methinks...

                            words are beautiful, soulful creatures

                            but if they are killed off in the abattoir of abstraction

                            they taste of fear when spoken or heard, they can be packaged in the

                            supermarket quickly and efficiently wrapped in plastic priced and put

                            on the shelves to be sold for mass consumption (sometimes overpriced,

                            and sometimes reduced depending on the demand) so that they look

                            succulent and juicy and yum. but when words are mass produced the

                            soul is sickened and becomes sick

                            I do not believe in words which sit on shelves.

  

Karen Rootenberg

On Trust

We all know the experience of being let down by someone. It feels disappointing and can bring disillusionment. Trust is possibly the cornerstone of real connection. It has a great deal to do with consistency. Consistency really is having a core of integrity which won't be swayed by the current trend of what is cool. A core of integrity will not be swayed by the need to be popular or impress. It has to do with following through when one says one is committed to something and not changing ones mind because something else has come up which fills the self-centred desire more than the agreement. It is honouring one's word no matter that it feels inconvenient or brings discomfort. None of us is trustworthy all the time probably. But the capacity to self-reflect with honesty brings powerful transparency and is trustworthy.

Consistency can sound rather boring as if one has to be the same all the time. But this is a misnomer. In music one can start off in a key and the key can change, yet it will come back to the original key because this is home. And the beat and the rhythm have to be consistent if the music has integrity and beauty. The variation in the key can give it enormous depth and interest. It is the same with personal expression. One can have vast ranges of expression but the inner core has a singular Tone. This creates trust. Inherently we know who we can trust and who is 'dodgy'. We often avoid looking at this because possibly the person is charismatic or charming or entertaining. But we know. And ultimately the question comes back to oneself. Where am I able to lose my centre? Who can persuade me to step away from my integrity? Where do I become untrustworthy? When the cornerstone of trust is eroded the temple falls...

The Trust  

such a wondrous place this turtle island

here where i am

my homeland on this planet

i know her pulse and the surge of the blood of her body through 

the

sacred pathways of this living land

speaking for her

speaking for me

speaking for all of us

all that i am embraces you

all that i am is open for you

all that i have is available to you

my heart is pleased

for you

for me

for all of us

the way opens

the landscape smiles

the tree flowers

welcoming your laughter and

your footfall on the pathway

such is the nature of love and the trust  

db

for psyche speaks

and she the clearer speaks

the more we are unconscious of the clay

and out of self

in that forgotten hour

when truths we have absorbed

through days or weeks or years

unfold

as in a crystal ray

like from the bud the rose bursts into flower

gordon stace smith

Speech  by  the  High Lama

Lost  Horizon

It is the entire meaning and purpose of Shangri-La. It came to me in a vision, long, long ago. I saw all the nations strengthening, not in wisdom, but in the vulgar passions and the will to destroy. I saw the machine power multiplying, until a single weaponed man might match a whole army. I foresaw a time when man, exalting in the technique of murder, would rage so hotly over the world, that every book, every treasure, would be doomed to destruction. This vision was so vivid and so moving, that I determined to gather together all things of beauty and of culture that I could, and preserve them here, against the doom toward which the world is rushing.

Look at the world today. Is there anything more pitiful? What madness there is! What blindness! What unintelligent leadership! A scurrying mass of bewildered humanity, crashing headlong against each other, propelled by an orgy of greed and brutality. A time must come my friend, when this orgy will spend itself. When brutality and the lust for power must perish by its own sword. Against that time, is why I avoided death, and am here. And why you were brought here. For when that day comes, the world must begin to look for a new life. And it is our hope that they may find it here. For here, we shall be with their books and their music, and a way of life based on one simple rule: Be Kind! When that day comes, it is our hope that the brotherly love of Shangri-La will spread throughout the world. Yes, my son. When the strong have devoured each other, the Christian ethic may at last be fulfilled and the meek shall inherit the earth.

My friend, it is not an arduous task that I bequeath, for our order knows only silken bonds. To be gentle and patient, to care for the riches of the mind, to preside in wisdom while the storm rages without. You, my son, will live through the storm. You will preserve the fragrance of our history and add to it a touch of your own mind. Beyond that, my vision weakens but I see at a great distance a new world stirring in the ruins, stirring clumsily but in hopefulness, seeking its lost and legendary treasures, and they will all be here, my son, hidden behind the mountains in the Valley of the Blue Moon, preserved as by a miracle.

movie by Frank Capra — screenplay by Robert Riskin

book by James Hilton

New Year   New Age   New Day

The invitation is to listen, observe and perceive all familiar things in new ways. This requires the courage to open the heart, clear the mind and embrace the power inherent in the silence, allowing direct connection with the original harmony and purpose of the great Way. The mystery remains for those who fear to enter the silence, and the intensity of light which cleanses the gates of perception and brings the great unveiling. Opening to mystery is opening to ceaseless wonder—the vast and intricate design of spirit which enlivens the world becomes discernible and glorious. The matrix of connection between the historical and the immediate emerges out of the mists of the collective unconscious, revealing the wonder and coherency of what before had not been heard, seen or understood—but which has always been at hand. The wisdom of previous ages is now seen and known. Success and failure has been evident throughout, but living mastery has initiated and conceived the birth of a new chapter in the unbroken continuum of the great story. We have moved 250 years into a new age. In the light of this new day, it is possible to perceive all old and familiar things in entirely new ways, and live within the ever new. Look around—incarnate wisdom is present now. You and I are not here by accident. Our own presence, along with many others both known and unknown to us, has been precisely orchestrated by the great cosmic timekeeper who has governed the cycles of emergence and mastery throughout the ages. This has enormous implications in our living and in our time—full employment and hard work are offered to all. What love. What challenge. What joy. What fulfillment!

David Barnes