One more step Toward freedom No more break After a full life Or most of it Can change Not too late Ever another And another Step ahead In the divine This moment New all over Standing tall On the past Look ahead To a future Right now Eye to eye Facing self One another Together ever Never alone Still oneself Pay a price Earn it all Freedom And love We have.
One more step, and one more, and another… — just one!
Just wait till you see the splendor you’ll be dragged into once you surrender your life, once you allow God’s breath to animate your flesh! But don’t let my metaphors alarm you. The love of God never killed anybody. On the contrary, it rescues us from all the killing in this world. It never takes life, but gives and gives of its greater life, and its generosity is so vast, so unfathomable, that it can bestow the whole kingdom of Solomon on a single ant.
— from The Divan-i-Shams-i-Tabrizi, Jalaluddin Rumi, translation: B. J. Hays
Stars, lights, and patterns consistently point a heart’s way forward
Lights at a church ceiling, or is it the sky, or heaven? — January 2023 — Heiliggeistkirche, Bern, Switzerland
Can you do it? Still — after all Or is it already All in place? It’s happening Every moment Here and now Life and love Pleas’ no hate Or judgment Just being In the arms Of the divine With the current Light and sound Consciously As possible Not startled By opposition Giving strength To stand up tall And move ahead Peek ’round corners Like a small child One curious soul Finding what is In silence.
“Doula’s song and silence” — for a new generation
ReachMin (Phrygian dominant) — voice by Philine Harte, double 8-string guitar by Ulrico — 4:06
Near-death experience — can you do it?
“There is nothing unique or special in a near-death experience. They are not rare; everyone, I would venture, has had them, at one time or another, perhaps without even realizing it. The brush of a van too close to your bicycle, the tired medic who realizes that a dosage ought to be checked one final time, the driver who has drunk too much and is reluctantly persuaded to relinquish the car keys, the train missed after sleeping through an alarm, the aeroplane not caught, the virus never inhaled, the assailant never encountered, the path not taken.
“We are, all of us, wandering about in a state of oblivion, borrowing our time, seizing our days, escaping our fates, slipping through loopholes, unaware of when the axe may fall. As Thomas Hardy writes of Tess Durbeyfield, ‘There was another date . . . that of her own death; a day which lay sly and unseen among all the other days of the year, giving no sign or sound when she annually passed over it; but not the less surely there. When was it?’
“If you are aware of these moments, they will alter you. You can try to forget them, to turn away from them, to shrug them off, but they will have infiltrated you, whether you like it or not. They will take up residence inside you and become part of who you are, like a heart stent or a pin that holds together a broken bone.”
— “I am, I am, I am — Seventeen Brushes with Death”, Maggie O’Farrell, pp. 31-32
Near-life experience — you can do it!
“I consider myself steeped in luck, in good fortune to have avoided the fate the doctors decreed for me. I have been showered with shamrocks, my pockets filled with rabbits’ feet, found the crock of gold at the end of every rainbow. I could not have asked for more from life, to have been spared what might have been. I could have died there in that hospital but didn’t. I could have been condemned to a life of immobility but wasn’t. I dodged a bullet–many, in fact.”
— “I am, I am, I am — Seventeen Brushes with Death”, Maggie O’Farrell, p. 241
Three-legged, proactive dreamer Luna
What may shy luck-dragon cat Luna be dreaming of? — December 2022 — Grächwil, Switzerland
Harmony in life and music Within and without — always For eyes to see and ears to hear Take off your glasses and look Unplug your ears and listen Trademarks better be flushed No matter how dear for so long Cause the divine is no business But all existence everywhere To respect and relish for ever Without pedestal or put-down The past is merely a memory The future visions of dreams Now is the very moment Reality for everyone and all Formed alone collectively Of course individually as well Working together is the way And beginning of harmony Relative to one another To be tuned as we go Ahead ever further Into the heart of God The present moment Where life is great And love reigns The divine Spirit Soul.
“Dear doula” — room for silence
TetraNa with a touch of PentaBluNa — 8-string guitar and large gong — 6:51
Looking for harmony in life and creation (like music)
Atréju sat with his head down and remained silent. He understood that a test was imposed on him that was far, far greater than his hunt. Even for the greatest hunter and the best tracker it was almost impossible to pass; for him it was too difficult. “Well?” inquired the old centaur quietly. “Will you?” Atréju raised his head and looked at him. “I will,” he said firmly. Caíron nodded slowly, then took the chain with the golden amulet from his neck and put it around Atréju. “AURYN gives you great power,” he said solemnly, “but you must not use it. For even the Childlike Empress never makes use of her power. AURYN will protect and guide you, but you must never interfere with whatever you will see, for your own opinion counts for nothing from this moment on. That is why you must go forth without weapons. You must let happen what happens. Everything must be equal to you, the bad and the good, the beautiful and the ugly, the foolish and the wise, as it is equal before the Childlike Empress. You may only seek and ask, but not judge according to your own judgment. Never forget that, Atréju!” “AURYN!” repeated Atréju reverently. “I will prove myself worthy of the jewel. When shall I set out?” “At once,” replied Caíron.
— Die unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story), Michael Ende, pp. 46-47
Clouds glowing like embers
Sun about to rise, coloring the underside of clouds over the Alps — January 2023 — Grächwil, Switzerland
ملا نصرالدین —Do you know the secret of happiness?
Nasrudin is known as much for his wisdom as his foolishness, and many are those who have sought out his teaching. One devotee tracked him down for many years before finding him in the marketplace sitting atop a pile of banana peels — no one knows why. “Oh great sage, Nasrudin,” said the eager student. “I must ask you a very important question, the answer to which we all seek: What is the secret to attaining happiness?” Nasrudin thought for a time, the responded. “The secret of happiness is good judgment.” “Ah,” said the student. “But how do we attain good judgment?” “From experience,” answered Nasrudin. “Yes,” said the student. “But how do we attain experience?” “Bad judgment.”
— From The Beggar King and the Secret of Happiness by Joel ben Izzy, pp. 206-207
Do you see and hear the clearing of mystifying mists?
Mystifying mists rise from the nearby river — December 2022 — along the Enns near Admont, Austria
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