Thursday, February 29, 2024

Leap Day Humble Intentions



"No Mud , No Lotus"

The Inspiration

Does having an extra calendar day

in a Leap year make a substantive difference in a day in a life?

Sometimes it rains and sometimes it seems that the frozen

wild whipping wind of winter will never cease.

Just as the darkest hour appears to be infinite

a sweet sounding song of the solo thrush who 

journeyed in advance  in community

to welcome in celebration the crack in from 

the heavens letting in the light.

Sometimes the universe just nudges those

who worry or forget .

If seekers listen closely ,with eyes closed , their souls

know that song , that illumination, that hopefulness and faith.

Sadness comes and goes. Tides come in and out.

Creatures of all sizes have no say in their arrival.

Yet, there is a secret awakening to  how all

creation is of an abundant unconditional love

and how all things do pass.

In between the the falling sands of time

there is a positive power in how 

the universe responds to intentions

of the desire to let go , just being , hopeful , 

humble and grateful.

Many mystical traditions understand the interconnectedness

of everything . Is it a coincidence that one seeker discovered

the commonality of how the gleam responds to humble intentions?

One practice that has helped wandering spirits....

is known as " Metta Meditiations."

(The author has been practicing forms of Metta meditation for years

in his daily journals and contemplations)

(Loving Kindness Metta Meditation


https://www.ekhartyoga.com/articles/meditation/loving-

kindness-meditation-script-and-7-reasons-to-use-it  )


The Writing

Leap Day Humble Intentions: A Metta Meditation


(For myself , you , our families, friends, neighbors , mentors,

those who suffer and those in need , those we met and will meet)


May this space, this moment , this time, this day , this journey -

Be joyous , filled with  - love - peace - hope - mercy - selflessness

- holiness -  good health - mindfulness - gratitude - humility and

authenticity , free from worry , pain , suffering and harm.

May we have the strength , wisdom , courage and faith 

to stay the course that we are meant to be on - letting go .

May we all love one another without judgment about 

our own worthiness and the worthiness of others.

- JF Sobecki


---------

______ 

"Poetry is a gateway into intuitive consciousness. 

It knocks on the doors

 of the heart and the heart opens" 

 - Mirabai Starr

"Poetry is an Act of Peace . 

Peace goes into the making of a poet

as flour goes into the making of bread."

- Pablo Neruda

"Ring the bells that can still ring 

Forget your perfect offering

There is a crack , a crack in everything

That's How the light gets in"

- Anthem, L. Cohen

Spring

In the north country now it is spring and there 
Is a certain celebration. The thrush 
Has come home. He is shy and likes the 
Evening best, also the hour just before 
Morning; in that blue and gritty light he 
Climbs to his branch, or smoothly 
Sails there. It is okay to know only 
One song if it is this one. Hear it 
Rise and fall; the very elements of you should 
Shiver nicely. What would spring be 
Without it? Mostly frogs. But don’t worry, he

Arrives, year after year, humble and obedient 
And gorgeous. You listen and you know 
You could live a better life than you do, be 
Softer, kinder. And maybe this year you will 
Be able to do it. Hear how his voice 
Rises and falls. There is no way to be 
Sufficiently grateful for the gifts we are 
Given, no way to speak the Lord’s name 
Often enough, though we do try, and

Especially now, as that dappled breast 
Breathes in the pines and heaven’s 
Windows in the north country, 
Now spring has come, 
Are opened wide.

- Mary Oliver



The Music 


Anthem - L. Cohen

https://youtu.be/c8-BT6y_wYg?si=QLyTHexF3RoLs79B

Your Got the Love - Retrosettes Sister Band


Love and Happiness - E.Harris/M. Knopfler
https://youtu.be/qlPR11Ke2II?si=Osi9OOV7vfV39vAb


Happy - P. Williams
https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs?si=kGtIi--NTPCXqllp

Peace on Earth - U2 Live at the Sphere

https://youtu.be/MWwOK5p1ArQ?si=J-DaFHo0j6JVYFtN

Love and mercy - Brian Wilson
https://youtu.be/PISkFEzC5XE?si=56gKU8mTyM8QtmAu


Meditation time:


Sit Listen/Watch


Being Here - B. Murray

https://youtu.be/o9TvFkiLLMo?si=iTUsPzUS7GZZkG7t


Gabriel's Oboe - The Mission
https://youtu.be/fiCX4w1BCVQ?si=WLv_jJNIVtZgi10a


"Everything that we preach is what we

 need to hear."

         - Bono

"One day I will find the right words , 

and they will be simple."

- Jack Kerouac

"The most important thing is not why we 

write but how we write.

Write dangerously , Beckett.." 

- James Joyce ( From the new biopic on 

S. Beckett " Dance First.")

AMDG

Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC




































Thursday, February 1, 2024

Surrender: 27,740 Days

 












"All spiritual maturity is about 

letting go."

 - Richard Rohr


"You admire the man who 

pushes his way

 to the top in any walk of life,

while we admire one who 

abandons his ego."

Seven Years in Tibet . H. Harrier


"The spiritual journey is non- denominational."

 - a Jesuit priest


Inspiration:

 During certain times of the year the public 

submits to 

an avalanche of college and professional athletic 

"playoffs." Winning is everything!

Winners receive the honor , rewards and crowns 

of olive leaves.Losers are left in the cold

with crowns of thorns.

The global culture promotes hard work 

and success with awards and recognition and 

those who qualify are adored regardless

of their integrity and morality. Chapels and 

cathedrals honor the divine mystery

promoted by the self made witch doctors dictating 

dogma, canons and dance steps

for pillaged pilgrims to subscribe to without questions. 

Confused, one potential pilgrim lost as to what candle 

to light and what course to chart hears that

whispering wind lifts a voice from ancient theater 

where a player could be heard

"You don't choose a life. You live it."


-----------

The Writing:

Surrender : 27,740 days

Almost 27,740 days on the worn out 

overcrowded Camino,

the seeker carried collected maps and 

books by mystics

and soothsayers charting the course

to discover the great promised treasure.

How many revolutions on the great circle

does it take before an anxious meandering

Bedouin wakes up to the truth 

about his passage?

Scholars say that Homer's Odyssey 

was a fable about the search 

for one's soul. Disguised teachers dressed 

in sherpas rags lift the baggage carried 

by pirate pilgrims and just like that 

a great burden weight evaporates. 


Why didn't the solo seeker learn from 

Bosch's "Death of the Miser"

or from his part-time partner who 

practiced at emulating

the actions of Richard Cory 

who lived on the hill?

It was that old salt who 

anchored in a lost cove

while mentoring the seeker secretly on

all things of the great sea, 

Including the ins and outs of 

sailing by rigorously

having the seeker practice the art of 

letting go of the tiller

when confronting rolling rough waters.

The vessel somehow rights herself 

as she heads into the wind.

Some imperfect learners are slower 

in letting go of their worldly attachments , 

their desire for control, 

... refusing to surrender ,

 but somehow they remain completely loved .

- JF Sobecki

_____

The Poems and Such:

"Poetry is a gateway into intuitive 

consciousness. 

It knocks on the doors

 of the heart and the heart opens" 

 - Mirabai Starr

"Poetry is an Act of Peace . 

Peace goes into the making of a poet

as flour goes into the making of bread."

- Pablo Neruda

When you are Old - WB Yeats 

( read C. Murphy)

https://youtu.be/dEHjBPS21A8?si=k6OIo82cNUVIyaLc

My Wish - R W Emerson

















The Music:
Seasons of Love - Rent

I Release Control - A. Rose

Pacing the Cage - B. Cockburn
Music Videos for Meditation 
For Readers:

Random Prompts:

Another Story- The Head and The Heart 

Ten thousand Words - Avett Brothers


Death of the Miser - H Bosch
What is happening here?
Who is this miser?





















------------
"No thing can bring one total peace."
- Hindhu Saying

"Everything that we preach is what we
 need to hear."
         - Bono

"One day I will find the right words , 
and they will be simple."
- Jack Kerouac

"The most important thing is not why we 
write but how we write.
Write dangerously , Beckett.." 
- James Joyce ( From the new biopic on 
S. Beckett " Dance First."

AMDG

Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved 
JF Sobecki LLC