“Lao Tzu’s Shadow” Controlling What We can't control Is called grasping blindly Thinking That you are clever and wise Is called Vanity rising Speaking Without intent or purpose Is called foolish banter Letting Go And flowing with the WAY Is called awareness blooming.
“Last Night’s Dream”
A sea of blue
But not an ocean
Ancient mountains
Ascending
To liberate we
From the illusion
Of separateness
Far below,
In the valley
I see:
What our minds
Cannot easily perceive:
The many merging into ONE
Have I told you
Of last night’s dream?
One thousand seekers
Climbing the high peaks
To be:
What God sees
When IT turns
Within ITSELF.
By: Forrest Rivers
Krishna Das leading a Kirtan chant with fellow spiritual seekers
If I knew, I would
Share the secrets of this Universe
With you
If I could, I would
Voyage with you
To the depths
Of inner wisdom
If I heard that you
Had entered the cave of enlightenment
I would drop to my knees and exalt
This sacred green Earth we walk on
If I saw the light
Of illumination in your eyes
I would sit beneath the Bodhi tree and pray:
For all souls’ deliverance
Into your world
Of seeing One.
“Creation Song”
By: Forrest Rivers
****Originally published on themindfulword.org
The many emerged from the One
As a divine demonstration
Of love, beauty, spirit and truth
Yet, this infinite presence
That was at once the spark and the flame
Sought to fully know IT’s perfect self
Through the wonders of form
And so, IT began to sculpt
IT’s own cosmic clay
Into various expressions of IT’s own divine being
As the great laws of the Universe
Began to take hold
A boundless array of realities
Came to pass
Before finally bursting open
Like spring flowers in bloom
It was set against this glorious backdrop
When the Supreme Soul
Molded the Earth out of IT’s own formless essence
And unveiled the most spectacular event
Of past, present and future
Merging into form
As ONE
A glorious work of art
This magnificent sculptor of the Cosmos
Imbued each of IT’s own mystical qualities
Into the Earth’s sacred elements
As water, air, fire and soil
Became manifestations
Of IT’s own vital life force and purified center
Immersed in the sheer joy
Of IT’s own power of Creation
This Godhead of Wisdom planted the magical seeds
That were to blossom
Into trees, mountains, rivers and oceans
As planetary forms continued to sprout
Mysterious patterns of the unfolding
Could be intuitively felt
As evolution became the vehicle
By which the One came to know the multitude of the many
And itself…
Soon, reptiles, mammals and the great-winged pilots of the sky
Joined in on this airy dance of eternal peace
But just as the cosmic void seemed to swallow whole
The illusionary folds of both time and space
A peculiar being was born that gradually multiplied in numbers…
The human race appeared upon the celestial mosaic
Neither separate from nor superior to the rest of creation
These strange two-legged creatures
Were merely one among an infinite number of life forms
To emerge on this blue sphere of wonder
And, like a leopard’s blazing speed
Or an eagle’s godly soar above
The Great Mystery also bestowed a unique and special power
Upon mankind:
The ability to reason
So long as their scheming minds were only harnessed
To satisfy their basic needs of survival
Humankind found eternal truth and meaning
Through the higher planes of spiritual reality
And a delicate balance was achieved:
Between the rational and intuitive intellect
From the very start of humanity’s epic journey
Through the wisdom of form
Wise indigenous souls
Of the Earth
Held this fragile balance of mind and heart
With astonishing ease
For countless generations, these native ancestors of the land
The Original dwellers…
Maintained this precious equilibrium
Through the unwavering love and devotion
Of Grandmother Earth and all HER divine manifestations
The Sun and the moon
All of the diverse plant and animal life
The majestic forests and deserts
The ancient flowing lakes and rivers
And even the silent passing of the seasons
Were venerated as holy expressions
Of Absolute Being
The enlightened ways of these native souls
Continued to thrive for countless millennia
Until, for reasons only known by the Creator
A brutal culture rooted in hubris began its long and steady ascent
Into prominence
Through inflicting unimaginable cruelty
Upon the Earth’s well-being
As tiny cabals of these “two-leggeds” extended their influence
Through using the mind to sequester truth and knowledge
They unknowingly lost that inborn spark of wild
That bore the fruits of intuitive wisdom
With the harmonious ways of the original peoples
Now being subjected before the forces of blind belief and logic
First Religion, and then Science
Came to replace the authentic connection of spirit
Found through the Earth and within…
Though appearing to stand in direct opposition
To one another
These twin forces of the mind
Pursued in common life’s answers to existential questions
That could only be arrived at
Through the intuitive heart space
Of focused contemplation
As the ego’s yearning to “know” grew ever stronger
The Indigenous path of inner communion
With the Earth and self—
Gradually gave way to an exterior search
That produced only conditioned faith and grandeur
As the path of ego fully enveloped the purity of soul
Patterns of structured doctrine emerged
That coalesced into the formations
Of institutions that blinded and deceived
As hungry aspirants claimed what they thought
Were their rightful seats to power
The human race moved ever further
From its exalted state of intimacy with the Earth
Bloodshed, genocide, slavery and the devastation of the natural world
Were the shameful outcomes of unchecked egos
As this era of reason multiplied through three “great revolutions”
Known as the crops, machines and computers
But finally, one day
The time came when the Omnipresent One
The Supreme Mover and Shaker of the Cosmos—
Willed for the ways of the original Earth Dwellers
To make a long and heralded return
And they savoured the opportunity to lead humanity back into the light
Emboldened by the strength of their own awakening
Humankind embraced its brethren once more
In the forests, lakes, oceans and mountains
And forged a new covenant with Creation
Overjoyed with tears of elation
The Lord of Love shined IT’s light brightly
And merged again with ITS own boundless potential.
The Earth is soft
Beneath your feet
Feeling
Perceiving
You move
To that ancient song
Of your Mother
Within moments
The forest birds
Pipe in
With their chorus
And the crickets too
Express with delight
Their rhythms
Through the night
And the wind howls
As the pitter-patter
Of falling raindrops
Plays percussion
To the ecstatic dance
You are part of
Move,
Child of the Earth
Feel your steps merge
With the wisdom
Of her spirit
That nurtures
And loves us all
Under the open sky
Is where you will find
The bliss of ecstatic union
Now, Go,
Dance and rejoice!
What are we?
Not atoms
Not molecules
Not compounds
Stardust we are
Fragments of an energy
Beyond the space of imagination
Perpetual motion
Products of Creative evolution
The forms of timeless seasons
The ultimate ground of being
Transcendent light illuminating
Green forests permeating
The depths of knowing….
We are all THAT
Nothing less
Nothing more
Climbing the mountain of consciousness
Is how wisdom is born.
