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sacred threads ~ the presence in the present

February 4, 2010 – 4:09 pm

“Under all circumstances, always, everywhere, and in all respects,

you must look upon everything as Brahman, and Brahman alone.”

~ Crest Jewel of Discrimination

Brother Lawrence mastered this teaching as he made it his practice to behave in each moment “as if there were no one but Thee and Me.”  When I offer the present moment my one pointed attention and greet the present moment with ultimate abandon, free from the gnarled cage of expectation, that is the moment I find God being God in myriad shapes and forms.  That is the moment I feel the peace of the Presence in the present.

Greeting the Beloved in the present moment with respect is a doorway through which we can all “practice the Presence of God.”  Within this sublime practice of mindfulness, any one of us can begin living as if there were none but “Thee and Me” in the world.  With this kind of awareness, we cannot help but welcome God in His all-pervasive form with myriad faces and varied costumes.  Each moment weaves the sacred tapestry of holiness.

Yet, I sure tend to get distracted with a single thread of thought, activity, or sense pleasure and mistake the thought, activity or sense pleasure for the “Real Truth” rather than our experience of Being as Truth.  Similarly, I can get carried away by my ideas about God and Truth rather than absorbing myself in the experience of Being as a portal to the Truth, a portal to LOVE.

Dostoevsky, in his book The Brothers Karamazov, knew the blessing of beckoning love in the present moment.  He wrote, “Love all God’s creation, both the whole and every grain of sand.  Love every leaf, every ray of light.  Love the animals, love the plants, love each separate thing.  If thou love each thing thou wilt perceive the mystery of God in all.”

These days, we have access to great teachers on practicing presence.  Among my favorites is Thich Nhat Hanh.


If you are interested in playing more in this field of mindfulness, consider joining me in Provence.  Or if you want to give the gift of a lifetime to your mother, wife, sister or friend, invite her to join me.

By Melanie | Posted in mindfulness, sacred threads | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

sacred threads ~ gazing

January 27, 2010 – 10:57 am

Note to Reader:  Sacred Threads is a spiritual memoir/essay of sorts, if you like, go to archives and begin reading from the earliest post.

On this cold, wintry day, I’m reminded of a very different day.   After a long weekend of tiring work, a friend of mine and I took a day of rest on the beach.  After a long walk, we lay side by side gazing at the sky.  My body felt still and my mind quiet as I lay on the beach with the sun penetrating my skin and warming me to the center of my bones.

I remember breathing  deeply and taking in the great expanse above us.  After some time, I asked her if she could see thousands of tiny dots of light.  They seemed to dance before the eyes.  She saw them too.

Together, we gazed at the sky in wonder.  I felt myself as made of the same particles of light that danced before me.  I experienced a dissolving of the illusion that my friend and I were somehow different than the sand, the ocean, and the sky.  I was filled with a sense of quiet wonder and complete love, a kind of love that seemed to pour itself over me like warm honey.

This kind of gazing is in fact a centering technique drawn from an ancient Hindu text, The Vijnana Bhairava.

Many texts of ancient India have been translated in the last hundred years or so from Sanskrit to English, providing yet more doorways through which we can enter the Garden.  The Vijnana Bhairava is a collection of dharanas, centering techniques.

These techniques not only center a seeker, but open her to experiencing the wonder of the Divine Presence.  The English Translation of this text has a captivating title, “The Yoga of Delight, Wonder, and Astonishment.”

One of my favorite centering techniques from this text is the practice of gazing, without blinking as much as possible, at the sky.  “If one makes himself thoroughly immobile beholds the pure (cloudless) sky, at that very moment, O goddess, he will acquire the nature of Bhairava (Supreme Consciousness).” (The Yoga of Delight, Wonder and Astonishment, p. 78).

As each object of Nature carries the energy of God, the Presence of Divine Consciousness, it follows that each object of Nature can then carry the wisdom of the Divine.  However, to experience that recognition we must stop, but for a moment, to consider Nature to be a manifestation of God.

Even the path of the sun in the sky, lends itself to revealing the mysterious Presence of God in its very predictability.  Further contemplating the sun, I have experienced its generosity in the sensation of warmth on my skin, or in the taste of fruit in remembrance of the sun’s rays.

The ways in which we can contemplate Nature and find solace in it is endless.  In fact, images of Nature, simply gazing at Nature, can naturally return us to a state of peace.  Such images are abundant, infinite and easily accessible. Walking outside and gazing up at the sky, or simply sitting where you are and remembering the vastness of the sky can lure you to the experience of knowing you are in the Presence.

The Native American reverence for Nature is well known and continues to gain respect as many look to deepen their understanding and challenge previously held beliefs and assumptions.

Consider the wisdom in this statement from the Mohawk Nation, “We are shown that our life exists with the tree life, that our well being depends on the well-being of the vegetable life, that we are close relatives of the four-legged beings.  In our ways, spiritual consciousness is the highest form of politics . . . We believe that all living things are spiritual beings.  Spirits can be expressed as energy forms manifested in matter.  A blade of grass is an energy form manifested in matter – grass matter.  The spirit of the grass is that unseen force which produces the species of grass, and it is manifest to us in the form of real grass.”(15)

Any aspect of Nature, from a single acorn, to the changing seasons can teach us more of the Truth of who we are.  What if we were to listen, and let God be God in any and all manifestations before us?  Might then we glimpse the beauty and peace of the Eternal in the Present moment?

P.S.  If you are interested in learning and experience moments of Divinity in Nature, consider joining my Women’s Retreat in Provence, June 2010.  Only 3 spots left!

By Melanie | Posted in meditation, mindfulness, power of now, sacred threads | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

practice of the presence

September 7, 2009 – 5:47 pm

It’s probably a little sacrilegious that I put myself (and you too) in the same realm as saints & sages.  Oh well.  Along with saints and sages, I think that we, too, can know and live in the Truth of the joyous declaration from the Koran, “God is the East and the West, and wherever ye turn, there is God’s face.”  Such a declaration demands that we expand our ideas of who or what God is.

In challenging my limiting beliefs about God, I find a Magnificence that cannot be captured in words…at least my words.  I understand the Truth of the Tao Te Ching teaching, “The Tao that can be spoken is not the true Tao.”  Yet, still I wander through this garden of words to play hide and seek with God.

In one moment, the devotional seeker in me listens for and attempts to follow the quiet impulses of  my heart that encourage me to see  the face of the Lord, where ever I turn, in what ever circumstance I find myself.  I seek and sometimes find the true contentment of the Presence of God in myself, in the person I’m with or even the clickety clacking of my fingers on the keyboard.  With or without devotion, it’s THAT that I seek, THAT single Consciousness that playfully hides in some infinite number of creative manifestations.

In this Game, I find the humble wisdom of Brother Lawrence to be a signpost guiding my Way.

In the early sixteen hundreds, a humble footman gazed at a simple tree, its outline stark against the winter sky.  The tree stood barren of leaves with only the promise of its summer bounty hidden within.  As Nicholas Herman of Lorraine lost himself in the contemplation of this simple tree, he found himself overcome and forever changed by Grace.  He was given a “high view of the providence and power of God.”

The sight of a dry, barren tree and the vision of its full beauty bursting forth in Spring was the catalyst of his conversion.  At the age of eighteen, he began his walk to God, throughout the rest of his life seeking only the Presence of God.  Soon following this vision, Nicholas Herman became a Carmelite monk and took the name Brother Lawrence.

Brother Lawrence was not a prolific writer, nor was he a scholar.  His was a simple Way.  His gift to us was his compassionate and concise wisdom collected in a slender book entitled, “The Practice of the Presence of God.”

Throughout the centuries his simple Way has attracted and consoled seekers from many traditions who aspire to know God.  Even today he continues to be an inspiring model for living in the awareness of the Presence of God.  He wrote, “I renounced for the love of Him everything that was not He, and I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world.”

How completely simple, yet how completely profound was his unassuming wisdom.  Such is the way that he approached his life, from his humble work of fifty years in the monastery kitchen to his relationships with his contemporaries.  He walked through his days making room for the Presence of God in each unfolding moment.

Brother Lawrence

He performed all the ordinary tasks of his daily life in the continual remembrance of the Presence of God, always “pleasing myself by doing things to please God.”  As he cooked, he cooked with an awareness that he was cooking for the Lord.  As he washed dishes, he washed dishes with the awareness that he was washing dishes for God.  As he ate, he ate with the awareness that it was God that he was feeding.

Although he lived a seemingly uncomplicated life in a remote monastery, he wrote with clarity and honesty of his sufferings and failings.  With his own body being “lame” and the difficulties accompanying such a handicap, not to mention the trials of daily life, he encouraged aspirants to persevere in the discipline of seeking out the Presence of God.

He wrote, “Think often on God, by day, by night, in your business, and even in your diversions.  Lift up your heart to Him, sometimes even at your meals, and when you are in company . . . It is not necessary for being with God to be always at church.  We may make an oratory of our heart.”

What an inspired understanding, in continually making room for the Presence of God in the present moment, I can make a temple, a house of worship, in my own heart!   The power of such simple practices; continually making room for the Presence of God in all things, all activities, all people, all circumstances, and doing all things for the love of God filled Brother Lawrence with perfect faith and unwavering devotion to God.

Free from the distractions of the world that might lead him astray in his love of the Presence of God, he revealed a clear and simple path through the maze of daily life.  Although I live the life of a householder, rather than a monk, I can still learn from his sublime example and perhaps gradually free myself from the distractions that lead me away from recognizing and welcoming the all-pervasive Presence in ordinary circumstances.

In welcoming this Presence in each moment, in making room for this Presence in each moment, I experience a stream of Love flowing steadily from my heart.  It is that same Love that is the Presence.  What a mysterious paradox is this play!  Looking into the lives of great beings such as Brother Lawrence, I stumble across practices and wisdom that lead me to the experience of the all-pervasive Presence of God.

By Melanie | Posted in sacred threads, this i believe | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

metta meditation

July 11, 2009 – 6:49 pm

Just a quick note to let y’all know that I just uploaded a free metta meditation recording.  I hope you like it and you are inspired to meditate.  Post a comment and let me know what you think or better yet, tell us about your meditation practice.

I know that the recording is not studio quality.  So, that’s covered.  We dont’ have to go there.

You can find the recording under my brand new page “free stuff.”

Enjoy.

By Melanie | Posted in meditation, relationships | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

sacred threads ~ pronouns for god

July 1, 2009 – 7:43 pm

“I, you, he, she, we.
In the garden of mystic lovers,
these are not true distinctions.”

~ Shams of Tabriz

Does the mystical Divine subscribe to a particular pronoun?

I tend to think not.  That may explain my ruthless abandonment of rules when I write about, speak to, consider “GOD.”  Sometimes, He, sometimes She, sometimes It … out in that field.  That field free of rules, that’s where I meet the Mystic.

As you might have discerned by now, I’m interested in exploring the sublime Knowledge of the Truth as described by saints and seekers across a wide variety of spiritual traditions and in my own experience.  In sharing this exploration, I’m first devoting space to the consideration of what various scriptures and sacred writings say about who or what God is . . . to me.

Here’s where I’m landing today (and for the last several years now).  In the feelings of inner peace, delight and love – that’s where I most feel the connection to Holy (see how I mix it up?  What is God’s true Name after all?).

I think of God as that all-pervasive Consciousness that permeates all that is.  I am THAT.  So are you.  So is every thread that comes together to weave this tapestry we are all creating together.  To tune into that awareness and align with the Vibration of Consciousness takes practice, attention, awareness, mindfulness and willingness.  I’m talking about willingness to drop our limited understanding, concepts and ideas, willingness to open to the presence of Grace in this unfolding moment.

For me, it gets rather simple.  If I’m feeling good, I’m feeling God.  If not, it’s up to me to restore my state to a more LIFE affirming stance . . . not through denial, through acceptance and transcendence.  I’ll get to that later :)

After all, God’s right here.  If I’m not there?  Where am I?

My golden key is in the embrace of the inherent power of taking full responsibility for myself while abandoning that sometimes not so unconscious wish and waiting for rescue from any of my own destructive tendencies.  By destructive here, I am referring to that old definition of “sin.”  Sin derived from the archer’s term of “sinning” – when one misses the mark.

This is not your mother’s “sin.”  If my mark is SELF-realization (recognizing with steadfast cognizance, I am THAT”), sin is anything that is not in alignment with recognition of the Truth.  Because that TRUTH is right here, right now as near as my next breath, as intimate as my own heartbeat.  My glorious responsibility in this play of Consciousness is to drop into the ever-available peace, love and/or joy in this moment.

The really good news is that it’s not that tough.  These days there are numerous tools and technologies at our fingertips to transcend our own limited state and return to the Garden.

Later, I’ll share more about how I return to the Garden.  For now, try this – re-read the poem at the beginning of this post.  Now, take a deep breath and read it again.  One more time, this time out loud (if you can without your neighbors calling the men in white coats).  What did you discover?

Like a hiker who has come to a magnificent vista as she rounds a curve on a trail, pause, take a breath, look up at the sky.  Even if you are inside, you close your eyes and remember the vista of the vast sky.  Breathe in and allow room for that mystical Presence hidden within the  the poem.  Give that Presence room and time to peek out at you and present itself.

It may also be useful for you to know my own thinking in regards to how to best play with this blog.  First, you might want to print it out, or set it as your home page so you can read and re-read.  I imagine that some of what I write may challenge you.  That’s ok with me.  I hope it’s ok with you.  Share your comments on the blog.

As you can tell by now, I’m not a scholar, I’m not a theologian.  My sole credential is that I love God, God of my understanding.  I yearn to love Him even more deeply and know Her completely.  And, I’m ok with the Mystery.

Most of us walk in blindness to the experience of the great Truth, despite the abundance of sacred and mundane writings pointing us clearly and directly to the Presence all around us and within us.  In this blindness, I not only accept but embrace the challenge of cultivating disciplined (read playful) self-responsibility and engaging self-effort to shift my identification from my small ego self to my True SELF . . . all the while LOVING that small ego self.

This challenging and playful dance reminds me of my worthiness to live in the steady awareness of God, allowing me to touch Love, experience Peace and delight in Joy.  Such rigorous assumption of self-responsibility jogs my memory of the Truth of who I am (and you are) creating heaven on earth ~ my personal paradise.

By Melanie | Posted in Uncategorized, cultivating peace, power of now, sacred threads | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

surprising waves of grief

May 7, 2009 – 2:13 pm

img_40322I’m back from my world travels!  Yayyyy!  Greece was beautiful and I look forward to returning to that part of the world.  I lived in Izmir, Turkey when I was younger and loved it.  It was a magical time in my life.

Being in this part of the world again caught me by suprise.  The first couple of days I was PRICKLY!  My dear daughter only had to look at me sideways and I would start crying.  It was an odd combination of events that came together in a roaring confluence.

Making it all the more challenging was that I did not have a clue what was going on with me.  After much contemplation (yayyyy for self-reflection!), I realized I missed my mom, I missed my daughters knowing my mom and I missed my daughter even though she was now only a few feet away from me.

Here’s the deal, grief snuck up on me and gave me a good thump in my heart.  My mom passed in 1996 and Hannah, my youngest, has been living in France since January.  Compound that with being around ruins.  RUINS.  That’s what thumped my heart and opened this contorted grief storm.  We never really know what’s going to set off grief.

For me, this time, ruins.  When we lived in Turkey, my family would spend weekends finding ruins, playing in Ephesus, and generally having great adventures.  Ruins were my playground and it was magical.  Ruins reminded me of that time and of my mom.  And, I missed her.  A LOT.

Once I figured out wth was going on with me, it was much easier to just allow the tears.  I’m a big advocate of self-reflection.  Know Thyself.  What better place to engage in contemplation and self-reflection than Delphi?  Though the columns that support that ancient guidance have long ago collapsed, the wisdom lives on.

By Melanie | Posted in 3 Good Things, Uncategorized, birthday, meditation, mindfulness, power of now, relationships, this i believe | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

peer pressure

March 2, 2009 – 3:00 pm

If you’ve been following this blog, you know that I have given up driving over the speed limit for Lent.  The other day, I found myself on one of the country roads that wind through the hills of East Tennessee and lead to my house.  The speed limit on this slow winding road is 35 mph.  I usually travel between 45 and 50 mph on this stretch of going home.

Apparently the driver of the large Ford behind me typically enjoys traveling well above the 35 mph posted limit as well.  As I toddled along, I had to work to draw my eyes away from my rear view mirror.

I felt compelled to speed up to “please” the driver behind me, who seemed to really like driving close to the bumber of my little Miata.

Breathing deeply, wishing him well.  I noticed the color of the hay on the hillside shimmered with a particularly lovely shade of gold.  I smiled, hoping my fellow traveler noticed.

Within a moment or two, he backed away and slowed down.

Here’s to being mindful and present to my own intentions rather than swept away in the push and pull of peer pressure.

By Melanie | Posted in mindfulness | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Holding On Letting Go

February 19, 2009 – 12:29 pm

We humans have a shared habit.  We are often hold onto things that hurt us and let go of things that help us rather than the other way around.  Two sides of the same coin, this holding on and letting go.

In a recent conversation with a group of extraordinary women, we drifted into exploring the very human tendency to hold on.  We hold on to old hurts, regrets, resentments, expectations.  We hold onto ideas, beliefs, stuff.  There are endless possibilities for holding on.

Here’s the thing, when holding on and letting go is out of balance, we are restricting our capacity to experience  freedom and peacefulness in the present moment.

One very like-able woman held onto the idea that at some point her adult son would come around to appreciating her and would actually like her.  Another held onto a desire for her mother to be happy in the midst of a very challenging time.  Yet another held onto the wish for a medical procedure to be in her past and not in her future.  One woman talked about holding on to stuff that was cluttering up her home.  And I have been holding on to the expectation that a person I have been trying to contact would actually return my calls as well as my frustration that they haven’t thus far.

All of this holding on, whether it is a thought, a belief, a person, a desire, even an old, out-dated way of being robs each of us of the joy and peace available in the present.  In fact, it is impossible to fully be present to what IS when we are wishing for what could be, lamenting the past and hoping for the future.

Someone once asked an esteemed monk, “What is the secret of your contentment?”  He replied, “I don’t mind what is.”

As this group of wise women played around in the field of accepting what is, it became clearer to me that when holding on and letting go are in balance, it is easier to enter that garden of contentment – not minding what is – it is easier to enter the sublime garden of the present moment.

So, the question I invite you to play with is this; when you are experiencing any kind of suffering, what are you holding on to?  And, borrowing from the Sedona Method, ask yourself these questions; Could I let go?  Would I let go?  When?  Asking several rounds of these questions can help loosen your grip.

By Melanie | Posted in mindfulness, power of now, this i believe | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Being Present

February 3, 2009 – 7:20 pm

Rushing to meet Kaitlyn (daughter) and David (husband) for dinner one night last week, I arrived at the meeting place to find myself harried and waiting….and frustrated.  In my mind, we had already rushed through dinner and were arriving late for Tennessee Shines.  Am I the only one does this?

So, I sat in the car and breathed deeply and evenly.  Though calmer and a little more present, I was still frustrated by the time David arrived.  Being my best friend, he asked what was wrong.  Being his best friend, I told him, with as much kindness and respect as I could.  Though I was frustrated with him for not meeting me at the time I thought we were meeting, my frustration was not his responsibility.

What struck me about this moment in time when I was out of this moment was how easy it was to come back to the present.  I mean, it didn’t happen in the snap of my fingers, but as I reflect on what happened, I recognize a couple of components that brought me back so that by the time Kait showed up, I was fully present and happy to be where I was.

The reason I think it’s important to reflect on this stuff is that I think it takes practice, and for me, I need to know what I’m practicing.

First, I practiced self acceptance – accepting that I was frustrated and worried about being late.

Second, I took responsibility for my own state without blaming others.

Third, I began working to restore my state with breathing (and another trick that’s takes more explanation than I want to go into here).

Fourth, this is where it’s interesting for me because I told David what was going on for me and he listened, really listened as he usually does, and he gave me empathetic understanding.  He didn’t justify or resist me, he simply accepted how I felt and conveyed his understanding of what I was experiencing.  Why that’s interesting is that because he was being present, he was fully present with me.  And, his being present helped me return to the present.

So, again I am reminded of the incredible power of self acceptance, self responsibilty, the breath and empathy.  I imagine that had David been less than empathetic, I might have found even more reasons to hold onto my frustration, trying to justify my position and stayed even more stuck in some moment other than the present moment.  I would have discharged the charge without his empathy, but it would have taken me longer.  Yayy for empathy!

By Melanie | Posted in power of now, relationships | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

Expanding Into The Present Moment

January 21, 2009 – 6:06 pm

For a long time now, I’ve asked my daughter to teach me to cook. More than once, she declined. Instead, she’s chosen to teach me ABOUT cooking via her favorite things in the world, books. For Christmas she gave me two books in her series of “Teaching Mama about Cooking.”

The first book The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection, opened my eyes to the experience of cooking free – free from my ideas, rules, pain, old experiences. I realized how bound up I am about cooking. And, I’ve been cooking. Cooking Good Food. I’m surprised.

In the past, I’ve cooked mostly to eat, not to experience the journey of cooking. From the moment of walking into the kitchen and opening a cabinet to sitting at a candlelit table across from the love of my life, it is a real journey. I can be present for that journey or I can be somewhere wandering in some imagined future moment when I’m sitting to eat.

I never really saw that choice before. Something’s happening. I’m expanding. No, I don’t mean my waistline. I am expanding into the wide open spaces of the present moment.

What works for you to help you stay present to the preciousness of life’s moments?

By Melanie | Posted in mindfulness, power of now | Tagged , , | Comments (0)