Monday, December 20, 2010

Architecture of the Solstice

In darkness we stumble.
Confusion has no path,
unknowing, no arrival.

Then
a glow
in blackness
a point.

Murky
awareness
twisting
within
murky
awareness
spies a reflection
of its buried spark.

The hearth
of this ignition
is an alignment
of the eye
through
frame
to
distant
blaze.

Due to earth's miraculous tilt
wherever you stand
at the solstice dawn
the glow emerges
due east.

Since the first dawn
the eye
framed this dawn
with stone
with timber

Framed it
with the mind
as if guiding
strands
of heat
into the soul's
dark well.

As if
this elusive moment
could be grasped.

The architecture
of the solstice
is not
in the position
of the stars.
It's in
the alignment
of
the eye.





Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Turning Darkness to Light

We separate darkness from light. We avoid one and celebrate the other. Yet, year after year, nature carries us from radiant summer days through winter's dark nights. We fight the winter shadows by stringing lights on everything in sight. The glow is cheery, but it blinds us to the gifts darkness hides. If, however, we can rest within the shadows of winter for a while, we will be warmed there by secret fires.

Dividing darkness from light doesn't protect us through murky passages. It cuts us off from energies concealed by nature's mysteries. Only by entering darkness do we encounter the ever-renewing source of light. The secret we can discover there is the secret of creation—radiance is ignited by darkness moving within darkness. We are invited to participate in this hidden act of rebirth during these long winter nights. The inward turn of our minds and bodies reflects the circling of darkness upon itself. Darkness rubs against darkness, potential scrapes potential. What seems to be a cold abyss warms and bursts into light.

Don't try to understand this with your mind. It's logic doesn't reach into the unknowable. During these inward days, let your senses enjoy the magnificent displays of light. And, look beyond them into the shadows. There you can find the true magic of darkness moving within darkness, igniting the embers of the coming Spring.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

How Something Becomes Holy

Something becomes holy
by offering it to wholeness.

You offer it to wholeness
by burning it
in the fire
that does not separate
sacred from profane.

Each time you toss
a cherished object or belief
into the flames of life
your gesture weaves
your separate mind
into the memory
of its unified source.

What you offer to life
already belongs to life.

The more you prize
the objects you offer
the stronger the reawakening
of oneness.

Your most cherished object
is the illusion
you are separate.
Burning this illusion
does not diminish you.
It merely removes
false coverings and divisions.

In the rising flames
limitations become spirit
ashes become gems
all things become holy.


Monday, December 13, 2010

Secret Gifts You Give

Look carefully at enough architecture around the globe and you will notice a pattern. There are patterns everywhere. Whether its this panel from a mosque in Paris, the curtain wall of a downtown skyscraper or your bathroom floor, architects and builders cover structures with geometric designs. It's as if a few thousand years ago someone started The Pattern Project and said, "Here's a circle, a square and a triangle. Go out there and see how many permutations you can make." It's as if countless artisans in all times and all places heeded the call and went mad with delight about what they could shape with only a compass and a straight edge. The results are magnificent and there's no end in sight. Without knowing it, each exploration of pattern added to the global treasury of knowledge and wonder. With each new permutation of design, every designer spontaneously enriched the world storehouse of wisdom.

These secret contributions aren't limited to geometric patterns. Whatever you do each day—cook, write, heal, inspire, facilitate, organize, or one of countless pursuits—you are participating in an ongoing project that is deepening and expanding human possibilities. What you discover as the years pass is forming and reforming the world in seen and unseen ways. It grows from knowledge unearthed by anonymous ancestors in the murky beginnings of time and extends through anonymous descendants in the unforeseeable future. Whatever you do, you are not alone in this. You are a member of a lineage that has been pursuing knowledge in your field for generations. No contribution you make, however small it seems, is lost. Every nuance of knowledge enhances the collective awareness of humanity making its way through the world.

As you go about your day, notice how the fruits of this global knowledge project pervade every place you go, every object you use and every person you meet. Notice the multitude of contributions of know how you have made and are making to your home, workplace and community. Notice how the world is made of the patterns interweaving with patterns and feel you connection to the unfolding creation.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Finding Treasure Through Loss

Life has a funny way of nourishing us. In response to our desire to be more, do more and have more, it often yanks the rug from beneath our feet and leaves us with what appears to be less. We scramble to our feet and rush forward only to find ourselves racing toward what appears to be nowhere. Like children deprived of their cookies, we whine and wonder how life can be so mean.

All the while, we miss the treasure being offered to us through loss. Caught in the belief that amassing stuff and attention benefits us, we overlook the wonders that more stuff and attention often hide. We resist the process of revealing gems by stripping away the outer covering.

Certainly loss exposes us to vulnerability and uncertainty. It can be terrifying and debilitating. Yet, if we can willingly enter the openings life brings and allow them to chip away at our preconceived ideas of what is gain, loss can make known a deeper wealth.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Living in Matter As Energy

The world
is not made
of isolated objects.

Pushing matter
into the right arrangement
will never make you happy,
healthy, wealthy and wise.
Adjusting your thoughts,
words, actions, relationships and surroundings
won't reveal the magic constellation
that solves all problems.

Analyze, strategize and implement
all you want.
There's always some flaw,
some unaccounted for defect,
some unexpected side effect.
Trying harder,
thinking smarter,
loving more,
never finds
that perfect pattern.

The world
is not a collection
of isolated objects.
It's a unified ocean
of energy waves
constantly moving.

Attempting to freeze
the roiling sea
is doomed to failure.

Instead,
see yourself
and the world
as a fluid energy.

Ride the already moving waves
of this situation
into the next
and the next.

Dance
with the shifting forces
flowing
through the one body
of life.

Swim in the never final
always fresh ocean
of ever unfolding wonder
of living
in matter
as energy.