Month: May 2022

I think it amazing that baby birds simply know how to fly. And they all seem to do it. They simply know that if they leap from the nest and flap their wings, they will take flight. They boldly leap out into un-solid air. They take a huge chance of free-fall, just because they have the deep impulse of flight. Even if they might be fearful, they do not resist. They abandon the security of a solid nest and take flight.

Flight is in my nature as well. But it has taken me a long time to discover it. Like birds, and like all other humans, I have this deep urge and desire for flight. I dream of it, I sometimes practice it. I am instinctively drawn to the abandon of flight, of accepting the free-fall of truly living.

I have this deep urge to accept the world just as it is, and yet I often resist flight. I sense that I am drawn to take flight into the free-fall of the moment. I want to spread my wings and ride on the uncertainty, undefined aspects of every moment. I want to be present in a way that does not cling to imagined reality, to fears, to security.

Yet I live in a culture that encourages the opposite of flight and letting go. I receive constant encouragement that urges me to hold on to security, to certainty, to a predictable future. My culture works against free-fall and trusting flight. It says to be afraid of falling, of letting go, of flight.

I like what baby birds do. I wish I had more of their same trusting courage that allows them to leap off into un-solid air, fully confident that they will take flight. I want to know my self as habitually stepping into free-fall moments and enjoying the exhilaration of flight.

This was read by five members of the Blooming Heart Sangha when we celebrated the new place where we have begun to meet.

Ancestral Place     

A reflection on the Continuity of Interbeing  5/19/2022

#1

This is the place that, long ago, the earth cooled from ancient fiery rock and formed solid ground.   We stand on that ancestral solid ground formed billions of years ago and which continues to form under us now.  We remember the fiery origins of this ancient land that holds and supports us, the solid earth beneath us.  We are grateful for the firm ground beneath us, for the solid rock that formed from the molten earth many years ago and now supports us.   We feel the attracting presence of gravity that holds us in this place, that constantly holds us close to the earth.   We are held in the experienced embrace of this place, held close to the earth.  We honor the solid ground that holds us and supports us in this place.   

(bell and brief pause)  

#2

This is the place where ancestral seas once stood and water filled the space all around us.    This is where ancient water creatures swam and moved about.   We are grateful for those waters that once filled this space and now nourish us in so many ways.   We remember the ice that once stood here, the ancestral glaciers that repeatedly shaped the face of the land beneath us.  This is the place where countless drops of water have fallen, shaping it and giving it life.   We honor the forms of water that have shared the place that we now hold dear.         (bell and brief pause)  

#3

This is the place where ancestral plants first grew and, a long time ago, learned how to inhabit the land.     Ancient forests of ferns and forests of tall trees have lived in this place, pouring rich oxygen into the same air that we now inhabit and breathe.   Here is where ancestral plants learned to form flowers and became fountains of nectar, pollen and beauty.    We honor the many generations of plants that have filled this place with their seemingly ephemeral presence.   We are grateful that they continue to surround us and nourish us with the air we breathe.     (bell and brief pause)  

#4

This is the place where ancestral animals of many shapes and sizes have walked and crawled.    This land beneath us has felt the ancient footfalls and hefty weight of huge reptiles and dinosaurs.    Even the slight touch of tiny feet have left a lasting impression of their presence, and that pressed earth remains beneath us as we pause on the ground they once trod.    We are grateful for their ancient presence and for their continuing presence in the living animal world of which we are part.  We honor their continuance in our flesh and in all the breathing animation of this place.     (bell and brief pause)  

#5

This is the place where two-legged humans, our direct ancestors, have walked for thousands of years.   Here is where many humans have gathered and felt the same warm sun, the same glowing moon.   Here is where many like us have breathed the same rich air and drunk the same nourishing water.    We are grateful for all they brought to this place, for all they have passed on to us in our flesh and in our way of living.   We welcome the intimacy they offer us.   We welcome the memory of them and of all living beings before us who now invite us into a deep intimacy with this ancient place, this hallowed piece of the heart of the ancient earth beneath us.  We immerse ourselves in the continuity of this place.   We honor this place out of which we have come and in which we are now present.     (bell and brief pause)  

It keeps happening. I have been having conversations with companions that seem to uncover scenes in me I never visited before. I have been discovering parts of me and my awareness that were previously a blur, even obscured and unseen. They are places I never visited before, and they suddenly come into focus. I am almost startled by what I hear myself saying in conversations.

I typically go about my days focused on trivial things it seems. It is in conversations with companions that I realize that these seemingly isolated experiences are actually connected. I discover in conversation that what I thought as fragments of my life are actually part of a complex tapestry. The mis-matched threads of my life begin to take on a shape I never saw before. But for conversations, they might have otherwise remained mere fragments. Now I see them part of a woven whole.