Graceful Presence

Graceful Presence is that of God within us, that sweet experience of our soul and our spirit commingling. Do you recognize this quality of uncontained, calm, clear energy, bliss and warmth? When you experience it, you will have the feeling of rejoicing, of celebration, of happiness for who you are. This quality will take you beyond your fear. Graceful Presence is not about who your ego is – but who you are beneath ego, beneath your culture, your religion, or even your name. It is your truest nature, who you are unconditionally. When you recognize this, you are living the path of Awakening. You are an expression of waking up energy, and you feel it, and experience the Source within in an undeniable way. Graceful Presence. Let us nurture this wondrous energy in ourselves and the awakening potential of others. It is the richest blessing…

In the center

Before pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy have arisen, we are in the center. When these passions have arisen and when all attain their proper degree, we are in harmony. That center is the root of the universe; that harmony is the Tao, reaching out to all things. Once we find the center and achieve harmony, heaven and earth take their proper places, and all things are fully nourished.
Tzu-Ssu (483-402 B.C.E.)

The days come and go...

The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party, but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reflections on soul

My soul speaks today. My soul seems to live in the realm of my imagination, expressing itself like a poem or collage, with words, images and feeling not restrained by cogent thought or sequence. It is as though there is a well spring of richness below the surface of awareness, and this is expressed in unanticipated ways. One thing I have noticed about my soul recently – but I am sure this has always been true – is that my soul is not dedicated to perfection, as my more egocentric and rational mind are. Today I muse about this imperfection, though sometimes I don’t think it is so funny. Just as the Navajo weave imperfections into their rugs so the spirit can enter and exit, my soul makes way for little imperfections to freely pop up to remind me of my soul’s penchant for spirit-filled playfulness, nudging me to let go of my ego's need for perfection.

After darkness

After despair,
many hopes flourish
just as after darkness,
Thousands of Suns
open and
start to shine.

~ Rumi

The Way

The effect, then the cause. Allow divine love to be ascendant, allow ego to recede, and thus dissolve into divine love. Allow the effect, the love, to be, and all else falls into place. Be this love. This is the magic. This is the way. This I know is true.

What was said to the rose

What was said to the rose that made it open
was said to me here in my chest.

What was told the Cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was

whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever

was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them

so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is

being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that's happening here.

The great warehouse doors open; I fill with gratitude,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,

in love with the one to whom every that belongs!

RUMI

Infant Massage with Colby

Blessed with Your Light

I pray I am blessed with your light
for a thousand moons, and then,
just until forever.
Akilesh

The Path

Caminante, no hay camino. Se hace el camino al andar.
Antonio Machado

Joyful Soul

True happiness is in the love-stream that springs from one’s soul; and he who will allow this stream to run continually in all conditions of life, in all situations, however difficult, will have a happiness which truly belongs to him, whose source is not without, but within.
Hazrat Inayat Khan

Fragrance

I Unpetalled You

I unpetalled you, like a rose,
To see your soul,
And I didn’t see it.
But everything around
– horizons of land and seas – ,
everything, out to the infinite,
was filled with a fragrance,
enormous and alive.

Juan Ramon Jimenez

Wisdom

A little wisdom from the Bible for your reflection today:

You have hidden the truth in darkness; through this mystery you teach me wisdom.

God has made everything beautiful in its time, and has put eternity in our heart.

Kabir

The flute of interior time is played whether we hear it or not.
What we mean by "love" is its sound coming in.
When love hits the farthest edge of excess, it reaches wisdom.
And the fragrance of the knowledge!
It penetrates our thick bodies,
it goes through walls.
Its network of notes has a structure as if a million suns were arranged inside.
The tune has truth in it.
Where else have you heard a sound like this?