We come to a clear, shallow river in the forest. It is quiet here except for singing birds and the sound of the moving water. Don Adrian speaks:
For many sons you have walked across the lands of my ancestors, and in all your experiences, you have seen how everything has two sides, just like this river. To see life in terms of good and bad limits our ability to create and be whole. Embracing polarity is necessary to bring about creation. Like the river, we could not exist without polarity. Were it not for darkness, would we still seek the light? Were is not for shade, would we not get burned? Find the gift that each side has to offer. Let those gifts be married within you. Free yourself of judgment. Become like the river.
~ from JOURNEY TO THE FOUR DIRECTIONS by Jim Berenholtz
Just sit there right now
Don't do a thing
Just rest
For your separation from God
Is the hardest work in this world
Let me bring you trays of food
And something that you like to drink
You can use my soft words
As a cushion for your head
The small man
Builds cages for everyone
He
knows.
While the sage,
Who has to duck his head
When the moon is low,
Keeps dropping keys all night long
For the
Beautiful
Rowdy
Prisoners.
~ from THE GIFT by Hafiz, translated by Daniel Ladinsky