There's Someone I'd Like You to Meet

I am here to show you God
Hence I cannot be thwarted
By claims of grandiosity
Perhaps then, my delusion
Is manufactured
By your
Present hold on
Collective illusion
What if?
All limitation
Are the mistaken beliefs
That diminish
The unique expression
Of God
Through you
You then
The principle character
In each "Act of God"
Who else but you
Can be the purveyor
Of your lifetime
Of the oft seen
Radical presence
Of unconditional divine love?
It will not be dispersed
Like chem-trails in the night
While you lie sleeping
Or be carried on a prevailing wind
To be absorbed as inhalation therapy
Wait no longer
You are the "second coming"

When can we expect your arrival?

A Welcome Sequel

A once frozen mantle
Considered inhospitable
Shielded & protected
The yet unborn
 Seasonal debut
Which lies dormant
A mere wisp
Of potential
Not a moment
 Before it's time
Will the mysterious alchemy
Reveal a miraculous grandeur
Nothing of nature
Nor human construct
Can then prevent
A sacred pageantry
Carpeted meadows
Hearts leaping
Spirits renewed
Light returns
Pathways embracing
Extended sunlight
Soften under each step
Opening
To give and receive
Inviting wonder
Reverence and awe
Inspiration and celebration!

Happy Equinox and Poet's Day (2017)

Winds of Change

Lean in and listen intently
The song you may hear
Hailing from the star kissed heavens
Carries the lilt and resonance
Of the winds of change

Commencing from one horizon
It's outstretched fingers
seek a hand-hold
Across an infinite stage
Each moment demonstrates the entirety of its intention

You may be tempted to shield against the advance
Instead, consider a fully naked embrace
Defences may well clamber for dominance
Offering the familiar ruse of comfort and protection
Shields most formidable, have sullied many a potential miracle

Surely to present vulnerable is to court spiritual evisceration
Perhaps change itself, invites an alternative perspective
Nothing has asked you to shirk your intuition
However what of the possibility of conditioned response?
Do you believe you merit learning to discern the difference?

Just as the sun shine equally on everyone
So it is with the unprejudiced inclusion of change
Therefore energy spent on attempted evasion
Might be better spent on fashioning a suitable welcome
Extended to fear erected resistance - asking that it soften toward trust

Change can be grand, sudden and complete
Other times, the stroke of subtlety
Delicate enough that it might
Nearly escape detection
Witnessed result will be its own assertion that it occurred

Is this change a presumptuous tyrant
Boldly intruding - "uninvited"
I suggest - indeed no
How many times have you:
Wished for
Begged for
Pleaded for
Screamed for
Prayed for
Change?

And you thought nobody was listening...........

One Night in Dublin

How then without the aid
Of even a compass
Let alone GPS
Orbiting satellites
Or Google maps
Will seemingly
Disparate "individuals"
Find themselves
United

Behold the cosmic ruse
An event
Fixed upon
An illusory
Measure of "Time"
Each "intent"
To hear
The orator muse

His offering
Unique
Divine
A soul expressed
The travellers sit
In awe
For they have heard
Their own soul's voice
Echoing across the room

Souls then
Converged
Across time and space
Never was it chance
That they met
Delightful company
Takes a back seat
To preordained imperative

Each then
Has come
To know itself
Through a sacred bond
To elevate itself
Through reunion

Afterwards coffee and tea will be served in the mezzanine.

Who Were They?

Generation before generation
Bridging cultural transformation
Dying
To uphold tradition and ushering change

How can I know you
Now that you are gone
What might I embrace
Of those I've never known

What might I celebrate
Of our legacy?
What do I grieve
That you failed to release?

I listen on the wind
Straining to hear
The song
That once defined us

I search the legions
For the face of recognition
I taste the salt of your tears
As I walk the seaside

Will two calls harmonize?
Echoed across the valley of time
Ancestry within the marrow
And a soul seeking remedy to spiritual amnesia

To those that have gone before me
I can't even imagine
What led to my being here... now
My undying gratitude - I presume my view

Is provided, from atop your collective shoulders.

Soul Food

Where can you hope to belong
If parts of your own soul
Have been excised
And exiled

Can any rejection
Betrayal or abandonment
Possibly be, any more complete
Or indeed, any more devastating

In the presence of self-loathing
How then will one
Rise to the call
Of the oppressed

In a clutch moment
Persecution in plain view
Will self-preservation become the mandate
Projected self-hatred concluding - "they probably deserved it.."

At what point does silence
Become apathy and then condoning?
How many sub-optimal circumstances
Become subconscious "approved" resignation?

Illusory fragmented self-imagery
Identifies the myriad
Doorways inviting
A Return to Love

Shouldn't one's own company
Be the safest place imaginable?
Staying might court abandonment
Leaving an act of loving support

Soul alignment
May well call
For love and approval
From a source least willing to give

Field Trip

"What is your field of study," I inquired in conversation. Then I drifted off in my thoughts to the prestige afforded those; that have a field within which they have focused considerable energy and attention, to  have "accredited" themselves, through what they studied.

What of someone that "studied," in a field? By which I don't mean a biologist or botanist, zoologist, or even a anthropologist or herbalist. Just simply someone; that spent time contemplating life, death, matters of existentialist concern, while; in a field. Given they are there anyway, certainly; they might come to know more of the day to day occurrences, taking place in the field. But they aren't there to notice anything specifically.

Rumi speaks of being "in a field beyond  righ-doing and wrong-doing...." Was he in a field at the time? Good chance he was in a field at some point. Why would anyone care what Rumi has to say about being in a field...  or anything for that matter? Well in part because he's Rumi; on the other hand there may well be, many who have never heard of him. Even if so, and they have a Rumi desk calendar; how many would openly admit to want to follow in the footsteps of Rumi (to the field or elsewhere?)

There are probably more people in the western world; that would be more interested in how many "units" of Rumi calendars or books could be sold, than what they contain, or to acquaint themselves with any part of his life, with regard to how he gained the insights, contained within "his" calendars.

How have "we"drifted so far, from a spiritual centre which would serve as, an anchor and compass? I'm not even referring specifically, to a "moral compass" nor anything related specifically to the mainstream religions. I'm talking about a more widely held collective view of the connection of all life, which is not an orientation, many of the churches uphold. While various scandals and crimes against humanity associated with various churches, are being exposed and further investigated ... will these churches be able to maintain their followers, never mind attract newcomers? Despite some "spirituality" being frequently seen synonymously with religion; there are those that make a distinction, and there are apparently in increasingly greater numbers, those that are seeking more meaning in their lives, through various "spiritual" avenues.

I don't hold the collective in judgement or condemnation. From my own experience my own "score-cards" were bereft of anything remotely spiritual and at numerous other levels of being, the score read zero as well. I guess there is gratefully some truth in - "once you hit rock bottom there is nowhere to go but up." Of course it's possible to see "rock bottom" as a challenge for further excavation... what I discovered was I was being asked to delve into the how's and why's of how I came to locate myself at said bottom ... not to conclude, "oh I'm pretty sure, I could dig a deeper hole ..."

Seen from this experience I reason, if I had to "hit the bottom" before it occurred to me to seek a spiritual answer - maybe I'm not the only one. Maybe the collective humanity is ushering itself "to the bottom..." in order to build on new bedrock.

What if at this point we were to (for the rest of the post) presume there to be no need for me to provide endless empirical evidence for everything expressed. I will state up front, that clearly "the Creator" gave us minds to use; so I'm not suggesting they be abandoned. By the same token, stark rationalism/intellectualizing and logic; without any temperance in compassion, leads to a great many atrocities. So maybe this basis of seeking truth or proving the soundness of laws governing the universe, is not the be all to end all.

After much deliberation on my part which might be seen as "useful" and not at all unlike, sitting in a field studying. From the outside looking in; it might have appeared not a great deal was going on, but believe me, I was studying. Day and night. What was I studying? I suppose at different places in time I would have called it different things. "Trying to figure out how to "do life - Right!!" "There's Got to Be More to it Than This!!" or "A Better Way.." Eventually it might more accurately be defined as - "For the love of God this hurts... now... it's, about this matter of God??"

 I don't happen to believe in a linear, quantifiable and therefore measurable existence of pain. So when I say, my reasons for a resistance to God and religion might have had "less" in the way of negative association; that's more an expression of what I didn't experience, rather than any minimizing, of the resistance or comparison to anyone else's suffering. I simple believe there is nothing to compare.

Eventually even after following what would have been seen by many as a typical life trajectory, some post secondary education (which I suppose was made perhaps somewhat less typical; as it was pursued and even ultimately successfully completed, when some of my addiction was full-blown) career-path, marriage, home, dog etc. Though my pursuit of spirituality commenced in the midst of the a fore mention trajectory; it was when what led to most all of those anchors and structures in my life dissolving, that a heighten fervour was ignited. The catalyst was a continued profound pain and discontent within myself. Before I could "bring that home" I erroneously concluded, that all the source of angst existed outside of myself.

Though it doesn't hold true for me across the board, my pursuit of spirituality, personal growth, healing etc. took on an "all or nothing approach..." It would seem I was intent on taking "time out" to get somewhere.... and surely a full immersion approach will get me there sooner..!! Of course the irony of that, would be revealed somewhere along the way, that - "there is no where to get to...." Would I have come to know this .. if I just "stayed where I was?" Well ... for many years of this pursuit I didn't leave the town I was born and raised in. So the "quest" - is not necessarily geographical in nature ... though traveling could be included. The journey is internal ... so staying or going, is not necessarily a pivotal element.. I would say more important is a desire and commitment toward change - internal change.

Now during some of these extremes polarities swings in terms of circumstances,  I experienced rather severe disruption of cash flow - so I am familiar with the challenges that presents. I'm not discounting the "value" money plays in our society.

Albert Einstein was venerated for his contributions to "science;" yet he might have been better represented as a spokesperson - ahead of his time, with regard to speaking as though the wall between science and spirituality didn't exist.. He said; ""Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them." "No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it."

The unbridled pursuit of "capital" and the absolute disconnect that creates it and sustains it; I'm suggesting, are examples of just what Einstein was speaking about.

It's why many people couldn't care less about a story of complete spiritual transformation but if I told them - I went from the street kitchen, to now, listening to meditation tracks while I drive around in my BMW.. it might peak some interest. Many more might humour me with regard to the meditation waiting to hear more about the car. I know the "rags to riches" tale has all kinds of allure and while I'm not saying it doesn't represent a significant focused effort on the part of the protagonist of that story; it really only holds that appeal, because of the meme that suggests "rich good - poor bad.." - it's simply not true. Nor is the reverse true, there is no "virtue" in being poor. 

An analogy that used to be spoken around the A.A. rooms was - "if you a drunken horse-thief - suddenly sobers up... but doesn't himself, then all you've got, is a sober horse-thief." Same with the "rich person - poor person" scenario. You can buy more stuff - with a bank account full of money but no true inner peace can be attained - just through more stuff. No more than having a Rumi desk calendar makes you a Sufi. A complete lack of integrity could be present whether rich or poor.

There's all kinds of dualism represented in this account as there are operating in the world. Unbridled rationalism and capitalism are not the answer. Nor am I suggesting that everyone needs to seek a conversion experience in a cave somewhere.

No amount of popular consensus would take away from the "work" necessary to examine one's self (heart and soul). I would like to see ... more encouragement for people to seek a heart centered path and yes.. even a system that values such pursuit, as to make it viable and sustainable. I'm not talking about austerity and endless suffering. 

What I am saying is that all the disconnection, pain, addiction, etc. stems from an over-valuing (read worshipping) of the material. Neglected souls and hearts (which manifests in the world as various forms and levels malaise - which benefits no one but drug corporations is epidemic in proportion).

Laugh if you will about the idea of sitting in the middle of a field - then consider what are you afraid you might hear from yourself, if you left the racket behind for awhile? If not the field, consider the forest, or the mountain, or the seaside, how about the park? 

More long week-ends, less "dead"- lines (what is the relationship between dead-lines and flat-lines?) More naps - less rush hour (have you ever seen the "winner" of the rat-race on any podium?)
Can too much "get it done" lead to, coming undone?
When alone - is there a stranger in your midst?
Is over-achiever an asset or a malady?
More day dreaming - less nightmares?
More heart-centered - less heart attacks?

How about the new cocktail party opening line transformed : Instead of "What field are you in?"
"What depth have you realized while in the (your) field?"