It Simply Is...

Make everything in you an ear,

each atom of your being,

and you will hear at every moment

what the Source is whispering to you,

just to you and for you,

without any need for my words or anyone else's.

You are-- we all are-- the beloved of the Beloved,

and in every moment,

in every event of your life,

the Beloved is whispering to you

exactly what you need to hear and know.

Who can ever explain this miracle?

It simply is.

Listen and you will discover it every passing moment...

                                                                            Rumi

In Yoga Nidra we practice the art of blissful relaxation. Last month, I chose this Rumi poem to begin the meditation. Rumi has the amazing gift of reaching over centuries of time and mountains of cultural differences to touch me with the perfect word or idea. Exactly what I need to hear or know. 

Yoga Nidra offers the gifts of deep relaxation and profound inquiry. As the body/mind softens and releases tension, effort, thoughts, emotions and images, the practice begins its magic. Travelling inward this journey explores the inner realms of consciousness.

Peeling back layers of habits and thought patterns, moving through emotions and deeply held beliefs, we settle into that sacred space, the spiritual heart. From the vast inner place we find comfort, healing, nourishment, joy, acceptance, loving kindness and compassion.

This is where you connect with that eternal being ~ who you really are. From here you know, without knowing, exactly what you need to know as each moment of life unfolds. 

In the silence...

In the silence
between your heartbeat
bides a summons.
Do you hear it?

Name it if you must,

or leave it forever nameless,
but why pretend it
is not there?

Leave that which is not,
but appears to be.

Seek that which is,
But is not apparent.
                                 ~ Rumi 

There is nothing quite as wonderful as the silence between heartbeats or breaths. We try to name it, but it doesn't really matter because feeling it, experiencing it, that's what actually counts. Always this silence is found in that which is NOT apparent. 

So I urge you to leave everything behind that appears to be real. Come into the interior space of vastness and wonder ~ into the silence and find everything your heart's desires. 

Zero Circle

Zero Circle

Be helpless, dumbfounded,

Unable to say yes or no.

Then a stretcher will come from grace to gather us up.

We are too dull-eyed to see that beauty.

If we say we can, we’re lying.

If we say No, we don’t see it,

That No will behead us

And shut tight our window onto spirit.

So let us rather not be sure of anything,

Beside ourselves, and only that, so

Miraculous beings come running to help.

Crazed, lying in a zero circle, mute,

We shall be saying finally,

With tremendous eloquence, Lead us.

When we have totally surrendered to that beauty,

We shall be a mighty kindness.

~ Rumi ~

So, today I decided I simply must return to this blog and try again to write consistently. I'd like to have this be effortless, to flow with ease each morning. Not happening ~ oh, well.

Here's a Rumi poem I first heard on retreat several years ago. In an instant I knew this would be a favorite. With such grace and ease it reminds me that surrender is not only necessary, but essential to holding open the window to spirit. 

For years I would avoid feeling helpless. I believed I should know what to do in every moment. That's a lot of pressure on someone who already thinks she needs to be correct, in control, and well, just perfect. But actually, it is so much more important to let go, to not be sure of anything so that grace can find us and lift us up to where we belong.

I've been listening to Pema Chodron speaking about choosing a fresh approach and what really struck me was this idea that living in uncertainty offers fertile soil in which to grow spiritually. It means it's ok to not know know what to do. Better than ok, it's the way to go.

Barriers within...

Your task is not to seek for love

but merely to seek and find
all the barriers within yourself
that you have built against it.
                              ~Rumi

Like the thistle, I have always had little thorns surrounding me. They are so small you might miss them. They are there to protect me from hurt and disappointment and rejection. Seems like it take a lifetime to just begin to notice how these thorns are really barriers stopping the flow of love. All the time I thought I was loving, maybe it really was barrirers built against that flow that gives the illusion of unworthiness, sadness or rejection.


The thistle is such a beautiful wildflower ~ soft and spacious ~ tiny, slender petals of just the lightest lavender reaching for the sun and bursting with such gladness.

Exhale Only Love

Exhale only love.
~ Rumi


Sometimes wisdom comes in three words or less...

I still couldn't say my gratitude...

I said Oh no! Help me!
And the Oh no! became a rope let down in my well.
I've climbed out to stand here in the sun.
One moment I was at the bottom of a dark, fearful narrowness,
and the next,
I am not contained by the universe.
If every tip of every hair on me could speak,
I still couldn't say my gratitude.
In the middle of these streets and gardens,
I stand and say and say again,
And it's all I say,
I wish everyone could know what I know.

~ Rumi


There are times when the gratitude is so vast it truly does contain everything. Every cell in the body is glittering, vibrating with this gratitude. It's not possible to describe in words, but once experienced, you will know it. That "knowing," it never leaves, though your mind may move into fear or doubt or sadness.


My stay in Florida has been just such an experience. How I wish everyone could know what I know...


Namaste

Let the Water Settle...

                                

Let the water settle

and you will see moon and stars

mirrored in your being.

~Rumi~

Leave it to Rumi to absolutely nail it! 

Some Kiss We Want

There is some kiss we want

with our whole lives,

the touch of spirit on the body.

At night, I open the window

and ask the moon to come

and press its face against mine.

Breathe into me.

Close the language-door

and open the love-window.

The moon won't use the door,

only the window

RUMI

Who?

If this me is not I, then
who am I?
If I am not the one who speaks, then
who does?
If this me is only a robe then
who is
the one I am covering?

- Rumi, translation by Azima Melita Kolin and Maryam Mafi, from Rumi: Whispers of the Beloved, posted to Sunlight


When I first heard the analogy of the body being like clothes, it seemed very strange. I really identified with my body/mind. I believed this was who I was. But when the idea began to penetrate the layers of my mind, I recognized the impermanence of all objects. Though I can't convince anyone with words, I do say that the most important journey to take is the one that leads inward. Each of us will travel to these inner dimensions in order to find the truth of who we are.