I want to begin with a favorite poem, a convocation of hearts, an invitation to embrace our shared experience:
Earth Prayer by Mark Nepo
O Endless Creator, Force of Life, Seat of the Unconscious,
Dharma, Atman, Ra, Qalb, Dear Center of our Love,
Christlight, Yaweh, Allah, Mawu,
Mother of the Universe…
Let us, when swimming with the stream,
become the stream…
Let us, when moving with the music,
become the music…
Let us, when rocking the wounded,
become the suffering…
Let us live deep enough
till there is only one direction…
and slow enough till there is only
the beginning of time…
and loud enough in our hearts
till there is no need to speak…
Let us live for the grace beneath all we want,
let us see it in everything and everyone,
till we admit to the mystery
that when I look deep enough into you,
I find me, and when you dare to hear my fear
in the recess of your heart, you recognize it
as your secret which you thought
no one else knew…
O let us embrace
that unexpected moment of unity
as the atom of God…
Let us have the courage
to hold each other when we break
and worship what unfolds…
O nameless spirit that is not done with us,
let us love without a net
beyond the fear of death
until the speck of peace
we guard so well
becomes the world…
Sometimes I still need a moment where I play out lighting fire to the orchard and burning the whole thing down. As I had conversations around my last entry I began to realize that in looking for validation of my own unique experience of grief I may have inadvertently invalidated yours.
This is the dance that occurs on the path of enlightenment. A destination that often feels further and further away the longer you are walking towards it. For my fellow Northern Virginia residents you likely understand the feeling, how often has the GPS recalculated your evening commute, adding minutes even as you cover miles?
Ahimsa, in yoga the Yama of least harm, is sometimes hard, especially when we are being held within the cathartic cauldron of the fires of change. But in conjunction with Asteya, non stealing, and Satya, truthfulness, it helps to set us up to be the most compassionate human we can possibly be, despite the worlds seemingly infinite capacity to hurt.
As I continue to embrace my own pain as fuel for my purpose, as I share my own journey, my own experiences and struggles, I hope that you find what is revealed to be jewels, rather than daggers. And in doing so may you look into the mirror with grace, cleaning away the film of life and gaze long enough to see the truth until you can, as Mark Nepo says;
…admit to the mystery
that when I look deep enough into you,
I find me, and when you dare to hear my fear
in the recess of your heart, you recognize it
as your secret which you thought
no one else knew…
We are, after all, all in this thing together, doing the best we can, with the information we have at the time, the key is, once we know better we must also do better.
Finding Om in the OMG 