Bound Home

I am living the mystery of life
moment by moment.
Wisdom comes with suffering.
The older I get, the younger
everyone else becomes.
With age comes a certain now
kind of freedom.  

Home Bound

It's hard to go home even if you long for it. To long for something but be afraid to grasp it is a human experience. What's left there to avoid though? Only what you left behind. Be brave and find your way home; home is where the heart is.

Waking Up

Waking up to my own life has been "the journey of a lifetime". I was a dreamy child in grade school. Now, I am a dreamy "new" old person. What can I say? Do we really change, or is it an unfolding variation of "life" that runs runs its course from birth to death? If you awaken and stay awake you are called "enlightened" (full of light). Staying awake is difficult. Only grand-masters are fearless enough not to run back into fluffy dreams. The point is to get free of illusion. To be real without interruption. That takes great inner courage. Stillness or meditation is a warrior's path.

Loose Free Natural

A Secret of LIfe

A Secret of Life is that Life is eternal (when seen beyond the ego), but always moving toward aging and death when ego clouds our view. Therefore, see with ego-less eyes! With ego-less eyes we are blind to the boundaries between us. 

The ego, however, hangs on to "little life"; and may convince us of our near total separation from one another. Don't believe it. The eye of the needle may be small, but big mind can surrender into "big Life" - and it becomes mystically clear that "all is one".

Life More Abundant

Many years ago, my spiritual teacher suggested that “all power is in the present moment”. This was, perhaps, the greatest teaching I ever received. By living deeply in this present moment, we sense our bodies here and now - which is the only place to feel the body. Not just our bodies but also our minds. Anything else is mere living in a dream state; exactly where most of us waste our lives. By feeling our feet on the ground, we become truly grounded. Just sensing our bodies laying down - allows us to be grounded in this moment and place. This morning I was putting away the dishes, when suddenly the memory of receiving this “all power is in the present moment teaching” came back. Suddenly I felt my feet on the ground. I became stronger - “more here”. Indeed, life more abundant.

Listen Deeply

Listen ever so deeply with your whole being. Anything less is a waste of time. But don't listen to me. Listen to what's inside you. You and I are constantly constructing a sense of the world. It's quite possible that what is called "one's world" is not that same as reality. So look deeply. Perhaps, you (and I) can get a glimpse of what's real beyond "my world" or even "our world". That would be true science, true wisdom. 

∆

Consciousness and human unity

For decades, I've shared the dream of human unity with my friend Eugene Haggerty who traveled the world signing up public leaders and common folk to the reality of our true human unity beyond all differences. It's imperative that fundamental human unity becomes a universal cultural and personal norm. It's the positive constructive nonviolent bases for optimum life survival and flourishing on earth. How can this happen? Turn your attention back on your own consciousness; you will eventually realize that everyone else's consciousness is like yours. States of mind, states of life all differ; yet, we share a common field of consciousness. This is "seeing the lamp and not the lampshade." In fact, you and I participate in the same human reality even though we have different bodies and circumstances. This is the essence of the golden rules expounded by all the world's great traditions.

Torrent of Time

TIME IS LIKE a torrent of water rushing through our lives. Time cannot be stopped - and life cannot be separated from time until there is deep transcendence of all the cares and concerns of daily life. Few ever learn to live with abandon without attachment - at peace with the passing parade of phenomena. Yet, yet, and yet again - there's something within us that does not change. Something unchanged since our first awareness of being here in our lives. ∆

Purification of Consciousness

During forty seven years of life, I've practiced meditation and purification of consciousness. It's the most difficult and rewarding of tasks. Purification of consciousness is attained by uncovering the innate stillness and peace of mind -available via simple frequent moments of meditation during the minutes, hours and days of our lives. Take time today to stop the busy mind - thereby uncovering the peace and joy already within yourself. 

Playing with Oneness (more Sunday morning meditation) Written by Diane 2012

 I.

All is one

and One is all;

Not for a ball-team,

But a ball!

Fun is what you make of it;

Bliss is even better.

As one in All,

      all is One.

      Oh what fun!

      (happiness in the sun).

II.

The laughter and the tears

Melt into the years

And become

     One.

III.

The Oneness-of-all-things

is no less

than more

(more-or-less)

and no more

than one

is All.

IV.

“Playing with the One,

       no less!”, says Americ,

              my loved-one.

                         Diane (July 2012)

New World

Feel the wind in your hair.

Smell the salt of the sea.

Hear the lapping of waves on the hull.

Watch the new shapes emerge on the horizon.

Taste the freedom of moving forward.

Beautiful future lies ahead. 

Just Be

It's been said that: This is the best of all possible worlds! Why? A non-existent possible world is just a dream, an illusion. My self and your self are both "self" seen from different directions. Parmenides, the Presocratic philosopher, showed us that whatever is just is - and cannot not be. Can't be anything but what it is. BEING IS unchanging, eternal. So relax. Just be.

Universe Speaking

The Universe is always

speaking to us

from the scintillating stars

to the heartbeat

in our chests. 

Ocean of Life

Sometimes I feel the ocean of life

Kicked around by waves of feeling and thought 

Such moments seem endless

Reality sets in - endless moments abruptly end 

There we sat, stun surprised

Without Beginning or End

WITHOUT BEGINNING OR END

Chuang Tzu

The Way is without beginning or end      

All things have their life and death          

Hence, you cannot rely upon them for fulfillment

One moment is empty

The next moment full    

Hence, you cannot depend upon their form         

The years cannot be restrained  

Time cannot be stopped            

Decay

Growth

Fullness

Emptiness        

All end and then begin again

This is the understanding of the Great Meaning
And the principles of The Ten Thousand Strings

 

Happy birthday, Americ!!

We all love and miss you. Dont worry, you’ll always be alive in our hearts and minds. 

“When the night is cloudy there is still a light that shines on me. Shine until tomorrow. Let it be.” 

Settling Down

Settling down is the great work of giving life meaning. It's also the great work of getting up in the morning and clearing the mind for the day's work. In my case it is writing these notes and publishing a blog entry. Humble but meaningful to my soul. I live in the way that I must - so as to be real to the self. What else can I do? 

Beyond philosophy

A lover of wisdom may speak of wisdom all day long, yet not live that wisdom. Someone who possesses wisdom may say nothing wise at all. As a graduate student in philosophy, I became frustrated with philosophy itself. I saw academic philosophy as a craft without real answers to my deepest concerns. T. S. Elliot’s lines from “The Rock” moved my soul: 

The endless cycle of idea and action,

Endless invention, endless experiment,

Brings knowledge of motion, but not stillness;

Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;

Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.

…

Where is the Life we have lost in living?

Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?

Where is the knowledge we have lost information?

Shortly afterwards, Chögyam Trungpa showed up as a classroom guest speaker. He wore a blazer and turtle neck shirt, holding a can of Coca-Cola in his hand – not my image of an Eastern guru or yogi. He spoke directly and spontaneously. It took many years to realize that his presence was the teaching more than his words. Now, I don’t remember the words, but the presence remains. I look, and feel, for that same presence in others and within myself. I stopped  philosophizing, and started to prepare for wisdom by meditating. That was the beginning of a very long journey.

Time is a Construct

Time is not real

it is a construct 

a framework

used to measure

movement and change

We are free to change 

our relationship to time 

moment to moment