Tread Lightly

You’ve been searching a long time now.  Somewhere along the way, you pause.  You begin to notice the intricacies of every texture, the textures of every intricacy. All the magic you overlooked becomes discernible.  How could you have missed it? It is at once ordinary and extraordinary, astonishing and unremarkable, poetic and prosaic. Seeing this,Continue reading “Tread Lightly”

To Train In Rejoicing

“We can train in rejoicing in even the smallest blessings our life holds. It’s easy to miss our own good fortune; often happiness comes in ways we don’t even notice. It’s like the cartoon I saw of an astonished-looking man saying What was that?! The caption below read ‘Bob experiences a moment of well-being’. TheContinue reading “To Train In Rejoicing”

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 – all these have relevance to my experience of life. Honoring theContinue reading “Pilgrimage”

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 long as you have good posture and a good seat, youContinue reading “Chogyam Trungpa’s Saddle Analogy”

Rasa

(Rasa is a Sanskrit word literally meaning juice, essence, or taste.  It also refers to an ancient concept in Indian arts concerning the aesthetic of a composed piece of visual, literary, or musical work.  More specifically, Rasas are the feelings evoked in the reader or audience by the artistic work.)      Your life, this life, not separate. Continue reading “Rasa”

Darren Main on the Source

“If you’re able to keep returning to your focus point (in meditation), you can move still deeper into the mind and experience the true Self, because underneath these three basic levels of consciousness (conscious mind, semi-conscious mind, unconscious mind) there is a fourth.  For simplicity, I’ll refer to it as the source.  It’s important toContinue reading “Darren Main on the Source”

The Encounter

I stood in a glass house at the edge of the sea. I watched as the tide rose, gradually swallowing the house, waves breaking against glass walls, and over the glass roof, booming, rattling, trembling. Seaweed, rocks, shells, too many fish to count, so many colors. Then came the crabs, starfish, anemones, cephalopods, sliding, clickingContinue reading “The Encounter”

Omphalos

My fires are so thirsty, the hunger drinks itself. Transcendent wheel turning, at once groaning and soundless. I speak the language of rounded stones, spoken at the navel of the world.   At times I cannot even reach you. At times I scoop you up to ride across the world in the cups of myContinue reading “Omphalos”