In the great tradition of Neo standing in the kitchen with the Oracle, amidst the scent of cookies, here’s a passage from Wei Wu Wei’s Why Lazarus Laughed which, as of late, has really been “baking my noodle.” Questions that Are Not A good example of a question that is not is: “Do you believe in such-and-such a thing?” In so far as nothing exists, there is nothing to believe in. In so far as …
Art & Spirit
Moonlight
In a previous post, I introduced a psychological model rooted in Vasubandhu’s Thirty Verses on Consciousness Only—which sheds light on how unconscious or subconscious habit-patterns condition our current experience. Neither Random Nor Rigidly Determined Just as important as understanding how such conditioning happens, is understanding how these causal influences can be modulated or dissolved. …
Practice Notes: Adornment
Noticing, in recent weeks, patterns of emotional energy that would seem to be connected to childhood experiences—accompanied by images from those earlier years. All to be welcomed, embraced with tender-spacious intimacy, allowed in their own time to transform, recognized as already liberated. Among the various themes these dreamlike scenarios (these apparitions from Elizabeth’s past) present, …
Practice Notes: Into-Me-See
Three times in as many weeks, I’ve come across articles and/or online discussions on the topic of spiritual intimacy vs. human emotional intimacy. Questions that have been posed and then discussed include: * Which is more important: spiritual intimacy or human intimacy? * Which should take priority: being devoted to the Divine, in love with God—or being in love with and devoted to human …
Poets & Revealers
In The Garden Sweet sounds, and scents, and colours join to woo My musing heart to love and reverence; A tender and a subtle influence Comes from each graceful form, each brilliant hue; Strange power have they, my spirit to imbue With thoughts above themselves; for e'en while sense Adores the Beautiful with joy intense, The soul, far gazing, only seeks the True. And ye, fair flowers, …
Practice Notes: Wind
I’ve recently added a rainbow-spiral wind-dancer to my balcony. I love watching it hang quietly when the air is still, and dance in its spiraling way—creating the illusion of vertical movement—when it’s windy. Air In Motion Its presence has caused me to reflect upon the phenomena of wind—which really is just air in motion. Being essentially nothing other than air, wind—like air—is invisible. …