Dukkha muccantu May all beings be free from suffering
Yattha-laddha-sampattito mavigacchantu May whatever they have gained not be lost
*From the Chant of Metta (Lovingkindness), Pali-English
Come to me, all you exhausted and heavy burdened, and I will give you rest... you shall find rest for your souls.
*Jesus, Matthew 11.28
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Spread-out-like-tent Sky, Sun adorned, a shining, smiling bride, Galilee tints, blue and soft too, arms-open-wide with welcome air, hospitality immaculate, spectacular, room to move, to hear ripples of water washing over the feet, while sounds whirling round celebrate its center of Love, afire, orchestrating this dance of deathless Life, a Resurrection, grand display I often miss in cramped places, among filled up spaces, while Glory is moved into a corner or basement, maybe just walked around, or on, or over, or pushed inside a darkened alley.
To do as Jesus, walking beside Galilee Sea, a favored place. Why? To breathe, to be, close to You.
*"Galilee Sea," in Brian K. Wilcox. An Ache for Union. Poem revised Feb 9, 2010, Sep 29.2015.
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Spirit creates lively spaciousness, and in openness to others. Spirit negates, in Love, the rote and insular, the stuffy and cramped. Inner Solitude is not a shutting out of the world, it entails a new relationship with the world. Solitude is spacious, not narrow or confined or choosy about what gets in or what does not get in. Grace is graceful: Liberality, Generosity, Hospitality.
Spaciousness is room for exploration, investigation, the excitement and playfulness of new ventures. See, the Spiritual journey is not about chiefly preservation of the old or protection of the has been, but creation in consort with Love of the never has been.
Spaciousness, ironically, while more expansive, constellates a more intimate Intimacy - an Intimacy more open for being intimate. Spaciousness provides the terrain for the next welcome of Closeness.
The Christlike posture is the Cross – a wide openness to all directions, all experience, and in Love. Like the Bodhisattva in Buddhism, one has no time to dwell on thoughts of a future heaven for oneself or think one would want some heaven while others are tormented in some hell - such thinking is not Love, not Metta, but is a continuation of the constricted, self-centered self. When I open in all directions, abandoning myself in Love, in Metta, I find a freedom from the cramped, stuffy closet of self-constriction. Here, my action and 'God's' are one action, one Love, a single isness gracefully gracing. Here, Presence acts, moves, is invitational Grace.
Spaciousness is one way of saying Love. When I am in Love with someone, I say, "Welcome, come in." When in Love with the world, I say, "Welcome. I have room for you." The life of Jesus outdoors, then, mirrors His message: "Come to me all you ...," as seen in the Gospel of Matthew.
And the message of the Buddha is the same. After the Buddha was enlightened, the story has Buddha not wanting to teach. Yet, he does, he cannot do other. Why? To express bodhichitta, the awakened Heart, in compassion for others. This Heart is one of Metta, of lovingkindness, choiceless by nature, overflowing by Grace.
♥ ♥ ♥
Grace and Peace to All
The Sacred in Me bows to the Sacred in You
*Move cursor over photos for photographer and photo name.
