"Make of yourself a light,"
said the Buddha,
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness....
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields...
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves...
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire—
clearly I'm not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something of inexplicable value...
~ Mary Oliver, excerpts from "The Buddha's Last Instruction" in HOUSE OF LIGHT
Warm greetings, dear friends, on a cold winter's day! The sun sparkles on a field of snow, dazzling us with a sudden awareness of the miracles Love wrought in creating our beautiful world. Perhaps one of the greatest of these miracles is that a spark of the Great Love also exists in every one of us. The seeds of Love are planted in our hearts that we may blanket the world with fields of love. We have only to open our hearts to enable that love to grow and bloom and spread across our world. Look deeply into your own heart as you sit within the silence . . . find the love there, and as the husk falls away from the seed, allowing it to grow and bloom, allow any hardness of heart to dissolve into the flame of Love. Love can change the world!
New Year's Greetings, dear friends of silence! As we move through the winter season, let us, like the earth, lie fallow for a while, allowing unseen and as yet unknown life to gestate within our depths. With deep humility, let us reflect in the silence upon what it means to surrender to the Divine Spark that resides in each of us and allow that creative Life Force to do with us what it will. It is a gift of this quieter season that we can be released from our ego-driven lives and draw closer to the source of Love in the silent darkness. Let us surrender ourselves in humble recognition that we are called, through faith, simply to be open and accepting; to listen, without expectations, to whatever is coming to birth within us. We are called to a humble openness, to walk the way of goodness with the comfort of Love, at one with all humanity and with our earth. May we surrender to the call, whatever it may be, as it comes to each of us.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"
Winter Greetings, dear friends, and deep peace of the season's first silent snowfall to each of you. As we naturally turn inward in response to the more reflective nature of the season, may we find there reminders that we can carry the peace of this slower, quieter season within us to every place and every time. For peace, fostered by silent communion with the Love that ever accompanies us, is not confined to any outward season or circumstance. Rather, it is born of our constant awareness of and gratitude for the companioning Presence that accompanies us all the days of our lives. May our innate longing for peace foster a growing ability to nurture it within ourselves and each other by turning within in silence. Discover the "still point" of peace within your sacred heart-space and listen for the Word to be heard.
"Is there enough Silence for the Word to be heard?"
Bountiful blessings of the Silence, dear friends!
Taking time each day to allow the Silence to permeate your whole being is a gift to your Self that keeps on giving. For, in Silence we are never truly alone. Indeed, as we abide in the Silence, countless beings are drawn to the peace and well-being that radiates around us ... those from the unseen Realm of Love along with the angels and community of heaven. Since silence is the language of Love, we are practicing the Presence daily each time we surrender ourselves into holy Silence, be it for a few moments, minutes, or hours. As our souls yearn for the Beloved, in stillness and silence our souls are guided to the Divine Indweller. To maintain a daily discipline of silence is to nourish and nurture the Divine Child within us. ... May we each sink again and again into the Silence of Love and listen ... Silence speaks.
Ah, the sweet mystery of our lives on Journey ... the mystery of being touched by nature's wonders, great and small ... the mystery of relationships–friends, family, community, nations ... the mystery of deep Silence, inner and outer ... the mystery of our own being–Who am I? ... the mystery of our own birth and death ... the mystery of Life beyond the Veil in the unseen Realm of Love. To sit in solitude and silence and contemplate the Mystery can bring surprises and blessings of new insight, deeper peace, and the joy of simply Being within the Sacred Chapel of our hearts.
No one else can know what work will make our hearts sing, but we ourselves in our own inner being. Two mystic poets can, however, help us with the essence of what our Work can aspire to be: Gibran – "Work is love made visible" and Rumi – "Let the beauty we love be what we do." Work as an offering of our Selves in love, with all our strengths and limitations, to the wider community becomes a mutual blessing that honors our very being. To know Work as a sacred vocation no matter how lofty or how humble it may seem becomes equal in the eyes of Love. For all good work contributes to the Whole ... nothing we do with love and kindness is too little.
In the silence we can ponder the ways we work in love, create or honor beauty, and bring blessing to others. What makes your heart sing?
Summertime Blessings of sunshine's radiance, blossoming's beauty, laughter of children at play ... Love's eternal and infinite variety at the heart of Life. In the stillness of no-time we are free of fear, free to simply be without burdensome thoughts of past or future. Here, "I am who I am" ... here, we are One in Being with All. In the deep Silence of timelessness, may we surrender to the Eternal Now, be present to each holy instant, and know Love-with-us always.
Blessings of great beauty be with you all, dear friends of silence.
Without Beauty what a dull world this would be. For, when we are able to see and feel the beauty that abides within us, we, naturally, begin to see the beauty within everyone and everything. Beauty hides Her face only to those whose eyes see others and things as objects to be collected or used. We can, however, learn to see beauty everywhere through the eyes of Love abiding within our hearts. When you love — especially those you would rather turn from — Beauty will gently reveal Herself, if you are open to Her. Then, you will both begin to shine with the Divine Beauty of Love and extend it out to the world. Be still, silent, and see.
