Tag: stillness

Still…

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Today is still
and so the ocean
though, cool air
and rolling waves,
damp sand and distance
with the scent of eternity.

“If the defining feature of our future is uncertainty, then we all need to become improvisers.” ~Srinija Srinivasan, Daily Good, 12.9.25

(Improvise def.: if you improvise, you make or do something using whatever you have or without having planned it in advance.)

To improvise we are in the moment, with only what is available in this moment. This precludes one from relying on the past. Instead we are challenged to tune into a greater source that offers a multitude of possibility. We listen, engage the senses and go with the infinite and eternal flow.

“Improvisation means coming to the situation without rigid expectations or preconceptions. The key to improvisation is motion—you keep going forward, fearful or not, living moment to moment. That’s how life is.” ~Bobby McFerrin (Don’t Worry, Be Happy)

In the Bardo we were brave and confronted some of what ails us. It is an individual discovery that serves us to better understand our limitations. This contributes to collective discovery. Everything moves forward together. Individually each step may seem unique. Yet all steps contribute to the same thing and that is greater awareness.

Even as technology seems to herd us into corners we may still find freedom in the boundary-less inner world that expands into infinity. We race unfettered toward an undefined goal embracing every moment with spontaneous delight. There are no rules or laws, expectations or judgment. There is air to breathe and motion to guide us. Openness, space and possibility.

For all of us prepared to dip the ladle a little deeper, to stir the bottom of the pot and find hidden, those nuggets of creativity that lie waiting, this is the moment. This year, that rapidly draws to a close, has been one of challenge. It may have resembled the trials of Sisyphus, a king of Corinth who was condemned by Zeus to roll an enormous boulder uphill. Every time he neared his destination the boulder rolled back downhill. This was his eternal struggle.

The never-ending challenge is over. There is no boulder and there is no hill! There is only this moment of possibility that awaits in which, when I listen, all answers arrive. Often the answer is so simple that I have not been able to hear it.

This New Moon in Sagittarius is a moment to feel into an unknown capacity for the creative and unfettered self. Sagittarius is a mythological being, half man, half horse. The human having tamed the beast within seeks greater awareness. He is an archer with bow and arrow raised to the heavens, symbolic of seeking truth. Sagittarians desire the freedom to explore all possibilities and move through life as free spirits. The curiosity of Gemini, their opposite, becomes deeper exploration in Sag.

With ruling planet Jupiter (in Taurus) figuring prominently in this new moon chart, we are inclined to act with wisdom and a sense of justice. (Be aware of tendencies to feel righteous or all knowing as this can be a shadow expression of Jupiter).

There is ease in this chart as Jupiter is in favorable aspect to Uranus in Taurus and Saturn/Neptune in Pisces. This forms the infamous small talent trine that allows for brilliant use of creative resources. Uranus of course is in favor of evolution at all costs and the Neptune/Saturn conjunction in Pisces has a ‘responsible, focused’ vision that upholds greater spiritual exploration.

The ease of this combination of planets is based on seeds that were planted during the solar eclipse March 29th of this year. That occurred in Aries, I seek Self. Now in Sagittarius we realize I am what I seek and that allows for an unlimited experience in this phenomenal world.

From a ‘higher vista’ we see clearly, as in the World card XXI of the major arcana. Our experiences have been plenty and as we ‘have been there done that’ on so many occasions, we need not be distracted by choice. We feel only the movement that moves everything and we too move. It is easy.

“The winds of grace blow all the time. All we need do is set our sails.” ~Ramakrishna

The squeeze shows up in the Sun/Moon and Venus square aspect to the same Saturn/Neptune conjunction. It would seem that we can’t exactly run wild, hither and yon without paying attention to the deeper calling—to attend to deeper desires that Venus in Sagittarius can have when challenged by the need to continue learning (Saturn) and our listening to the call home (Neptune).

Finally, Mars in early Capricorn, the manifestor of the universe, is next door to Sun/Moon and square to Saturn/Neptune. The energy of Capricorn is a powerful dynamo. Tireless and never without resources, Mars in Capricorn will provide us with ample motivation to move. Ruled by Saturn, Capricorn is reliable, focused and determined to provide that which supports us in these wild times.

At the end of this year there are bound to be revelations and ah, hah moments. Whatever projects you may have perculating know that 2026, the year of the Fire Horse, is in essence a whole year of Sagittarian accomplishment fueled by great vision and a ‘knowing’ which expediates the creative process. AI is a significant contributor to the speed with which we advance and has the ability to reflect to us our own shortcomings. We’re listening.

In these accelerated times we can feel challenged and comfortable at the same time. Challenged to open up and comfortable knowing that that is all that is required of me, to open up. I am free of thoughts that life should be any way in particular. We have become aware that ‘my thoughts create my reality’ and as such have more freedom to express ourselves from a truer source.

May our openness guide us to care for each other in new ways and to touch deeply in a way that awareness allows.

Random Quotes

“Reverie is not a mind vacuum. It is rather the gift of an hour which knows the plenitude of the soul.”~Gaston Bachelard

“Will you gather daydreams or will you gather wealth? How can you find your fortune when you cannot find yourself?” ~Gordon Lightfoot

Without its daydreams the self is apt to shrink down to the size and shape of the estimation of others. ~Michael Pollen

What’s so Great about Stillness?

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“Now you tell me, where does stillness end? My body has very much of an end. This video has an end. The day will end. But when you connect with stillness you connect with endlessness.” ~John Butler, Spiritual Unfoldment

In Every tiny crevasse, and then tinier, 
or in the most grandiose, 
In the unborn, the aged and dying, 
There is eternal stillness; 
that beyond time 'speaks' without words, 
permeates without touching, 
Is, without a single thought.

In these days with Mars having just gone retrograde in its own sign of Aries (September 9-November 14) we have opportunity to look at what anger is and how it might be utilized to fuel expansion and deeper awareness.

“Of course, the human mind has both positive and negative sides. But the negative is transient, very temporary. Your up and down emotions are like clouds in the sky; beyond them, the real, basic human nature is clear and pure.” ~Llama Yeshe

The mantra for Aries “I seek (my) Self. Whether we are engaged in deeper reflections upon the individual self or seek knowing of the undivided Self navigating the terrain of hidden emotion can assist us in becoming less burdened, lighter and freer to experience peace. In the end both serve one purpose, freedom to Be.

As the pioneer of the zodiac Aries leads the way, is the torch bearer for self discovery. No matter where one is in that journey this time now gives us motivation to observe, reflect and ultimately to express in a way that manifests as deeper understanding of the human relationship to the undivided Reality.

If Aries is adept at survival and we elevate that potential we may ask the question “what is it that always survives?” regardless of the disasters that visit humanity throughout the ages what is it that is, not subject to the elements or ‘time’? That is the Reality we approach as all beliefs in the transient dissolve.

The deeper we look into self more and more of the self disappears. We are being urged at this time to discover what lies beyond all emotion, longing; longing for love, or money or even peace. When we know ourselves as That all longing desists.

Aries retrograde has the confidence, the courage, the determination to swim further and further away from the known and into the depths of the unknown in order to know Truth. If anger is an emotion that needs to be observed and expressed along the way it shall be approached with indomitable spirit. Aries at its very highest is the flame of spirit on Earth, shining brightly for all of us; pointing the way to peace.

Letting Go…

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“In ignorance we strive to maintain the illusion. In innocence we let go.”

Often we hear that we need to Let Go! What does that mean? In innocence we are without story or conditioning. Without conditioning we have no beliefs that deny our true nature. Begin to know Self as that limitless, unconditioned, story-less, infinite and eternal Essence. Letting go is less about ‘doing’ anything as it is about simply not attaching to our thoughts. The ‘goal’ is less about letting go than it is about allowing. Allowing for what is, rather than about what we habitually identify with. It is about Being—there is nothing with which to identify. All that we identify with consists of thoughts from the past. If we put all of our memories in a box who am I? A place to begin an inquiry into that which has no Real existence. Eventually we arrive at the question for which there is but one answer and feel a deep, profound sense of peace. There is only “that”.

“When you are deprived of all your attributes, then His qualities become your qualities.” ~Al Hallaj from The Essence of Sufism by John Baldock*

Not being attached allows for that which occurs in the moment but does not interfere with or influence the next moment. That is when we know the freedom of experiencing every moment as it is. Letting go is a gift we give our selves to live life as Truth. There is an ease and joy to that which gives us a greater desire for clarity and simplicity. A gift we give ourselves coming from a place of LOVE and compassion. Not something to be demanded of the self or an expected accomplishment. If so we may end up disappointed and/or judging the self.

It is not a goal to be achieved, letting go, it is what naturally occurs when I know what I am not. If we can put it into words, what I think I am, that, I am not.

Undoing the doing

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[Word for 2019: chosen by Dictionary.com is existential. Notable among searchers and employed by Greta Thunberg regarding the real threat of climate change. “No doctrine is more optimistic (than existentialism) since it declares that man’s destiny lies within himself.” ~from Treehugger 12.03]

Unlearning

#48

Studying and learning daily you grow larger.

Following the Way daily you shrink.

You get smaller and smaller.

So you arrive at not doing.

You do nothing and nothing is not done.

~Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin

In a dream, there was a root in my hands that I began to pull and pull and pull. This went on for a time, all the while a voice encouraging the continuation of this action. “It is the ego deeply rooted in conditioning that perpetuates the notion of separation.” It is this root, I felt certain, wherein lies the basis for beliefs and fears that inform us daily. I was looking for the end of the root and the dissolution of the illusion. To be free of the habitual reactions and responses that determine how life shows up rather than allowing for the organic unfolding of what is. I wanted to undo the conditioned doing.

The tail ended abruptly and a head with gaping mouth appeared. The word ’ouroboros’, the symbol for eternity and wholeness, flitted across my mind just before being swallowed into darkness, emptiness and silence. Comfort, being, freedom. No sense of individual or separation. No sense.

“The I-thought is therefore the root thought. If the root is pulled out, all other [divisive] thoughts are at the same time uprooted…” ~from Ramana Maharshi by Robert Wolfe

We have heard time and again, we create our reality with our thoughts.

I saw the Earth as a flower blossom opening and unfolding in perpetual motion, new opportunities arising over and over and our understanding of what life is gradually replacing the idea that ‘doing’ is what ‘being’ is about.

This ‘life’ is a shadow moving, undulating in Essence. The many comings and goings, the creations and moments of contemplation all arise from the same source. They are the world unfolding in unceasing motion. Problems arise when I disagree with that unfolding and want to do something differently, to achieve more or something better. What occurs is the perfect alignment of self/Self or recognizing that the individual is a projection, a thought, and is not. Not separate from Truth. The thought of individual existence is a fleeting appearance across the expanse of eternal Truth.

“Whatever I do or consider doing, is really God’s doing. Nothing ultimately belongs to me.” ~from Ramana Maharshi by Robert Wolfe

By No Means

#40

Return is how the Way moves.

Weakness is how the Way works. Ten Thousand things

are born of being.

Being is born of nothing.

–Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin*

Not being attached to the doing or having an agenda for the doing simply allows us to witness the ever moving ‘beauty’ of that which is. We are peace and fully appreciating the magic and the mystery that is this world. The old voices in our heads often perpetuated by emotional imbalance/emotional immaturity slowly recede. In our wisdom we are aware of the injustice humanity has perpetuated by ignoring the emotional body in its vulnerability; by judging what is weakness and inappropriate for display. As evolving beings we appreciate the space created by emotional healing; the space in which authenticity arises. Without fear, without ‘need’ we no longer look to any thing for completion. We are free to follow the breath wherever that leads.

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — Pooh’s Little Instruction Book

New Moon December 25 PST @ 4 degrees 7 minutes Capricorn 9:13 p.m.

The perfect opportunity to begin anew, to establish simple intention; that in this moment I am open to knowing that I don’t know and don’t need to know. With that intention there is a ‘pattern interrupt’. As soon as we create space for something unknown or not yet experienced to replace the familiar we have achieved greater freedom.

The great gift of Capricorn Sun/Moon (with the addition of a conjunction to Jupiter) is the power to conquer, to persist and succeed! The inner drive (Moon) and outer expression (Sun)=unified intention for rising, surmounting and surety. With the conjunction to Jupiter there is an additional element of faith and trust that diminishes any sense of needing to work at it (Capricorn can be a workaholic) and that working at it is actually a liability as we are engaging the mind which much of the time presents us with the ‘tried and true’.

Saturn now 2 degrees away from conjuncting Pluto suggests an earnest and focused need for taking responsibility for being the best that is available to us. There is a palpable energy moving us to shed it and step up. It is exciting. It is challenging (all these planets in Capricorn) and perhaps for some frightening. The best part, it is attainable, the goal—right there in front of us! What is that goal? Where does this new moon fall in your chart? That will indicate to some small degree what areas of your life are being targeted for rising up and rising anew and for exciting new breakthroughs.

Not just the last New Moon of the year and decade but a Solar Eclipse as well. What ever cosmic wisdom comes down the tubes will instigate a six month period of establishing a new order—where Capricorn aspires to is rarefied air so exercise, of a cardio nature will prepare one for the ascent. And there is no doubt (that Jupiter influence) that we will achieve the goal.

Worthwhile mentioning that this New Moon trines Uranus (Trine 120 degree aspect that represents ease-energy that moves and flows without obstacle) the planet of revolution for evolution. So to be sure that goal we keep mentioning is related to the ‘highest good’; the evolution of human consciousness. Venus in Aquarius elevates the desire from personal to communal and Mars in Scorpio will not give up.

And there is Mercury in Sagittarius (the goal of which is to seek/know Truth) conjunct Pallas Athena the asteroid that is named after the goddess of Wisdom.Be receptive to a cosmic experience without possibility of returning whence we came!

The Chandra Symbol* for 4-5 degrees Capricorn is: Tall dark cypress trees in a cemetery.
The vertical dimension prevailing completely. Bearing the authority of life, of death, and of the two worlds brought into synthesis…standing tall and erect and strong. Staying aligned with the will. Intensely involved with humanity and the sufferings and longings that saturate the world. Singularly and purposely assigned to bring into present time the truths from beyond this world that can sustain this world through her travail. Simply knowing the way it is and the way it must be, and breathing that truth as fiber and backbone.

This New Moon is located in the 1st house of the United States and if it has influence over these next 6 months we may be in for a powerful ride as opposing forces collide to eventually bring things into balance and harmony. The New Moon stands in opposition to the US Venus/Jupiter conjunction in Cancer urging us to consider ‘that which is for the highest good and to stand firm in our resolution to see change now. The second half of the first house relies on what has been learned in the first half. In Sagittarius—the Truth will be known.

Very best wishes for your rising up and achieving all that your heart desires.

*Ramana Maharshi by Robert Wolfe at http://www.livingnonduality.org

*Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin* available at Paradise Found 17 E. Anapamu St. SB

*Inside Degrees: Developing Your Soul Biography Using the Chandra Symbols by Ellias Lonsdale

In Not Wanting…

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#37

Over All

The Way never does anything,

And everything gets done.

If those in power could hold to the Way,

the ten thousand things

would look after themselves.

If even so they tried to act,

I’d quiet them with the nameless,

the natural.

In the unnamed, in the unshapen,

is not wanting.

In not wanting is stillness.

In stillness all under heaven rests.

From Tao Te Ching, Ursula K. Le Guin translation

“In not wanting is stillness.” We are not being asked to stop wanting, only being guided to the realization that when we want nothing we are never disappointed. We do not suffer. We have long been accustomed to a perpetual cycle of desire, fulfillment and then what’s next? With dedication we can focus on our desire nature, to see it clearly and to notice who is doing the seeing. Who/what sees has nothing to do with desire. The attention shifts from the desire to the observer and there is freedom. A knowing arises. I am released.

All of this occurs as part of a rather organic process that is life here naturally unfolding. We are a boat afloat on a sea of possibility our oars are long ago whittled into sticks to prop open our eyes so we don’t miss what is right in front of us. Truth that is the eternal unfolding, expansiveness of Being.

We circle and circle and circle fearful of the dive that carries us deeper, through the illusion, the patterns of conditioning (ancient and persistent) toward the mighty pulse of Reality that is the life force of all things. If all that I have on this seemingly perilous quest is an intention to be open, to hold out my hands in order to receive, it is enough. My doing is ended.

Full Moon August 10, 2014

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Full Moon August 10, 2014 @ 18 degrees Aquarius 2 minutes
2:09 p.m. EDT 11:09 a.m. PDT

full moon aug 2014Our true nature is like a precious jewel: although it may be temporarily buried in mud, it remains completely brilliant and unaffected. We simply have to uncover it.—Pema Chondra, Weekly Quotes

The beauty of a Full Moon, its radiance is reflection of our true nature and a reminder of the jewel that we are, a diamond cast down by the hand of God, Love flowing in every direction from every cell an explosion of light from emptiness. This planet, that smiles into eternity with the joy of Being.

This Full Moon in Aquarius, the water-bearer, ruled by Uranus=rolling thunder that precedes change, the electrical charge that moves energy from point to point—from the edge into the unknown for which we have faith and trust of what is to be or simply accept what is as the perfection of the moment.

“Freedom” means to allow ‘what is’ to be.—Robert Wolfe, Abiding In Nondual Awareness

Resistance to what is diminishes as we awaken to the knowing that there is nothing there against which to resist. At the moment this feels like extraordinary grace gently falling upon us like a mist at dawn near a northern lake. We feel, without thought, the presence that is everywhere, always as our self. Our way of moving through the world becomes as a rivulet of “that”, is “that”, peace and stillness and love.

The t-square formed by Saturn at the apex of the Sun/Moon opposition is an opportunity to feel our desire for control as a futile attempt to establish the ego in physical reality. The old patterns that seek security lose their power to move us as we recognize that we cannot hold onto that which never existed–including relationships where someone is perceived to be separate from my self. We have never lost anything. It would be impossible as it is all me, always.

At this time we truly begin to see that our way of thinking we exist, is only a small part of what it means to Be.

A t-square is a highly dynamic aspect that pushes for change, urges one to step out of limitations. And though it may be uncomfortable it is what we most desire. This Full Moon will be a test of allowing.

Allow the ocean waters to flow over you, to shift the sand beneath you, trusting that though you may be carried out to sea you will not be lost but rather may find that the jewel you have so coveted, the pearl upon which you have heaped so much praise is your own heart and as accessible as the blink of an eye; that the beating of the heart responds to the rhythm that pervades all things, is all things.

The Sun, Mercury, Black Moon Lilith conjunction is grace, allows us to move smoothly through this period of what may seem like radical change though nothing really changes except the illusion that I am separate from “that”; that I am this mind/body. Body, mind, spirit—one—no separation.

The other aspect of grace, the sign of Aquarius itself, the water-bearer pouring forth the eternal stream of life, vitality unimpeded by anything. Here there is no notion of attachment as there is the absence of emotional need that otherwise binds an individual to the notion of individuality. Here there is the abidance in the pool of humanity that is the reservoir of “that”, God, Love, Beloved. The heart beat is louder, eventually becomes the only sound I hear.

The Full Moon will have a particular brightness about it. The eye perceives more clearly demands the mind rest and come into the heart of Reality. It is your desire, it is my desire, it is our desire and for that we love each other without condition—in every moment.