Invitation

The curtains closed to separate the outside cold from the warmth inside. Yet the prism cloaked behind the curtains gifts a gentle reminder. To know every moment is an invitation to be open and see.

Whispered Touch

The journey still incomplete. Ten minutes from landing, the plane had to return to where we boarded. The weather would not permit us to land. Perhaps it is fitting that instead of being home tomorrow, when I celebrate six decades upon this earth, I shall be in airports, planes, and a two hour drive home...if we land. I confess my shoulders fell and a few tears ran down my cheeks when the pilot informed us.

Standing in awe at the tree in front of an unexpected hotel layover, I noticed the leaves. Even more amazing the wispy white roots of the tree. Life. Signs of winter, fall, and even spring. Wispy roots reaching out to touch the sun while others are buried deep within the earth. Arrivals can be departures. Departures can be arrivals. Turn arounds can be a wide open roadway. Layovers can be a bountiful buffet of stillness and new sights. To seek the path of a life alive and open heart is not to expect all detours to vanish all obstacles to disappear. It is simply to see the colors and rhythm, and even the roots of a might oak peaking out and whisper, "All is well. All is well." And so it is. Sweet mercy it is.

Completion

I stood with the buffeting wind pondering the long day. Away from nature's sanctuary, a strange city. Dazzling lights, though beautiful, hid the natural glimmering of the stars. "Breathe. Breathe." I missed my mountains. I missed the stillness and quiet. Closing my eyes I listened to the whisper to simply breathe. Lifting my head towards the sky I opened my eyes. Greeting me softly was the image you see. I am sure those walking passed me wondered what was so funny as I laughed out loud. There, beside one longing for nature's soft cradle, was the very thing I sought but did not see. A simple tree singing with the wind.

Was it the trees I longed for? The chorus of leaves? Or perhaps simply to breathe and know the end of desire and longing, was both birthed and completed within me.

Dark's Light

Sometimes the dark, even when looking at a dream, makes us long for just a bit more light. We think more light would give clarity. What you cannot see in the image, is how once the artificial car lights were turned off, the brilliance of the sunset upon the lake and mountains exploded. In truth, I wasn't in the dark at all.

Frozen Dancer Dancing

I sat on the canyon's bank and listened to the thin river dancing below. I knew the river had to be fed, but after all this time did not know from where. Giving my thanks I stood to leave. The sun whispered and drew my eyes. There, never seen before, after all these many many walks was the source. Hidden in the shrubs and swells of earth I had never seen til now. It took the dance of sun, ice, and snow for me to see.

A frozen source, stilled in time. And yet the river danced and sang. Frozen in appearance. Choreographed by the drought hardened earth.  A dancing singer to observe and hear. I giggled. A most most perfect way to see this day, this new glorious year and life.

Focused Sight

Almost unseen the winter fog so thick. Tis but the combination of air, temperature, and moisture creating that which we call frost and fog. No story attached save the gentle touch and dance. To think first of how my failing eyes see the world as a fog. Then to giggle and see again. Tis not a lack or absence, it is but the dance of nature and her ever so soft gentle touch. I can in fact see as long as I see the dance.

Eyeing Fog's Embrace

And what is it you are struggling to see Little One? Your eyes see only the cloud of fog. Your eyes also don't see the mountain that holds, supports, and lifts the tree above the earth and into the clouds. See with your heart Little One. And giggle to watch the clouds descend to caress the earth. Feel their touch upon your face. Alive in this one moment and the touch of the heavens surrounding you...that is what your heart sees.

Circle Complete

Sunrise we look to the east. Sunset we look to the west. Sometimes I too find myself looking for the splash and flash throughout the day. Instead, to see the whole circle touched. A dawn’s gaze to the south that does not disappoint. And to know neither will the views of myself, others, and the day’s events. I just have to turn my gaze and see the circle, complete.

Derailed and Uplifted

               I took my place in line and placed my items on the counter. Another came and stood behind me. The strength of her sigh was louder than its sound. I know not why but immediately thought I had done something wrong. I was the source of her sigh and felt frustration. Less than a minute but the sequence of thoughts and feelings cascaded over a lifetime of self-judgment. And then the whisper of “Little One…Oh Little One.” I giggled and derailed the oncoming train wreck of thoughts. Another giggle, if her presence and energy could so change me, then perhaps my own could change hers. I turned with a smile and gentle hello, my eyes reaching into hers. It matters not what happened next. The real story is not the ending. Except to say, I walked outside on a quilted cloud covered, dark gray, sunless day…and thought perhaps I needed my sunglasses.

“When all your desires are distilled, you will cast just two votes: to love more, and be happy.” — Hafiz

Tags Released

The sweet joy of sitting in meditation before dawn. The stillness of love gifted within and without. All was broken by the scratching of my shirt’s tag against my neck. I started to reach and move the tag but stopped when I noticed how tense my body had become. I was not silent. I had become angry at the tag. In its silent scratching it had deafened my heart and stiffened my body. My mind had raced to fear that this was not a good omen for the day. It was just a tag. It was just a tag. And somehow it had transformed into something more than cloth and threads ever dared to think they would be. I sat with the tag, befriending what it simply was. A laughter meditation, but ever so humbling. A lesson best gently learned from a little tag, than with others, beliefs, and life. And when the unstilled stilled sitting was done, to leave a soft feather of trust and gratitude to this tag…releasing all others not made with cloth.

The Eyes Have It

A function of the camera's eye. How long the eye is allowed to remain open. How much light is allowed in. How close or distant one chooses to see. This is not where I began my view of autumn's full moon. The second picture is what caught my eye. But when I drew the camera's eye back this is what I saw. It is the same moon. Perhaps a whispered reminder of light and the choices I and eyes have.

Changing Strokes

A true morning giggle and opened eyes. Is the image a duck or a rabbit? If I see one and then the other, has the image changed? Each stroke the same, not a one moves yet change is what I see. Perhaps Wittgenstein was drawing neither. And if my brain's perception can be so fooled by simple strokes, how does it see others, events, actions, even my body in a mirror, and the cornucopia of Life itself? 

*image retrieved from http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/glue/longman/2/duck.gif

Wrong Side Out

Sometimes, because of my size, I feel so small. My quiet voice, presence, and often isolation can make me feel invisible. And then comes the whisper that my eyes are turned wrong side out. Tis not the being seen that fills my heart with wonder, magic, awe, love, and gratitude... it is what I see. My eyes a mirror to all and every thing...blessings and peace, you are seen.

Beneath the Surface

To always see beneath the surface. To see the light. To see the strength. To see the Rock upon which I sit. Now. This moment sight seen.

Not Shut Down

Confused which way to turn, we paused at the stop sign to get our bearings. A fast approaching driver screeched to a halt behind us, blew his horn, stuck his head out the window and began to shout and curse, clearly heard through our open car windows. Within an hour of such hostility,  I witnessed a young person help an elderly stranger negotiate the path's incline. A stranger touched my arm and sighing as we looked at nature said "Isn't it amazing!" Doors were held for strangers. Strangers knelt and spoke to dogs on leash and children. Shutting down is a choice. An inevitable choice when we see only our agenda, needs, and demands. To open my heart and to see and join the powerful compassion and hearts reaching out. We have not shut down. We have failed to see.

Winged Balance

Company has arrived. Human and dogs. My normal quiet sacred morning rituals upended. Woven into my body, mind, and heart's fabric I feel unbalanced. Oh, I will politely excuse myself later today, when appropriate, for meditation. But for now, my heart smiles and balanced is restored. Meditation has no ruler, judge, time clock or report card.  A reminder itself that nothing in life is fixed, change is constant and not to become attached to things, doing, or how's. I sit in meditation because I walk in this world of change. I am one among all, moving upon wings of love. I opened my eyes this morning with breath and heart filled with love. That is the meditation. That is the sacred ritual. What greater ritual than to simply breathe "Life. Love. Alive."

Beyond the Skin

*"What color is an apple?" The teacher asked. The young students all replied red, green, or yellow. One young boy was adamant they were white despite the teacher's correction which was growing stronger and stronger. "But when you cut it open, the apple is white."

A is for apple. Apples are red. A concept, a way of learning and seeing the world inherited by all from the beginning. Such a thin skin or veneer has defined the greater essence of white. Oh sweet Life, may I cut all I see open and see beyond, to see within the greater whole.

*Story told by Joseph Goldstein, "Insight Meditation" © Sounds True

Are

Life, events, people, time, and experiences are not the enemy. Change is not the enemy. I am not the enemy. The enemy is not the enemy. A friend becomes a fiend only when we remove the "r".

Transmuting Moments

The sun has journeyed over the mountain hill, it is in a different place this morning. The wind is dancing with the trees. If this were the only moment of sight and then sight would be gone, the colors and shapes of trees would be so different from that gifted with the same moment in just a few hours. Who would be right?  And even if the moment of seeing the trees and sky were done at exactly the same time every day throughout the years, still the vision would be different as the earth moves around the sun. Like the proverb of blind men defining an elephant, one only feeling the trunk, another a leg and another only the tail. Whose sight is right? Whose wisdom and perception the truth? A reminder of how little we see. Only this moment is what we have. To be mindful of how we define ourselves, our day and others based only upon this one moment. But an even better and magnificent reminder of the expansive wonder and awe that is before us.... waiting, waiting, for us to see.

Domeless

I walked up the steep mountain hill I could not pedal. I would embody within, the strength that could meet the climb. Looking up the sky seemed so close. The gentle whisper, “It is NOT a dome. It is not a dome.” We are not goldfish swimming in a bowl. The cosmos and universe extend far beyond what we can even dream or conceive. Columbus shook the world proving the earth was not flat. He never mentioned neither was it a dome. My own body, like the sky, contains a cosmos of Light extending beyond the dome called form. Come Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria… time to set sail………………….