when you try
to come back home
through prayer, contemplation,
dancing, meditation …
whatever your current path
of alignment
offer no resistance,
don’t mind what you’ll find
make your approach as soft,
as open as the heart allows
try with ease,
evermore ease
what do you see
look at the world
what do you see?
through the lenses
that color all you perceive
clarity
is not found easily
at first all we see
is the world
then we notice
our filters, our conditioning
next the question may arise:
what does the seeing?
yet throughout it all
the dishes still
get cleaned
watching the show
observing the endless
parade of thoughts
how preoccupied they are
with past and future
with worries
and desires
how fragmented, yet urgent
and demanding of attention
witness this show
in stillness, unmoved
slowly the fog
of entanglement lifts
no longer buying
all that thought has to sell
joy
there is joy
proceeding patiently
in the direction of the heart
there is joy
in finding small insights
there is joy in being
guided by mindfulness
welcoming space
walking the meadow
no path to follow
an open space
fresh and welcoming
here ease
finds me again
with this breath
one conscious breath
can bring you home
even if there have been
long times of forgetting
you can try again
without shame, or worry
to begin fresh
is possible, right now
with this mindful
breath
waking up
Yay,
you woke up!
how glad life is
for your companionship
it’s been waiting
to get your attention
whispering in your dreams
with all its wonders
calling you
to be together
how wonderful
you woke up!
gift wrapping
we come wrapped
in amazing cloaks
made from the same elements
“stardust!” - we tell our children
mixed and put together
quite perfectly
for the breath of life
to enter in
yet, dazzled by the parade of forms
the mind can easily get lost
may the quiet heart
perceive its unity
the essence of life
moving through all
wherever you are
wherever you are now is the entry point
slowly, slowly
through the openings
of forgiveness
or patience
there is beauty
there is harmony
there is joy
wherever you are
wherever you are is the entry point
could it be this simple?
quite a surprise
when observing
the inner landscape
a light begins to shine
on what has long
lived in the shadows
patterns of thought and
lightning fast reactions
all get seen,
as if for the first time,
in the light of awareness
which can come
as quite a surprise
curiosity and humor,
honesty and compassion
can smooth and detangle the way
arrival of forgiveness
there have been years
when forgiveness
could not enter my heart
when the time of forgiving
and being forgiven
had not come
the leap into a burdenless
present seemed impossibly far
and then . . . it happened
almost in spite of myself
an opening of the heart,
touching tenderness,
healing, a fresh start
the arrival of forgiveness
is still a mystery
yet the waiting for it
is so much sweeter
while patient and welcoming
a soothing ponder
patience heals what haste could never cure
i have felt the healing balm
of patience, the ease it brings
a boon, both in the giving
and receiving
what then is so seductive
that i will grasp for impatience?
this inquiry
surely brings insight
and takes me back
to welcome patience
trusting in the flow
and flowering of life
attention
where will my attention
roam today?
it can move fast and far,
lingering with anything
that holds its temporary fancy
drawn to this, then that,
getting entangled along the way
and yet its very movements
are illuminating
a simple, though trying practice
the witnessing of my attention
may it become
part of the way
the little animal
find that little animal within you
that thrives
on any sort of drama
and take it out to lunch
then, when you sit together
listen respectfully
to all it has to say
you don’t have to do anything
you don’t have to agree
or argue, just listen
and when all the talking
and good listening is done
invite everyone to play
playing
for the sake of playing
for the love of being alive
the sacred pause
this moment
holds within it
the sacred pause
be still
and open to it
you need not
go any further
to come into
joyful union
with life
a simple pause
it is not easy
to pause
there is so much
restless energy,
so much mind-momentum
pulling and pushing the body
without adding any extra stimuli
try just sitting, patiently
being still
observing what arises
pausing, relaxing
coming home to self
let it melt you
there is light
within you
unchanging
and unconditional
turn towards it
in small acts
of recognition
throughout the day
let it melt
all your follies
of forgetting
let it melt
the misperceptions,
the fears, the defensiveness
the shell
that for so long
has imprisoned your mind
let the light
melt you
longing for peace
this longing for peace
deep from within
it calls us
to live in harmony
with our family of
all living beings
to touch the world
with words and acts of peace
to even argue
peacefully, skillfully
without expectations
to be the light of peace
wherever we go
this moment
how pure it is
this moment
never before, never again
quite like this
how to meet
the gift of Now?
traditional ways
won’t work
come quietly
slowly, gently
listening
colorlessly
not minding
the seasons
trusting
the path
wholeheartedly
waking to blessings
sometimes i wake
to the blessings of earth and spirit
sensing sisterhood
with river, trees and sky
and there are no strangers
anywhere
we sing the songs
of blessings to each other
living in a constant stream
of receiving and giving
where everything is moving
and moving on
