C.M. Rivers
Now Flowing ~ Contemplative Essays ~ Poetry ~ Memoir
Tag: Love
Dharma Wonderland
Kennedy, King and Lennon. Public squalor, private wealth. What is this strange country, the United States of America? It is the dog that – when left unattended – discovers everything on the table is within reach, the pleasure and the poison, and devours both….
Pilgrimage
All day long, I see things a painter would paint. What is there to complain about? Even my own pain has been endured by thousands before me, and depicted by master sculptors. Pilgrimage, penance, failure, learning to hold one’s self tenderly, in friendship –…
Merlyn
The mountains are alive with fire, transcendent breath, vigorous and endless. Though they have been given a name, a part of them will always be nameless, and I could say the same about myself. I heed the call, after all, of mist-laden glades. I…
Chogyam Trungpa’s Saddle Analogy
I just love this passage from Smile at Fear: Awakening the True Heart of Bravery by Chogyam Trungpa. To arrive at this place he describes, within one’s self, must be to arrive at a place of deep, deep peace. “In the saddle, as…
A Letter to Grandma
Dear Grandma Betty, I hope I can maintain an honest assessment of who you were, and not get too wrapped up in memories seen through the milky windowpanes of linear time’s narrow corridor. You wore your heart on your sleeve. You told it the…
Recipe
Life is the approximation of cooking, not the exactitude of baking. It’s a messy project, not a calculation, more art than arithmetic. There are an infinite number of ways to proceed. Be curious, consider the methods used by everyone you meet and, in doing…
Hopi Prayer
This summer I hope to visit the place I scattered my mom’s ashes 26 years ago, near the foot of Neahkhanie Mountain on the Oregon coast. Standing in the wind above the sea, I will be sure to remember this Hopi Prayer. “Do not stand at my…
Remember
Meanwhile, the wind blows, incredibly. The sun rises – seen or unseen – and moves across the sky, incredibly. Water covers most of the planet. Effervescent laughter is remembered. The vast silence of the world helps quiet the noise of your mind. The great…
Humble Warrior
For many long years, sleep did not come. Now it is here, a sanctuary, an unremembered temple of well-fed lions. Summer comes, undeniable as the needs of body and soul. We peel away her nightdress, and when she goes we go with her. There…
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“Who has not felt the urge to throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence.” John Muir
