Tag Archives: divine feminine

a duet of paradox and praise

Posted on by

4

Two heart-healing poems from Chuck Surface.

I found these on the poetry blog – being silently drawn – one of my favourite online oases for mind medicine. Thank you Tina Koskelo.

First, the paradox of our wideawakeness: How can it be that we are not this or that but thisthat? How can it be that we are simultaneously wave and particle? How can we reconcile apparent dualism with the unsplitable reality of our experience? As it turns out, this endeavour on the part of the insatiable thinker is less paradoxical than it would have us believe.

Like, can there be more than one meaning to ONE?

And then, a little hymn to the Beloved.

 

Richard Diebenkorn - Coffee, 1959

 

cream, two sugars, please

 

Within… Fullness, Completion, and Bliss,

Without… She prefers milk chocolate to dark.

 

Within… nothing can be added, nothing taken away,

Without… everything comes to Her, and goes.

 

Within… Unmoving, Ineffable Sublimity,

Without… She experiences ever changing manifestation.

 

Within… joy and sorrow have never been,

Without… She Shines, even in the midst of tears.

 

Within… time and space have never existed,

Without… She is born, grows old, and dies.

 

Within… within and without never were,

Without… within and without ever are.

 

Within… no preferences, propensities, proclivities,

Without… cream, two sugars, please.

 

Within… The Sun Shines,

Without… All is Illumined.

 

 

intimacy

 

There’s no intimacy in talking “about” The Beloved,

Moving away from Her into words and concepts,

As if She is not Present.

 

How rude.

 

She exists in the Quiet Stillness of our Heart,

When Attention returns from outward wandering,

And falls into Her awaiting arms.

 

How Inexpressibly Beautiful.

 

Some have turned Her into a science,

And argue Her existence, lawyerly.

They know nothing of Her.

 

Arid minds.

 

She cannot be “proven” through argument,

Or anyone “convinced” of Her reality,

Short of direct Experience.

 

Direct… Experience.

 

Only Longing entices the Beloved,

From Her Secret Garden…

In the Cave of your Heart.

 

How Ineffably… Sublime.

 

Chuck’s poetry website is In the Garden of the Beloved – a place to rest, and be both soothed and intoxicated.

Richard Diebenkorn, Coffee, 1959; oil on canvas, 57 1/2 in. x 52 1/4 in.
[Did you notice the bindi?]

Collection: San Francisco Museum of Modern Art

when you know yourself

Posted on by

6

Rajasthan, India, Tantric Painting

 

when you know yourself

you know that there is nothing that is not God

you know that the face of God
is the Face of faces
you know It as both He and She
and neither: nada
you know It as the Beloved
whose embrace you can’t escape
you know Its Presence as your
absence, or rather,
your secret sensuous melting
into the ever-nowness of your aliveness

when you know yourself

you know that there is nothing
that is not this immeasurable immensity,
always hiding in plain view

you know It as the Nameless One
wearing any nametag with equal delight,
quivering like a child’s smile
simply to be noticed

Beloved
when you know yourself

you know that there is nothing that is not yourself

– miriam louisa

Image – Hindu Tantric painting, Rajasthan, India. Made using tempera, gouache, and watercolor on salvaged papers, these paintings from Rajasthan form a distinct lexicon dating back to the 17th century. They were/are used to awaken heightened states of consciousness. They are not produced for commercial purposes, but simply pinned up on the wall for use in private meditation.
In the example above, the lingam and the yoni have swapped their traditional colour depictions; the intense black of the lingam has become pink and the pink of the yoni is now black. (Lest we forget that the Dance of Consciousness is infinitely mutable, utterly defying all labels.)
The lingam represents Shiva, the transcendental source of all that exists; the yoni is the creative power of nature and represents the goddess Shakti.  The lingam united with the yoni represents the nonduality of immanent reality and transcendental potentiality.

Tantra Song: Tantric Painting from Rajasthan

 

meetings with remarkable women

Posted on by

0

Shawn Nevins at Poetry in Motion Films has recently released another “small film about big ideas” – this time a beautiful documentary about women and awakening.

Filmed in 2010 and 2011, Meetings With Remarkable Women explores women’s spirituality and the divine feminine through the spiritual paths of five women from varied backgrounds:

  • Linda — an Australian spiritual teacher whose discipline of meditation led to a profound spiritual realization.
  • Anima — whose childhood in India steeped her in spiritual traditions, but it took a journey to America before she realized her true desire was to find enlightenment.
  • Jem — who lived the roles of wife, mother, engineer, musician, and writer before discovering Reiki and A Course in Miracles; paths that eventually led her to a spiritual awakening.
  • Heather — from Christian to Atheist, Buddhist to free-form seeker of self knowledge wrestling with meditation, self-inquiry, and prayer.
  • Deborah — who, after the tragic loss of her husband, launched a years-long spiritual path through ancient Buddhist texts and the practice of Yoga that culminated in the discovery of a deep and lasting inner peace.
Yoga, Buddhism, meditation; enlightenment, awakening, realization, inner peace; Christianity, Atheism; Reiki, A Course in Miracles; Australia, India, America; loss and revelation: it’s all here as each woman tells a compelling story of struggle and discovery that is worthy of viewing time and again.
~

Call it spiritual cinema, spiritual documentary, or spiritual film, we’re engaged in examining the perennial questions: where did I come from? what has meaning? why am I here? where am I going? what is this place?

Through small films about big ideas, Poetry in Motion Films hopes to expand your possibilities for a life well-lived.

© Copyright Poetry in Motion Films 2012

.

all that dignifies, gives life, and astonishes

Posted on by

8

Another rendition of The Lord’s Prayer, or Jesus Prayer, translated from the original Aramaic by Mark Hathaway.

 

O source of the Wave,

which envelops and embraces the cosmos,
sustaining and renewing it at each moment,

Penetrate the deepest recesses of our hearts,
and there create a space for Thy holy shrine.

In this nuptial chamber,
conceive the creative potency of Thy Reign,

So that we may give birth to the embodiment of Thy desire:
as from the emanation, so too in form.

With passion and soul let us generate
that which is needed to sustain life this day.

Release us from the bondage of our karma,
as we free others from the captivity of their guilt.

And do not let superficiality cause us to vacillate,
but rather free us from all that impedes growth.

For from Thee bursts forth all that
dignifies, gives life, and astonishes,
from cycle to cycle, restoring wholeness.  Ameyn.

Translation by Mark Hathaway www.visioncraft.org

Related:

thy queendom come

from birthing to birthing

 

from birthing to birthing

Posted on by

4

Mark Hathaway has generously given me permission to post versions of the Aramaic Lord’s Prayer, or Jesus Prayer, published on his website: www.visioncraft.org These renditions are based on his studies with Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz, whose website is www.abwoon.com.

Mark is an author, web designer, and freelance “ecologian” studying the inter-relationships between ecology, economics, spirituality, and cosmology.  His latest book, co-authored with Leonardo Boff, is called The Tao of Liberation – Exploring the Ecology of Transformation; please go to www.taoofliberation.com/Home.aspx for more information.

For those interested in learning more about the Aramaic version of Jesus’ sayings, Prayers of the Cosmos by Neil Douglas-Klotz (Harper and Row, 1990) is highly recommended.

 

O Divine Womb,
birthing forth the river of blessing which runs through all,

Soften the ground of our being,
and hallow in us a space for the planting of thy presence.

In our depths,
sow thy seed with its greening-power
that we might be midwives to thy Reign.

Then, let each of our actions
bear fruit in accordance with Thy desire.

Impart to us the wisdom to bring forth the gifts of the earth
and share them daily according to the needs of each being,

And restore that which has been usurped
by injustice to its rightful owners,
as we restore to others that which is not our own.

Do not let us be seduced
by that which would divert us from our purpose,
but make us sensitive to the moment at hand.

For from Thy fertile soil is born the creativity,
the life-energy, and the dance,
from birthing to birthing.  Ameyn

Related:

thy queendom come

 

thy queendom come

Posted on by

7

Isabel Lilian Turner
26 October 1914 – 12 January 2011

The last of the ancient aunties has been fittingly farewelled. It was a small, simple, and serene funeral. Dying at 96 of plain weariness after a healthy creative life was cause for celebration and joy, yet we felt the quiet ache of her absence as well.

Included in the service was the recitation of The Lord’s Prayer, a mainstay and inspiration for so many souls. As I recited the lines I couldn’t help but inwardly offer up a different version, one that I learned many years ago. It’s a rendition from the Aramaic language, the tongue spoken by Jesus himself.

The version that we know as The Lord’s Prayer has been through the grist of Greek and the labyrinths of Latin before being translated into English, with all the modifications inherent in such a winding pathway. The shift, from a song of praise and supplication addressed to a matriarchal source of Life, to a patriarchal prayer, happened somewhere along the way.

Because Aramaic is a language that – like most indigenous languages – allows for many different possibilities to be present simultaneously, there are many different renditions. They are like subtly different perfumes given off by a single glorious flower.

I came away from the funeral with a little project – to post as many versions from the Aramaic as I can find, or gain permission to publish.

Perhaps you have a favorite version you’d like to contribute?

 

O cosmic Birther of all radiance and matter!

Soften the ground of our being and carve out a space within us where Your Presence can abide.

Fill us with your creativity so that we may be empowered to bear the fruit of Your mission.

Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.

Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what each being needs to grow and flourish.

Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.

Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities of the present moment.

For You are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth-power and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made whole once again.

Ameyn