ONE DAY, SITTING UNDER MY FAVORITE TREE

I understand
We need light for clarity as well as its disinfectant powers
And darkness to grow underneath consciousness.

I understand
We need sweetness to lure us to habitual goodness
And sour to teach the necessity of a few bitter lessons.

I understand
We need pets while young to teach us about love
So that when we’ve grown up, we won’t fear vulnerability.

I understand
We need strong appetites both for learning and life,
Hearts that yearn after greater emotional consciousness,
And minds unafraid of any categories of emptiness.

One day, sitting under my favorite tree,
I hear a song I’ve always yearned to hear –
Starting low and steadily becoming stronger –
One voice – swelling into many –
Suddenly, I hear myself
Singing along with the rest of the world –
Aurally blossoming in a personal/communal joy –
One soul, one world, one God –

All of it – hopefully – in harmony!

LETTING GO

“To be empty of all created things is to be full of God, and to be full of created things is to be empty of God.” Meister Eckhart

We need to achieve a radical detachment from our “ego self”
In order to attain the kind of freedom we’ll need
To “find” God, much less to “be with” God –
That is, a detachment from “power” of every kind, type, and form –
Whether political, financial, celebrity, or personal.

Human beings, by nature, originally were (and still largely are) weak and vulnerable
However, it’s only those capable of acknowledging their weakness and vulnerability
Who’ll be permitted to approach closer to God.

If we let ourselves (that is, our egos) go – that is to say, if we can give up our false selves –
We’ll end up being able to let everything else go also.

More – we’ll not only permit all that to go –
We’ll also be able to let all our traditional “Gods” go too.

To achieve purity of spirit – we need to “want” nothing, “know” nothing, and “have” nothing –
Giving us the freedom to become aware of a numinous “True God”
Who lives “way out” beyond all the standard church and temple gods –
Just like our “true self” can be found only way out – far beyond our tiny ego-self.

FRIENDS AT LAST

Here’s how God “works” –

Just when everything’s looking good
And our humility’s decided to take a hike –
God will place a few unexpected obstacles in our path
To trip us up.

Isn’t it obvious that the more humility we’re able to retain –
The more our capacity for love can grow –
Which is why God wants us to experience a few failures.

God encourages greater humility to accompany increasing success
So we can continue experiencing our vulnerability.

It’s like riding a bike – the faster we go –
The less thought we need to give to what we’re doing.

This is what God wants
And what Jesus gave his life demonstrating:

“One eye on ourselves
And the other on God” –

If we can live this way
We’ll find God and ourselves
Becoming friends, at last.