Burn That Shit Down!

"If you prefer smoke over fire
then get up now and leave.
For I do not intend to perfume
your mind’s clothing
with more sooty knowledge.

No, I have something else in mind.
Today I hold a flame in my left hand
And a sword in my right.
There will be no damage control today.

For God is in a mood
to plunder your riches and
fling you nakedly
into such breathtaking poverty
that all that will be left of you
will be a tendency to shine.

So don’t just sit around this flame
Choking on your mind.
For this is no campfire song
To mantra yourself to sleep

Jump now into the space
Between thoughts
And exit this dream
Before I burn the damn place down."

 Adyashanti courtesy of the very beautiful Danielle Van't Schip Oonk

Purity of Mind

From the amazing 19th century mystic Hazrat Inayat Khan, I've re-structured the original words into four line stanzas:

Part 1

The mind is not only a means of reasoning
It is the king of one's being
And upon condition of one's mind 
Health, happiness and peace of life depend

The question is what to destroy
And what to keep in mind.
Collect and keep all that is beautiful
And destroy all that is void of beauty

Collect and keep all that 
is agreeable and 
Destroy all that has  
A disagreeable effect upon you

Collect and keep all that
is harmonious and
Destroy all that creates 
Inharmony in yourself

Collect and keep all that 
is restful and
Destroy all that disturbs
The peace of your life

You get the drift.
So now I add a simple rhyme scheme
To make a little more of a party,
From the slow and beautiful symphony,
Of our esteemed scholar and brother, Inayat Khan.

Part 2

As some dust gets into the mechanism of a clock
Disturbed peace keep you from progress
Beauty and harmony may seem void and locked

And the mind paralyzes when so hindered

Life is progress, and stopping from progress is death

Failure does not matter - for a progressive person

Even a thousand failures matter nonetheless

For he has before his view success

The greatest pity in life is standstill

When life does not move further 

It is a paralysis of the soul, the spirit, and will

Always be caused by bad impressions in mind

In reality no soul is happiness deprived

The soul's very being is happiness

Once the person is able to clear his mind

A new power begins to spring from his heart

Opening a way before him 

To attract to him all he requires

To accomplish all he wishes

Clearing his path of the mind's myres

And making his atmosphere clear

For him to live and move and accomplish 

All he wishes to accomplish

Joy & Service

I slept and dreamt

That life was joy.

I awoke and saw

That life was service.

I acted and behold,

Service was joy.

- Rabindranath Tagore

7 Ways to Make a Difference in the World Every Day

Make it a habit to:

1. Practice joy

...Because you can

2. Smile

...You deserve it. Find someone that needs a smile and give them that smile

once a day for the rest of your life, and like a ripple in a pond it will be carried onwards.

3. Be more involved in the world

...A life of legacy isn't about what you can get, its about what you can give. Invite, don't wait to be invited.

4. Be in awe

...Learn to be aware of all the wonder we have around us.

5. Respect people

...including yourself.

6. Be the true you

...Go for it. No apologies. Focus on making a difference. Not on what people think of you. Positive 

energy attracts.

7. Speak without saying a word.

...A lot can be said without words. For me, gratitude and presence (present awareness) is generative silent speech.

Inspired after reading a blog by tinybuddha.com

Volcano

We settled down there
You fixed like obsidian
Dark and polished
Beautiful and unmoving

I loose like ash
Scrambled to cling to
Solid ground yet found
Only the wind

Pushing us together
And pulling us away
Like crevices born
Of the same volcano

I spoke of rockfalls
Yet only let the lava flow
When internal tremors
Became unbearable fractures

Desert Heart

My heart has been flamed open
Fanned by the fires
Of beautiful art pyres
Laid to rest in the dust

My heart is alight in joy
Ignited by ecstatic dance
Feet planted in warrior stance
And all I can do is beam smiles

My heart has tasted your love
Then cruelly torn far away...
How I await for that day
To tell you how I love you

Annapurna Base Camp

The Buddhist flags are blowing

With the Annapurna breeze

Prayers releasing with the wind

As the hikers pan to see

The mountain panorama

Filled with snow capped mountain peaks

Ice melt forming waterways, 

Visible and cavernous creeks 

Base camp forming a cradle 

To gently cup those that dare

Venture to such mountain heights,

In it's pure and thinning air

The cold, and fading light, causes

Early retreat to sleep and dream

Of how the mountain is a mirror

Murmuring from each mountain face and stream

Still enough to hear her whisper

From water fall, bird chirp or wind

Tones of tranquility and wholeness 

Allowing the mind's noise to rescind 

Then night sky adorning a thousand stars

Even with a waxing half moon

A full and vivid Milky Way

Fading while the hikers leave their rooms

To imposing cliffs and boulders 

Dotted with Niltava birds, bright blue!

The sun lighting the morning sky

And edges of Annapurna 2!

The gift of peace revealing 

A full and rich sensory feast

A spectrum of colours

With the sunrise from the east.

The best path

"The most important thing is to be your own best friend. Whatever you are doing - don't put yourself down. Slowly begin to discover which, for you, is the path of the heart. Which path in life will make you grow? That is the path to take."
  - Susan Jeffers

My life is my message

“It is better to allow our lives to speak for us than our words.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

I recently read about a story of Mahatma Gandhi when he was pursued by a journalist through a train station.  Gandhi politely declined his questions and was about to board on the train to leave.

Finally, the train was pulling out of the station with Gandhi on it, the journalist called out from the station platform, “Sir! Sir! Please give me your message for the people!”

Gandhi smiled and shouted back, “My life is my message!”

Gandhi’s life message was of someone bold enough to take a stand against tyranny through non-violent actions and movement. He lived a minimalist lifestyle with a strong sense of purpose. His life demonstrated his message, his stand for something big and bold - addressing poverty, and ending the tyranny of British colonisation, which inspired a whole nation.

It struck me how in life, rather than living from a place of standing for something audacious, we instead often get caught up with day to day dramas, issues and attachments. Attachments to opinions, to objects, to people, etc. There are also now, more than ever, a range of influences vying for our attention - the news with its focus on negativity, advertisements wanting us to seek for the dream car, holiday or body. To name a few. All this can serve to distract us, take our focus off the longer term vision and passion that rests within us, in our soul and spirit.

There were a lot of people against Ghandi in his time, not least the powerful British empire. He ended up dead at the hand of an assassin. And in comparison, do we remember anyone who wasn't taking a stand at the time? Whether they be fellow indians that preceded Ghandi, or even the British and their complaints and arguments to maintain British rule?

No. What we do remember, is the amazing stand that Ghandi took - going as far as to put his own health and life on the line - that he would go to his grave if he had to, in the quest for living his life, his message. The power of his stand deserves to be remembered.

Throughout history, many of our own ancestors have probably stood and fought for something grand - like victory against (and independence from) an enemy. In contrast, we live in a time in which the threat to us is not necessarily a visible enemy. Many of the most pressing threats seem so much bigger than us that it is hard to see what we can possibly do. Issues like climate change, poverty, the threat of disease, mental and physical illness, world peace. What to do?

Maybe, we have just gotten so used to living our ordinary lives, that we have forgotten the power of taking a stand. The power that is possible within each of us. What if just a few of us tapped into our own stand? And what if this grew to become a community? Which grew to influence the society and environment in which we live?

This isn't a pipe dream. People, leaders and communities have shown the power of taking a stand time and again. Ghandi (and India), Martin Luther King (and African Americans), and perhaps even someone like David Attenborough (using his documentaries to encourage action on climate change). The stand that the allies took in World War 2 also stands out to me - the bravity of every single soldier running into the line of fire - assembled to take a stand. Most of us have dreams and goals of some form - a stand for something - and it is ordinary for this to be focused on our selves. It is extra-ordinary for this stand to be placed on something bigger than ourselves.

I suggest that we live in a time in which life is calling for more of us to step up, to align our dreams and actions to something bigger than ourselves, for the common good. Beyond simple self-ish betterment. There is so much difference that each of us could make - in our own perfect way.

So when the time comes to look back over your life, what message would you like to be remembered for?