Secrets

I think it is fun to share a secret with one (or more). You have shared an experience together and only you two know about it. It remains kept between only you two. The experience may be a ‘one of’ thing never to be repeated. Perhaps you may never speak of it again. Yet, at times, even if they are few and far between, you may look at each other and as your eyes meet, you wordlessly acknowledge that that is between you. What a feeling, only you two know about it. It is your secret.

If the secret is shared later beyond the original group, the feeling changes, even ends. Then it develops on its own; acknowledging the shared experience via a glance has weakened, the experience has left and grown beyond you. It is something shared.

I want to keep it, I want you to keep it, and I want it to be only our secret, the original experience. Looking into each other’s eyes and know it’s ours, ours only. Not everything needs to be a secret, just sometimes, something.

Sessions; A Path through the Dao De Jing

It is much debated as to whether Lao Zi existed and if in fact he was the sole author of the Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way of Virtue).  For my purpose, the thoughts were voiced, the words exist and “Dao” (The Way) is here, part of us.  This is my explanation, is my Way, my continuing exploration of the Dao De Jing.

Tai Ji Quan (The Grand Ultimate Fist), a ‘soft’ martial art is seen as a manifestation of Dao and this too is part of my exploration.  I refer to its form in relating my understanding and acceptance of its flow within my daily thoughts and actions.

It is Sunday morning

It is Sunday morning.  It has been steadily raining since the early hours; a long rain that I haven't experienced for a number of years.  It's a beautiful pleasant occasion.

I am content and reflective as I listen and watch the rain falling.  As usual I believe the rain washes us, refreshes us, prepares us for new growth.  It feeds us the strength to cope with periods of drought, for times that dust settles onto our being.

Not cold and no wind, just the steady drumming on the roof and path.  Water dripping from the eaves onto the concrete gradually changing the surface colour.  Plants extending their branches, opening their leaves absorbing the moisture, collecting water in dips and hollows, filling, then flowing along channels, dripping, forming small puddles.

It is Sunday morning.

SOUP

From the great eternal Emptiness, God originated, and God in turn created … SOUP.

A fairly large cauldron was used; black was the first ingredient.  For a long time with occasional pinches of yellow the cauldron simmered.

Some time later, creating a vast contrast, white was added to the pot.  The soup bubbled.  Small amounts of yellow continued to be sprinkled into the mix until a large quantity was added.  Differing yellows combined with the black and white, producing exotic tastes.

More whites from different regions and differing in tastes were introduced.  Ingredients between white and yellow were also sourced, further teasing the taste buds with their colour.

Then, totally different blacks were added.  Creative soup making, unearthing the possibility of new tantalising SOUP mixes.

Of course at times the flavours didn’t mix, some opposing each other.  Not much water was added, each colour expressing its own flavour, no watering down.  A healthy fullness was sought.  God continued.

Time passed and slowly, slowly simmering the flavours eked, blended with each other, developing into a thick tasty soup; and still evolving.

And over time, the aroma the flavour!

Over time, over time, over time…

Oneness

I am at one with the universe

         At one with all within it

                  And being at one

I am

the victim, the oppressor; the person who laughs, the one who cries;

the wise one, the ignorant; the ugly, the beautiful;

right and wrong, good and bad

the Christian, the Muslim; the Buddhist, the Jew;

the mystic, the fundamentalist;

the believer, the non.

Through being all these

         I follow my path

                  And am at one with myself

Here 

Still     Empty     the Source

An expression

my Camino

I created this Camino I follow.  It is mine and mine (to walk) alone

My Camino follows the peaks and valleys, the vastness of the ocean and the seemingly endless plains.  Walking it, meandering like an aging river, I am open to the universe to fill my being as I empty my self, discarding my ego.

On this, my path, I share with others, give and take nourishment, comfort, knowledge and stories.  I allow the wonders to fill me with awe, make music and dance, grateful and appreciatively.  Cause new stories.  When fear presents to me, I take courage and face it.  All words spoken or written, or even thought, all activity I carry out, I communicate with purpose, my own intention.

At times loneliness takes hold and I seek company.  Other times the presence of just one other may feel like an oppressing crowd and I walk away.  Whether alone or in company, in activity or rest I need only to be still.  This stillness puts me back into my true aloneness, returns me to my path.

My home, ‘wode xin zai’, is part of my path.  It is my physical resting place to return to, to allow events, experiences to settle.  Intended for beauty and harmony, the home maintains and provides balance.  Filled with energy, it is a home forgiving, for giving.

There are many people I have met and many more still to meet.  With each encounter a fresh story expresses itself, is interpreted and evolves separately.  Yet each story has the same source, it’s origin in the eternal void from whence we all came.  It is part of our oneness; we are part of the oneness.

All, each of us, manifestations and expressions of Dao, creating, walking our own path.  Completing our term of expression, then, just returning to the void, empty.

Although from my seed, my sons make their own way, their own life.  They create their Camino for themselves alone.  Just, as my parents gave me the opportunity to express my being, and so on as way before me and long after me.

And you, dear friend, express yourself, walk your Camino, and walk in beauty.

The Shadow