Essence

What is it
about air
that can both
caress as breeze
and flatten as storm?

What is it
about water
that can both
flow as stream
and rage as tsunami?

What is it
about fire
that can both
illuminate as flame
and devour as inferno?

The essence
of everything
is free
to take any form,
all form

The essence
of everything
is free,
not defined
by the form it takes

Forms are many
yet not one
can be separated
from its essence

What are
breeze and storm
but air itself?

What are
stream and tsunami
but water itself?

What are
flame and inferno
but fire itself?

What is it
about Life
that can appear as both
you there
and me here?

What are
you and I
but Life itself?

The Gift of "Obnoxious"

Have you known
someone obnoxious?

Let's just say
we all have! :)

I love obnoxious people

In the past
they served
to make me
feel better
about myself

Maybe I am
annoying
but at least
I am not
obnoxious
went old mind! :)

The sheer magnitude
of their atrociousness
allowed me
to hide
from my own
considerable idiocy
which seemed
to fade
only in comparison

Then old mind
was questioned
and it was discovered
that I was
deluding myself

I still love obnoxious people

Now they serve
to show me
what would remain
hidden in myself
but for the grace
of their kind presence

Now they serve
to show me
that they are
none other than
myself

Now they serve
to bring more
of myself
into the light
and love

Thank you obnoxious!

God is

God is outside myself
one half
of the truth
God is inside myself
other half
of the truth

God is everything
one half
of the truth
God is nothing
other half
of the truth

God is beyond this world
one half
of the truth
God is within this world
other half
of the truth

God can be described
one half
of the truth
God cannot be described
other half
of the truth

God is transcendent
one half
of the truth
God is immanent
other half
of the truth

God is formless
one half
of the truth
God is form
other half
of the truth

God is angels and light
one half
of the truth
God is demons and dark
other half
of the truth

One half
of the truth
is not
the whole truth!

Verify this
in your own experience :
anything less
than
the whole truth
feels unstable
incomplete
unsatisfactory

So may we know ourselves
completely
fully
wholly

And in so knowing ourselves
may we know God
completely
fully
wholly

May we recognize ourselves
as a living paradox
beyond understanding
beyond thinking mind

May we live
and
may we act
from seeing
that God is
as we are
and God is
as we are not

In present times

We may draw
from
age-old
spirituality
but we must
apply it
to life
in present times

We may revere
sages and saints
of the past
but we must
summon
their wisdom
in ourselves
in present times

We may heed
the scriptural rules
of the past
but we must
reconcile their truth
with our reality
in present times

We may respect
the holy systems
of the past
but we must
be open
to new beginnings
in present times

We may value
the journeys
of the past
but we must
look forward
to new roads
in present times

This takes willingness
this takes courage
this takes discernment
to see clearly
what is time-bound
and what is timeless

We can know
ourselves
as the timeless
and we must
live our lives
in present times.

Essentially undefined - Part 2

Not defined
by any experience
not defined
by thoughts, feelings
sensations or body
we are
Essentially undefined!

And then
the essentially undefined
looks down
or looks in a mirror
and finds itself
moving as human body
sensing as human body
feeling as human mind
thinking as human mind!

What an amazing miracle!
This is where
this mystery of what we are
is such an adventure!

What is it like
to be body-mind
without being defined by it?

What is it like
to move as body-mind
without being defined by it?

What is it like
to truly express
our unbounded self
through
the limited vehicles
of words and deeds?

What is it like
to manifest our
undivided nature
through and as
individuality?

What is it like
to know our freedom
within the bounds
of human existence?

Then there exists
the delightful possibility
to luxuriate in these questions
and let the answers show themselves
not through ideas
but through fully living
this human life
from
the Essentially undefined

What's on your pedestal?

Who or what
are you putting
on a pedestal?

A person?
A thing?
An idea?

More importantly
why are you
doing so?

From love?
From fear?
From custom?
From convenience?
From a need to belong?
Something else?

Most people
I know
are not too modern
to have their gods,
albeit modern gods,
though they may not
admit to having them :)

What separates
you from your idol?
What separates
you from your ideal?

Have you
had your ideal
for a long time?

Have you had
some ideal
for a long time?

When so much
in life
changes constantly
when so much
in us
changes constantly
what happens
to the distance
between
you and your ideal?

Can you ever
meet up
with your ideal?

Can you point
to somebody
you know
for whom
the gap has closed
between self and ideal?

If not
then does that
make you curious?
What preserves the gap?

If so
then what happens
with those
who realize their ideals?

Worship by all means
and that is beautiful
but if the worship
has an element
of unattainability,
of unreachability
for self,
if the worship
has an element
of intractable separation
from self
then what is the use
of such ideals?
What purpose
do they serve?
Can we really
look inside
and find out?

Worship by all means
at the feet of gurus
or teachers
or sophisticated ideas
or whatever else
but may we do so
while always
leaving open
the possibility
of being that
which we worship

This is what I see:
The gods
and gurus
and ideals
worth worshipping
are the ones
that take you
unto themselves
unreservedly
and completely,
that encourage you
to see in yourself
what you see
in them

The rest
are interested
in preserving
the status quo
of millennia
the status quo
of rigid hierarchy
and divisive separation

Essentially undefined - Part 1

You are not defined
by your thoughts
How could you be?
Thoughts come and go
and you remain
having registered
their passage!

You are not defined
by thoughts
not yours
or anybody else's

You are not defined
by your feelings
How could you be?
Feelings come and go
and you remain
having registered
their passage!

You are not defined
by feelings
not yours
or anybody else's

You are not defined
by your sensations
How could you be?
Sensations come and go
and you remain
having registered
their passage

You are not defined
by sensations
not yours
or anybody else's

You are not defined
by your body
How could you be?
Your body changes
throughout your life
and you remain
having registered
all the changes

You are not defined
by body
not yours
or anybody else's

So you
who are not defined
by thoughts
by feelings
by sensations
by body
what are you?

Check and see
if you are not
the vast everpresent space
in which
all experience arises
all thoughts arise
all feelings arise
all sensations arise
all bodies arise
everything arises
and comes to rest

Check and see
if you are not
the unmoving center
which holds
all movement

Essentially
undefined!
Unbounded!
Undivided!
Free!