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

BALANCING SPHERES balancing the spheres of mind, body, and spirit activating love for optimal health and well being we need to activate, energize, and balance our energy "spheres" of mind, body, emotions, and spirit...this requires many daily practices, cultivating, nurturing, reinforcing, and growing our energy spheres to maximize our personal well being which, in turn, is paramount to activating our love energy in service of others. consider one of the energy spheres (perhaps one you feel depleted in, or one that you are drawn toward): body, mind, emotions, or spirit...what simple 5 minute (or less) practice can you engage in today to cultivate/grow your energy in that sphere? e.g.'s: body: 3 mindful breaths mind: repeat aloud and/or write a positive affirmation 3 times (see Louise Hay for affirmations) emotions: place your hand on your heart area and ask, what am i feeling, what message is being communicated, what am i being called to do (see Karla McLaren for understa...

DARK 2 LIGHT standing in the dark moving through the spectrum stumblin' towards the light there is probably an infinite gradation of colors from pure darkness to pure light...the progress, journey, and movement from dark to light is reflected in mystical traditions, faith, myths, e.g. the journey to illumination, seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in some near death experiences...the phrase stublin' towards the light is borrowed from Bo Lozoff and is an apt metaphor for the journey...we walk, jog, or run and eventually stumble, we get up, hopefully learn something from our stumblin,' and continue, over and over, in the direction of the light. looking back over the last year, month, or week, where have you stumbled, what were the circumstances, what is within your control to change for next time...find something simple that you can do to nudge you in the direction of the light for next time, write it down and commit to this new behavior the next time the opportunity p...

ENERGY BEING one of the most basic and vital questions we can ponder/contemplate is: who am i? after giving this some thought, i created the following drawing and labeled it: multidimensional energy being...that we are multidimensional is readily apparent when we consider our mind, body, emotions, and spirit...that we are composed of energy also is readily apparent when we consider the ebb and flow of energy within a given day/night cycle, from low to high to low, and in the basic energy systems within the body, for example, each of the organs have their own energy system which is interconnected to the overall health and well being of our entire system. be considerate and kind to your energy systems that are working for you 24-7...one way you can support your organs is to sip on different types of herbal teas, e.g., dandelion root for the liver, mallow for the lungs, chamomile for the stomach...enjoy the taste and energy of the herbs that support your multidimensional energy body. ...

LIFE'S WORK  sun, moon, mountains, tree river, flowers, trinity monk, joseph, mother the sun and moon are contexts for life...mountains are backdrop and journey...tree of life rooted in living waters of spirit that brings life to all flowers and fruit...energies from the divine mother who sees all, feeds all, st. joseph works in the garden of eden, monk contemplates, reads, chants, and writes,...harvesting and sharing... what are the streams of your life...what symbols would you use to depict them...try a sketch/drawing/painting and see if it reveals anything for you to DO differently today.

INSIDE THE HEART from inside the heart  birthing ideas into work, play, and writing the heart is an amazing organ, beating from before we are born until our last breath, continuously pumping blood throughout our bodies with each drumbeat, regulating and interrelated to many body systems, with a "brain" of it's own, and from this inner place of wisdom comes "heart-felt" ideas for our life's work, play/fun, and for me, writing. practice: place both of your hands over your heart area, take a few slow breaths and feel into the heartbeat...slow, fast, goldilocks just right? listen for one minute to any message that the heart wants to convey to you...it could be a feeling, presence, word, image, sound, thought, person, idea, song...write it down as a way to honor your heart's wisdom and DO something within the next hour (something small, 1-5 mins) that moves you in the direction of your heart's wisdom.

E N V E L O P I N G auras surround us rainbows of colors and sounds enveloping us slowly move your palms (facing each other about 2 feet apart) closer together and see if you feel any energy between them (most people feel something as the palms get closer together)...the heart emits an energy field that can be measured up to 10 feet away...some kowledge systems call these energy fields that surround us auras practice...can you sense/feel your energy change color when experiencing different emotions...try to name these emotions and corresponding...how might you use this knowledge to surround yourself with positive colors in your living environments...start with something small...a vase, a photo, a figurine...

WELCOME HOME passing through the door where am i? what time is it? you are here and now how many doors do we pass through during the day...bedroom door, bathroom door, kitchen door, out the front and/or back doors, car/bus door, office or school door, store door, doctor/dentist door...then there are the mental, emotional, and spiritual doorways...consider each thought a doorway entered! in the image below, i imagine passing through and into the doorway of "here and now", the present moment, our real home (see Ekhart Tolle's, Power of Now , and Richard Lang's Celebration of Who We Are ). practice: ask yourself several times during the day: where am i? what time is it? (one way to respond to cultivate a sense of being at home is: i am "here" and the time is "now")

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...

PERSPECTIVE      finding your true home it is not 'out there' beyond you it is hidden...right HERE the yellow part of the image is my yellow-framed glasses that i'm looking out of, seeing the page below me with my hands sketching...i cannot see my own head, i am headless from this point of view, the red heart is my real home, the center of awareness, the place of right HERE these ideas are part of the "headless way"--see Richard Land's book, Celebrating Who We Are based on the works of Douglas Harding...looking out from our eyes we see the world but not our own "head"--that is, we know who we are by looking into the faces of others, similar to the looking glass self of Mead, AND there are many more implications here... practice...what does it mean to look out at the world with eyes that cannot see themselves...where do you feel your center...heart, belly, head...all three? consider a decision you need to make today from the perspective of heart (feel...

LABELS see me with labels please don't put me in the box unlabel...set me free consider the labels that form your identity, both public and private, the ones others know you by and the ones you use for yourself...family, household, neighborhood, school, work, community, organizations, culture...all parts of you, AND which of these are the real you...all...some...none? what if we peeled off the labels and looked to the real person beneath the labels, the soul or spirit of the person...what kind of world would that create? practice: make a list of labels that people use when referring to you...another list of labels that you use for yourself...which resonate the most...least...can you let go of both? what would be left...what is the essence of who you really are at the core of your being...surely not a label...what then...perhaps this "essence" is the gateway to a deeper life   

10K THINGS starting at center 1 thought leads to the next thought then...10,000 things! from the one come ten thousand things [paraphrased] says the Tao Te Ching ...the complete lines are: The Tao gave birth to One / One gave birth to Two / Two gave birth to Three / Three gave birth to the ten thousand things. practice, observe your own thoughts in a 3-10 minute meditation...see how one thought leads to another...and another...ad infinitum...for fun, take one thought and trace it backwards to discover its origin...and where did that thought come from...and that...and...where is your center, your point of origin...see if you can rest there for a time without generating more thoughts...a little peace

THE PRACTICE write the mantra then create the mandala end with a haiku every week for several years i've done the following practice: write out one page of the manta (single spaced, one word, written mindfully, over and over until it fills the page), then whatever thoughts have come to mind while writing the mantra become part of the semi-conscious background for creating a mandala or similar art form (like the one below), finally, inspired by the art, i create a haiku to language the practice, and make it more memorable. practice: create your own weekly practice that allows things from the unconscious to bubble up and find expression in some art form (e.g., art, music, dance, tai chi, yoga, cooking, gardening, flower arranging...), share your experience with at least one other person.