Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Fanning Flames

Fanning flames might be an excellent strategy if one is in the woods trying to start a fire to cook dinner, or when lighting logs in a fireplace on a chilly night.

The mighty breath of wind would be a curse if it fanned flames set by an arsonist in dry brush, or accelerated a fire ignited by the God of Lightening and Thunder.

How we perceive an action as good or bad depends entirely on the context. No objective, hard and fast realities exist. Rather, the ever-moving flux of elements, in infinite combinations and permutations, determine the outward appearance of an event.

Often, judgements and the "stories" we tell ourselves can be limited by a narrow perception of the context in which an event occurs. If awareness is expanded to a panoramic view, it is more possible to see the relativity that would otherwise be lost with a constricted view. 

Understanding the nature of our elastic minds can be of tremendous solice as life on earth unfolds in and around us, sometimes in unexpected and unwelcome ways.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

A Shower of Flowers

The news on television blares out the distressing report of a 7.8 earthquake in Nepal which will effect the impoverished region for a century to come. Commercial break. Another black man has had his life extinguished, his beautiful neck crushed by heavy police hands as he lay face down on cement.

I close my eyes to pray/meditate/take the psychic temperature of "the what is." A shower of snow white flowers cascades down and around a maiden as she lifts her sweet face to the heavens and raises her hands in exaltation. Her flowing hair is crowned with a wreath of delicate petals; marvels of Mother Nature.

Somewhere in the inner worlds, Grace is flowing and all is well. So for those of us who are healthy, well fed, and live with a roof over our heads, may gratitude for the benevolence of life prevail even as we reach out to help where chasms have widened over a dark gulf.



 

Friday, April 24, 2015

The Lost and Found

The "lost and found" is a unique location where the past meets the present and awaits a future. An item that was once missing from the past shows up again in the present moment to be repossessed - until one's possession is lost again in the annals of time by another forgetful misstep, or through outdated utility, or through death.

Then the famous phrase from Amazing Grace:
"I once was lost but now I'm found."


What was lost? In this case it would be more appropriate to say that "I once forgot, but now I remember."

And then the phrase people often speak when comforting someone whose loved one has died. "I am sorry for your loss."

In actuality, nothing is ever lost nor is it ever found, because the entire energy of life is in constant flux. One can't "lose" anything because it is in constant motion transforming into new energy patterns. One can't "find" anything because it is intangibly moving into something new in every microsecond (even if we perceive these patterns as "real" or "solid"). 

Relaxing into what we perceive as birth-death-rebirth gives existence a smoother feel instead of a rough ride. Every moment is a new creation and an opportunity to become at one with this essence.

Resisting Revenge

For decades, Myanmar suffered under the yoke of brutal dictatorships, but from 2011 to 2021, it experienced a brief period of relative freed...