Monday, November 26, 2012

Sacred Ecstacy

Sacred Ecstacy
by Laura Harrison


Nature carresses and undresses me with her breeze.

To taste this living air as I breathe,

I dissolve all heaviness of form and once again remember Self as light.

And all is right.

I will not fight, I will expand,

weightlessly like the blue sky to swallow all sensation-

sadness and pain; and happiness, all the same.


I will expand, saying yes to life,

the way I gracefully expand to let my lover inside of me.


The ecstacy of being free,

The pure bliss of Spirituality,

Shining love through my body,

Serving others whole-heartedly,

and when he makes love to me.......


          all is one

                  one journey home.

Be it through Nature, Love, or Generosity,

It is but one sacred ecstasy.





Sunday, November 25, 2012

The Weather Channel

The Weather Channel
By Laura Harrison


Watch emotions come and go, Oh!
Just like a storm, they blow in,
So swiftly, ravage your peace,and set you drifting.


They never cease.

And some can clearly show you your truth.
Still others point to indigestion,
Or fatigue,
More then your future.

If you hold them tightly you'll get burned,
Yet If you learn to use them rightly you'll soar,
If you let them blow you everywhere,
You'll be scattered,
If you let them crush you you'll be shattered,
If you share them where they aren't welcomed you'll feel battered..


Don't get me wrong, emotions run strong, and its best to stay humble, open,
Honest, hoping,
loving and true.


To develop a view
Of gratitude
Is perhaps the best attitude.


Don't reject your feelings, feel them,

But don't let the negative ones ravage you.

Stay confident, the sun will shine.

Storms are sure to pass, and you will be more
Then fine.





Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Almost Out to Sea

Almost Out to Sea
By Laura Harrison



Although I'm blessed
I must confess
At times it depresses me
To be so misunderstood..

Sometimes I am so... Very... Lonely.


It messes me up
That I should put my passion on the shelf
That I can't fully be myself


Because others resign
To ignore the beautiful signs
To live like they've died
To hate themselves and hide
From the intensity
Of Reality


It can be lonely
To be the only
Person who refuses
To give up true freedom


Self- consciousness and
Insecurity

Are

Disease

And if you give in to them
You will decay
Long before your day


I just wish people wouldn't throw me away

I know that I don't follow status quo
And I never,
Ever,
Will.

And my life is magnificent

Because I am so full of love and generosity

But

Its just sometimes that when it washes over me,
It almost carries me out to sea.





Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

The Fullness of the Sun

The Fullness of the Sun
By Laura Harrison




I'm hard-wired to care
It is just who I am
In fact I've built a career
Of destroying people's fear
And loving them to help them grow


I will show you that you are
Everything wonderful
you've ever admired
And how to manifest all
That you have desired...
For your life.


Unconditional Love is all I am,
I am playful passion,
Empathy and compassion,
All in one, fun little form.


I shine the fullness of the sun
Onto any form of beauty I see-


Be it art, or a human heart..
A song, a rock, a tree
I will love it unconditionally,
And passionately...


I live and die by Truth, Love and creativity.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Does Not Only Belong to You

Does Not Only Belong to You

Laura Harrison



I feel your words, and I remember your eyes,

 and I am

flooded with Love, until I shake with bliss, nearly cry

But when I fixate on you as the source of that Love

my
mind
grows
small..

and then I remember

and tears of joy arise

-that YOU have released this flood

of Love

within ME

but this Love

does not only belong to you
or to me..

..this Love is the love of Eternity

loving Itself,

and YOU have set it free

but it comes from far beyond me..

and through me,
it
pours
over
the
world
and
all
I
see
like
an
endless
cascade
of
ecstacy


..like cooling waters refreshing scorched lands,

...like the gentle stroking of adoring hands.

                 And I remember,

           that when I am with you

           it belongs entirely to us.

And when you are out of sight

I will remember you,

and that will release the radiant light

of this Love, into ALL I do.

I will pour it through my eyes and smile,

into the grace of my every gesture,

and fill this world with its beauty Divine.


You  showed me pieces of me I longed for.

Knowing you now is the surest way to remember

my Self, as this radiant Love.

and to shine my brightest shine.

At Peace With the Unknown

At Peace with the Unknown

Laura Harrison



I am torn, broken down, tormented,

my pathway.. unrelented..

beaten into letting go,     of ideas   of knowing

..the wear and fatigue are showing

I cannot know how life will go.



Just pick a direction, and trust the flow
and know
          that if you listen to your heart

every single moment is your fresh start.

although we are constantly gushing

into a great unknown..

it isn't aimless, it isn't cruel-

in fact,    it's creating

a fairy-tale through you,    the story

of your purpose,

your bliss,

of all,

past lifetimes,

creating This.


Dive through your passion,
live your purpose,
be bold

color it with compassion,
Let go of the old

views
and
ways
 of life.

The unknown is alright, and its al that we know.

Following our bliss, we all learn as we go.

Learning to Be Present

Learning to Be Present

Laura Harrison



Learning to be present,

Learning to be free,

forced to make peace with the unknown, of unfolding destiny


We can only take one step at a time,
     We can only breathe each breath in line

Dreams foreshadow our possibilities,

but if we grasp them we crush their fragile wings.

We have to ride the flow of synchronicities,

and let them blossom into finer things,
   then we ourselves at first conceived.

By balancing relentless risk taking, and that which is received,

Reality is ours for the making,

                    But only if we find dynamic harmony.

Live Vividly

Live Vividly

Laura Harrison



My pen keeps breaking,
hands shaking,
heart like sand giving itself to the sea-
giving myself to destiny.

Let the love shine through your eyes,
throw off your burdonsome disguise
it's time to live vividly

It's time to give yourself to destiny.

Why cover your greatness with conformity?
The time has come to be truly free

I feel your longing.
I hear the song.
I've walked this path.
I know it's long.

I'm getting closer to the light,
don't fight

Open your Soul and swallow it all
Agony and ecstacy, are part of the same thing, you see

Sexuality and spirituality
Synchronicity and Serendipity

You are the merging of ALL
possibilities,

tempered by time and space
and the choices you make.

Take it all in-
You are here to be the only you that is..

the time is short..
fight no more,
the present moment knocks,
open the door.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Learning Where to Put the Love

I learned a hard lesson, finally, or at least, I can see the answer, and can now apply my mindfulness to manifesting the solution.

Unconditional love and genuine enthusiasm and caring for other beings is a beautiful thing, and an awesome responsibility. Just like a Teacher needs to learn to give each student only what they are ready for, too much will overwhelm them, so too much a Lover understand that the full-force of Love is overwhelming. Being blunt, I have not only overwhelmed people, I have frightened them, shut them down and sent them running. All because I appreciated them too much.

People aren't used to receiving Love without attachment, most people don't know what this means, and their minds cannot fathom a love that is unselfish and okay with whatever reality may bring, even parting. They look for an agenda, or they think I must be insane. Or they don't love themselves, and can't see why I do and reject it and me. Its sad. But it is reality, and it is a crucial lesson for me that I am glad I am embracing. I pledged years ago to rise to each opportunity to express my love and appreciation in the moment I feel it, because life is unpredictable,and nothing is static- it is NOT a given that we will have people in our lives for more then a flash. I even tell strangers on the street how beautiful they are, or how much I appreciate their unique style. And I try to let my loved ones know my gratitude each time we meet and part. Part of my learning lately has been that I must be my Self completely, no matter what happens, the ego has to go and I am here to shine, love, serve, and play. Its not that I will hide my Love and Light, but that I will try to only express the bit each person can handle to them, and let the rest nourish me and pour out through my every glance, breath, and action. When will I remember that they are not the source of love! I know this... Its the urge to pay it back that is the problem, I must pay it FORWARD!!! Just like if we want to help someone, we must help them in the way they need to be helped, not the way that we prefer, we can only give someone as much love as they can handle, and maybe a little more, when someone's heart is ready to break wide open to receive more love... But we cannot give someone who can only drink a glass of water an endless waterfall when they are not prepared for its force, its raw intensity, its power.  Unconditional Love IS that strong. That's what my energy feels like.. When I don't hold it back or waste it, but practice Self-care and simple grounding techniques, and just BE ME naturally, its like the Niagara Falls of sensation, appreciation, inspiration, and love is flowing through me. I am BLESSED, I'm not complaining! But I am grateful I am finally learning consciously how to balance and channel that into this world in a way that is not like spraying people with fire hoses. Once people's vibrations rise or they acclimate to the intensity, they can thrive with that Love both flowing out of them, and back into them... Love is the most important nutriment that too many people are starving for.
May all beings find the Love in their own hearts, and fall in love with Life Itself, the Divine within ALL that is.






Saturday, November 10, 2012

Become Nothing but Love and Light Again



Become Nothing but Love and Light Again


In deep gratitude..


I bow before you, great Universe, on my hands and knees I lay my face on my Mother's cheek..
To feel the cold loving Earth beneath my bare feet, in all her seasons and cycles..

to dance, to sing, to cry from the bottom of my soul until I am empty of all that is not mine.. 

and to feel the loving embrace of consciousness shining at me at all times through EVERYTHING..

that no matter how many times I forget that you are smiling unconditional Love at me always..

you are ALWAYS shining when I return to you.

Thank you for the wisdom to know now that all I suffer now is a lesson so that I may help others to be free from pain

and for every misery, you have taught me to open WIDER and to let the love swallow the pain,

pain becomes more love...

so that my tears are only tears of opening in surrender, which floods me with even greater bliss..

For even in the face of pain, there is a beauty, for pain is the greatest teacher of complete surrender,

and complete surrender is to allow the Divine consciousness to shine

unmediated through your unique crystalline structure into this world of form.


Give up! Stop trying to fight the flow,

and feel the grace of the current shift your body into ecstatic dancing bliss!

I cannot fathom the love I feel, the joy,

and my only remaining desire is to share, give, serve this love,

Love serving love,
 
I will feel all things with all beings,

and understand where the edges are between their energy and mine,

and know full well that those distinctions are only temporary illusion.


I will now rest silently in the prayer of the direct experience,

colored with gratitude and love unconditional,

for the awareness to discern the majesty and miracle of this lifetime I have been given.

I will not waste it. I will wake up, and be nothing but love and light again. 


I will now rest silently in the prayer of the direct experience,

colored with gratitude and love unconditional.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Natural Bhakti: The Path of Love

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love."~Mother Teresa

I realized something tonight. I have known this, but not like I know this now. I was born for the explicit purpose of losing myself in love in all possible directions. I don't think this is unique, I actually think it is the meaning of the Bhakti path of yoga, to which many, many people are drawn. But Bhakti for a lot of people has to do with a particular representation of the Divine Energy, or particular practices, or even places. For me, Bhakti is life itself. And I am so deeply and humbly grateful to see this with new, clearer eyes.

We cannot have back any of our past moments, so when we receive an insight that is a sting, a slap, a hard and painful realization that we are somehow more awake now then we previously were, it is best to give ourselves completely to integrating that wisdom at all costs. I can never have back those moments with my son when I let fatigue, hunger, or the urge to do something override the importance of stopping for thirty seconds to make better eye contact. Or to pick him up at those random times, even if I only have the strength to hold him for a few moments.
I don't want to forget this ever again. Being present has increasing significance for me each day. I have also been embracing over these last six years, increasing ease and directness in expressing love, gratitude, appreciation, recognition of beauty, and supportiveness. And as of tonight I am renewed and my passion is deeper. Its like a whole layer of junk was cleared. We are here to be ourselves completely, our pure Self, to live our life purpose with everything we have in us... Not to ever deny positive inspiration and true passion, but to be our highest and greatest expression of ourselves at all costs. That is real freedom.
The hardest part by far is not the bravery it takes to be unique, in my case, but the loneliness of still knowing so few people around my age that are on the same level of love and freedom. Freedom scares the shit out of people, especially the opposite sex apparently.
I made a vow as a teenager, and I WON'T break it: that no matter how many people reject me, no matter how many times my heart is broken, I WILL NOT compromise the truth of my heart. I will not stop giving myself fully in love. I won't be foolish, and I won't cling to relationship for fear of being alone. On the contrary, I will be equally brave going into and coming out of love, or in saying no when the connection isn't there. I may have slowed down over the years, but I am fixing that. I will listen to  the Truth of my heart completely, and I will trust myself and my own resilience. I won't judge the next by the previous. Always present and fresh.
Bhakti isn't just about romantic love, but that is a significant component for me: they gave me the spiritual name Radha for a reason I suppose, and the male-female dynamic nourishes me and complements me well, when it is vibrant and healthy. And it is requiring a great deal of patience to wait for an equal, for a genuine connection. I'm not going to waste someone's time, I know if there's a connection in a few moments, and then beyond that its typically not long before it sorts itself out as friendship or going in other directions.  And I know the moment it shatters and the connections atrophy and pull apart, and it has completely run it's course. We ALL know these things, whether we listen or not is different.
But it isn't just romantic love, that is only one piece. I exist to love and to delight in everything, be fascinated and in love with all of my life. To LOSE myself, lose my edges and borders in ALL forms of Love... As a mother, this is the most sacred and profound relationship I know... As a friend, as family... And to lose myself in love with life itself, and with my life, with each moment, with Nature, in acts of kindness, passion, and creativity, with beauty; to lose myself in love with love..
And not only to feel that love, but to express it, to nourish the world by putting that Love into every action. EVERY action... Every moment, every moment.. My aim is to be present to remember my delight and grace and to let my entire life be a painting of that love and joy. I want not one moment or being or place to pass me without benefiting consciously or unconsciously from my loving energy. We have to remember that feeling love is important, but let our choices and actions express that love is crucial, or else the loop isn't complete and the love isn't whole.
I feel this energy and this love, SO IMMENSE, and the other major struggle has been in learning how to channel it. Sadly, most people aren't used to receiving much if any unconditional love. It is intense, and can crack a heart wide open, it is a love that can make you cry.. I know that I cry more from loving so much then from anything else.. But each release makes room for a larger capacity by which to give and receive love and happiness. I recognize as a teacher I have to learn not to give other beings more then they are ready for, and at the same time, we all can stand to go in a little overhead now and again. And I refuse to hide my light, because only those who can consciously benefit from my energy will be drawn to me, otherwise the benefits will all be subtle and unconscious. It feels so wrong that it isn't considered "normal" for people to express love and consideration to strangers- in times of peace its viewed as crazy, in times of disaster it is considered heroic.. why can't it just be a darshan, a worldview, a way of life?
I am nothing but love, playful fascination, and gratitude. This is often said in yoga philosophy. And I have felt this before. But this is a new, deeper degree of direct experience- it is not theory but my actual experience that speaks these words. I can't tell you the gratitude that sparks in me, or the honor it is, so  much that it drives me to uphold my most genuine best at all times.
We all have rough moments, but I can't help but shake them off faster, and to feel some level of joy in connection with the profundity of even painful experiences.. Delight in their purposefulness and poetic beauty. I can rejoice in the silver lining. And increasingly, where ten years ago it was something of a peak experience that happened a few times a year, it is now a daily experience of love, gratitude, and inner rightness so strong that I am flooded, immersed, in beauty and true and complete loving happiness, almost washed away..
I exist to lose myself in all forms of love, gratitude, and beauty. I am sweetness and love. And I will trust my heart, and keep opening wider and wider to love, until nothing else remains but love, grateful, generous, and sweet. In humble gratitude and curiosity of the immense potential in store... LOVE!!  Laura













Thursday, November 1, 2012

Thinking Ahead

Just when I seem to get into the moment

I feel compelled to think ahead

Letting the mind get on top of the experience

Making the fragile and precious present moment dead






Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

The Loneliness On The Spiritual Path, Finding Your Tribe, Happiness and Real Love

The Loneliness On The Spiritual Path, Finding Your Tribe, Happiness and Real Love NOVEMBER 2012 "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." ~ Dalai Lama

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love." ~Mother Teresa

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.'" ~Erich Fromm

"Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible - it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could." ~Barbara de Angelis

"Normal" lifestyle according to American pop culture is based on the material level of life alone. It is devoid of genuine heartfelt variation, uniqueness, self-expression and real spirituality. It supports people being trapped in their own heads and traumatized and imprisoned with self-consciousness and the ego running rampant, comparing self to others constantly trying to rank and compete and fit in and appease. This is not heart-centered, authentic or as Jeff Brown calls it, Soul-centered, living. It is fake and negates deep honesty and authenticity, which then defies any real happiness, confidence, or fulfilment in living.

Living life in harmony with your inner truth leads to much deeper and realer fulfilment in life- it is discovering your life purpose and giving yourself to it; it is living a lifestyle that brings out your best, makes you feel your best and shine your brightest as much as possible. However, there is a price to pay for authenticity: all the people, foods, places, actions, thoughts, and habits that aren't harmonious with who you become at each stage of spiritual growth must be shed. Letting go of friends, ways of life, old ideas, can be VERY painful. And there is a time in between when you lost the old nouns and verbs that don't fit right or fulfil you anymore and when the new people, places, and things fill your life... and this time is usually a swirling cycle of bright and amazing experiences, and dark cold, lonely times when you wish you could find people and a society that you fit in with.

This time period is different for everyone, and this transitional space comes not just once, but every so often on the spiritual journey, as vibrations change, that which resonates harmoniously changes too. These times are very trying. Why do we have to go through this, as beings aiming to live positive and grateful lives? Devo Mahesvara.. the difficulty helps us to discard that which is no longer serving our good. It is the time for trial-and-error, a lot of learning, a lot of exploring what is meaningful and inspiring to you... and as you hold in your heart the vibrations you now embody, the energy of who you are and are becoming, as you live it and explore it.. you are attracting towards you the people and places and experiences that will nourish you. You are attracting your authentic life and your tribe.

Teacher Jeff Brown calls it a "soul pod" like a family of dolphins, connected by past lives, similar vibrations, and/or similar levels of consciousness. These are the people who "get" you, who view life in compatible ways, enjoy the sames sorts of things, disassociate from most of the same parts of conventional society as you. They become your brothers and sisters. They become soul-friends, and soul-mates, partners in crime, best friends, inspirations, support, mirrors, and they UPLIFT you, they do not DRAIN you.
I have had times of extreme loneliness, when I was learning to live an authentic lifestyle based on my own heart-compass, but I knew no one that I connected with. I was so sad, so confused, I thought there had to be something wrong with me, I mean, I wasn't like anyone else. I was happy with who I was except for the fact that I was extremely alone. So I developed a handy little eating disorder to deal with my sensitivity to energy and it was a horrible, painful cycle. Yoga slowly pulled me out of it and towards other beings as I continued on a heart-centered path. The loneliness pops up sometimes, especially I find that changing eating habits tends to lead to a feeling of disconnetion from others.. so becoming raw vegan from regular vegan made me feel much more alone and unalike anything "normal". I didn't want to be "normal", but we all want to have loved ones that love us and that we can love and feel part of... real family.


Another amazing side-effect of these periods of loneliness, I am discovering as I am coming into a new time of connection, is to learn greater and greater capacities for giving and receiving love. I am becoming extraordinarily open with my appreciation and adoration and love for the people who contribute to my world. This ability to appreciate SO thoroughly is directly connected to the pain suffered in times of loneliness.. If I wasn't THAT painfully lonely I would take this gratitude and love for granted or think nothing of it, or not even notice it well. It is in times of suffering that the heart is broken, and instead of letting it heal smaller and harder, like conventional wisdom would have us do, the yogi lets it heal wider, wide enough to swallow the sorrow. It breaks wide open and we let it heal large and open and more sensitive. And that is how we feel greater and greater love, joy, gratitude, satisfaction and fulfilment in life. All the things that were keeping our hearts small are broken through and transcended. Our capacity grows. Not just for love, but for intensity in general, for life in general, for joy, sorrow, peace, PRESENCE, our capacity to be fully present grows.

So even if you feel like you know no one anything like you, just keep folowing the things that make you happy, that uplift, inspire, enliven, the things that stoke your passion, your creativity, your fulfilment.. and you will find your tribe, your chosen family, and you will know you are loved and magnificent. You may have felt that way before, but the validation and the mirror of your beauty in the hearts of others you love and respect is a nourishment that we all need. And it shall come! Blessings!!!

<3 laura="laura" p="p">

Happiness~ doesn't happen on accident, but it is free and abundant!!

Happiness~ doesn't happen on accident, but it is free and abundant!! "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions." ~ Dalai Lama

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." ~ Aristotle

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." ~ Mahatma Gandhi

"Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so." ~ Robert Green Ingersoll

"Happiness is a continuation of happenings which are not resisted." ~ Deepak Chopra

All that lives wants to be happy and free from all suffering. Most of us spend our time pursuing happiness in the form of material gain, or future experience, or in other people, or as if happiness is a solid state you get to and never change again.... and happiness is not lasting in these ways..

This month I invite you to explore happiness in all forms, and what gives you the most lasting and full bliss in your experience. Happiness is the birthright of all beings, but we have free will, so we can choose to be negative and unappreciative and fight our reality and thus experience misery. Or we can cultivate happiness. Like a garden, happiness takes conscious planting.. of positive thinking patterns, of self-control to avoid actions that block us from feeling well and loving, of taking every opportunity to be kind and compassionate to others, of disposing of the prison of self-consciousness that restricts us from fully embracing life in all our thoughts, words and actions in each present moment... because do you realize, true happiness is available in each moment, but it is only HERE, in the present moment, that happiness lives. Practicing being present is the biggest and most powerful way to cultivate true, expansive happiness.

Someone else's happiness or goodness shouldn't make you feel threatened, jealous, or miserable... happiness isn't limited, it is an infinite and renewable resource within us all. See other's goodness and beauty as an inspiration to be your happiest, more creative, most alive self!

If you feel depressed or unhappy, take the opportunity that next arises to do something generous, kind, above-and-beyond for another, be they family, friend, neighbor, or stranger. Or small simple acts of kindness will brighten your day and that of the recipient.. hold a door, make eye contact and smile, tell someone when you think something good about them, help someone pick up what they have dropped or carry something heavy. Happiness is best shared, when we give we get. Giving of ourselves is a sure way to increase our happiness.

Don't feel foolish for looking for the bright side, for focusing on gratitude and not what you don't have, for appreciating the little sacred and incredibly blissful moments and experiences in life.... feel like a fool for not doing these things. This is your life happening one moment at a time.. do you choose to revel in the playful sacredness in your own way, or watch others have fun from the sidelines while you judge and complain in the darkness of your own mind?

Practice being present.. feeling your breath, body, and the world around you tickle your senses. Take in the "good" and the "bad" and the "neutral" with the same open attention and positive intention. See the good in yourself, in life, in others. Be compassionate. Cut loose in natural and creative ways, express your inner light. Move your body, rest your body, take good care of your body. And use it to pay forward the goodness and joy you experience or wish to experience. I hope this sparks your inner knowing and helps you to be happier and more free.

<3 all="all" and="and" as="as" beings="beings" bhavantu="bhavantu" contribute="contribute" directly="directly" everywhere="everywhere" freedom="freedom" from="from" happiness="happiness" have="have" i="i" indirectly="indirectly" lokah="lokah" may="may" my="my" of="of" others="others" p="p" samasta="samasta" seek="seek" suffering="suffering" sukhino="sukhino" the="the" to="to" touch="touch" wholeness="wholeness">
<3 laura="laura" p="p">