Saturday, December 10, 2016

Unmani - Freedom With..., Not Freedom From...



On the spiritual path we tend to be waiting or hoping for a time when we will be free from all pain and suffering, or any unpleasant and unwanted experiences. We might have picked up ideas about how it should be or how you should feel, when you are 'awakened', or 'free'. We take any uncomfortable sensations as 'proof' that I haven't got it yet, and hope for a 'one day' when it will all be cleaned up, and be perfectly peaceful, without any human disturbances. And even if your hopes and dreams are not that extreme, there can still be the idea that there is something, however small, still missing, based on the ever-critically high standards of thought. There can be the belief that I will only be truly free, when I am free from my whole list of 'faults'. This is what leads us to spend so much time and energy, in trying to control, fix, heal, improve, become, and more. We are so busy with this endless effort to clean it all up, that we overlook the simple fact that in putting so much effort into a future dream, we are imprisoning ourselves even more.
Real Freedom does not need it all to be cleaned up. The Freedom that you are, is the freedom that includes it all just as it is. It is the freedom to be a mess. It is the freedom to be human. It is not dependent on everything being cleaned up, or there being no human conditioning, emotions, thoughts or sensations.  Real freedom is not dependent on a particular experience or state, in order to be free.
This means that there is nothing to wait for or hope for in the future. There is no 'one day' when you will be free. There is no mummy or daddy out there that will grace you with the gift of freedom in reward for your efforts. Freedom is here right now. Truly acknowledging that, can seem frightening because it means letting go of your need to be free. Letting go of your identity of someone who is working hard to be free. Losing your hopes and dreams, and coming back down to earth.
This is the Freedom with, whatever is here right now. Freedom with the highs and the lows. Freedom with all the seeming prisons. Even if it feels uncomfortable. Even if it doesn't fit your ideas about how it should be. Even if it doesn't feel free. Freedom includes it all, and is not disturbed by anything that happens. No matter what happens, this is never proof that you are not free. The thinking can never understand this kind of freedom. It doesn't make sense. It is too free to make sense.


 

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Mansur Hallaj - Ana L' Haq




Separation is for the realization.
Realization to the true way of love.
The love that wants nothing,
The love that needs none,
Not even the beloved.
Because in such a state of reality
lover and beloved is not two,
Separate? Never!
but two becomes one.
Together, ever!
Behold! that is the secret of sufi
Mansur al Hallaj's saying,
'Anal Haq',
Lo! A true lover in total submission and annihilation.
Merged in Divine Love of the ultimate Beloved


crucifixtion of Hallaj

 

Aisha Salem - The Invitation



When You Come to Me

Come to Me Wild,
Driven by your Passion
for Truth more Naked than Naked,
Love Purer than Pure,
Being Supreme,
Willing Extreme
No Denial, No Trial…
Just Surrender, Meet Me Here.

Come Sincere,
Attachment will Hinder,
Yet You not are freed,
Reality Streaming
or lost in Dreaming?
No story needs Told,
For Love to unfold,
Pretending always Amiss,
Sincerity Serene
Love Extreme
Let Go to Reality Supreme.

Come Bearing Gifts,
The Gift of Your Soul,
Your Heart in your Hand,
The Drift of your Goal,
Your Honesty, Thrill,
Your Backbone and Kill…

Come Naked, Come Free
Expectations Will Slow Us,
Compromise Throw Us,
Soaring the Skies,
Diving The Earth,
Meeting in Truth,
Reality Birth…

Sunday, December 4, 2016

John Astin - Two poems



 The Innkeeper

Everything is
welcomed here.
The innkeeper
refuses no visitors
but beckons
all to enter -
every thought,
every sensation,
everything
that appears
and then disappears
all are invited
to the dance,
this endless play
of emptiness
loving form,
and wave
loving sea.
   
           
Is It True?

Is it true?
Are you really lost,
caught up in the currents
of the thinking mind?

Or can you feel
the cool splash of water
and wind upon your face
as the river rushes by?

Is it true?
Are you really lost,
stumbling along
in some dark forest
of worry or fear?

Or is something here,
something that knows
just how black the night
really is?

Is it true?
Are you really lost,
wandering the shore
in some hazy fog
of forgetfulness?
Or have you always
been here
drinking in the fresh sea air
and marvelling at the wonder
of the grey night?