Category / Spirituality

by J M Greff

In search of truth

universe_speaks__we_listen_by_Laura.Siadak

The further along the difficult path of spirituality I started long ago the more clear it has become that the answers I seek are less likely to be found among religion or spiritual teachings or gurus and more readily obtained through careful consideration of the mundane.

A single line of poetry in a obscure work, something a co-worker says without being aware of the implications, the flight of a red-tailed hawk as it rises and falls with the wind. These things all hold a higher value than the books of a modern day self proclaimed messiah or the doctrines of any antiquated or recycled movement.

The truth, though transient and subject to the interpretation and experiences of the observer, reveals itself in its own way and is a personal experience.

The Universe is constantly calling for us to join her but our own voices are so loud that we seldom hear her. My job is to recognize those truths when they are presented and to be grateful for the gift that they are, to quiet myself and the voices of the egocentric prophets and listen when she speaks, to filter out the untruths and find divine perfection in the world around me.

Those are my truths.

Find your truth. Live it.

Image: “Universe Speaks, We Listen” by Laura “Pelick” Siadak

by J M Greff

You are Divine

That soul you carry, the one that can feel as heavy as a crate of stones or light enough to lift you to the stars.

The part of you that you ignore when it pleads for attention with pain.

That calls out to you and opens your heart to the exquisite heights of love.

That makes you dance and cry and sing and laugh without effort. Without thought.

It is a part of the living energy of the Universe itself which flows through and connects all things.

That soul is who you really are.

Not the physical being that experiences those things.

Not the thoughts that drive or replay those experiences.

Not the memories.

You are the life within this temporary vessel that is a gift of a million sensations and thoughts and emotions and that life is part of the very universe.

A part of God.

You are Divine.

———-

Image: “In Search of the Divine -Shiva and Shakti” by Pooja Bhapkar

by J M Greff

Sacred Human

Every cell in your body, every muscle, bone, tendon, artery, vein, capillary, and the blood the flows through them, every neuron that fires thought both pleasant and unpleasant, every memory triggered, every emotion that accompany those memories whether they bring ecstatic joy or mind numbing, incapacitating, suffering, every breath and beat of your heart, has been written by the Divine who has designed your life specifically for you.

You are Sacred.

———–

Image: “Omniscience” by Carlos Quevedo

by J M Greff

Spring Prayer

Selene, Goddess of the Moon

You who are Maiden, Mother, Ancient Wisdom, and all things Divine

As winter releases its long hold I ask that you help me to release those things that harm or hurt or hinder

and to nurture only those that serve or enlighten

As spring returns and life renews I ask that you fold me in your love and feed my soul that I may grow

Guide my my hands, and keep my body strong, so I reflect your good intentions

Guide my mind and soul so I learn from the pain and suffering that all endure

Guide my heart and spirit, and lead me through your love, so I can fulfill your your plan and live my life as One

For these things I offer you my gratitude because I know you have already granted them

————

Image by Zeng Hao Dun Huang

by J M Greff

Messages from the Divine

Hearing.the.voice.of.the.Divine

If I listen carefully
To the stories
and questions
Of those around me
To the words of the song
Playing on the radio
Or in my head
To the consequences
Of my actions
and of those I know
Or witness strangers
as family
If I breathe deep and slow
and observe the thoughts
That play over and over
Like a familiar melody
and admit the song
Of my soul
Into my mind
I can hear the Divine
I don’t always know what She wants
or needs from me
I don’t always understand Her words
but She always speaks
and Her message
is always one of love
Listen

 

 

 

 

 

 

by J M Greff

Pinwheel

pinwheel_en

The wind
that undefinable thing
we all feel
but can’t really touch
since it slips through our fingers
and escapes even the tightest grasp
or taste
though it can carry a kiss for thousands of miles
and the flavors of the world with it
both to land on our lips
or hear
though it sings with the limbs of the tree
that sway in union with its ebb and flow
or even feel
though we feel its weight
and pressure as it pushes us down the street
or vacuum as it pulls on our clothes and hair
yet it spins the colorful blades
of the pinwheel we carried as children
the one we blew on with thrill
as it resounded with our breath
and distorted the sounds we would make
like playing cards
clipped to the frames of our bikes
that clacked in the spokes
of its wheels
to help us imagine
we could ride just fast enough
to catch it
put it in a jar
and release it like a tiny whirlwind
to turn the pinwheel
that still swirls in my mind
and with each rotation
I learn a little more
from the spiraling trail
that blends the colors
of its seemingly
obvious
surface
into a dance of light
and the flutter it makes
like the wings of a chaos butterfly
that, with just the tiniest influence,
creates a storm with each turn.
With each flutter.
With each spin.
The beautiful dance continues.
It is a dance between us and nature.
Between human
and Divine.

by J M Greff

Now

Now is all we ever have.

But in this moment,

here,

now,

I can’t help gazing into the future

to see us,

together,

there,

now,

looking back on us,

here,

encouraging us,

“Keep moving forward.”

We hold the keys to that future.

Unlocking that door

is worth the effort.

The day will come when we are together,

there,

now,

looking back at us,

here,

encouraging us

“Move forward.”

“All you have is Now.”

by J M Greff

Numinous Experience

Here at the edge of the world, where men reach into the the sea with heavy line and glittering tackle attempting to join the massive Oneness of the ocean by removing from it those that truly belong, I find a sure and sudden calm as if sedated yet awake and aware. Fully aware.

I have spent so little time in my life by the ocean though I have always heard its call. A gentle tugging. It is the lure, I am the fish, and it is trying as hard to be a part of me as those men standing on the edge of this expansive pier are trying to be part of it.

In 1917 Rudlof Otto wrote Das Heilge, which appeared in English in 1923 as The Idea of the Holy. He suggests that while the concept of “the Holy” is often used to convey moral perfection It also contains another distinct element, beyond the ethical sphere, for which he uses the term “Numinous” and defines it as “non-rational, non-sensory experience or the feeling whose primary and immediate object is outside the self.” (Thank you Wikipedia)

I won’t go into the whole Jungian psychology surrounding the archetypes and Numinous because I believe I can sum it up in this one example: An artist creates a sculpture to give form to something that has taken life inside him. What he feels is Numinous, the influence of something “other” than himself. Years later I see his sculpture and literally feel the spirit he has put into the stone looking back at me.

This is the Numinous Experience.

I look into the ocean, this beautiful and powerful creation of the Divine, and see it looking back at me. Calling me. Reaching into me and igniting a spirit within me which I release onto the page of this blog where it lives and, hopefully, reaches into you and ignites the “other” that lives within you.

Life is truly a spiritual experience if we allow it to be.

————————

Image by JMGreff at the end of the Gulf State Park Pier in Gulf Shores, AL

by J M Greff

Timeless

timeless.by.Moe.Shirani.jpg

Time is as often friend as foe. It flows steadily. Never ending. We can tell ourselves that it is an illusion. That only “Now” exists. But that’s a half truth. Now is the only place we exist but we live in a progression of time. In our human form we have a beginning and an end. We are born, we live, we die. What happens in between is a combination of circumstances and events guided by will or careless indifference and interpreted by intention and understanding or misunderstanding.

I chose to embrace that knowledge some time back. To acknowledge that I had a beginning. That this body will at some point fail. That how I live now is entirely up to me. Not everyone gets that choice. Some are born into short and brutal lives. Some never get the chance to live at all.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring. I see glimpses from time to time. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the arms of my Beloved. Compassionate days that flow into passionate nights. A flow of energy between us that builds and shares and expands. Perpetual. Timeless.

I want those things.

Time, however, often chooses the pace and, thus, can affect the quality of Now… if we allow it to. Plans made need to be shuffled again and again before they can be implemented and even then I must remain flexible to last second alterations.

This is where I am now: Making the best of unexpected changes. Unexpected changes making the best of me. Guiding the future with intention and understanding with one difference, mutual desire.

Not the base and often destructive sexual or sensual desire of immature love, though certainly that exists, how can it not? I do desire the physical connection of my lover. Intensely. More than that, however, is the desire to give and receive love. Physical. Emotional. Psychological. Spiritual. To create something together under the guidance of those intentions of compassion, connection, union, care, growth, and so much more that I so often describe as simply “love and gratitude” and through those intentions build something lasting. Eternal. Timeless.

Today the flow of Now across which time passes and at the edge of which I exist is both friend and seeming foe. It prevents immediate satisfaction of our goals. Blocks access to the woman I love. But every second that passes brings me ever closer to her and to Divine Union with her. In this it can only be considered friend.

I could focus on the obstacles or focus on the goal. The choice is made easy by these facts:

The obstacles are temporary.

Love is timeless.

I choose love.

 

 

Image: from the “Timeless” series by Moe Shirani

by J M Greff

This spell we cast

Drawing.down.the.Moon.by.Rusty.Mcdonald.jpg

This spell we cast
With three small words
That encompass all we know
All we have learned
Spills out into the world
To affect all in their presence
Yet they are just the core
Of the true magick
The joining of heart and soul
To create in union
One
That is far more
Than we can ever be alone

 

 

Image: “Drawing Down the Moon” by Rusty McDonald