The Guest House
— Jellaludin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Walk Slowly
By Danna Faulds
It only takes a reminder to breathe,
a moment to be still, and just like that,
something in you settles, softens, makes
space for imperfection. The harsh voice
of judgment drops to a whisper and you
remember again that life isn’t a relay
race; that waking up to life is what we
were born for. As many times as you
forget, catch yourself charging forward,
that many times you can make the choice
to stop, to breathe, to be, and to walk
slowly into the mystery.
Go In and In
By Danna Faulds
Go in and in.
Be the space
Between two cells,
the vast, resounding
silence in which spirit dwells.
Be sugar dissolving
on the tongue of life.
Dive in and in,
as deep as you can dive.
Be infinite, ecstatic truth.
Be love conceived and born in union.
Be exactly what you seek,
the Beloved, singing Yes,
tasting Yes, embracing Yes, until there is only essence;
the All of Everything expressing through you
as you. Go in and in
and turn away from
nothing that you find.
Gratitude
By Melody Beatty
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast,
A house into a home,
A stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past,
Brings peace for today,
And creates a vision for tomorrow.
When there's a
fresh wound in
your heart, keep it
until it
heals. Air it out.
Understand it. Dive
into it. Be fierce
enough to become
it. If you ignore
it, it won't be able
to breathe. If you
ignore it, it will
merely deepen,
spread and
resurface later,
wanting to release.
And when later
happens, it will
hurt even more,
because when later
happens, you won't
know what you're
bleeding for.
Remain with it
until it clears,
and watch the
beauty pour into
you're openness.
Remain open to feel
lightness. Remain
open to feel free.
~ Victoria Erickson
Edge of Wonder
notes from the wildness of being
When you reach your edge, soften.
Soften until you slip through
the constraints
and can create
a new rhythm,
a new route,
a new release.
Water is soft yet powerful.
Reach your edge,
and soften.
~ Victoria Erickson
Edge of Wonder
notes from the wildness of being
Tonight, you may
be sorrowful or
silent, empty or
alone, but you
have the moon, and
you have your
breath, and in
inhaling the
wonder of these
alone, you might
find yourself
wrapped in the soft
shawl of gentle
relief that this
very moment is
beautiful, and more
than worthy of
perfect love.
~Victoria Erickson
Edge of Wonder
notes from the wildness of being
The Cure
by Albert Huffstickler
We think we get over things.
We don’t get over things.
Or say, we get over the measles,
But not a broken heart.
We need to make that distinction.
The things that become part of our experience
Never become less a part of our experience.
How can I say it?
The way to “get over” a life is to die.
Short of that, you move with it,
let the pain be pain,
not in the hope that it will vanish
But in the faith that it will fit in,
find its place in the shape of things
and be then not any less pain but true to form.
Because anything natural has an inherent shape and will flow towards it.
And a life is as natural as a leaf.
That’s what we’re looking for: not the end of a thing but the shape of it.
Wisdom is seeing the shape of your life without obliterating (getting over) a single instant of it.
These Tender Words
By Rumi
These tender words we say to one another
Are stored in the secret heart of heaven;
One day like rain, they will fall and spread,
And our mystery will grow green over the world
Holding Out
by Hakuin
Throughout all the ten regions of the Universe
there is no place where the Source is not
The Edge of Center
By Fourteenth-century
Japanese, Anonymous
All tempest has,
like a navel,
a hole in its middle
through which
a gull can fly,
in silence.
Our Deepest Fear
By Marianne Williamson
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness
That most frightens us.
We ask ourselves
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of the Universe
Your playing small
Does not serve the world
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that other people won’t feel insecure around you
We are all meant to shine,
As children do.
You were born to make manifest
The glory that is within us
It’s not just in some of us;
It’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.
“We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us, that they may see their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer perhaps even a fiercer life because of our quiet”
William Butler Yeats