INTO YOUR HANDS
I bow to God in gratitude and I find the moon is busy doing the same.
I bow to God in great happiness and I learn from where the suns
all borrow their light.
I bow to the friend in deep reverence and discover a marvelous secret carried in the air:
That this whole Universe is just as blessed and loved as I,
just as wildly lost in this Wonderful Holy Dance
at every step gladly singing Hallelujah!
I hear the voice of every creature and plant -- singing the Beloveds name
Every star and sun and galaxy-- singing the Beloveds name
All of God’s creatures in the bosom of love -- singing the Beloved’s name
Thy will be done
Thy kingdom come
Into your hands I lay my spirit
into your hands I lay my life!
JUST AS IT IS
Tread softly, all earth is holy ground,
from the core to the skies.
Imagine you could look with seeing eyes.
This spot we stand on is paradise;
where lost has been found
and truth has become alive.
Tread softly as you enter the glorious Lotus Paradise.
There is a sun rising in my heart,
melting the age old ice that kept me apart.
There is a moon rising in this awesome glory,
that shines on gratitude , a “bow-down” gratitude,
a deep appreciation of This! Just as it is
You and I have spoken all these words,
but; for the way we have to face,
words are no preparation.
There’s no getting ready, other than grace
There is a sun rising in my heart,
melting the age old ice that kept me apart.
There is a moon rising in this awesome glory
that shines on gratitude, a “bow-down” gratitude,
a deep appreciation of This! Just as it is.
THE INVITATION
It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your hearts desire.
It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals; or if you have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain!
I want to know if you can sit with pain--- mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.
I want to know if you can be with joy, ---mine or your own; if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.
It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal, and not betray your own soul.
It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me where, or what, or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you from within when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself; and if you truly love the company you keep in the empty moments.
ORIAH, Mountain Dreamer, Indian Elder
CHILDREN OF CHANCE
Remember to be gentle with yourself.
Be gentle with others.
We are all children of chance.
And, no one can say why some fields will blossom,
while others lay brown in the August sun.
We are all children of chance.
Care for those around you. Look past your differences.
Their dreams are no less than yours, their choices no more easily made.
And Give.
Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess.
To give is to love.
To withhold is to wither.
Care less for the harvest than for how it is shared,
and your life will have meaning,
and your heart will have peace.
Kent Nerburn,
SOARING
When you live in love you are a flute through whose heart
the whispering of the hours turn into music.
And what is it to live in love? It is to weave the cloth
with threads drawn from your heart.
Remaining in the recognition of the gift of love,
you fly through this life like an eagle.
and you are soaring up into the sky
without sadness or regret,
without any residue of clinging.
Even if death were to fall upon you like lightening,
you must be ready to die.
without sadness and regret,
without any residue of clinging for what is left behind.
Remaining in the recognition of the absolute view
you leave this life like an eagle
and you are soaring up into the sky
let the beauty that we love, be revealed by who we are!
FREE AND EASY
Happiness cannot be found through great effort and willpower;
but is already present, in open relaxation and letting go.
Don’t strain yourself, there is nothing to do or undo.
Whatever arises in the body mind has no real importance at all.
Why identify with it and become attached to it?
Why pass judgment upon it and ourselves?
Far better to simply let the entire game happen on it’s own,
springing up and falling back like waves,
without changing or manipulating anything,
and notice how everything vanishes and reappears,
magically again and again, time without end.
Don’t believe in the reality of good and bad experiences;
they are like the weather, like rainbows in the sky.
Wanting to grasp the ungraspable, you exhaust yourself in vain.
As soon as you open and relax, ( this tight fist of grasping)
infinite space is there - open and inviting.
Make use of this spaciousness, this freedom and natural ease.
Don’t search any further. Don’t go into the tangled jungle,
looking for the the great awakened elephant,
who is already resting at home, in front of your own hearth
Nothing to do or undo. Nothing to force, nothing to want, and nothing missing Emaho! Marvelous!
Everything happens by itself---- Free and easy!
A spontaneous Vajra Song by
Ven.Lama Gendun Rinpoche
NAMASTE
Absorbed in the wondrous and timeless compassion somehow
lies the simple truth of this instance, the magic of now.
In the silence of this moment
beyond the thunder and lightening of the mind,
is a precious pearl to be discovered,
that I pray we all will find.
Here in the bright light of this moment, a reminder simple and clear:
that all that truly matters is already here.
I am blessed before I have a reason.
I am full of love, even before the sky can greet the sun and raise the moon.
My dear friends, we’ve been in love with God for very long.
We have always been blessed!
In the silence of this moment,
beyond the thunder and lightening of the mind,
is a precious pearl to be discovered
that I pray we all will find.
Here in the bright light of this moment, a reminder simple and clear,
that all that truly matters is already here!
JAWS OF THE TIGER
We’ve come to a place where nothing needs to be done.
We are waiting here my friend only to see that we never left home;
that we’ve been gathered here always, together forever, even if our dreams have taken us far from this place.
How many times have we parted you and I? ----- the stars and the sky?
Searching like a child who leaves home, looking for love.
How many times have we tried to sail to the horizon of a dream
when we are the sea itself? Always in rapture!
The story of running comes to an end
in the silence of a shimmering star.
You can run, but you cannot escape.Wherever you go, there you are.
You’ve got your head in the jaws of the tiger
when you enter the stillness of your heart.
You’ve got your head in the jaws of the tiger
when you let yourself love you exactly as you are,
and you hear a voice within say: “Welcome home!”
WILD GEESE. (David Whyte)
You don’t have to be good.
You don’t 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.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine .
Meanwhile, the world goes on.
Meanwhile, the sun and the clear pebbles of rain
are moving across the landscapes
over (the prariies and deep trees) mountain and rivers.
Meanwhile, the wild geese, high in the clear blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely;
the world offers itself to your imagination----
Calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting,
over and over again----
Announcing your place in the family of things.
IN EVERY HEART
The present moment is my true home.
The present moment is where I belong.
And the miracle is not to walk on water,
but to walk on this green earth.
The greatest of all miracles is just to be alive, now.
Peace is available now. Peace is available here.
You learn to taste it; and it gives you back your Self.
Peace is available now. Peace is available here.
You learn to touch it; and it fills you with love.
May all beings be free from danger.
may all beings be free from fear.
may all beings be happy.
may all beings be in peace.
Om Shanti, Shanti Om
May the fire of love ignite us.
May your golden song delight us.
May the spirit of your grace live in every heart
