The mind of a woman and the mind of a man are two distinct minds at their very core. And only with both can there be a world.

It began when G‑d decided to create a world. In doing so, He took two perspectives. He saw the world from beyond, as its Creator. And He saw the world from within, as the energy of life.
From that first perspective originates the mind of man; from the second, the mind of woman.
That is why the man has the power to conquer and subdue, but he does not have the woman’s sense of the other.
That is why the woman feels the other. She does not conquer, she nurtures. But her light is tightly constrained.
As they bond together, the man unleashes the woman’s light, and the woman teaches the man to feel the other. In that union shines the very essence of all that is holy and divine.

Dear woman... don't dim your shine!

Dear woman, sometimes you'll be too much woman. Too smart. Too beautiful. Too strong. Too much of something. That can make weak men feel like even less of a man. Which in turn can start making you feel like less of a woman. The biggest mistake you could make, though, is to remove jewels from your crown to make it easier for a man to carry. When this happens, I need you to understand, you do not need a smaller crown. You need a man with bigger hands.

we just love.

Sometimes there are no words. Words simply do not come. Sometimes we cannot find words to convey the depths of which we feel. That's okay. It's okay to just be in a raw feeling place, and not know when or if words will come to express.
We can just feel the depth of life, the depth of our humanity, the depth of this journey in human form. We can navigate the silent wondering, the unfathomable unknown -- by slowing and deepening the breath, and sending love from our hearts to all points seen and unseen, and known and unknown in the Universe.
May that love penetrate the most open, soft, permeable, and pliable, to the most closed, dense, and seemingly fierce immovable forces in all of existence. May that love be a light of courage and conviction for us to keep walking the path...especially through those times where we cannot see where it will lead. Each breath, each step -- a reminder to wake up from our slumber of suffering. In our stillness and silence, all is included, and without words -- we just love.

Truth

A belief
is a thought
you confuse
with Truth.

Truth is not a thought.
Truth can't be defined by the image or the word.
Truth is the living field
in which thoughts come and go.
Like clouds in the sky.
Like waves in the ocean.
Like pictures flickering on a movie screen.
The screen neither believes nor disbelieves.
The ocean is too vast to be captured by thought.
It remains undefinable.
Mysterious.
Believe it or not.
- Jeff Foster

Understanding Giving...

When we give with a need to receive we set ourselves up for disappointment. And "need to receive" reflects the lack of self love and a sense of unworthiness.And as we begin to drop this emotional need we begin to drop our expectations of how others should be and see them more truly, sooner. Then we stop doing for others just to make them happy or approve of us and start ensuring that we are happy first.

When I am happy with myself it becomes very easy to open to the gifts that life and other people bring. This happens in unexpected and delightfully surprising ways, It happens often in very small ways that were always there but we did not have the eyes to see them because we were blinded by our need to "get back".If I give, I give because it makes me happy. Whether another acknowledges the receipt or not it makes no difference to my pleasure in that moment. There maybe a genuine recognition later and that is a bonus. 

So perhaps we could say that "give and take" is not the best basis for relationship. Give and receive is much better. And if I give to you and you just keep taking you will not be seeing the truth of my gift and that will be about you, not me.And if I keep giving wanting to receive your acknowledgement of me but you cannot "see" because you are "self engrossed" then for me to keep "giving" my "gift" is like throwing my self worth away.

You know. we get signals of how others are willing or not to receive very early in our meetings with them. Decide what you are prepared to give based on your feelings of your own empowerment not on your need for another to show you what a wonderful person you are.

We all want to be loved, appreciated, and truly acknowledged. It is at the base of human nature. And it will happen for us all as we move further and further into Unity Consciousness and we meet and start to live with our huge Soul Family.

But in the meantime we are each learning to take our own power and above all truly Love being who we are and experiencing the power of our own Heartfelt loving. Discernment and clarity are big keys. Learn to give first to yourself, to give yourself the gifts of freedom and self expression, of love and total respect, of connection and gratitude for that connection.

Then you will see much clearer to be able to give to others without reacting and with some expectation of your rights, and the need to “take”. In other words you will be more open to receive the gifts hidden in everything that happens to you. And you will be able to see the amazing beauty of the whole conversation that the Universe (reflected through the events that are happening to you) is having with you. In other words you will be open to Receiving rather than “taking” (or ‘making it happen)

Finally as you do all this you stop experiencing betrayal because your actions are not based on the other’s response but on you creating the feelings you wish to experience. In doing this you get very quick at discerning what to give others. You especially get to know, through your honesty and your heart knowing, when it is time to back off (with a loving smile, at least to yourself), and to perhaps move on. You learn not to give less but to expect only what another is willing to give freely and unsought, and waste no more time with unreal expectations of the other being there to fulfill your needs. To be in nonjudgement and in acceptance of what is.

Love yourself sweet Masters, and then it not only becomes easy to love others but you will attract those who are also learning to be at home with themselves. And thus you will be served with ones who are open to love you.

WAKE UP, DOROTHY...

This is the spiritual search in a nutshell...

It begins:

"Is this moment all there is?
It's just so ... ordinary!
There must be something beyond this!"
It concludes:
"This seemingly ordinary moment is quite extraordinary.
It is everything, it is all there is, for the curious heart.
Full. Rich. Bursting with life.
A complete expression of the beyond.
Sacred. Precious. Home."
In every moment,
the search ends
exactly where it began.
Everything changed,
nothing changes.
Did anything happen at all?
Was she already Home?
- Jeff Foster

LEAN JUST BEYOND YOUR EDGE (the eternal free fall of home... in love with this phrase)

Once you are honest with yourself about your real edge, it is best to lean just beyond it. Very few  have the guts for this practice. Most either settle for the easy path or self-aggrandize themselves by taking the extreme hard path. Your insecurity may cause you to doubt yourself, and so you take the easy way, not even approaching your real edge or your real gift. Alternatively, your insecurity may lead you to push, push, push, seeking to become victorious over your own sense of lack.

Both approaches avoid your actual condition in the moment, which is often fear. If you are stressfully avoiding your fear, you cannot relax into the fearless.

Your fear is the sharpest definition of your self. You should know it. You should feel it virtually constantly. Fear needs to become your friend, so that you are no longer uncomfortable with it. Rather, primary fear shows you that you are at your edge. Staying with the fear, staying at your edge, allows real transformation to occur. Neither lazy nor aggressive, playing your edge allows you to perceive the moment with the least amount of distortion. You are willing to be with what is, rather than trying to escape it by pulling back from it, or trying to escape it by pushing beyond it into some future goal.

Fear of fear may lead you to hang back, living a lesser life than you are capable. Fear of fear may lead you to push ahead, living a false life, off-center, tense and missing the moment. But the capacity to feel this moment, including your fear, without trying to escape it, creates a state of alive and humble spontaneity. You are ready for the unknown as it unfolds, since you are not pulled back or pushed forward from the horizon of the moment. You are hanging right over the edge.

By leaning just beyond your fear, you challenge your limits compassionately, without trying to escape the feeling of fear itself. You step beyond the solid ground of security with an open heart. You stand in the space of unknowingness, raw and awake. Here, the gravity of deep being will attend you to the only place where fear is obsolete: the eternal free fall of home. Where you always are.
Own your fear, and lean just beyond it. In every aspect of your life. Starting now.

Questioner: What is the difference between awareness and sensitivity?
Jiddu Krishnamurti:I wonder if there is any difference? You know, when you ask a question, what is important is to find out for yourself the truth of the matter and not merely accept what someone else says. So let us find out together what it is to be aware.

You see a lovely tree with its leaves sparkling after the rain; you see the sunlight shining on the water and on the gay-hued feathers of the birds; you see the villagers walking to town carrying heavy burdens, and hear their laughter; you hear the bark of a dog, or a calf calling to its mother. All this is part of awareness, the awareness of what is around you, is it not? Coming a little closer, you notice your relationship to people, to ideas and to things; you are aware of how you regard the house, the road; you observe your reactions to what people say to you, and how your mind is always evaluating, judging, comparing or condemning. This is all part of awareness, which begins on the surface and then goes deeper and deeper; but for most of us awareness stops at a certain point. We take in the noises, the songs, the beautiful and ugly sights, but we are not aware of our reactions to them. We say, "That is beautiful" or "That is ugly" and pass by; we don't inquire into what beauty is, what ugliness is. Surely, to see what your reactions are, to be more and more alert to every movement of your own thought, to observe that your mind is conditioned by the influence of your parents, of your teachers, of your race and culture - all this is part of awareness, is it not?

The deeper the mind penetrates its own thought processes, the more clearly it understands that all forms of thinking are conditioned; therefore the mind is spontaneously very still - which does not mean that it is asleep. On the contrary, the mind is then extraordinarily alert, no longer being drugged by mantrams, by the repetition of words, or shaped by discipline. This state of silent alertness is also part of awareness; and if you go into it still more deeply you will find that there is no division between the person who is aware and the object of which he is aware.

Now, what does it mean to be sensitive? To be cognizant of colour and form, of what people say and of your response to it; to be considerate, to have good taste, good manners; not to be rough, not to hurt people either physically or inwardly and be unaware of it; to see a beautiful thing and linger with it; to listen tentatively without being bored to everything that is said, so that the mind becomes acute, sharp - all this is sensitivity, is it not? So is there much difference between sensitivity and awareness? I don't think so.

You see, as long as your mind is condemning, judging, forming opinions, concluding, it is neither aware nor sensitive. When you are rude to people, when you pick flowers and throw them away, when you ill-treat animals, when you scratch your name on the furniture or break the leg of a chair, when you are unpunctual to meals and have bad manners in general, it all indicates insensitivity, does it not? It indicates a mind that is not capable of alert adjustment. And surely it is part of education to help the student to be sensitive, so that he will not merely conform or resist, but will be awake to the whole movement of life. The people who are sensitive in life may suffer much more than those who are insensitive; but if they understand and go beyond their suffering they will discover extraordinary things.

You are willing to give your heart to others and to this world, for you are seeing that this is why you have come here.

You wondered if as you healed, if as you awakened, you would feel less. But you are seeing that love continues to ask you to feel more. There was an idea that as your heart opened, you would be less vulnerable, less naked, and less exposed – but you are more raw and tender now than you’ve ever been. 

You wondered if as you transformed and stepped fully into the here and now, you would be more detached, not care quite so much, and rest as the ‘witness’ of your life from beyond it all. But, alas, you care so much you are burning up inside. 

You know that things will never be the same, but you still don’t know what is coming next or even where you are, or what is truly being asked of you. This unknowing groundless ground is your home now, and the intelligence and creativity here can feel unbearable. You are being guided by the unseen, the unheard, and the unknown, but this guidance is occurring outside the dense environment of the mind. You are unable any longer to find any sort of reference point from which to orient. 

Look carefully. Stay very close. For this is a sacred disorientation.
The colors, the fragrances, and the sounds of the phenomenal world – it is almost too much. The purples, the blues, the rose, and the birdsong – they have arrived from the other world. It feels like if you allowed the beloved fully inside you that you would fall to the ground in pure astonishment. Yet you long for him or her to fill you. 

As you look up into the morning sky – or into the vastness of dusk – you can’t help but notice that things are colored by a certain tinge of sadness. But this is not the sadness of the mind where something is missing. It is a sadness which is pouring out of your overflowing heart. This sadness is your only yoga now. You are willing to give your heart to others and to this world, for you are seeing that this is why you have come here.
Somehow, by some outrageous grace… the dream of postponement has come to an end. You are here. Now.

Reflections

Buddha was walking into the city market one day and near the city entrance an old bitter man was sitting on a box glaring at Buddha, who carried a bright smile on his face. At the sight of him this old man started cursing Buddha up and down, left right and center, telling him how pretentious he was, how much better he thought he was and how he did nothing worthy of the air he breathed in this world. But Buddha simply smiled and kept on walking to the market to get what he needed.
The Next day Buddha returned to the market and once again that old man was there, this time his cursing intensified, screaming and yelling at Buddha as he walked by, cursing his mother, cursing his father and everyone else in his life.
This went on for the rest of the week and finally as the Buddha was leaving the market the man came up to him, as his curiosity had simply gotten the best of him.
“Buddha, every day you come here smiling and every day I curse your name, I curse your family and everything you believe in” the old man says ” but every day you enter this city with a smile knowing that I await you with my harsh tongue, and everyday you leave through the same entrance with that same smile. I know by speaking to you now that you are not deaf, why do you keep on smiling while I do nothing but scream the worst things I can think of to your face?”
Buddha, with the same smile still on his face looks at the old man and asks “If I were to bring you a gift tomorrow morning all wrapped up in a beautiful box would you accept it?” to which the old man replies “Absolutely not, I would take nothing from the likes of you!”. The Buddha replies “Well if I were to offer you this gift and you were to refuse then who would this gift belong to?”. “It would still belong to you of course” answers the old man. “And so the same goes with your anger, when I choose not to accept your gift of anger , does it not then remain your own?”
As a mirror reflects an object, as a still lake reflects the sky: take care that what you speak or act is for good. For goodness will always cast back goodness and harm will always cast back harm...

DOES YOUR MIND WANDER?

I am in the mood ...
I am in the mood for
expression, for emotion,
and for a light conversation.

I am in the mood ...
I am in the mood for learning
about you, for walking with you
and for BEING with you.

I am in the mood ...
I am in the mood for
Love and peace and
a better understanding
of what we all are demanding.

I am in the mood ...
I am in the mood to be
like a river, flowing free
and to be embraced by
the arms of the sea.

and now...
I am the mood for a cup of tea.


Lopamudra (1991)

Just found this poem I had written ages back.

The Song of Sadness

Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.

It is you who has to believe in this eternal truth, with all your heart. Your belief and faith will give it power to manifest completely in your life.

So, whenever you are sad, sing a song!!

I want you!

You need only yourself. Learn to love yourself as much as you can. Be complete. Let the yearning you feel for love be fed by your own S-ELF. And then...


Try and weed out the "I needs" in your life and replace them with "I wants".

Don't say I cannot live without you. 

Say I can live without you, I can be anywhere in the world, but I choose to be here, with you. 

What a beautiful way to tell someone you love them! Want people, choose them, let it be light, let it be joy, let it be a laugh, a smile, a warm touch, a making love that is fun.

Do you see the difference? It's subtle, yet huge. It is a whole paradigm shift. It is the difference between feeling null or feeling full.

Reflect.

Moments and milestones…

I am not original in what I feel
Many have said it before
But it is the truth
So, I say it once more…

Happiness is in moments, fleeting.
You have to be aware and steal it
Or life will pull a fast one
And you will be left with nothing
But regret and repenting.

So, dear friend
Look for the moments in life,
Waiting, while you rush after milestones
Those are visible from afar…
The minor ones are there
Wanting you to come and share
The beauty that is in them
Stop for a while… walk off the road
Don’t worry it will always be there
Bury your feet in the grass
Let the breeze mess your hair
Smile at the sunshine making
Golden patterns here and there