seasonal greetings

 yes ....

seasonal greetings..

this is an expression that the folks 

in india use to give voice to their hearts 

without offense to any one's credo or faith.. 

this early easter morning..

a chorus of owls..

singing praises for the day..

seasonal greetings..

in the morning's grey cool light

just beginning to stretch out 

across the blue yonder ~

one right on the roof top summit..

silhouetted, close-in presence

holy whooooo.. 

whoo, whoo, who..

then, the well timed reply of a trinity ..

hither and yon.. up and away.. yonder and thither..

standing in the nippy daybreak dawn

a congregation of one..

beholding the inquiring resonance  

bringing back to life that which never dies..

o my..

just yesterday, i myself used the expression

seasonal greetings to an elder (ha!) on the morning path..

a small woman with a coat of many colors..

camera in hand, binoculars around her neck..

walking slow and golden-aged..

her rainbow coat matched my rainbow shoes -

we are a pair, i said.. as i caught up to her

your coat, my shoes..

o yes, she concurred..

we chatted on about what she had spied on the field, in the waters..

where we lived and what great good fortune to be alive and thriving

even in our olde and elder and wizened lives..

as we parted, 

seasonal greetings !

she offered back..

passover for me !

i responded..

o! we have passover persons

in our family..

i was just at a seder..

and i sang out : 

LET MY PEOPLE GO!

she rang out :

AMEN! 

her hands uplifted..

her shining eyes aglow..

palms folded -

we bowed to one another 

i, with my rainbow shoes..

she, with her rainbow coat..

walked the path away from one another

joined at the heart

in the midst of 

seasonal greetings ..

and in the sweetness of friendship

let there be laughter, and the sharing of pleasures.

for in the dew of little things the heart

finds its morning and is refreshed.

                ~ kahlil gibran

leonard says it best

'tis a full year now this month ~

we have lived through  (and many have not)

the most astonishing of times

there will be more to wade through..

no doubt..

come healing!

o gather up the brokenness

and bring it to me now 

the fragrance of those promises

you never dared to vow

the splinters that you carry

the cross you left behind

come healing of the body

come healing of the mind

and let the heavens hear it 

the penitential hymn

come healing of the spirit

come healing of the limb

behold the gates of mercy

in arbitrary space

and none of us deserving

the cruelty or the grace

o solitude of longing

where love has been confined

come healing of the body

come healing of the mind

o see the darkness yielding

that tore the light apart

come healing of the reason

come healing of the heart

o troubled dust concealing

an undivided love

the heart beneath is teaching

to the broken heart above

o let the heavens falter

and let the earth proclaim:

come healing of the altar

come healing of the name

o longing of the branches 

to lift the little bud

o longing of the arteries

to purify the blood

and let the heavens hear it

the penitential hymn

come healing of the spirit

come healing of the limb

full moon ferlinghetti

 

the world is a beautiful place to be born into

it's late..

it's early..

it looks like noon outside..

noisy, too..

the geese are moving..

trolling for a place to catch forty

winks

i am up in a pool of brilliance..

the moon/

after much reflection says/ 

Sun is God

i've gone back to the beginning 

(of the blog..and this longstanding missive)

~ the walkabout from anacortes to california ~

attempting to traverse the usa

what is light what is air what is life so passing fair?

coming up on 14 years 

(march 10)   long live tibet

since we gathered at mt. erie school

and walked to deception pass together..

there are some gems of poetry tucked in..

many stories of random acts of kindness ..

hints of things to come..

(my hip was mentioned early on 

and lo! titanium 10 years later...)

i really could write a book

what dawns on me

in this dawn's early light

is the precariousness..

(mid 17th cent.: from Latin precarius ‘obtained by entreaty’ 

(from prex, prec- ‘prayer’) + -ous.

and the big-heartedness..

the far rockaway of the heart

placing myself at the feet 

of so many along the way 

the prayers volunteered for my safety ..

it was a trip to be out on the highways  -

such freedom and travail 

rolled into one long ribbon of road..

made of love and light and dung/ 

some great immortal song

what made me start?

what made me stop?

 a mysterious sooth-sayer 

within

giving me marching orders

pushing me to halt!

I am signaling you through the flames.

now the now is always here

the kindnesses persist

in the smallest and brightest and most baffling ways

we are made for each other

poets of life, liberty and the pursuiters of happiness

wooing and cooing our way along the Way

the moonglade that glides us toward our destiny

will we walk? will we run? 

far-seeing sybil,  forever hidden, 

come out of your cave at last 

and speak to us in the poet's voice 

the voice of the fourth person singular 

the voice of the inscrutable future 

the voice of the people mixed

with a wild soft laughter—

and give us new dreams to dream, 

give us new myths to live by!

lawrence ferlinghetti

1919-2021

RIP

holy wall of molies..

for everything that lives is holy ~

              -william blake-

a wing and a prayer yoga shala

was often graced with a holy "man" wall..

a holy person wall..these days..

vast numbers of push pins on cork 

held their numinous presences in place..

from  marilyn monroe, thomas merton,

the 14th dalai lama, bob dylan..

to yoda and ET 

jiddhu krishnamurti, my mother,

john and yoko..

the stretching cowboy,

ananadamayi ma  ..

neem karoli baba and baba hari dass,

bks iyengar and tkv desikachar..

pir vilayat inayat khan..hazrat inayat khan..

mother teresa and marcel marceau..

ramana maharshi, vivekananda, 

sri aurobindo and the mother,

saradha devi and sri ramakrishna..

dr. vasavada and babar..

on and on..

they will all be blessed 

on the burn pile

when the weather softens..

having been stashed away for  safe keeping..

it's time, yes! time to liberate them.. moksha!

however, dear friends of the dharma...

if you have a yen for one such holy moly,

send me a note and i'll send you the divine in photo..

please note :

some are tatty copies, newspaper clips..

lovers gather and give each other shade,

relief from the direct sun.

stay close by that community 

'til you become light like the moon,

then like the sun.

                ~ rumi

leave no trace

 

water birds 

go and come back

without leaving any trace behind.

even so, they do not forget

the path.

               ~ dogen zenji 

alexander khimushin wanders the world..

photographing indigenous people whose 

lifestyles and settlements may be on the 

edge of extinction.. saving the memory 

of these vanishing cultures..

cheque out : the world in faces..

his stated mission is to capture the faces of 

these last vestiges of ancient culture..

here at home sweet home, 

feeling the weight of stuff and such, 

knowing in my cells and bones 

the wisdom of impermanence 

i have been rummaging through files and papers

that i have been saving/collecting

pictures, newspapers clips, letters of gratitude

(even a psychedelic letter to my mama from the 60's  - o my o!)

and wonder.. as i wander through this past..

am i documenting my history and last

vestiges of some ancient karma?

and wonder further..

who cares?

not in some self-deprecating way

nor in any poor me mode..

simply..who will care?

i am not a prominent stateswoman..

nor a celebrated yogini or a legendary actress,

certainly not an illustrious politician..!

there is no progeny.. 

to pass along the modest history of me..

we know life is fleeting..

the 8th decade is unfolding for me..

rather, it is folding up around me..

the fetters of this incarnation are receding ..

there is now a boxload to purge and burn and liberate..

my past will not follow me to the grave..  **

no youthful pictures nor sentimental poetry

will weave my stories of love and loss

sketching me back into existence 

... like the flight of birds in the sky, 

the path of the selfless is hard to follow. 

they have no possessions, 

but live on alms in a world of freedom.

like the flight of birds in the sky, 

their path is hard to follow...

...freed from illusion and from personal ties,

they have renounced the world of appearance

to find reality.

                      ~ the dhammapada

REQUEST:

I AM LOOKING FOR A BURN RECEPTACLE

TO SET AFLAME TO THESE ENCUMBRANCES..

~ ANY FIREPIT OR FIREPLACE OR BURN CAN

WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED ~

** this blog..

when i get closer to the veil..

what to do?

pictures and epistles that are floating about..

what to do?

it will come to me..

 

mojito

the thought manifests the word;

the word manifests the deed;

the deed develops into habit;

and habit hardens into character;

so watch the thoughts and its ways with care,

and let them spring forth from love

born out of compassion for all beings.

as the shadow follows the body,

as we think, so we become.

                                  ~ dhammapada

good morning!

my new..relatively new..

morning practice..

to attempt to catch myself 

between sleeping and waking ~

to see if i might maintain some awareness 

of  deep consciousness..

just before habitual thought takes over ..

here is how it went today

amusing to intercept my first word/thought..

mojito ~ 

it was mojito..!

an adult beverage i have yet to try..

though maybe i was thinking wohelo

the campfire girl's set of values..

work

health

love

given my proclivities this seems 

to me more noble than *mojito..

yet who can say?

or maybe it was mosquito 

recalling the tlingit totem pole of strong boy

in myrtle edwards park / seattle..

it's been said that mosquitos 

are rarely included on totem poles..

yet the brave grizzly bear is holding one..

warning us all is not easy..

which is to say..

this new practice is not ..

the first word/words out of my mouth..

as i come to..to the new day..

hmmmmmmm?

remembering.. in the early 70's..

 my dear friend barbara and i attended 

a week-end silent yoga retreat in santa barbara 

with the integral yoga institute clan..

we were silent wee mice, purging ourselves in ditches, 

eating bland sattvic food and  probably counting the minutes 

until we were free at last.. and when we were, 

as we drove away and opened our mouths,

the first word to explode in the ethers was muffins !

maybe it was muffins, 

this morning...? 

whatever a practitioner keeps pursuing

with their thinking and pondering,

becomes the inclination of their awareness ~

                             -  the buddha

my prayer -

to be wise in my thinking of thought..

that habitual, recycled thought-train..

entering into the silence just before..

noting the space, the interval..

and expanding it..

riding that stillness as a wave..

into samadhi..

into union/communion

with all and everything thing..

may it be just so..

*mojito - cuban spanish - mojo

grudge grinch

purge out of every heart the lurking grudge.

give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere.

give us the grace to accept and forgive offenders.

forgetful ourselves, help us to bear cheerfully the forgetfulness of others.

give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind.

spare us to our friends, soften to us our enemies.

                         ~  robert louis stevenson

my mama had this in our house..tucked away in a desk drawer..

where lots of interesting and colorful notes, quotes and missives

were snestled..along with important papers, un-noteworthy bits and scribbles..

it was always a meritorious rustle when i was granted permission

to enter into the innermost jumble of her secretary...

now it is amongst my jumbled collection

and i pull it out often to re-read or post and share ..

grudge partners well with forgiveness..as RLS petitions -

which is an every day, maybe an every hour assignment

for one thing or another..

whether it is forgiving the teacup for her topsy-turviness

or a friend who voted for the other guy

or my laziness or foot-in-mouthedness..

( life is very short.. but it is wide, i have heard )

my letting go must be that empty harbor

where no grudgeboats can dock and rest at sea..

where there is loyalty to all humanoids for being just that..

(the one thing i don't like about being human.. is.. being human... )

at this beginning of the new year 2021,

may the true debt jubilee be to forgive those

who we think have caused us harm..

*oh, the thinks you can 

think up if you only try!

forgive ourselves for being a self and claiming hurt..

perceived or true.. 

for declaring the self as a target..

forgive the grudge grinch within us!

lift up the self by the Self

and don't let the self droop down,

for the Self is the self's only friend

and the self is the Self's only foe.

            ~  bhagavad gita  chapter 6, verse 5

there was a headline in the washington post:

march 21, 2020..

a debt jubilee is the only way to avoid a depression

ha! indeed..

to be free of depression we must unhinge our grudges

and set them sailing..

let them float away in the great ocean's vastness

evanescing into emptiness..

(don't you love the word evanesce?)

the art of forgiveness is a life skill.. yes?

like the art of happiness..

skillful means to perpetuate a life of open-heartedness

if i can liberate my grudges, i can liberate the self to the Self ~

the back of my hand to you, insults, injuries, self-importance, grudges!

in the buddhist tradition there are three dharma seals..

impermanence, no-self and nirvāna

nirvāna = sanskrit = to extinguish = to blow out..

whoooh! gone, gone, gone beyond..

impermanance!

no-self!

these are my skillful means 

to open the doors, 

windows, 

pathways of the heart/mind..

forgiveness rides on the coattails of these three golden keys..

or.. vice versa ~

i make a plea to all i have unknowingly 

(for it is unknowingly)

harmed, hurt or misled..

been selfish and stupid and unkindly.. 

...like a bird on a wire,  

like a drunk in a midnight choir

i have tried in my way to be free.

if i have been unkind

i hope you can just let it go by

if i have been untrue

i hope you know it was never to you...

                               ~ leonard cohen

                    

* most ginormous gratitude to dr. seuss

for the grinch! and so much more....