the moon is so beautiful tonight illuminating both outer and inner skies, collective and personal consciousness… yes, let us all re-member the words of Buddha and shine… shine the inner light on everything, especially, the wounded places in ourselves and throughout the cosmos… with every breath, shine the healing light of radiant love energy…
this capricorn full moon under the cancer sun coming at such a pivotal moment is profoundly impacting my inner tides with the ebbs and the flows feeling like they’re on steroids… and yes, i’m still galvanized by the emphatic knowing of how we must come together, we must break through the constricting shells that no longer hold us supportively, shells that are cutting off our air supply…
so, it was such a joy to go out into the night to have a little time with sister moon and feel her divine feminine energy washing through me, purifying the inner inflammation of an outer world on fire… her light like a soothing balm, like a gentle lullaby, a sweet reminder of all is well in this moment, this beautiful moment…
i’m seeing us in an unbroken circle holding hands around the globe breathing in the rhythm of the waves to the tune of let it be, let it be… deep bows, my beloveds..
the phrase, the center will not hold, has been flowing through me continuously for days in the light of the steady stream of tragic loss by natural disasters and violent actions… the center is not holding, all around we see breakdown, collapse and disorder… we feel an undercurrent of anxiety, many of us feel numb, some feel rage, what are we to do?
today, i am reminded of the other side of that coin through the old Irish myth of when the center falls apart, the pieces don’t disappear, they move to the margins, to the edge of the circle… as pieces of the center now living on the edge, our task is to pick up a thread and weave our way back to the center along the road less traveled, the pathless path and when enough of us do this a new world is created, a world where we live in peace built by justice and informed by our inner journey into our one heart where we rest in the stillness and listen for the voice of wisdom…
and then, we return to the world to share what has been revealed, we make our sacred contribution in co-creating a world that works for all… no one being can solve our problems, it’s going to take our global village with each one of us opening to source, finding our thread, our peace of the pie, what’s ours to do and then our coming back together to weave a center that holds where we stand together solidly built on a foundation of unity…
thousandfold thanks for our flowing together in beauty…
on today’s pilgrimage of peace, i join hands and come together with all our relations across our earth mother as we breathe through our one heart down into the center of all being, breathing in the deep peace that passeth all understanding and holds the center, sacred space of dreaming in the rhythm of the waves of radiant light re-membering the words of our brother john…
“Imagine”
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace… You…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world… You…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
a day of tahoma, the native name for beloved mt rainier pictured above… a day of coming home to the heart and trusting in this wild journey… trusting in it’s rhythm which dances to the beat of the divine drummer of our one heart… following the rhythm deep within to the silent stillpoint where our most profound purpose lies in the ground of being calling us to nurture this trust daily… calling us to offer full presence, lovingkindness, compassion and generosity which opens the portal to a freedom of floating in a buoyant sea and vibrating in a river of joy frequency knowing what will be, will be…
i awaken today celebrating the liberty, equality and fraternity that Bastille Day inspires and the 80th turn around the sun of the beloved Pema Chodron and the birthday of many other friends… i hear of the tragedy in Nice, France during their celebration and it seems so very right to honor all with a practice of peace, a method for generating love and compassion for all… what follows is Pema’s teaching on bodhicitta practice… may we open our hearts and be loving compassion…
The best way to begin this practice is by thinking of a person whose suffering you feel strongly and whose happiness is very important to you. This could be someone you know or have known, or someone you’ve seen on the street or read about in the newspaper. The thought of certain people naturally and easily awakens bodhicitta in us: we care about them and we don’t want them to suffer. Think of such a person and, whether you feel love, gratitude or compassion for them, say, “May they be free of suffering and the root of suffering; may they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.”
There are two aspects of working with bodhicitta, both of equal importance: one is connecting with the flow of bodhicitta we already feel, and the other is being awake to where that flow is blocked. So you can do this practice not only thinking of people you care about, but also visualizing people you don’t like. It’s important to have an unbiased, compassionate attitude toward whatever is arising.
Think, now, of an area of the world that’s in great turmoil—an area where you know people and animals are suffering a lot. When you’ve chosen the place, think of the men there, and say, “May all the men in that place be free of suffering and the root of suffering; may they enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.” Give yourself time. Take a few minutes.
Then think of all the women in that place, and wish that they too could be free of suffering and the root of suffering, and that they could enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Then think of all of the children in that place and wish that they be free of suffering and the root of suffering, and that they might enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Finally, think of all the animals in that place—the mammals, the birds, the fish, the insects and all the other animals—and wish that they be free of suffering and the root of suffering; that they might enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Imagine, then, all the men in the world who are starving to death right now, and wish that they could be free of suffering and the root of suffering; that they could enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Then imagine all the women in the world who are starving, and wish that every one of them—starving all over the world at this very moment—could be free of suffering and the root of suffering, and that they could enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Imagine all the children who are starving at this very moment all over the earth, and wish that they, too, could be free of suffering and the root of suffering; that they could enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Then imagine all the animals in the world who are starving to death right now, and wish that every one of them, all over the planet, could be free of suffering and the root of suffering; that they could enjoy happiness and the root of happiness.
Then bring to mind all the men on this planet—whether you respect them, feel neutral toward them or consider them bad people—and wish that they could be free of suffering and the root of suffering. Wish that they could enjoy happiness and the root of happiness. Because if all of the men on this planet could be free of the root of suffering and could enjoy the root of happiness—if they could be free of all the self-absorption that causes so much pain—we would be at peace.
Do the same with all the women on the earth—whether you like them or dislike them or feel neutral about them—and wish that they too could all be free of suffering. If all the women on the earth could be free of the root of suffering and enjoy the root of happiness, the world would be at peace.
Now do the same with all the children on the earth—whether you like them, dislike them or feel neutral about them. Wish that they could all be free of suffering. Because if all the children on the earth could be free of the root of suffering and could enjoy the root of happiness, the world would be at peace.
Finally, do the same with all the animals on the earth—whether you like them, don’t like them or feel neutral about them—and wish that they too could all be free of suffering. If all the animals on the earth could be free of the root of suffering and enjoy the root of happiness, the world would be at peace.
Sometimes when we do this kind of bodhicitta practice, we touch on people who immediately awaken warm feelings in us. Other times, though, we just feel numb. And then there are the times when we contact the hardness of our heart. Noticing this is very good, because it shows us when we’re open and when we’re closed. We should notice all of these things with compassion and loving-kindness towards ourselves, because the more we’re able to feel tenderness towards ourselves, the more easily it flows to others.
oh beautiful tree, what a way to be…
deeply grounded in the earth
true refuge for the heart
sacred nesting space
~
today is one of those delicious in between times kind of days when yo feel the sense of being perched on a threshold as i was when i snapped this picture high on a hill overlooking Merlin’s cave in Cornwall, sacred site where this magician initiated Arthur in the path of the grail…
a perfect moment to return to his dream cave on the wings of a sea eagle, great spirit’s familiar… to float slowly down landing gently on the shores of the Atlantic right in front of this mythic cave, home to ancient spirits, keepers of the dream…
opening to the power and beauty now breathing us, we enter the dark cave in reverence feeling the way with our heart, seeing with inner vision, graced with a knowing from the guardians of the beyond, we dwell with the spirits soaking in their wisdom…
as we leave to return to ordinary reality, we thank the elements and the directions offering them our devoted service as we wander in wonder on the rainbow trail seeing the world as it truly is… belonging place of breathtaking beauty, beloved space of breath giving life…
we are a pilgrim people, a journeying peace corps, with a deep abiding peace solid in our core, peace built with poetic justice guided by love, a love more powerful than any other force, a love that flows directly from source… so, let us come together, pilgrims of peace, to create beloved community, by being love with every breath, to create a world where all our relations experience heaven on earth, with everyone in the circle of love, flowing in rhythm like the angels above, dancing arm in arm under our central sun, singing the truth that we are one… yes, singing the truth that we are won…
i love this image, even more, i love seeing beloved as a rainforest showering us with breath, giving us life… so, let’s take this moment to feel beloved breathing us through our one heart flowing right into the stillpoint, our ground of being, oneness… in this sacred space, we can open our hearts in rhythm with beloved’s flowing breath and feel the suffering of the cosmos and in the silence hear the whispers of what’s ours to do with our out breath…
i love this image, this metaphor returning to me on this day of pilgrimage when i’m re-membering the conception of the poetic peace pilgrimage over three years ago as a daily breathing practice in rhythm with flow… i love this image, this metaphor returning on this day of pilgrimage when i awaken in wonder and awe of mystery on the eleventh day of living the question of what’s inflaming my lungs, our lungs, the cosmic lungs…
thank you, beloved, for coming in this moment as beautiful rainforest showering us with healing breath…