A Special Place

Is LOVE’S FORTRESS!

And So AM I!”

“Locate the feeling of “I Am”“

A lot of meditations begin by suggesting we empty ourselves of thoughts, feelings, beliefs, etc.  and right away many of us, whether we are experienced meditators or not, start scrambling around feeling for negative or unwanted energy throughout our bodies.  I’ve come upon a little trick that helps me to do this quicker and more effectively.  It’s based on the premise that it’s easier to empty a cup when it’s full than when there’s only a little substance in the cup, as the combined mass exits with more force.

I begin by a quick recognition of my physical body, inside and out.  “I am this body, with this size, shape, filled with organs, covered by hair, etc.”  I recognize that “I” am not “that” and imagine emptying it all.  I then fill it with all my experiences, my genes, my traumas, my education, my beliefs, my preferences, all the stuff I’m trying to get rid of until I realize that “I” am not “that” as well.

Finally, I say to myself, well “I” must be the ego, which is what “I” believe or think of “myself” with or without evidence and find that there is nothing static or real to find.  I then realize that this whole time there’s been a consistent part of me, an awareness, that understands that I am none of these things and rest in that.

The Wanderer 

(The Mood) 

Wayfarer ... Vagabond ... Wanderer, I Over the trails of the earth and the sky! And if I tarry ... or if I go I cannot tell you ... I do not know! Maybe, tomorrow, I'll spread out my wings, Soar with the Lark as it joyously sings! Breast the West Wind to the Rim of the World! Find where the Dawn's crimson banners are furled! Nay, do not follow me! Maybe quite soon ... I'll spy out a Moon Where it's drenched in the sea ... Bathe in its silver, in bright rhapsody! Shining, and argent, and free! Or, maybe, I'll wander the sunlighted fields; Lay me down deep in the grasses and weeds ... Piping my reeds! Yesterday, found me within the green wood, Brushed by green branches and sun-dappled leaves! Then, of a sudden, all breathless I stood ... There at my feet, was his bright pattern ... Breathless, I heard him ... ... Wild Pan! I traced his hoof-marks to where his trail leads, Piped on his Syrynx ... and blew on his Reeds! And then caught a Bluebird and rode on his wing ... I who am wayward ... ... And wandering! Ah, do not follow me ... I do not heed All of your blandishments! Only your NEED Stops me ... and draws me ... and binds me to you! Only your NEED ... ... Drowns out wild Pan ... ... And his Reed! Nay, do not follow me ... Lacking the might To chart straight your flight! For I shall part the curtains of the night, And I'll swing upwards till all memory blurs ... And, then, on UPWARDS, to incalculable height ... Of distant "Betelgeuze!" And perched upon her frigid, jagged edge I'll peer far down from this sapphire ledge To learn the alchemy of that blue light ... That's her's! And there among the swinging, paling Stars Remote from Earth, at this illimitable height, I'll watch the golden chariot of the Sun Climbing the shadowy mountains of the Night! And when shall I return? Who knows ... who sees? No human praise, or blame, shall draw me back! Nor shall I hear your pretty flattering pleas! Yet there is one inviolable bond ... your lack! Your NEED .. shall draw me from the last remotest star That whirls through dizzy space! And I will come ... as surely as the light! Without your call, nor yet an urgent sigh! ... This is my CREED ... I'll come inevitably upon the wing Of some great Eagle .. not a Bluebird now! I will come back .. for this ONE thing! I, who am wayward ... ... And wandering!

By Jeanie MacPherson 

The Kabbalah, Shiva Advaita, and others point to the “I Am” as the true name of God.  But to have true power, true freedom one must also learn to master the “You Are”.   One is the manifestaion of God in the world, and the other, is the expression.  As much as one can find peace resting in the “I Am”, True love takes it’s form from “You Are”

wield wisely

The First Call is not for milk.  The First Call is “Is anybody here?”  Is anyone here to see me.  To reflect THIS present being.  THIS is what we notice in others, in the things around us.  THAT which we recognize as beautiful, as divine, as desireable, as love.  Or the opposites of these.  Or the things that go unnoticed.  The things we deem not of us, though, there is nothing not of us.

This call should serve as the guidepost.  For, the question does not persist as “Do you see me?” but as, “How do I want to be seen?”  THIS question is behind every thought, every action, every relationship, every perception, and the one awakened to it’s power can only guide it towards holiness as every other path is blocked or marred with self-doubt, criticism, and fear. 

Clarifying your aspirations is the most crucial part of existence.

When you’re watching a film with an actor in a room you are just watching the actor in the room.  There may or may not be other people in the room and the character may or may not be interacting with or effected by the other people, things, or activities within that room.  What you are not aware of, or paying any attention to, are all of the other things going on in that character’s life which are often contained in one’s present awareness.  The character’s absence in other places.  In relationships.  In spaces.  In history.  These are among all the things we carry in our present awareness that makes us “us”.  The thing to keep in mind is that all of THAT is an illusion, and that if we begin with our “selves” as just the character in the room we can immediately notice that THAT too is an illusion because like a camera on this “character” we are aware of THAT person in the room.  In FACT, we are aware also that not only are WE the ones holding the camera but that there is something beyond the camera.  A substance, a feeling, a consciousness, an awareness that surrounds us, of which we are composed of, which embraces us with the absolute acceptance of the beloved.