Lotus of the Heart > Path of Spirit > Spiritual Cultivation of Calm

 
 

The Perfume of Calm

Presence Simply Present

Apr 16, 2017


being edited return soon please

Calm, as an adjective, began being applied to the Sea in the 1300s CE. Earlier, in the 1560s, the adjective form began being used of society or the mind as free of "agitation, passion". In the 1400s "calm" began referring to persons of "peaceful manner, mild bearing."k


Friend, you lose
everything
you gain
everything

with each loss
gain

why cling
to a grain of sand
when the Beloved offers you
a Diamond

Why play on the shore
when the Ocean wants
to make Love with
all of you

You say, "I can't"
a good place to begin ~
Grace can!

Weakness opens the doorway
to Heaven
surrender the posture
all along the Way

*Brian K. Wilcox. "Grace Can!".

* * *

i am
the minstrel of
eternal love
and will play
the song of happiness

when my soul
hears music
and changes to softness
I'll break open
the wine jar's seal

i am in love
with the temple of fire
because i was born
as the prophet
named Khalili Abraham

i am in love
with soul and
wisdom
i am the enemy
of false images

the spring is arriving
it is high time
for action
for the sun and Aries
to get together

my blood is boiling
my heart is on fire and
the winder snow
is melting away
from my body

someone's love
is knocking me out
and pulling me
after itself
very forcefully

though i am
in this
hell and fire
i'm filled with
honey and nectar

though i am
condemned to take
this journey
i'm filled with
the sweetness of going home

now the time has come
my sweatheart
kindly express
what my tongue
can never describe

*Rumi. "I AM".

* * *

Spiritual traditions speak of fire as a metaphor for the process of spiritual transformation. Spiritual practices were designed to throw us into the Fire. Yes, wonderful for those who enjoy some heat from the Fire; more wonderful, even glorious, for those who jump in and say "Yes!". And, sometimes, this Fire may appear merciless. So, when the heat increases, remind yourself the path is working its Work. Rejoice, even if you do not feel like being thankful for a Love that would burn you up, and in the process free you from the illusions you dreamed true. You are not being burned up, who you think you are is. Not only is Grace burning up the delusional self you have identified as I, regardless of how highly functioning, Grace is burning up, little by little, and with varied intensity, the whole dream you called my life. When you stop jumping in and out of the Fire, you settle into the bliss of the dream being burned up, and the joy of being awake to Life in a way you never, ironically, dreamed possible. Then, your whole life becomes one big "Thank You!". We can live in gratitude, arising from fearless perseverance, for we have learned, as Pema Chodron writes...

Awakeness is found in our pleasure and our pain, our confusion and our wisdom. It's available in each moment of our weird, unfathomable, ordinary everyday lives.

Prayer

Grace and Peace to All

*Lotus of the Heart is an interspiritual offering of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, who lives in Florida USA.

*Rumi poem from Rumi Poems. "I AM". Trans. Nader Khalili. Pema Chodron quote in Pema Chodron. Comfortable with Uncertainty. "96 ~ This Very Moment is the Perfect Teacher".

*Move cursor over pictures for creator of photo and title.


 

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