Yes, it works

Yes, it works
The divine —
Completely open
No dogmatic ties
Religion or master
But plain straight
The divine itself
Linked directly
No in between
Just realization
Plain and simple
Start as experiment
When hatching out
Of all frameworks
Like an eggshell
Once cracked
It’s time to go
Come on out
And be free
Of restrictions
Dos and don’ts
Must and never
Especially only
It works indeed
Spiritual freedom
With the divine
Spirit and God.

“Reaching up to heaven” — yes, it works!

ReachUp — triple 8-string guitar and bass — June 2021 — 7:11 — as loop on a separate tab (or via right-click, if available)

“The Conference / Speech of the Birds” مقامات الطیور / منطق الطیر

Come on, you brave birds!

Let’s glide, let’s fly, let’s soar.

Love loves difficult things.

We’re on our way!

— “The Conference of the Birds”, Peter Sís / Farid Ud-Din Attar فریدالدین

Together again, on the merry-go-round of life

Yes, it works
Generations learn to walk into the light ever again — October 2023 — Lake Minnewashta, USA — photo by Laurie Sacchet

Crazed into a spell

Crazed into a spell
Of one view only
To the exclusion
Of everyone else
Trampling others
With hardly regard
Putting down most
But one’s very own
Overbearing at best
Or, rather at worst
That is how come
Humanity may fail
If enough do insist
Without letting go
Of their own craze
Seeing one way
As the only one
Vilifying others
Feeds friction
Instead of love
As they all claim
Unity mandated
Shall fall apart
Sooner or later
And make room
For love’s bloom.

“Humpbacks breach the surface” — a dreamscape

TetraNa w/ Norcor inversion, Dorian, PentaMin / PentaEol — 8-string guitar and bass — 9:30 — April 2022 — composed as antidote to war (in the Ukraine, and now also in the Middle East)

From “I Heard The Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven

I think it is time you knew of Tagoona, the Eskimo. Last year one of our white men said to him, “We are glad you have been ordained as the first priest of your people. Now you can help us with their problem.” Tagoona asked, “What is a problem?” and the white man said, “Tagoona, if I held you by your heels from a third-story window, you would have a problem.” Tagoona considered this long and carefully. Then he said, “I do not think so. If you saved me, all would be well. If you dropped me, nothing would matter. It is you who would have the problem.” — p. 70

A survivor’s next generation bloom — crazed into a spell?

Crazed into a spell
White mantevila / diphladenia that survived a winter inside — September 2023 — near Bern, Switzerland

An experience of stepping out

An experience of stepping out
Rather courageous some think
In view of stated consequences
The bubble of shared protection
Bursting in a dogmatic challenge
Required essences be sorted out
From construction debris hazards
Or propaganda, put more bluntly
Left behind for good all unified
Sooner or later realizing truth
As God, spirit, and the divine
Free of limits and any brand
Or dangling carrot numbers
Before many beings’ noses
Can help one out of a pinch
But at long last will conclude
Having fulfilled a good purpose
Therefore detach, keep going on
With happy moments in deep love
Radiant as soul in full view for all
Observe how God realizes itself
And dwell in spiritual freedom.

“Das Mülirad isch broche, Simelibärg!” — go in peace — for KHT

ReachMin / Phrygian dominant on C# — 8-string guitar, lap slide guitar, bass, voice, gong — 9:00

From “I Heard The Owl Call My Name” by Margaret Craven

“‘The salmon is still the swimmer in our language, and I can remember my grandfather speaking to him as you do now. I had forgotten.’ ‘Do you see him enter the river often?’ ‘No, not often. He enters usually at night.’ ‘And in the end, does he always die?’ ‘Always. Both the males and the females die. On the way up the river the swimmer will pass the fingerlings of his kind coming down to the sea. They want to go and are afraid to go. They still swim upstream, but gently, letting the river carry them downstream tail first, and the birds and the larger fish pray upon them to devour them, and pretty soon they turn to face their dangers.’ ‘And when they reach the open sea?’ ‘Then they are free. Nobody knows how far they go or where. When the time comes to return, their bodies tell them, and those hatched in the same stream separate from all others and come home together. And in the end the swimmer dies, and the river takes him downstream, tail first, as he started.’” — pp. 38-39

“‘When I reach here and see the great scar where the inlet side shows its bones, for a moment I know.’ ‘What…?’ ‘That for me it has always been easier here, where only the fundamentals count, to learn what every man must learn in this world.’ ‘And that…?’ ‘Enough of the meaning of life to be ready to die,’ and the Bishop motioned Mark to start the motor, and they went on.” — p. 140

An experience of stepping out in front of a moon

An experience of stepping out
A flock of sheep clouds gathering in front of a full moon — September 2023 — near Bern, Switzerland

Some who talk

There are some who talk
And others who listen
Mostly to themselves
However — in hopes
Someone may hear
And dance, at last
Dreams come true
From young to old
Hunt mosquitoes
After all preventing
From being eaten up
As source of blood
The physical world
In nature’s hands
So many humans
Mess with things
Fight each other
But most oneself
Until pay the price
At last we are free
In heart and head
First of all as soul
In consciousness
Spirit and divine
Detached let go
And dwell in love
At peace and free
Right here and now
At home in silence.

“Among suns, moon, and stars” — a hopeful blues

MinBlue on G — 5-string guitar, lap slide guitar, gong, tanpura — 8:40

The value of music for enjoyment and for enlightenment

“Such is the body, a heap of filth surrounded by impurities of all sorts; and yet intelligent people utilize it as a means for worldly enjoyment [bhukti भुक्ति ] and for salvation [mukti मुक्ति ]. The pursuit of the manifest [saguṇa सगुण ] leads to worldly enjoyment and the meditation of the unmanifest [nirguṇa निर्गुण ] leads to salvation. Contemplation attainable through one-pointed concentration of attention is not conveniently within the reach of people; therefore, under the circumstances, the sages take resort to the easier means of worshiping the unmanifest nāda [ नाद sound, tone, or vibration]… Even that, being devoid of emotional color, does not interest the (common) people. Now, therefore, we shall describe the creative process of the manifest sound, which expounds … the entire subject matter of music which is the means of peoples’ amusement as well as of attaining freedom from the limitations of existence…”

Saṃgītaratnākara संगीतरत्नाकर (“Ocean of Music and Dance”) of Śārṅgadeva शार्ङ्गदेव (1175–1247), Sanskrit to English translation by Dr. R. K. Shringy with Dr. Prem Lata Sharma, pp. 103-107

Some who talk the old, no longer used road out of sight

Some who talk
Old road hugging the contour of the valley, curving in and out — September 2023 — Kiental, Switzerland

Congruence

Congruence
Of contrasts
Ma and Pa
In or out
Ex and con
Cave or hill
To and from
Ahead or back
Reg and pro
Duality meets
In every mix
Of harmony
And balance
Soul — spirit
Some call it
The divine
Moment now.

“Ma Sa Papa” — hearts long for peace

MinReach (harmonic minor) on F# — 5-string guitar and crotales — 7:22

From “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” by Charlie Mackesy

“I’m so small,” said the mole. “Yes,” said the boy. “But you make a huge difference.”

“What do you think is the biggest waste of time?” “Comparing yourself to others,” said the mole.

“One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.”

“When have you been at your strongest?” asked the boy. “When I have dared to show my weakness.”

“Sometimes I worry you’ll all realize I’m ordinary,” said the boy. “Love doesn’t need you to be extraordinary,” said the mole.

From “Big Panda and Tiny Dragon” by James Norbury

“I wish this moment could last forever,” said Tiny Dragon. “This moment is all there is,” said Big Panda.

“We’re lost again,” said Big Panda. “When I’m lost,” said Tiny Dragon, “I find it helps to go back to the beginning and try to remember why I started.”

“What are you thinking about?” asked Tiny Dragon. “Nothing.” said Big Panda. “It’s wonderful.”

“When you light a lantern for someone else, you cannot help but light up your own path.”

(pp. 45, 83, 95, 111)

Luck dragon surfing on a beam of light from above

Congruence
Majestic Bernese summits Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau — September 2023 — Männlichen, Switzerland