The Call by Dean Solon

"irony is merely death walking among us.  it doesn't take up the challenge, it isn't life speaking."   (kim stanley robinson)

God is the One thing, God is the only thing that does not exclude all else that matters in your life.
God is the One thing, God is the only thing, God includes all else that matters in your life.
why is God-in-your-life frightening for you?
because it---IT---is the one thing, the only thing, the real and true thing, in your life.
because when you are Called---when you hear the Call---you must answer the Call, or you will die to what is real and true, to what is utterly genuine, to what is utterly authentic, in this life.
the most important connection, the most vital connection, the One that matters, is your connection with God.
even if you lived in a culture, in a world, that accepted, that supported, that encouraged, that respected and honored this to be so---that the most important connection is with God, and that hearing the Call is a gift of gifts, an honor of all honors---it would still be a difficult path, would still be challenging...could still be frightening to you.
because when something is everyThing, all is included.
because when something is everyThing, you must be and are
                                                                                   all in.

it also may be written, also may be read, in this way:

this is the one thing, this is the only thing that does not exclude all else that matters in your life.
this is the one thing, this is the only thing, this includes all else that matters in your life.
why is this-in-your-life frightening for you?
because this---THIS---is the one thing, the only thing, the real and true thing, in your life.
because when You are Called---when you hear the Call---you must answer the Call, or you will die to what is real and true, to what is utterly genuine, to what is utterly authentic, in this life.
the most important thing, the most vital thing, the One thing that matters, is being connected.
even if you lived in a culture, in a world, that accepted, that supported, that encouraged, that respected and honored this to be so---that what is most important is to feel, is to be, connected, and that hearing the Call is a gift of gifts, an honor of all honors---it would still be a difficult path, would still be challenging...could still be frightening to you.
because when something is everything, all is included.
because when something is everything, you must be and are
                                                                                 all in.

"it's not a kingdom like any you know,
the kingdom of God that's within you,
but hundreds and thousands of kingdoms."     (rumi).


    . 

World Metta Peace by Dean Solon

wake up, wake up,
look up,
light shining outside the window,
light shining in your mind.
light ever surprising,
a new day dawning,
a new moment singing.

sitting...with brilliant gleaming sunlight shining in the inner landscape of your mind, the mindscape.

sitting...with bright, colorful, beautiful sunflowers, brilliantly gleaming in the inner landscape, of your mind's eye.

sitting...with a golden Buddha resting in the center of your heart, brilliantly shining in the chakra of your heart, your precious, sacred, beating heart.

sitting...with love, and peace, and compassion, lotus-flowering in the heart-chakra, arising and unfolding, blooming and blossoming, in your heart.  lotus-flowering, arising and unfolding, blooming and blossoming...and radiating outwards, from the heart, to all other sentient beings, with brilliant gleaming sunlight shining in the inner landscapes of their minds;  with bright colorful beautiful sunflowers brilliantly gleaming in the inner landscapes of their minds' eyes;  with golden Buddhas resting, brilliantly shining in the chakras of their hearts, their precious sacred beating hearts;  with lotus-flowering, arising and unfolding, blooming and blossoming, in their hearts.

from your lotus-flowering heart, an offering of wishes for happiness, for well-being, for freedom from suffering and safety from harm, for peace and for ease, in the moments of the lives of all beings.

Blindsided by Dean Solon

there is an aspect of not-being-in-the-truth when i claim to be blindsided by an experience, by an event, by something another person has "done" to me...because it ws always an inherent possibilty, was always a nearly-foreseen potentiality, was always one of a nearly infinite multitude of arising and unfolding realities.

enlightenment is an unfolding and unwinding, a disclosing of the obvious, a clear viewing of the already seen...a giving up of the wrestling [with-God] scene.
all that is, of the universe/multiverse, is known to each of us;  the life(s) journey is the integrating of what, already, is known.
     everything is known to me, even if not [yet] understood by me.
     therefore, each of us is a future buddha.
     therefore, each of us always has been a buddha.
     because once one becomes a buddha,
     one experiences always having been a buddha
     and always being a buddha.
     past/future/present one thing.  one thing.
     time a nearly infinite space.

so what it is i am asserting:  there is an aspect of not-being-in-the-truth when you---when any and all of us---claim to be blindsided by an experience, by something that has been done to you...because you always might have seen---and so DID see---its arising and unfolding possibility.
which is, in this quantum multiverse, no different than asserting that you DID see its arising and unfolding reality.

no shame, no blame, no excuses; no contradictions, no paradoxes, no confusion; no clinging to victimhood, no holding tightly to being traumatized.

being here, being present, in the quantum multiverse---in THIS quantum multiverse---is traumatic, in each and every moment.

being here, being present, in the quantum multiverse---in THIS quantum multiverse---is a great good fortune opportunity, is a brilliant bright light experience.           

Grieving by Dean Solon

am thinking of all the people who come and go, who perform on stage and make their [un]timely exits.  to applause and-or to silence.  i miss the now not-visible, and let them be[come] not-here now. 

each a contributor, an actor, an actress, in a passion play.  i weep, i laugh, i am quiet, am quiet.  am doing my best, am not-wrestling with God.

nebulae swirl around my head.
oceans swim around my heart.

Every Day An Earth Day by Dean Solon

nebulae swirl around my head.
oceans swim around my heart.

bringing attention, lightly, to feeling the sensations of your breathing...allowing your breath to be natural...feeling the sensations of each breath, relaxing into each breath...feeling it through you...the soft sensations of breath coming and going, without effort.
sitting here, sitting now, encountering this present moment...sitting on sacred ground.

one hand on the earth.
you sitting quietly, your body, your physical form and being, on the earth.
sitting quietly, here, now, every day an earth day...every day an earth day.
sitting quietly, one hand on the earth.

nebulae swirl around your head.
oceans swim around your heart.

Getting to Mindful - by Jen Ristine, LMT, NCBTMB, MBA

White and glowing, the moon and stars, set on a blanket of midnight blue seemed to rest gently on the peaks of the gigantic Rocky Mountains that first night I spent in Colorado almost twenty years ago. College diploma crammed into the trunk of my car along with everything I owned, I headed out west to find myself, my call, or something profound, deep, and true. Excited as I was during the weeks leading up to my great adventure, I felt lost and alone as I drove myself along route 70 from Pennsylvania to Colorado. Tears of sadness filled my eyes and wet my cheeks that night I arrived in Colorado and laid looking up at the night sky. Deep inside my body something felt off; an awareness beyond the racing thoughts and emotions that something about my adventure was not right.

Looking back, I think that moment in Colorado was the beginning of my journey toward mindfulness, the practice of being present. In that moment, I think my spirit, through physical manifestation of queasiness and cold, was realizing that my journey to truth not an external quest but rather an internal one.

Now, I’m a do-er, so it took me a little over a decade to begin to understand what my spirit knew that night in Colorado: that being present in the world is not about what, how, when, how much, where one does in the world. Rather being present in the world is about whom one is in the world and the depth and quality of the relationships one is in with the world, with other life in the world, and with the energy that transcends the world. The last six years of my life have been the richest in my mindfulness journey whereas the first ten years seemed to be more a mixture of stumbling, backpedaling, falling, randomly choosing a route, and disconnected progress.

The most profound difference between the first ten and the last six has been getting help to unearth my truth. Becoming mindful involves getting to one’s truth and living through that truth. (What a process – and I’m still in it!) I got support for my spirituality, my emotional and mental health, and my physical wellness. The body is how we experience the world; there is no being without a body. Paying attention to my body affected my journey deeply. This significant season of my journey inspired me to become a bodyworker, specializing in therapeutic massage and bodywork with a focus in mindfulness. For me, bodywork empowered me to find grounding in myself, to stand strong and still amid sweeping emotions and thoughts that had previously sent me reeling, and to begin to explore who I am truly, in the world. The emperor in the movie, Mulan, looks with stillness into the eyes of the warrior ready to kill him and says, “The mountain does not bend to the wind, no matter how it howls.” It is this message that my spirit knew instinctively years ago as I looked up at the Rocky Mountains: when I become mindful of who I am and live out of my truth presently, I will not be blown around by the winds of the world. Mindfulness Bodywork Therapy was born out of this experience.

Jennifer Herfurth Ristine, MBA, NCTMB, is a nationally certified massage therapist who completed her massage training at Sanford Brown Institute in 2007. She specializes in listening to clients and is able to provide massage and range of motion stretching that fits the individual needs of her clients. Jennifer’s training includes Swedish and deep tissue massage, neuromuscular therapy, range of motion stretching, and pregnancy massage. She is also a certified Reiki II practitioner and Trauma Touch (TM) Therapist. To schedule an appointment or learn more about her work, contact jenristine1113@gmail.com or 484-213-8239. 

Passover and Easter 2012 by Dean Solon

sacred time, sacred space.
potentiality, reality...palpability, presence...of a sacred week.

the jewish wisdom tradition:  a superb master, Moses, has experiences.  remarkable experiences.  has an awakening event, encountering the divine, encountering God, receiving teachings, co-creating a covenant with the Divine Presence that will ring a bell for other sentient beings for more than 3,000 years...and counting. 
a Promise made, that always is open for fulfilling:  each of us may be Known, each of us may be knowing.

the christian wisdom tradition:  a superb master, Jesus, who exemplifies and embodies and expresses the Promise as one who is Known and as one who knows.
the passionate story:  He lived,
                                             He died,
                                             He lives, still.
a reminding and remembering of the covenant, that has been ringing a bell for other sentient beings for 2,000 years...and counting. 
a Promise made and fulfilled:  each of us is Known, each of us may be knowing.

sacred time, sacred space.
potentiaity, reality...palpability, presence...of a sacred week.  of sacred moment(s),
here, now.