“Radical Amazement” *

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

“Our goal should be to live life 
In radical amazement….
to get up in the morning
 and look at the world
 in a way that takes nothing for granted.

Everything is phenomenal.
Everything is incredible.
Never treat life casually.
To be spiritual is to be amazed.”*

What a powerful
And seemingly
Impossible
Invitation.

Please,
Let us
Hear,

Heschel
Offers us
A
“Goal”,
Not
An
Outcome.

This is a direction
He
Offers us
During
This most
Complicated
Time
In
Which
We live.

A direction,

A practice.

Not to overlook
The hardships,

Not to
Transcend
The
Suffering.

But to give us
The courage
And the strength
To keep on.

To keep 
On
Practicing.
~~~
It seems
That
The more intense
Our “habitual” lives become
(and they are!)
The harder it is,
I think,
To see
The awe.

And if ever
EVER 
There were 
A time
To
Look
For the goodness,
The awe,
The perfection,

This might
Be
It.
~~~
Let’s ask
Ourselves,

Where is it
That 
We 
Are return
To 
Radical 
Amazement?

On the yoga mat?

In the woods,
The park?

Snuggling
With 
A child?

Your dearest
Animal
Companion?

For me,
For the
Wacky human
That is me,

I remember
Outside,

Sunrise,
Sunset,
Shifting
Light.

Stars.
Birds.

Nik the Dog
Fully communicating
With 
Those
Eyes…

What about you?
~~~
In looking through the lens 
Of radical amazement,
I found
This.

This returned me
To awe.

Oh, friends,
Please 
Watch:

“The Growing Field”

Sky Over Kripalu

 

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

 

~~~
I am tired
So tired
Of 
My
Hypervigilance.

Figuring
It
Out
Before
It 
Happens.

Working
On 
Plans
A, B, 
L
And
K,

Prematurely
Obsessed
Before anything
Even
Unfolds.

I’m here
To remind
You
And 
Me
And 
Us,
All—

“The growing field”
Is not
The 2:45 a.m.
Zone
Of
Creating
Responses
To
Things 
That 
Haven’t
Happened
Yet.

Figuring
It out
Is
Not
A
Spiritual
Practice.

 ~~~
What is
The 
Growing field?

Is it 
Revealed:

~~ When the
Next
Steps
Are 
Undetermined?

~~ When
No
Doorway
Appears
To
Open?

~~ When
Our
Will
Alone
Is
Not
Budging,
Moving
The
Situation?

~~ Is it
A
Dropping
Down 
Into
Emptiness?

~~ Is it
That
Relaxing
Into 
Quiet?

~~ What is it?

What is it
For you?

~~
What do we do
When
We’re in
The 
Growing field?

How do we 
Do more than
Just
Abide
Our
Not
Knowing?

How do
We honor it?

How do we
Continue
To remember
That this
Not
Knowing,

This
Not
Doing—

This
Is
The 
Place 
Of 
Divine
Intervention.

The
Place
Of
Divine
Growth.

The place
Of
Divine
Healing
And
Transformation.

~~~
How do we do it?

We practice.

We practice.

We
Practice
~~~
What’s my practice,

When I am
Immersed
In the
Growing
Field?

I stop.
I pray.
I feel.

And for me,
I reach out.

Asking 
One 
Person
Something…

Moves
The 
Energy.

Supports
The
Next steps
To 
Emerge.

~~~
Shift of gears
And mood,

Friends, 
Into one
Of celebration.

Here’s a wonderful thing, well, for us older folk.
OMG.  Okay, I’m old. 
That might be a prerequisite for adoring this song.
Here it is, on its 50th anniversary.
Here is Playing for Change, infusing such global energy, such life, musicians from around the world, celebrating Robbie Robinson’s The Weight.

Please watch!  
The musicians’ faces…
Their energy…

And—does Ringo continue to look the same?
Back then, did he look old?
Or…
Now, does he look young?

 

~~~
Dear Friends,

When does your growing field emerge?
What does it feel like?
How do you interface with it?
What does it offer you?

Dear Friends,

One step,
One breath,
One
Thing
At a time.

That’s all life is
Asking.

All blessings,
Aruni

P.S.
During a Reiki session, my practitioner received that opening quote, from my heart.  Me to me.

And I
Gratefully
Share it,

From my heart
To yous.

Me
To
You.

One at a Time

This blog post is also available on my Facebook page to make sharing it with friends and family easy for you to do.

Steps lead
To steps
Which
Lead
To
More
Steps.

Those 
Series
Of
Steps,

Three 
Series,

Will
In fact
Take
You
To 
The 
Street

Which is
Of course,
A hill.

From there,
It is
Onward
And
Upward.

~~~
These two pictures show
Two-thirds of the series of steps,
Required
To get 
Out of
Our hotel
In Assisi.

Initially
I was
Somewhat
Horrified, 
Breathless,

Resting, 
Midway,
And
Midway
Again.

Slightly embarrassed,
Chunky
American.

Pretty quickly
I found
Prayer.

Or perhaps,
It
Found
Me.

A word,
A phrase,
To repeat.  

Walking mantra
Has been
My practice,
Taught to me
By my dogs,
Lucy and Zac Joe Doodle.

Regular-paced walking
Adding in
Repetitive
Word,
Phrase,
A tether,
A grounding.
A prayer
In motion.

My dogs taught me.

They prepared me
For
The pilgrimage
I am on.

~~~
Assisi, 
Place of pilgrimage,
Place of miracles,
Place of suffering
And
Healing.

I don’t know much about austerity.
I don’t come from a perspective that elevates suffering.
Yet, in my many hours of walking
The steps,

Church
To
Church,

Spot
To 
Spot,

I felt the doorway to Grace
That the intensity of the walking
Offered.

I visited
The caves
That
St. France
And
The 
Brothers
Slept in.

His bed
Was rock,

Lumpy
And 
Bumpy rock,
At that.

I’m not saying I understand.
I am saying that walking the steps,
One at a time,
Feeling the impossibility of it,
Feeling my despair about it,

That
Became the doorway
To more grace.

I’m just saying,
I 
Was
Touched.

I 
Am
Touched.

I found deeper access
To Grace
On
Those
Steps.
~~~
And then,
There’s down.

A whole 
Other
Set 
Of 
Challenges.
For this wacky human,
Me,
Mostly
Keeping 
My focus
On the
Down,

Rather
Than
Imagining,
Obsessing
On
The 
UP
That
Is
Inevitably 
Coming.

Let’s walk together for a bit…..