Haiku Ellipses...Invitation...Response...

PINE GARDEN roots of the pine tree like arms reaching out around her flower children this image popped while at a park and now i'm bringing it to life....time will complete the process, bringing it to fruition with the help of the Spirit...adding to the garden of Eden at Trinity Pines...feels so good to be a part of it...notice circular patterns, centers (see Christopher Alexander's books), and colors...beautiful and all edible! practice--consider some soil near/in your home (a balcony of pots, a window sill of pots or glass jars filled with water, a 3 x 3 foot piece of earth outside the back or front door, or a larger yard)... imagine what edible plants you could grow there ...for the window sill, it can be as simple as the last bit of a scallion you cut for a salad placed into a glass of water, or an herb like basil (seed packet is a few dollars, or you can collect seeds for free from wild weeds in the garden like wild lettuce--see Katrina Blair's book, The Wild Wisdom of...

SAP RISES come oh sun...come rain sap ascends, buds, flowers, fruits resurrection...see! nature shows a cyclical pattern...with the sun and rain, the tree responds with sap rising from the roots which lay dormant in the soil...as the sap ascends, leaves bud and unfold, other buds and flowers blossom, eventually fruit forms, carrying the seeds of the next generation...there seems to be a similar process in the human life cycle, when the conditions are "right," the man and woman bring their generative parts together to create new life that grows in the womb of the mother, the new life growing, unfolding, eventually blossoming into the baby, child, teen, and adult who will in turn continue the cycle of life. practice: get out into the sunshine if you're able, stand in the rain, feel the bark of a tree, smell flowers in bloom, mindfully eat a piece of fruit, plant a seed (even something simple like a bean seed in a cup of soil)...alternatively, as a meditation, consider where...

SHEHEART we offer our hand she accepts and our hearts move closer together when we stay open and vulnerable, symbolized by offering our hand(s) (not knowing what will happen next), and she (metaphorically the divine feminine) accepts our hand, taking it in hers...we can feel our hearts respond, a heart connection...we know intuitively that we have moved closer, that we have reached a deeper level of being/awareness. practice: right now, extend one or both or your hands, palms up, outstrecthed...imagine the divine mother before you, meeting your hand(s) with hers, enclosing your palm and fingers around hers...what does it feel like...rest in the feeling a moment, savor the connection, let the heart connection flow out to your relationships with heart-felt love...then, do something with this energy, something kind/caring for the next person you meet  

BE OWL let the past come here let the future come here too here and now WE BE the owl is an archetype of wisdom...the past and present are the yellow and black eyes, in the shape of the infinity sign...these converge in the 3rd blue eye to create the "here and now" WE BE presence. practice: list 3 issues you are dealing with today...put your hand over your heart and ask, which issue most needs my attention right now...whichever issue that is, consider past information/knowledge/experiences related to the issue...imagine how this issue might be resolved at some future date (limit each process to one minute or less)...meditate on how the past and future orientations converge into this present moment...act on the knowledge by doing one small thing movomg in the direction of resolving the issue.  

HEREANDNOWEBE let the past come here let the future come here too HERE we are made whole the past can be clearly seen...yellow for clarity, the dashes lean back in time...the future is dark and unseen...black for what is hidden, the dashes lean forward in time...the present takes from past and future AND is aware of what is manifesting/emerging/growing in this every changing moment by moment by moment...infinitely, the blue is for the light of consciousness infinite wisdom in integrating past and future with what IS arising in the present moment practice...feel into the present moment...what learnings from the past does this moment carry...what hopes for the future does this moment embody...what other qualities are arising and integrating with past and present in this moment?

WE what happened to me? i is creating with you me transformed to WE! none of us are alone as an individual "i" except in the existential sense that we have our unique individual subjective experiences, YET we often see ourselves as separate from "you" (other individuals)...the circle of life shows interconnections that increase the plausability of becoming aware of a WE (i + you)...how comforting it is to consider that WE are not alone, that we are connected...perhaps, in the quauntum realm of non local consciousness, to everyone and everything practice...put yourself in the center circle of a page...using spokes to extend out from the center, connect yourself to other circles (other people in your life), see how many we connections you can make...choose one person, and do something to enhance your connection with them today...something small that takes less than 5 minutes to do, e.g. hug, smile, kind word, text, email, card, phone call...

INTERCONNECTED interconnected colored circles and black lines coming together the circles need the black lines to connect with each other, and together, they form an interconnected web of life...we are like the circles, each seemingly separate, and the invisible black lines of love, light, energy, and information connect us together in an invisible web of cosmic consciousness consider your relationships...if love is connection, as neuroscientist Julia Mossbridge suggests, then meditating on our loving connections creates the potential to experience unconditional love...why not experience that unconditional love right now for at least one minute...

  EXPANSION inside the red zone pumping, throbbing, making love center of the heart feeling an expansion within this mandala...love growing in the heart center... practice: stare at the mandala about 1 foot from the face and think of different colors...did you get a wow, a mini psychedelic experience...try a softer gaze this time...can you feel the expansion

HOME AGAIN feeling out of place someone looks at me and smiles i am home again sitting inside a Hindu temple entryway, waiting for my son's chess tournament to start, nearly everyone looked Hindu (brown faces, women in saris and men in dhoti's) coming in for a service (the tournament was in an adjoining social hall)...i felt "out of place" until one middle-aged Hindu woman smiled directly at me...i instantly felt seen, welcomed, and "at home"  practice: make the effort to intentionally smile while looking directly at people you see in the course of your everyday life if the circumstances feel appropriate...people in your household/family/roommates, co-workers, fellow students (and teachers), strangers on the street, acquaintances, friends, relations...let go of hoping for a positive response...if the smile is returned, good, if not, also good, as they probably needed it! let us connect with one another by smiling more often, helping the other feel seen, welc...