It’s early morning and the sun is about to appear. In the sand by the ocean I draw a circle, as perfect as I can make it. This sand already holds the tracks of waves, deer, crow, gull, otter, rabbit, dog, humans, and now this two-legged one. I mark the directions, the cardinal points of east, south, west, and north. … Read More
Walking the Razor’s Edge
When I move from here – “here” may be a teaching situation, a conversation with a neighbour, preparing a meal, or writing this piece – I can go to either of two states of being. Between them is a razor. On one side of the razor – the side of the linear, the physical existence we all participate in – is … Read More
Writing In the Rain
I am in the universe like a small child at a fair The universe offers a line or a poem a surprise balloon Sometimes like that small child I am distracted from my poet self by the pragmatics of this all too busy life But if I let go that line or poem like a balloon it soars away. So I … Read More
Release
A young woman saw a smiling photograph and said, “You look sad.” How did she know? I was sad so long, not knowing what I missed, until mind and ego fell away and I remembered: First in a frightening flash: a boy alone in a canoe, the bedrock calling me; The ridiculous beauty of a candy bar wrap on the … Read More
The Nobility in All of Us
Nobility. Not an idea you encounter much these days. In that respect it’s like concepts such as integrity, or compassion, or generosity. Not long ago I was in a meditation, a favorite form that I refer to as drifting. Passive rather than dynamic, one of allowing rather than directing my meditative experience. Toward the end of the meditation I was … Read More
Sensory Doorways to Nonordinary Reality, #3
Part 3: Awakening by Altering the Movement of Time Ordinary reality is what you experience through five physical senses, limited to three dimensions, constrained by linear time. When you expand beyond any of those limitations in a conscious manner, you’re working with non-ordinary reality. You have seen in the first two of these Sensory Doorways articles that it is easy … Read More
Sensory Doorways to Nonordinary Reality, #2
Part 2: Awakening by (re)opening the senses Every animal has a dominant sense, a sense that has been developed to a high level in order to help it survive. Often you can identify the dominant sense just by looking at the animal. Which of its sensory organs is largest? In these exercises you use the names of animals to remind … Read More
Sensory Doorways to Nonordinary Reality, #1
Part 1: Awakening by point focus In the next three articles I’ll describe powerful ways to expand your consciousness beyond the physical. What makes them unusual is that their starting point is the input of your physical senses. They engage the physical senses to transcend the physical senses. You might think of them as shamanic shortcuts to direct experience of … Read More
The 23rd Psalm, compassionately revisited
As a child I was captivated by the beauty and strength of the images and message of the 23rd Psalm. After the first three verses, however, that feeling was lost. I was repelled by the confrontational aspect of verses four and five. This was not my idea of a desirable existence. Gone were the green pastures and still waters. The … Read More
Earthbound Love
If you’ve read more than one or two of my posts, you’ve noticed that I hop from one topic to another, and that the hops are sometimes rather large. This post is another of the metaphysical/spiritual ones. It attempts to capture one aspect of larger Experience. I’ve made many journeys beyond the physical, into past lives and realms where even … Read More