The purple beads at the wedding were lassoed around her neck. They were gifts. To each guest, she gave one. It was her job. The bride said, “tradition.” Her husband looked on, wide-eyed. Nobody knew his favorite color was blue. Red was pouring in from everywhere, the silks and the flowers that draped the canopied hall they walked down, husband and wife. All minds feasted on color, even as they ate “real food,” chicory, lentils and rice. Everything was an offer, anything you could touch. Everybody like jewels in God’s crown.
© luminarium 2014
Candles
A man told me, “We are like candles.” He held a tall orange one and said, “We are just the wick, a portion. We burn through the wax, down to ember.”
Candles have a memory. The first burn determines all the rest. It should fill the round edge with a pool of wax. Sit with the full light, strong as it descends.
The only thing
that will make
your grass greener
is Time. Seasons
shift slowly
from birth to death
and back. Anything
can be taken for granted.
Worship the sun
each day, even when it’s
behind clouds. Know
that it’s there, the concealment
is temporary. The only thing
that will make your grass
green is Knowledge.
Sometimes it can be hard to find quiet, to center the mind and focus on cultivating self-awareness. It can be easy to think negatively toward the source of noise. We view irritants as annoyances, flies buzzing round our heads. Sometimes it feels there is absolutely nothing left to give. Sit or lay comfortably. Draw inward. Allow restorative energy (breath, prana) to move through you, instead of you moving it, which can lead to further stress and exhaustion.
The mind and body are linked by breath. Life is for Living, simple as that.
Whatever your conception of “living” looks like, let it go. What is left? Being. Being must precede all action. Inaction flows into action like breath into movement, or like pedals on a bike. You cannot sustain riding a bike with one pedal. You’ll tire and fall off. Much better to allow for moments of breath than living “nonstop,” which is not Living at all. Relax into your body; observe a thought as it forms. Once formed, it will drift out of sight. Continue to watch thoughts form and float away until there are none left. You may feel lighter. Your breath may feel rhythmic. Where there is breath, there is quiet. Breathe to create the life you want. You control your breath, mind, and body. What else do you need? All else will build itself around you, but you must first honor it All.
LUMINARIUM 