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*Brian Wilcox 'Azalea in Bloom'
The Sage tended to discourage speculation about the Absolute Being, knowing it can easily be a distraction. A devotee asked him, however, in private, "Who is God?" The Sage answered, "I have a more important question for you, 'Who are you?'"
* * *
A little girl showed her picture to the teacher. She had painted a purple tree. The teacher said, disapprovingly, "Dear, I've never seen a purple tree." "How sad that you haven't," replied the little girl.
* * *
ROSES BEING ROSES
A rose doesn't try to be different
from other roses
Each rose, in itself, being itself, flawlessly
is different
A rose doesn't strive to stand out
"I'm special" "I'm the best" "I'm better than you"
A rose is with other roses, a rose among roses,
never against
There's room enough in the garden
for each and all roses being
one roseness
Cease trying to be special
~ you already are, everyone is ~
express your unique realness
effortlessly
Your gift to others is you
your sole, never-before youness
Don't first seek how to express this
contact the place in yourself
where this already is
where you're already you
Life will silently work within you
to manifest your youness outwardly
in joyful co-creation in the Light
Life can't co-operate with
denial of who you are
How can Life manifests
a you that's not
So, remember the rose
express yourself gladly
in the Garden of the Sun
* * *
Who we are appears, not by our trying to become who we are, but by unbecoming what we are not. Effortfully we appeared to become someone, effortlessly we are that we have always been. While we put forth effort in our spiritual practice, that effort cannot bring forth our True Self. The Self appears spontaneously. The clouds do not make the Sun appear; they part, and the Sun is already present.
The Fire of Love, a metaphor used by John of the Cross, does this work, when we surrender to the Beloved we are. This Flame is living, one with our living. Anam Thubten, Buddhist teacher, in No Self, No Problem, says of this "burning":
If I visualized awareness in a form, perhaps I would visualize it as a powerful fire. Awareness is like a fire because it burns down all illusions right there on the spot. So the function of awareness is actually burning everything down.
When we relax in the Silence, opening the heart to the Light, we invite the Light to extinguish what we are not.
Another metaphor, apt for this process, is a chipping away. The Beloved is like a master sculptor. The Sculptor sees who we are within all we have tried to be and chips away at it slowly. What is left?
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