You can hear me walking
     from your bed, where blankets
          are not enough to keep you warm.
It's a long night of snow, and sometimes
     and winter loneliness, and what else I do not know,
          but I am thinking if you can hear me.

Walking you might want to visit, to knock
     on my door with a story you have been waiting,
          days, months and maybe years, to tell.
Tell me something that cannot be told,
     and I will be in my worn bathrobe, or brushing
            my teeth, my hair, putting away things.

I have tea and muffins, a bottle of wine:  come up
     we will not swamp ourselves
          with anything like sex, yet.
I do not want to talk about the past,
     or work, or politics, but yes, kindness and compassion
     will do. Come upstairs when the floor creaks.

And, we will stretch the night slowly,
     because, I have not wounded you, 
          nor you me, because
The time of talking is now, 
     not tomorrow or the next day;
         when we are a memory of people who are not quite us.

One thing [Jesus] said was 'Blessed are the peacemakers for they are called the children of God'. He did not say a Christian, Hindu, Muslim, a Jew or a Sikh. If he or she is a peacemaker, he is a child of God. He also said 'Bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you'. This is the complete opposite of what we usually want to do when someone curses us.

He also said, 'Lay treasures in your heart where no thieves will break in and steal'. This is what we were just talking about. This treasure is the spark of the Supreme Being that resides in the heart of each and every one of us. 'Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you.' It is a Vedantic statement. Its very nature is peace, bliss and happiness. If you hold on to that, you will need nothing.

Can you imagine someone saying, 'Bless them that curse you'? This can come only from a person who has a pure heart.The way of the world is to bless those that bless you and catch those that curse you and beat them up.

Our religions may be different, our ideologies may be different, we may come from different places, but we should remember one thing - we are all human beings and we all seek peace and happiness. When the Jew says Shalom he means peace. When the Muslim says Salaamhe means peace. And, what do they do? Sometimes, in this world, people do exactly the opposite of what their religion says.

And for us, in the ancient Hindu system of thought, everything starts with 'Om Shaanti, Shaanti, Shaanti.' When you go to a temple and you get prasaad - it means may you have peace. If you look up the meaning of the word prasaad in Sanskrit, this is what it means - peace.

There is nobody who does not seek it. In this, we are all the same - we all desire peace and happiness. As human beings with the same desires and same yearnings, we are One and are not different from each other.

Sri M, in a talk at the Nirahaar Satyagraha against Terrorism and Violence in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India, October 20, 2015

Q: I must begin with some absolute truth. Is there any?

M: Yes, there is, the feeling: 'I am'. Begin with that

Q: Nothing else is true?

M: All else is neither true nor false. It seems real when it appears, it disappears when it is denied. A transient thing is a mystery.

Q: I thought the real is the mystery.

M: How can it be? The real is simple, open, clear and kind, beautiful and joyous. It is completely free of contradictions. It is ever-new, ever-fresh, endlessly creative. Being and no-being, life and death, all distinctions merge in it.

from I Am That,

Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, pp. 324-25

There is a Universal Wholeness seeking expression through everything. We are calling it simply Life. The religionist calls it God. The philosopher calls it Reality. Life is infinite energy coupled with limitless creative imagination. 

...[Life] is the invisible essence and substance of every visible form. Its nature is goodness, truth, wisdom and beauty, as well as energy and imagination. Our highest satisfaction comes from a sense of conscious union with this invisible Life. 

All human endeavor is an attempt to get back to first principles, to find such an inward wholeness that all sense of fear, doubt and uncertainty vanishes.

All quotes from Ernest Holmes,

This Thing Called You

Don't

Surrender

Your loneliness so quickly.

Let it cut more

Deep.

 

Let it ferment and season you

As few human

Or even divine ingredients can.

 

Something missing in my heart tonight

Has made my eyes so soft,

My voice so

Tender,

 

My need of God

Absolutely

Clear.

Hafiz,

My Eyes So Soft

The universe is programmed to manifest, through you, the highest possibilities for your creativity and joy. And that never, ever changes. In God's Mind you are never too old; in God's Mind you are never inadequate; in God's Mind you are not your resume or your failures. In God's Mind, there is no mistake that you are not given the opportunity to correct, nor anything anyone did to you that cannot be compensated for when you forgive and move on.

 

Nothing about your material circumstances has the power to stop the engine of cosmic intention that you be blessed. And you are blessed "eternally," which means moment after moment after moment. In any instant, regardless of what has happened in the past, the universe has arranged and is continuing to arrange infinite possibilities for you to prosper. If you cannot see this now--if despair and anxiety hang like a veil before your eyes, preventing you from mustering any faith in God at all--then in this moment lean on mine. One mind joined with another, regardless of their position in time or space, can remove whatever chains would bind us and deliver us to that sweet, sweet realm where things come full circle and there is always a chance to begin again.

Marianne Williamson,

The Law of Divine Compensation

You should have
             heard him.
                      his voice was
unforgettable, irresistible, hi voice
was an imaginary garden woven though with fragrance.

Did you ever have a family?
                      Their eyes are closed.
That's how I know
            we're there
                      inside it.
it's made of sound and steam
that weaves between dark
dining room, bright kitchen.
We're there because I'm hungry,
and we'll all be eating soon
                     together, and the hunger's sweet.

                       -- Alan Shapiro, "Song and Dance"

Questioner:  How are we to treat others?

Ramana Maharishi:  There are no others.

I have been thinking of the difference between water

         and the waves on it.

Rising, water's still water,

            falling back,

                     it is water,

will you give me a hint

         how to tell them apart?

 

         Because someone has made up the word

                     wave, do I have to distinguish it from water?

 

         There is a Secret One inside us;

         the planets in all the galaxies

                     pass through his hands like beads.

 

         That is a string of beads one should look at with luminous eyes.

    Kabir

Our relationship has had it's ups and downs, 
     Occasionally, they have been rough,
           And, seemingly, unrepairable.

You say why go on, there's nothing that's right,
     But the deep love we share for each other
          Has never diminished. 

There are times when you feel despair,
     That's there no end to your journey
           And, you've reached the end of hope.

I've never given up on you, or we,
     Living in the moment,
          We've created a safe haven for love.

When we both turn inward,
     We find the burning glow of love
          That gives us insight.

For true love for each other is not a gift.
    It is forged in difficulties, doubt and pain.
       And as these trials complete,

We realize that what carried us through, was pure love.

Long ago I was taught how to explore myself, assessing my strengths and weaknesses. And, dealing with the difference between lonely and alone.  Here is something I refer to whenever doubts enter my mind about who I am, where I am headed and what I expect to find when I arrive.

Own the uncomfortable in-between where you experience the mélange of weird and wild. Play around in the lingering space that the world calls “loneliness.” Dance in your thoughts and make sure they don’t get too boring. Feel out the difference between your mind and everyone else’s and appreciate your inner-monologue as your longest standing friend.

Be alone. But never, ever, for as long as you live, be lonely.

I force myself to examine what substance, if any, 
     my cherished views possess.

I dare myself to comprehend 
     the emptiness of my stated position.

I challenge myself to determine whether I own the capacity 
     to embrace effortlessly the quiet mind.

I realize the emptiness of notions of ownership, 
     and find my true home. 

I understand the emptiness of selfishness,
     only then do I touch upon true wealth.

Clarity of vision, desire for truth,
     Centered on this moment.
         No distractions.

Discard yesterday's debris.
     Strip the mind bare.
          Embrace the purity surrounding me.

Ignore those whose journey contradicts me.
     Laugh, exuberantly, like a child.
          Let tears form from fond memories.
               Absorb nature's energies.

A certain darkness

     is needed

          to see the stars.

                                      -- Anonymous

When I met you, my life changed.
I do not know when this feeling came.

Now is not the right time to love you, I know.
But I can't force myself to forget you.

I told myself to stay away from you.
But I can't teach my heart not to love you.

My mind always tells me to let you go.
But my heart always says "I Love You".

Both my mind and heart say what is right.
One thing is for sure, you are a part of my life.

Your partner in life does not come into your life peacefully.

     Your partner makes you question your world; changes your reality.

           And, marks a before and after in your life.


Your partner does not appear as an idealized human being, but...

     Just as an ordinary person, unassuming, yet, dazzling in their own way.

       And, who revolutionizes your world forever.

Feeling the need for simple, yet hearty food;
So… I’ll slice and chop winter vegetables.
And produce something tasty
May be a soup or may be a stew.

Carrots, squash, turnips, garlic and onions
I’ll add to the pot, drizzled with ghee.

And, spices: dill, thyme, sage and marjoram

And sauté them slowly in a brown vegetable broth.

I’ll serve the soup in bowls with warm crusty bread.
Adding shaved red cabbage to suit,
With a side of sliced golden beets.

A meal for family, friends and kindred spirits.

It may look paradoxical to you, but it's not.
It is an existential truth: only those people who 
are capable of being alone are capable of love, of
sharing, of going into the deepest core of another
person -- without possessing the other, without
becoming dependent on the other, without 
reducing the other to a thing, and without
becoming addicted to the other. 

They allow the other absolute freedom, because 
they know that if the other leaves, they will be as
happy as they are now. Their happiness cannot be
taken by the other, because it is not given by the other.

                                                              -- Anonymous

By wiilling to experience aloneness,
     connections are uncovered everywhere.

Turning to face fear,
     the warrior who lives within arises.

Embracing this loss,
     the universe envelops me.

Surrendering into emptiness,
     fullness without end finds me.

If I flee from a condition, it pursues me;
     each condition I welcome, transforms me.

And,  becomes itself transformed,
     into a radiant cosmic essence.

I have lived through many lives.

     Some of them my own.
And, now, I am not who I was.

Although some principle of being abides.     
     From which I struggle not to stray.
And, now, I’ve evolved to where…