LIFE

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Life is a colourful maze of glorious adventures.

Each turn left or right, takes me to some unexplored places.  Like sailing down a river to long-forgotten worlds, I find myself at peace knowing that every turn along the way will bring me closer to myself.

I marvel at the soft textures of materials and the brilliance of each scene that lands upon my screen.

Birds chirp happily in their nest, while summer brims with scents of bbq’d fish and mouthwatering melon.

My home unfolds before me in radiant colorings.

Death of a Maori Poet

Tree let your raised arms fall
nor extend your vain entreaties to the radiant ball.
This is no gallant monsoon’s flash,
no dashing trade winds blast.
The fading green of your magic
emanations shall not make pure again
these polluted skies…. for this
is no ordinary sun

– HONE TUWHARE 1922-2008
published this poem “No Ordinary Sun” about nuclear testing in the pacific, in 1964, in his first volume of the same name. It was re-printed 10 times. I can’t help thinking he was one of the spearheads of the nuclear free movement that defines New Zealand’s foreign policy today .

Let us allow peace to reign from the natural radiance within us all.
I used to have a little badge from friends of the earth ” World peace begins at home”. My 16 year old daughter wears it now. Where there is life there’s hope.

The Book I Wanted to Buy For My Mother

For many years I wanted to buy a book for my mother — a book that would explain everything: what I hadn’t or couldn’t explain since I had been old enough to notice my mother wasn’t all that happy and, Lord knows, I wanted my mother to be happy and if not “happy” per se, then at least aware of what it was that made me, her son, happy — the “thing” that for so many years she thought was a phase I was going through and, even worse, some kind of heartless rejection of her and her way of life.

Yes, I wanted to buy my mother a book that would explain it all — the whole “New Age thing,” the whole “Guru thing,” the whole “it’s OK that I don’t eat your veal parmigiana any more because I’m a vegetarian thing.” Somebody must have written it. Somebody must have noticed the market niche of “mothers over 60 who worry why their high performing sons have gone “spiritual”.

And so, I went looking for this book. Like some people look for God. And though I never found it, I did find some reasonable facsimiles. Cleverly titled books displayed by the check out counter, conceived by marketing geniuses who somehow knew my need — the need a son has to make his mother smile and nod her head approvingly. The book that would keep my mother company during those long nights when her husband was working late and her children were asleep and there was nothing good on TV. The ultimate self-help book that would remove her worries, her doubts, and her exponentially growing fears of thinking her son had gone off the deep end for “receiving Knowledge” from that young boy from India.

Life, and More Life…

today, I went to a funeral.

they’re now called memorials, or celebrations of life, rites of passage.

there are some mile-markers in life, in the monumental history of man, that never change, despite the changes in terminology and ornamentation that we apply on the outside.

this was the father of a good friend, a gentle and handsome man. a man truly wearing visible sweetness of the soul in his everyday demeanor.

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Love?

The other day, I was talking to a friend of mine who had mentioned that he had recently read a book written by a well known “New Age” author who stated that being in love is the closest experience there was to being fully present. ( Being fully present is a good thing, I might add ).

Now, I know that being in love is fun. The colors of life seem brighter. There is a new excitement to the days of loving, a new feeling of delight in anticipation. But, as I heard this I wondered, why do we always think that being in love has to involve another person? Why doesn’t it occur to most of us that being in love could mean, being in love with life itself.

Or, better yet, could it be that it is simply the feeling of love that is the joy? And that the object of our affection is only the excuse to feel this exquisite feeling? Not that I am discounting companionship or even – dare we say, sex – but, I am talking about love: the deliciousness of it. The warm, fuzzy, all- over coziness of it.

If it were not necessary to have an object to be in love with, we could forever have the completely unattached, unlimited, immensely unimaginable experience of LOVE. MMMMMM can you feel it?

The floods of love leave heart’s gates open wide

with no offer of control to stem or turn its tide

Freed at last, the power of its waters knows no bounds

Fear, despair, bitterness with ease it drowns

Love’s searching currents drawn to parched human landscapes

relentlessly smoothing the stone hardness of their faces

Its deep pools giving shelter to all of life’s children

providing home to every searching pilgrim

Love knows all

sees all

seeks all

to be ALL

The Sweetness of Life

2 am, and I definitely should be sleeping. NYC is quiet, rare for the city that never sleeps, but I can use this lull in activity, to gather my own composites for this composition.

I wanted to communicate about work, for I am driven, and determined to succeed, and it feels solid that I have such “backbone”. There have been momentary intervals where this has not been so; emotion taking the wind out of my sails, and without the wind of joy or vision, there is no smooth sailing.

Now despite the situation, I have turned towards discovering the resources in me, and pleasantly I am finding, that I have assets that can not only help pull me further up, but anyone else along with me who wishes to go. If I look closely, I have a lot of love, and the actual need to somehow pour this invisible substance out.

It is funny, cause outside, includes a universally vast amount of space. Nevertheless I want to fill that seeming emptiness, with light, or peace. I could choose to radiate any of the lesser qualities, and that reflection would have its marginal effect. However in the choice to generate goodwill, an equivalent required amount becomes readily available for distribution.

It is almost like we have an endless supply, and at any moment we can take from that source and act as a transmitter, so it actually flows to where it needs to go. I would say, if I wanted to have fun, and be in joy, being a light-bulb, would be my preferred career choice. I don’t mind physical hard work, however my prioritized field of choice, is to give from what I have.

I may not have an abundance of material resources, but I do have a wealth of wisdom that has been given as a gift to me. When one has such tools at ones disposal, it is wise to use them, for it will help the construction of that which you wish to build. Looking at it, we have the tool of Life, and it is rich, for Life indeed has generous attributes.

Life gives continuously, and it is we who can place ourselves in the midst of this surging spring, become enriched and refreshed, and then try to act as a funnel to allow some of this windfall to reach others. It is almost as if the waterfall is just pouring over and through, and like a river moves, taking us where it will. If we take our little boat and place it on the river, first we will be astounded by the clarity of the “water”, and how fast this flow actually is going. Once you consciously realize that the journey is afoot, you become quite mesmerized, for there is a lot of beauty on these banks, and because of your present speed, you can actually see and feel it.

At this point, one has no time to wonder where we’re going, because the ride is enjoyable in and of itself, why question the Captain. There just seems to be an overwhelming amount of gratitude, and one hopes you can be of service, to help others “get on board”. The problem is, everyone who has breath, is on the boat, so maybe the work is only to remind, so that this peace, can billow their sails too.

One really good thing about being in NYC, is that it is a global village. Everyone from everywhere is here, and I would say the cooperation level is admirable. Everyday that I go out into the midst of the “crowds”, I get happier, for I see that all these individuals, are really very beautiful. When we slow down enough to respect one another, smile at one another, support one another, it generates an enormous amount of contagious kindness.

It is simple and amazing but when you give it, it just comes right back and fills you more. That is why I would like to make this my profession, for it feels fantastic to exist as we were meant to; and to accept the gift, that is best suited personally for us, so that everyone may benefit. It is like being a certain kind of tree, and waking up to the fact one day, that oh … if I am tapped, I have maple syrup in me.

Now don’t you think that is really sweet of God, to give us this recognition. Not only do we get the thought, but the actual syrup … (see y’r up) too.