'Tis the Season...

'Tis the Season...

Beyond the purchasing of stuff...gifts to shower on one another... there are a few other things of which I'm reminded...

The presents... I am grateful that people have money and the where-with-all to purchase presents... although I am guessing that much of it goes on credit lines that ensure ties to the economic 'wheel of fortune'...or is it the economic wheel of 'karma'? The movement of spending and giving and getting adds to the playfulness of the monopoly game... And yet the 'presents' reminds me also of "Presence"...

Presence takes us beyond the activities of giving and getting... it brings us back to the present moment of Awareness... Of course we love our family members and friends to one degree or another... the social ties are precious and so important in our journey... Presence can take us to a place of pure awareness where we can notice what is going on within us and around us and the interplay of old and new dynamics... just being aware of the energies that exist... without being pulled or swayed at each change or motion...

And in the Presence, I am reminded that I am more and less than the body's sensations, movements of feelings, thoughts that flit here and there... I am more and less than the flurry of activity in the world around me... and yet a part of all that is...

The flute music fills the air in my living space on this day... and I am grateful that the artist has spent time to become one with his [in this case] instrument....and to use his breath and life energy to create such soothing vibrations... this process occurred over 'time... and yet the fullness of it soothes and serenades in this moment of Presence....of awareness...

It brings a special Presence of Peace... and I am reminded again that in 'this Season' I am grateful for all those who have come before who have reminded us of the spiritual truth of Presence... that we are more than the contents of consciousness and giving and getting...

We are one with Being... the Essence of Life....of Mystery... of "No-Thing"... of All-That-Is... Thanks to all the spiritual teachers and guides that continue to remind us of our deepest nature... In this season of doing and getting and giving, I am grateful for the Essence of Love, Peace, and Joy that is transcendent and lives within all that is...

'Tis the Season... if I could pass out "Presence," I certainly would be doing so....

Night's wakefulness

Awake in the night

Some daze wondering and wandering in the moment of wanting more and not even knowing what more might be. It seems that dissatisfaction with this moment is filled without a sense of meaning or purpose... no direction other than to be... no point of focus except for the noise that floats by...

So I distract the wanderful daze of discontent with news, TV shows, movies, sports events, and fantasies past or future.

Death comes in the midst of life as the frozen ground holds down the coming season's bloom. Dark days, both cloudy and sunny, roll from here to here with occasional smile and friendly word.

The buried bulb waits for a divine signal that it is time... the season has come to burst into action. I wait beside the bulb wondering what it might be... when it might become the potential it holds within its protective shell.

At times being awake in the night seems hardly worth it... but I will not go back to sleep...