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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)

committed love

January 8, 2010 – 12:50 pm

With delightful curiosity, a client recently asked, “What is the benefit of participating in a committed relationship?”  Great question.  I’m a fan of the long term commitment to learning to love one person and letting that person learn to love me.  Yet, with her question, I couldn’t quite find the words to answer the question.

So here’s round 2 of my attempt answer that question from my perspective and I would love it if you would join the conversation and add your point of view.

I think I’d start the exploration of answering that question with another question (tricky, right?), “What have been the benefits of your participation in other loving, committed relationships?”

I think there are “shiny” little presents that come from participating in a committed loving relationship that don’t show up in other areas of life.  I’m not just talking about the Redbook response here…you know…companionship, someone sharing your jokes…I’m talking about the benefit of participating in a committed relationship has to your spiritual growth.

I think that that participating in a committed relationship implies love.  That loving relationship then forms a kind of crucible for transformation.  In that crucible, I think we have the potential of becoming more adept at knowing what to let go of and what to hold on to — perhaps an essential knowing in growing more into who we really are as we walk in this human life — balancing attachment and non-attachment.

Another benefit is learning to balance respect for self with respect for other — learning to recognize, over and over and over the Divine within me and the Divine before me.  This kind of real balancing act becomes more nuanced in committing to love someone totally.  It becomes more nuanced in the community of intimate love.  Then, the love itself, the relationship itself becomes the wisdom teacher.  This wisdom blossoms in the field of committed love — again, what do I hold on to and what do I let go of in order to cultivate the knowledge of the Truth?  Not an easy question to answer.  Harder still in the context of committed relationships.  If not for the commitment, I don’t have to ask the question.

In a committed relationship, there’s the challenge to not lose oneself in the process, not to betray oneself — to remain true to oneself.  In some ways, I think being in a committed relationship is a commitment to discover and live in Truth – THROUGH the learning that comes from being in committed relationship.  So the commitment is a commitment to Truth and to the Self.  The relationship is the mirror.

And, let me tell you, after 30 years with the same person, sometimes that mirror needs some significant polishing!  The polishing takes the form of owning my shadow self with all its gradations and engaging deep with those parts of me that I would rather disown, deny or project out on my beloved.  He’s not so keen to be the object of my projections.  Truth told, neither am I.

Some say that this kind of commitment is a high level sadhana, spiritual practice and walk.  I’m not so sure, because that implies a greater than and a less than.  I don’t really buy into that line of thinking when it comes to sadhana.  That said, being in relationship like this, with this kind of commitment sometimes feels like graduate school at finals time!

I also think that there are layers and textures of humility, strength, love and respect that I wouldn’t be able to totally grock if not in relationship – these divine qualities expressed in humanity revealed in committed love shine as light through a mult-faceted diamond – hard won.  Just as a diamond is formed and revealed only after being subjected to pressure, a LOT of pressure – a lump of coal under pressure.  Perhaps committed love is the same.

The rough and unseen, unacknowledged and unrecognized rough edges of the ego are gradually exposed and worn away – revealing the shiny love of the Soul.  Whereas the ego reveals itself in our reactions each other,  the Soul may reveal itself in our deep acceptance of each other.

Still with me?

As for this kind of deep true acceptance, there’s the opportunity to unravel some metaphors of LIFE.  If I’m feeling challenged to fully accept something about my beloved, what’s the something?  What’s the metaphor here, what am I trying to teach myself through metaphor?  What does it really mean to accept another beyond the concretized illusion in front of me?

Another area in this playground of committed love is the jungle gym of power – relinquishing power and asserting power – more of learning to discern what to hold onto and what to let go of – that dance between our masculine and feminine natures.

In this dance, on this playground, I think that committed love has the potential of moving us past the IDEA of love to LOVE.  To love the idea of LOVE without the practical experience of getting back to LOVE frees seems to imprison one in a kind of virtuous delusion, liberated from the daily, sometimes moment by moment  struggle to fully LOVE someone – warts and all AND letting them learn to love you.

So.  LOVE becomes a territory, often without a good map.  It’s full of surprises, challenges, raw untamed beauty and raw untamed pain.  Commitment increases your capacity to love beyond what you think possible.  This kind of commitment demands you stay AWAKE and intentional.  It demands that you increase your capacity to fully see from another’s perspective.  Ken Wilber said, “The more perspectives I can see – the more I can LOVE.”

Obviously, this is not the only territory for transcendence, just one of the playgrounds.

The goal of this kind of love is transcendence:  trance – end – dance.

All this said, it seems to me that the big questions to ask are “What is the benefit of committing to love this person?  Are we both committed enough to awakened love, to do the hard work, to live outside the gilded cage of the idea of love to explore the unmapped territory of LOVE?”

On a lighter note, make some popcorn and rent “THE PRINCESS BRIDE.”  This fable is chock-ful of metaphors, fun, and heroism in the territory of LOVE.

OH!  And, check out my New Year’s Message Tele-Retreat!

So, what do you think?  Join the conversation and add your two cents.

By Melanie | Posted in cultivating peace, relationships | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

real gifts

December 10, 2009 – 4:33 pm

Just hear those sleigh bells ringaling . . .

Surely I’m not the only one to realize that here we are in the middle of December and I’ve done nothing, that’s nuh-thing with a capital “NUH.”  The sweet part about this for me is that this doesn’t really bother me.  I consider it to be one of those charming idiosyncrasies about myself that I just embrace.  For some reason, holidays sneak up on me…birthdays, valentine’s day, anniversaries.  You get the picture.

I think that part of this is due to my thinking that the real gifts are the wonderful attributes and qualities that ooze out of the people with whom I share my life.  AND, they’re all the ways that I try to share myself with others in an authentic, transparent way…letting my own lovely qualities shimmer.

Heart gift

It might sound hokey, but it’s true.

From where I play, there are lovely qualities that shine in each one of us.  Some of those treasures might just need a little polishing so we can bring them out for company.  I’m polishing a couple right now myself, patience and persistence.  I never knew polishing virtues could be so much fun.

Last week, a woman shared with me that for the first time, she really got what a tremendous gift she could give her husband by really listening deeply to him, without trying to fix him, without rushing to some new task, without ideas about what he’s REALLY saying…just listening.

So what are the real gifts that you want to give those folks with whom you share your life?

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

sacred threads ~ nature’s doorway

November 11, 2009 – 1:18 pm
Charleston on the Battery

Charleston on the Battery

If’ you’ve been reading for a while, you know by now that I find comfort in exploring my spirituality from multiple vantage points including diving into esoteric spiritual texts from a variety of cultures and human experience.  One of these texts is the Vijnana Bhairava. This book 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, at the sky.  “If one makes himself thoroughly immobile beholds the pure (cloudless) sky with fixed eyes, at that very moment, O goddess, he will acquire the nature of Bhairava (Supreme Consciousness).”

One 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, our bodies still and minds quiet.  We breathed deeply and took in the great expanse above us.  After some time, I asked her if she could see the thousands of tiny dots of light that seemed to be dancing before my eyes.  She did.  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.

As each object of Nature carries the energy of God, the Presence of the Divine, it follows that each object of Nature can then carry the wisdom of the Divine.  However, to experience that recognition I must stop, but for a moment, to consider it to be a manifestation of God.  I pause.  And, in that pause, Nature seems to open a doorway to reveal some Truth.

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 experience its generosity in the sensation of warmth on my skin or taste a bite of fruit in remembrance of its rays.  The ways in which I can contemplate Nature and find solace in it is truly endless.

In fact, images of Nature, simply gazing at Nature can naturally return me to a state of peace.  Such images are abundant, infinite and easily accessible.  For instance, walking outside and gazing up at the sky, or simply sitting where I am and remembering the vastness of the sky can lure me to the experience of knowing I am in the Presence of God.

It’s comforting to me to know I’m not alone in my quest to deepen my relationship to Spirit and to use any doorway that takes me there.  Nature is a broad doorway.  The Native American reverence for Nature is well known and continues to gain respect as many look to deepen their understanding of and appreciation of Nature as well as challenge previously held beliefs and assumptions.

Consider the wisdom in this statement from the Mohawk Nation (This quote is from an old journal and I can’t find the source.  If anyone knows the source, please share), “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.”

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

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

sacred threads ~ searching for faith

November 5, 2009 – 3:42 pm


“The trees and rocks will teach you that which you cannot hear from masters.”

~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

For many seekers, contemplating Nature opens the door to a mystical life of untold beauty and spiritual bounty. What secrets might we learn in the contemplation of Nature?  What comfort might we find in its embrace?  Across traditions spiritual aspirants are encouraged to have faith in God’s love and grace.  Yet, in my life there are times when practical faith continues to elude me.  I suspect I’m not alone.  And if I take St. Bernard’s statement literally and look to nature as one of God’s teachers, I can contemplate its teaching and deepen my experience of faith.

For a moment today,  I gazed at a tree and considered how its roots reach deep into the dark rich earth.  I reflected on how the earth so generously provides a steady flow of nutrients and minerals so that the tree may continue to grow, reaching towards the sun.  All the while, the sun provides needed rays of light for growth.  And the sky opens itself to rain on the tree, giving it precious water.

Then I imagined myself as a tree with roots growing from my tailbone and feet.  I imagined the roots reaching through the floor beneath me and carving their way through concrete obstacles to reach the rich dark earth.  I imagined feeling the steady flow of the earth’s abundant strength and energy flowing into me and mingling with ‘my’ energy.

I then imagined a spinning orb of light blazing with the light of the sun, shining on me and through me, mingling with the energy of the earth, giving me everything that I need.  Faith.  From such a vantage point, might you too develop the faith of a tree, the confidence of its faith in the earth and the sun?  Recognizing the pure beauty of a tree’s simple faith, what else might the tree teach you and me?

What a sublime practice faith can become, if I remember to continually reminding myself, this too is God.  This too is God!  This too is God!  The teaching then comes alive and joy becomes mine for I can never be separate from God.  No matter what happens, no matter where I am, no matter who I’m with, I’m never without God, the God of my understanding.

Then the play continues.  My ego captures my attention with the pulls of attraction and aversion, and I swirl in the belief that I am separate.  I find myself gravitating towards a particular experience while avoiding another.  When I can’t avoid a circumstance that I would like very much to avoid, when I get caught up in how I would prefer things to be different, therein lies an invitation.

There, right there, is the invitation to loosen my grip on my ego and reach for Truth.  Instead, more often than I would like, I let myself get caught in the throes of the ego and I lose my equanimity, my sublime understanding that indeed I can never be separate from my Lord.

All this because I deny the Presence of the Lord, hidden in the fabric of the present moment.  What a game of Hide and Seek!  Fortunately, I can always begin again and remember this ‘too is God.’  Fortunately, my soul continues to yearn for the Truth and God hears my call.  The wind blows.  A leaf falls and my attention rests on a tree.


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

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)

sacred threads ~ elaborately unique

August 12, 2009 – 7:54 pm

An odd and curious child, my wide eyes sparkled with the wonder of life shimmering before me, well before I knew a word like “shimmer.”  With those eyes, I begin remembering . . . Who is God to me?

Quietly listening to my heart and continuing the adventure of Self-discovery . . .Who is God to me?  How do I experience Divinity?  Sitting quietly, you may even want to take a few deep breaths right now and allow the memory of your own personal experiences of God, of the Sacred, to unfold before you like gentle waves rolling onto a quiet beach.

I enjoy taking moments like this, moments to re-member God to me.  With deep controlled breaths, I remember.  After a bit, I let my breath to return to its own perfect rhythm and my body relaxes a little more with each breath, my mind relaxes its thoughts.

I invite you into this contemplation.  Contemplate with the playful freedom of a leaf floating on the wind, with the magical and innocent understanding of a child . . . “How have I experienced God?  When have I touched the Sacred?  Who is God?”

Sometimes I record these contemplations in my journal or a coloring book :)   Giving a space for these reflections in a journal gives me a tangible something to which I can return again and again for comfort, for remembrance, for the cultivation of unwavering faith.

If we were all to gather and share our experiences of the Divine, we would undoubtedly discover that our experiences are as varied, vast and elaborately unique as each of us.

Yet, if we look deeply into these experiences, we would find that the experience itself is remarkably similar, characterized by feelings of love, peace, and joy.  Only the circumstances surrounding the experiences differ.

What elaborate creativity this Great Consciousness uses for its Play!

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

sacred threads ~ who is god to you?

July 28, 2009 – 6:06 pm

Several years ago, standing alongside fellow seekers in a temple, my voice joined with other voices to sing hymns of love for Consciousness, for God, for Shiva, for Allah. . .  After some time, I felt enraptured by waves of immense bliss and infinite love.  My experience of who I am began to shift. No longer did I exist only in my own limited personal identity.  My “being” encompassed fellow seekers, the love we share, the temple, the early evening sky, the entire cosmos.

“I” consisted of all Existence; pervading all time and all space; permeating the fabric of all existence.  I experienced myself as being complete bliss and pure love.  This experience of myself lasted only a glancing moment.  Yet, this glancing moment changed me forever.  It seemed that I was given a glimpse of the answer to my burning question, “Who is God?”

My glimpse into the answer grounded me in faith that there is an answer.  What a sublime practice faith has become, reminding me as I move through daily life, “this too is God.” This too is God!  This too is God!  This practice of this understanding brings the teaching that God is ALL pervasive to life in my life.

Joy becomes mine as I more consistently recognize that I can never be separate from the Lord, whoever I conceive Her to be! No matter what happens, no matter where I am, no matter I’m with, I am never without God.

So, who is God?

“Who is God?”  Indeed, perhaps the most profound answer to this question lies in our own experiences.  For it is to those experiences that we turn and through which we ultimately find personal understanding.  Contemplating the question, “Who is God to me?” lead me to the remembrance of when I have experienced the Divine.  These experiences encompass both the profound life changing experiences such as the one I shared above and the more “mundane” experiences of daily life when the light and love of God pierces my routines.

The luscious fruit of these contemplations, these remembrances, are both scrumptious and enchanting.  Yet, for some mysterious reason, I didn’t really give myself full permission to contemplate this question.  I relegated this kind of knowing to scholars or saints, ministers or priests.

For the longest time, I presumed that intimate knowledge of God is obtainable only after death or in some future life. It is certainly not obtainable in this life, certainly not in this moment, and most certainly not by ordinary people, like me.
Yet, saints throughout history have offered all of us the treasure of their own great understanding of the Truth; “the Kingdom of God lies within.”

Still, I didn’t fully believe that. I think now, because I never asked the question, “Who is God to me? How can I experience the fullness of Consciousness in my daily life.  I resisted completely accepting that the Knowledge I seek is closer than the air I breathe.  The divinity I long for is closer than my own breath.

William Wordsworth, the great poet of the 19th Century captured his own experience of God in this poem,
“And I have felt
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man,
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of all
thought,
And rolls through all things.

I, like so many others, have felt that disturbing presence, that sublime joy which stops time and dissolves the illusion of separation from God.  Returning to the memory of those moments become golden threads that together weave a holy shawl for me. I can enfold myself in this shawl, protecting my faith from the howling winds of doubt.  And, I can use any number of tools, such as Z Point to clear all the ways I feel the cold fingers of doubt.

With my mind’s natural tendency to lay claim to the region of knowledge and truth, I sometimes listen only to the mind and ignore the quiet murmurs and reflections of my heart.  I know I’m not alone in this. :)

When I adopt the innocent vision and curiosity of a child, I’m back in the current of LIFE, enjoying the bubbling energy of faith, knowing everything is all right.  Everything is unfolding as it should.  How easily children seem to see and embrace the magic and mystery of life.  Their lives pulsate with awareness, albeit unconscious, of the Presence of Great Mystery.  Might we discover the mystical magic of daily life if we approach each day, each moment with humble and innocent curiosity?

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

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)