Listening for the Whispers of The Beloved - Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

...listening is not an effort, not a technique...
Listening springs from the desire to be with the one
whom you want to hear ["The Beloved" - or however one
calls the Source].  Listening is a coming close, waiting for
Presence to materialize into words, to form ItSelf out of Silence.
Listening is a relationship, even in the silence when nothing is
heard.  Learning to listen is to allow our self to be present
without imposing or demanding, to hold a space where something
can be told, where meeting can unfold between.....lover and The 
Beloved; where openness is answered.  The lover is the one who
listens, whose being is born to listen for The Beloved. Without
the lover, how could the song of The Beloved be heard?

At the beginning we have to learn the art of listening, the art of
being present, attentive and empty.  We have to catch the still,
small voice of The Beloved, and not interrupt, not ask too many
questions.  We have to learn to be silent, because listening is
born from silence.  The listening of the heart is always an act 
of love, a coming together [communion], even when nothing is
heard. Listening is wisdom.  It is feminine, receptive, hidden...
Rumi knew how central a part it plays in our wordless
relationship with The Beloved.  He said:

"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..."

You are - we all are - the beloved of The Beloved, and in 
every moment, in every event of life, The Beloved is
whispering to you exactly what you need to hear and know.
Listen and you will discover it every passing moment. Listen,
and your whole life will become a conversation in thought
and action between you and The Beloved directly, wordlessly,
now and always.

We need to discover
how the heart listens to its Beloved.

Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Sufi Mystic

Excerpts from an article called:
The Circle of Love
on Spirituality and Practice

~

Photo  from the Internet
Day 6 of "The Pause"

~

Days 7-9 of "The Pause" were spent in deep rest and self-care,
listening to Yoga Nidra - Deep Rest by Kathleen Knipp,
and "Allowing" by Adyashanti on a CD what I've had for
years.  I still take long pauses during the day, resting and 
listening for the whispers of The Beloved.

Namaste
_/\_

 

Courage - Fra Giovanni

[.....] The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet
within our reach, is joy.  There is radiance in darkness, could
we but see.  And to see we have only to look...

Life is a generous giver.  But we, judging its gifts by their
covering, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard.  Remove
the covering, and you find beneath it a living splendor, woven
of love by wisdom...

Welcome it, grasp it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings
it to you.  Everything we call a trial, a sorrow or a duty, the gift
is there and the wonder of an overwhelming presence.  Your
joys too, be not content with them as joys.  They, too, conceal
divine gifts.

Life is full of beauty beneath its covering, you will find earth
but cloaks your heaven.  Courage then to claim it.  But courage
you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims together,
wending through unknown country home.

Fra Giovanni
1513

with thanks to Love Is A Place

~

"We're just walking each other home."

Ram Dass

~

Photo from the internet

 

"The Friend" - "The Guru"...

"The Friend" - "The Guru"
is not a person -
but the Presence at the Core of your Being...

"The Friend" - "The Guru"
knows your Heart
and responds to your Heart
with the felt sense of Presence -
embodied...

"The Friend" - "The Guru"
is seen only with "Felt Sight"*
from within...

It holds no identity, no title, no status
and no space or distance
from you...

You are always sustained in
The Silence of "The Friend" - "The Guru."

Get to know "The Friend" - "The Guru",
which is the Silence at the Core of your Being...
It will teach you what you need to know...'

Sit with "The Friend."

Befriend "The Friend."
Do not look to the world
to befriend you...

Mystic Meandering

Aug 2020

*Note - Thank you to Ginny Lonsdale
for her words "Felt Sight" :)

See her wonderful website/blog with
writings and poetry @
Footnote from a Moment

~

Photo - Mystic Meandering

Mystical Alchemy

We were born from the fathomless Cosmic "darkness",
the Eternal Depths of the Primordial Womb
before Light began...
from which Light emerged;
a mystery...

Without knowing how or why...
We simply are...
Life ItSelf - simply being...

Born of this Ineffable Mystery,
the Cosmic Igniter of the Divine Flame
ignites the Ember of our Heart
in Mystical Alchemy.

Without the need for certainties of the mind,
or intellectual "understandings."
Only visceral awareness of
"The Presence" that
Illumines the Heart
through Grace...

Pure Bliss...
Pure Blessing...

~

Ever in Gratitude,
A Humble Lover of "The Mystery"...

_/\_

Mystic Meandering
Feb. 2017

The Space of "The Quiet"...

I awoke to "The Quiet" filling this space...

A palpable Nameless Presence...
As if "It" had taken up residence here,
in this space of my dwelling...

I breathed in "The Quiet"
as It breathed me,
and with curiosity
turned my inner awareness more keenly to
"The Quiet" that filled the space of me -
and was comforted
by this unbidden
Presence...

Through fluid inner eyes I understood that
only "The Quiet" truly occupies this space,
not the things in the rooms, or the rooms themselves.
but only the ubiquitous space of "The Quiet"

that matter reality dwells in
beyond sight, beyond form...

Every manifest being dwells within
"The Quiet"
and "The Quiet" dwells within them...

The pure unadulterated, untainted Silence of Being...

I surrendered in Love and Gratitude to "The Quiet"
subtly filling the space here - tangibly -
forever present in each breath
of this space that "I"
occupy as well...

Hush...

"The Quiet"
dwells among us
and in us...

Holy-Holy

Mystic Meandering
Dec. 5, 2016

~

Photo - have no idea what this is,
probably a "mistake", but can you see
the faint outline of a heart in the center
of that "cloud"?  :D

The Divine Spot...

Breathe into the bindu of the Heart,
The Divine Spot...

Let your whole body sink into
the quiet rhythm in the space
between the in-breath
and the out-breath,
the sacred point of the cosmos
where the Divine jewel dwells;
the Ineffable, the Unknowable,
the Unspeakable
Space of Pure Being...

If you are aware, you will feel
The Presence
pouring Its
exquisite vibration
through
the Heart -
a vibration so subtle
it is barely perceptible
by the gross senses.
Felt only through the nuance of
intuition and body instinct
and attentive noticing;
a faint tingling
a calm or stillness,
joy or bliss
tickling the Heart,
reverberating throughout
the body,
as if the Heart itself is
"waking up"
inside you;
the Deeper Heart
the Spiritual Heart
the abode of Illumination.

Experience the deep contentment of
Divine Ananda
as the burden of fear
that you have carried all your life
falls away;
if only for this moment.

Feel the pure, sweet "neutrality" of
deep contentment of Being
Just Being
Just Breathing
Just Living -
from the vibration of the Heart.

Keep your "inner eyes" ever on
the Divine Spot,
The Elixir of Life...

Mystic Meandering
April 8, 2017

Blissful Comfort...

Leaning back into the soft-pillowed chair...
Feeling the warmth of the morning sun on my face...
I turn inward...consciously,
towards "The Divine",

however named, however known,
and wait...
for "Her" gentle movement
to stir within,
signaling Her
subtle Presence...

In the Deep Quiet,
I feel Her vibration, Her Aliveness
pass through
the visceral senses;
only vanishing from organic awareness
at the slightest attempt
to hold Her here
in the mind...

But She is Here -
a palpable Presence in the body,
effervescing
through
my
whole
Being.

She
is
my
whole
Being!

I can do nothing but
be immersed in
the softness of
Her Bliss ~

She arrives by Grace
then subtly takes Her leave;
leaving only a sweet trace,
a warm afterglow,
of Her Divine Perfusion...

Blissful morning comfort...

Mystic Meandering
Feb 22, 2017

~

Note:  When I use the terms "Her"/"She", it does not refer
to an entity as such, like "God" or "Goddess"; is neither
male nor female.  It is, in my experience, an Ineffable Presence,
an "energetic signature", if you will, of "The Mystery" - which
has many names - that to me has a felt sense of being "feminine"
in nature; which of course is completely subjective,
but experienced by many...

_/\_

A Humble Lover of "The Mystery"

~

Photo - Vortex Art with fingers
and Craypas oils
2011

Illuminating the Way - Matt Licata

...there is something illuminating the way, but just what this is
cannot often be apprehended by ordinary means.
There is no external map here that you can rely on, only the
one that is written inside you.  While at times we sense the
presence of this inner guidance, it often comes by hidden
and symbolic means.  We must learn to listen for it in a
non-ordinary manner, not  just with our ears but with the
wisdom of the body, with the cells of the heart.

The mysteries of separation and union are already wired
into you... We are invited to meet them, in an inclusive embrace
of life -  the wholeness that we already are...

Matt Licata

~

Photo - Sunlight through a thinning cutting board...

The Gift of "The Quiet"...

I awoke to "The Quiet" filling this space...
A palpable Nameless Presence in the air this morning,
as if "It" had taken up residence here,
in this space of dwelling...

I breathed "The Quiet" in,
and with curiosity
turned my awareness more keenly to
"The Quiet",
and was comforted...
by this unbidden Presence.

Through fluid eyes I understood that
only "The Quiet Presence" truly occupies this space,
not the *things* in the rooms, or the rooms themselves,
but only the ubiquitous space of "The Quiet"
that matter reality dwells *in*
beyond sight, beyond form...
Every sound, every form dwells within "The Quiet"
and "The Quiet" dwells in them...

I surrendered in Love and Gratitude to "The Quiet"
that dwells here,
that fills the space here - tangibly -
forever present in each breath
of this space that"I"
occupy as well...

Hush...

"The Quiet" Presence
dwells among us
and in us...

Holy-Holy

Mystic Meandering
Meditative Meanderings
Dec. 5, 2016

~

If you celebrate Christmas
may you experience
the gift of "The Quiet" Presence
filling your space today...
and every day...

_/\_

Photo - have no idea what this is a photo of,
probably a "mistake" - but can you see
the faint outline

 of a heart in the center
of that "cloud"?  :)

"Devotion"...

An unexpected visceral longing arises -
again...
A primal Love and Longing for what cannot be named;
like a lover pining away for their "Beloved."
Its intensity nearly snuffs my heart out
and will only be revived by the Silence of "The Presence."

The Heart only wants to touch and be touched
by, "The Divine",
however defined, or undefined.
It only wants to dissolve into
the Sacred Silence of the Inner Room.
Nothing else matters...

Even when "spiritual seeking" ends,
this inexplicable Longing remains
deep within the Heart -
not heeding the dissuasive voices of
the minds of acquired knowledge,
or those who claim "enlightenment"
who would dismiss it,
discredit it,
and say there is no need for it;
as if I were a fool for longing.

It just is...

It is beyond words...

I allow the Longing to be...
following its irresistible pull -
drawing me more deeply inward
to Itself...

Letting go of external "spiritual" constructs
and the conceptual maps of what I assumed to be reality...

Instead

I listen - to The Heart of my heart that Longs for
the undeniable fragrance of "Her" Presence...
the warm touch of "Her" Invisible Hand
upon the Heart,
opening its "gates" to the rush of Love...

The Fire of Love's Longing will not be quelled until it is
quenched with the Golden Elixir of
The Ineffable Living Presence...

Even after seeking ends,
this Heart aches, at times,
to Remember;
to feel the felt sense of "Her";
to hear the whisper of "her" Voice;
to experience the indescribable perfusion
of this Immutable Reality
breathing in and out
through this body...

This Primal Love and Longing IS Devotion...

Unashamedly, I embrace it,
this Love, this Longing,
which at times immerses me in the
Illumined Glow of Love's Furnace...

It is an Invisible Path -
deepening into
the Mysteries of the Heart;
not an outward journey of seeking and arriving,
or finding,
but diving deep
into the
"Mystical Heart"
whose only language is
Love...

Mystic Meandering
Oct. 2016

Note: "The Divine", as I use it here, is not an entity as such with a name "God" or "Goddess."  It is neither male nor female.  It is an Ineffable Presence, an "energetic signature", if you will, of "The Mystery."  When I use the term "Her", it refers to this "energy" that has a felt sense of being "feminine" - which is of course completely subjective, but experienced by many.

_/\_

Photo: Burning Fire Vortex
Craypas Oils
2011

Outside The Walls - Chuck Surface

Mystical Experience, Divine Communion,
Is not confined to the many villages of religion,
Or to philosophical systems, however profound,
However revered their expounders.

For there are those who Wander,
Outside the walls of scripture and stricture,
In the Wilderness of Not Knowing,
Whose Hearts are, none the less…

Illumined with Grace.

Far from the village,
Road vanished into path,
Path vanished into hillside,
Hillside vanished into Vastness…

The Known vanished into Wonder.

For these Wilderness Wanderers,
There are no descriptions of reality,
No systems of belief or faith,
And the name of God is…

”Great Mystery”

And yet, like a Wellspring, their Hearts overflow,
Whenever they find, wherever they find,
In sources so-called “sacred” or “profane”,
That which invokes Within…

The Presence of The Beloved.

Neither a She, nor a He,
Nor a concept of belief of faith,
Or in any way “Known” in word or image,
But Known, palpably, viscerally…

In the Heart’s Direct Experience of Grace.

Here… within the Manifest Being,
Wherein Shines the Garden of The Beloved,
As the Ineffable, Intoxicating Sublimity,
The Inexpressible Ecstasy of…

The Great Mystery.

Chuck Surface

 ~

In The Garden of The Beloved

Chuck Surface on Facebook

Photo provided by Chuck Surface