Staring at a clock face that has no hands
I find myself in a landless land
Where shifting sands and watery mists
Rove endlessly seeking the lip-less kiss
Of a lover whose face is never revealed
With eyes turned inward on a truth that conceals
A million-note melody that no one can hear
Humming it’s sweet song to infinite ears
So silent this tune from the visage-less face
So supple the kiss, so full grace
That the dancers, the dance and the eternal song
Merge into one devotional throng
Shadow seeking substance seeking light divine
A stairway to nowhere that endlessly climbs
For a kiss within the eternal embrace
‘Round in circles forever and ever is traced
Until that which isn’t succumbs on its pyre
Every saint and sinner remains a liar
This is a wonderful video. If you’re feeling disturbed and wanting to feel relaxed or simply wanting to touch your natural inner peace, this may help guide you there.
“You cannot come to the edge of Peace. There is just Peace…” — Mooji
I was in a haze of angry and hurt emotions last night and was attempting to distract myself from it by scrolling endlessly through my blog feeds. But, as you know, when someone is in that frame of mind words tend to have very little impact. They almost annoy because your emotional state is reflecting back to you.
It was tiring. I didn’t want to feel that way. I wasn’t able to meditate my way through it. I was wallowing. It was miserable. When I reached the apex of that feeling, that moment where you just can’t take it anymore, that little voice I know so well and have come to rely on finally spoke. Or, more correctly, I finally heard it. It had been speaking all along.
“Be open for guidance.”
When I can manage just this one simple task, to let go and ask for guidance in any form it wants to manifest, it appears. It’s not magic. It’s the way the existence works. Yin and yang, demand and supply, question and answer. I stopped trying to read my blog feed and just let it scroll. I knew I would recognize what I needed when I saw it and no more effort was required than that.
Then my eyes rested on this video posted by labyrintho on Tumblr. I clicked the play button, took a deep breath, and watched. What unfolded to me was exactly what I needed to hear. I have posted the video below and highly recommend its wisdom. I love Thich Naht Hanh. He has a way of stating things that penetrate to the center of my heart and I can “hear” the words.
Hold anger in a tender way… “like a mother holding a baby.”
It was such an alien concept to me. Equating my anger with the tender innocence of a baby was almost ludicrous but in that was the dawning of a new understanding. I knew in that moment that my anger, my emotions, are simply my creations. I birth them and I’m responsible for them as a new mother is for her infant. No one else is responsible for what is triggered inside of me. Only I am.
So I allowed myself this new image. I imagined holding my hot seething anger with all the tenderness I felt towards my own children when they were infants. It fussed for a few moments but then the most wonderful thing happened. It changed. It was no longer this solid, seething force. It had become the soft glow of compassionate love.
That really sat me back on my heels! Fifty years on this Earth and I have never been able to understand this. Until now. I’ve always been a very emotional and sensitive person and my emotions tend to overwhelm me. And it’s destructive. Terribly destructive. But in those few brief moments I watched something that would have had me in extremis for days transform with no more effort than a sigh into something blissful.
I’m laughing as I write this. Laughing out loud. I can’t help it. When confronted with my ignorance and foolishness I simply can’t help it. It was so simple and so beautiful and the laughter is delicious.
I would highly recommend taking the 9 minutes to watch this video. The interplay of energies between Ram Dass and Thich Naht Hanh is tangibly calming and the wisdom imparted is invaluable. I hope you enjoy it. It transformed me.
Neuroscientist Sara Lazar’s amazing brain scans show meditation can actually change the size of key regions of our brain, improving our memory and making us more empathetic, compassionate, and resilient under stress.
Yesterday my husband and I made the trek to Delhi in the steamy July air to visit the Lotus Temple. The Temple is a Bahai house of worship but due to its stunning architecture it’s become a popular attraction for people from all over the world. Built in 1986, the structure follows the Bahai’s scriptural requirement of being a nine-sided building. The interior is devoid of any adornments, pictures or statues. It’s very plain but the simplicity is stunning. The ceiling sweeps up as if one is standing inside a blossom and at the tip where the petals would open, they greet a golden sun skylight bearing the name of God.
Although it’s a Bahai house of worship, all are welcome there. You are asked to remove your shoes as you approach the temple and after a brief welcome outside by temple members you are free to enter the sanctuary. Cell phones must be turned off and cameras must be stowed away. The final qualification as you enter is that you remain completely silent during your time inside.
Wooden benches encircle the sanctuary. The only decorations are vases of fresh flowers and the view of the grounds through the large windows which encircle the base of the building. There is a hush there. Even with the inevitable sounds of people moving, something touches the silence in you and asks it to spread its petals.
We meditated there, hand in hand, for quite awhile. During our silence we were serenaded by a pair of mina birds who had chosen to make their home inside the sanctuary. I went so deeply into the hush that all sound eventually ceased. But there was the feeling of peaceful unity hung about me like a comfortable blanket.
When I opened my eyes again, I realized there were people from other countries mingled in with the native Indians. Some held rosaries or other types of prayer beads, some wore the bindi of Hinduism, others wore the white cap or hijab worn by Muslims. We were just a silent sea of humanity joined for that short time within the blossom of the lotus with one heart joined in one intention. It was beautiful.
If you’d like to read more about the Lotus Temple, go here or visit the official website here.
MoonLightened Way 