Morning bell rings early
it is time to sit.

Facing the wall
sitting for all beings
third eye opens wide.

Bright energy of knowing presence enters the body.

Clarity, insight and wisdom flow naturally
as the rain falls on the sloped roofs of this Zen mountain sanctuary.

Being adept at being awake is a life long practice.

The virtuoso has a lifetime of practice
in preparation for the moment
when the bow crosses the strings of the violin
on opening night in the great concert hall.

The secret to exceptional performances
is in the mixture of discipline, energy, practice and ultimately
a liberated mastery where the performer and performance
appear in unicity.

Breathe deeply
Fill your lungs full
Expand the heart
Breathe to the solar plexus, to the belly
Down through the roots of the feet
Send them all the way down to the molten core of the earth

Breathe bright white energy up the spine
To the top of the crown
Opening on top as a jeweled lotus
Shooting a golden thread of intention to the heavens
Connecting to The One
The glorious Oneness of love

It just happened
Two people who gave up on giving
Tired of trying
Tried of lying

Feeling warm tender glow within
Radiating outward
Comfortable in our skin
Telling the truth
Aspects of ourselves connected
Aligning and dancing into joys night

Wholeness and wholeness
Equaling divine loving energy

Complete in the moment
Not asking for permission
Not making demands
Nothing to get
An outpouring of love
Refreshing and alive

Letting go into the tender place that isn’t felt enough
Stillness and calm wash over me

I see the ache in my heart gently drift away
Dissolving with you in my arms

Standing on the porch tonight
Looking down at the wet green ground below
I thought my eyes were going bad
The earth was morphing, moving and dancing
I caught what I perceived was a true glimpse of ever present manifestation
Interconnected force of nature was swirling in light
Magnificent wholeness was breathing in and out
Appearing as one moment of universal creation
My eyes were clear
I could see the trees and the ground pulsating with life in unison

The moon was nearly full
On this magical oddly warm autumn night
Looking at the ground
I was blessed with fresh clear vision
Finally seeing what is always already happening
Overwhelmed with gratitude
I walked over to the hundred year old mighty pine
Just to see if what I was sensing was a mirage
Touching it I connected to the strength of its tree-ness
Formless, I was immediately pulled into the trunk
Through the bark
I shot up past the branches to the tip top
Spreading out I went down to the roots
Surging together as one energy
Being one as a tree, not two forms, just one not two or three
The mighty trunk was eight feet around and still growing
I was growing with it in shape and wisdom
Energy exploded hundreds of feel tall and yards deep
I stood transfixed holding on to the power of existence

Not for one moment did I feel like the “I” mattered
There was no reference point to point to
Or from

I had finally done it
I disappeared
And it felt really good

I was at a baseball game tonight and I remember thinking

That I’d rather be on Salt Spring Island

Feeling sincere heart energy and community

Then the cheering fans and fireworks

It is all a distraction from the truth

of what really matters to me

The veneer is thin
The one you perceive between you and the world
The veneer that you project to protect
You

It is a communion wafer suspended in space that you think you own and manipulate
It is an illusion
There is nothing there
No static impermeable super-surface or gate surrounds you
It is a mental concoction
A super hero resource of absurdity
Is not any-thing
It is energy held inside
Internal cyclical patterning
Conscious and unconscious
It is a story around a story that seemingly offers some outer protection

However
There is no protection in projection
Control is an illusion
There is no place to hide from the truth
Believing illusion consumes life energy
Believing illusion impedes receiving
Believing illusion impedes giving
Believing illusion restricts the flow of love

Seeing that imagined externalized protection projection is an illusion
Obliterates the mental energy veneer into non-dual unified spaciousness

Everyone seems to only want good things
Positive things
Sweetheart deals
Shopping bags filled with rich gifts
Second helpings served with silver spoons
More
Nicer
Newer
Faster
Bigger
Better

Good things are nice
Nice things are good

Accepting wholeness
Some parts aren’t easy
Some parts aren’t nice
Walk into fear at the beginning
Walk into fear at the end
Then there is a place for love to live
Then there is wholeness
Allowing life’s fullness to pass through
Unabated
Multi dimensions emerge and unfold
Bowing and retreating into infinite space

Families are diverse and alive with difference
Beauty and ugliness are sisters
Comfort and discomfort are married
Dark and light are brothers
Sweet and bitter are grandparents
The strongest medicine is often bitter
Without catalyst cement just doesn’t hold
Good wine is matured in cool cellars
Fine cheese is aged in humid caves
Great art comes from despair, longing and love
Beauty is everlasting
It springs from the well of all that there is

Denying the dark
Delays the inevitable
Imbalance can only result
Silently accumulating in dank corners
There are stockpiles of old bones
Lumps of coal in the bowels of old buildings
When there is a need to draw on deep reserves
Where is the light?
Where is the energy?
The freshness needed to feed and quench
It is downstairs where you left it waiting to be burned
Shovel the black rocks into the fire
While you sit on your pillow and meditate
Watch the flames dance
Watch the fire burn

Or are the reserves gone?
Consumed in a feeding frenzy
Stuffed with sweetness at the buffet of illusion
Decadent desert denial and delusion
Gluttonous and flabby bellies full of worms and fungus
Weak middle core lacking support
Back aching
Luxurious bedsores
Atrophied muscles too weak to lift limbs
Painfully stiff
Too weak to meet the day

Where is spiritual discipline now?
The nugget acquired in the moment
The one you thought was still in your silk lined pocket
It was left on the side of the road
While the party was driving by
Next to the wrappers, bottles and vines

There still is time
Now
To turn in again
And see what is already here

Refuse the limousine and walk in the dark
Into the fresh night air
Take comfort in alone-full-less-ness
Turn off the music and listen to nothing
Decline the invitation
Numb skulls
Chattering teeth
Words without meaning
Better to say nothing
Better to have the sky above as a home
Than the elegance of a soft velvet prison

Morning awakening fills the nostrils
The exquisite breath of freedom
Breathe deeply to the bottom of the lungs
Breathe it all in
Hold it for a few seconds
And then do it again
And again
Until you forget who you are
Lost between the inhale and exhale
Found only in the breathe

Warm bowl of rice in an earthen bowl
Grass mat on the monk’s dirt floor
The comfort of the soul is simple

Walk on rocks and then walk on water
Relax into the cold wind and warmth will overwhelm
Say what is left unsaid and you will be pleasantly surprised