new frontiers

birds that live on a golden mountain 
reflect the color of the gold
                                        tibetan proverb

it is always a challenge..maybe even a struggle..
marrying the two..spiritual practice and the practical spirit..
perhaps not an easy task for many..
if one has the inclination toward contemplative practice..
if one has the passion for life and art and action..


what else are our lives 
but diminishing tapers of wax, 
sputtering already in long flame?

art and activism shadow one another;
they destroy one another:
but they share the same inescapable, 
irreducible bedrock fuel - passion.

love or fury.
love and fury...
i would rather fail at both
than be disloyal to one..
i would rather be 
ragged-thin and weary 
than brittle.
                rick bass

how to splice the ropes of life?
braid the dark and light
activity and stillness..
mundane and sublime entwine

thomas merton  -
leading an active life
yet immensly desiring a contemplative one -

i feel in my bones that i will never have any peace
until i kiss everything good-bye,
even my highest ideals and aspirations ..
this thing will die hard.
if i make a little less fuss about it,
i will be satisfied in the future..

holy spirit,
fill me with your simplicity -
teach me to avoid getting myself into useless works
by my own blind and impetuous will..
love will be my beatitude..
my heart burns within me with joy!

love passion gold

be the bird. be the mountain. be the gold.
fly, fly away ~

conflict arises when we want things to be other than they are.
                                                            j. krishnamurti