You Can Find Yourself Anywhere

I can find myself anywhere.

 

I can find myself in any situation, in any hardship. I can find myself when I am very ill, or in severe heartache. Sometimes, I can find myself more easily when I am weakest. I can find myself in ecstasy and ease. I can find myself when I am destitute, and when money flows like water. I can find myself when I am lost, in fact, getting lost is exactly the way to find yourself.

How can I do all of these things? How can I find myself, be myself when my hair is gone, or body dying, or mind is lost to everything familiar?

I have not cast my anchor in the material. I have not decided that all I am is my physical body. I know that all I am is not a mental experience. I have transcended these things, because I know that I am the consciousness witnessing all this, the artist observing the world and the intricacies of this role, this life story. I am participating fully, and I have manifested this mind and body, these situations through which I birth my consciousness, and it is my job to listen to the inner flow to guide me naturally in allowing mind and body to truly reflect my innermost Self, my soul. 

You are the light that pours trough your eyes, the witness of the heart that cries, you are the love shimmering playfully and curiously, you are the passion and creative urge. 

Everything else is real, but in order to know yourself, you must know that this isn't 'chicken or egg', your energy/soul causes all else to manifest, and changes made in the physical impact the expression of that soul in this world of form, but do not tarnish the essence.

No matter how many times you fail, your consciousness is still within you awaiting the return of your mind and body and heart into alignment with it. It never holds a grudge. You either are functioning partially or fully aligned. Spirit never dies, need changes, isn't corrupted by this one life story. 

So be fearless in living your truth, guided by your sense of inner rightness and you will be a free person walking in this world. Your consciousness/soul will shine through you unimpeded and you will be as a being of light in a world of darkness. Your joy as you taste all the flavors of life without restraining yourself from your authentic shine will illuminate the truth within others. If it is too intense for them, let them step out of the way. All free beings recognize each other, even if they only have moments of true freedom. It begins this way.

This is not just philosophy. This is pure direct experience speaking. If I can do this, anyone can, if they just make an effort and get out of their own way. 

It requires trust, bravery and diligence. It requires patience and a loving heart. It requires the cultivation of simple pleasures and child-like joy. You have what it takes, because you are human. 

Namaste.

Finally Seen

Old lady moon, won't you lend me your ear??

I'm dying,
I'm dying!
My old life's disappeared-


And I'll tell you the truth, I carry no fear...

I'm floating,
I'm floating.
Become atmosphere.

I spent my life knowing that I was just a star on ground,

I'm shining,
I'm shining.
But no one's around.

If nobody watches and you never feel found,

I'm beautiful,
beautiful!?
Does it still make a sound??


Now old lady moon, I never grew numb...

I'm vibrant,
I'm vibrant.
Refuse to succumb.


I danced and I flitted, and stayed true to me,

I'm happy,
I'm happy,
And totally free.

But sometimes is cry in my pillow at night,

I'm longing,
I'm longing,
To share this sweet light.

I'm seen from the outside and pieces are known,

I'm intricate,
Intricate.
Deeper than shown.


I'm a quiet kind of beauty not readily seen,

The unconscious,
Unconscious
Can't appreciate me.


I'm not living a life from the physical side,

I'm starlight,
Just starlight
On a physical ride.

I love my own magic and make my sun,

Independent,
Independent.
Life is my fun.

But old mother moon, I know that's it's natural to be paired,

Happiness,
Happiness.
Is More complete when it's shared.


But I couldn't dispense with myself to
Less worthy man,

Can't settle,
Won't settle,
For less than I am.

An equal of mine must be an extraordinary sight,

A diamond,
A diamond,
Radiates his own light.

And such an exceptional one must be rare to sure,

Brilliant
Sheer genius
& A heart that is pure.

----

Now grandmother moon I thought it'd take years,
But I felt him coming and pushed past my fears,
I purified my energy and cried many tears,
And all of a sudden it seems he's appeared.

----

So now grandmother moon you've revealed him to me,

Poetry,
Poetry,
Grateful eternally.

I began a new life and now he is here,

I've died to
Died to it
All's disappeared


Finally the life that I have is the one I create

I'm blooming
I'm flying
And no longer wait.
....


My life is my own and based on my soul

I'm honest
I'm honest
Refused to fit into the mold

And..

My intricate radiance isn't wasted on he

I'm treasured
I'm treasured
And finally seen

My Light and Love

This love and light that I am
Is like glass
Is like light itself pouring at the one receiving it

And this loving-light can be bright
Intense
Like a mirror
Sometimes it's a harsh experience
To be exposed
To be held accountable
Because this mirror reflects
A level of truth
Most humans never wish to know
The level of truth
That is where we are all going

And to the one seeing their reflection in the words and eyes of the mirror

It can reveal that with which they struggle most within

That which they maybe wished was hidden

All the details of your skin you wish were a secret
The imperfections, the lines

All the things you don't know how to accept

Or love
Or change
Or face
(The fears, the patterns, the times you wish to disappear)

& Yet

This mirror offers no judgement
In the brightness of the light
In the stark exposure of your defects
This mirror doesn't begrudge
Never thinks less
In fact only more

It caresses your humanity
With it's light
Filled with love
Unconditional love

Because this mirror
Has battled
Still has it's struggles
Still grows clearer
By it's own striving
Still aches
But just less than it used to
And with the peace of tested & proven faith

And it shows you what you have to look forward to
The reward of your agonizing work
As a human stepping into it's greatness and divinity

And i am still learning
So it seems
For the men closest to me
How to be true to my force
Like the ocean
Like the sun and moon
Like a wave
Like a mirror
Pouring light
Accepting no degree of falsity
And still not harm them as I scrub off their shells, as I expose their fragility

To me
Your vulnerability
Is filled with beauty
As much as your strength
Perhaps even more

I only want to let you know
You are loved
Cherished
Cradled
By my seeing
And I stand to empower
your magnificence
Because it is all I see within you
Shining back at me
Light meeting light
Mirrors reflecting souls
And like mirrors do
Two
Amplify the light
Exponentially
Greater than separately

I am not daunted by the details you call defects
Or wish to remain anonymous within
I see you as a spiritual warrior,
Being of light
But maybe in the power
And intensity
Of my light and of my love
It is an unknown force
Hard to understand

The combination is not what mere mortals tend to enjoy
Or expect
Or have the willingness to withstand

I must be authentic
I am this mirror
I want my equal mirror
To unabashedly expose me
With omniscient love
Within the light
And for us to support each other's transcendence of mortality
Into the realm of divinity

Equal partners are always equal
Not by refusing to be vulnerable
Or putting on airs
Or hoisting walls of safety
But by knowing
their wholeness and strength isn't compromised
By flowing
with the need
To lean into the other &
work out spiritual growth together
Share the burden
Shine two lights and expose solution faster

Sometimes you'll lean into my arms,
And I will stroke your hair and
pouring limitless undying love
over you like honey
Make the harshness of this lesson, this moment bearable...like love meditation

Or loving you enough to grant you sabbatical, if you need to climb the Mount Everest within alone, this is not unknown and upon that, from the distance, my light can be shone

And at times I will certainly need you to hold me,
cradle me,
surround my fragility
with the strength of your flesh and your ancient soul..
just hold me
and let me silently heal the subtle remnants of wounds from when I didn't have you..
Many years of needing to be held with no arms,
No light to see mine,
Or reflect my love,
did leave behind harm..

And typically, we'll dance,
create, escalate
into exponentially
higher realms of consciousness than we ever reached
before and much faster
and more freely
than we could have
If you and me
Weren't mirrors for each other's souls
For each other's greatness
For each other's truth
Pouring love and light
Like the sun
Over each other
Like a blessing
Like a prayer
Like divinity itself
Like the air
Weightlessly
Supporting
The life and beauty it surrounds
So gently
But so powerfully

Equal footing
Sharing the burden
Catalyzing the destruction and creation of universes within each other
And allowing space for all we need
Separately
And together

I will never again allow
Anything less than a sacred relationship

Please know
That although I expose
In the mirror
Of my heart
Everything
You are never nothing less than sacred to me
And I would love you as my spiritual practice
To grow brighter
By honoring you
And fighting the battle
To release all fear
And let love create my reality
Kiss you
Cascade my love and unending reverence upon you
Leaving divine light on your skin
And treasure you for everything that makes you
You
Divinely human
Complicated
Infinite
And unique

Stress, Stretching Your Limits, and Transcendence..

The only way to become stronger when you workout is to extend just past your natural, comfortable limits. Well, that truth extends in every direction of life, tangible and intangible alike.

I tell my students regularly that when they practice, they should come to the point of comfort, then let themselves go beyond that, to the realm where it takes work to still breathe rhythmically and keep their facial muscles relaxed. We get to the edge of the comfort zone, and then where we would typically stop, we hover... And breathe.. And burn.. And let the intensity course through our veins and mind. This process is both purifying in our denial of limitation, our bold facing and enveloping of the sensations we may typically run away from, and in the growth it produces. We force ourselves to stretch our awareness to encompass more pieces of information in each split moment, instead of the brain's default maneuver: truncating anything remotely familiar and flattening it to a 2-dimensional version of itself.

This doesn't just happen on the yoga mat, or in the gym, but in our daily lives as well. At least, we are invited into this process, whether we embrace it or not is our choice. We tend to think of stress as something other than life; something we can escape one day, something not present in heaven or nirvana. Stress is ever present though, stress is a major guru in life- the heat and pressure giving us an opportunity and the energy to turn the coal of our untrained mind into the diamond of pure loving awareness and authenticity of spirit.

STRESS AND CHALLENGES ARE NOT OTHER THAN LIFE, SO DON'T KEEP WAITING FOR THEM TO DISAPPEAR BEFORE YOU START LIVING AUTHENTICALLY OR MORE FULLY!! Instead, use stress for what it provides- a potent opportunity for purification and growth. Anyone can be perfectly loving and peaceful on vacation, with zero responsibilities, no time constraints, but it takes an advanced soul to begin to generate love and peace right in the hot mess that is child-rearing, career, time schedules and limitations of time and space. THIS is our opportunity and challenge. THIS is life: life is love... And life is mining for the diamond of love inside yourself and letting its light guide you, not around or avoiding the dark and dangerous areas of life experience, but going right through them, feeling them, aching, hurting, falling, embarrassing yourself, stinging at the mistakes, and this letting that memory of pain motivate you to hold stronger to the truth of your heart in every single situation.

THAT is real life. Those moments where you are completely free from stress are blissful... Pure bliss, and you earn them by learning to dance with stress and welcome it as the training grounds. Eventually, you can handle an astonishing amount of stress without any ill effects, just a great deal of growth. It requires the development of intense self care as well: knowing when to rest, relax, hide, only to recharge and run right back into the ring.

Life is beautiful, amazing, pure love and miracles are unfolding around us and through us constantly. However, stress is part of this gorgeous experience. Stress and other suffering is the catalyst for real growth, real expansion, and the development of true, functional, unshakeable peace.

Let your desire to be a more loving, wise, compassionate, decisive and authentic being pull you through stress, let it motivate your development so that the more it hurts, the more you work on forming habits that express your inner goodness and sense of rightness. Slowly we stretch our limits and retrain our reactions, and down the road a little ways, we can see how far we have truly come. And the journey never stops... This is what it is to be alive as a human being.

Sent from my iPhone