Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 117 – 4/12/2018

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Named Awakened 12 Reflecting Circular Bridge

journey with me to the bend in the river

to reflect in silence in the circular way

come home to the heart, sacred space of surrender

where love flows freely every moment of the day

~

to reflect in silence in the circular way,

rest in the center of the whirling water wheel

where love flows freely every moment of the day

re-joy-sing in beloved’s whispers… only love is real

~

rest in the center of the whirling water wheel

to be breathed into perfect balance with deep mystery

re-joy-sing in beloved’s whispers… only love is real

dancing at the stillpoint in harmony

~

journey with me to the bend in the river

to reflect in silence in the circular way

rest in the center of the whirling water wheel

to be breathed into perfect balance with deep mystery

~

be still now here in this deep silence

resting in beloved’s expansive great lap

 she sings her children into motion

dancing harmony in the circular way

~

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 116 – 4/11/2018

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Named Awakened 11 Wisdom Mirror All life is sacred relationship.

today, on the magical mystery tour, i delight being in a house of mirrors, beautiful mirrors as i look into your soul and see such radiance… thank you for being such a profound reflection of our true nature… your lovingkindness, compassion, generosity, grace, luminescence, humor, sensitivity, presence, devotion, joy, peace, patience, passion, curiosity and on and on enrich and inspire me in every moment… thousandfold thanks and deep bows…

awakened april is national poetry month and on this 11th day while reflecting on the sacred mirrors, let’s also tune into outer and inner birds  flocking around reminding us to be openhearted and free  and singing a joyful song, re-joy-sing…

 

may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know
and if men should not hear them men are old

may my mind stroll about hungry
and fearless and thirsty and supple
and even if it’s sunday may i be wrong
for whenever men are right they are not young

and may myself do nothing usefully
and love yourself so more than truly
there’s never been quite such a fool who could fail
pulling all the sky over him with one smile

~ e.e. cummings ~

Complete Poems 1904-1962)

may we travel in a  sacred lovingkindness way…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 115 – 4/10/2018

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Named Awakened 10 Awaken Merit Dedication

Resting in the River Meditation

today is a day of resting in the river wherever i am… join me in deep flowing space lulled by the words of  beloved teacher, Thay…

My dear friends, suppose someone is holding a pebble and throws it in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly into the river.

It will reach the bed of the river without any effort. Once the pebble is at the bottom of the river, it continues to rest. It allows the water to pass by.

I think the pebble reaches the bed of the river by the shortest path because it allows itself to fall without making any effort. During our sitting meditation we can allow ourselves to rest like a pebble. We can allow ourselves to sink naturally without effort to the position of sitting, the position of resting.

Resting is a very important practice; we have to learn the art of resting.

The Buddha said, “My practice is the practice of non-practice.” That means a lot. Give up all struggle. Allow yourself to be, to rest.

Let us visualize the waves on the ocean, several waves appearing on the surface of the ocean. Some waves are big, there are those that are small, and each wave seems to have its own life.

…if the wave is able to bend down and touch the water within herself, it will realize that while it is a wave, it is at the same time water. Water is the foundation of the wave. While waves can be high and low, more and less beautiful, the water is free from all these notions. That is why if we are able to touch the foundation of our being, we can release our fear and our suffering.

Touching the foundation of our being means touching nirvana. Our foundation is not subjected to birth and death, being and non-being. A wave can live the life of a wave, but a wave can do much better than that. While living the life of a wave, a wave can live a life of the water. The more our solidity and our freedom grows, the deeper we touch the ground of our own being. That is the door for emancipation, for the greatest relief.

~Thich Nhat Hanh~

may we all rest in the river living the life of water…

for the benefit of all, let us dedicate the merit of this meditation to the ever expanding field of cosmic awakening…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 114 – 4/9/2018

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Named Awakened 9 Rumi Flowing Water Whale Watching

this afternoon, i feel weary  with a sadness in the cells and i sit in this river letting it wash over me… this evening, i re-member that today is the sixth anniversary of a miracle, yes, new seeds are growing…

even though i’ve experienced many miraculous healings over many turns ’round the sun, this one was especially incredible… fast forward a couple of more turns to when a western doctor doing a work up in prep for an eye surgery asked me how i’d defied western medicine so many times… without any thought, the words simply flowed… “i began dwelling in the abundance of infinite love and gratitude smiling and saying thank you to whatever arose while breathing in deeply through our one heart…”

this every breath practice, this sauntering on the peace pilgrimage, is the royal road to the milagro field, the clearing in the wilder ness in the land of grace… free and accessible to all, one need only slow down, silently attune to the cosmic hum, soften into her rhythmic flow, and serve the whole by letting go of identification becoming one with all that is…

isn’t it interesting how we make something that is so very simple into something so complex, so much so, it’s like a forgotten art?

thousandfold thanks we live in a morphic field that is exponentially more resonant in every moment, hallelujah! for the innernet, the most powerful communication network, operating at the speed of light…

thanks be for every breath being a deepening journey into the stillpoint, the center of the wheel, where the dance begins in rhythm with divine flow…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 113 – 4/8/2018

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Named Awakened 8 Awakening Awareness Re-TREAT 2017-10-07 002

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of your own being.”

so, dear awakened ones and awakening ones, a little checklist of some signs you are awakening and, yes, smile with everyone you’re feeling…

12 Signs of Awakening

  1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
  2. Frequent attacks of smiling.
  3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
  4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
  5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.
  6. An unmistakeable ability to enjoy each moment.
  7. A loss of ability to worry.
  8. A loss of interest in conflict.
  9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
  10. A loss of interest in judging others.
  11. A loss of interest in judging self.
  12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything in return.

may we  awaken to and re-member the light we are and  shine, shine, shine…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 112 – 4/7/2018

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Named Awakened 7 Tahoma Equinox

yesterday’s walk along the freedom road of liberation opens to today’s walk of witnessing awakening as loving kindness, the miracle of  walking on the earth dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling boundless love and gratitude, of simply surrender with each step, with each breath into the unknown, into the new beginning that’s been quietly forming with every thought, word and deed, with every choice aligned with our soul, the courageous leap of faith that opens the portal to the path with heart, the path we sign up for on this island home…

come, stand in love for love with me in the center of being where we dream the new story, where singing waters hum in harmony bathing the new world lovingly, peacefully, joyfully, beautifully, where we build beloved community in the new jerusalem of stillness… behold, graceland!

now, is the moment for inner awakening, for listening for the call of our soul, the whispers of our one heart calling us to slow down, to come home and tend the garden of our genius, the spark of light, the inner flame that is eternal and immortal, the dream that will never die…. yes, may we be instruments of  peace built on justice guided by love, hollow reeds of flowing lovingkindness…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 111 – 4/6/2018

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Named Awakened 6 Radiance 2017-07-08 004

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”

~Milan Kundera~

Happiest of Turns Around the Sun, Ms Radiance!

yes, my precious grandpuppy, this being of excitement i get to spend most every day with, this exuberant spirit who always greets me so joyously with the most unconditional love is the embodiment of the Buddha and Kuan Yin all rolled into this cute furball of invincibility turns one today…

this sweet little clown is such an amazing spiritual teacher of  being in the moment, of unconditional love, of joie de vivre  fills me with lovingkindness and compassion moment by moment and pulls me into the paradise of puppy consciousness where every moment is new and fresh, every sound and smell a compelling curiosity…

deep bows and boundless love onederfull being…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 111 – 4/5/2018

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Named Awakened 5 Compassioneers of the Noble Heart

A generous heart is always open, always ready to receive our going and coming. In the midst of such love we need never fear abandonment. This is the most precious gift true love offers – the experience of knowing we always belong.

– bell hooks –

 

today is Golden Rule Day, a day for all our relatives to treat each other as we want to be treated… on this day and every day, may we live lovingkindness and compassion…

Dear one, I am here for you. Dear one, I see you, and it makes me happy. Dear one, I see that you are in pain, and that is why I am here for you. Dear one, I am in pain, please help me.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh ~

in this moment, this wild and precious moment, may we treat others from the spaciousness of a noble heart re-membering…

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

~ 1 Corinthian 13:4-8 ~

treat each other well – we belong to each other – one heart

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 109 – 4/4/2018

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Named Awakened 4 martin-luther-king-jr-service

Fifty-one years ago today, the prophet and poet, Martin Luther King, Jr delivered a rousing call to action in a speech entitled, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, to an overflow crowd at Riverside Church in New York City. Dr King’s challenge to engage in a radical revolution of values holds as true now as it did then.

Fifty years ago today, a bullet robbed us of one of the great human rights leaders of all time who called for a radical re-imagining of society calling forth our better angels to go deeply into the valley of the shadow of militarism, poverty and racism and to act boldly to end these pestilences…

The night before he was murdered, he gave one of his  most prophetic speeches known as the Mountaintop Sermon which called us to action, a call  that today all over the world we are awakening to with the…

 Poor People’s Campaign – A National Call for Moral Revival

there is no turning back now for now is the moment for us to do as Brother Martin asked…

‘Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world.’

here is the MLK50 Pledge… thank you for joining me in this pledge and for making every moment a moment of peace…

A CALL TO PEACE AND ACTION

“No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace”
is our rallying cry.

On this day, we, in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. call for peace. A peace that is more than the absence of war. We call for a just peace. A peace where all humans have the rights of security, prosperity, good and free education, accessible and plentiful food, clean water and a planet free from disastrous pollution to calamitous climate change.

We call for a just peace. A peace where people are able to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence. A peace committed to understanding, celebrating and learning from difference. A peace grounded in what Dr. King called the Beloved Community.

It takes more than words to bring about peace. It takes action. Action that decreases hostility between people and actions that promote trust so that our words have meaning. Action, must occur within a vision.

We call on ALL people to imagine a world without poverty, hunger and homelessness.Imagine a world where we reject racist ideologies and replace them with an all-inclusive spirit of love for ALL people. Imagine a world where we resolve disputes by peaceful conflict-resolution and true reconciliation. Imagine a world, where love and justice triumph.

“No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace”
is our rallying cry.

But, it will take more than vision to bring peace. We must face the injustices of the past and acknowledge the injustices of the present no matter how painful. This means we must find a way to talk WITH each other instead of AT each other. It will take all of us searching deep within our own souls, taking what some call the “inward journey of self-reflection.”

It will take all of us to name those things we would rather hide-those things that stop us from being our better selves. We must not only name them, but also begin the process of purging those things that stifle our growth and the growth of others. This will lead us to form and develop communities of understanding that will walk, talk and stand with us. It is in this spirit-with humility and mutuality-that we will come together with one another and build a community of peace and goodwill for all humankind.

“No Justice, No peace;
Know Justice, Know Peace”
is our rallying cry.

Contributed by:
Assistant Professor Andre E. Johnson,
Department of Communications,
University of Memphis

~

may we all stand hand in hand in love for love filled with the light of divine grace to peacefully serve the world…

Poetic PEACE Pilgrimage – Year 5 – Day 108 – 4/3/2018

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Named Awakened 3 Traveling Awakened 001

welcome this moon (month) of awakened april where we are still under the glow of  the full moon of poetry leading all pilgrims, also known as poets on a journey, to travel in an awakened way as we walk each other home to our one heart…

as we pioneer onward, a few signposts along the way of this deepening soul journey into greater and greater love…

  • A desire to explore new places, avenues, and opportunities
  • A vision of something better
  • An ingenuity to try new ideas, inventions, innovations, or enterprises
  • A readiness to assume personal responsibility
  • A commitment to community, family, a sense of place
  • A determination and the courage to never give up
  • A sense of independence while realizing our interdependency

may these words encourage us as we travel in an ever awakened way…

The Journey 
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.
Mary Oliver