Bamboo Shadows

“The bamboo shadows are sweeping the stairs

But no dust is stirred.

The moonlight penetrates the depths of the pool

But no trace is left in the water .” Zen saying.

The greatest truths are the most subtle.

God’s grace is lighter than the touch of a butterfly wing.

To experience the Divine, be in harmony with its quiet song.

Be still and silent to hear the whisper of perfection in the Heart.

Between deep sleep and waking there is a brief moment:

pure awareness, Being without name or form.

Seize this moment! Taste it. Return to it again and again.

Stop thinking! Stop seeking!

Go straight to the root. Return to the Source.

When mind becomes still and sinks into the depths of silence,

That ocean of Self is endless, blissful peace.

You and me

"Sometimes it is our suffering that mysteriously delivers us to the holiness within ourselves. Having tasted that which is most bitter, we often taste that which is most sweet. Our hearts having been broken, they then can break open. The tiny light of hope that we glimpse in the midst of our suffering can become a light so bright  that the immensity of its power seems second only to the depth of its tenderness. Having entered the regions of our personal hopelessness, we find at last where true hope lies and come to understand more clearly who we are and why we are on the earth.”  Marianne Williamson

I am so tired, dear Lord of Love.

I have fallen into the abyss a million times.

I have died a million deaths.

My heart has been shattered into a million fragments.

Driven by the winds of inexorable desires and unspeakable fears,

I have fled from You in pain.

I have wept a million tears.

The ocean of my suffering has lapped at the edge of your Feet, O Lord, again and again and again.

This time, please do not let me be so stupid, so befuddled , so blind.

Do not abandon me to my unknowing, O Lord of Light, burn all the darkness away!

O sweet Lord, turn your benevolent gaze upon me, be kind!

Let me turn inside-out and seek the source that is You.       

Let me awaken , once and forever, from the nightmare of ego-mind.

Reach down and take me by the hand and lift me into your embrace.

Absorb me into the perfect wholeness of your compassionate Grace!

Allow me to be.

Let the eyes of my soul feast upon the radiance of your invisible face!

At last, let me truly see.

What kind of game is this, O Lord? Is this the answer?
When I let go of this " I" that I have been clinging to, there is no more suffering!

You are me!

Who are you?

“ Happiness is born of peace. Peace can reign only when there is no disturbance by thought. When the mind is annihilated, there will be perfect peace.” Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharishi

Who are you?

Who were you before you were born?

Who will you be when you die?

Are you real? Do you exist?

Are you body or mind, persona or soul?

Are you just a collection of fading memories, a brief story created by time?

The past is dead and gone; the future is still unborn.

Only this moment ever exists.

Thus, all personal histories are but fables woven by a fevered illusion called the mind,

a “story told by a madman, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Cleverness, holiness, sinfulness, saintliness, all mere costumes worn by a wraith who never really existed!

Do you want to know who you really are?
Do you want to be infinite, eternal, blissful peace?

Drop all the names and forms, throw away all the stories!

Sink into your own depths: burn in that inner fire.

Die before you die!

When all is destroyed in that Heart- fire, only the Real remains.

Until the Self is experienced, all descriptions of it  are dreamlike fantasies.

Once the Self is experienced, no description is possible – or necessary.

 There is only the exquisite perfection of Silence.

Amazing Grace

“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found, Was none so blind, but now I see.” John Newton

Without Grace, nothing can exist.

Grace is the answer, the blessing, the key.

Without Grace, awakening from the egoic nightmare is impossible.

Is there any hope of Grace for you and me?

So gentle, this sweet Grace, so tender and forgiving, kinder than any mother;

So patient, across a thousand lifetimes, so compassionate and loving, across eternity;

Shining on sinner and saint, king and beggar, with perfect equality;

Fountain of life and love and joy, endless ocean of deep and blessed peace!

Heart-melting love and devotion are the doors to this divine nectar.

With total faith, seek the source of Grace in the Heart.

Dive deep into your own depths with great love and trust-

Make this your only prayer, your ecstatic path to infinity.

A sacred lotus blossoms in those depths –

At your touch, it enfolds you in its magic embrace!

Like a babe you are swaddled in blissful, loving Grace!

At last, you can let go and be at peace!

The Mountain and Muhammad

““If the mountain won’t come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain.” Old Turkish Proverb.

I went to the Mountain and climbed its wooded slopes.

I recognised its power, its divine and magic presence, its mighty, compassionate blessings.

I walked clockwise around its base with great love and devotion.

When I had to leave, I carried its image in my mind and heart – and every day I sang its praise.

I begged it to shine its wondrous grace upon me, to embrace me, to swallow me up and dissolve me in its infinite perfection, to set me free.

In total and humble surrender, I offered the mite of myself at its feet.

Now the Mountain has come to Muhammad: lo! it shines in peace and splendour in my Heart!

Wherever I go, now there is only the blissful Mountain – no more me!