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*Brian Wilcox. 'A Belle in the Mountains'. Flickr
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Written on the thirteenth day of silent retreat at Raven's Rest hermitage, in the Great Smoky Mountains, outside Hot Springs, North Carolina.
A continuance of dialogues with a sage who did not see himself as a sage, but others did; from Brian K. Wilcox. "Meetings with an Anonymous Sage," followed by verse.
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when one feels anything as beautiful
through any form of Nature
this is the elicitation
of Beauty itself
do not stop with the admiration of the beautiful
be drawn into the embrace of Beauty
there is nothing more attractive than Presence
Presence is pristine, unsullied, pure Love
Presence is seducing everyone
to fall helplessly into the arms of Grace
one can ignore this, but not hide
so, why not say "Yes" and begin falling now
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A question was posed about the discussion the prior evening, in which the sage referred to Presence giving itself.
What is this Presence you referred to last evening?
The effulgence of the Sacred within you, within everyone and everything. Everything is alive ... with Life.
And we cannot give that?
No. The scent of the flower arises from the flower, without the flower, no scent. The scent cannot give itself, only the flower in which the scent abides, is innately one with, gives the scent. The scent is the effulgence of the flower. When one smells the flower scent, one does not think just scent, but scent of a flower. One is drawn to the flower. To speak of Presence as flower, the flower seduces one to come to it through the scent it gives. We are means for Grace to seduce others to Grace, not to us, even as we have been seduced by Grace to Grace.
How can we best be one through whom persons experience this Presence giving itself, or seducing them?
As said yesterday, spaciousness, and no judge and no jury.
Would you share on that?
All negativity is a contraction of the ego, the small sense of self. That ego is simply a collective of stories, habits, beliefs, preferences, ... which we have inherited as part of culture and being in a body. So, let us say, you are with someone and become judgmental, in that moment contraction sets in ~ some refer to this as the heart closes, when its natural way is to remain open, welcoming ~ and Love is shut out. The ego is judging another to compensate for its own lack of feeling of worth, due to fear of the other as different from itself, or some other motive conscious or unconscious. The judgment is about the ego that judges, for no one can do anything to make anyone be judgmental toward him or her. We could say this being judgmental is like placing curtains over a window and the Sun is blocked from flooding into a room; the judgmental posture shuts out the flow of Love, of Presence.
Do you ever feel judgmental when with someone?
Yes. Thankfully not nearly as often as once. We all do, I think. And as we live closer to the Light, we become less tolerant of the suffering that arises within ourselves when we are being critical of others. By being critical of another, we soon feel the meeting of that darkness with the Light within. We learn, however, through awareness, to notice when that critical attitude arises, we learn not to push it away through aggression, but to recognize it and calmly let it go, until it starts just dropping of its own, not having anywhere to stick. Over time, such a feeling remains for less and less time, until, possibly, we come to where it rarely arises and leaves almost immediately with the arising.
So, no judge and no jury is related not to being judgmental? Or, as you say, we are to keep the window unveiled by the curtains, so the Sun can shine in?
Yes. But an important distinction ... Grace, or Presence, always provides a safe space, though not always a comforting space. We need to distinguish safe and comforting. And a person can feel judged in the presence of one who is not being judgmental toward him or her. A person could meet the Buddha or Christ and immediately feel judged, though the Buddha and Christ cannot be judgmental toward anyone. When the darkness and Light meet, the darkness may feel judged, but the Light never judges anyone. I see you all thinking on that, and I sense we need to return, possibly, to that matter. Yet, let us do this another time, enough talk, now silence. Thank you.
*Brian Wilcox. 'A Mountain Seductress'. Flickr
*(C)Brian K. Wilcox, 2019
Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered from major booksellers online, including the publisher 1stBooks.
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