i knew
dissolved
what freedom!
How are you?
“wholehearted”
“How are you?”
three short words
so often spoken
usually directed outward
often asked in passing
but what if, we turned
these words inward?
asking them with warmth
and wholehearted interest:
How are you . . . body of mine?
How are you . . . my heart and feeling life?
How are you . . . my thoughts and mental processes?
and paused and patiently listened . . .
then these three words
could become the opening
to a fine internal conversation
bringing ourselves back
into the here and now
the hearth of kindness
“the hearth”
may my life never stray far from kindness
for do we not all flourish when nurtured by kindness?
does kindness not reach across distances and divides,
healing our loneliness and misperceptions?
given freely, without cleverness or calculation,
asking nothing in return
kindness becomes a simple way of life
may my life always return
to the hearth of kindness
to be still enough
“living art”
what a living art it is
to be fully awake
to this moment
to be still enough
to notice our own life
moving within the flow
as each unique instant melts
like a snowflake - seeking to be witnessed
when meeting our warm heart
witnessing
“the wheel”
today i pause to witness
the Great Wheel of Change
as it moves
ever onwards
transforming all
in its path
more
potent than
any of my wishes
thought experiment
“imagine, imagine, imagine”
a thought experiment
i imagine
the views that have congregated inside of me,
the firm stances i have on juicy topics such as:
animal rights, freedom of speech, pollution, violence in the media, abortion, weapons proliferation, capital punishment . . . the list and my views on them is long, very long
now i imagine
holding the opposite view
moving from pro to anti, or anti to pro
with equal acumen of reason and depth of feeling,
with equal surety of being right
the question is: will my old mindsets
even allow these temporary thought experiments?
then i try to imagine
holding no fixed views at all,
living without instant likes and dislikes
free from preexisting conditions
is it possible to experience
such childlike freedom again?
playgrounds
“the fields of discovery”
there are four playgrounds
each of them holding special connections
to the Path of Joy
one trains us
to maintain positive mind states
another helps to develop skills and stamina
to recover from negative states of mind
the third playground instructs us in focus
and keeps the mind from wandering
and in the fourth we learn to be generous
be it as a giver, receiver or witness of generosity
learn to play in these
welcoming fields of discovery
passing through
“ . . . living fire”
i am a visitor
to this time and place
in this body
just passing through
here to observe
to grow, to learn, to love
and then return
home
The Great Enduring
“even now”
within each of us
there is a quality
that sees us
through all times
everpresent
even right now
with an astounding strength
it endures
and in its healing ways
it causes lift - the ability to go on
stay close to,
even if not understood,
this faithful ribbon
called the Great Enduring
first thought
“how to greet the moment”
what is my first thought
upon waking?
when after hours
of living in vivid dream-worlds
i wake up and recognize
myself for myself
marveling to find myself
in this familiar body
with the same set of ideals
and bothersome habits
so i ponder how to greet the moment,
when consciousness and awareness returns
may my first thought be
Thank You!
gratitude for the gift of another day
of living in this Great Mystery.
make of yourself a light
“. . . seems to be the answer”
Yes, there is suffering
and pain
in the world and within
( . . . and, are they not both the same?)
often have i pondered
alone and with others
what my response should be
to these tidal waves of suffering
to fall into the bog of despair,
hide in the cave of avoidance and forgetting,
or succumb to the blindness of
self-righteous know-it-better attitudes
is easy
make of yourself a light
seems to be the answer
no blame, no shame
no excuses
just the path
to take the light of peace
and kindheartedness,
of wisdom and patience,
of neutral witnessing wherever i go
to tend this light
of joy and gratitude
for this wondrous gift
we call human life
ageless
“compass of compassion”
there are stories that need to be told
to every generation anew
ageless stories
of wisdom and heart
told for thousands of years
under the sun and stars
stories that hold the seeds
to guide us home
“orienting home”
slivers
“senses sensing”
imagine
all the humans and their senses
perceiving life right now
all the ears listening, all the eyes witnessing
all the tasting, all the touching
all the senses
cast like a vast net over planet Earth
observing life
each a uniquely colored lens
filtering experiences in their own way
each a fractal, a gem, a sliver of the whole
then,
imagine more senses sensing
all the birds perceiving life
all the elephants and the Lilies of the Valley . . .
and how about grains of sand?
do they sense life in their crystalline way?
where does it all begin and end, this living net of awareness?
“a sliver of the whole”
FEARLESS QUESTIONING
“timeless ”
there are these fertile unanswered questions
like:
where did i come from before i was born
what happens when we die?
what is the meaning of life?
children still ask these questions without fear,
startling adults back into instant humility
so what then about these rich, timeless questions?
what are our current best views on them,
our own working theories?
can we live with not knowing,
yet still caring deeply
for these questions
in our own way and style
with honesty and tenderness
which may be
the very antidote
to our loneliness
. . . let’s reconnect
to the fearless questioning of childhood
and warm our soul in contemplation,
keeping company
with these abiding questions
“let’s reconnect”
natural mystic
“ever present … ”
gradually
night gives way to day
and brings the first muted colors
this morning warm rain
and soft breezes stir the air
all-around me
signs of emergence and new tender growth
a natural mystic
ever present
speaking the language of companionship
“ . . . and enduring”
