Shining jewels

Raindrops glisten
hanging from berry, twig
grass blade and seed head.
Indra’s Net may be invisible
yet its jewels shine here
in every hedgerow.

Look near, look far
manifestations of silence
glint all around.

Look within, look without
manifestations of silence
sing in every atom.

The seer can only see
what it knows.

© 27 Oct 15

The world has gone awry

The world has gone awry
turning the weather in November
to hotter than July
as if confused, uncertain how to behave.

The world has gone awry.
Humans bombing, killing humans
humans killing innocents
in the name of peace
in the name of sport.

The world has gone awry.
Fear creeps in like a
suffocating blanket
stealing away rationality
replacing it with mistrust
stealing away generosity
replacing it with suspicion.

In the furore of emotion
I can forget I am we.

My bigger self, my better self
is the stranger I have yet
to embrace as friend.
My teacher is the one
who stirs up my uncertainties
questions my firmly held beliefs
pokes me like a hornet's nest
to search my heart and
find out what is there.

In a world gone awry
if I am not to be overtaken
by fear, mistrust and suspicion
I must centre myself
resting in the heartspace and
letting go of separation.

Here, there is no good and bad
no right and wrong.
Here, love abides
here, compassion dwells
straining at the leash
ready to embrace
all the confusion and uncertainty.
Ready to look for
demonstrations of love
in helping hands
shoulders to lean on
arms to carry
sleeves to wipe away tears.

A world gone awry
can be straightened out
by hands of love connecting
smoothing foreheads and
wiping away worry lines.

A world gone awry
can be straightened out
by remembering
I am we.

© 16 Nov 15

What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?
For the mind to be quiet
or to lose its impetus?
You may as well wait for
the sun to stop shining.

For everything to be just so
in order to seek freedom?
You may as well wait for
the ocean’s waves to become motionless.

For happiness to fill
your sense of lack and longing?
You may as well wait for
all the stars to go out.

For oneness to descend
in a shower of rose petals?
You may as well wait for
the earth to stop turning.

What are you waiting for?
Oneness will never appear
once you have fulfilled a
self-made list of Herculean tasks.
Oneness will not wait
for you to transform all your bad habits.
Oneness cannot be the
end of your constant journeying.
Oneness is now
or never.

Oneness is present beyond and
through and sustaining the mind.
Oneness is the freedom you seek and
the space that allows you to see
what you perceive as a lack.
Oneness is in happiness and sadness
beyond and through and sustaining
each emotion, each action, each thought.
Oneness is the step you take and
the path untrod
the thought put into words and
the thought unspoken
the action taken and
the deed undone.

What are you waiting for?
Oneness is not waiting for
the sadness and madness and badness
to dissolve and
for equanimity and evenness
to sweep over you
like a shimmering cloak.
Oneness is beyond and through and sustaining
every breath you breathe.
Oneness is no future event
no end destination
no merit for a life well lived.

Oneness is now
or never.

© 28 Oct 15
What are you waiting for? audio

I'll meet you here

Laying down the cloak of
an imaginary, individual self,
the one I burden myself with
throughout the day,
laying down the cloak of
an imaginary, individual self,
I am free
I am ready to be myself
with no limits
nothing to bind me
nothing to hold me.
I am willing to walk
into the space that
completely envelopes me and
intertwines with my breath,
being, heart and core
until I cannot tell
what is space and what is me.

My breath is now just breath
my being is now just being
my heart is now just heart
my core is now just core.

I am unfettered by the limits
of ordinariness, of being human.
I bathe, dance and delight
in space, my true nature
in which I can walk
naked and unashamed.
I am willing to forgo
certainty and knowing
for a life of being known.
I am willing to leave behind
fear, insecurity and doubt
for a moment of complete freedom
both scary and utterly safe
as it emerges step by step.

Here the light is so bright
I cannot see the path, yet
my heart senses it.
Letting go,
I can easily find it.
Letting go,
there is no more becoming.
I bathe, dance and delight
in the light shining
from my own heartspace
intermingling with the true light,
no more inside and outside
no more mine and other.
I bathe, dance and delight
in oneness, my true nature.

I’ll meet you here.

© 14 May 15

I'll meet you here audio

The pool of silence

My heart is full
of unformed words
dancing at the edge of
a pool of silence
that has no name.

Dive into the pool
leave behind the clumsy language
that cannot represent
the fullness here.

The silence embraces
bathes, cleanses, empties
washes away any feelings
of otherness.

Becoming silence
I merge with its essence
I forget any separation
I remember my name and
the name of the pool in which
I am completely immersed.

We are one.

The seeking heart and the clumsy words
have found their home
recognised their own being
in the pool of oneness.

We swim together
dance together
delighting in the oneness
of our true name.

© 18 Oct 15

The pool of silence audio

Slipping away

Mind so easily slips away
from the space of silence
into doing.
A busyness created by
thinking about work
planning
a to-do list;
not getting things done
but thinking about them.
As much energy wasted
as could be expended in
the actual doing.

Noticing
this is taking place
mind can so easily slip back
into the space of silence.
It may not stay for long
even though the space of silence
is its natural home.

Each time I notice
mind slipping away into doing
into busyness
I can invite it to slip back
into the space of silence
to rest and to enjoy.

© 27 Sep 15

Slipping away audio

Remember

Tomorrow morning
as you lie cosy and warm in bed
reluctant to arise
reluctant for the day to begin
remember
the feeling of gratitude
that surged
through every cell of your being today
as you stood on the lawn
with the wind pinking your cheeks and
chilling your hands.

Remember
the expression of gratitude
that lightened your thoughts
to joy and contentment instead of
being insular and complaining.

Remember
the feeling of gratitude
to be noticing
mushrooms in the grass
a worm playing at your feet
the sparkle of morning dew
the openness of the sky.

Remember
the experience of gratitude
that led into meditation
providing calmness and clarity
stability and evenness
to the whole being.

Tomorrow morning
when the habitual feelings arise
of snuggling down and
staying there a bit longer
remember
the awareness of vitality
that accompanied gratitude
the wakefulness that was present
in being outside and
experiencing the wind
the morning sunshine
the freshness of a new day.

© 17 Sep 15

Remember audio