Growth

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present.” ~ Anais Nin

Today

Today

Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.

-Mary Oliver, from A Thousand Mornings

Being Present

"I’m not insisting that we be brimming with hope. It’s OK not to be optimistic. Buddhist teachings say feeling that you have to maintain hope can wear you out, so just be present.”

~Joanna Macy from "A Wild Love For the World"

Moments

"I've found that the moment with all its meaning often moves on by the time I've reconsidered whether or not to enter it.  I've discovered I know what I need to do but just deny it, and it is this small hesitation, this small resistence to enter what is real that makes life feel neutral or out of reach."  Mark Nepo

Owning our Lives

Like the old saying "Water fills the hole", the ways of others will fill the space we live in if we don't fill that space with our own authentic presence.   Mark Nepo

Seeds of Love

We all need a personal inner space of peace and safety, like birds seeking refuge, returning to a familiar place time and again. With mindfulness as our practice, our first place of refuge is to return to the present. "I have arrived, I am home in the here and in the now, I am solid, I am free." Each breath can be an opportunity to gather our energy and return to our real "home," which is within.   Thich Nhat Hahn

Your grief for what you've lost lifts a mirror up to where you're bravely working.
Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,
Here's the joyful face you've been wanting to see.
Your hand opens and closes and opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open,
You would be paralyzed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding,
The two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as bird wings.

- Rumi

A Vase

I am always holding a priceless vase in my hands.
If you asked me about the deeper truths
of the the path and I told you
the answers,

It would be like handing sacred relics to you.

But most have their hands tied
behind their
back;

that is, most are not free of events their eyes have seen
and their ears have heard
and their bodies have felt.

Most cannot focus their abilities
in the present, and
might drop what I said.

So I'll wait; I don't mind waiting until
your love for all
makes luminous
the now. 

Today

TODAY

I

Do not

Want to step so quickly

Over a beautiful line on God's palm

As I move through the earth's

Marketplace

Today.

I do not want to touch any object in the world

Without my eyes testifying to the truth

That everything is

My Beloved.

Something has happened

To my understanding of existence

That makes my heart always full of wonder

And kindness.

I do not

Want to step so quickly

Over this sacred place on God's body

That is right beneath your

Own feet.

As I 

Dance with

Precious life

Today.

Hafiz

Presence

"Being present means living without control and always having your needs met."
— Byron Katie

Desires

"I arise in the morning, torn between a desire to save the world, and a desire to savor the world.  That makes it hard to plan the day."  E.B White

Appearances

"If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies... It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it." - Albert Einstein

Moment

"One can appreciate & celebrate each moment — there’s nothing more sacred. There’s nothing more vast or absolute. In fact, there’s nothing more!"

Being Love

Let us now celebrate LOVE,
as if there is no time,
no place, no reason not to.
Let us BE love now.
Sat Nam
...Blessings Sri Amma

The Choice

"A single, simple choice is present in every moment - a choice hardly difficult or confusing. My choice is whether I will see and act on an obvious truth: that another is as legitimate and human as I am."   (The Choice in Teaching and Education) Arbinger

Soul Hunger

"We'll only know what the soul hungers for if we let ourselves be hungry long enough to feel it's presence."  Elizabeth Lesser

Seperation

"Pain and separation occur when we regret the past or worry about the future.  Here and now is ecstasy." Ram Dass

Healing and Loving What Is

Healing does not mean going back to the way things were before, but rather allowing what is Now to move us closer to God. ~Ram Dass ♥

Be Here Now

"To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now." ~Thich Nhat Hanh