Soul Notes
The Practice of Presence
Practicing the Presence is most commonly achieved is through the deliberate act of sitting in meditation, seeking to drop away from being identified with our individual selves, and to merge with THAT presence that is larger, beyond, …. enveloping all of Life itself. I propose a different approach to Practice the Presence. Rather than seeking to escape ourselves, to escape our humanity, to escape our sense of...
Conviction of Spirit (Post-Script)
Activists take up a cause, perhaps become part of a group; some may create a mission and vision statement, or organize their efforts toward a worthy goal. These aren’t necessarily bad things, in fact many good works and positive changes come out of such activities! I may see and even acknowledge the value of what an activist or what a movement has to bring, and yet know that it isn’t mine to do. It is theirs to...
Conviction of Spirit
These words have many interpretations and can take many forms, often they are used as a rationalization or justification for actions taken or inflicted on others. Indeed such 'convictions' of 'doing the Lord's work" has been the underpinnings over the millennium to impose one's will upon others, sometimes to the point of taking up arms, or simply 'fighting the good fight' by sustaining discord in the interest of...
And Grace Will Lead You Home
This is a line from a hymn, sung during my childhood. I always envisioned Grace as something that was bestowed, or a quality that someone has in the world (very rarely would I attribute being graceful to myself). But the notion that Grace Will Lead You Home -- Grace as Spirit, the feminine face of God, the feminine expression/aspect of Source/Life. Although it sounds etheric, it is very powerful. The Hebrew...
April’s Fool (aka Coyote Medicine)
There is an old adage: “The older I get, the less I know.” A hint that perhaps we are gaining humility (aka -- not having all of the answers) or for some of us on the cusp of 60+, frequent “senior moments” that prove humorous, and sometimes embarrassing (such as when you ‘always’ lose your keys or forget the name of someone you’ve known for years! Being willing to appear the ‘fool’ is a sign of huge spiritual...
White Noise Not Black Noise
White Noise Machines aren’t called Black Noise Machines. Based on some sort of physics that enable sound waves to be muted or displaced, they provide a way for us to cover over unwanted sounds. Underlying conversations, thoughts, outside distractions and interference are dissuaded from intruding in on our psyche or consciousness. The rationale is that by having the ‘white noise’ machines running in the...
White Noise/No Noise
I find it funny to think about how ‘white noise’ machines got their name, how unlike 'white' they are. White contains the full spectrum of light (all the colors of the rainbow and more), by contrast 'white noise' seeks to obliterate the spectrum of sounds. Although the sound they emit mimic those in nature, such as waves upon the shore, rain upon the roof, or gurgling streams -- they ring tinny and untrue. Their...
LOVE is neither a Verb nor a Noun!
What if Love became something more than a Noun, something more than a Verb? Many people like to expand the power of Love by saying that Love is a verb, that it is more than an emotion, that it is more than a warm and fuzzy feeling, and that you have to put Love into Action: thus declaring “Love is a Verb”. By insisting on this perspective, by somehow putting it into action the intention is to make it more...
In the Beginning was the Word — was this Love?
Love is a puzzling word – we have so many associations in our culture with Love, and by virtue of those associations, many limitations that are placed on that word. If we lived in another country (say Italy, France, Spain, or Latin America) we would discover that within those other romance languages so many other experiences and expressions of Love are embedded within the language that go beyond ‘amore’. It is...
Standing in the Light
There are moments in my Life when I desire beyond everything to be Standing in the Light. To be surrounded and enveloped by this column of golden/white light, that every place that I move, walk, sit, stand, have my Being that this column of Light travels with me. I’m sure that this is the reality, that I in truth can’t every escape it or wander away from it’s presence. But the Truth of my experience and my...
The Disappearing!
It is a mistake to think that the purpose of being on a Spiritual Path is to “disappear the ego’. As long as one is in a human form, there is a purpose for having an ego, having a personality, a physical expression of our deeper Soul Light. So setting one’s heart and mind upon the task of disappearing the Ego is a mistaken use of one’s spiritual resources. If anything disappears, what disappears is the Fear that...
Returning to the Mother
Recently I had an experience with my newest kitty, Aurora, who has been in a very lovey mode – she can’t get enough of the cashmere sweater that I’ve been wearing on these cold days. She hops into my lap and buries her nose deep in the pit of my elbow or into my side – rubbing the sweater into her nose as though she is touching her mother’s belly. Kneading, and kneading, and kneading, and kneading, all along...
We are One Body
A number of years ago I went to a gallery opening of a friend’s exhibition. As I walked through the gallery I alternated between the desire to share with a close friend my experience or to stand in silence to feel -- such amazing work. Everything was so rich and full of life and love. Most of the artist’s work was of nudes in a variety of media -- her embrace of the human body and all of the nuances of life...
Plan the Plan, Not the Results
At times I freak out and wonder what I’ll do without a 401K that will fully support me, especially as I grow older and grayer. But then I remind myself, people lived for thousands of years without a 401K. Fate and my Soul have conspired to put me on the road less traveled, a spiritual journey to learn self-trust and trust in God as my Retirement Plan. In my teens I read Christy by Catherine Marshall and was...
Living an Ordinary Life, Extraordinarily!
I suspect that I'm coming to grips with the reality of being ordinary -- my teacher told me years ago to practice 'bowing lower' (from the Buddhist perspective), not struggling for or against, saying 'yes' to what is. I have been reclusive, living a contemplative life-style -- "in the world, but not of it" kinda thing. During this period I once spoke to my teacher about how if I were in a monastery I could at...
The Multi-verse of People
I no longer need (nor want) to ‘figure’ people out, or help them to ‘figure’ themselves out. It’s not about what we know; it’s about what we feel, and where this leads us in the world (inner and outer). Every person is a whole Universe unto themselves – I find mult-verses sitting across the table from me, walking down the street, sitting at a traffic light, ringing up my groceries in the store. Whole Universes –...
Have vs. Have Not
An ex-partner once said to me that I had what it took (whatever THAT means) to have been wildly successful, and rich -- the brilliance, creativity, etc. Then he followed up with: "So why aren't you?" I was offended, not complimented – it was as if I had failed in my life according to his standard. I was shocked by his observation because I've never been ambitious in that way. Maybe it is Soul-ular, or maybe it...
To Thine Own Self Be True
Today’s technology, for all of its magic, has a distinct down-side – providing infinite forums to help create the illusion of safety, we believe we have full freedom to convey our own true self without censorship, completely unhampered by others’ judgments which may block self-expression. But REALITY provides a whole different experience. Coming face-to-face, eye-to-eye with each other has the potential to strip...