WE MEET EACH OTHER IN ALL FORMS OF LIFE

This body is not me.
I am not limited by this body.

I am life without boundaries.

I have never been born,
and I have never died.

Look at the ocean and the sky filled with stars,

Manifestations from my wondrous true mind.
Since before time, I have been free.

Birth and death are only doors through which we pass,
sacred thresholds on our journey.

Birth and death are a game of hide- and seek.

So laugh with me,

hold my hand,

let us say good-bye,

say good-bye, to meet again soon.

We meet today.

We will meet again tomorrow.

We will meet at the source every moment.
We meet each other in all forms of life.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

HEALING MYSELF

No, I do not have the strength

Nor the resources that are needed

To fight and correct a million things

That seem wrong but must be changed

From my perspective, at the very least.

When cruelty rears its ugly head

And strikes one that cannot defend 

Or causes pain and suffering,
God knows why,

What can I do but cry.

But my tears will soon run dry

And leave me feeling torn 

Wondering why I was even born,

Why the cruelty, why this pain,

What is it one could possibly gain 

By hurting another -

No, himself.

What is another? 

How can there be another?

Are not the cells in my body all me?

What happens when one organ or a cell

Turns against another inside of me?

It shows that I am sick.

My body may be healthy and well

And, perhaps, my spirit, too

But a higher part of me, my society

Is likely not so well.

No, I shall not recuse myself,

Nor will I blame the others

For there are really no others...

It’s me...at another level.

No, I shall not turn against ‘another’...

I’ll work on myself and work harder there

For I care...

As I get better and better still,

Healthier and healthier still

I’ll heal

I’ll spread the healing vibrations more,

I’ll pray,
I’ll smile and
I’ll love myself some more

Until wellness spreads wider still -

That is mine and my maker’s will.

~ Raj Yogi

A SONG OF AUTUMN

By Adam Lindsay Gordon

“Where shall we go for our garlands glad
At the falling of the year,
When the burnt-up banks are yellow and sad,
When the boughs are yellow and sere?
Where are the old ones that once we had,
And when are the new ones near?
What shall we do for our garlands glad
At the falling of the year?”
“Child! can I tell where the garlands go?
Can I say where the lost leaves veer
On the brown-burnt banks, when the wild winds blow,
When they drift through the dead-wood drear?
Girl! when the garlands of next year glow,
YOU may gather again, my dear —
But I go where the last year’s lost leaves go
At the falling of the year.”

DRINK FROM THE SAUCER

I've never made a fortune,

And I'll never make one now

But it really doesn't matter

'Cause I'm happy anyhow.

As I go along my journey

I'm reaping better than I've sowed

I'm drinking from the saucer

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

I don't have a lot of riches,

And the going's sometimes tough

But with kin and friends to love me

I think I'm rich enough.

I thank God for the blessings

That His mercy has bestowed

I'm drinking from the saucer

'Cause my cup has overflowed.

He gives me strength and courage

When the way grows steep and rough

I'll not ask for other blessings

For I'm already blessed enough.

May we never be too busy

To help bear another's load

Then we'll all be drinking from the saucer

When our cups have overflowed.

~ John Paul Moore

FREEDOM T0 …

As I descended from where all descends

To experience life as a human on earth

That which from all things come

Gave me free will to value my worth.

It gave me free will, will power, intent and choice

To do what I liked with myself;

I had the choice to create a piece of art

Or to waste myself in search of pelf.

‘Should I continue being a fool 

And waste my gifts on worthless stuff

Or should I pursue a better thing

Though on starting it might seem tough?’

I have my free will and will power, too,

And I have intent and the power to choose

In addition to many other gifts I have -

What would you do when in my shoes?

~ Raj Yogi

LOVE'S PHILOSOPHY

By Percey Bysshe Shelley

The fountains mingle with the river 

And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion; 

Nothing in the world is single; 

All things by a law divine
In one spirit meet and mingle. 

Why not I with thine?—
See the mountains kiss high heaven 

And the waves clasp one another; 

No sister-flower would be forgiven 

If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth
And the moonbeams kiss the sea:
What is all this sweet work worth
If thou kiss not me?

WILD GEESE

Photo: January 1, 2021

Hacking River 

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain 

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.” 

~Mary Oliver

🚣🚣🚣🚣🚣🚣🚣

Wikipedia:

National Royal Park 

The Hacking River is a watercourse that is located in the Southern Sydney region of New South Wales in Australia. For thousands of years traditional owners called the river Deeban, however the colonial settlers renamed the river after Henry Hacking, a British seaman who killed Pemulwuy and was a pilot at Port Jackson in colonial New South Wales.

NEW BEGINNING

The dawn does not come
twice to awaken the man

the best way out
is always through
(Robert Frost)

there are two ways
of meeting difficulties:
you alter the difficulties or
you alter yourself to meet them
(Phyllis Bottome)

Measure wealth not the by things you have
but by the things you have for which
you would not take money.

there are things that are known;
and things that are unknown
and in between,
there are doors

we all need time
to be alone...
to think
to dream
to wonder.

the future belongs
to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams
(Eleanor Roosevelt)

and in the end,
it is not the years
in your life that count.
it is the life in your years.
(Abraham Lincoln)

Love life
Honor life
and give thanks