A Meditative Experience

Through both my mothers love of yoga and Erich Schiffmann, I was invited to, in exchange for helping set up for the yoga retreat, attend two of the gatherings and lectures of Erich Schiffmann.
Erich was a large, nearly towering man, with long, curly, blondish-gray hair, broad shoulders, and a soft, open face. His voice was also sort of soft, and he spoke gently. He moved with the grace and energy unmatched by most male yoga teachers I have experienced. One could say, without hesitation, he was in touch with his divine masculinity.
Erich spoke to us about intuitive yoga practice and led us into a guided meditation. (Note: I currently adore guided meditations, maybe because I need more self confidence, maybe because I never really know exactly what to do or think once in meditation in order to actually get somewhere.)
What I experienced sitting there on my yoga mat was quite the experience. My mind became quiet, and for a split second, a small crack or window in the physical dimension opened up. Love, eternity, joy, and ecstasy all came flooding into me. It was a glimpse of the inner workings of the universe I will never forget.

What is a Free Spirit?

A free spirit dances in the moonlight, sings in the sunlight and doesn’t care whose watching. Playing past dusk and awake past dawn, a free spirit doesn’t abide by anything but their own spontaneity residing inside their sun-kissed shell. A free spirit doesn’t regret the past – relationships, arguments, or losses. A free spirit doesn’t worry about the future – trials and tribulations that may or may not lie ahead. A free spirit lives in the present moment: Now. They find light in the dark world that lies around them and sometimes within them. They accept the shadows in their human experience – identify, discover and grow from them. An internal focus of control gives them the ability to live, love and learn for themselves. Not self-centered but always self-respecting. A free spirit realizes he or she has a house within nature but not always a place to call home. Never lost, because they are never going anywhere in specific, they wander the lonely roads with a smile ear to ear because they are what everyone else wishes they could be: Free.

A Wise Woman told Me

“I knew a wise woman

And she said to me

That the river would mold me

And the wild wind would cool me

The the trickster the coyote

He would fool me

That father sun would warm me

Mother earth would clothe me
Grandmother moon would greet me

And of the old ways she would teach me
Wise woman, she told me

To always walk lightly

Tread the earth ever gently

Lovingly so preciously

And take from her sparingly

She said, to share with others

What you have learned from me

Be still and breathe, ever patiently

For the web of life

Has woven what is to be

But you must still chose

Your own path, you will see

And lastly, the wise woman said to me
To listen to the wise one

That dwells within me

To walk my path in balance

Is too be free

More than just words

So mote it be”

Lucille Moore, A Wise Woman

How to Become Enlightened

Ten steps to enlightenment:

1. Stop trying to become enlightened. Put down the practice, go inside you and ask yourself: What do I hope to experience by becoming enlightened?
Ask yourself, what do I not have right now that I want to have? Success, peace? Freedom from worry, fear, death? Be specific.

2. Get really quiet and ask yourself this: What am I willing to do to achieve this goal? Are you serious about this, or do you want someone else to enlighten you so you can go make money and be free from your egoic self-identity at the same time? This is a real trap!

3. Are you happy today? What are you feeling right now? Peace, boredom, fear? Write it down. What do you think you need in order to be happy? Write it down.

4. Do you think that enlightenment is achieved through suffering of some kind? Be serious and write down whatever comes to mind.

5. Do you think that your body can give you enlightenment? For example, through postures, sitting for long periods, breathing, etc. Be honest.

6. What is your idea about God? Write whatever comes to mind. This is a very important point. Ideas about God are always limiting.

7. Do you pray and why? Do you know who you are praying to? Are you sure there is someone there? Do you hear a voice speaking to you? Do you feel a presence? What is it like? Describe it.

8. Are you willing to change your beliefs about God? What if God’s Will for you is perfect happiness…would you believe that?

9. Are you willing to take responsibility for every thought you are thinking by accepting the fact that you are the thinker? Most people just accept that their thoughts are true because they are thinking them. What if none of them were true? How would that make you feel? Would you want to know what is true?

10. If God created you perfect and whole, is this what you experience now? In other words, are you totally aware that you are a complete idea in the Mind of God? Do you want to know yourself as this? If not, go and try to achieve something here. Good luck and enjoy all of it totally. You will either find it or not. But it should be an adventure either way.

Heart of the Cosmos

Cosmic sun-stream waterfalls,

lightning roar,
thirst collide,

descending iridescent star-orbs,

glowing lamp electron’s,
thunder shine,

fusing empress moon,

Soul-core labyrinth,
blazing revive 
Deluging,
liquid light combustion,
unique magic-soft enchant,
Melting into warm infinity,

Powerful affection afire,
embrace love’s sweet infuse, balanced interlace.


~Aatmagaialove
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Natural Love of Nature

And if I ever did love, I’ve loved the natural world. I’ve loved the moon and the stars as much as I have the trees and the rain. I’ve loved the darkness because I know it will soon be light again. I’ve loved the sweet summer breeze and the blinding sun as I have the bitter winter wind and the sparkling blanket of white. If ever I have loved, if ever I have known love, it has been for the natural world.

~wontsinkk
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Color of Life

Life is boring everything is grey … sometimes I can’t breath. I want to touch everything to make it shimmer and my body vibrate with life; I want to feel Indian and African drums pulse through my skin, Celtic violins and flutes whistle through my veins. a piano and old chants and yelps to catch my throat.. guitars and harps to tingle and prick my fingers and trumpets, saxophones and french horns to burst through me… I want to my hair fly and feet burn from dancing to it all and fall into a bed of moss, feathers and flowers… I want to wade into a lake of liquid fairy dust and eat white chocolate covered roses …….I just want to have color again

~Witchwigbat
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Why Does It Hurt so much to be on Earth?

Sometimes I feel like I don’t belong here. Like coming here was a mistake. But then again who doesn’t feel this way on occasion.
Personally I think I have had previous reincarnations on other planets, although I do have memories of being here as well.
Even though the burden here on earth can be quite heavy sometimes I know I left my other homes and soul families because through the pain I learned compassion; anger gave me clarity and strength I needed to endure. My loneliness taught me self awareness. By experiencing my greatest fears I learn courage.
All these pains are simply the gathering of experience. We grow by learning; we wouldn’t know happiness without the knowledge of sadness.

Recipe for a Bath

1 tub hot water
1 cup Epsom salt
1/2 cup baking soda
Favorite soap

Optional-
Bath salts
Candles
Calming music

Directions
1) Combine ingredients in or around tub.
2) Soak for as long as needed.

Happy Bathing 🙂

Anger

Bonfire blasting around my center
The smoke curls through my throat
Caught
Seeking escape into screams
Hateful words slice through my mind
Blindness takes over
Lashing out
Dying down
Inner wounds reveal themselves
Weeping blue tears
Ugly old scabs of imperfectious disappointments
Feelings of unfarity
Holes where love should be.