Moving Along Like Water

 In reality there are no seperate events. Life moves along like water, it's all connected to the source , like the river is connected to the mouth of the ocean. 

Alan Watts

Falling Freely

 Mana eva manusyanam karanam bandha moksayoh

As the mind, so the person; bondage or liberation are in your own mind.

Sanskrit saying found in Satchinanda's translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, page 5.

Or as Michael Singer would say:

If you stare at your mind, your mind becomes a prison.

Michael Singer

Most of us are staring at our minds. We are so focused on the noisy mind as it reacts to everything that unfolds in front of us, clinging and struggling, that it imprisons us.  It imprisons the consciousness that we are by pulling us into its never ending dramas, its preferences, its dislikes. When all of our attention goes there it limits  what we observe and expereince. It traps us.

Alan Watts once gave  the analogy of our journey through life as being like this:  When we are born we are pushed off a precipice and we fall to our deaths.  At the same time a large boulder is also pushed off. We spend our life falling as the  boulder falls with us. Instead of enjoying this amazing ride we spend our time terrified and worried. We cling to the boulder with all our might which increases tension and struggle...yet we are so afraid to let go.  We don't realize that letting go will make the inevitable  journey downward pleasant and relaxed, peaceful, and fun. Our struggle is not in the falling but in the clinging to this boulder. The boulder could be the mind or the mental modifications as Patanjali referred to them.

The thing is...with this clinging and preferring, stuffing and storing we tend to do...we create samskaras that lead to a further need to cling and prefer, to stuff and to store. This becomes so distracting and our consciousness gets pulled in to this drama and eventually trapped by it. Each samskara, Singer says, is like a bar in our prison cell.

The thing is it doesn't have to be that way.  We cannot change the fact that we are all falling to our physical deaths in this very temporal world. We cannot change the reality of the things that happened. The world will, afterall, unfold the way it unfolds. This is Life's reality, and has little to do with what this falling little me wants. The mind we cling to with its likes and dislikes, its fears and expectations becomes a prison when we focus like this. If we were, however, to use the mind to contemplate something bigger than us and our puny little fall...than it can actually liberate us. If we use the mind to focus on and explore consciousness rather than the boulder, we can be free.

Spending our time falling emptying and purifying the mind and then using it for higher purposes us can certainly set us free. 

The purified mind is no different than the Self.

RamaKrishna

All is well.

Allan Watts: not sure where or when I heard this

Michael A. Singer/ Sounds True/ Temple of the Universe (October, 2024) The Mind: Prison or Liberator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpU1N80-35w&list=PLyOuAoSmZkKoESr2acNWwhznusbBkKXsT&index=3

Swami Satchidananda (2012) The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Integral Yoga Publications. 

A New Way of Seeing

 

One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.

Henry Miller

I am home now and trying to get the Circadian rhythm of body and mind aligned with the clock on this side of the world. I am also processing my experience away. I mentioned before how my mind works like my double card slotted camera. In one slot I shoot in jpeg...and the camera does most of the processing of data to come up with some acceptable picture quickly. In the other slot I shoot in RAW where all details are taken in and stored for me to process later on. I can't see the images clearly but later in Lightroom, I am flooded with detail. I am given the chance to select what details to enhance and what details to diminish.  I get to choose how I will remember this trip. 

I haven't taken the pics to Lightroom yet because that is a big endeavor to begin. It will take days. But I am beginning to process the RAWness of my memories. 

It was truly something else.  I absolutely love experiencing culture, language, history, and landscapes, different from my own. It offers me a wider perspective, a new way of seeing things.  It helps me to evolve.

Sure, it was nice to get away, to relax in the sun and I did.  That was truly healing...but what I truly enjoyed was immersing myself in all the above. I love exploring differences because it always brings me back to similarities...and similarities brings me back to this truth: We are all one. I see how small the world is now...how united all humanity is whether we accept that fact or not.

I do not believe I will ever be a fan of the touristy spots on this globe that offer superficial things.  I will, however, always embrace the depths of history and culture in an area that few see as a travel destination. That is why Croatia was the best place to begin my travelling experience. It is a hidden gem, for sure. I am a different person now because of it.

Anyway, all is well. 

Optimistic Sunshine on the Turgoise Sea

 There is nothing like a sea voyage to restore one's sense of optimism, a sense of being cleansed of your own past. 

Robert D Kaplan from Adriatic: A Concert of Civilizations at the End of the Modern Age

We did an Adriatic Island tour during our first week in Croatia.  It was amazing!! I felt my optimism restored and my being cleansed with every drop and breeze from the Turgoise water. 

From Trogir

Blue Lagoon

Solta

Coming Back to Trogir

Again, these pics will be so much better when I develop my RAW.

All is well! 

Using Nothing But Time

 

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but foot prints, and use nothing but time.

Found on wooded placards throughout Croatia's National Park. 

Pure natural beauty that rivals, without surpassing, the Canadian landscape can be found in Plitvice Lakes, Croatia. Words can not do it justice and either can these jpeg photos.  Hopefully you will still get an idea how amazing this spot is to visit. 

                                                    

All is well!

Slovenia! Slovenia! Beautiful Slovenia!

 

God's blessings on all nations who long and work for that bright day!

National Anthem

Most beautiful place I ever seen. The JPEG pics do not do it justice...hopefully when I get into Lightroom with my RAW shots, I can display the true colour and texture of this little country that took my breath away. 

All is well!

In the Quiet Morning

 

U mojem srcu pjevale su ptice

U tiha jutra, za sunčanih sati.

Birds were singing in my heart, in the quiet morning during the sunny hours.

Dobrisa Ceasric (missing accents over the first s and the second c), Moje jutro u Maksimiru

The words from this sad poem written by one of Croatia's famous temporary poets seems to fit, in an odd way, with what I am experiencing this morning. In the quiet morning, during the sunny hours, I find myself sensing something in the air.

What is it that is in the air here? Something subtle yet soothing, gentle yet powerful.  It is true that it is my first trip to Europe and I have nothing to compare it to, but I feel this place is special in some invisible way I have yet to understand. There is something in the air carried with the aroma of strong coffee steaming from the cup I hold in my hands, with the salt from the Adriatic, with the hum of the native tongue vibrating in the background.   It is a peaceful feeling I am left with, a sense of being home even though I am thousands of miles from where this human I call me has circled a spot on the map and labelled as home.  I realize as I hear the ancient church bells in the distance that the world is a small place...much smaller than I ever imagined when I boarded the plane days ago.  That is what is in the morning air during this sunny hour, I guess: The truth of the inter-beingness of all humans. There is some connecting force carried by the morning breeze reminding me that we are no different, regardless of what language we speak, the colour of our skin, the religions we practice, where we were born on this globe, or whatever we tell ourselves and the world we are. There is only the superficial distinctions but no difference that matters. ...that really matters. Under our skin, our flapping tongues, the flags we wave in the air...we are all one. That is what the Croatian morning air has brought to my attention. We are all one. Sigh.

All is well in my world. 

Ageless Ragusa: Dubrovenik, Croatia

Non Bene Pro Toto Libertas Venditura

Liberty cannot be sold for all the gold of the world

I had the once in a lifetime opportunity yesterday to walk the walls of Dubrovnik. What an amazing, enclosed city.  In its ageless beauty it continues to survive, still, the onslaught of modern life outside and inside its walls. The walk was breathtaking and a photographer's dream. I had to soak up more of its history through research when I returned home. 

What I love about Dubrovnik history:

• Very, very old dating back to 616 when Roman refuges and the Slavs settled around the rock of Laus
• Touched by, dominated by, conquered  by  or protected by many different influences over the years from its Slavic and Roman roots to the  Byzantines (what  the Christian empire was called  in Constantinople), the Venetians (Venice was once a thriving state on its own),  the Islamic rule (when Islam gained and regained its power in Constantinople), to the Normans,  to the Serbians, to Ravenna, to Bosnia, to Russians, French, Austrian-Hungarian,to the  German influence,
• Pure in its intent for liberty. The words inscribed on Fort Lovrjenac built in 1038 and which proved to be the mantra of its people for centuries to come: Non Bene Pro Toto Libertas Venditura which can be loosely translated to, Liberty cannot be sold for all the gold of the world.  How beautiful is that coming from a renown trade center and an independent republic lasting for centuries. 
• It was accepting of  people other than Christians, like ...for example...the Jewish people.  Though the Jewish population is not given the due it deserves in the middle ages...there was a very important Jewish population in Dubrovnik dating back to 1352. The third oldest synagogue in all of Europe was later built in 15th century here.
• Democratic and non autocratic in its leadership (for the most part) until after WWI when Peter I of Serbia became its first sovereign. 
• Created an equal access for all social system that could make any Canadian pleased. The first public hospital in all the Balkans...Domus Christi ...was built in 1347. ( And just in time for the shadow of Black death soon fell upon the city (grad).) The first public school was opened in 1435. Protected its textile workers with a law in 1428
• Understood the necessity of disease prevention and health promotion. Was the first port to establish a quarantine in 1377. First pharmacy was founded in 1420. Clean water supply through the fountain that is still running clean water today was established in 1438. (I drank from that fountain yesterday...over a 1000 years later)
• Became completely built of stone as of 1413

• Home of famous art and artists like Blaz Jurije Trogiranin (painted the church in Ston), Marin Drzic (playwright) and Marco Marulic (poet)
• Self defended by the creation of magnificent walls and fortresses, that I walked upon yesterday, in the years between 1461 and 1570. The white gold manufactured in Ston was protected by the greatest and longest man-made wall, next to the Great Wall of China, in the entire world. 

• Had a long peaceful and prosperous history under the rule of the Turkish sultan from 1526-1808 where it remained a fairly independent state?
• Its creation of the salt market in Ston in 1581 which showed great ingenuity and innovation making it the greatest salt ( white gold) industry in the world...even today. 
• Its resiliency and ability to become stronger with adversity: It bounced back from the great fire, the black death of 1348, the great earthquake of 1667 and so many take overs and assaults on its walls...the greatest occurring during Croatia's War of Independence in 1992. 
• Abolitionist Mandate. Its mandate against slave trading was bought about in 1416.   The walls of Ston were built without slaves. People were paid for their work. 
• Was able to remain fairly independent as a republic until Napolean's conquest in 1808. It fell under French rule until 1813 when the Congress of Vienna gave it to Austria-Hungary where it remained until 1915 when it joined with other countries to become the Kingdom of Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes and later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. In 1943 during WWII it became a puppet state for the Axis, under Italian, then German occupation. After WWII it became a part of the Socialist Federal  Republic of Yugoslavia and a communist state until the end of the War of Independence on November 12, 1995.
• King's Landing in the Game of Thrones. That series was shot here. The filming of this amazing series has boosted tourism in Croatia allowing it to increase its GNP
• and so much more....

Wow! That is a lot of history.  I am just amazed by it all.

Please visit this amazing city if you ever have a chance, especially in the Winter time to help balance out the crowds and the tourist economy for this very special country.  It is worth seeing.  And you do not even have to be a Game of Thrones fan to appreciate it.  

The ghosts that walk the stone walls here, I am sure, will reach out and grab you as they did me. 

Again the pics will not do it justice until I get a chance to bring out the true colours of this place in Lightroom.

All is well.

Dubrovnik Online ( n.d.) Chronology of Dubrovnik fro 600 AD until 1808.https://www.dubrovnik-online.net/english/chronology.php 

Wikepedia ( Sept 12, 2024) WWII in Yugoslavia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_in_Yugoslavia#Axis_invasion_and_dismemberment_of_Yugoslavia

Wikepedia ( ) Hundred Years Croatian-Ottoman War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Years%27_Croatian%E2%80%93Ottoman_War#:~:text=Nevertheless%2C%20the%20Ottoman%20Empire%20held,Herzegovina)%20which%20remained%20in%20Ottoman

dubrovnik -travel.net ( ) The History of Dubrovnik. https://www.dubrovnik-travel.net/history/

Prekrasna! Volim Hrvatska!

Hrvatska je prekrasna, apsolutno prekrasna.

 Wow!I did not realize how much I needed a break and how perfect this place was to offer a withering mind and body one. So, so beautiful. And the language is like music to my ears for some reason.  I am learning it. I had to try out the method I used in my book to understand this tongue. Definitely will never be fluent while here but I am recognizing and understanding the alphabet and the phonemes.   Croatian (Hrvatski) is so phonetic.  It is actually written in phonetic symbols....so, unlike English, this version of the roman alphabet ( Gaj) sounds like it looks.  Anyway...Learning a new language (jezik) is a fun way to pass a few hours a day in the sun. Oh...and I am shooting again. What a joy that is.  I got my camera working better...not perfectly...but better. I forgot how good it feels to capture life on this amazing planet in a few stills. I feel so blessd right now.  I am so very grateful....that this human I call "me"  has been given the opportunity to experience all this.  I will do what I can to share it with the world. ( Most of the pictures will have to wait, though, until I get home to post process on Lightroom...all good.)

All is well! Dobra!!

 

Inspiration from the Dalmatian Coast

 What inspires me most to write is the act of traveling.

Tea Obreht, Croatian author

Sitting here on the deck overlooking the Adriatic Sea.  The water is as blue as a clear sky and the horizon is outlined by a series of perfect green hills. Houses of white stone with orange terracotta roofs splatter the landscape on both sides of the sea. Sail boats float on the surface of what appears to be motionless water, their unneeded masts down while the land near the shore offers its bounty.  The world is rich with vegetation. In this yard alone I can see lime trees, pomegranate and olive trees offering up their abundant offspring to us the temporary guests of this ageless coastline.   The sun...bright and golden above my head shines down with its precious rays to warm the skin and the soul so quietly watching from within. The air is warm with a soft breeze blowing a tiny hint of almost scentless Oleander in my direction.   The Croatian tongue heavy with its Slavic roots humming around me feels as comforting and familiar as my own dialect, though I do not understand a word.  It echoes of a time long forgotten but that still vibrates off the ancient stone, reminding all who are blessed enough to hear it of the glory, the pain, and the splendor that will live on for ever.  Yeah, this is a place that soothes the soul, warms the heart and calms the mind emptying it of its ceaseless chatter. “Rest, rest, rest”, the ghosts of many ancestoral lines whisper and I can do nothing but obey.  

Poem Reworked: Elixir Labelled Hope

  Elixir Labelled "Hope" 

The world sold me a sticky syrup...

snake oil...in a bottle labelled "hope".

I was assured by crooked smiles this magic elixir

would assist this "me" to cope; 

it could numb and put an end to pain, 

taking away all fear;

and it could make all moments bothering me

 simply disappear.

 

So, I took the bottle in my shaky hand

and opened up the cap.

I lifted the glass to my mouth

as the world around me clapped.

I swallowed down the sweetened water,

leaving not a drop.

It burned my throat, caught in my chest,

 and made my breathing stop.

Dizzy with the effect of it,

my being began to spin 

and I was pulled so quickly 

from the moment I was in.

I was carried to a pleasant time 

 that existed up ahead,

 a wonderful place of joy and bliss

where fantasies were fed.

I left the pain I knew  in the moment,

the one I left behind

and in this new time Life matched my desires.

It was so very kind.

 

I could have staid in this new place forever 

but the high soon wore away

and once sober, I was pulled back into reality, 

back to the present day.

 

Here, I found myself facing the world of twisted smiles

with an empty bottle in my hand.

 The weight of existence fell on my shoulders

making me heavy once again.

 

Voice trembling with the effort, I held out

the drop-less bottle to ask for more

of the sticky syrup, the magic elixir

I would, like most humans, come to adore.

I knew then that I was addicted to

this thing in the bottle labelled "hope,"

and that if I ingested it daily, 

it would become nothing more than dope.

Whatever it gave humanity, I learned,

 would simply never last.

The solution it offered was not real 

and the high wore off too fast. 

 

A knowing voice inside me whispered

in a tone so soft and sweet

that my preference list was never something

Life was here to meet.

The magic elixir is not what is needed 

in order to get by.

What we need is reality, 

to embrace what's real without the high. 

A sober moment has its blessings

despite the pain and grief,

 acceptance and allowance of what is 

could bring us true relief.

A potion can never save u. 

It cannot give us what we need.

Once we realize the beauty of this moment, 

all humans could be freed.  

 

So, I put the bottle on the counter

And turned to walk away

with hesitant mind I began to open

to the beauty of this day.

I observed as mind surrendered to the truth:

The only way out of pain is through.

I opened my heart to the life in front of me.

There was nothing left to do.

My head then cleared, and the forgotten breath

dropped back into my chest

I found the peace I longed for.

Finally,

my soul could rest.

© Dale-Lyn, 2024

Hope and the Finite

... Never seek for the Eternal in this world of finite things.

Vivekananda

Man I know what it sounds like when someone expresses a lack of hope as I did yesterday. Hopelessness is listed as one of the biggest symptoms of depression.  It is like one has given up on life.  I have, by no means, given up on Life.  I have given up on "me" and that maybe considered a problem to most who still identify as their "me". Though, I too still identify and am certainly struggling to find and discover the light and beauty in some of the moments that have unfolded  to satisfy this "me" (because man...is it whiney and complainy)...and this is where hope normally steps in......I realize that "me" cannot be satisfied because "me" is just a hungry little self concept. Who I am,beyond this "me", cannot be satisfied either by the things of this world. It is seeking the infinite not the finite.It is seeking the eternal not the temporal. 

Hope, is about satisfying "me" not the Soul or spirit or deeper Self...or consciousness ( whatever you wish to call it). Hope is about creating mental images of the temporal, not the eternal; the finite, not the infinite. I know now in the deepest part of me that the finite and temporal may satisfy "me" for the briefest of seconds but it will not satisfy who I really am. My practice is all about satisfying who I really am. Thusly, hope doesn't work for this human anymore. :)

I am going on a trip to Europe tomorrow...something I used to hope for like crazy.  Since I was little I wanted to travel and especially  travel to Europe. So much history! It was always on my vision boards and smart goals lists lol. I used to get so excited about the prospect of any trip away...vibrating and not able to sleep for days before hand dreaming about what it might be like. 

Now, that I no longer wish  to  jump from my moment  into my mind like I did then...now that vision boards have been put away and goal lists have been deleted...and now that the trip is a day away...am I excited, hopeful?  

No  I mean I am not adverse to going...I did the things needed to get ready to go...all the planning and packing etc...but I am not up ahead...I am not already on the airplane or walking the cobblestone streets in my mind.  My body and mind are still here in this moment writing you.  I am not envisioning what it will be like.  I have no expectations.  I am still trying to make the most of this moment...observing as the words come out as I drink my tea. I still have things to do to get ready to go but there is no panic or excitement.

Well isn't it good to get excited?

Of course, it is good to "be" excited. But it is important to remember that  excitement is a flow from inside. "Getting" excited because of some external thing  is not the reality...right? The actual or potential external event simply was a trigger that opened up what was already in us. We come to believe it is the trip that is bringing excitement but it isn't. Enthusiasm and excitement are natural flows of energy that are meant to pour through us freely. We don't think of it like that though...do we? We just know that sometimes we feel good and sometimes we feel not so good. We "assume" that some things make us feel good and somethings make us feel bad. Trips to Europe are things that should make us feel good and excited. We fail to recognize that we are so stuffed with blockages and expectations that the external world is here to satisfy us and make us happy,  that we are constantly looking for temporal and finite things out here to open us enough just so the energy can flow.  Like a trip!

The trip is nothing but an experience this human gets to have...one of a trillion number of potentials. It doesn't make it excited.

So am I excited at all?

The reason why I am not feeling the natural flow of abundant excitement in me right now is because I know, number one, that no finite thing has the power to give me that. So...the idea of this trip doesn't trigger a small opening. I want more than what the world can give me.  I know not to seek the eternal flow in a finite and temporal thing like a trip. Secondly, I am in the process of releasing that which is blocking me from feeling excited and open all the time.  These shifting samskaras that are getting ready for release are still blocking the internal flow of this beautiful natural energy. I am fully aware they are still there. My short term smart goal is to release what is there and to avoid putting anymore samskaras on top of them.  Looking for the trip to make me happy and excited will simply be another samskara slowing down the release of the stuff that so desparetly wants to be cleansed. 

So will I even enjoy this trip?

I do not know what the trip will be like but I know I am at the stage of my waking up where I can observe, appreciate and enjoy the human experience as it unfolds around me. I still have a mind that loves history and natural beauty and culture...so yeah this human and this "soul" will likley enjoy this trip no matter what happens in it. Long term forecast is calling for ten days of rain lol. So be it. I want to experience and enjoy each moment as it unfolds...in whatever way it unfolds. I don't wnat "me" in the way dictating how it should be and how I should feel. That make sense?

It is all good!

Note: Bringing this with me so I might be able to write a bit while there. (I can't imagine not writing for two and half weeks lol) 

A Bottle Labelled "Hope"

 

The world sold me a sticky syrup...

snake oil...

in a bottle labelled "hope".

I was assured by crooked smiles,

 this magic elixer would

help all humans  cope. 

It could make all moments 

bothering us 

simply disappear;

it could numb and put an end to  pain, 

taking away all fear.

So, I took it in my shaky hand

and opened up the cap.

I lifted the bottle to my mouth

as the world around me clapped.

I swallowed down the sweetened water,

leaving not a drop.

It burned my throat,  caught in my chest

 and made my breathing stop.

Dizzy with the effect of it, my being

 began to spin 

and I was pulled so quickly 

from the present moment

I was in.

I was carried to another 

more pleasant time 

 that existed up  ahead,

 a wonderful place of joy and bliss

where all fantasies got fed.

I left the pain I knew back in the moment,

the one I left behind

and in this new time  Life was matching my desire,

and was being so very kind.

I could have staid in this new place  forever 

but the high soon wore away

and once sober,  I was pulled back into reality , 

back to the present day.

Here, I found myself  facing

 the world of twisted smiles

with an empty bottle in my hand.

 The pain and fear fell on my shoulders

making me heavy  once again.

Voice trembling with the effort,

I held out the  empty bottle

to ask for more

of the sticky syrup, the magic elixer

I would, like most humans, come to adore.

I knew then that I was addicted to

this thing in the bottle labelled "hope"

and that if I  injested it daily, 

it would become nothing more than  dope.

Whatever it gave me or others,

I would learn,

 would never last.

The solution it offered was not real 

and the high wore off too fast. 

A magic elixer  is not what we need 

in order to get by.

What we need is reality, 

to embrace what's real without the high. 

A sober moment has its blessings

despite the pain and grief,

 acceptance and allowance of what is 

could bring us true relief.

A potion can never save us; 

it cannot give us what we need.

Once we realize the beauty of this moment, 

all humans could be freed.  

©Me, September, 2024

As I have written, this human I call me is going through a time.  One of the reasons life seems so challenging for 'me' right now is that I don't use the defense mechanism of hope anymore, not like I used to anyway. I kind of see hope as a snake oil sold by humans to other humans as a way to "get by". It is a defense mechanism that can quickly become a problem. I just see how it doesn't work. I mean, we project into the future to escape this moment...the only time there is...through hope. We do not live our lives...I mean really live our lives ...if we are living in some future in our heads, do we? Yet, the future never comes, right?  There really is no future. And that high we get doesn't last. It wears off and we will just need something more to hope for when we come down from each hope high.  It is a head game.  

This moment, right here, right now regardless of what is in it is our life...is the only thing that is real. If we want to truly live we need to embrace this moment!!! Not take a mind trip to another moment. Hope is just a mind trip to another moment.

Believe me, I would love to escape some of these moments I have been having lately. I want some more light...and for some reason I am still thinking the light is up ahead and that hope will take me there even though I know in every cell of my being that is not the way it works. I miss hope! I miss the high! I remind myself:

 This...right here, right now... is my moment...this...right here, right now... is my life...and it has a lot of things my mind judges as "crappy" in it...and it has a lot of things my mind judges as " beautiful" in it. This is my life. Not what hope gives me.  I want to make peace with this. Sigh!

Anyway, my mind also judges this poem as yucky but I put it down anyway .  Why?  because it is.  It came out in a moment.

All is well. 

Relax and Release

 The true essence of spirituality- relax and release.  As soon as the energies start to get weird inside...relax and release...let go as soon as possible and come back as soon as possible.

Michael A. Singer

Imagine holding on to a tug of war rope.  It may seem like you have to play this game...but you don't. As soon as you start feeling that rope being pulled, notice the tension. Don't pull back. Simply let go of the rope and lean back. You belong back here, not in the mud.

It is all good. 

The Lake and the Leaf

 It starts with understanding and it ends with realization.  All you want is peace.

Michael A. Singer

Still and clear reflecting the world, the lake glimmers from the sun's rays, like a million twinkling diamonds have landed on its surface.

Perfection, peace, and presence emenate from the deep depths of this water source.

I stand on the shore peeking in at the reflection of  my awkward human form. I inhale deeply, breathing in my only true desire...that which the lake is offering me now. ...perfection, peace, and presence...

Then, out of nowhere, the wind blows ...and a leaf...a tiny browning leaf... is pulled from a nearby branch that once clung so tightly to it.

It falls, twisting and turning in effortless circles. I watch as it slowly and surely drops in one big exhale from my distracted Life to the perfectly still surface of the lake. 

It lands in the center creating a tiny ripple...a tiny disturbance in the perfect peace and presence I have been witnessing.

The tiny ripple extends outward creating another tiny ripple and another... until my reflection becomes blurry.

I gasp in resistance as the image of who I am, the clarity and perfection, the peace and presence of this lake is disrupted.    I spit out that disturbance from my struggling lungs. My peace is being swallowed up by these ripples and I shout out "No!"

I know I must do something about it. 

I jump into the frigid depths. Splashing and splattering I swim towards the leaf at the center. With great desperation and contempt I swoop it up with my trembling hand. It and the weight of  my  resistance are like a heavy anchor within me.  I am pulled down into the depths. Though there is something familiar and homey in these waters below the surface... I refuse to be swallowed into an abyss I cannot make sense of with my mind. I struggle to come back up to the surface of familiarity, creating more ripples, more disturbance with every movement I make. The ripples turn into waves, and the waves into rip currents...I choke on the turbulent water as it fills my lungs with each breath I take. I cling to the leaf even tighter. 

Somehow, I manage,with leaf in hand, to awkwardly and painfully make my way back to the shoreline where I, crawling on exhausted limbs, pull myself up from the lake with its now thrashing waves. I collapse into the sand with the cause of disturbance tucked neatly in the palm of my clenched fist. I will not let it go. I will hang on to it as a reminder of what I must do.

It takes a long time for the waters to return to their pure state...to  perfection, peace and presence... but they do.  I smile then, pleased at myself for my accomplishment as I watch the sunlight flicker and dance once again on the clear surface. 

I can rest.

That is until... the wind blows and another brittle leaf falls to the lake's surface to start the rippling all over again. 

All is well.

What You Call It...

 What you call matter, or spirit, or mind, or anything else you may like to call them, the fact remains the same: we cannot say that they are, we cannot say that they are not. We cannot say they are one, we cannot say they are many. This eternal play of light and darkness-indiscriminate, indistinguishable, inseparable- is always there. 

Vivekananda