Awakening sense

an uninvited guest

2009-12-23T11:38:17-05:00

The spirit of awakening tends to arrive as an uninvited guest. It can be a delicate situation. Particularly as this guest is armed and dangerous from ego-mind's point of view.

So preparations are best made: readiness to gracefully receive whatever may come. Maybe some training to withstand any shocks or hard knocks.

On the other hand the special guest may be utterly beguiling, charming and opening the heart.

Of course one can attempt to avoid this party crasher. We can bar the windows and lock the doors, even ignore any persistent knocking.

But as we turn around we might be amazed to suddenly find this untamed force sitting in our favorite chair, totally at home.

Then what?
Ready or not, it would be an unforgettable encounter.

speed bumps

2009-12-20T12:39:48-05:00

It's the plight of many spiritual aspirants: loss of initial spontaneity.
Practice becomes repetitive, a replica of its previous self.

Spiritual rigor mortis sets in.
We begin bumping into the walls of old limitations.

Ego-mind busily manipulates our insights and intuitions.
It makes them into caricatures that drain our spiritual batteries.

In desperation it reverts to any takeover tactic, confident in its skills at subterfuge.
That's just its nature.

As our transitional self kicks in we're less taken in by this charade.
Then awakening's work proceeds in earnest, its golden thread leading the way through mind's maze.

What's given and received flows through the strands of this thread.

This current's force dislodges us from our dream-life.
It forms a stream flowing directly to the gates of our inner garden.

rarest of wines

2009-12-16T12:41:12-05:00

There's a matchless wine that stills the tongue, empties the mind, fills the heart.
Its fragrance alone melts our bindings, inspiring us to relinquish even more.

The more imbibed the more collected one becomes. This sobriety outdoes any spiritual intoxication.

Imitation labels just add to ego-mind's antics. Mind gets stilled temporarily only to thunder back with more hang-ups and hangovers.

But awakening's wine puts an end to this. Our mental debris is incinerated.
Its flame increases at the expense of our dream-self.

That's to say ego-mind is led toward effacement's simplicity.
Quests for power are abandoned, pretenses are bypassed, and heart/mind flourishes.

treasure's keys

2009-12-13T08:54:00-05:00

We ourselves are the lock to awakening's treasure chest. Imagine two different keys needed to open this lock, each held by its guardian, each keeping the other in check.

One key is heart's unique longing, a yearning that's not ours, that's from awakening itself.

Another key is disinterest, mind detached from any outcome.
Dispassionate, it helps avoid claiming this longing as our own.

Meanwhile true heart's longing keeps us from becoming too distant, losing touch with spirit's living current.

The cold steel and fiery heat of these keys combine.
A new tool's forged that heart/mind wields.

It becomes indispensable for transitional self.
It becomes vital for awakening's work becoming conscious.