There is a Quiet Dream,
a Small Self that remains un-lived.
A Bouquet of Promises, a Banquet of Streams.
Through the doorway of Internal Self
we glimpse the Eternal Self: beautiful, small,
well-formed, delicately-maintained,
Impeccable in its un-judged perfection.
Do we know what this place is; do we know this feeling well enough to call it our home?
When I grew up, we were not instructed in the understanding of this. The only “heart” we knew was the embarrassing crimson blob we’d see on Valentine’s cards from adoring classmates, once a year. Then, of course, the word was used carefully, guardedly, in relation to romance and those fleeting bottle-of-wine-in-the-meadow moments that often turn into jaded and forgotten memories.
And “heart”, for most of us, became an unknown item on an illegible menu in a cafe whose doors were closed to business.
In my earlier life, I enjoyed Castanada’s books on the ways of wisdom extolled by the Indigenous Peoples of the Southwest. His mentor, Don Juan Mateus, made some interesting statements about the nature of reality, and about the pathway of those who look under the surface of life. He said, “For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length–and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.”
Does it resonate with us? Does it have a calling, a number, a face, a perfume?
Does it have any real estate in the geography of our day-to-day lives? Do we hear its voice, its rhythm, it’s breathing, it’s beating – like a primal, invisible, voice-within-a-voice-within-a-voice Whisper?
Do we recognize “heart” when we see it portrayed in another? Is it Kindness? Is it Trust? Is it Gentleness? Is it Integrity? Can we recognize the “heart” in another, in Life, in Creation, in Nature… if we don’t recognize it in ourselves?
Remember that old saying, often used to deflect judgment or criticism: “Takes one to know one…”?
That old saying is a very wise saying. Because yes, indeed, it does take one to know one. The very thing that resonates with the quality of “heart” in life, is none other than the Heart within you. And we all have one: this silent, knowing, waiting, patient, enduring … dimension of “us”. This is the silent “engine” of life itself; without this, we would be no more.
To feel, to quench, to know, to merge, to be content, peaceful, happy, silent, “one”. This thirst is impossible to put into words, that’s why these black little letters on your glowing screen make no sense at all, they are trying to describe the indescribable: that which must be felt, experienced, known at a level much deeper than words.
Then, why words at all?
Well, the words, “I Love You” are meaningful … but only if the love is there. Otherwise, they’re empty and cheap.
Some of the most beautiful words in the world are words inspired by great feeling, great understanding, great depth, great appreciation. To me, these words, words inspired by “heart”, are the only words worth speaking. Other “stuff” is just cheap talk, confetti for the mind, junk-food for a nation of the pathologically obese. Look around – especially on the internet – and you’ll see it everywhere. People regurgitating, arguing, pontificating, “proving”, blah, blah, blah. The ego and intellect rule this realm and the “food” here has no nutrients for the heart.
At the end of the day, we all reap our own rewards. Our cup is either full or empty. There’s a voice in us that haunts us. It beckons us, asks us, urges us, to move on, to know, to really understand in deep and full ways, why we’re here. What our true nature is. Where our true fulfillment lies. The precious Liquid, the Fluid, the Substance, the Essence … we can truly call our own.
The only thing truly worth Celebrating in life.
There is a sense of accumulation
in who we are, what we move with,
breathe with,
carry …
on a Daily Basis.
Humans: what we gather
and hang onto, is not usually
the good, the clean, the nourishing.
It is more often the toxic, the negating,
the poisons.
The Un-Resolved, and Never-Removed.
So do We.
Constantly.
Outer. Inner. Circles. Storms. Motion, commotion.
Location, place, thing, river, wind, dust. Nothing stays still.
Our mind engages. In all this movement. And man, in his blurry and distorted wisdom, seeks not only to “keep up” with this circus, but to amp it up further, to the point of madness.
Cell phones bleeping and blopping. Car horns. Animated TV commercials playing on taxi hub-caps. The blind leading the blind in a dance of Faster, Further, More, Louder, Longer, Stranger. Television content that says Nothing in ten thousand different ways. We’re a kid in a candy-store of a million choices, all of them bad for our health, all of them promising Immediate Sensory Enlightenment.
the Holiday Home :
a place I go to Alone.
the River Inside :
a place I can Ride, Hide, Glide, Confide
the Deeper in Me :
so comfortable, easy, simple, Free!
the SunLight in You :
or a reflection of me, looking right through?
The Bird flies in Space :
wingless wonders! we’re all borne by Grace
The City of Love :
a place we inhabit, our Hand in the Glove
The Holiday Home :
a place of Comfort! Where else can we Roam?
This word slips from our lips like a delicious cookie, a snore on a picnic blue sky day.
We have known Little Parcels of this. How?
Often brought about by Illegal Substances, unexpected Lottery Prizes, rewards of childrens’ report cards, corporate promotions, costly Back Massages.
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