I Have Arrived

I have arrived.
I am home.
In the here,
In the now.
I am solid.
I am free.
In the ultimate
I dwell.

Thich Nhat Hanh

***

Akilesh: This verse by Thich Nhat Hanh sweetened my day. These words you send me from mystics, poets and sages resonate deeply within you. They speak your own soul. They declare your heart's deepest understanding. Yes?

Meredith: Yes, they do. Thich Nhat Hanh’s beautiful poem was like a spring blossom gently landing on me, speaking softly to me, resonating deeply within me. The simplicity, the open honesty, the pure tone of Thich Nhat Hanh's hollow flute is so beautiful. It was as though Thay was singing the song of my heart – a tune I did not yet have the words for. And yet there they were – so simple, so precise, so vividly clear.

Akilesh: Here is some of the sweetness I experience when I read Thich Nhat Hanh’s words. This light we have been dancing with, that has brought such bliss to our souls, has been shining eternally. While my eyes have been closed for so long, this light has nonetheless been shining. It is shining now and will continue to shine in the now, through eternity. I opened my heart, became a receptivity, an emptiness for the light to pour into.

Meredith: It is as though we need simply be genuine, open, and trusting, and the joy is there for us. When we are receptive we notice this bliss is the very air we breathe, the ground we walk upon, the sky we look up to. Our eyes and hearts have opened further, become receptive, and the light pours in. We recognize we are home.

Akilesh: I had to work hard, making many mistakes, to open, soften and trust. Trusting and being a receptivity seemed difficult with all of my protectiveness and defensiveness, my aggressive survival mentality, my desire for acquisition, my selfishness, and my deep, deep fear. By and by I got the knack of opening, trusting and being an allowing. Perhaps you can see in the course of our dialogue, I have encouraged you in the same direction. This was the best I had to offer, knowing that if you could find your way to open, trust and keep opening, existence would pour itself into you, and you would find your way to the source within; how with opening and receptivity you would unfold into your unique potential. All of us have a potentiality, and with openness and receptiveness one is able to realize that potentiality. I do not know what you're potentiality is, but I sense vast breadth and depth within you. What I do know is that if you continue to open yourself, expose yourself, allow yourself to become a hollow bamboo, the benediction will happen, is happening.

Meredith: Spiritual friendship has been an amazing gift. You have nudged me to open, to trust existence, to drop that which blocks the light. Little by little this has happened. And now I feel this divine love so clearly – every day I feel the blessings of light and warmth flow into me.

Akilesh: You are opening your eyes and experiencing the light. The light is not doing anything at all. It is a presence, a radiating presence. You are taking action by opening to it, receiving it. If you do not take this action, the light will go on shining, but you will not see it. You are free to choose. If you choose like most people to keep your eyes closed, the light will not object; the light will not diminish its love for you. For it is an abiding, indiscriminate and divine love. In your trust, your opening and receiving the light, it becomes yours. You are no longer there, and the light is. And you can see so much in this light. You can see the bubbling energy of the cosmos in a simple paperwhite narcissus. Your wisdom blossoms, discriminating wisdom which allows you to see the distinction between who you are and your thinking mind. In your bliss you find you are no longer burdened, confined only to this small mind identified self. Something much greater, pure consciousness is emerging. Being meeting itself, and falling in love and bliss with its creation. This is all seen in the light, the light of your original face.

Meredith: This light shines so brightly within you, Akilesh. This place beyond your ego, your small self, this is a place of true freedom. While your ego is not ascendant, who you are continues to be unique and creative, warm and loving.

Akilesh: Realizing that who you are is based on nothing external, you discover your individuality. With this discovery you see you are responsible for your own realization. Being is meeting itself in you. This seems to be the spirit of Thich Nhat Hanh's "I am home." With this realization you see you are responsible for your own awakening, for your own bliss, and for your own misery. With this realization comes a declaration, whether spoken or unspoken -- "I am home. In the here. In the now. I am solid. I am free. In the ultimate I dwell." If you have not realized it, you simply have not realized it and of course you do not declare it. Instead you continue to soften, to open, to make yourself more receptive, to trust your intuitive voice as much as possible.

I love that Thich Nhat Hanh has the guts and generosity to declare his awakening. He's declaring that awakened energy itself is manifesting here in this world on this spot; that he has found the energy of wakefulness present in this being. He has opened his eyes. The light has been shining, and now, here he sees it in all its luminosity. It has been here all along lovingly abiding, dwelling in the ultimate. He's not separate from this light now, thus he dwells in the ultimate. He's declaring, "I am home." If it's possible for me to find my way home, it's possible for you. "I am solid. I am free." If it's possible for me, one who is solid, human, existing in the historical dimension, to be free, it is also possible for you to realize your freedom; it's possible for you to realize and declare your own freedom.

I find this extremely encouraging. He's also pointing out how we can encourage others. How we can realize our own original face and then courageously, declare it, silently, to ourselves, to the universe, to no one in particular, and then radiate this presence in our own unique ways. This seems to be how light is transmitted.

Thank you for this verse. May you continue to be blessed with vast openness, trust and a receptive heart.

Meredith: As well with you, my Friend.