Whispers of peace

Stillness in Movement

2009-02-20T21:53:00.003+11:00

The stillness

in stillness

is not

the real stillness.

Only when

there is stillness

in movement

can the spiritual rhythm appear

which pervades

heaven and earth.

-Ts'ai-ken T'an

To come home to yourself

2008-06-26T19:56:00.005+10:00

May all that is unforgiven in you

be released,

May your fears yield

Their deepest tranquillities,

May all that is unlived in you,

Blossom into a future

Graced with love.

~ John O'Donohue

Awaken

2008-04-21T21:03:00.004+10:00

Awaken to the mystery of being here

and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

Respond to the call of your gift and the courage

to follow its path.

Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.

May anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of

soul.

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek

no attention.

Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven

around the heart of wonder.

- John O'Donohue

Beginnings

2008-04-12T06:13:00.005+10:00

Somewhere, out at the edges, the night

Is turning and the waves of darkness

Begin to brighten the shore of dawn

The heavy dark falls back to earth

And the freed air goes wild with light,

The heart fills with fresh, bright breath

And thoughts stir to give birth to colour.

~ John O'Donohue

Intimacy

2008-03-19T17:26:00.004+11:00

They are always kissing, they can't

control themselves.

God

ripened me.

So I see it is true:

all objects in existence are

wildly in

love

~Meister Eckhart

Knowledge always deceives
It always limits the Truth, every concept and image does.

From cage to cage the caravan moves,
but I give thanks,

for at each divine juncture
my wings expand
and I

touch Him more
intimately

~Meister Eckhart

A new day

2008-03-19T02:04:00.004+11:00

Here is a day,
A golden day.

Be lavish as you spend it;

New and bright shining after rain,
Immaculate with promise,
Yours for the taking.

Rare with fine gold, it will not come again.

Spend it in ecstasy of worship,

Pour out with boldness,

Walk in singleness and splendour,

Let flower, mountain and friend, an altar be.

For every moment holds a joy for your beholding,
each tear of dew - a light that only you can see.

This is a day for you prepared,
Be reckless as you spend it,

Let no exalted moment pass you by.

Joan Brockelsby (paraphrased)

Honour the soft animal

2008-03-18T00:54:00.004+11:00

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...

~Mary Oliver

Let Go

2008-03-13T01:50:00.002+11:00

There is no where to go.

What you are looking for is right here.

Open the fist clenched in wanting

and see what you already hold in your hand.

There is no waiting for something to happen,

no point in the future to get to.

All you have ever longed for is here in this moment,

right now.

You are wearing yourself out with all this searching.

Come home and rest.

~ Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Just breathe

2008-03-12T12:11:00.014+11:00

The little birds are laughing today.

See how lightly they carry themselves. How else could they dance, float, rise so tenderly on the currents of the wind.

Beloved, is it not strange how seriously we take ourselves? As if this whole painted universe revolved around our little bordered lives.

Come let us look at ourselves, reflected in the soft water.

Does it not make you smile to really see this strange creature you've been fussing over?

It reminds me of Mirabai's laughing words...

How did those priests ever get so serious

and preach all that

gloom?

I don't think God

has tickled them

yet.

Beloved - hurry.

~ Mirabai

"Sell your cleverness and purchase bewilderment" Rumi asks us.

Who better to barter with than these wise forest rocks.

Feel them with the soft of your palm.

Each one moulded by the fingers of ancient time.

Cloaked in lush moss, fed by the rain and the cool of love.

None of our gathered titles or worldly importance could impart even a fraction of the peace they know.

And now

with fresh eyes

let us slowly lift our gaze to the silent forest once more,

There is that little bird.

She has stopped her laughing now.

She's

Just

Breathing

How good it feels to breathe,

in the space

where laughter has been.

Lie down here Beloved,

Breathe awhile with me.

Peace to you, M

2008-03-11T21:45:00.002+11:00

Take my hand, and I will take you where the sacred lotus is always blooming.

See how she germinates, gestates, inside a womb of mud.

Is she not like you and I, Beloved?

Reach out with me now and reverently touch

her petalled heart.

The light is everywhere...

loving us, coaxing us to open,

petal by tender petal.

To softly unfold unto the caresses of dawn.

Come, let us sit and rest here...

Let the breath take us home.

I have heard it said that:

Muddy water

let stand

Becomes Clear

~Lao Tzu

Peace to you,

M

Take me to the river

2008-03-11T12:20:00.005+11:00

It is quiet today by the river. Warm silence is making gentle love to the cool waters again. A twig breaks underfoot, the tender songs of the forest birds echo in the mirrored hands of eternity.

Sit here with me a while my friend.

Let us honour this space between us.

And wait for God to kiss our cheek.

Love to you, M.

What kind of God would He be

if He did not hear the

bangles ring on

an ant's

wrist

as they move the earth

in their sweet

dance?

And what kind of God would He be

if a leaf's prayer was not as precious to creation

as the prayer His own son sang

from the glorious depth

of his soul -

for us.

And what kind of God would He be

if the vote of millions in this world could sway Him

to change the divine

law of

love.

that speaks so clearly with compassion's elegant tongue,

saying, eternally saying:

all are forgiven- moreover, dears,

no one has ever been

guilty.

What

kind of God would He be

if He did not count the blinks

of your

eyes

and is in absolute awe of their movements?

What a God- What a God we

have.

~Kabir

Blessings of Peace

2008-03-10T20:45:00.000+11:00

Today, I heard of the passing of John O'Donohue... A man whose candle-lit words have given wings to my soul....

I have been feeling a restlessness of late... A call to peace...to quietude... to find a breath of stillness in the whirlwind of life.

This little blog is the result. The intention is simple - to post and share simple reflections on peace and peace making...As a meditative tool. A centering tool.

So let us take a seat by the river... and resolve once again to study war no more.

Peace to you, Maithri

Bennacht

On the day when the weight

deadens on your shoulders
and you stumble,

may the clay

dance

to balance you.

And when your eyes freeze

behind the gray window
and the ghost of loss

gets in to you,
may a flock of colors,

indigo, red, green, and azure blue
come to awaken in you

a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

in the curach of thought
and a stain of ocean

blackens beneath you,

May there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow wind

work these words of love around you,
an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

O'Donohue, John, Anam Cara, A book of Celtic wisdom, HarperCollins Publishers, Inc, N.Y., 1997.