The Tao of Water - Rod MacIver

The highest motive in life is to be like water.
it fights nothing or no one.
It flows from and back to its source
and in the flowing smooths and wears
away all resistance.

Taoist Proverb

~

In paddling wild rivers, I learned that the power of the river
is immense, and our power insignificant.

The Tao tells us that the energies of the universe, driven by
the forces of yin and yang, are greater than we are.  And
much like the positive and negative energies of electricity,
without both, without the light and the dark, female and male,
neither could exist.  To survive long term as a species, we
must accommodate ourselves to those energy flows rather
than fight them.

In paddling a rapid, we seek to move with its flow, rather than
against it, to execute our strokes at points of maximum impact,
and to not use a hard stroke when a light stroke will do.  And
sometimes, when the water moves faster than we can think, to
execute our strokes with intuition.

Chang-tzu, a fourth century sage, wrote of an old man who
somehow survived a swim in a huge rapid.  Upon asking the
man how he survived, the man responded:

Plunging into the whirl, I come out of the swirl.  I accommodate
myself to the water, not the water to me.  And so I am able to
deal with it after this fashion....

I was born upon the land...and accommodated myself to dry land. 
That was my original condition.  Growing up with water, I
accommodate myself to the water.

Rod MacIver
Artist and Writer

Heron Dance

~

The settling of the mind, letting go of the turmoil,
is akin to the settling of muddy water.

Kuan-Tzo
645 BC

~

Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?

Tao Te Ching
Stephen Mitchell Translation

~

When confronted with rocks,
water seeks a way around.

Water gives way to obstacles
with deceptive humility,
for no power can prevent it
flowing its destined course
to the sea.

Tao Cheng of Nan Yeo
11th century Taoist Scholar

~

with thanks to Heron Dance

~

Photo Art - Mystic Meandering
 -Vortex Art

 

Let it go - Danna Faulds

Let go of the ways you thought life
would unfold; the holding of plans
or dreams or expectations - Let it
all go.  Save your strength to swim
with the tide.  The choice to fight
what is here before you now will
only result in struggle, fear, and
desperate attempts to flee from the
very energy you long for.  Let go.
Let it all go and flow with the grace
that washes through your day whether
you receive it gently or with all your
quills raised to defend against invaders.
Take this on faith: the mind may never
find the explanations that it seeks, but
you will move forward nonetheless.
Let go, and the wave's crest will carry
you to unknown shores, beyond your
wildest dreams or destinations.  Let it
all go and find the place of rest and
peace, and certain transformation.

Danna Faulds
From: Go In and In
2002

In the Core of the Contradictions - Matt Licata

At some point, how you thought it was all going to turn out
will crumble away into dust.....all that remains is your raw
burning heart...

It is the nature of form to take birth, to dance, to play, and then
to fall back into the unknown.  This is not some sort of cosmic
error, but the way of things - creative, intelligent, and a reflection
of universal flow.

Relationships, work, family, friends, our health ... ideas about
ourselves, others, and the world.  What we thought would
provide ongoing meaning and purpose. Even what we were so
 sure about just a few days ago - the great realizations, discoveries,
 and insights about who we are, what is most true, what will
 provide lasting peace... no longer quite as convincing.  A dream
 has vanished and has not yet been replaced by a new vision.
 But inside the shards of the broken world, pure

life awaits.

All form must end, departing through a portal into darkness, so that
new forms may emerge from the crucible of clear space.  But what
is emerging in the womb of Now is not knowable ahead of time,
and is not subject to our hopes, fears or fantasies of control.
While the mind will struggle with the wrathful nature of this truth,
the heart knows... the body knows...

See that the death of form is filled with erupting particles of life,
with magic, and with the fragrance of the holy.  You can relax...
and rest inside the core of the contradictions.  Here, the chaos
and the glory are one.

Matt Licata

Wonderment - Naomi Stone

When we truly arrive in that vast space
of who we are in purity of being
as we are created to be,

we are the living beauty of an expanding sanctuary,
we are life aware of itself
fluid
changing,
we are the flow of a shifting

transparency

of spirit

the bliss of an unseen kiss

felt in the

rising mist of existence
dissolving in the pure eternal joy
of this eternal moment
of
a thrilling transforming
ever changing
wonder...

Naomi Stone

~

Personal note: My own experience is that
"arriving" simply means we come to see/
recognize the Pure Beingness that we are.
We are, as Naomi says, "Life aware of itself."

~

Photo - Fat globules in a pan of water,
digitally altered :)

The Art of Living - Henry Miller

The art of living is based on rhythm -
on give and take,
ebb and flow,
light and dark,
life and death.

By acceptance of all aspects of life,
good and bad,
right and wrong,
yours and mine,
the static, defensive life
which is what most people
are cursed with,
is converted into a dance,
'the dance of life,'
metamorphosis.

One can dance to sorrow or joy;
one can even dance abstractly.
But the point is that
by the mere act of dancing,
the elements which compose it are
transformed;
the dance is an end in itself,
just like life.

The acceptance of the situation,
any situation,

brings about flow,
a rhythmic impulse towards
self-expression.
To relax is the first thing
a dancer has to learn...
It is the first thing any one has to learn
in order to live.

It is extremely difficult,
because it means surrender,
full surrender.

Henry Miller
The Wisdom of the Heart
(Mr. Miller's words, my format)

via: No Mind's Land

The Flow of Life - Matt Licata

We are always in the flow of life.

It is the idea that there is some "us" on one side
and something called "flow" in some other place,
that is a great trance that seems to be unique
to the human experience...

Usually when we talk of being
"in the flow,"
we mean that we like the feelings,
sensations, and experiences
which are arising in our experience.
If there are more
vulnerable, intense, groundless, unresolvible,
or unideal feelings,
then we this as clear evidence that we are
"out of the flow."

And so the war begins.
The dream of abandoning the non-flow
to return to the flow as quickly as possible.

Perhaps it is only in the willingness to fully participate
in our immediate experience, exactly as it is,
that the nature of the flow will be revealed.

It is not something you will get to one day,
as some sort of acquisition,"
when you line up all of the right experiences,
when you successfully abandon and replace
what is here for something else.

The flow is right here,
utterly inseparable from what you are,
and is revealed in your unconditional commitment
to the truth of your immediate experience.

When you are willing to bring your embodied curiosity,
openness, acceptance and presence
to whatever is arising in the immediacy of now,
the question of how to feel more flow ceases to arise.

In this embodied openness the path is everywhere,
even in those places we least expect.
What you are left with is what you are,
which is love itself.

Allow love to astonish you...
Allow it to craft you
as a vessel of aliveness,
in which it can pour out
into this world.
There is no flow separate from that.

Matt Licata

(Matt's words, my format)

Allow Everything Meditation - Adyashanti

In this form of meditation you are not leading the way,
you're not controlling.
It's almost like being a passenger in a car.

Instead of controlling your experience,
you're a passenger to your experience.

You're watching it and letting it be however it's going to be.
When you're more a passenger to your experience,
you can watch what naturally happens,
when you have no idea of what should happen
or where you're going.

You'll naturally come into more of a state of listening.
Listen, watch, see what happens.
Just allow awareness to flow wherever it wants to;
to be aware of whatever it wants to be aware of.

As you allow awareness to go where it wants,
rather than where you want it to go
it unwinds your thoughts, it unwinds your mind,
and your body.

So instead of seeing where you can direct awareness,
you're actually seeing where awareness will take you
when you let it go wherever it wants.

Nothing is held onto. Nothing pushed away.
Allow everything to take its natural course.

Make no effort to enhance or sustain anything.

Just have the notion that you will continue to allow
everything to be, as it is, as it wants to be,
and that you will continue to allow awareness
to go where it wants to go...

Adyashanti
An excerpt from his guided meditation.
from the CD set: "Spontaneous Awakening"
2005

The Unseen Current - Ivan Granger

We have this idea…..that the strong individual must aggressively forge his or her path through life; that it is a fight that only the strong will succeed, and unhappiness is a sign of weakness and inaction.  It is the idea that fulfillment comes through force of will. [But] if we are pushing for a life that is not ours, and feeling frustration because it is not happening, that is a sign that we are still serving the [personal will.].

Most of us imagine that we have to somehow *do* life.  [But] life itself is not something we do or make for ourselves.  It flows through us and is not of our making. The soul has a path that naturally unfolds as we move through life.  When we understand life this way, there is an immense sense of relief - and rest.  …..what is required is not…..willpower, not some total life revolution, but simply…..to feel the deep currents flowing through our lives, and then to fully live the life that naturally emerges....  In this way, we stop obstructing divine will with our endless frustrated efforts and, instead, we allow ourselves to become [an] expression of that heavenly flow that has always been eager to pour through us.  All we really need do is ride the great current flowing through us unseen...

Ivan Granger
Poetry Chaikhana

Shift and Change = Flow ~

Last Friday morning all angst about life and living lifted – for the moment.  I know it doesn't look it by this photo. ;)  

I usually know I am going through some kind of internal shift when I need to start moving things around – like things in rooms around, or rooms themselves.  We had decided long ago to use the rooms of our home unconventionally.  We have a cookie cutter 35 year old home with Living Room, Dining Room, Den, and Kitchen with eating area.  You know the usual burb floor plan. We turned the formal dining room into a “reading room” with bookshelves, which is actually an “L” off the living room, so is very spacious and open, but out of the way and quiet. We could actually do without a living room or den, but they came with the house. J  We have used bedrooms as office/work/creative space for the two of us and there’s a small room, which is off the Den on the ground floor, that I used when I was doing therapeutic massage from home on a regular basis over 10 years ago, which became my meditation space.

But the meditation space has been feeling like a dark cave lately and I end up not meditating as regularly.  I realized Friday that I wanted a space that is more open and spacious feeling – allowing the light and air in.  And – I thought it would help to have the computer further away, less accessible, so I can hopefully break the computer – er cyberspace addiction - and not go there first thing in the morning to “check” for messages – but to patter down the hall and meditate – checking for messages there instead. J

So – Friday a new movement began to stir within, envisioning the two spaces and how I could switch them out – my office/creative space and my meditation space.  I had to get creative.  What I ended up with is making an “office” out of the meditation space (the cave) - with computer desk, computer, side table and printer cabinet in the small meditation room – leaving the massage table there up against the wall as a kind of day bed with pillows.  And bring my meditation space into what I now call my “creative space” which had been across the room from my “office” space, which is only a matter of about 5 feet from my creative work table.  Although it is a nice size room, we’re not talking huge space here. It’s not like a “STUDIO.” J  However, this room is more open and spacious (especially without desk and assorted office furniture) and has two archway openings on one side that overlook the den that has a skylight, almost like a loft, allowing more light in.  The idea was to create space to incubate creativity and bring more flow to meditation. J  Brilliant don’t you think.  Although am sure I’m not the first one to think of that one! LOL.

I am anticipating starting a 5 week online intuitive art course called Brave Intuitive You - True Bloom Art e-course, in September, and have wanted to create a “studio” since July 1^st, but could not see how this would happen in the space that we have.  I wrote “Create Studio” on a sticky note and put in on the kitchen counter. The idea was to remind myself to clean up and organize my then existing “creative/office” space in preparation for the course – so I would actually have space to work in. J  I did not intend that I would create a “studio.”  And yet… a creative “studio” of sorts is emerging…  You can see in the photo below that I’m not quite finished with the “creative studio” side of the room.  J

DH and I spent Saturday rearranging space. Oh my, the bod isn’t what it used to be, lugging stuff up and down two flights of stairs.  That “meditation” chair was a little tricky to maneuver.  I can no longer sit on a cushion on the floor.  But am lovin’ my little meditation corner. J   And my office is cozy and quiet, out of the way, and not on the way to the kitchen in the morning - tempting me. J   

Voila:  New Space! New Flow ~ ~ ~

Unwinding the Wound

The “original wound” of humanity is a

*perceived separation* from the Essence of all Life,

from Source, from God-Consciousness.

Healing this universal wound is a

healing of the consciousness of separation –

the “split” in consciousness of the Heart

that became the shadow.

This wound of separation is just a consciousness

spawned from the *belief* in separation.

A *belief* in separation creates a consciousness

of fear and darkness – a shadow.

It is only a *belief.*

It is not real.

You are caught in the net of separation,

*thinking* it is real.

Emerge through this layer of darkness

by *recognizing* the Consciousness of Presence –

the Beingness that you are…

See life through the eyes of this Presence.

Find your internal “Home” in the sense of this Beingness.

Recognize the Presence of Being within you

~ the place of un-wounding ~

unwinding the wound

in the Flow of communion with the Infinite…

Notes from my journal – 2004

Photo – Bill Kennedy

The picture is patterns created

by a “visualizer” while music was playing.

Wounded Puppies & Unexpected Grace

This blog has been percolating up all week – waiting for me to just sit and write it.

Tuesday I picked up a copy of the latest Shambhala Sun. I put it near the pile of books on the coffee table waiting to be read. Later, while lunch was cooking, I took advantage of the few minutes of Stillness and started leafing through it to see what was there. There was something comforting about just sitting and turning the pages, reveling in this silent moment. Not really reading anything. Just the act of repetitively turning the pages, sitting in the silence of the living room, was like a meditation. In that moment I once again became aware of a deep inner Stillness that had made its appearance the day before. At the turning of the next page there was a picture of a sad looking puppy in an ad for a Tibetan organization that helps take care of abandoned animals. I was drawn in by its sad eyes and furry coat. I paused for a moment, looked out the window – thought about our cat who died in August, thought about how it would be nice to have another warm, cuddly animal – and then kept flipping the pages until lunch finished cooking. The day went on and I was captured by the busyness of “the business.”

We have been in a pretty dark place here lately with the weight of life circumstances. Things have been tense and stressful, experiencing a lot of frustration and anger. We have often been like a couple of old barking dogs, yapping at each other, rather than playful puppies full of life and enthusiasm. And yet, in the last several days I have felt this strange sense of “contentment” – a strange sense of openness, acceptance, and a deeper Flow with inner Stillness that is absolutely unexplainable. I did not seek it out. “IT” just showed up. Later that afternoon, as I continued working with my husband, it occurred to me that he seemed like that puppy in the magazine – sad, wistful eyes, and scruffy fur – a kind of defeated look. Not unlike a lot of other people these days – including myself. It occurred to me that in many respects we humans are like wounded puppies, in one way or another – traumatized either physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise displaced – just trying to survive. Doing what we can to make life work. And sometimes in that woundedness we come out fighting like pit bulls. But behind the façade of the anger, the fear, the violence, even the sadness, there is a wounded puppy inside that just wants to be hugged, to be treated with kindness and respect – to be fed, and sheltered from the storms of life. In the seeing of this my heart softened – not only towards my husband, but towards all who are experiencing difficult life circumstances.

And what about this sense of “contentment” that showed up unexpectedly and uninvited - *before* this realization? The more of this open space that I felt internally this week, the more I was drawn into it with curiosity. What *is* this that seems to underlie all this other “shtuff” that I’m *also* experiencing – that we are all experiencing. When I brought my awareness to it, it felt like a spacious sense of grace, a spacious contentment in the *midst* of chaos; not because I had somehow gotten rid of my feelings of anger and frustration or anxiety, or because I had analyzed anything away. It was just there, waiting for me to notice. It was there underneath the moments of anger and frustration, like a constant, unexplainable Presence. All that was needed, it seemed, was to just be aware of IT, to *feel* it, to experience it – not work on eliminating anything *before* I could experience it, because I was – after all – experiencing IT! It was as if Grace flowed beneath it all - like a current of contentment ~~~ an unexplainable serenity that was available in every moment of experience.

I know it sounds so simplistic to say “just open to the Flow” that underlies it all. And I don’t mean to sound Polly-annish. But it appears to be true – at least from my experience this week. There *is* something unexplainable beneath our experience. This does not mean I haven’t felt the mind kick back in, creating anger and frustration and discontent about my life circumstances, but I can *also* feel this Flow, this Presence, and I realize again and again – Grace is there beneath my life experience. She is inviting me in – embracing this wounded puppy – offering me shelter from the torrents of storms. I can feel the tail begin to wag again. Excuse me while I take her up on the invitation and follow her Home…

Photo - Barnie the dog...

Serenity's Sanctuary - The Flow of Being

Allow the Flow of Being Itself to move through you – to move you,

and do what comes naturally from this Flow within.

~

Allow yourself to be carried by the tides of Being.

Relax into the ripples of Divine Flow and let go…

~

Immerse in the Rhythm of the Flow that carries you,

like the rhythm of a river running through you.

The Flow of Life runs its course the way it needs to.

The Flow of Being keeps going, keeps flowing,

no matter what the obstacles.

~

Be at peace in the flow and fluidity of Love’s Presence.

Just live in the Flow…

Just live It…

Just Trust ~ Just Love ~ Just Be…

Sweet Serenity…

Notes from my journals

Fun-Qi Art - :) Christine

Grocery Store Wisdom

Today was my usual grocery shopping and errand day – the usual Tuesday routine. The grocery store, I’m discovering, provides more than Produce, Poultry and Pastries. It is not only good fodder for blog, but also provides a variety of wisdom – when noticed. It is a real good place for noticing, for awareness, for seeing how The Mystery has morphed Itself into various forms. And I’m not just talking Broccoli, Carrots, Pears and Onions here, but most especially the two-legged kind with varying shapes, sizes and expressions, from the little playful munchkins clinging to their Moms – or not – to the elderly, seemingly weighed down by their life experience, appearing a little lost and confused. From happy radiant faces to stressed, angry and fearful faces – and everyone else in between with varying degrees of expression – yet all the expression of The One – living Itself in form. Interesting… And I wonder what they see when they are looking back at me… Hmmmm - another noticing happening here. How conscious or unconscious am I really in the way that I relate to this multi-media world that we share.

Today’s wisdom noticed seemed to be about awareness and flow. Maybe I’ll do a weekly Tuesday blog on Grocery Store Wisdom – in addition to the other blogs – stay tuned!

On my grocery day I normally visit three different stores. Today was the same. When I got to the third store and started to turn into the parking lot I noticed a construction crew right there diggin’ up the pavement, which impeded entering the lot, narrowing the flow of traffic in and out through this one entry way. But, the cars seemed to be taking their turns, one allowing the other to go, and then another would go next. It all seemed to flow. It was my turn. Just as I pulled out around the orange cones that marked off the construction area, a young woman in a black car pulled out from the side isle of parked cars right in front of me. Evidently she wasn’t aware of the etiquette involved. :) She was also on her cell phone. Because she couldn’t make the complete turn around me, she was now blocking the flow of traffic and I was stuck in the middle with cars behind me and her in front of me and construction to the side of me. I was peeved. She eventually maneuvered through and got out of the way, while still chatting on her cell phone. Now I know this is not supposed to bother me… being “spiritual” and all. :) I’m supposed to be able to step back into the noticing, into what’s actually seeing this, and allow the flow, or not, of life events, but – people driving while on cell phones is a pet peeve – or maybe it’s their un-awareness that irritates me. Anyway, my mind moved out of the present, and immediately went off into an internal tirade of thinking that went something like: if she hadn’t been on her cell phone she might have been aware enough to see what was going on around her – the blame sputter. Moot point by now, as she was long gone and I had pulled ahead, but the venting felt good – although I knew it was utterly useless. :) So I parked the car and emotionally shifted down. I went into the store and got the last few things I needed from my list, then headed for the check out.

There was a man in front of me who put his items up on the conveyor belt, while he was waiting for the person in front of him to be checked out. I patiently waited, then reached in and put one of those dividers behind his order so that I might place my items there. And then after I placed my goods on the belt, I automatically placed another divider behind my items, as there was a woman behind me.

Suddenly I heard a voice in my ear saying, “Thank you.” It startled me. I thought maybe I was being visited by an angel. :) It certainly wouldn’t be thanking me for my little tirade in the car just a few minutes before. Oh yes, I noticed my little rant and the thinking that created it. I gently turned and saw a smiling, slightly elderly face right at my shoulder, and she said again, in a soft low voice, “Thank you for putting that divider there. It’s the little things…” I smiled back at her, and responded in a knowing manner, thinking of what had just transpired in the parking lot: the movement of unconsciousness that had blocked the flow, and of course my unconscious reactive reaction to it. We engaged in a moment of delightful laughter, about what, I can’t exactly remember, engaging the cashier as well. All three of us – strangers - left the encounter with huge grins and laughs. Unbeknownst to this woman she had created a delightful moment of connection and reminded me once again of the wisdom and flow of simple awareness.

Awareness - It’s the little thing that keeps the flow going.

Heart Smiles – MeANderi
www.ASerenitySanctuary.com