Forever Dance!

El Yunque Rain Forest

We are here now in San Juan, Puerto Rico with Belkis. I have been here more than a week now.

This has also been my birthday week…in more ways than one…and Belkis and I chose to celebrate it together as our “Birth” Day.

In Daniel Ladinsky’s book “I Heard God Laughing” he shares with us the words of Hafiz, an awakened poet. Daniel says this about Hafiz:

Hafiz says God is fully known only through love, which accepts everything. Love reveals the Universe as a cosmic playground where every thing and every being participates in a single, magnificent Game. Hafiz says…

I rarely let the word “No” escape

From my mouth

Because it is so plain to my soul

That God has shouted, “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

To every luminous movement in Existence.

It has been a little over nine months now since leaving N.C. on this “around the world” adventure. And, it has been exactly that…an adventure of saying “Yes!” to all that arises to “every luminous movement in Existence” and following this path of the unknown step-by-step. If you have followed with me, it is very clear to see that it was not a journey unique to Elizabeth. We all have our own journey into the unkown in every moment of now. On the 17th of September, this trip is over...or is it just beginning???

It seems that this birthday begins a new life…one of sound health, vibrancy and a celebration of each moment, as it is … loving the ”participating in this cosmic playground."

Belkis and I started the celebration with our first day having a gentle soak in the warm salt water of the ocean, and the next day in a trip to a hot springs…so relaxing and renewing to our bodies. Then, we stepped it up a bit and on the next day we walked in the El Yunque Rain Forest…and found an awesome waterfall to play in.

We then did some “girl-stuff” and spent a day at the beauty parlor, got dressed up and went out for a glass of wine in the Old San Juan Hotel. It was early in the week and a quiet night…just perfect for us.

Here she is with Venus, the Goddess of Love ...

We had a lovely visit with Belkis’ family…mother, father and two sisters...

Here is Belkis dancing the Bachata...I've got the music and she showed me how to do it...I'll show you when I see you. It's so much fun and easy to do...

Then, out that evening with Belkis’ sisters, touring Old San Juan…here is how the hotels used to be back then, open to the sky...

...and Flamingo dancers outside under the stars...

The final week was a precious gift from Belkis and her sister, Sheila … a quiet, relaxing week alone, at her sister’s ocean-view beach apartment.

In closing, it took me years of delving into the Truth to realize that happiness is my true nature. Now, it appears that it is time to allow this that I am to shine through every ounce of this Being in life itself. Hafiz says it so beautifully for me…

I am happy even before I have a reason.

I am full of Light even before the sky

Can greet the sun or the moon.

Dear Companions,

We have been in love with God

For so very, very long.

What can Hafiz now do but

Forever Dance!

May I have this dance?

...for the rest of my life? Amor...amor!

Essence Ordinaire

Here we are in Canada...

[The Ottawa River at Sunset from Gatineau, Quebec]

This past week I was here in Canada visiting Saroja and some very dear friends in Gatineau, Quebec. It brought up a few things to share with you beginning with a story from Osho …

A king went into his garden and found wilted and dying trees, shrubs and flowers. The oak said it was dying because it could not be tall like the pine. Turing to the pine, he found it drooping because it was unable to bear grapes like the vine. And the vine was dying because it could not blossom like the rose. Then he found one plant, hearts-ease, blooming and as fresh as ever. Upon inquiry, he received this reply: “I took it for granted that when you planted me you wanted hearts-ease. If you had desired an oak, a vine or a rose, you would have planted them. So I thought, since I can be nothing but what I am, I shall be that to the best of my ability.”

You are here because this existence needs you as you are! Otherwise somebody else would have been here. You are fulfilling something very essential, something very fundamental, as you are. [“Take It Easy” Vol. 2, pp. 101-103 by Osho]

So, “we can be nothing but what we are” and being that “to the best of our ability” … this fits.

While here in Quebec with Saroja, I am reminded of my first talk in the Tampa Unity Church some years ago. I had just returned from Canada after being with my father’s passing, and happened to have a tube of toothpaste that I purchased there. In Canada, everything has both French and English on it, honoring both languages present. As I was considering what was to be shared in the Sunday Talk, I happened to have the toothpaste tube facing up with the French on the label. It said, “Essence Ordinaire.” When I turned it over to see what that meant, it was “Regular Flavor.” Yes! This is what was to be shared that morning.

Have we tasted our regular flavor … sensed this ordinary essence that we are? Are we looking for something unusual to happen, in a final awakening? Well, this beautiful French language says it all. Our essence is ordinariness. Sri Bhagavan reminds us … it is our natural state.

Relaxing into this Essence Ordinaire … we are fulfilling something very essential, very fundamental, simply being as we are. From here, we are contributing what is truly significant to the Whole.

Enjoying this simple, natural and ordinary Essence that we ARE...

Thank you, Saroja, this has been a beautiful week!

Saroja and friends, Hafiz and Gulabo. (The last time I was here was ten years ago when we gave and I SIT program. It was a very significant experience for me then as now.)

Just sit there right now.

Don’t do a thing.

Just rest.

For your

Separation from God

Is the hardest work in the world.

- Hafiz

The “rest” is a “stop” and all is melting into THAT.

Giving way to this melting feeling …

Falling into this Embrace

Being fully consumed by this Love,

By this Fullness,

By that which has no boundaries.

Surrender NOW into that which has captured you …

And invite whatever arises into Your Heart.

All is included in this Embrace …

- Elizabeth

Home Is Where The Heart Is

[Chataqua Park in Boulder, Co., a favorite spot to view the Flat Irons ]

It has been only three months since I came to Boulder, Colorado. But, it seems like a lifetime has passed.

Recently, my Inner Guidance directed me to continue the journey that was started last December. I am to continue on in the Great and Wonderful Mystery and not settle in anywhere for right now.

What has been my experience being here in this lovely little spot in the Universe?

When we usually visit a city for the first time, as a tourist, we proceed to see the various favorite sites and attractions of the area. With my living here the experience was not as a tourist but as a welcomed part of the community. I experienced the Heart of Boulder.

Of course, it started much like everyone else, by being captivated by its beauty and its history. And, I proceeded to see and learn as much as I could. This led me to the beginnings of Boulder through the eyes of Chief Niwot …

Chief Niwot or Left Hand(-ed) (c. 1825-1864)

was a tribal leader of the Southern Arapaho people and played an important part in the history of Colorado. Chief Niwot and his people lived along the Front Range often wintering in Boulder Valley, sit of the future Boulder, Colorado. Despite breaching the borders of Arapaho territory, early prospectors were welcomed by Niwot in Boulder Valley during the Colorado Gold Rush. Through Boulder County, many places pay tribute to Chief Niwot and the Arapaho tribe. Niwot, Co., Left Hand Canyon, Niwot Mountain, and Niwot Ridge are all named for him. Additionally, a main thoroughfare through Boulder is Arapahoe Avenue.

That was from the history books. But, to me, his true contribution to Boulder was from his vision of harmony with the white man. He held this commitment even up to the end of his life no matter what was happening around him.

This statue of Niwat stands by Boulder Creek, where he and his tribe stayed.

When I walked along Boulder Creek, where he and his tribe lived, I felt the sacredness of this land that was blessed by this beautiful being and his people.

In this sacred space, it came to me that Chief Niwot’s vision and commitment lived on and set the context for this beautiful heart-felt community of Boulder. In my own experience, arms were opened wide in welcoming me in so many ways.

Through those who assisted me in this awesome healing process…

[This is Brooke and Pamela at Sound Health]

Through those who opened their home and Heart to me …

[Elizabeth and Richard]

Through those who showed me the beauty of Boulder …

[Spencer]

[Richard]

Through those who welcomed me into their family …

[Jenna, Kelly & Emily]

And, through those that I met along the way that extended their generosity in many different ways.

It has been difficult to follow the Heart in this one and leave this beautiful community…this Heart Sanga. But, I now realize that when I left last December on this journey, it was to meet the global community of the Heart. This particular community in Boulder is just a facet of it and so I see now that I am to move on and meet up with this Heart Sanga in its entirety.

Chief Niwot gave a blessing to those living in Boulder. He said, “People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty.”

I understood the first part of this right away but not that last part until now, in writing this to you. What came to me; in the staying and holding onto what I have here, I will undo the beauty of what has been experienced and project my experience on something out there. It now goes with me wherever I am as a sacred aspect in me, one that confirms that Love and Harmony is our true nature and is at the Heart of this universe. And, confirms further that my home is where the Heart is. This is what lives on eternally no matter what the appearances.

A deep gratitude and a huge hug wraps around this lovely community as it goes with me and contributes something very precious to the remainder of my journey wherever it takes me from here. I love you all from the bottom of my Heart.

It’s a Great & Wonderful Mystery

[The following is a sharing from an eight year-old child with Aids]

Nobody, not Mom or dad or a grandmother or a grandfather or a big sister or big brother or teachers or doctors or soldiers or Reverends or athletes or lawyers or TV stars or any people who are working or any people who are playing not even the President, not even a King or a Queen, not even people who love each other know what a single thing is. It is a great and wonderful mystery to all of us that anything is or we are.

And whether somebody says, “I don’t know how anything came to be,” or “God made everything.” They are simply pointing to the feeling of the mystery, of how everything is, but nobody knows what it really is and how it came to be. As long as we go on feeling this mystery, we feel free and full and happy, and we act free and full and happy to others. This is the secret of being happy from the time you are small until the time you are old.

If you remember every day to feel the mystery and if you will remember to feel that you are more than what you look like and if you will remember to be the mystery itself, then you will be happy every day, and all kinds of wonderful happenings will come up for you. You will feel happy and you will always help and love others, even those who are having trouble feeling happy and even trying to make you forget the mystery.

Some day you may meet someone who has felt the mystery really strong for a long time, so that person feels the mystery all the time, and is always happy. Such a person is the best person to learn from about happiness and life and love. I hope you will remember to feel the mystery every day as long as you are awake forever. The best thing to tell anybody is to remember to feel this.
I have been doing this for a long time and it is the best and most important feeling of all. I am very happy I could tell you this. Maybe some day we will meet face to face. Maybe. Anyway, at least you and I will always know that at least one other person somewhere is remembering and feeling and loving the mystery right now.

And the children will lead us.

A wonderful reminder that whenever we think we know anything, our attention is drawn away from our Natural State and this great and wonderful Mystery.

This experience was seen just recently and I was grace-fully brought back to this Mystery. Now, everything is back to moment-to-moment discovery…vulnerable…but free.

Soon, I will be writing you from Quebec...on my way back east.

Stay tuned in for the next adventure in this Magical Mystery Show!

It’s Right Here, Right Now

Question: Things are unfolding nicely here…

John: What is knowing that? In what is it all unfolding? Come back to that. Unfolding is in time. Reality is every-present and timeless. Hone in on the core of timeless presence-awareness. Everything else comes and goes. This does not.

Question: It is relatively effortless.

John: Awareness in one hundred percent natural and effortless. When, in your experience, is it not shining? The fact of being present and aware is totally effortless. That is what you are, and it is already present. We overlooked it because we were looking for something exotic, but it has been right here all along.

[By John Wheeler in his book, “Right here, Right now”]

Just a little fine tuning and coming back to basics…coming back to what is already naturally happening, right now, and giving up any sense of “unfolding” to what is already present. Actually, when we “hone in on the core of timeless presence-awareness” there isn’t even a “giving up” of anything. It’s so simple, but we can miss this simplicity in our intense “search for enlightenment or completion in this lifetime.”

Bhagavan Ramana shared this simple truth over and over again. He kept gently bringing people back through the question, “Who?” But the mind was relentless in wanting to do something rather than just BE. Can we relate?

Nathan Gill, another non-duality teacher, says it’s not even about “being awake.” It’s simply about Being. Being awake implies that we were not already awake and we now have to be awake. That’s how subtle the tricks of the mind can become.

When we say that Sri Bhagavan’s message was one of non-duality, do we really know what that means? Is there a relaxing into this Beingness, this aware-presence that we are and allowing what is arising to complete itself, naturally? This is the end of the search…already complete, totally finished, here and now.

Just checking in…

When Heart Speaks To Heart

"When Heart speaks to Heart,

where is the need

for physical meeting

or verbal conversation!"

- Sri Bhagavan.

It has been coming to me lately, “why these communications?” I receive your comments in email that say it speaks to you in some way, so it continues.

Each time the Heart speaks to Heart, there is no thought it just comes. It is a wonderful feeling to experience the flow of our own Voice just happening. And, we are usually blown away by what IT has to say. I’m sure you’ve noticed this yourself.

This hasn’t always been the case for me, for sure. When I first met Ramana almost 33 years ago now, the Heart opened but the awakening process had just begun. What I found most difficult was making the connection of what I was genuinely feeling with the words to reflect my true experience. The space was open to share now with someone that was truly there to listen and assist, but nothing would come but tears. Patiently, he would wait. And, sometimes I would find myself sharing what he would want to hear or the correct thing to say that reflected the correct teaching. But, it was not authentic. It did not ring true for me. But, it would take the pressure off and the strain of not-knowing how to say it. It was a very vulnerable place as it could be very embarrassing to go through, especially in a group situation. And, in the beginning of AHAM, I was in the classroom just like everyone else. So, a “survival mechanism” set in early to “look good in the eyes of others” and an unconscious pattern was established to survive this very sensitive situation.

This particular pattern was brought into the Light of Awareness just recently and completely exposed and seen through. What a joyful realization it is to actually feel the True Voice come through without filters…without the pattern of bypassing through the mind…just a pure flow from the Heart. It was experienced similar to the “perennial flow of oil” that Sri Bhagavan talks about. It actually felt like warm oil flowing from the gut, through the Heart, and through the throat and out in its own capsule of words. How refreshingly real it is to be aware of this happening.

Well, the “cat’s out of the bag” the “toothpaste is out of the tube” … there is no going back now.

The gratitude for this “fierce Grace” is enormous!

Now, Heart speaks to Heart in Its own natural way … there is just a happy glow. :0)

This speaks true for me now…

I have no power of miracle

Other than the attainment

Of quiet happiness.

I have no tact except

The experience of gentleness.

-Sumiyoshi