In this desert wonderland
I walk the dry earth surrounded by cacti.
Playful winds send my straw hat flying.
.
In the early morning hours cries of coyotes sound
Like high holy notes, wild and haunting.
.
I stand outside surrounded by the dark womb of ancient sky
And breathe with stars that tear my heart open with awe.
.
S H A N T I
(P.S. Will be offline for several days…..posting again next week.)
“True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”
- St Francis of Assisi -
In the mind-pool clouds swim by.
All Mirrors are Reflections of our Mind
So how do we decide which path to take?
All Paths Lead to the Same Nowhere
Without mindfulness, things get thorny.
Light Up the Thorns
By building inner stones of patience and perseverance, our hearts become undivided.
And a Stone Chapel Invites an Inward Turn
And we Relax and Surrender.
Yield the Heart to the Divine and Live Carefree
MAY OUR HEARTS DANCE IN THE UNKNOWN
WHERE LOVE always IS
Buddha in the Garden
It is four-thirty a.m. in the desert -
And oh so many stars!
Against a pitch-black curtain,
Points of light crackle with silence.
.
It is cold, and wrapped
In flannel vest and wool scarf
I walk a slow, steady pace by flash light
To a small stone building, a former Catholic chapel.
.
Here, alone in the pre-dawn light
My meditation cushion is like an island
That gives just enough support
For muscle and tissue to relax.
.
On my little island, the mind is watched,
And what a show it gives!
Of grasping and grabbing,
To a past event, a future course of action.
.
Clamoring for attention -
Attempting to convince a sitter of its relevance.
Until it settles down, rather bored of repetition.
.
Humans have been sitting and looking
Into their vast inner sky asking
“Who Am I?”
For as long as feet have impressed steps on earth.
.
“Who Am I?”
That is unchanging, without
name, story, form, without any conclusion.
.
In the asking, and looking
Words disappear and so does the sitter…
. . .
A quiet warmth envelopes the room,
Two hours seem like five minutes.
Bells ring in the distance,
I stand up and bow to my little island.
Bells Against the Sky
The sun has eaten the night sky.
.
Again I walk a short path to join others
In prayer before breakfast.
.
Prayer and gratitude,
For all that IS.
Hello Blogging Friends!
We are heading off to the desert in New Mexico where we will be in retreat for some days. No internet connection – just sun, moon, cactus, lizards, and sage.
Your presence is appreciated at smallpebbles, so please, do keep checking back as the next blog post will come from vast sky and infinite stars.
For the moment (the only one) I am posting photos from Forest Falls, CA in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Enjoy! And may Presence be the journey we share together as One.
Dana – Living on Trust
Exactly what is dana? How do we cultivate this quality of giving, generosity, liberality and munificence? There are many different translations of the word dana. It is the quality of generosity that gives physically and from the heart. Hearts with dana are generous, open-handed, and liberal in terms of willingness to give, share, to be present and to help. All of those qualities take us away from me and my needs, me and my necessities, me and my demands, me and my expectations, me and my essential fixed residence in the middle of the universe. - Ajahn Passano – The Delights of Dana
Rose Mandala
Yesterday we met with our friend Eric (not his real name ) who teaches Qi Gong and meditation at retreats in the U.S. and Europe. For over twenty years dana has been his sole financial resource – he has no fixed price for his teachings – instead he accepts donations in any amount from participants.
Sometimes the donation box is weighted with generosity, other times filled with lack – no one is turned away because they can’t come up with a fixed dollar amount.
Eric said, “Sometimes someone may only give ten or twenty dollars for several days of teaching, others may give hundreds, I never know. Dana is part of the Theravada Buddhist tradition that dates back to the time of Buddha.”
Eric does not have children or elders tugging on his coin purse, so financial support through dana he acknowledged, “Is easier for me than most meditation teachers who need additional ways to supplement the dana they receive for teaching.”
How many people living outside a monastery or other environments where basic necessities are taken care of are so willing to live on slippery footing?
“One time,” Eric said, “after a ten-day retreat I received a check in the donation box for $15,000!”
“Really? Did you cash it?” I asked.
“No, no way. I thought once the woman went home and got her thinking on straight she would regret it. Maybe in a moment of bliss, she wanted to renounce everything, who knows! I still have that check though, I come across it once in a while – it makes me smile.”
I said, “It’s an uncommon lifestyle living on dana in the west, not many people can trust enough to take what comes.”
“Not really,” he replied, “we really are all taken care of.”
We REALLY are taken care of! How true!
But…. sometimes the little me-story forgets!
S H A N T I
Buddha Statue at Bodhizendo, Kodaikanal, India
