heartsteps

I awoke to the confusion of a new day.

The scraps of dreams, memories of yesterday, and new cravings creeping into awareness,

The sun spilling its light over all but the shadows and a cacaphony of sound

From outside and in.

What to make order of? What to let go?

And who makes the choice?

I think I will go down to the river and just watch it flow.

It’s been a long time since I have done something really important.

David Sluyter

The world will tell you that success is achieving what you set out to do. It will tell you that success is winning, that finding recognition and/or prosperity are essential ingredients in any success. All or some of the above are usually by-products of success. The conventional notion of success is concerned with the outcome of what you do. Some say that success is the result of a combination of hard work and luck, or determination and talent, or being in the right place at the right time. While any of these may be determinants of success, they are not its essence. What the world doesn’t tell you – because it doesn’t know – is that you cannot become successful. You can only be successful. Don’t let a mad world tell you that success is anything other than a successful present moment. And what is that? There is a sense of quality in what you do, even the most simple actioon. Quality implies care and attention, which come with awareness. Quality requires your Presence.

Eckhart Tolle

I think God might be a little prejudiced.
For once He asked me to join Him on a walk
through this world,

and we gazed into every heart on this earth,
and I noticed He lingered a bit longer
before any face that was weeping,

and before any eyes that were
laughing.

And sometimes when we passed
a soul in worship

God too would kneel down.

I have come to learn: God
adores His
creation.

Francis of Assisi

"The Wire" by Noel Counihan

On the acorn side of surrender, freedom almost always means what Thomas Merton calls “choice freedom.” It’s about having the means to do what I want, go where I want, say what I want, buy what I want. What the acorn usually doesn’t see is how much these apparently “free” choices are actually dictated by cultural conditioning and the hidden agendas of the lower self, with its compulsive wanting and needing.

Real freedom, according to spiritual teaching, does not mean “choice freedom” but rather “spontaneity freedom,” in Merton’s words. A modern Sufi master, Sara Sviri, cuts to the heart of this with powerful words: “When the heart surrenders willingly to the Divine hold, it becomes free of the manipulations of the lower self. Paradoxically, such freedom is reflected by a letting go of choices.” Quoting an 11th Century Sufi master, she summarizes the classic spiritual teaching: “Man does not become a true servant until he becomes free of all but God.”

Cynthia Bourgeault

Late by myself, in the
boat of myself,
no light and no land
anywhere,
cloudcover thick.
I try to stay
just above the surface,

Yet I’m already under
and living

within

the Ocean.

Rumi

When your brother attacks you, realize that he is not feeling loved. If he felt love, he would not attack you. Do not react to his attack. Find a way to remind him that he is loved.

Do this again and again.

Here is a simple walking meditation.

One day, when you are feeling cheerful, go out into your community and when you see someone who is sad or angry, find a simple way to remind him that he is loved. Give him a smile, a flower, a balloon, a sandwich or a cup of coffee. Sing him a song or recite a poem. Say: “This is just for you. Please have a nice day.”

Another time, when you are feeling depressed, do the same thing. Do this again and again. You will be amazed at the results. There is nothing more ecstatic than reminding others and yourself that you are loved.

Remember, no one can give love if he does not feel loved. Therefore you have only one responsibility: feel the love that is there in your heart. And help others to feel it too. Can you imagine a world in which each person understood that his only responsibility was to give and receive love?

Paul Ferrini

What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure?
I think it is the hope of loving,
or being loved.

I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey
to find its source, and how the moon wept
without her lover’s
warm gaze.

We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We whither
like fields if someone close
does not rain their
kindness
upon
us.

Meister Eckhart

When the ripe fruit falls
its sweetness distills and trickles away
into the veins of the earth.

When fulfilled people die
the essential oil of their experience enters
the veins of living space, and adds a glisten
to the atom, to the body of immortal chaos.

For space is alive
and it stirs like a swan
whose feathers glisten
silky with oil of distilled experience.

D.H. Lawrence

I quietly gaze into the depths of a forest
and see nothing save beauty and peace.
Birdsong fills my ears.
A gentle breeze brushes against my cheek.
Seeing from inside the seeing.
I drink the dark riches of the woods.

Would it be that every day
I could see my own face so clearly in these still waters,
And meet the emptiness which is also my very own heart -
that is carried in the boughs of pines and in the gentle
music of crickets.

Cass Adams

A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed for help.

Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her – a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer.

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time and he will never be the same.

May you, and all those you love, be so fortunate…To be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

Life is short. Forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably…and never regret anything that made you smile.

Anonymous