“the buddha said, “living the this mortal body is like living in a house that is on fire”. however solid we think our mansion is, it is already, in fact, on fire.  as a strategy for happy living, the identity project is fundamentally flawed, it cannot bring us home to our true self. in the yogic view, the identity project keeps us bound to an image of who we are not, rather than offering us an experience of who we are.  in the yogic view, it is a defense against reality, against consciousness, and against our potential experience of divinity.  at some point, most of us begin to perceive that even when we meet our goals over and over again, they fail to bring lasting happiness and contentment.  try heroically as we may, we cannot sustain the illusion of the solid, idealized self that we have been working to desperately to achieve.  the successful identity project does not collapse in failure.  rather, is it seen through.  on the night of his enlightenment the buddha declared, “i have seem the builder of the house”  he had seen the internal delusional structure that maintained the idea of the solid, separate self-under-its power. once seen through, it had no power to drive his life.”  ~steven cope yoga and the quest for the true self

yoga time.

yoga time., originally uploaded by mamaemerging.

today was a home day…and outside is feeling wintery again…nothing changes the climate inside quite like stretching to some good music.

setting sun.

late afternoon., originally uploaded by mamaemerging.

“after a day of cloud and wind and rain…sometimes the setting sun breaks out again, and touching all the darksome woods with light, smiles on the fields until they laugh and sing, then like a ruby from the horizon’s ring, drops down into the night.
-henry wadsworth longfellow

flight

“I wish I could show you when you are lonely or in darkness the astonishing light of you own being.” -Hafiz

a self-portraiture experiment.

through my previous dabbling with this practice of self-portraiture i have experienced a medium that holds powerful transformative potential (i like those)…with it i have found space created to ask myself if i might consider coming to peace with me, my image, my place, my self in the world…if i might extend the same kindness to myself that i strive to extend to others…

i continue to find the ease of these offerings of grace to myself tend to ebb and flow…but i do recognize that when i am able to extend that grace to myself…i am freed to more fully and graciously offer it to others…

wild geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting–
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

~mary oliver

gratitude transforms

heres to experimenting….

this space

(http://gratitudetransforms.wordpress.com/)

is one that has been created specifically with the intention to give attention to, foster, and nurture gratitude in my life…a practice that i have experienced as significantly transformative…

i have found it to have power to shift perspective…allowing me to find joy even in the midst of the challenges of life that are plenty…

i hope that it may offer you a chance to be reminded of what you might be thankful for, even now, in the midst of it all…

it is truly amazing to me how much that which we give our attention and energy to shapes our experience of reality…why not experiment with how this practice might transform perspective…even now…shifting attention from what might get in your way of acknowledging that which you are thankful for (all of thie things that are not going as we would like, self-judgement, judgement of others…and on and on)…

just simply attempt to notice…welcoming and allowing that which is good and beautiful to color your world (even if it takes getting your hands dirty to dig it up).

my employment

in my last post i mentioned my tendency toward being a rather unforgiving boss (to myself)…

and the shift that i will now tune into is the fact that i am (in fact) a pretty damn good employee.

and who is it after all that i am working for, if not for the good of the world.

so in that vein and with the counsel of many who have gone before me…it is with intention (in this month of my birth) that i will focus on the beauty that i bring to the world…and i hope to share glimpses with you, dear reader…with hopes that you will be reminded of your own. 

 

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don’t go back to sleep.

I would love to kiss you.
The price of kissing is your life.
Now my loving is running toward my life shouting,
What a bargain, let’s buy it.

Daylight, full of small dancing particles
and the one great turning, our souls
are dancing with you, without feet, they dance.
Can you see them when I whisper in your ear?

All day and night, music,
a quiet, bright
reedsong. If it
fades, we fade.

~rumi

dynamic rootedness and the questioning of balance

playing with this notion of

balance

trees continue to be powerful metaphors

teachers

who know the vitality of rootedness

and what are roots

but that which allows the tapping into life

into that which sustains

into the grace that lies beneath

allowing branches to strengthen

to endure the cold of winters

to bloom graciously in the springs

to flourish in the radiant summers

to surrender in the falls

of life

dynamic

is this being rooted

and it does not seem to have a destination

but rather seasons

a glimpse of my story

Heretics listen here