Kundalini Splendor

Exciting new workshop from Mirabai Starr on Shift.  The intro is free.  For me, Kundalini is the raw energy behind each goddess figure, the transformative life energy that resides in us all and which we experience fully once its power is awakened within.  I call it The Beloved Within.  It is who we are.  


Beloved Friends and Family,

Im entering the Goddess Zone, and its transfiguring me.

Who knew when I said YES to an invitation from the Shift Network to offer a course on the goddesses of the myriad spiritual traditions that the goddesses would in turn say YES to me and come pouring into my life, making trouble and making beauty, clearing things away and shoring things up?  Not I.

My thing has always been the mystics – especially the feminine mystics – across the religious spectrum.  But when I opened myself to these disembodied beings, such as Kali and Durga, Tara and Kwan Yin, Gaia and Ixchel, Persephone and Sophia, they revealed themselves as intimate partners on my own spiritual journey and I realized they have been with me all along.  This is a profoundly embodied experience.  No surprise, since that is the nature of the scared feminine: to dwell in the cells of our own bodies and infuse our incarnational experience.

So, I am having a ridiculously good time exploring and researching them and uncovering their stories in preparation for this new class.

Id like to invite you to join me for an upcoming FREE virtual workshop on Saturday, May 6 (with an encore a few days later), called Receiving the Gifts of the Goddesses: How to Connect to the Powers of the Sacred Feminine and Awaken to Greater Love, Liberation & Beauty.

My hope is that you will discover that this pantheon lives inside you too and that you have access to them as a kind of living council of sages to guide you in navigating the waters of your own life and stepping up to be of service in the world.

Her time is now.

You can register here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/ggMS/Mirabaistarr/



During this special hour, you’ll discover how to:

Allow the Goddesses to transform your consciousness and open you to direct mystical experiences that bring wisdom

Move beyond overwhelm and stress to experience clarity, hope, spaciousness — and even fun!

Dissolve the sense of separation between you and God as you begin to see the Divine manifesting in your own body

Please join me for this powerful reclamation of the Sacred Feminine. It will be enlivening, ecstatic and soul-nourishing!

And it’s FREE to attend, but you’ll need to register here: https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/ggMS/Mirabaistarr/


P.S. During Receiving the Gifts of the Goddesses: How to Connect to the Powers of the Sacred Feminine and Awaken to Greater Love, Liberation & Beauty, I'll help you tap into the powerful Goddess energies stirring within you so you can access the profound guidance, beauty and love they have to share with you.

As a registered participant, you’ll receive a downloadable audio of the presentation. Save your space here for this free virtual event:

https://shiftnetwork.isrefer.com/go/ggMS/Mirabaistarr/

Author, translator of the mystics, and leading voice in the emerging Inter-Spiritual Movement, Mirabai Starr uses fresh, lyrical language to help make timeless wisdom accessible to a contemporary circle of seekers. She has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of Dark Night of the Soul by sixteenth century Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross, The Interior Castle and The Book of My Life, by St. Teresa of Avila, and The Showings of Julian of Norwich. She is author of the 6-volume Sounds True series, Contemplations, Prayers, and Living Wisdom. Her poetry collection, Mother of God Similar to Fire, is a collaboration with iconographer, William Hart McNichols. GOD OF LOVE: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam – winner of the Nautilus Gold Award and the New Mexico/Arizona Book Award for Religion and named one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2012 by Spirituality & Practice – positions Mirabai at the forefront of the emerging Inter-Spiritual Movement.

Mirabai taught Philosophy and Religious Studies for twenty years at the University of New Mexico-Taos, and now speaks and teaches nationally and internationally on the teachings of the mystics, contemplative practice, and grief as a spiritual path. Her talks and retreats incorporate silent meditation, interspiritual chanting, sacred poetry, and deep dialog. She blogs for the Huffington Post.

Connect with me:
Website/blog:  MirabaiStarr.com
Facebook:  facebook.com/Mirabai.Starr.author
Twitter:  twitter.com/MirabaiStarr
Huffington Post:  huffingtonpost.com/mirabai-starr

(Note: This is an extremely important post, one that all of us need to contemplate. It describes, accurately and eloquently, the process of transformation, which is not an instant or even ultimate "enlightenment," but rather a continuing process of advances and halts, ups and downs. We may be allowed glimpses of the ultimate state, but virtually no one stays at that exalted level forever.)

"You cannot stay on the summit forever.
You have to come down again.
One climbs and one sees;
one descends and one sees no longer,
but one has seen.
There is an art to conducting oneself
by the memory of what one saw higher up.
When one no longer sees,
one can at least still know."

~ Rene Daumal

"Enlightenment does exist. It is possible to awaken. Unbounded freedom and joy, oneness with the Divine, awakening into a state of timeless grace - these experiences are more common than you know, and not far away. There is one further truth, however; They don't last."

"In fact, in the awakening of the heart there is no such thing as enlightened retirement. That is not how it happens to us."

"We all know that after the honeymoon comes the marriage...In spiritual life it is the same: After the ecstasy comes the laundry."

"Times of great wisdom, deep compassion, and a real knowing of freedom alternate with periods of fear, confusion, neurosis, and struggle. Most (spiritual) teachers admit this truth."

"Enlightenment is only the beginning, is only a step of the journey. You can't cling to that as a new identity or you're in immediate trouble. You have to get back down into the messy business of life, to engage with life for years afterward. Only then can you integrate what you have learned."

"Even if our transformation is great and we feel peaceful and unshakable, some part of our return will inevitably test us. We may become confused about what to do in life, about how to live in our family or society. We may worry how our spiritual life can fit into our ordinary way of being, our ordinary work. We may want to run away, to go back to the simplicity of the retreat or the temple. But something has pulled us back to the world, and the difficult transition is part of it."

"These ordinary cycles of opening and closing (spiritually) are necessary medicine for our heart's integration. In some cases, though, there are not just cycles, there is a crash. As far as we ascend, so far can we fall. This needs to be included in our maps of spiritual life, honored as one more natural part of the great cycle."

"After any powerful spiritual experience there is an inevitable descent, a struggle to embody what we have seen."

"Even recognized teachers are not beyond the experience of finding themselves shattered. One American seeker for twenty years, finally realized the fullness of (spiritual) freedom with a guru in India...His path seemed to be unfolding perfectly and he thought he had gone beyond the trouble of the world, until a crisis came."

"When the Christian mystic Julian of Norwich says she knows of no lover of God who is kept safe from falling, she is voicing the understanding that to descend is God's will... The fall, the descent, and its subsequent humility can be seen as another form of blessing."

"Sometimes a spiritual fall does not resolve quickly; it can take years to move into the next phase."

"There are certain truths we can learn only by descent, truths that bring wholeness and humility in surrender... We all need periods of fecund time, fallow time, of being drawn closer to the humus of the earth. It is as though something in us slows down, calls us back. And out of that time a deepened knowledge and beauty can emerge."
"In the inevitable rising and falling, the cycles of expansion and contraction that come as you give birth to yourself, there may be moments to push, to strive toward a spiritual goal. But more frequently the task is one of letting go, of finding a gracious heart that honors the changes of life."

"No matter what the situation, awakening requires trust in the greater cycles of life, trust that something new will eventually be born, trust that whatever is, is perfect. Wise letting go is not a detached removal from life."

If you find yourself wondering what to do with yourself after a profound spiritual awakening, as I am, take heart. You are not alone, nor is your experience unique. It is a normal part of the cycle that one discovers while on the inner journey. Something will come into your life that points a new way for you. It wi
(This comment is from Donna Louise Aitken. I found the above lengthy quote on her FB site as well.)

At the Temple Gates

Some hover around outside,
linger at the portal,
never venture
within.

I don't blame them.
It's nicer,
safer out here.
Always longing,
never viewing the daemon
face to face,
hide and seek with the soul.

Never going in,
climbing up
on the alter
as the priest raises
his knife to
dismantle
who you are.

Once there,
your parts have been
torched and now
are unrecognizable.

Until they somehow join together
once again, in a new configuration.

Now you wonder
if you are living or dead
as you walk through
unaccustomed radiance,
a world transfigured, aflame.

Dorothy Walters
April 19, 2017

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!


IMPEACHMENT MARCH SET FOR JULY 2––LOOK IT UP!


Sunday, July 2 at 11 AM - 2 PM PDT

Los Angeles City Hall
200 N Spring St Ste 101, Los Angeles, California 90012

My guess is that more of these will be organized in coming days.  Even if it does not accomplish its immediate goal, it will be an important means of expressing the will of the people.  Keep on marching ahead, everyone!  We are together in this, including those who must just watch at home from the T. V.

The Woman Who Knew Too Much

It is true
that by now
she had
read all the volumes,
thought all the ideas,
explored the inner meanings
of countless forms.

She herself
had reviewed and published many
of the thoughts
and now had no need to repeat them
or review them
in the writings
of others coming on the scene
who imagined they had
discovered something new.

Too old for fleshly lovers,
her connection now was with
the Beloved Within,
the enigmatic one who came
from an unknown realm,
being without name or form,
fed endless word poetry
into her mind,
sometimes gave her a deep throat kiss
as she waited for the next poem
to arrive.

Dorothy Walters
April 22, 2017

To My Internet

(This is a poem inspired by modern technology, which now is virtually a new religion.  It is an updated version of the Lord's prayer.)

Dear Mysterious One
Who exists somewhere unseen
in the outer realms,
may all respect be shown to you.

Clearly, you are taking over
the universe,
you are forever in charge
of whatever occurs in my life,
here on this machine
and elsewhere
in places I cannot even
imagine.

Please forgive me
for all the foolish mistakes
I keep making
despite what my friends
have taught me
about how to post entries
and let me overlook
the typos in the messages
I receive from them
since all of us
were born too early
to get the right technique
clearly inscribed
on our out- of- date brains.

And keep me
from getting so
frustrated
that I fling this
gadget against the wall
and lose all my files
as well as my address book.
And help me not to get so
fascinated with my communications
that I forget to get up
and walk around every hour
as I am supposed to do
to keep my circulation going.

For you are clearly
my Significant Other,
the CEO of my non profit life,
and will be
for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for your attention.

Yours truly,

Me

This morning I had another of the spells of fatigue and wooziness that I reported in early April and which I (and others) connected with solar flares.  So I checked once again on the website for solar activity and found the following.  Again, I must wonder what is going on. 


"SOLAR WIND ENGULFS EARTH: A solar wind storm is underway around Earth as our planet enters a high-speed stream of gas flowing from a large hole in the sun's atmosphere. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the source of the wind on April 23rd:

This is a coronal hole (CH)--a place in the sun's atmosphere where the magnetic field peels back and allows solar wind to escape. Solar wind flowing from this hole is moving faster than 700 km/s--a veritable gale.  Moreover, the wind is threaded with "negative polarity" magnetic fields. Such fields do a good job connecting to Earth's magnetosphere and energizing geomagnetic storms.

NOAA forecasters estimate a 60% to 65% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on April 24th and 25th as Earth moves through this potent stream of solar wind. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras."

from Ann Baring, "The Dream of the Cosmos"

 This passage by Ann Baring is a brilliant exposition on the role of male and female in the divine realms and human experience.  For me, the Divine Spirit, by whatever name, is in fact Kundalini itself, for through Kundalini the soul achieves ecstatic union with the Beyond in the mystic marriage.  This state is the end of the mystical journey, the goal sought in almost every tradition, a recognition that self and Vastness are one.  The various lineages use different vocabularies to describe this union and name the feminine in different terms, but the essential meaning is the same, whether She is called Holy Spirit, Shekinah, or Sophia.  And Shiva/Shakti is not two, but one.  Often Shiva's body is depicted as literally half male, half female.   The only comment I would add is that although  on the human level, the union is often presented  as male/female in marriage, this equation can also be achieved by same sex couples, each offering aspects of both inner male/female to the other to achieve balanced merger.   Furthermore, in today's perspective, we strive for the merger of both male and female elements within ourselves, and thus we become complete humans.

Ann Baring goes beyond the surface observations of many contemporary writers to lead us into the heart of the mystery.  This excerpt will repay careful reading and re-reading to absorb its luminous wisdom.

The Imagery of the Sacred Marriage and the Transmission of Light

The highly developed cosmology of this tradition preserves the ancient Bronze Age image of the sacred marriage, reflected in the union of the Divine Father–Mother in the ground of being. There is not a Father God but a Mother–Father who are one in their eternal embrace, one in their ground, one in their emanation, one in their ecstatic and continuous act of creation through all the dimensions they bring into being and sustain. From the perspective of divine immanence, there is no essential separation between spirit and nature. No other tradition offers the same breathtaking vision in such exquisite poetic imagery of the union of male and female energies in the One that is both. The Song of Songs was the text most used by kabbalists for their contemplation of the mystery of this divine union.

The Zohar contemplates the mystery of the relationship between the female and male aspects of Divine Spirit expressed as Mother and Father, and their emanation through all dimensions of creation as Daughter and Son. The essential concept of this mystical tradition expresses itself in an image of worlds within worlds rather than as a hierarchy of descent. Divine Spirit (Ain Soph or Ain Soph Aur) beyond form or conception is the ineffable Light at the Root, the Source, the Ground of Being. Emanating as creative Sound (Word), Light, Intelligence and Love, it brings into being successive spheres, realms, or dimensions named as veils or robes which clothe and hide the hidden source, yet at the same time transmit its radiant light.

The transmission of this ineffable Light from the level of the source to the outer manifest level is also, as described earlier, an inverted tree, the Tree of Life, whose branches grow from its root in the divine ground and extend through invisible worlds or dimensions of being of which we are no longer aware because our minds have become closed to their existence. As I absorbed these images, I recognized their resemblance to certain Gnostic texts discovered at Nag Hammadi.

The primal centre or root is the innermost light, of an unimaginable luminosity and translucence, utterly different from the light we see in this world. This centre expands or is sown as a ray of light into what is described in some texts as a sea of glory, in others as a palace or womb which acts as an enclosureor receptacle for the light. From here it emanates as a radiant cascade, a fountain of living water, pouring forth light to create, permeate and sustain all the worlds or dimensions it brings into being. All life on earth, all consciousness, is that light and is therefore utterly sacred. The Zohar describes nature as the garment of God. This cascade of light flows through the ten Vessels, Powers or Attributes of the Divine (Sefiroth) which are connected by the 22 paths of the Tree of Life. The first Vessel (Kether) is a state of perfect equilibrium and contains all that was, is and will be. The divine impulse towards emanation moves the energy to expand beyond the first Vessel to the second; it is then received and contained by the third Vessel. This process of expansion and containment is repeated three times until this Tree is complete and the emanating energy balanced. The process of emanation then proceeds through further worlds, and the laws or archetypes which govern each world or level of creation come into being until they manifest as our own.

The Feminine Face of the God-head
The feminine face of the god-head is named as Cosmic Womb, Palace, Enclosure, Fountain, Apple Orchard and Mystical Garden of Eden. She is named as the architect of worlds, source or foundation of our world, and also as the Radiance, Word or Glory of the unknowable ground or godhead. Text after text uses sexual imagery and the imagery of light to describe how the ray which emanates from the unmanifest ground enters into the womb—the Great Sea of Light—of the Celestial Mother and how she brings forth the male and female creative energies which, as two branches of the Tree of Life, are symbolically, King and Queen, Son and Daughter. A third branch of the Tree descends directly down the centre, unifying and connecting the energies on either side. All elements or aspects of the Tree of Life are connected by twenty-two paths.

The Shekinah is named as the Divine Spouse, the indwelling and active Holy Spirit and the divine guide and immanent presence who delivers the world from bondage to beliefs that separate it from its source, restoring it ultimately to union with the divine ground. She brings into being all spheres or dimensions of manifestation which are ensouled and sustained by the ineffable source until, through them, she generates the manifest world we know.

Kabbalism calls this last, tenth sphere Malkuth, the Kingdom, where the divine Mother-Father image is expressed as the male and female of all species. Humanity, female and male, is therefore the expression of the duality-in-unity of the god-head. The Shekinah is forever united with her beloved Spouse in the divine ground or heart of being and it is their union in the god-head that holds life in a constant state of coming into being. Yet she is also present, here with us, in the material reality of our world. The sexual attraction between man and woman and the expression of true love between them is the enactment or reflection at this level of creation of the divine embrace at its heart that is enshrined in the cherished words in the Song of Songs: “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.” (6:3) Human sexual relationship, enacted with love, mutual respect and joy, is a sacred ritual that is believed to maintain the ecstatic union of the divine pair.
Because she brings all worlds into existence as her robes or veils, and dwells in them as divine presence, nothing is outside spirit. In the radiance of that invisible cosmic sea of light, everything is connected to everything else as through a luminous circulatory system. Moreover, the Shekinah is deeply devoted to what she has brought into being, as a mother is devoted to the well-being of her child. All life on earth, all levels and degrees of consciousness, all forms of what we see and name as ‘matter’, are the creation of that primal fountain of light and are therefore an expression of divinity.

Blue and gold are the colours associated with the Shekinah. As cosmic soul, She is the radiant ground or ‘light body’ of the human soul — at once its deepest, essential ground, its outer ‘garment’, the physical body, and its animating spirit or consciousness. She is the holy presence of the ‘glory of God’ within everyone. All of us, moving from unconsciousness and ignorance of this radiant ground to awareness of and relationship with it, live in her being and grow under her power of attraction until we are reunited with the source, discovering ourselves to be what in essence we always were but did not know ourselves to be—sons and daughters of God, living expressions of divine spirit.
There were different schools within Kabbalah. Some saw the Shekinah as separated from the god-head, in voluntary exile on earth, describing her as a Daughter cut off from her Mother, or as a Widow, until she is able to return to the divine ground, having gathered to herself all the elements or sparks (scintillae) of her being which had been scattered during the process of emanation. Others put great emphasis on the marriage between Tipareth, the sixth Sefiroth, with the Shekinah in her place of exile as Malkuth, the tenth Sefiroth, a marriage that we can assist in bringing about within us, for the Tree of Life is also a template of the inner life of our soul. The blackness of the Shekinah’s robe, comparable perhaps to the black robe or veil of Isis – who was also called ‘The Widow’ during her search for Osiris – signifies the darkness of the mystery which hides the glory of her Light.

I was amazed to discover that the Shekinah was called ‘The Precious Stone’ and ‘The Stone of Exile’, which at once connects her with the image of the Grail, described as both vessel – source of boundless nourishment – and stone. She was also called the ‘Pearl’, and ‘The Burning Coal’. To the opening eyes of my imagination, she appeared as the glowing gold of the hidden treasure at the heart of life, the jewelled rainbow of light thrown between the divine and human worlds, the seamless robe which unites the manifest and unmanifest dimensions of life. Here, at last, was the crucial missing piece of the puzzle that I had sought for over fifty years. The channeled messages had told us to find ‘the Stone at the foot of the Tree,’ and here was the Shekinah described as ‘The Precious Stone’ at the foot of the Tree of Life. I was overwhelmed by this realization, yet I knew it was important to not cling to the literal imagery but to look beyond it, into the symbolic heart of the teaching and its meaning for our culture which has been so deprived of the image of the Divine Feminine.

It suddenly occurred to me that kabbalistic imagery is woven into the fabric of many well-known fairy tales. In the story of Cinderella, for example, the veiled form of the Shekinah (or the forgotten image of the Great Mother) can be recognized in the fairy god-mother who presides over her daughter's transformation from soot-blackened drudge to royal bride. Harold Bayley, who wrote a remarkable book called The Lost Language of Symbolism at the beginning of the last century, showed me that the figure of Cinderella could be understood to represent the human soul as it moves from ‘rags to riches’.(6) Cinderella’s three splendid dresses, which could be equated with the ‘robe of glory’ of certain kabbalistic and gnostic texts, are the soul’s luminous sheaths or subtle bodies, as dazzling as the light of the moon, sun and stars. Just as the soot-blackened girl in the fairy tale puts on her three glorious dresses to reveal herself as she truly is, so does the human soul don these ‘robes of glory’ as she moves from the darkness of ignorance into the revelation of her true nature and parentage.

To reconnect with the tradition of the Divine Feminine that has been fragmented, obscured and almost lost over some two and a half thousand years, I turned to the magnificent passages in the Books of Proverbs, Ben Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) and the Wisdom of Solomon.(7) If I had not by chance been given a Bible by my mother when I was ten years old that contained the Apocrypha, I would not have known of the existence of the last two Books since the Apocrypha is not included in the Protestant Bible and I was brought up as a Protestant. I had spent nine long months in hospital at that age and during that time, having little else to do, read my Bible from cover to cover, understanding very little of it, yet absorbing as much as I could of its stories and imagery.

In the Apocrypha I found evidence of a feminine being, identified with Divine Wisdom and the Holy Spirit, who comes to life in certain of its passages. Here, in the Book of Ben Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, Wisdom tells us that she is immanent in our world, with us in the streets of our cities, calling to us to awaken to her presence, to obey her laws, to listen to her wisdom, promising her blessing if we can only hear her voice and respond to her teaching. In the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom tells us that she is the Beloved of God, with Him from the beginning, before the foundation of the world. She speaks from the deep ground of life as the hidden law which orders it and as the Craftswoman of creation. With their vivid imagery, these passages transform the idea of the Holy Spirit, speaking as Divine Wisdom, from abstract idea into Living Presence. She speaks as if, like the Shekinah, she were here, in this dimension, dwelling with us in the midst of her kingdom, accessible to those who seek her out. She is unknown and unrecognized, yet working within the depths of life, striving to open our understanding to the divine reality of her being, the sacredness of her creation, her justice, wisdom, love and truth.
- Anne Baring, "The Dream of the Cosmos"

Nada Brahma

"Scientists have only recently learned that the particles of an oxygen atom vibrate in a major key and that blades of grass "sing.'” 
                                                                (Amazon review)

In the forest
there was a note
and then an echo.

The unseen listener
heard,
an invisible music
played.

What shimmered
through the trees
had no beginning
or measurable source.

Yet it was everywhere,
celestial tones,
the unstruck sound,
nada brahma,
the beginning.

Dorothy Walters
April 19, 2017

Scientists today realize everything that exists is energy in movement, or vibration, and that each vibration has its own sound, color, and visual pattern. When the vibration is slow enough we perceive it as our material world.

"Nada" is a Sanskrit term for sound.  "Brahma" is the name of god.  Thus Nada Brahma is the sound of God or God is Sound.

Here is the reference for a major book on this topic (from Amazon):
The World Is Sound: Nada Brahma: Music and the Landscape of Consciousness 
by Joachim-Ernst Berendt  (Author), Helmut Bredigkeit (Translator), Fritjof Capra (Foreword)

I highly recommend it.

Romeo and Juliet

Think of it as a metaphor,
an allegory of the soul.

First your spirit is drawn
to what is attractive,
but not permanent.

Then you encounter
the real thing,
the Beloved who
is also seeking you,
waiting to bestow
the secret embraces you long for.

First there is the love night,
the darkness in which you consecrate
your union,
and know that it will last always.

Then the fatal interruption,
something that drives you
away from one another,
not your doing
but fate, it would seem.
What have you done wrong?

Finally reunited, you must die
in one another's arms,
too late for return,
now you are something other,
new beings ascending,
hybrids made of light and clay.


“Romeo and Juliet” traces the stages of the mystical journey.  First there is the discovery of the false teaching, the wrong path for you. (Romeo infatuated with Rosalind at the ball.)  Then there is the finding of the Beloved Herself, the goddess within, and the celebration of the love night.  (Romeo and Juliet fall in love and spend the night together.)  Next is the “dark night of the soul” when it feels that the connection with the divine is somehow lost, as if one is not worthy of the holy marriage.  (The death experience in the tomb.)  Then comes the final stage of rebirth, when you and the Beloved are One,“hybrids made of light and clay.”  (Transcendence, rebirth growing out of death, either in this life or after.  Not included in the play, but essential.)

Dorothy Walters
April 21, 2017

Sleeping Beauty

Believe me,
it was not the prince
who waked her.
That fellow with
his eager lips,
his grasping hands.

Oh, no,
nothing of it was his,
it was rather a feeling,
a realization,
call it an awakening
inside
or the embrace
of an unseen lover.

And then a revelation
occurred,
she threw away
the old version
of who she had been
and knew, finally
and forever,
that she was who she was,
not the blurred mirror image,
but the real being,
the one ready to walk forth
and finally be seen,
as the ray of a star fell down
and lit up where she was
and some kind of triumphal music
played nearby.

Cinderella

There we were,
Cinderella
among the ashes,
waiting, hoping,
what could happen?

And what came over us
was not a dream
nor yet a reality,
a mist, a veil,
a transfiguration
into something else.

As if the hidden one
had waved her wand,
as if we were no longer
who we were,
not recognizable
yet always known.

Now we must wonder
are we dead or alive,
still flesh
walking among
the other fleshly beings,
some other new,
unforeseen essence,
some yet unnamed
self.

Dorothy Walters
April 19, 2017

Morning

It is morning
and once again
I am not doing my list
but am allowing
these honey words
to drop into
my mouth.

Always more saying
and listening,
always more waiting
and receiving.

Again I feel guilty
for all
that is left undone––
dishes waiting
to be unloaded,
the new vacuum
ready to be tested and used.

Chop wood,
carry water. . .

Even the shopping list
I will need
for groceries tomorrow.

Outside the trees are shaking.
There is wind again
in this fickle climate,
chairs blowing about
on the balcony,
but I am here,
snug in my little bastion,
my third floor eyrie,
for the moment
safe against the elements
inside and out,
willing to open
once more.

Dorothy Walters
April 19, 2017

Samadhi Movie, 2017 - Part 1 - "Maya, the Illusion of the Self"

This film is available on YouTube

Why I Write

by Penny Hackett Evans

I sink my teeth

into loneliness,

try to digest it.

I’m not hungry

for its bitter

aftertaste, though

I do enjoy

the company.

Too often,

I stumble toward

any book

that promises

answers,

reluctant to peer

into my own

beguiling soul.

Writing makes

the cogs turn.

I find a sort of

wacky Hallelujah

in this internal

investigation.

A glimpse of heaven

seen through

a dirty glass ashtray.

It is there

beneath this craziness

I call writing

my way home.

New Words (from internet)  If you google a word, you will be sent to a site with definitions and examples.  Here are two I discovered today:

outlier––"one who stands outside the norms."

"someone who stands apart from others of his or her group, as by differing behavior, beliefs, or religious practices: ex., scientists who are outliers in their views on climate change.
Synonyms: nonconformist, maverick; original, eccentric, bohemian; dissident, dissenter, iconoclast, heretic; outsider."

"Outlier" can apply to a mathematical number that does not fit neatly into a graph of similar values.  It could also be an animal that does not follow the herd.  I once bought a woolen comforter from the woman who raises sheep.  When I checked the various samples, I could pick up their energies and they each spoke to me: "I will make you happy."  "I will always be faithful." "We can have a lot of fun together." But I chose Samantha, a loner who never stayed with the flock, but spent each day by herself on a nearby hill, and only came down at dinner time.  I knew she was the one for me.

Those undergoing spiritual transformation are often dismayed to discover that they are now "outliers," for they are no longer included as part of the familiar group (family, friends, colleagues) but indeed are now "different" in the eyes of others and society.  They feel like outcasts, those unassimilated, lost alone in the world. Hopefully they will eventually meet other such "outliers" and will no longer feel so alone.  Even a confidante will help.

Most great artists (poets, writers, painters and such) as well as inventors, scientists and other way showers are outliers, those who see beyond the stereotypes and the conventional forms.  They thus create a new reality and offer us a new way of seeing.

The outlier child has a difficult journey.  She is not part of the crowd and feels isolated from her peers.  She may well be the one to make a significant contribution to society when she grows up.  I love a line from Flannery O'Connor.  In one of her stories, a mother, viewing her "weird" daughter, reflects ruefully, "Every year she gets more like herself and less like other people."


compathy––empathy is when one understands and is concerned for another's pain.  Compathy is when one absorbs the pain into one's own body.

from J. M. Morse:

Compathy occurs when one person observes another person suffering a disease or injury and experiences in one's physical body a similar or related distress. Thus, compathy is the physical equivalent to empathy. . . .Triggers for the compathetic response . . . include observing the suffering, hearing, or reading--or even thinking about--descriptions of the symptoms.

from internet:

Whereas empathy refers to the projection of oneself into the personality of another in order to achieve better understanding, and sympathy describes an affinity of feelings between people, compathy refers to feeling with another person.

Peter Smagorinsky and Joel Taxel, "The Discourse of Character Education"

I find this notion of particular interest, since it applies to me.  I always longed to be an energy healer, but refrained because I indeed was one who literally felt in my own body the distress of another.  If they had a headache, my own head began to hurt.  It they were experiencing backache, I too began to feel pain in my back.  I understand now why some people can be nurses or doctors or healers of various kinds without experiencing similar symptoms themselves.  I have learned to be less sensitive over time, and try to be empathetic and not copathetic.

Think what the world would be like if we were totally "copathetic" with the result that those who inflict pain on others felt it in their own bodies.  However, we would not wish to feel the pain of the ill or dying.
Thought for the day:

The following comes from Wikipedia:

By 'Supermind,' Sri Aurobindo means several things:


Shri Aurobindo and the Supramental

Supermind is a plane between the "upper hemisphere" of pure being-consciousness, and the "lower hemisphere" of life in the universe (mind, life, and matter). This plane enables the Real Ideas of the Supreme to manifest as forms of that force in creation. It is the power that enables creation, by dividing the Force into the forms, forces, and powers in the universe.

Supermind is a plane of perfect knowledge, that has the full, integral truth of anything. It is a plane that Man can rise to, above his current limited mentality, and have perfect understanding through revelations of that truth.

Supermind is a force and power that is leaning down on the earth's consciousness. We can open to it, in order to transform the various aspects of our being, as well as set right the conditions of life, creating sudden good fortune ("instantaneous miraculousness") for the person opening to it

Supramentalisation and the Gnostic being

According to Sri Aurobindo, full yogic development consists of two parts: the standard yogic goal of ascent into a formless and timeless self, and the descent and establishment of the supramental consciousness into Earthly life. Through integral yoga one actualises the Supermind. The Supramental consciousness transforms the entire being, and leads to the divinisation of the material world.

This supramental transformation gives rise to a new individual, the Gnostic being,[1] which is fully formed by the supramental power. Division and ignorance are overcome, and replaced with a unity of consciousness. The physical body will be transformed and divinised. The gnostic being sees the spirit everywhere in the world, and in every other person. This awareness eliminates the usual separation between man and life, and between people. One sees that all existences are various forms of the divine Reality. Every individual existence in life plays a role in the unfolding of existence. The Gnostic beings can work together to create a new common life. This new life is superior to the present way of being. A critical mass of such "gnostic individuals" can create the foundation of a new social life and order. This will lead to a greater unity, mutuality, and harmony.

The Soul


We have a soul at times.
No one’s got it non-stop,
for keeps.

Day after day,
year after year
may pass without it.

Sometimes
it will settle for awhile
only in childhood’s fears and raptures.
Sometimes only in astonishment
that we are old.

It rarely lends a hand
in uphill tasks,
like moving furniture,
or lifting luggage,
or going miles in shoes that pinch.

It usually steps out
whenever meat needs chopping
or forms have to be filled.

For every thousand conversations
it participates in one,
if even that,
since it prefers silence.

Just when our body goes from ache to pain,
it slips off-duty.

It’s picky:
it doesn’t like seeing us in crowds,
our hustling for a dubious advantage
and creaky machinations make it sick.

Joy and sorrow
aren’t two different feelings for it.
It attends us
only when the two are joined.

We can count on it
when we’re sure of nothing
and curious about everything.

Among the material objects
it favors clocks with pendulums
and mirrors, which keep on working
even when no one is looking.

It won’t say where it comes from
or when it’s taking off again,
though it’s clearly expecting such questions.

We need it
but apparently
it needs us
for some reason too.

translated from the Polish by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh

Kundalini and the Elder

We sometimes wonder how our Kundalini energies will be affected as we age. Will they weaken or disappear?  Will we still be able to experience rapture in some form?  Will our bodies and nervous systems revert to an earlier state, one in which we moved through the world in "normal," more familiar fashion?

I can only speak from my own experience, since as far as I know no one has looked closely into this subject to discover any common themes.

I now write this at the age of 89, some 36 years after my original awakening.  For me the Kundalini process has been a long and sometimes challenging, sometimes rapturous experience.  My inner process (I think of this as a form of meditation) has changed constantly over time as I have explore various forms of devotional practice, from movement to deep listening of music to bowing before my Buddhist thanka on my living room wall to reading of sacred  poetry and diverse sacred texts to listening to Tibetan overtone chanting to other modes I could include.

My basic conclusion is this: Kundalini continues well into age, although it constantly shifts in texture, form, cause, and frequency.  It becomes softer, gentler, more subtle.  It requires less effort to experience bliss.  Instead of the broad movements of hatha yoga, mini movements of the hands or hips suffice.  One learns to experience the sweet energies of the aura itself just by moving the hands in circles a few inches from the body.  These delicate, ethereal sensations confirm our sense of divine connection as much as did the intense and thrilling raptures of the beginning.  What was in the early stages like a brass band marching through our living room is now like the sound of a soft flute playing in the distance, but they are equally delightful.

We no longer need to "practice" in a regular fashion, since the Beloved Within often visits in surprise moments.  We may wake up already feeling bliss stirring in our hands and arms or elsewhere.  We may be taken into unexpected ecstasy by listening to sacred music as we sit in front of our computers listening to the internet.  Sometimes it begins with inhaling the scent of essential oils, particularly when these include frankincense.  We often mirror in our own bodies the lovely energies emanating from certain chakras of friends or others standing before us.  Holding certain crystals can awaken bliss within.  When we stand in front of certain  paintings or other works of art, we may "pick up" the creator's own energies, embedded in the image and now emanating from it as universal love/bliss.  Likewise, when we visit certain sacred locations (I think of Ireland in especial here ) we may feel the earth energies rise up through our bodies and carry us into rapture.

We no longer experience the disruptive "ups and downs" of the early stages when our bodies sought to integrate new and unfamiliar frequencies.

We experience deep peace within ourselves, and find it easier to maintain calm in the face of crisis.

Our focus turns from our own demanding inner process to helping others as best we can to understand and survive the profound transformation now happening to them and countless numbers across the globe as we together move through planetary initiation.  We strive to send our energies out into the universe to help and heal those facing health and other challenges.

We continue to feel gratitude that we are included in this vast and enigmatic process, orchestrated elsewhere and enfolding us in Love from the Divine Source of all Love that is.

If a collectivity or group could be formed of those who had reached the supramental perfection, there indeed some divine creation could take shape; a new earth could descend that would be a new heaven, a world of supramental light could be created here amidst the receding darkness of this terrestrial ignorance.

—Sri Aurobindo

(Supermind, in Sri Aurobindo's philosophy of Integral yoga, is the dynamic manifestation of the Absolute, and the intermediary between Spirit and the manifest world, which enables the transformation of common being into Divine being. ) [from Wikipedia]

Ascension

Sing this song
and forget the rest.
The Friend is calling
and will send it forth
into the universe.

You are the notes
and the singer,
the lute
and the fingers
stroking the strings,
the bird flying into the air,
and the air lifting your wings
always higher.

Dorothy Walters
April 10, 2017

7:50AM

Sparrow Mattes

Hi Dorothy...
I am reading a series of books that i found on Amazon Kindle which are free that are called Agni Yoga...It was a series written in the late 1920's and 30's ...This morning came across this little segment about sun spots. Thought you might find it of interest...

" 18. Astrochemistry makes it possible to determine the best combinations of astrochemical rays for each organism. Astrology is nothing but formulas of astrochemistry. He who enters a house permeated with nicotine will carry away with him poisonous particles. Similarly, once someone has experienced directly the action of certain astrochemical rays, he will always respond to this particular combination. Knowing this, it becomes easy to ascertain when to approach a person who is needed.
The much-discussed sunspots intensify chemical influences. People keep repeating about unrest in the world during periods of sunspots, and even those with little knowledge can draw correct conclusions. But if we call to mind the harmful chemical reactions, it is not difficult to understand the saturation of space by the most active compounds, such as oxides and metalloids. How can one lightmindedly deny the evolutionary power of matter when from the Inexhaustible Reservoir rays of immeasurable intensity pour over our heads?
Those with especially sensitive organisms can testify that during the culminating period of the sunspots the rays of the luminary, because of their qualities, become unbearable for them. Also, during the passing of the great meteors, one may feel a quivering of the nervous system. Until now, people have been unable to recognize their place in this gigantic laboratory. That single recognition alone would arm the human organism, and, in place of worried observation of the tremors of the seismograph, would direct the search into the Limitless Heights—as material as tomorrow’s repast, as majestic as the numberless stars."

Hope your day is filled with grace and goodness..
 7:50am

12:39PM

from Dorothy

Sparrow, this is fabulous.  It confirms all I had suspected and even suggests (I believe) that evolution of species on earth is powered by energies from space.  It all makes sense, once you put it together, and especially after you experience some of it.  And––if these events can trigger evolution of species on earth, it also can trigger the kind of human evolution that is now occurring over the planet.  I can't thank you enough and  please send any other interesting info on this or other topics that you come across.  For me, the encouraging part is that the bliss followed the time of dislocation in a couple of days, and indeed I wondered if this was not the result of integrating the new energies into the system.  If so, it strongly suggests that this is how we are being turned into the "new human" (some speak of this as the divine human, and in those times of rapture that is what it feels like: "God moving through your body" as one psychic put it.)

 Are we not blessed to be living at this exciting time of evolution of spirit and mind? One person, on hearing of the solar flares, said she felt the same kind of excitement as on Christmas day. Indeed, it is a new "Christmas," a time of new understanding and changes within. Most don't yet have the full (or even a partial) understanding, so it is up to folks like us to spread the word. I am feeling sweetness flow even as I write. Blessings and vast love to you, Sparrow. How glad I am to know you!

More on Solar Flares and Their Impact on Us Humans

I keep on watching to see if there is some connection between solar flares and my own internal responses.  Earlier I read that there would be increased solar activity between April 2 and the following ten days or so.  I have described what happened to me (and others) last Sunday (April 2) and how this day was followed two days later with unexpected bliss.

Yesterday I had another strange experience.  I was "woozy' all day long and accomplished almost nothing at all.  Mostly I sat dozing in front of my computer, so lacking in energy I did not even want to move.

Today is different.  Again, I had unexpected bliss, though on a delicate and subtle level.  Yet it was quite "sweet," especially around my head and shoulders.  It felt like light playing over water, or sweet energies circling my body.  I love such gentle states.  They seem most appropriate to me at this stage of life.

Sometimes I peeked in the mirror to see what was going on.  As always, I found that my hands were moving some distance away from my body and in fact were located not where one might expect, but at another location––thus, instead of being over my head (which was the area of bliss/feeling) they were several inches away and below the area of response.  Also, instead of open palms I had palms pressed together in prayer position.  As always, I have unanswered questions and no one to consult.  Always, we live in mystery, but one thing is indeed certain: SOMETHING IS HAPPENING.

I call this practice "Kundalini Tantra Yoga."

Waiting

The jeweled cloud sways overhead,
waiting.

Meanwhile, our cells are turning to air,
finer and finer arrangements of light.

(from "Some Kiss We Want: Poems Selected and New")

And yet more:  I have continue to explore this topic through the internet and from hearing from others.  I found one site devoted almost exclusively to a discussion of the topic.


I reported earlier about a strange experience I had on the morning of Sunday, April 2.  I said it felt like a wave of something coming through.  Now I have found that others shared this experience and located this entry on the internet that may be the explanation.  Apparently some of us are so sensitive that we pick up on these emanations from the sun.  My next question: Do these "solar wave episodes" insert new frequencies into our own bodies or even prepare us for future energetic transformations?  Are they part of our ongoing raising of the planetary and personal vibrations as part of our evolutionary adventure?


Here is the item I discovered:

Latest news updates from SpaceWeatherLive | SpaceWeatherLive.com
https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/news
Four M-class solar flares, Sunspot region 2645. Solar activity was at high levels yesterday (2 April 2017) as our Sun produced four M-class solar flares! The strongest of these solar flares was an M5.7 solar flare (R2-moderate) that peaked at 20:33 UTC.

Note:  I think this would be 14:33 or 8:33 MST.  It hit me about 10 or 11 on Sunday morning or at least I began to feel it then for sure.

I have been continuing to write on this topic on my FB page.  I am adding these comments and their responses here, rather than trying to summarize:
Dorothy Walters
15 hrs · 
Sparrow Mattes sent me to a site called "Hare in the Moon" (astrology). I found the following entries there, and these offer even more information on just what is going on in relation to the sun flares:
The 7 strongest solar flares of 2017 occurred during the past 48 hours! The strongest of them all occurred just over an hour ago!
(Note: This post was written on April 3. My event was on April 2.). . ...

Sparrow Mattes
Sparrow Mattes Glad this is link is helpful... Lorna (Hare in the Moon) does a powerful form of conscious evolution astrology... which does a great job of highlighting the cosmic energetic world that affects us...
Like · Reply · 8 hrs
Dorothy Walters
Write a comment...


Dorothy Walters
20 hrs · 
This morning I had a small repeat of the earlier experience. One respondent said that she and her husband had felt bad today in the afternoon, but they live on the East Coast. But that would be two hours later than my time, so maybe these were simultaneous events. Someone had reported such reactions only lasting 30 minutes or so, and mine today went away after 30-40 minutes.

Sparrow Mattes
Sparrow Mattes Dorothy Walters i have been woozy the last several days... you might find Hare in the Moon Astrology page of interest... Lorna is a wonderful astrologer and she has been writing about the solar flares...
Like · Reply · 17 hrs
(Note: others responded with their own experience, but these did not come through when I copied the page.)

Dorothy Walters
Yesterday at 11:10am · 
I reported earlier about a strange experience I had on the morning of Sunday, April 2. I said it felt like a wave of something coming through. Now I have found that others shared this experience and located this entry on the internet that may be the explanation. Apparently some of us are so sensitive that we pick up on these emanations from the sun. My next question: Do these "solar wave episodes" insert new frequencies into our own bodies or even prepare us for future energetic transformations? Are they part of our ongoing raising of the planetary and personal vibrations as part of our evolutionary adventure?
Here is the item I discovered:

Latest news updates from SpaceWeatherLive | SpaceWeatherLive.com
https://www.spaceweatherlive.com/en/news
Four M-class solar flares, Sunspot region 2645. Solar activity was at high levels yesterday (2 April 2017) as our Sun produced four M-class solar flares! The strongest of these solar flares was an M5.7 solar flare (R2-moderate) that peaked at 20:33 UTC.
(Note: I believe that 20:33 UTC would be 14:33 which is 8:33 Mountain time. The effect of this hit me about 10 or 11 that morning. This explanation makes sense for me and others who felt this.)

Latest news updates from SpaceWeatherLive
What's happening in the Space Weather? Find out with the latest news and updates on solar activity and auroral activity
SPACEWEATHERLIVE.COM
View 2 more comments
Deborah Anderson

Deborah Anderson Yes, I do believe in 'upgrades' caused by such events.
Really odd thing: this afternoon both me and my husband felt nausia (we don't eat or drink the same things).
Like · Reply · Yesterday at 2:27pm



Dorothy Walters
Dorothy Walters About ten or eleven this morning I had a mini repeat of the earlier experience. This would be two hours be about the same time as your experience. The site that discusses the impact of solar flares on humans is Carlini Institute - How Solar Flares Ar...See More

Carlini Institute - How Solar Flares Are Affecing Us
CARLINIINSTITUTE.COM

Like · Reply · Remove Preview · 1 · 20 hrs
Dorothy Walters
Dorothy Walters
Heather Carlini is convinced that solar flares do in fact alter our own frequencies as part of our evolution into higher states of consciousness. I am inclined to agree.
Like · Reply · 1 · 20 hrs
Deborah Anderson
Deborah Anderson Ha ha...yes.



Note from April 6:  I am fascinated with the thought that these events are frequencies coming into us to raise our own vibratory essences.  And, as Heather Carlini notes, these are preparing us for the Shift so long anticipated and coming to pass soon.  Actually, we are already in the shift, with many undergoing amazing expansions of consciousness.  I recently spoke with an artist friend now in an artist's retreat founded by a famous painter and she says he has spoken to her (though he is deceased) and he told her that art was play, not work.  Wonderful notion, I think.  Art of many kinds is definitely a way to raise our vibrations.

Here is a quote from Heather Carlini on how people respond to these solar events:

"There were numerous reports of nausea, and body aches and pains and dizziness. Many feel deep grief. Some feel as if they were walking on water (ungrounded). Others said that when they closed their eyes at night, everything is spinning. There have been visual disturbances, inner ear issues, ringing in ears, throat and thyroid issues, cold or hot feet and even an unusual symptom of having tongue dryness."

Something is going on, for sure.   

· 

Weird

The morning of Sunday, April 2, I woke up feeling fine.  I ate my usual breakfast (oatmeal) and was looking forward to a nice walk in the neighborhood.  But suddenly I started to feel ill.  Mostly I just felt woozy, out of sorts, a bit unsteady.  I began to ache a little everywhere.  When I checked the pressure points around my eyes, they were very sore.  Am I having a stroke? I wondered.  Is this the beginning of a migraine? I seldom have these, but know the first thing to do is to head them off with strong coffee or else some kind aspirin or Tylenol.  I took neither, but realized I just could not bear to use my eyes anymore and found something else to do.  It all cleared in about four hours.

At that point I was talking to a friend who lives in Seattle.  I asked her if she had noticed anything unusual that morning.  She had.  She was in a board meeting when she saw lights around her eyes and felt nauseous, and wondered if she was going to have some sort of episode right there in public.  Somehow she had managed to drive home, even with her painful eyes.

What was going on?  It felt like some kind of wave or frequency swept through, catching those of us who are "super sensitive" in its spell.  Was it some sort of change in the weather?  A solar flare?  Likely we will never know.

But that is not the end of my story.  That night I went with friends to a local Irish pub to hear Irish music.  It was a glorious evening.  I got far into the music, and was clapping my hands and patting my feet with the rest.  I loved it (especially the visiting piper) and was now quite cured of my earlier ailment.

Then there was this morning.  I noticed sweet energies stirring in my hands and lower arms even before I was dressed or had brushed my teeth.  I stood quietly, as my hips and hands began to move in circles, now at the sides, now in front of my body, ultimately at my head.  Once again I felt the bliss that I have so often experienced before and indeed have described as I try to capture the ineffable.  Again, it was a transcendent experience, unexpected, unexplainable.  The energies themselves were rapturous but a bit stronger than usual.  Were these from different unknown helpers coming in?  Had my own energies been changed through the earlier experience?  Did the pain of Sunday come from adjusting to newer and stronger energies?  I have no idea, but when I saw ads for a workshop just now on "Mastering You Energies" I felt that that was not my path at all.  Rather I allow the energies to lead and I follow.  The inner guides know what is best and I gladly move as they direct me.  I am not sure what this process is, but I know that I love it and hope that all will experience something like this as we together go through our planetary initiation into new levels of being.

The Real World

They call it
the "real world,"
a place of markets
and disputes,
heady diversions.

For them,
nothing is real
that they cannot
purchase
or hold in their hands.

Sometimes I think
it is I
who am dreaming,
finding the world of joy within
in a place they call
"escapism."

Have they never been held
in the arms of the Beloved,
the invisible one who comes
and says
now is our time once again?

Dorothy Walters
March 30, 2017

Post Mortem

We know this.
We have been warned.

The animals are leaving.
This place is no longer
a haven.

The ice is fleeing.
It no longer holds.

The trees, the plants
are wilting.
They have been
assaulted.

Earth reminds us
that we do not
have a permanent lease.
It was here before,
it will remain.

What will we do
for something to breathe?
What shall we eat?
Or drink instead of water?

We have elected
our own shadow.
Will anyone notice?
Will we attend?

Dorothy Walters
April 2, 2017

As pessimistic as this poem seems, I am not in despair.  I firmly believe that as the 
 structures and conditions of the outer world decay, the inner temple is standing firm.  I think we are in fact in the midst of a giant revolution, the turning from one era to the next. Our part is not to fall into hopelessness, but to play our part in this remarkable stage of human evolution.  In the midst of sadness there is room for joy.  We are each allowed to be witness to this crucial transformation, and to do all we can to prevent the total collapse of the outer world as we continue to rebuild from within.

This is why we came.

My motto, as always, is "Acknowledge the shadow, but stand in the light."

"Do you know what you are planning to do
with your one and only precious life?
                                        Mary Oliver

Yes, that is true.
You have only one,
a single solitary time
to do whatever it was
that you came here for,
a time for recognitions,
amazements,
creations out of air,
strides ahead for the whole,
your unique ideas,
your personal perspectives,
your joys
and your despairs.

It is now,
your one chance
in this learning ground
of the universes,
put it all together
in your head,
even now your inner voice
is whispering how to go.

Dorothy Walters
March 30, 2017

Life

The poets write about such things
as if they really mattered.
The son who got run over,
the daughter who got pregnant
at sixteen.
The little brother who
overdosed at twenty.
They still grieve,
cling to the photographs
in between tending to the
grandmother
with dementia
who lives in the back bedroom
because they can't afford
profesional care.

The philosophers tell us
 that the great high supervisor
of everything
really does not care about
such trivia,
that it is only
the big things that matter:
worlds crushing into
worlds,
dark holes swallowing
everything nearby,
civilizations emerging
and then vanishing
in the blink of His eye.

But it is these,
the tender minutiae
of our lives
that give us meaning,
that connect us one to each
in this bizarre setting
where we find ourselves,
stranded and alone.

I will keep on calling,
ask how things are going,
bring over a dish from the deli,
offer to give someone
a little time off.

I will keep on trying
to figure it all out,
keep on praying
to "Whoever it may concern."

Dorothy Walters
April 1, 2017

(picture from Hubble site)