Tag: perception

Just As You Are.

You are beautiful just as you are, my loves.

With just as much might as a tiny pinprick of light piercing through the depth and shadows of night.

You are the morning star ushering twilight home; even in silence your grace is profound. And, everything that surrounds? A reflection of all that you are and do.

Oh darling, please rest assured – the world shares its magic in the most subtle of ways: your light, your beauty, your sparkling perfection.

Happy Valentine’s Day, my sweet friends!

In peace and with much love…

Namaste ❣️

Beyond the Confines of Heart.

I’ve been feeling ill over the last several days. My body has been aching, at times, to the bone and my mobility has been greatly challenged.

As I lay in bed, listening to the sound of the wind roaring past – I could hear its ‘texture’ as a dear friend recently referred. And even though the sound shook the rafters in the house, still there was a sense of softness within it – like most of us, begging for care in its journey.

And in that moment, I grew a deepened affection for it – my fear withdrawing into the spaciousness of an open heart. Isn’t it amazing how easily perception shifts? Particularly when leaning into the familiar…a sound, a scent, a tattered image.

There’s a natural inclination within all of us, to seek the surety of steady ground. Our mistake is believing that our avoidance cures the malady of fear given the prospect of an uncertain tomorrow.

But the road that reveals is never a familiar one.

Ravi Ravindra writes, “we need to become freer and freer of the attachment to our own smallness.” Perhaps, the texture of these winds are here to remind – that we are indeed capable of something fast greater than the physical confines of heart.

In peace, my sweet friends…

Namaste ❣️

What Do You See?

To widen the heart; to expand this state of nothingness into nobility – of thought, of action, of marked deed.

This…this is the key; the catalyst to our own progression. And surrending all Illusions of control, we are liberated. Such is the affect of this invitation.

“Let go of the battle,” author, Jack Kornfield urges. “Breathe quietly and let is be” opening to these aspects of experience: softening, building, yielding, growing. Knowing, the basis of any hardship is, at best, temporary.

It is the harmony and freedom we’ve searched for all these years, now humbled before this transcendence of spirit.

What binds us is not found in physical form. Rather, manifested only through what we choose to give it.

A little something to consider, my friends…

In peace…

Namaste ❣️

This Path to Peace.

What if God were everywhere? In all things, rich and poor? In the pining of the forest crucifers, and the gently rolling hills?

Would His presence serve to alter perception? To modify the basis for all interaction? Might we finally sense our depth of commonality? The broader impact of our interconnection?

Would we be so quick to offer conviction? To view from a space absent compassion?

There is much in this world we can not understand; the movement of heart, the joining of hands.

What if God were everywhere, including within?

In peace, my sweet friends…

Namaste ❤️

That Which We Believe.

Our life on this earth is often ‘wrought with trouble’ – or, at least that’s what they’d like you to believe.

Though I’d contend its an exercise of faith; a contemplation of presence against the promise of tomorrow.

As the light breaks, we shift to shield our eyes forgetting our fortitude within this aspect of unknowing. Have we not yet learned the capacity of this paradigm?

Even the ambient warmth may sting the unwilling eye.

Though our instinct is to hold fast, to cling to the tangled mess of this safety net.

And, yet – in our letting go we become….

Truly limitless.

In peace, my loves…

Namaste ❤

A Patch of Cerulean Blue.

A saint once left his home to travel to a nearby city. When he returned he said to his disciples, “This place…you can’t imagine. Streets paved in gold and the skies lighter than a hummingbird’s wings.” His disciples, eager to know this glory, raced to understand. When they returned they muttered with disgust, “Ugh – the filth, the dust, the waning light.”

To each, the same – though, vastly different. Perception can create bouquets from wilted flowers, likewise – it can shift the weight of the world onto our heels. Everything, in fact, is exactly as it seems – and this life, precisely what we believe. The stars shine no brighter from the opposite ends of opposite ends of this earth.

No matter how well we live our life, there is always a ‘calibration’ which occurs – an adjustment of mind to suit the ‘reality’, a chiming of perception within the winds.

But are we missing the oft sought rustling of leaves, against a cerulean blue? Welcoming each day as an awakening, and every breath – a miracle.

You are just one thing, my loves – but you are everything, just the same.

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

This Boundlessness Within.

Did you know, my loves?

All of life is merely illusion; mired in the roots of past experience, and based on our capacity to understand.

These passing ‘imperfections’ are the glory, can’t you see? The majesty of burnished cloud, the curiosity of speckled egg.

All embraced within a single self-knowing; arising through these boundaries of possibility.

We are here to stand ‘as witness’, my loves — to the boundlessness of spirit within.

A little something to remember, wouldn’t you agree?

In peace…

Namaste ❤️

A Miracle Upon the Cardinal’s Wings.

“Every day,” reminds Thich Nhat Hanh, “we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.”
 
So often we miss those miracles through hurried glimpses. We forget to pause just long enough to appreciate the breaking light through the trees. We miss the cardinal’s crimson dress against the evergreen’s attending arms.
 
Gone before it’s ever discovered. And, yet?
 
The Universe never quits; she casts her hope upon every breeze. And, limited only by our willingness to believe.
 
Haven’t you experienced those moments, my loves — in which the delicate veil of illusion is lifted just long enough to see this world as new again?
 
Herein lies the miracle, my friends — a second chance upon the cardinal’s wings.
 
Namaste <3
 
 
 

A Little Something About That ‘Mud’.

I wish I could remember who it was that said, “the beginning of faith, of courage and love – is the willingness to let go of perfection.”

Think about that, if you will – that emphasis we place on ‘fitting the bill’ when the heart may so desperately urge us otherwise.

We want to fit in, to be acknowledged – to please. But, at what cost do we effect such a trade?

There’s so much energy exhausted in our struggle. With tear-stained cheeks we try-try-try, once again – until we ultimately become lost in the paradigm of wanting to be recognized for something we are not.

And, that’s a dangerous game, my friends – to measure ourselves by an external standard, one which never once accounts for ‘heart.’

We are so much more than a self-imposed standard, my loves. And, honestly – the very best of who we are is truly immeasurable.

Likewise, when we let go of ‘perfection’ we make room for it all.

What You Believe, You Empower.

“Your worst enemy cannot harm you
As much as your own thoughts, unguarded.
But once mastered,
No one can help you as much.” — The Dhammapada

I overheard a conversation this morning, between a young man and his wife. They had been squabbling over something, I’m not quite sure—but to the both of them, it seemed equally important.

You see, there’s a dairy farm by my home, just down the road a ways and nearest to my favorite organic market. In the mornings, you’ll often find me there, reflecting…as you see, I’ve found that baby calves make the very best listeners (and particularly when it is that you’ve an apple or two tucked not-so-very discretely within your pocket).

I love coming here on my Saturday mornings, if only for the purpose of ‘just sitting quietly for a while.’ You see, meditation isn’t always about ‘sitting in om’—rather, meditation can take on quite a few different forms…

Including, standing right here looking out onto a field of mischievous baby cows.

I didn’t realize they were fighting at first—had it not been for the calf’s startled chortle and snort, I don’t know that I would have even noticed it.

“I give you everything, anything you want. And all you do is complain,” he shouted.

And then I watched as the young woman, gripping tight the hand of her toddler, slunk forward into a crumpled pile of nothingness. In some ways, she ‘disappeared’ right before my eyes.

“You have a good life,” he hissed, as he slammed the car door. And off they sped down that well worn path of unsettledness.

Oh, dear—such a terrible life blunder; to assume our hearts are so inseparably tied to the unwavering views of another.

I wanted to reach out to her, to remind her of her brilliance. To share with her the majesty of her own human richness.

To share with her the simple truth of our existence.

Life isn’t what others make for us, my darlings. rather…the life we have is precisely the one we’ve chosen.

Every challenge, every minute crying alone in the dark…

And, every moment where our heart has nearly exploded with happiness…with joy…and with love…

This, too, we have also chosen.

“If a hundred people sleep and dream,” shares Kalu Rinpoche.  “each of them will experience a different world in his dream.”

And, my darlings—this world isn’t always as others may deem. The experience we have is exclusively ours to keep.

No matter what the others might think.

Remember, what you believe—you empower.

Namaste, my loves ~ now, if you’ll please excuse me, I’ve promised another visit with my cows.

In peace, with love… and blessings to all.