Bring Your Heart in Today

Bring your heart in today.

Too often we lose ourselves in our heads.

Life loves balance.

God is here, why not play your part in allowing for This everpresence to be seen ... to be felt?

Your loved ones will notice it especially.

Bring your heart in today.

It doesn't take much really ... just be present.

In being present, listen.

In listening, feel.

Feel and allow ...

The greatest way to show your love is to see the people in your life

Bring your heart in today ...

Watch what happens as you do.

Little things will start to shine.

Those simple, gentle, sweet moments so easily overlooked.

Breathe as you notice ... feel as you listen.

Let yourself be touched by life in this very natural way.

Bring your heart in today.

He Let Go

Don’t let your mind create a “me” out of You.

Any “me” is false, a lesser version of You. No matter how good or noble that “me” is, it’s not real, it’s not true. The temptation to hold Yourself into a “me” is constant, but You are here to see through all this “me-ing”.

However you feel about “me” ... it’s not You. Don’t let the mind define you. Don’t let your ideas about yourself be who you are. Don’t let the “me” thoughts and feelings control your world.

You, the real you, cannot be contained by any thought or feeling. That’s all the “me” is, thoughts and feelings about You, congealing into a “me”.

“Me” has no substance, “me” is not real, it’s not true no matter what it is.

Stop now.

Slip out of any thought that arises. Let the thought come, then let it go. Watch with curiosity ... investigate how the thought “me” arises and takes hold. Observe how the “me” idea takes shape, filling itself with feeling and identity. As you see/feel the “me” manifest, let it go. Pull back. Pull out. Breathe. It’s not You. That “me” idea, that “me” thought is only possible through the grace of Presence ... You.

You allows “me” to exist by lending its attention to that which arises ... that “me” thought. You then lend it your vitality, your life-force, your very essence ... and that “me” thought grows.  If we are unaware of the process, the “me” thought will believe itself to be real, the centre of reality ... the centre of attention, and so it is, so it has become – the centre of attention. But, that “me-ness” is a construct, a fabrication of consciousness ... it’s simply a thought/feeling that has become a habit.

In seeing this we are free. We are able to find some space in here, and no longer believe that “me” to be the be all and end all it thinks it is.

You ... that you that allows all things to manifest, to be birthed within you is graciously allowing all things to be.

But there comes a moment when You “see” what’s happening and “me” is seen for what it is. And You are free.

Immediately and unconditionally free.

The following piece by Reverend Safire Rose describes one such moment:

He let go. Without a thought or a word, he let go. He let go of the fear. He let go of the judgments. He let go of the confluence of opinions swarming around his head. He let go of the committee of indecisions within him. He let go of all the “right” reasons. Wholly and completely, without hesitation or worry, he just let go.

He didn’t ask anyone for advice. He didn't read a book on how to let go. He didn't search the scriptures. He just let go. He let go of all the memories that held him back. He let go of all the anxieties that kept him from moving forward. He let go of the planning and all of the calculating about how to do it just right.
He didn't promise to let go. He didn't journal about it. He didn't write the projected date in his Day-Timer. He made no public announcement and put no ad in the paper. He didn't check the weather report or read his daily horoscope. He just let go.
He didn't analyze whether he should let go. He didn't call his friends to discuss the matter. He didn't do a five-step Spiritual Mind Treatment. He didn't call the prayer line. He didn't utter one word. He just let go.
No one was around when it happened. There was no applause or congratulations. No one thanked him or praised him. No one noticed a thing. Like a leaf falling from a tree, he just let go. There was no effort. There was no struggle. It wasn't good and it wasn't bad. It was what it was, and it is just that.
In the space of letting go, he let it all be. A small smile came over his face. A light breeze blew through him. And the sun and the moon shone forevermore.

This is the Greatest Show on Earth

The natural world around us thrills to the touch of the Divine. In quiet surrendered stillness, great love and great peace flows through every branch, flower, every blade of grass and leaf.
Spend a moment with a tree ... or a flower or even a leaf, and feel the pure pulse of God's Presence. An everflowing rush of joyousness coursing through the veins of all creation.
This very same Thrill flows through you. It's the Love of Being ... God's Love of Being, manifesting through all and everything and through you.
As I sit outside, taking in my surroundings, every sound ... the bird twittering, the dog barking, the wind blowing through the bamboo ... all of it thrills my senses awake as I allow This to be my felt reality.
As I breathe in, I feel a sweet, gentle caress that brings with it a deeper sense of connection with this Presence. Letting go with each breath, the vast expanse begins to penetrate ... and take over. Thought subsides ... hearing happens ... feeling enjoys ... soft, almost imperciptible, long-forgotten aromas dance around me and waft through me ... my eyes soften and simply see, feeling every form. I am This ... all of This ... and at the same time a vehicle for This. Both the receiver and that which is being received in each moment. And the more I allow for This to be, the more This is.
By letting go of the thoughts about things, the obvious "Eternally Here" of God's Presence immediately reveals Itself ... no effort, simply allowing, allowing this body to simply be a conduit of perception by just being with what is, as it is. There's a sweet contentedness here that can't be matched, an expectationless beingness that simply sits in the pulse of the Joy ... that is the Joy Itself.
"I" quietly takes a back seat as This ... All of This moves to the fore ... "I" is not in any way more important, simply part of This.
A sweet encounter with This daily, does much to to release us from the constraints of the "me" thoughts we take so very seriously.
If you're looking for a way to free yourself from your "me-ness", there's no easier approach than this ... this full surrender to God's sweet embrace. As It's the only constant, we may as well avail ourselves to This now ... delaying the inevitable leap into the sweet embrace only perpetuates the suffering.
Simply open up to the natural Thrill of the Touch of the Divine ... It's happening right now, right here.
This is the Greatest Show on Earth and it's here just for you.





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Contemplate This

Every event ... every person ... every form ... it's all a ripple in the fabric of consciousness ... your consciousness.
It's all happening in the Field of Emptiness and you are its creator. Yes, all of it is in your world ... you create it all moment by moment. Whatever appears in your world, no matter what it is ... you manifested it as the Creator Being that you are ... Take responsibility for how you respond/react to your creations - remember, there's no "out there" or "in here" ... it's all one consciousness, one terrain and you are responsible for it 100%.
How do you respond to your world and your creations within it?
Contemplate this.

Breathing In, Breathing Out

Breathing in, I meet the Awakened One ... always here ...
Breathing out, I feel clear, refreshed, at peace.
Breathing in, I sense the ever-presence that sees through these eyes ...
Breathing out, I feel connected, true and honest ... in simply being.
Breathing in, I remember "I am always with you" ... and I know it's true.
Breathing out, I swim in your blessing, your sweetness and your love.
Breathing in, all becomes available, all becomes possible, all becomes clear ...
Breathing out, my heart sings in gratitude and thrills to be your instrument.
Breathing in, all life is perfect, complete,  just as it is ...
Breathing out, I know I have a role to play and a purpose here, and I give my whole heart to This.
Breathing in, I dissolve back into emptiness ... only your presence is ...
Breathing out, I can share this gift with the world.
Breathing in, "I" drop away ...
Breathing out, "I am here".
Breathing in, silence ... stillness ... vastnesss ... emptiness ...
Breathing out, the world.
Breathing in, Aah ...
Breathing out, Yes!
    Breathing in ...
       Breathing out ...
            Breathing in ...
                Breathing out ...                                 
                    Breathing in .
                       Breathing out ...

One Breath In, One Breath Out

Clearly ... there is only This.
To be separate is to forget,
yet ... no matter, for even in separation there is only This.
We can travel great distances,
we can seek out and plumb deep chasms of unknown,
we can fight huge foes ...
we can lose ourselves in vast expanses of despair ...
yet ... we are always already here.
The path and the goal are forever one,
all vanishes in the light of This,
This that is always here.
When we learn to breathe and be happy in each breath,
we discover a willingness to not be, for Being's sake.
Not that we disappear or don't matter any more
but the emptiness washes in and clears the view
for the richness of completeness to be seen:
"Seen the moment we look...
free the moment it's seen."
This instruction arrives and opens the heart to the unlimited vista
before us, within us ... as us.
Clarity is an empty gift.
It doesn't add ... it doesn't take away,
it simply reveals.
When the heart is laid bare and we are willing to
remain its naked recipient
Great Peace arrives and moves in.
We wonder ... with open eyes and open heart
what is possible?
Staying this way requires only the slightest effort,
coming from the the deepest depths of us.
It's no effort really, just the willingnesss to - breath by breath -
allow and no longer cling.
My joy is Joy Itself...
Pure, Whole, True, Clear ...
Radiantly rich in empty presence.
This is the Joy that sits within every heart.
One breath in, one breath out ... this is all it takes.
One breath in, one breath out ...

One Leaf

Tuesday 5 July 2011

One leaf…
Right here, waiting for me to take a seat.
Planted by the wind
Waiting now
simply waiting.
The wind stirs
and the heart opens...
the bird sings
and the heart thrills...
the tree sways,
loving the wind's sweet caresses.
I don't know much these days
I don't seek much these days
I do wait however…
I do know how to wait.
In letting the wind
arrive in its own time
the leaf drops gently
and lands itself down
on the seat and waits.
Beingness knows no beginning…
Knows no end.
Awakening into Presence
is an awakening out of existence.
In truth, the essence of beingness always already is.
This… This that we truly are never really loses itself…
But allows all dreaming to manifest.
In this allowing all manner of shape and form becomes.
But Presence never becomes.
Presence only ever is.
Seeking is always becoming.
When seeking ends,
Presence is.
The Forever Dance asks for no partner.
The Forever Dance dances as the One.
Stop seeking…
Stop becoming…
And you are Here.
Always already Here.
Waiting… Waiting for what?
For no thing
simply waiting.
In this waiting seeing happens.
And in this seeing
allowing forms.
And in this allowing
clarity opens her door.
And no matter what,
nothing matters
only This.
If you are chasing shadows
stop for a bit.
Land yourself down on the seat as the leaf
and wait…
Don't move and watch all life in motion.

Saturday 30 July 2011

I walked in this morning after feeding our dog Chesco, with a leaf on my shoulder. One beautiful, solitary, golden leaf… Just sitting there. I'm reminded of the poem I wrote back on 5 July… ''One leaf… Right here, waiting for me…"
It seems that the simple statement of the one leaf has been overlooked and needed to present itself to me again.
Enza noticed it,"oh… That's a beautiful leaf you have on your shoulder."
I looked at it and felt its gift immediately. Intuitively I was nudged awake, reminded not to take this life for granted. Each day is a precious gift… And we are brothers of the leaf, members of the secret order of "Living Awakenedness."

It is not complicated at all, but we do make it so. We are each that solitary leaf, yet that very leaf points back to something much larger, back to what we really are, that eternal, vast, infinite expanse that is actually right here on our shoulders. This world is not some outside realm we walk through and struggle with, but is our actual beingness made manifest… right here… right on these very shoulders lies all and everything. This world is a miraculous moment to moment outpouring of formlessness into form. It is not frozen or fixed but constantly in flux. Yet, we can very easily believe in our beliefs about this world, losing sight of the "seeing" ... that clear-seeing that comes with Being.

This vast, eternal presence is not out, is not in… It's simply here, simply this. And great love dwells here, the greatest deepest love of all. I don't wait for anything any more… How can I wait with all everything laid bare… not before me, not within me… simply laid bare as me.

This joyful re-birthing this constant re-awakening into this vast, eternal Presence floods my heart with a softness and a strange, yet clear knowing that… that solitary leaf knows no bounds.
Let it blow wherever it chooses… Let it land whereever it wills… Let it signal the way back home.

Be Who You Are

Okay … that moment is here. Now is the time to “Be who you are”. The world is calling out for open, clear vehicles. Forget all those thoughts about “not yet ready”, “need more time”, “not worthy”. You are ready, no time is needed, and you are worthy … just as you are. The world is reeling right now and conscious channels for peace and clarity are required.
You are part of the plan. If you have caught a glimpse of the Eternal Vastness that sits at the heart of you, it’s time to allow for This to come to the fore. If you have tasted of Its magnificence but still entertain notions of, and identify with the “little me” ideas that so dominate the thinking … the moment is upon us. If you haven’t done it yet for yourself then do it now for the world.
Take note: You are not who you think yourself to be. Look … really look. Who are you without all those ideas about who you are? See This … know this directly.
Stop! Just where you are… right here, you already are all that which you have been seeking. Don’t go looking in your thinking mind for the truth of your own beingness. What you are … you already are. See this. No need to change your thinking, simply recognise that your thinking is not who you are and the thinking will change very naturally in response to this. The world now needs you. Just as you are. Don’t believe those thoughts about all the work that still needs to be done to get there. This is it. You are here … now. You are awake and if you rest in This for a moment, you will discover how so very close It is … how available and accessible This always is. It’s the very truth of you.
Do you feel it? Look around you. There’s nowhere left to hide. Clarify by simply being present. Be here and actively listen with your whole being.
Take note: The vast, infinite, intelligence … that loving, divine presence that you think you will one day become, you already are right now. The moment of truth is here. Take a deep breath … look … listen … feel … allow. Be here … be This … this undifferentiated beingness, and don’t be tempted to define it. Simply breathe … be … allow. This is where all your strength and inspiration comes comes from. Be This now.

The Wonder of It All

The ability to wonder is a state of pure innocence. The more we know, the less we really know. Notice how it makes you feel in that place of “not-knowing”, how does it make you feel?
Many today have lost the ability to wonder, to simply sit in not-knowing … that place of childlike open curiosity, and allow for their heart to reveal itself.
A friend of mine recently commented that kids these days have had their God-given ability to wonder hijacked by technology. He told me about a family gathering that took place where during a discussion someone raised a question no-one had an immediate answer for. One of the children rushed to an iphone and googled an answer. “Here it is.” Everyone now knew, but did they really? The not-knowing as an opportunity to deepen into the unknown and allow for life to deliver a degree of insight or awakening was replaced by someone else’s knowledge. How much growth comes out of this?
Rumi once said: “Conventional opinion is the ruin of our souls, something borrowed which we mistake as our own. Ignorance is better than this.”
The most direct way back in to our own Eternal Self is to simply allow the not-knowing the space to be, to have a place within ourselves.
Knowledge is a crude substitute for the Knowing that arrives when we are willing to sit in wonder… wondering how life will reveal itself to us today. Our minds are in such desperate need of security that the not-knowing is never a comfortable place for it … but it is the most precious place for the soul.
This gift of wondering is pure contemplation. It is a profound spiritual practice that requires no technique … we innately wonder at every given opportunity. We know it so well, as little children we were totally immersed in it, embraced by it … our whole life was an expression of it. Recapturing this place of innocence is vital in our times. From this place of wonder, we are able to open up to the infinite opportunities of each moment.
Dare to not-know for a while … sit in the purity of not-knowing and see what a difference it brings to your life. Come back to that place of innocence and wonder …

“Returning to the root,
We get the essence.”
-Hsin Hsin Ming

Take a moment ... why not this moment.
Pause within its sweet embrace.
Wondering what to do with it?
Ignore that ... there's deeper work to be done.

Wonder instead at the miracle that's holding you.
Wonder at the breath that's breathing ...
The ears that are listening ...
the thoughts that think themselves into being ...
then dissolve back into emptiness again.

Wonder at just who this is that woke up this morning.
Groggy-eyed ... hardly a movement ... then suddenly it's here.
But where were you while the body was sleeping?
Wonder about where you were while the body was dreaming
and deeper still wonder about
what existed in deep dreamless sleep.

Wondering about such things is why we are given
this miraculous ability to wonder.
I wondered when I was four ...
I continued to wonder when I was seventeen ...
I'm still wondering now ...
and I thank God for it ... for the wonder of it all.

I wonder ... what will I see today?
What will I be today?
I pause and I open up to This ...this Eternal Wonder glistening forever here in my heart.
Wondering my way back into You.
God I wonder ... and I thank You for it.

Listen

Listening for you is all I do these days.
Secretly going about my work ... eyes open ... heart full.
When I stop ... even for a moment ... I hear you.
How clever to be so close yet so buried within the world around me.
But it's no secret anymore. My heart's ear tickles with delight the moment I listen ...
And I hear This glistening brilliantly within me and outside too.
This life lives itself ... wakes up each morning ... moves and touches the unity everywhere.
Who is this that breathes each breath?
Who is this that listens for You ... looks out for You?
Trace this back in.
It's a direct link ... a direct road ... there's nothing more immediate.
Ask this one question with your heart and the work is done.
Listening is a deep mystery ... a profound secret that eludes most,
yet continually awakens those who stumble through its doorway.
The wonder of the world awaits the Lover ...
Listen my friend ... listen as you've never done before.
And notice who is listening ... and who is hearing.
Listen ... listen ... listen

You Are This!

We are often walking along the shores of Truth and Love ... feeling the splash of the great ocean's waves, the coolness, the freshness ... and it opens our hearts to an old familiar longing, this yearning that seems never to be quenched. We've come to see that this ocean of Truth and Love is who and what we really are, and as the waters lap at our feet and the immediacy of the water calms and soothes our minds ... we look out at the vast expanse, wondering ... I am That. Yet, the pull continues. The whispers taunt. The endless sound pierces our ears and our hearts ... I know it's This ... I am This.
So what does it take to make that final leap where all straddling between the appearance of two worlds ends?
My heart knows the answer, but my mind forgets ... or maybe it will never truly know, not as the heart does anyway. My heart whispers: Simply Be and See from This that you are.
The waters splashing at the heels of the mind will continue to splash as long as there are feet to meet the water's edge. But that Vastness, always already is. Your heart knows this, has always known this, eternally knows this. Simply be here in this heart-knowing. The mind will relax when you allow it to. Don't feed it fragments any more...simply be who and where you are...already always are. This Vast and Eternal You is here...let it in, let it enter you deeply, let it flood you completely...You are This , just as you are...simply accept it.

Could You be a Master for a Day?

Could you be a Master for a day? What about today? What would it take to be a Master today? That Master already dwells within you ... right now, just where you are, exactly as you are ... if you allow for "who you really are" to come to the fore, the Master Within you will be here.
The journey between the confines of the "little me" ... that one we believe creates all our troubles, to that Master Consciousness that we believe we have to work at to become, is not as far as we imagine. In fact, when we realise just what it is that creates the gap between the two "the shift" takes place.
If the Master is here, then the Master is here.
If we identify ourselves with "little me" believing that the only way to Mastery is to fix "me"... change "me" ... enlighten "me" ... we will never allow for the Master Within to come to the fore.
This takes a shift in understanding, which only takes place once we've "seen through" the "self" we think we are and realised the "Self" that we really are.
This shift cannot be willed, forced, co-erced, created, affirmed ... it can only be "allowed" ... By simply allowing that which is Aware and Awake to be here ... That will flood into every moment of our life.
So ... to be a Master for a day ... why not begin by working gently with one small step ... Be a Master for a moment ... This moment.
Try it ... deep breath in ... look ... listen ... allow ... For this moment simply be.
Look through your own eyes ... feel the Presence ... be the Presence.
One breath in ... at the top of the breath ... open and allow ...
"The Master is here."
Feel it ... know it ... be it.
This is truth for this moment ... practice this many moments in your day ... especially when the challenges arrive. Instead of immediately moving into "little me" by default, practice this. Deep breath in ... look ... listen ... allow. Feel it ... know it ... be it.
So ... one "Masterful Moment" followed by another, then another ... practice this. Then see how your day works out ... Many "Masterful Moments" strung together in one day creates a "Masterful Day" ... Many "Masterful Days"creates a "Masterful Life ". So try it ... be Master for a day.

See Through The One Who Sees

"He who binds to himself a joy

does the winged life destroy.

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

lives in eternity's sun rise."

William Blake

Each moment is pure ... sacred ... real ... true. Not the moment just passed, not the moment yet to be, these are phantasies stuck in time ... no, only this very moment.

Have you noticed how this moment is the only thing that truly satisfies? Have you noticed how we subtly cling to the "good" moment and "flee" the "bad". Both are imposters.

In truth, this moment as it is, is neither good or bad ... it's just this moment. If we stay true and clear within this moment, nothing compares to it ... as it is, the living waters of Loving Truth crash through our being ... revitalising with ever-freshness ... ever-newness ... with "This-is-It-as-It-isness" ... for the very first time every time.

Yet, it's so tempting for the mind to continue trying to hold it, or flee it.

Take note:

Be here ... now ...

look ... listen ... allow ...

It only takes an instant and you're here, absolutely present and free ... right now , how and where you are.

Take note:

Your mind will try to claim this, hold it, keep it, know it ... but as soon as it does, the moment is gone. The mind cannot hold it ... it's absolutely unholdable.

Why?

Because This ... this moment is this moment ... alive with pulsating presence. When the mind tries to take hold, it's immediately a snapshot, a memory. It's extremely subtle but it's the past masquarading as the present again ... and if you look carefully, all the juice has left it.

The joy of the moment is only experienced in this moment now.

Take note:

Deep breath in ... look ... listen ... allow...

In an instant you are here ... now. This moment is totally fresh, new, thrilling with beingness. Stay present. Don't be tempted to cling or flee ... be here.

Ah ... this moment ... evernew ... everfresh.

Do you notice ... if you don't think about it, it simply is, just as it is.

Life is simply living ...

You are simply being ...

What ... nowhere to go? Absolutely nowhere, this is It! All of it too ... not just some of it, or part of it ... This is it!

Okay, one more time ...

Take note:

Deep breath in ... look ... listen ... allow ...

You are here ... instantly!

No yesterday, no tomorrow.

No last moment one moment ago even ... only this. This is it.

Look ... listen ... allow ...

This is it ... everfresh ... evernew ... always already here.

"One instant in eternity;

eternity is the now.

When you see through this one instant,

you see through the one who sees."

Wu-Men

That Placeless Place

There's a place where the sun forever shines ...
Do you know it?
There's a place where who you truly are is always constant ...
Have you seen it?
There's a place that whispers a magical Hum...
Can you hear it?
There's a place that allows, simply allows for all that is ... to be as it is...
Can you be it?
Beyond the thought
Beyond the emotion
Beyond any birthed notion of "something"
There is This ...
This placeless place.
Call it what you will, but don't seek it. Let it simply reveal Itself.
You cannot go there.
Going creates distance.
Simply allow It to be seen, to be known, to be felt.
How?
Ah ... Already gone too far. "How" cannot take you there. How does not qualify as a way ...
There is no path. Only allowing for what is, to be. Any movement towards it is in fact a movement away.
The Call simply calls.
When you hear It, was it because you listened?
No ... you heard because you were open ... ready ... willing ... available.
This is all that's being asked of you: Be willing to let It come into view. When It does, this placeless place will be real, true and lasting.
Ideas will still come and go. Feelings will continue to arise and be felt but this placeless place will have made itself seen and known.
No turning back now. No more forgetting ... no remembering even. Simply the allowing for This that always already is ... always already was ... always already will be, to be. Simply allow.

The Spirit in Me IS the Spirit in You

"The Spirit in me is the Spirit in you."
Seeing is one thing, being is another. Seeing is subject/object ... duality. Being is non-dual ... when the seer and the seen become one, only This remains ... only Thee, only God ... and It just is.
When we look at another and see them ... what are we actually seeing? What is it that's being perceived as a "them"?
If we stop for a moment and drink this question in, we'll eventually meet our own reflection ... me looking at myself ... well, all that I believe myself to be or not to be. This reflection that swims around in the mirror of our minds, this you/me that we either like or dislike, that we either love or hate ... if we stop long enough to look deeply into the eyes, into the very heart of this mirror image looking back at us ... what do we find?
There'll be a moment when the flow reverses itself as the looking becomes a flow that moves back in ... deeper and deeper back in. If we are daring enough, courageous enough to keep allowing for this inner flow to continue, we'll reach a place where no "me" exists ... subject/object ceases to take place and seer and seen merge into being. No form exists here, no boundaries ... simply the awareness that life is ... life simply is. There's not even a flicker of thought that diminishes the presence of Eternal Vastness, the All and Everything in it ... there's not even a semblence of thought that whispers "I Am This" ... even this is distant and removed from the truth of It ... yet is still a part of It.
Spirit simply is, and as we allow the flow of our attention to return to the world , we still find a "me" sitting here writing these notes, and a "you" sitting there reading these words. And, it's real enough, it's all solid enough but it's not the whole truth is it?
One breath in ... tracing back the flow of attention back into its source ... one breath in is all it takes and here it is ... just as it is: The Spirit in me is the Spirit in you.