Friday, July 29, 2011
Yet Once More--Bliss returns
Universal Blessings
May you each be bathed
in love,
may you be infused
with love,
may you know that love
is the only reality,
your nature
and eternal substance.
For many weeks, I have felt no special energies flowing, and had more or less assumed (once again) that the long process of internal adjustment had ended at last. I have reached such moments many times in the past, and each time a recurrence has occurred. But this time, I felt certain that this was it, no more bliss for me, I could content myself with reading about others' experiences or exploring new topics emerging all around.
But--I kept reminding myself--why would there be bliss states when I was not doing my practice, allowing time for transcendence to occur?
So this morning, I determined to go ahead and do my usual simple practice, without expectation other than that I might feel better for having done so.
I started with the easy stretches that are often done as preliminary for chi gong. The fact is that these simple moves are as far as I have gotten in most chi gong classes, but in and of themselves they can be very useful. Any book on chi gong will likely include instructions for such exercises.
Then (or perhaps even earlier, as I was standing before my thangka of Buddha) I saw an inner image of Buddha with my own face. At that moment, I was Buddha, Buddha was me. I realized that the end of all our journeys is to become a "Buddha," ultimate vessel of compassion and wisdom, one who serves the world without expectation of compensation. To identify with the symbol is not a mark of pride, but rather a confirmation that this state is what we all ultimately desire and will, with time, achieve.
I realized that I was feeling bliss now, located in my hands and forearms. I wondered if this energy could be used for healing others. I noted that the sensation was different than usual--stronger, as if from a younger, healthier being. It felt delightful and comforting.
Then I put on a favorite CD--(Lama Gyurme and Jean-Philippe Rykiel, "Roads of Blessings.") The bliss continued, until, about 20 minutes in, I began to sneeze (the room was cooling.) I got up to put on a blouse, and when I returned the bliss was no longer there. I was grateful for these precious minutes of union with the sacred unknown, and sent blessings to others, ending with the one printed above.
(image from mandalas.com--found on google)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
"More" (poem by Dorothy)
More
No matter what they tell
us,
we know there is always
more.
The Big Bang made a great noise,
(had anyone been there
to hear it),
and after that,
icy fragments,
spewing fires,
amoebae, fins,
dinosaurs,
green things growing from earth,
climbing creatures with tails and feet,
everything leading to
where we are now,
how we got here,
impossibility born
of a million improbabilities,
the vastly large
coupled
with the infinitely small,
twinkle in daddy’s eye,
one out of a billion
swimmers
making it home.
Dorothy Walters
July 26, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
"Sea Change" (poem by Dorothy)
Sea Change
I do not know
how I got caught up
on this wave,
bounding and tossing,
always farther out to sea,
always being shaped
into a new image,
meanwhile
my other self
watching not so much
in fear
but in curiosity and a casual interest
from the shore,
thinking,
Yes, now I am becoming
who I truly am,
go ahead,
pound and mold me,
make me whatever it is
I am supposed to be
now at this time, in this place,
neither of which is locatable
on time pieces or maps,
both together forming a matrix
constantly shifting,
as if it can’t quite make up its mind
how it wants to go,
or else has a purpose
that no one else
can see.
Dorothy Walters
July 26, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
What to Thlnk of Before Dying (poem by Dorothy)
What to Think of Before Dying
It could be a list of things--
things done and undone,
wills and thank you letters,
the cruise to the Greek Isles.
Or a catalogue of
best moments--
say when you stood
on the high mountain
at Mesa Verde
and saw the whole world
spread out
in a great circle beneath you
and for a few minutes
you knew how an eagle
must feel,
to soar above it all,
and you almost took off
then and there.
Or entering the cave
at Carlsbad when
you were twelve,
the enveloping mystery,
the all consuming darkness
when they turned
the lights off.
How could anything,
even darknes
be so ultimate?
Or standing there,
waiting to enter the spiraling mounds
at Tara,
the sweet energies
floating up out of the ground
through your very legs
and into your body.
Tasting the sacred.
And then there was the other,
the moment of revelation,
the one too deep to write about.
And you wonder
if it will follow you
as you go,
be your guide,
like a lantern held
by an invisible hand,
your own particular small
pillar of light
showing direction
into the arriving
wilderness
as you wait
in wonder.
Dorothy Walters
July 26, 2011
(Photo of Hill of Tara found on the internet, showing circular rings)
Note: Tara (about an hour outside Dublin) has been known in more recent centuries as the chosen place where the great Kings of ancient Ireland were crowned. However, many insist that before patriarchy, Tara was the holy ground of the Great Mother, and that the various circular rings of earth are in fact the chakras of her body. From what I felt there, I would agree with the latter--the sacred energies still flow through the earth and into the flesh and bones of the visitor. It is clear why this spot was held to be special , for you can still tell by the very vibrations it gives off that it is sacred ground.
Monday, July 25, 2011
POem by Rumi
When I am with You
When I am with you, we stay up all night,
When you're not here, I can't get to sleep.
Praise God for these two insomnias!
And the difference between them.
tr. Coleman Barks
(picture found on internet)
Friday, July 22, 2011
The Love of Animals
Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya's Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw.
"These three brothers (cheetahs) have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old," he said. "On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together.
At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away. But one youngster was not quick enough, and the brothers caught it easily." These extraordinary scenes followed.
and then they just walked away without hurting it.
May your day be filled with blessings!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Cellular Level (poem by Dorothy)
The Cellular Level
“I will revel in a world
no longer particular.”
Elizabeth Spires
“Memories of the Future”
But of course, I never did.
Live in that world where
things had their own
particular name,
colors, definition.
Maybe it was because
my eyes were not sharp enough.
Things simply did not
stand out as much,
distinguish themselves
one from another.
For trees there were
pine, elm, and cotton wood.
Everything else relegated
to the compost pile
of the generic.
And as for flowers.
After daisy, rose,
hyacinth, I didn’t
even try.
Though their beautiful
faces thrilled
as I passed along.
Strangely I could
remember other things--
names of poets, forms,
cadence.
Plots and mythological beings.
General categories of
thought,
universal concepts.
Plato’s cave, the hero's journeyl.
Hybris and the fall of Oedipus,
the Goddess in her glory.
The veil of Maya and the quantum
world.
The night of Brahma,
the universe eternally reborn.
Yes, that’s it.
More and more I lost notice
of the individual,
reduced everything,
to the generality
and fundamental myth,
then to feeling,
yearning for something more,
finally the cellular level,
rapture.
Dorothy Walters
July 21, 2011
At first glance, this poem seems to have little or nothing to do with Kundalini or spiritual experience. But actually it does, for it describes one of the common aspects of awakening, when one becomes more and more focused on the interior landscape and the inner drama of the unfolding spiritual self than on the outer world of ordinary items and events.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
'Parched" (poem by Ivan Granger)
The following beautiful poem is by Ivan Granger, followed by his own explanation of its essential meaning. Ivan for many years has offered the Poetry Chaikhana, where you can receive a free spiritual poem each day simply by signing up. The Chaikhana is a great inspiration and joy to all of us who enjoy its offerings. (For those who may not know, a "chaikhana" is a Middle Eastern tea house, where travelers may rest and listen to music and poetry.)
Parched
By Ivan M. Granger
(1969 - )
The parched know --
real thirst
draws rainwater
from an empty sky.
============
Thought for the Day:
The only valid motivation is love --
love for God,
love for humanity,
love for the living Earth.
Anything less will fall short of your goal.
============
(Here is Ivan's own description of the above poem, followed by his reflections on the nature of poetry.)
We've been having a heat wave where I live in Colorado, with unexpected rainstorms in the afternoons. Reminded me of this short poem I wrote some years ago...
There is a promise in every deep yearning. Every desire carries within it the seed of its own satisfaction. The trick is to relax into the tension of that yearning. Initially, it feels painful, like an unsatisfied thirst. But when the magnetic power of that thirst grows strong enough, it generates a heat vacuum within that summons rain to it.
So too with the thirst for God. Real thirst, real, all-consuming desire for the Divine, always brings a fulfilling response from heaven, no matter how lost the soul may feel.
Fulfillment descends like gentle rain from a still mind, an empty sky.
==
Since I'm featuring one of my own poems today, here's a little about me, in case you're curious...
Ivan M. Granger grew up in Oregon and Southern California. He has also lived on the island of Maui. He now lives in Colorado with his wife, Michele.
When asked why he writes poetry, Ivan says, "Poetry has an immediate effect on the mind. The simple act of reading poetry alters thought patterns and the shuttle of the breath. Poetry induces trance. Its words are chant. Its rhythms are drum beats. Its images become the icons of the inner eye. Poetry is more than a description of the sacred experience; it carries the experience itself."
He adds, "My poetry is not fixed. When I read my own poems, I say them aloud, I repeat random lines, change the words around. Sometimes I sing them or chant them. I play with these poems until my mind relaxes enough to let the sacred spark shine forth."
-
Poetry Chaikhana readers often ask me about myself. Who is the guy behind all those poetry emails? What drew you to sacred poetry? And just what does "Poetry Chaikhana" mean?
As a way to answer some of those questions, I thought I'd post an audio interview I did a couple of years ago. I talk a little about myself, and a lot about poetry -- the transformational power of poetry, the ways poetry naturally expresses the sacred experience, the non-dogmatic nature of poetry. And I read a few poems.
Ivan
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Bob Dean, interview by Camelot on UFO's
Bob Dean : An Officer and a Gentleman
Phoenix, Arizona, May 2007
(The text that follows is from Camelot, a site devoted to extraterrestrials and other related topics. It includes directions to an interview with Dean on YouTube (Bob Dean, parts 1 and 2). Or go to Youtube and try to locate it there--also you can get it through google. I cannot figure out how to send you there directly. The interview is about one and one/half hours long, but it is well worth the time spent in listening. I draw no conclusions, but like to know what is going on in this particular world, and do believe there is more to know about UFO's than we have been told by official sources. Bob Dean--who says he was privy to classified information--claims that there is a long history of government interaction with UFO's and aliens. He feels that this information should be made public, for the public has a right to know. At the end of his second interview he reveals that he himself has been on board of space vehicles and talked with the aliens. He is recognized as one of the pioneers in the "UFOlogy" movement.)
(Now from Camelot):
We have met many remarkable people in the course of our work for Project Camelot, but meeting Bob Dean was one of our greatest privileges. As an elder statesman he is charming, eloquent and dashing, and we are proud to present this as what may be one of our most memorable interviews.
In Part One, Bob shares with us his knowledge of the UFO phenomenon and what he encountered while working at SHAPE in Europe in the 1960s: an inch and a half thick detailed official report on the extraterrestrial 'problem' called at that time simply "The Assessment". Having the clearance to have free access to the document, he read it and re-read it many times, and he tells us how that changed his life. Later, after retiring from the military, he made the courageous decision to defy his Oath of Secrecy and began to speak publicly about what he had learned.
In Part Two of the interview, Bob tells us that this is probably his last interview... and having done so, he pauses, takes a deep breath, and reveals on record for the first time that he has been contacted, and has been on board the craft.
Do not miss this... and we invite you to join us in applauding the courage, integrity, dignity and commitment to truth of this very special man. We would like to think that this interview is an appropriate and fitting tribute to everything that he has stood for and wishes for the world.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Jan Esmann on Lovebliss
http://batgap.com/
The above address contains one of the most fascinating interviews with someone who has experienced major Kundaini awakening that I have come across. Jan Esmann spent his early years in London, then moved to Denmark with his parents, who were Danes.
Even in childhood Jan experienced out of body experiences as well as bliss states. As he grew older, these experiences continued to manifest and intensify, often when he underwent spiritual initiation with various teachers. Bliss became a daily companion. and for him, bliss love was an indicator of the love of the universe itself for the individual person. Today, he sometimes gives "shaktipat" to his friends and fellow meditators. His method is simple: he touches their knee with his hand.
Jan is unusual in his willingness to expose and explore his private "bliss states." As I have mentioned from time to time, many spiritual and martial arts teachers I have met belittled bliss as an aberration from the preferred path, or said they had never heard of it, or else proclaimed, "If you are lucky you will get over it." Rather than relegating bliss to the state of a distraction from the true path, he sees it as a sign of having reached the major goal of oneness with divine essence, which he names as the Goddess herself. She is with him constantly, and he is always bathed in her love.
Jan has written a book ("Lovebliss") to be available on Amazon soon. He also has a website that contains much of his own experience and philosophy but it is difficult to find a url for it--but you can google him or else go to the link on the site mentioned above.
For Jan, lovebliss is th state of enlightenment itself, for it produces oneness consciousness in its fullest state. I agree.
The only reservation I have about his presentation is that when he was asked about the possible negative effects of Kundalini, he brushed the question aside, saying that he was only familiar with his own experience. Kundalini is not necessarily all bliss, as many of us know, Kundalini awakening is for many like flipping a coin--one side brings bliss, the other pain, and we cannot predict who will receive which result.
I urge everyone to read this website and to listen to the youtube interview. They are of extreme significance to anyone interested in Kundalini.
Here ia more about Jan from the site mentioned above:
Jan was born 1960 and grew up in Bury, England. His parents were Danish. In 1967 the family moved to Denmark. Jan’s dad is an engineer and there was no spiritual influence from either parent. Yet Jan showed strong spiritual yearnings since an early age. Jan trained as an artist under the Danish painter Niels Hermann Wamberg; he also studied art restoration at the Royal Academy in order to learn the traditional craft. Jan also studied at the university and acquired an MA in history of modern culture. Today Jan works as a full time professional artist and also has a software company developing photo retouching plug-ins for Photoshop.
After doing Transcendental Meditation and the TM Siddhi Programme for six years, Jan felt the need for a guru and found Gururaj Ananda Yogi whom he stayed with for three years. Then Jan’s Kundalini was so active, that he did not need any other guidance than what the Shakti gave, so he gave up on gurus and meditated by observing the inner Shakti’s workings. Following this, Jan began to be contagious and the Kundalini might spontaneously awaken in those that meditated with him. After some years, Jan met Amma and related to her as a spiritual master for about ten years. But again the Shakti guided Jan to meditate on his own and follow the inner guidance of the Shakti. Today Jan would describe his spirituality as being grabbed by Mother’s grace. The Divine Mother who resides in everybody as Kundalini Shakti and patiently waits to unfold as a vibrating field of love, bliss and grace.
Interview recorded 7/10/2011.
Jan’s sites: Spirituality, Art, Software Development
Friday, July 15, 2011
"Animal is Spiritual" by Len Anderson
Animal Is Spiritual
she calls out in a loud bark
from her doorstep as she sees me walk her way,
still halfway up the block. It’s Nika,
the German Shepherd
who greets and licks everyone,
her slow, arthritic walk
and coat worn bare
to the black skin of her back, sign
of the sloughing off of the flesh.
I try to understand
what she means by this.
Animal is Spiritual,
she barks again and again, and as I approach
she walks out to the street,
does not look for traffic,
crosses to my side and waits for me.
She nuzzles my pant leg, I pet her and say,
You have a point—
the survival advantage of softened interpersonal boundaries
among kin in social animals could well drive a pleasure response
that might be conditioned by the touch of a hand, the nave of a
church, or a voice howling a hymn to the moon.
She licks my cool hand with her warm tongue.
But surely you would admit,
I go on,
the Animal embraces more
than the Spiritual and the Spiritual may well embrace more
than the Animal.
She looks up at me as if I have lost my mind.
I can read it in her eyes: Animal is Spiritual.
But then, what can I expect of anyone
with the limited symbolic capacity
of a Canis familiaris?
And I am embarrassed
to have even talked with her.
I take her by the collar back to her doormat,
tell her to be a good
spiritual dog and stay on her
side of the street. I go on with my walk.
At the end of the block I turn to see
a truck and a car stop and she
in the middle of the road,
as if she does not care
if she lives or dies. The drivers gesture,
but she pays them no mind. She just looks at me
with those eyes again—I,
another animal, a fifty-eight-year-old biped,
in the middle of the street, yelling,
Oh saint among dogs,
please get out of the road!
I, who still don’t know what
Animal is, what
Spiritual is.
- Len Anderson
Thursday, July 14, 2011
"The Reconnection"--continued
As Lois glided forward, she saw many beautiful shapes and colors, and passed along a road lined on either side with friends and relatives of her most recent and even earlier past lives. As she moved forward, she felt a sense of deep peace and happiness.
Now, a brilliant light appeared before her. Though it was almost blinding in intensity, it did not hurt her eyes. This light was the core of the Supreme Being. She had now reached the level of the "all-knowing, all-consuming, all-accepting light. My mother knew that she was Home."
Now her entire life is presented to her in pictures, but without judgment. She then learned that she was to be sent back. She did not wish to return, but it was necessary for her to do so in order to raise her son. At this point she began to forget parts of her experience, but retained the conviction that when she returned "home" again, she would be received with love. This realization removed all fear of death as a passage to a new state of being. Then she found herself back in her body--and the nurses happily informed her that she had birthed a son.
When she awoke further, she dictated as much of her journey as she could remember to her son's father, and asked him to write it down.
Lois' account of her "death experience" is one of the most vivid and detailed I have come across. The description of the "levels" of consciousness available after death is reminiscent of Dante's depiction of the after world in "The Divine Comedy," though, of course, Dante is much more precise in his description of the punishments meted out to the sinners of various kinds, and Lois' "other world" is not one which focuses on hellish torments of the "damned." Her encounter with the great light also echoes Dante's description of the Divine Rose (God) in the final volume of his majestic work. Many of the features of her experience parallel accounts given by other near death survivors--the life review, the sense of being enfolded by infinite love, the reluctance to return to the "real world," and the loss of any fear of death are common features related by many such survivors.
Indeed, one wonders that if Eric himself, who was still in her womb or at least present during this amazing experience, was somehow altered by it, so that his own astonishing gift might manifest at a later stage in his life.
When we look at his story from a very skeptical viewpoint, there are several possibilities that come to mind. Is he indeed, telling the complete truth (particularly with respect to the miraculous healings), or is he merely embellishing the facts to enliven his tale (as many believe Carlos Castaneda did in his stories of the magical shaman some years back)?
Is he motivated by a desire for fame and money, rather than honesty in narration?
Could such things really happen? If so, they would appear to be on the same level as the stories of Jesus' healing feats as presented in the New Testament.
If they are true, then perhaps it is also true, as Pearl says at one place in the book, that "new energies" are coming in to earth, and things are possible now that were not possible in the past.
Pearl's contention is that all of us possess such profound healing abilities if we would only allow them to find expression. Why not? I have often said that if such unexpected transformations (major awakenings) could happen to me (and others) in such unlikely circumstances, then anything could happen to anyone at any time. We are in fact in a time or profound planetary shift into a new state of consciousness. His experience seems to confirm that major changes are happening all around, lifting all of us to new levels of knowing and doing.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Eric's Mother Dies and Returns During his Birth
Eric's mother had what many of us would call a "near death" experience while she was giving birth to him, but he insists it was in fact a "death experience," for she literally died (and then returned) during the process. During the time she was out of her body, she traveled through seven levels of the realms above, and each had a lesson to teach her. On her return, she was able to remember at least some of the information she had received (not through words, but rather by telepathic, wordless communication.)
Here is some of what she brought back:
The first level consisted of those spirits who were still tied to earth. Perhaps they felt they had left behind unfulfilled responsibilities (such as caring for a child or needy relative), perhaps they had died violent deaths and thus did not realize that they had died. For whatever reason, they were not ready to cut their ties with this world.
Her memory of the second level was vague.
The third level contained those spirits who had taken their own lives. Their movements were aimless. They were in limbo. "Taking your own life interrupts God's plan."
At other levels, she learned that there is no need to mourn those who have passed over. They are content in their new manifestations. It is those who are left behind who suffer pain for the loss of their loved ones. From birth to ascent to heaven to re-descent is but a snap of the fingers.
Whatever happens, no matter how terrible, it is not God's fault. It is part of our own learning process, something we agreed to before we came. Everything is exactly as it should be.
War is a temporary state of barbarism and will some day vanish from earth completely. Then we will realize how primitive and even ridiculous it is .
Even those who have done terrible things are received here without judgment. Their acts were lessons from which they were to learn. They must return to earth again and again until they absorb the necessary knowledge from their misdeeds.
At this point, she is drawn forward by some sort of magnetic force, and ultimately reaches the very core of the divine essence. I will write more about this part of her experience tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
"The Reconnection"--book by Eric Pearl
Eric Pearl was a very "successful" chiropractor living in L. A. with a very lucrative practice (he had three houses, two Mercerdes Benzes, and loved to stay out late socializing and drinking wine.) He was no saint by any measure.
Then one day something changed. His clients began reporting that they could feel his hands even when he was not touching them. (Not so strange--I know others for whom this is so, including me). But then they began to report odd "presences" in the practice room and many described these as "angels" (with ordinary names like Bill or George--one was even a parrot). At this point, unexplained "healings" began to occur. As time passed, the healings grew more and more impressive. One day a man came in that no doctor had been able to help. His hip had been injured at birth, so that one leg was measurably shorter than the other. The result was that he was in constant pain and had been told that he would spend the last years of his life in a wheelchair. He came to Eric as a last resort.
Soon into the session, his twisted leg (that had not moved for years) began to shake. And not long after that it straightened sufficiently so that that he walked upright out of the treatment room, free of the terrible pain that had afflicted him for years,
Other impressive healings followed, but Eric Pearl does not claim credit for these. He feels that for some reason he has been "chosen" as a vessel or vehicle for divine energy, and that the angelic forms who "come in" to his sessions do the actual healing. He himself does not see them, but his patients describe them (in the same terms) over and over, though they have never talked with one another about them
Eric feels that this healing "gift" is one we all share and he gives workshops across the world to help others access this mysterious healing magic. No technique is needed--the only requirement is to carry a clear intention and "get out of the way." Years of training are not required. He feels that we are now in a special time in history, when new energies are bombarding the earth and things are now happening that would have been virtually impossible in earlier times (except, of course, for the Biblical healings described in the New Testament, which now somehow seem to make more sense.)
Almost all of the above comes from the opening chapter of his book titled "The Reconnection." Chapter two is even more fascinating, for it describes his mother's experience of literally dying during his birth, and the information she brought back from the other side. I will discuss her experience tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want to read more, go to his website at www.the reconnection.com for it contains liberal excerpts from the book.
Note: I took the photos above earlier today during my walk along Boulder Creek, which has become a raging river with the spring runoff from the snows high above in the mountains. We had excessive snow up there this year, though less than average here at the foot. The top two photos show the rioting waters overflowing their banks in what is generally a fairly quiat stream. To me, they suggest what happens when Kundalini erupts in all its fury, overflowing our systems' ability to handle such massive amounts of unfamiliar energy. The final picture was also taken today--again I see it symbolically, representing the beauty and calm that ensues when Kundalini settles down and offers the blessings that it can bring once it finds its proper channels.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Poem by Lawrence Edwards (Kalidas)
I lit a candle
I lit a candle
last night.
The bright flame and I
kept vigil through the depths of darkness.
Now the flame
and the one who lit it
appear to be the same, yet
they were both gone
the moment they leapt into
existence together,
replaced the next instant by another,
then another, then another…..
The flame burns on
in simple purity,
such a seductive illusion
this continuity.
Kalidas
Lawrence Edwards, PhD
Founder & Director
The Anam Cara Foundation
(photo by Frewil)
Friday, July 08, 2011
This Love (poem by Dorothy)
This Love
can consume you,
devour you,
drag you to the depths
where pearls float in the eyes
of the lost fishers,
blast you into
the outer regions
where there is no sound
but the frantic beating
of your own heart,
break you like brittle clay,
bend you like
molten iron,
wrap you around
your own belly,
turn your face
toward what
is ever shining,
waiting
for you to see.
Dorothy Walters
July 7, 2011
(The fourth line echoes the famous image of Eliot’s Wasteland: “Those are pearls/that were his eyes.)
Thursday, July 07, 2011
The Ruins of the Soul (poem by Dorothy)
The Ruins of the Soul
Everything swept away.
What fire did not
devour,
flood consumed.
Nothing left but this
purified field,
this immaculate transparency.
The place where I
wait
for God.
Dorothy Walters
July 6, 2011
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Poem by Denise Levertov
Overland to the Islands
Let's go—much as that dog goes,
intently haphazard. The
Mexican light on a day that
‘smells like autumn in Connecticut’
makes iris ripples on his
black gleaming fur—and that too
is as one would desire—a radiance
consorting with the dance.
Under his feet
rocks and mud, his imagination, sniffing,
engaged in its perceptions—dancing
edgeways, there's nothing
the dog disdains on his way,
nevertheless he
keeps moving, changing
pace and approach but
not direction—‘every step an arrival.’
- Denise Levertov
When we think of Kundalini, we must not forget that it flows not only in humans, but in every living thing--and some believe even in every non-living thing. It is the great energy of creation itself, and the source of all the power and animation in the universe.
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
More on Cruise
Images (from bottom to top) are: Eagles in flight
More eagles in flight
Sunset from ship
Mendenhall Glacier
Eagles at rest
As we voyaged up the Alaskan coast, I realized how lonely and isolated it would have been--and still is, to my notion--to live in such uninhabited places. The early settlers did not (of course) even have T. V. or telephones to alleviate their isolation. They were indeed a hardy and independent bunch. Personally, I live in quiet isolation, but in the midst of a bustling metropolis where I can find company whenever I choose. I would not have made a good pioneer.
One more (political note): One store had a life sized paste board cut out of guess who (S. P.) on display. I thought it said something about the preferences of the locals.
(computer battery is failing--I'll write more tomorrow.
Monday, July 04, 2011
Back from Alaska
Images from top to bottom: Native American Dancer in Tribal Meeting House
Totem in Native American Village
Man viewing bald eagle from small boat
I have just returned from a one week cruise up the Inland Passage to Alaska. The trip was quite interesting. We saw many whales, eagles, and even one bear (from the train--he was running along the side of a mountain across the way.) Alaska proved to be as unusual as everyone has reported. It is for the most part still unsettled territory, and somehow conveyed a real sense of loneliness and isolation. Fortunately I had brought my heavy sweater and winter coat, so I kept quite warm (temperatures were mostly in the sixties.)
We saw snow only on the tops of the mountains in the distance, though we did visit one glacier called Mendenhall Glacier (hope to put a picture up tomorrow). Somehow I had expected to be sailing among icy cliffs that often "calved" into huge chunks of ice, but that was not the case, though we did sometimes see large pieces of ice floating down the water beside us.
I had never been on a cruise before, so I did not know what to expect. The ship was amazingly well organized to handle some 1700 passengers. The food was delicious and everything ran quite smoothly. There were families and others from across the world on board, mostly (it appeared) from the middle class of their respective countries. Everyone was very pleasant and friendly, and someone suggested that if the world would only be as accepting and peaceful as the folks on the ship many of our problems would be solved.
I met no one on board who shared like interests with me, and realized that I was indeed a small minority of the world's population. Yet I liked my fellow passengers, though I had an odd sensation of slipping into a different field of consciousness (theirs) now and again. I also seemed to develop a taste for music and entertainment quite outside my usual preferences (they often played loud rock and roll and sometimes the performers made corny jokes.) So I am glad to be home and safe from being seduced into some state of consciousness outside my own "subtle energy" field. I felt no K. energies during the entire trip, but rather enjoyed the "external" play of activity.
