Monday 30 November 2015

Shining jewels

Raindrops glisten
hanging from berry, twig
grass blade and seed head.
Indra’s Net may be invisible
yet its jewels shine here
in every hedgerow.

Look near, look far
manifestations of silence
glint all around.

Look within, look without
manifestations of silence
sing in every atom.

The seer can only see
what it knows.

© 27 Oct 15

Monday 16 November 2015

The world has gone awry

The world has gone awry
turning the weather in November
to hotter than July
as if confused, uncertain how to behave.

The world has gone awry.
Humans bombing, killing humans
humans killing innocents
in the name of peace
in the name of sport.

The world has gone awry.
Fear creeps in like a
suffocating blanket
stealing away rationality
replacing it with mistrust
stealing away generosity
replacing it with suspicion.

In the furore of emotion
I can forget I am we.

My bigger self, my better self
is the stranger I have yet
to embrace as friend.
My teacher is the one
who stirs up my uncertainties
questions my firmly held beliefs
pokes me like a hornet's nest
to search my heart and
find out what is there.

In a world gone awry
if I am not to be overtaken
by fear, mistrust and suspicion
I must centre myself
resting in the heartspace and
letting go of separation.

Here, there is no good and bad
no right and wrong.
Here, love abides
here, compassion dwells
straining at the leash
ready to embrace
all the confusion and uncertainty.
Ready to look for
demonstrations of love
in helping hands
shoulders to lean on
arms to carry
sleeves to wipe away tears.

A world gone awry
can be straightened out
by hands of love connecting
smoothing foreheads and
wiping away worry lines.

A world gone awry
can be straightened out
by remembering
I am we.

© 16 Nov 15

Wednesday 4 November 2015

What are you waiting for?

What are you waiting for?
For the mind to be quiet
or to lose its impetus?
You may as well wait for
the sun to stop shining.

For everything to be just so
in order to seek freedom?
You may as well wait for
the ocean’s waves to become motionless.

For happiness to fill
your sense of lack and longing?
You may as well wait for
all the stars to go out.

For oneness to descend
in a shower of rose petals?
You may as well wait for
the earth to stop turning.

What are you waiting for?
Oneness will never appear
once you have fulfilled a
self-made list of Herculean tasks.
Oneness will not wait
for you to transform all your bad habits.
Oneness cannot be the
end of your constant journeying.
Oneness is now
or never.

Oneness is present beyond and
through and sustaining the mind.
Oneness is the freedom you seek and
the space that allows you to see
what you perceive as a lack.
Oneness is in happiness and sadness
beyond and through and sustaining
each emotion, each action, each thought.
Oneness is the step you take and
the path untrod
the thought put into words and
the thought unspoken
the action taken and
the deed undone.

What are you waiting for?
Oneness is not waiting for
the sadness and madness and badness
to dissolve and
for equanimity and evenness
to sweep over you
like a shimmering cloak.
Oneness is beyond and through and sustaining
every breath you breathe.
Oneness is no future event
no end destination
no merit for a life well lived.

Oneness is now
or never.

© 28 Oct 15
What are you waiting for? audio