Unreleased poem written by Americ and Diane

Diane: "We wrote this poem jointly (the parts are labeled with our initial), and he really liked the idea of a collaborative effort. He came home one day from a short walk and had written the first part and I responded in poem. The last part, which I mostly wrote, tells of our meeting/relationship."

Flickers and Reflections

a poem at first sight

a spider web of words

catching beams of memories

and feelings from somewheres

far and close flickers.

-A

far & close

feelings flicker

long forgotten

yet so near

the eyes cannot

focus to see

but the poem

reflects

more accurately

than any memory

could possibly

be.

-D

a lake is full

of water and light

below flickers of heaven

the ores pushing waves

into sounding resounding

splashes of memory.

-A

our memory:

what was that beautiful day we first met

in the reception area of that loosely-run office?

ah, but that was gradual--

a glimpse

turning to a word

turning to gazing

but what about that first day

we sat on the park bench

and kissed

as minutes rolled by

our work day

opened

by the stoppage of time

where love lives

in eternity

yet managing to return back to the desk

in time to keep our jobs in tact

so our meetings would continue

until the crises that life often brings

broke in

and

shattered eternity

back into time

and our lives

split

now returning again

after decades 

that never happened

slipping back into love

eternally 

… and flowing in the window 

from the backyard oak

the birds sing

“yes…

yes, yes.”

  -D, with A

Facing the Future

Facing the future demands that we stand firm on this spot. We begin from where we are. I am here and now in this particular place and time. For most of us, that seems too simple. Try it. It always begins and ends here and now. To go forward, just be here. Don’t be afraid of stillness. Change will happen no matter how hard you fight it.  ∆

Just Words

WORDS ARE MAPS of reality and dreams. Words are not reality, not dreams. Better to stop now. Sit, walk around and breathe. Later, come back to the words. Perhaps, the world would not exit without words; the "world" is a story we tell each other. Take away the story. What do you have left over? Just this, just that. Engaging directly with what is; like a new born. Of words, we don't need many. Just a phrase, a sound, can be enough
to suggest reality.

∆

Backing Off

LIFE IS NOT ALWAYS a straight path. We go forward and back off. Often I would try to make a speech in front of class. I would feel extremely nervous before beginning the talk. I wanted to be “relaxed”. Eventually discovering that being nervous was a positive sign - it meant that the energy was there for a good talk. I started to tell myself, “Just get started and you will feel better after you forget yourself”. So true! Just get started.  

∆

Words

poets say

more with

fewer words

philosophers

say less

with many, many

words

saints don't

need words

at all

Consciousness

Consciousness is obvious, mysterious, unthinkable, and infinitely deep.  Scientists and philosophers often write convoluted exhausting boring explanations of consciousness; but that is not consciousness.

Consciousness' luminous reality is to be intuited directly and effortlessly. Consider the Dzogchen[1] teachings. Tsoknyi Rinpoche sums it up brilliantly: “Let the display of thoughts, emotions, and perceptions unfold naturally and without clinging, like clouds passing through an open sky.”[2] Consciousness is like the sky – open to everything passing through it but ultimately unaffected. Like a mirror – it reflects everything that passes by while staying clear and empty.

We live mostly in separation consciousness; feeling-thinking "this or that" in a world of distinct, somewhat unrelated objects. Me and you. Us and them. Light and dark - and shades in-between.

  

The universe is infused with consciousness. But it is unfocused and not self-aware. Life becomes progressively more intelligent until it become self-aware, self-conscious. Feeding back on itself. Learning from its own successes and mistakes.

Unitive, union, or cosmic consciousness is a state of alive luminous oneness. This state is more likely to persist while discursive dualistic thought is suspended.

At one extreme it a bath of bliss. And, we care little for the “details” of maintaining the body.

In a more ordinary functional life, we feel love and unity with others while still aware of separate persons and objects.

---

[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dzogchen.

[2] “Dzogchen: The Sky of Wisdom”, Shambhala Sun, July 2014, page 60.

Holographic Nature of Reality

Cosmos defines everything including the indefinable. Music of the spheres plays on and on. Every point of space is packed with an image of the entire cosmos. That's the holographic nature of reality. We contain the entire cosmos within us, but always looking outwardly for the answers. Now look and listen within.

Physics-Astronomy.com/