Through  The  Dark  Night

Don Hynes

The valley lays in darkness,

the earth pulsing

with great mystery.

Trees vibrate in this pulse

as do the widespread seas.

Deserts shift in waves,

animals move in migration.

On the outer rim

the earth turns quickly

while at the center

there is stillness

and a silence

reaching through stone,

sand and water.

We may be spun by the wheel

or return to the core,

to the place of emanation

where life is born.

The forces move in procession,

water, air, earth and fire,

cleansing what must pass,

giving form to what is asked

from the deep heaven.

What may we bring to this altar

but our breath of thankfulness,

alive and enduring

through the dark night

to the living day.

donhynes.com/blog

The  Light  Between

Jack Jenkins

“The Light Between” is an artistic collaboration intended to direct the listener and viewer’s attention to that which is “between,” whether that is space, light or silence. All of the dimensional reality that we experience through our sensibilities is set in a context, a very large one in fact. Anyone who has had to move from where they were living is confronted with all the stuff that they have managed to collect and cram into that space. It seems that human beings think that the only reason for this space, this context, is to fill it up. I suppose we eventually succeed in that when we have completely obliterated the light, and we’re dead!

What each of us as artists has tried to do through the form of thought, music and image is to point to the greater context within which those forms find their true meaning. You could describe that context as un-dimensional or invisible. That which is “between” actually is what connects. It connects everything. It is what allows us to experience the oneness of it all.

These three friends I have known for a long time and we all share this sensibility to what really has true meaning. I thank them for their generosity and immediate willingness to participate in this project. I think Chris Harris was born with a camera in his hand. He has shown me areas of the Cariboo/Chilcotin region of BC by backcountry skiing and canoeing trips that I otherwise would have never seen. I’ve performed with Maryliz Smith since we were hippies with long hair. She lives in San Francisco so our collaboration was all “virtual.” She is a dear friend. I met Janet Barocco many years ago, although briefly, but we do have a common connection—her husband Richard Heinberg. Richard plays the violin and we played for several years together before he and Janet met. I originally scored Janet’s poem for a women’s chorus and have just recently transcribed it for cello and piano. Enjoy!

Jack Jenkins — sepabay@shaw.ca

all  in  silence

all is still in thy great womb

where rhythmic power gathers

and

in perfect measure

finds release

in the temple of thy body

in the cathedral of thy world

and all is still in thy great womb

where now

a thunderous presence

all in silence

plants the seed of life

in this

the holy place of magic

a lightning shaft of power

ignites the world in love

and all’s made new

in awesome silence

db

Missa  Gaia

Earth  Mass

Paul Winter Consort

Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine

A Mass in celebration of Mother Earth, recorded live in the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Grand Canyon. Integrating world music with songs from the wild to celebrate the whole earth as a sacred space, the MISSA GAIA is performed annually on the first Sunday in October in the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York. It was commissioned by the Dean of the Cathedral as a contemporary ecumencial Mass.

Recorded in the Grand Canyon and during two performances in the Cathedral, the album of this popular contemporary Mass for the Earth features the Paul Winter Consort, Susan Osborn, the voices of wolf, whale, eagle, harp seal, Amazonian musical wren, Russian loon, and the choruses of the Cathedral.

Produced by: Paul Winter, Oscar Castro-Neves, Chris Brown

Paul Winter - soprano sax

Nancy Rumbel - oboe and English horn

Eugene Friesen - cello

Jim Scott - classical and 12-string guitar

Susan Osborn - voice

Paul Halley - organ and piano

Ted Moore - percussion

Gordon Johnson - bass

Jim Saporito - percussion

Guilherme Franco - percussion

Phil Markowitz - piano on 'Beatitudes'

1982

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYGTZp-tqLo

This  is  the  Winter  Solstice  of  an  Age

 

The  grim  news

The grim news has come to my attention

that something in the world has come unfixed —

owls no longer haunt the fir-lined alley

appearing out of dreamtime as we pass,

indeed, whole souls are missing, as if being

has itself gone dim — like an old man's seeing.

A vital light is missing from this world, by which I mean

that ephemeral gold that spins the seen

and unseen worlds together. In my life

I don't expect to see a springtime swelling

of the shriveled nut so many human spirits

have become. What's to be done?

This is the winter solstice of an age,

although the season's worst is yet to come.

What's delicate and true has come undone:

is the only fitting answer

a pure and focused rage?

Today I wove a wreath of bone and fir

and filbert withes; twined in sacred holly,

incense cedar from an ancient tree.

I wove, affixed a star, and spoke a spell:

"Let this circle stand as the gate of winter-

sure passage to the days of lengthening light."

And then I whispered names in the fragrant bough

Lacing love like a scarlet ribbon through the fronds.

Long I wove and dreamed back friends and kin,

each great soul calling back the sun.

I thought at last, "My life here is not done."

and some bright star rekindled from within.

Sandra Brown

The Noon Club

 Something  Wonderful  Is  Happening

The  Noon  Club

Will Wilkinson

www.noonclub.org

Breath

James Nestor

James Nestor has written for Outside, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Dwell, The New York Times, and many other publications. His book Deep: Freediving, Renegade Science, and What the Ocean Tells Us About Ourselves was a finalist for the 2015 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, an Amazon Best Science Book of 2014, and more. Nestor has appeared on dozens of national television shows, including ABC’s Nightline and CBS’s Morning News, and on NPR. He lives and breathes in San Francisco.

Riverhead Books 052620

A New York Times Bestseller

A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2020

A Goodreads Award Finalist for Best Science & Technology Book of the Year

"A fascinating book, full of dazzling revelations." — Dr. Rangan Chatterjee 

"This book is awesome. Most people have no idea how to do breathing exercises and how beneficial they are. Over the last few weeks I’ve been using the methods I learned from his book and I can tell you there are absolutely some real benefits to be had from this. . .I really enjoyed this book."  — Joe Rogan

"I highly recommend this book." — Wim Hof

"A fascinating scientific, cultural, spiritual and evolutionary history of the way humans breathe—and how we’ve all been doing it wrong for a long, long time. I already feel calmer and healthier just in the last few days, from making a few simple changes in my breathing, based on what I’ve read. . . . Our breath is a beautiful, healing, mysterious gift, and so is this book." — Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and Eat, Pray, Love

"With his entertaining, eerily well-timed new book, James Nestor explains the science behind proper breathing and how we can transform our lungs and our lives. . . . The book is brisk and detailed, a well-written read that is always entertaining, as he melds the personal, the historical, and the scientific." — The Boston Globe

“It's a rare popular-science book that keeps a reader up late, eyes glued to the pages. But Breath is just that fascinating. It will alarm you. It will gross you out. And it will inspire you. Who knew respiration could be so scintillating?” — Spirituality & Health

“Breath provides a new perspective of modern day technology and how we’ve unknowingly abandoned the answers we’ve always had. James Nestor artfully brings back what modern society has walked away from by combining ancestral techniques and new age technology in one elegant book.”  — Scientific Inquirer

“A transformative book that changes how you think about your body and mind.” — Joshua Foer, New York Times–bestselling author of Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Memory

“Breath is an utterly fascinating journey into the ways we are wired. No matter who you are, you’ll want to read this.” — Po Bronson, New York Times–bestselling author of What Should I Do with My Life? and coauthor of NutureShock

“An eye-opening, epic journey of human devolution that explains why so many of us are sick and tired. A must-read book that exposes what our health care system doesn’t see.” — Dr. Steven Y. Park, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, author of Sleep, Interrupted 

“I don’t say this often, but when I do I mean it: This book changed my life. Breath is part scientific quest, part historical insight, part Hero’s Journey, full of groundbreaking ideas, and a rollicking good read. I had no idea that the simple and intuitive act of inhaling and exhaling has taken such an evolutionary hit. As a result, I figured out why I sleep so badly and why my breathing feels so often out of sync. With a few simple tweaks, I fixed my breathing and fixed myself. A transformational book!” — Caroline Paul, bestselling author of The Gutsy Girl

“If you breathe, you need this book. When we undervalue anything, including something so basic as breathing, bad things always happen—and Nestor makes it clear how awful it’s gotten. But he also provides a clear airway back to better, deeper, stronger respirations.” — Wallace J. Nichols, PhD, New York Times–bestselling  author of Blue Mind

“Breath shows us just how extraordinary the act of breathing is and why so much depends on how we do it. An enthralling, surprising, and often funny adventure into our most overlooked and undervalued function.” — Bonnie Tsui, author of Why We Swim and American Chinatown

"A welcome, invigorating user’s manual for the respiratory system." — Kirkus Review

“Although we all breathe, there is an art and science to breathing correctly . . . Full of fascinating information an compelling arguments, this eye-opening (or more aptly a mouth-closing and nostril-opening) work is highly recommended.” — Library Journal

YouTube  Videos

"The magic of the nose, and it's healing powers,
wasn't lost on the ancients."

Will  Wilkinson

interviews

Andrew  Harvey

Rumi For Our Times

Thriving In Business and Life

youtube.com/channel/UC3IigFZbCHdMz3GxMbxSbaA

 

Prana

Steps to Mastership

Uranda  1936 

Let us now consider the Breath of Life. Air is free, but few people use it freely. In the Book of Books we read, "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life; and man became a living Soul." To appreciate the value of air, we must study deeper than the usually recognized physical fact that it is a gaseous substance, mainly composed of approximately one part of oxygen to four parts of nitrogen, which must be breathed by all species of the animal kingdom, including man, to perpetuate life. 

Modern science has proven that a force called electricity can be generated out of the air. The fact that automobiles equipped with generators can absorb electricity out of the atmosphere at all times and in all places proves that this force is everywhere present in the air. The Adepts of all ages have known that this force existed, and they have used it in ways that are far more valuable than the mechanical uses to which it is put. These wise men have for thousands of years consciously used this energy to promote perfection within their own bodies, and to help in healing of others. This force, in its free state as found in the atmosphere, is called Prana in the Sanskrit language. It is this Prana that is absorbed by the generator and transformed into what we call electricity. From a material standpoint it is impossible to determine what electricity is, because it has a spiritual source. Without this spiritual substance the fleshly body would be as inert as a clod, for it is really the Prana in the air we breathe that gives us life. It is the lack of Prana, and not the lack of oxygen, which kills so quickly when a person or animal is choked or strangled. 

Prana is the vibration of the everywhere-present Spirit of God to which physical life is attuned. There are, of course, other vibrations of the Spirit of God, but Prana is the primary vibration of the Spirit which the fleshly body can absorb and use. Prana is the Spirit of God which man can use, if he will only do it. This force is absolutely unlimited. It will work through you with unlimited power if you will only let it. Through the use of it any and all adverse conditions can be overcome. When you learn to use it fully and freely you will find that the so-called miracles of healing, and other accomplishments, are really the natural results of natural law applied in a natural way.

Just to realize that Pranic Power is present in unlimited amounts is not enough. You are like a giant electric motor, with tremendous potential power; but unless you know how to "throw the switch" and connect yourself with the unlimited Prana, you will soon deteriorate and die from lack of use. The body is so constructed that it would never wear out if it were properly used. People do not wear out from use; they rust out from lack of use. You have a finer and better motor than man has ever made. And what kind of care do you give it? How much do you know about running it properly? 

When we realize that this great power is at hand and that we have the right to use it freely, the next step is to learn how to contact it fully, for the greatest possible benefit. The human motor is self-repairing, and the switch is automatic, so that when something goes wrong in the human motor the current is slowed down until the damage can be repaired. If man willfully, or ignorantly, produces a short-circuit within himself by disobeying Nature's Laws, the power is taken from him according to the degree of his wrong use of it. If man persists in his wrong use of this power, his motor is badly damaged and in time is completely disconnected from the Source. And then he is pronounced dead. 

It is easier to begin to use the Prana if we first prove to ourselves that it really exists by seeing it. Anyone with fairly normal vision can learn to see the Prana under certain conditions, and as one develops and becomes proficient in the use of it, the Prana can be seen at will at any time. The person who has received Enlightenment can see the Prana in all objects, whether it be stone, wood, flower, grass, trees, human beings, or any other physical manifestation of life. Many people have learned to see it and use it, and you can also. There is nothing more beautiful in this physical world than to see the life forces vibrating in all things about you. It opens up a new world to you. Everything will be more beautiful, and you will find a sweet peace and joy which begins within yourself and radiates to everyone and everything around you. Even people who know nothing about these things will notice a something about your presence which soothes and uplifts. Sick people will say that it makes them feel better for you to enter the room where they are. Can you imagine anything more delightful than to be of such service to those about you? It is as possible for you as for anyone else. To those who have never given any thought to these things it all seems quite impossible. 

The easiest way to see Prana is to go out-of-doors just before sundown and sit in an easy chair, or recline on the ground, in the shade. Face any direction except toward the sun. Relax as thoroughly as possible, taking several long, deep breaths of air. Next, close your eyes and keep them closed for a minute or two. Then open your eyes slowly and direct the gaze up into the sky without looking at anything. If you focus your eyes on some object, you will look through the Prana and not see it. The only reason we do not see it all the time is because we look through it, just as we look through a perfectly clean, pure glass without seeing it. After a few trials you will see that the air is filled with millions of silvery dots, some larger than others and all moving continuously. After practice you should be able to see the Prana as far as thirty or forty feet away. These silver-like dots are not to be confused with such optical illusions as specks or lacelike appearances which are sometimes seen in front of the eyes and which float or dance with the movement of the eyes. The silver dots of Prana will be seen moving in every direction, both far and near, and at first these dots will seem to be in great confusion. However, as you watch and study them, you will find that they are moving in orderly fashion and in symmetrical formation. Once you see the Prana you will learn to let your eyes "rest easy" many times during the day so that you can see it. As you fully realize the constant presence of Prana, you will find yourself working with a force that is as tangible to you as wood or stone is to most people. This eliminates blind faith, because you know.

The brain is the Positive Pole of the human generator, and the gonad glands form the Negative Pole of the generative system. You do not think with your brain, contrary statements notwithstanding, for your brain is a mass of millions of tiny generators which absorb the Prana out of the atmosphere. Each tiny generator changes the Prana into that vibration of Life Essence which is needed in the part of the body for which it is responsible. One vibration is needed in the bones, another vibration is required in the tissues, another in the glands, and so on through the whole body. All parts of the body require the Life Essence, but each cell in each part requires a different vibration of that Life Essence. Each brain-cell generator is set to a specific vibration that is required in a certain part of the body, and that set vibration cannot be changed. Though this is a vast study in itself, this will give you an idea of how the One Life Essence produces all the different parts of the body. 

In order for the body to function rightly the positive and negative forces must be in balance. The brain cannot do it all. The gonad glands, connected with the Solar Center, must supply the negative force in amounts large enough to keep the body forces in balance. When a lack of this balance is present it is called nervousness. This shows you why it is so important not to waste the negative body forces through anger, hate, fear, jealousy, or any like emotion. And also, it shows why excess in any body appetite, such as overeating, eating the wrong foods, laziness, drunkenness, and excessive sex expression, are all so very damaging to the body machine. These things all tend to clog up the body functions and cause cross-currents, or short-circuits, which detract from the ability of the individual to enjoy life. 

The first step, then, in gaining control of the Life Essence within the body, that thereby the Prana outside the body may be controlled, is to bring all the body emotions and appetites under control. The Law is: No one can attain control over the mighty power of Prana who has not first proven that he will use it wisely by gaining control over his own emotions and appetites. The accomplishment of this will take time and persevering practice. With each step forward in self-control you will find added power granted unto you.

There are three primary nerve channels, or Nadis, to which we must give attention. In Sanskrit they are called Ida, Pingala, and Sushunna. The left sympathetic nerve, which begins in the left nostril and extends back through the head and down to the Sacral Plexus, which is located in the Sacral region or wide vertebrae at the base of the spine, comprises the Ida Nadis, or channel. The right sympathetic nerve, which begins in the right nostril and extends back through the head down to the Sacral Plexus, comprises the Pingala Nadis. The spinal cord, which extends from the head down the spine to the Sacral Plexus, comprises the Sushunna Nadis. The currents of the Life Essence which flow through these Nadis are called Kundalini. This explains as much as will be required in this elementary study of the subject.

The air which is inhaled through the left nostril supplies the Prana which is taken up by the Ida Nadis and carried to the brain, where the Prana is transformed, or generated, into the Negative Life Essence, which is the energy required by the negative pole of the generative system. Thus we see that properly increased breathing through the left nostril will gradually increase the Negative Life Essence, which is the force that gives life to the Physical Body.

The air which is inhaled through the right nostril supplies the Prana which is taken up by the Pingala Nadis and carried to the brain, where the Prana is transformed into the Positive Life Essence, which is the energy required by the positive pole of the generative system. Thus we see that properly increased breathing through the right nostril will gradually increase the Positive Life Essence, which is the force that gives life and activity to the Mental Body.

When these two forces are properly combined in the Sacral Plexus, the Kundalini, which is inactive or "asleep" in the Sacral Plexus, is caused to rise in the Sushunna Nadis. The blending and transformation of the positive and negative Life Essence which takes place in the Sacral Plexus produces the specific form of Kundalini that is required for spiritual growth and development. Thus we see that properly increased breathing through both nostrils will gradually increase the release of Kundalini, which is the force that gives life and activity to the Spiritual Expression Body.

This will give you some idea of the great value that can be derived from correct breathing. All types of nervousness can be overcome by bringing the body forces into normal balance through the development of self-control and proper breathing. Normally a person breathes through one nostril for about an hour, and then through the other for about an hour. Few people have noticed this fact, but you can check yourself at different hours of the day, and if you are normal you will find that when you close one nostril and then the other, one will seem to be somewhat closed, while the air passes through the other one freely. If you find that one of your nostrils is closed constantly, so that all of your breathing is done through only one nostril, you should take steps to correct the condition.

In cases where disturbance is the result of excessive appetite in food, drink, or sex, it is usually best to increase the breathing through the left nostril. When disturbance results from excessive emotion, such as fear, anger, hate, and so on, it is usually best to increase the breathing through the right nostril. In either case the excess must be brought under control if the breathing process is to have worthwhile results.

Spiritual powers, such as have been placed within your reach by the teachings herein given, must be dedicated to good uses if you would attain that "Joy unspeakable, and full of glory" and the "Peace which passeth all understanding." Also, remember that the mere reading of these words will do you no good unless you use the principles outlined. The results depend entirely upon yourself. "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."

 Why  The  World  Is  So  Beautiful

An  Indigenous  Botanist

The  Spirit  Of  Life  In  Everything

cbc.ca/radio/tapestry/why-is-the-world-so-beautiful-an-indigenous-botanist-on-the-spirit-of-life-in-everything-1.5817787

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braided Sweetgrass

Remember Now

Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, 

while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, 

when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;

While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, 

nor the clouds return after the rain:

In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, 

and the strong men shall bow themselves, 

and the grinders cease because they are few, 

and those that look out of the windows be darkened,

And the doors shall be shut in the streets, 

when the sound of the grinding is low, 

and he shall rise up at the voice of the bird, 

and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low;

Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, 

and fears shall be in the way, 

and the almond tree shall flourish, 

and the grasshopper shall be a burden, 

and desire shall fail: 

because man goeth to his long home, 

and the mourners go about the streets:

Or ever the silver cord be loosed, 

or the golden bowl be broken, 

or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, 

or the wheel broken at the cistern.

Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: 

and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

Ecclesiastes 12

 

The Return Of Magic

Rest with me and remember again

The passage of magic from our realm

Long ago, banished by barbarians.

Grieve for our ages in an empty world

Of brittle sky and hard thin earth;

We should but weep and turn again away

Had we not just seen glimmer

The olden glow’s grainy lustre

Flicker soft where one passed walking —

And had seen others seeing.

It is enough—for magic has returned.

Secretly we smile, knowing.

And with one breath

Wash away our empty interlude

Full only of imitation.

And rest in light together

Far from cold mid-winter memories

Of circled figures on barren moors

Waiting for the sun.

It is enough—for magic has returned.

Lloyd Meeker

As Close As Memory Restored 

You are as close to me as memory restored.

So close the closeness cannot be ignored.

You come to mind, and with your presence blind

With flooded light and peace I find

Whatever task before me gets a portion more

Of loving than it ever got before.

You are as close to me as memory restored.

Memories come at first of you and me

With our bodies being free

And giving lovingly

Our being through our bodies’ door,

Oh, merging union of the more!

You are as close to me as memory restored.

Then memory moves to deeper core,

Earth memories fading from the fore

Beyond memories of all that’s gone before

To memory’s memorable certainty

Of absolutely being, free.

You are as close to me as memory restored.

And from this memory there is no rest

It is the final memory and the best

That I remembered from those brief hours, blessed.

Of memory there’s nothing more.

You are as close to me as memory restored.

David Ish

Hear and Remember

 

Hear Me! 

Hear, and remember.

Remember the straight unshaken lines of power that made and hold this holy earth,

that join the yielded heart to heaven's will. 

Remember the Court of the King. 

Remember purpose clean of guile,

and reason sprung from perfect love. 

Depart the tents of wickedness,

discard the shifting garments of beyrayal and return, 

return to me. 

For behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, 

here there is no death, nor even sorrow,

here the former things are passed away. 

Enter!

Abide in Peace, 

radiant, steadfast, going no more forth.

Lloyd Meeker

 

A Home Among The Stars

From the Shining Citadels

Of Raira’s eternal sphere

Where we had lived and served for countless ages

We journeyed forth

Into the deep of space unlighted

Into the vast void of nothingness

The desert places of the Cosmos

The unused wilderness between the suns

That we might build a place of habitation

A mansion in the boundless heavens

And a home among the stars.

Uranda