And so I drop the search ....

Today I realised that there is no need to seek the divine in me, I already am. All I need to do is drop the seeking and just be.... in that being is divinity. Seeking implies a journey, sometimes called a journey into oneself, but where will I go and search when divinity is already here in the now. When I drop all these mind-games, the labels, the goals, even drop all effort, there is a stillness and a deep silence. It is deeply peaceful and alive at the same time. Then it matters not if I'm labelled animal or human or divine. All I then know is boundlessness, and bliss.

Kempis

"He who learns to live the interior life and to take little account of outward things, does not seek special places or times to perform devout exercises. A spiritual man quickly recollects himself because he has never wasted his attention upon externals. No outside work, no business that cannot wait stands in his way. He adjusts himself to things as they happen. He whose disposition is well ordered cares nothing about the strange, perverse behavior of others, for a man is upset and distracted only in proportion as he engrosses himself in externals."

---- Kempis

Notes from the Universe

Courageous is the soul who ventures into time and space to learn of their divinity. For while they cannot lose, they can think they have, and the loss will seem intolerable. And while they cannot fail, they can think they have, and the pain will seem unbearable. And while they cannot ever be less than they truly are – powerful, eternal, and loved – they can think they are, and all hope will seem lost.

And therein lies their test. A test of perceptions: of what to focus on, of what to believe in, in spite of appearances.

Courageous indeed … the pride of the Universe, and I should know.

The only difference between a friend and a foe is that you’ve decided where love will grow.

There isn’t a soul on this planet who doesn’t crave your approval.

Whoever may torment you, harass you, confound you, or upset you is a teacher.

Not because they’re wise, but because you seek to become so.

--- Notes from the Universe (New perspectives from an old friend) by Mike Dooley

Mahavakyas

Every upanishad has at least one mahavakya. A mahavakya literally means great statement. These statements are great because of their ability to directly indicate the identity of the jeevatma and the paramatma and destroy avidya.

Some of the more famous mahavakyas are -

1. prajnanam bramhan - aitreya upanishad

This means that consciousness is brahman. The word brahman comes form the sanskrit root brh which means expansion or vastness. Brahman is used to indicate the infinite, all pervading, non dual reality. Nothing can exist without consciousness. In absence of consciousness there is no observer. In absence of the observer there can be no observed, since it would not be observed even if it existed. Therefore without consciousness nothing exists, which leads to the conclusion that everything exists in consciousness. Therefore consciousness is all pervading and infinite, that which is infinite is non-dual. Since there cannot be two non dual entities, we conclude that consciousness is brahman.

2. aham brahmasmi - brhadaranyaka upanishad

This means I am brahman. Earlier we have deduced that brahman is consciousness. Here it is clearly stated that I am brahman. Thus I am consciousness. This utterly shatters all false identifications in the form of I am the body, I am the mind, I am the intellect etc. It establishes that I am the consciousness behind all the experiences of the body mind and intellect, I am observer, the body, mind, intellect, senses etc are only my instruments. I am infinite, I am all pervading. If carefully examined this statement destroys all sorrow. Sorrow stems form wanting something, from not having something, a desire frustrated, an expectation let down. Now if I am the infinite non-dual brahman, then nothing exists other than me. Therefore where is the question of desire. I can only desire something other than me, I can only have expectations when there is something other than me to expect something from. Thus this statement removes all sorrows at the root, restablishing the identity of myself as brahman alone.

3. Sarvam Khalvidam brahma - chandogya upanishad

This is translated as everything is truly brahman. Previously we said I am brahman. Of course only one logical step away is the conclusion that everything else is also brahman. Thus all likes and dislikes, all prejudices, all pairs of opposites like pain and pleasure, love and hate, etc resolve themselves, as mere illusions caused by our own false identifications.

There are many other great mahavakyas, deep reflection on these leads to great insights and revelations into truth.

tat twam asi - that thou art
ishavasyam idam sarvam - the lord is in all this
ayamatma brahma - this spirit is brahman
soham - I am Him.

a beautiful verse of Sri Adishankaracharya comes to mind...

asamgoham asamgoham asamgoham punah punaha
satchidananda roopoham aham eva aham avyayaha

I am unattached, I am unattached, I am unattached for ever.
I am the form of existence, consciousness and bliss, I alone am, I am eternal.

(I found this at http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=16759 )

The call

The spirits call, the angels call
the ether calls the most,
through eons rolls this clarion call
my soul, respond it must.
This body, thick and dense, it sheds
the traps of mind discards,
and then in leaping flight ascends
into nothingness dissolves.

How?

How can I be alone when I have the Universe for company?

How can I be empty when I am filled up with Its spaces?

How can I be limited when in surrender I lose by boundaries?

How can I be in need when I dwell in Abundance?

How can I be imperfect when I am fashioned by Perfection?

Follow your destiny

...... wherever it leads you

There comes a time in your life when you realise that if you stand still, you will remain at this point forever. You realize that if you fall and stay down, life will pass you by.

Life's circumstances are not always what you might wish them to be. The pattern of life does not necessarily go as you plan. Beyond any understanding, you may at times be led in different directions that you never imagined, dreamed or designed. Yet if you had never put any effort into choosing a path, or tried to carry out your dream, then perhaps you would have no direction at all.

Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life has taken, accept the fact that there is a path before you now. Shake off the 'whys' and 'what ifs', and rid yourself of confusion. Whatever was - is in the past. Whatever is - is what's important. The past is a brief reflection. The future is yet to be realized. Today is here.

Walk your path one step at a time - with courage, faith, and determination. Keep your head up and cast your dreams to the stars. Soon your steps will become firm, and your footing will be solid again. A path that you never imagined will become the most comfortable direction you could have ever hoped to follow.

Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey. You will find it magnificent, spectacular, and beyond your wildest imaginings.

- Vicki Silvers




These are the words on a card that Nicky, a dear, dear friend gave me :)))

The Beauty of Disillusionment

The Beauty of Disillusionment
Vernon Howard

From "The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power":

To be disillusioned is a wonderful state to achieve, a marvelous breakthrough into sunlight. Do not think of disillusion as a sad thing. We think this state is terrible. We are mistaken, It is there that we find peace, liberty (Francois Fenelon)

Disillusionment with yourself must precede enlightenment. If you are disillusioned, I am very glad for you, for now there are great possibilities. Do you feel that nothing you know can fulfill you? Great. You are preparing a psychic emptiness, which can be filled with something making sense at last. You are ready to leap from the frustrating known to the emancipating unknown, magnificently beyond your present self.

Tired of trying to believe in something? Good for you. You can now let something believe in you. It is especially splendid to get disillusioned with people, most of all, your best friends. No, not in cynicism and bitterness, for these are still prison cells consisting of your own defensive attitudes. You don't want emotion-charged attitudes toward lost people; you want clear discernment of their lost state. In such clarity there is total calmness and command.

There is something quite fascinating, I assure you, in being so disillusioned toward others that you are left without a single friend, or counselor, or authority to lean upon. Your very awareness of the inability of others to help you forces you to look, at last, toward your only genuine source of strength, the kingdom within. It is as if a weary wanderer, refused lodging, turns to leave, and in so doing, sights his inherited castle.

The whole idea is to see ourselves and others as we presently are, for upon the ruins of our disillusionment we build a castle we can actually occupy. You build swiftly when you make these insights of French philosopher La Rochefoucauld your own:

* We assume the look and appearance we want to be known for, so that the entire world is a mass of masks. * We offer praise only that we may benefit from it. * Only strong natures can be sweet ones. Those that appear sweet are usually only weak, and may easily turn sour.

It is severely damaging for anyone to pretend possession of a virtue which, in fact, he possesses only in imagination. If a person thinks he is already loving, he cannot go on to find the genuine article. Not only that, but if we think we have bread in the cupboard, when in fact we don't, we will be hungry when we need bread. Such imagination is a dangerous foe of freedom, and far more difficult to detect than one might suppose. Negative imagination is a major cause of human hypnosis. It must be detected, and abandoned. Start with honest Self-Observation. Review the technique for this from Chapter 2.

La Rochefoucauld s insight represents a certain state toward cosmic consciousness. It is one in which you no longer idolize people by attributing qualities and virtues to them which they don't really possess. A person at this stage realizes that his admiration of others is merely a subtle projection of self-admiration. Seeing through himself, he sees through others. This brings great relief, for you are never nervous toward anyone you really understand.

Disillusionment is nothing else but seeing the false as false, and is therefore an advanced mental condition.

---------- Article that appeared on www.superwisdom.com ------------

Sermon on the Mount

Jesus the Son of Man

His words and His deeds as told and recorded by those who knew Him

by Khalil Gibran

(1928)

Chapter : Matthew - The Sermon on the Mount

ONE HARVEST DAY Jesus called us and His other friends to the hills. The earth was fragrant, and like the daughter of a king at her wedding-feast, she wore all her jewels. And the sky was her bridegroom.

When we reached the heights Jesus stood still in the grove of the laurels, and He said, "Rest here, quiet your mind and tune your heart, for I have much to tell you."

Then we reclined on the grass, and the summer flowers were all about us, and Jesus sat in our midst.

And Jesus said:

"Blessed are the serene in spirit.

"Blessed are they who are not held by possessions, for they shall be free.

"Blessed are they who remember their pain, and in their pain await their joy.

"Blessed are they who hunger after truth and beauty, for their hunger shall bring bread, and their thirst cool water.

"Blessed are the kindly, for they shall be consoled by their own kindliness.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall be one with God.

"Blessed are the merciful, for mercy shall be in their portion.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for their spirit shall dwell above the battle, and they shall turn the potter's field into a garden.

"Blessed are they who are hunted, for they shall be swift of foot and they shall be winged.

"Rejoice and be joyful, for you have found the kingdom of heaven within you. The singers of old were persecuted when they sang of that kingdom. You too shall be persecuted, and therein lies your honor, therein your reward.

"You are the salt of the earth; should the salt lose its savor wherewith shall the food of man's heart be salted?

"You are the light of the world. Put not that light under a bushel. Let it shine rather from the summit, to those who seek the City of God.

"Think not I came to destroy the laws of the scribes and the Pharisees; for my days among you are numbered and my words are counted, and I have but hours in which to fulfil another law and reveal a new covenant.

"You have been told that you shall not kill, but I say unto you, you shall not be angry without a cause.

"You have been charged by the ancients to bring your calf and your lamb and your dove to the temple, and to slay them upon the altar, that the nostrils of God may feed upon the odor of their fat, and that you may be forgiven your failings.

"But I say unto you, would you give God that which was His own from the beginning; and would you appease Him whose throne is above the silent deep and whose arms encircle space?

"Rather, seek out your brother and be reconciled unto him ere you seek the temple; and be a loving giver unto your neighbor. For in the soul of these God has builded a temple that shall not be destroyed, and in their heart He has raised an altar that shall never perish.

"You have been told, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say unto you: Resist not evil, for resistance is food unto evil and makes it strong. And only the weak would revenge themselves. The strong of soul forgive, and it is honor in the injured to forgive.

"Only the fruitful tree is shaken or stoned for food.

"Be not heedful of the morrow, but rather gaze upon today, for sufficient for today is the miracle thereof.

"Be not over-mindful of yourself when you give but be mindful of the necessity. For every giver himself receives from the Father, and that much more abundantly.

"And give to each according to his need; for the Father gives not salt to the thirsty, nor a stone to the hungry, nor milk to the weaned.

"And give not that which is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine. For with such gifts you mock them; and they also shall mock your gift, and in their hate would fain destroy you.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures that corrupt or that thieves may steal away. Lay up rather treasure which shall not corrupt or be stolen, and whose loveliness increases when many eyes behold it. For where your treasure is, your heart is also.

"You have been told that the murderer shall be put to the sword, that the thief shall be crucified, and the harlot stoned. But I say unto you that you are not free from wrongdoing of the murderer and the thief and the harlot, and when they are punished in the body your own spirit is darkened.

"Verily no crime is committed by one man or one woman. All crimes are committed by all. And he who pays the penalty may be breaking a link in the chain that hangs upon your own ankles. Perhaps he is paying with his sorrow the price for your passing joy."

Thus spake Jesus, and it was in my desire to kneel down and worship Him, yet in my shyness I could not move nor speak a word.

But at last I spoke; and I said, "I would pray this moment, yet my tongue is heavy. Teach me to pray."

And Jesus said, "When you would pray, let your longing pronounce the words. It is in my longing now to pray thus:

"Our Father in earth and heaven, sacred is Thy name.
Thy will be done with us, even as in space.
Give us of Thy bread sufficient for the day.
In Thy compassion forgive us and enlarge us to forgive one another.
Guide us towards Thee and stretch down Thy hand to us in darkness.
For Thine is the kingdom, and in Thee is our power and our fulfillment."

And it was now evening, and Jesus walked down from the hills, and all of us followed Him. And as I followed I was repeating His prayer, and remembering all that He had said; for I knew that the words that had fallen like flakes that day must set and grow firm like crystals, and that wings that had fluttered above our heads were to beat the earth like iron hoofs.

The Secret

----- excerpted from 'The Secret' the best-selling book by Rhonda Byrne --------

The Secret Revealed

• The Great Secret of life is the law of attraction.
  
  
• The law of attraction says like attracts like, so when you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you.
  
  
• Thoughts are magnetic, and thoughts have a frequency. As you think thoughts, they are sent out into the Universe, and they magnetically attract all like things that are on the same frequency. Everything sent out returns to the source - you.
  
  
• You are like a human transmission tower, transmitting a frequency with your thoughts. If you want to change anything in your life, change the frequency by changing your thoughts.
  
  
• Your current thoughts are creating your future life. What you think about most or focus on the most will appear as your life.
  
  
• Your Thoughts become things.
  
  

The Secret made Simple

• The law of attraction is the law of nature. It is as impartial as the law of gravity.
  
  
Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it through persistent thoughts.


To know what you're thinking, ask yourself how you are feeling. Emotions are valuable tools that instantly tell us what we are thinking.


• It is impossible to feel bad and at the same time have good thoughts.
  
  
• Your thoughts determine your frequency, and your feelings tell you immediately what frequency you are on. When you feel bad, you are on the frequency of drawing more bad things. When you feel good, you are powerfully attracting more good things to you.
  
  
• Secret Shifters, such as pleasant memories, nature, or your favourite music, can change your feelings and shift your frequency in an instant.
  
  
• The feeling of love is the highest frequency you can emit. The greater the love you feel and emit, the greater the power you are harnessing.
  
  

How to use the Secret

• Like Aladdin's Genie, the law of attraction grants our every command.


• The Creative Process helps you create what you want in three simple steps: ask, believe and receive.


• Asking the Universe for what you want is your opportunity to get clear about what you want. As you get clear in your mind, you have asked.


• Believing involves acting, speaking and thinking as though you have already received what you've asked for. When you emit the frequency of having received it, the law of attraction moves people, events and circumstances for you to receive.


• Receiving involves feeling the way you will feel once your desire has manifested. Feeling good now puts you on the frequency of what you want.


• To lose weight, don't focus on "losing weight". Instead, focus on your perfect weight. Feel the feelings of your perfect weight, and you will summon it to you.


• It takes no time for the Universe to manifest what you want. It is as easy to manifest one dollar as it is to manifest one million dollars.


• Starting with something small, like a cup of coffee or parking spaces, is an easy way to experience the law of attraction in action. Powerfully intend to attract something small. As you experience the power you have to attract, you will move on to creating much bigger things.


• Create your day in advance by thinking the way you want it to go, and you will create your life intentionally.
  
  

Powerful Processes Summaries

Expectation is a powerful attractive force. Expect the things you want, and don’t expect the things you don't want.


Gratitude is a powerful process for shifting your energy and bringing more of what you want into your life. Be grateful for what you already have, and you will attract more good things.


Giving thanks for what you want in advance turbo-charges your desires and sends a more powerful signal out into the Universe.


• Visualisation is the process of creating pictures in your mind of yourself enjoying what you want. When you visualise, you generate powerful thoughts and feelings of having it now. The law of attraction then returns that reality to you, just as you saw it in your mind.
  
  
• To use the law of attraction to your advantage, make it a habitual way of being, not just a one-time event.
  
  
At the end of every day, before you go to sleep, go back through the events of the day. Any events of moments that were not what you wanted, replay them in your mind the way you wanted them to go.

The Secret to Relationships

• When you want to attract a relationship, make sure your thoughts, words, actions, and surroundings do not contradict your desires.
  
  
• Your job is you. Unless you fill yourself up first, you have nothing to give anybody.
  
  
• Treat yourself with love and respect, and you will attract people who show love and respect.
  
  
• When you feel bad about yourself, you block the love and instead you attract more people and situations that will continue to make you feel bad about you.
  
  
• Focus on the qualities you love about yourself and the law of attraction will show you more great things about you.
  
  
• To make a relationship work, focus on what you appreciate about the other person, and not your complaints. When you focus on the strengths, you get more of them.

The Secret to Health

• The placebo effect is an example of the law of attraction in action. When a patient truly believes the tablet is a cure, he receives what the believes and is cured.
  
  
• "Focusing on perfect health" is something we can all do within ourselves, despite what may be happening on the outside.
  
  
• Laughter attracts joy, releases negativity, and leads to miraculous cures.
  
  
• Disease is held in the body by thought, by observation of the illness, and by the attention given to the illness. If you are feeling a little unwell, don't talk about it - unless you want more of it. If you listen to people talk about their illness, you add more energy to their illness. Instead, change the conversation to good things, and give powerful thoughts to seeing those people in health.
  
  
• Beliefs about aging are all in our minds, so release those thoughts from your consciousness. Focus on health and eternal youth.
  
  
• Do not listen to society's messages about diseases and aging. Negative messages do not serve you.

The Secret to Money

• To attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus on the lack of it.
  
  
• It is helpful to use your imagination and make-believe you already have the money you want. Play games of having wealth and you will feel better about money; as you feel better about it, more will flow into your life.
  
  
• Feeling happy now is the fastest way to bring money into your life.
  
  
• Give money in order to bring more of it into your life. When you are generous with money and feel good about sharing it; you are saying, "I have plenty."
  
  
• Visualise checks in the mail.
  
  
• Tip the balance of your thoughts to wealth. Think wealth.

The Secret to the World

• What you resist, you attract, because you are powerfully focused on it with emotion. To change anything, go within and emit a new signal with your thoughts and feelings.
  
  
• You cannot help the world by focussing on the negative things. As you focus on the world's negative events, you not only add to them, but you also bring more negative things into your own life.
  
  
• Instead of focusing on the world's problems, give your attention and energy to trust, love, abundance, education and peace.
  
  
• We will never run out of good things because there's more than enough to go around for everyone. Life is meant to be abundant.
  
  
• You have the ability to tap into the unlimited supply through your thoughts and feelings and bring it into your experience.
  
  
• Praise and bless everything in the world, and you will dissolve negativity and discord and align yourself with the highest frequency - love.

The Secret to You

• Everything in energy. You are an energy magnet, so you electrically energise everything to you and electrically energise yourself to everything you want.
  
  
• You are a spiritual being. You are energy, and energy cannot be created or destroyed - if just changes form. Therefore, the pure essence of you has always been and always will be.
  
  
• The Universe emerges from thought. We are the creators not only of our own destiny but also of the Universe.
  
  
• An unlimited supply of ideas is available to you. All knowledge, discoveries, and inventions are in the Universal Mind as possibilities, waiting for the human mind to draw forth. You hold everything in your consciousness.
  
  
• We are all connected, and we are all One.
  
  
• Let go of difficulties from your past, cultural codes, and social beliefs. You are the only one who can create the life you deserve.
  
  
• A shortcut to manifesting your desires is to see what you want as absolute fact.
  
  
• Your power is in your thoughts, so stay aware. In other words, "Remember to remember".

The Secret to Life

• You get to fill the blackboard of your life with whatever you want.
  
  
• The only thing you need to do is feel good now.
  
  
• The more you use the power within you, the more power you will draw through you.
  
  
• We are in the midst of a glorious era. As we let go of limiting thoughts, we will experience humanity's true magnificence, in every area of creation.
  
  
• Do what you love. If you don't know what brings you joy, ask, "What is my joy?" As you commit to your joy, you will attract an avalanche of joyful things because you are radiating joy.
  
  
• Now that you have learned the knowledge of The Secret, what you do with it is up to you. Whatever you choose is right. The power is all yours.

-------------------------- end of excerpt ---------------------------

Lee and Ti

Six Moon Dance

From Six Moon Dance by Sheri Tepper

A certain mindfulness reminded: Do not say don't be silly. Say, instead, of course, I know, I understand. Do not go too softly. Go strongly, as one who is perilous and brave.
A certain mindfulness said: Do not smell of this world, but of the vast sea, the spaces between the stars.
A certain mindfulness said: do not dance as a woman would dance, as a man would dance, as legs would dance, but as wings would dance, as these two would dance if they were lovers making a promise that would echo among the galaxies.
Do not be bound by gravity, for we will swim weightless within this liquid world. Do not be bound by breath, for we need not breathe, or by thought, for we need not think. Here is only sensation and the need for joy.
We are such glorious stuff we need not carry pain around like a label. Our duty, as living things, is to be sure that pain is not our whole story, for we can choose to be otherwise....we can choose to dance.

Dont' you quit

------------ author unknown -------------

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
Whe he might have captured the victor's cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Don't Say You're Not Important

--------- author unknown ----------

It simply isn't true,
The fact that you were born,
Is proof, God has a plan for you.

The path may seem unclear right now,
But one day you will see,
That all that came before,
Was truly meant to be.

God wrote the book that is your life,
That's all you need to know.
Each day that you are living,
Was written long ago.

God only writes best sellers,
So be proud of who you are,
Your character is important,
In this book you are the Star.

Enjoy the novel as it reads,
It will stand throughout the ages,
Savor each chapter as you go,
Taking time to turn the pages.

My second skin

My house bathed in moonlight, rests,
silent and welcoming,
and I breathe love into its spaces.

It seems a reflection of me,
the way the furniture is arranged,
the chairs facing each other.

Do they talk among themselves, I wonder,
in the stillness of the night,
picking up bits of broken-off conversation?

Does the warm air twirling up the stairs,
or the slippers, discarded, under the bed,
remind it of us, when we are away.

Do the walls rejoice with the tinkle of laughter,
does the carpet hoard shards
of my shattered dreams.

Does it feel protective, caring,
shielding us from wind and rain,
silent witness to silent pain.

Content, replete, joyous,
I settle into its calm stillness,
and it wraps itself around me.

Let life in

On your way to work this morning, did you notice
the beggar child, eyes filled with tears,
face pinched by hardship?
Or your own beggar-heart
starved for love, for light.

In the din of traffic, did you hear
the lonely call of a solitary bird
perched high on a light-pole?
Or your soul's desperate plea
To sing its own song?

Juggling deadlines,
did you pause to consider,
that you too have an expiry date?
That, your life is waiting to be taken as a gift
and lived.

Does your smile reach your eyes,
does it reach the other's heart?
Are the windows of your eyes shut tight
with worry and distraction?
Does suspicion clog your heart-valves?

Is coffee the only thing that lifts you up,
or alcohol?
What about laughing child-eyes
or the lift and sweep of a soaring seagull?
or the joy that comes from within.

Is life passing you by,
while you
play out the various roles in a life not quite yours?
If life comes knocking,
are you busy in another existence?

It's time to let life in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bliss

In the still, sacred space,

I feel the tread of angels,

the whisper of their wings,

their love, all-embracing.

My senses dim and fade,

my heart blooms in joy.

I lose myself in silence,

And wrap myself in bliss.

The light is all-dissolving,

love holds me in its thrall,

my soul lost in ecstasy,

Only bliss remains.

Wheel-watch

I am on a flight from Keri Keri to Auckland in a smallish aircraft and for the first time on any flight I'm sitting next to the wheel. It is one of those aircrafts where the wings run across the body on the top and so the body sits rather low and close to the wheels. As the plane taxies, I watch fascinated as the wheel rotates balanced on what seems to be a flimsy leg, and I feel like I'm in a giant mosquito, big body and paltry legs. The wheel however, does not think like this and therefore takes us up the runway, ever accelerating, and very soon it gets lifted off the ground and almost immediately a hatch opens up underneath the wing and the wheel still spinning gets folded up and neatly slips into it. Wow! The plane is now wheelless and airborne.

The scenery that unfolds under me is stunning. A veritable feast of green - fields pockmarked with sheep and cattle, neatly hedged, undulating hills shaded with hues only nature can paint. Dark splotches where the clouds cast shadows below. Rooftops among the fields, in red, brown or grey slate. Forests of dark pine which look so mysterious on the ground, look surprising demystified from the air. All this punctuated with blue, gleaming strips of tiny lakes, streams, rivers. After a while I can see the sea glimmering in the distance, the deep aquamarine shrouded in mist like a blue, shy secret. We then climb over the clouds and we are flying over these cushiony billowing masses of confectionary perfection.

As we near Auckland, we descend below the clouds again and the sea is directly below us now, or at least the bay is, gleaming blue-green and sparkling naughtily, almost beckoning me to join in and sink into the waters. In the distance a small strip of land shimmers hazily and all of a sudden the wheel hatch opens and the wheel descends. I look ahead into the distance and see no land. I wonder if the pilot is planning a sea-landing. But we don't need wheels for that, do we? I then can't help thinking how our lives are like that too. We fly over nothingness sometimes lost at sea and we look into the distance to get a grip of our bearings, to see if there is any land where we can park for a while, and panic sets in when we see none, entirely forgetting that our Pilot can see ahead and is steering our lovingly into dry and safe land. And then of course, the landing strip appears below us right out of the sea and the wheel fulfils its raison d'etre and makes contact with the hard land and wheels us safely to the airport.

A solitary, winter walk

It's interesting how walks pan out on cold, winter evenings. The temperature is 10C and a cold wind is blowing and within minutes of walking my body is as cold and stiff as a piece of frozen chicken. The wind wraps itself around my body and the cold seeps in through the four layers of clothing that I have on. But as I walk briskly, my circulation gets going and warms up my body and gently thaws me out. I then reach a stage when the warmth from within reaches the cold from without and pretty soon the cold is banished as my body surrounds itself with the warmth it has itself produced.

It always amazes me how quickly night falls in winter. When I start my walk the sky is a light blue and the moon has just risen and the white clouds are still streaked with pink, but within moments the light fades and the sky settles into an inky blueness in which the moon gleams like a round, beaming pearl. The only indication of the day departed is the halo of light which still shines in the west, a gentle, lingering farewell from the sun.

My nose catches whiffs of wood smoke that waft out from the chimneys. Bouquets of fragrances that indicate which wood is being burnt. Some sharply aromatic, some pungent and smoky but all delicious. I picture flames leaping up through the wood as it slowly crumbles into ash. And I cannot help wondering how even during the last leg of its journey from soil to ash the tree still gives us warmth and light. Can I be as selfless, I wonder, can I be as giving?

These are a few of my favourite songs ...

1. Mozart's Concerto No.21 - Andante, also known as the Elvira Madigan theme.




2. The Theme song from the movie 'Summer of 42'




3. Theme from 'Godfather' (Speak softly love)




4. How great thou art - Elvis Presley



5. Amazing Grace - Hayley Westentra

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.

When we've been here ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.




6. Love me tender - Elvis Presley

Love me tender,
Love me sweet,
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete,
And I love you so.

Love me tender,
Love me true,
All my dreams fulfill.
For my darlin I love you,
And I always will.

Love me tender,
Love me long,
Take me to your heart.
For its there that I belong,
And well never part.

Love me tender,
Love me dear,
Tell me you are mine.
Ill be yours through all the years,
Till the end of time.