Creator

a poem by Bonnee Klein Gilligan

No matter what religion

Creator dwells within

and God has never left us

he can't... you see, he is us

and all Creation too.

You say that God made pain

I reply he didn't, he made

emotions, mind and spirit.

It's we who choose the outcome

of how we feel and what we think

our happy, sad or worried

comes from us alone.

How I respond to others

or even to myself

is my responsibility

not God's, not yours nor others

it is mine alone my friend

and yours alone as well.

God called us 'human beings'

he says 'Just be... my children... play'.

But we take that play and twist it

and call each other names

we poke and hit and banter

until we feel the shame.

We hurt ourselves my friend

not God nor other either.

God called us 'human beings'.

we call us 'human doings'

for the being part escapes us

in our daily life of doing.

God's gone missing in existence

from our minds, and words and lives

and we blame God for our suffering

and we blame God for our pain

and we blame God for every other thing

in life that brings us shame.

It is we who have created that

not God nor other either

we put everything outside of self

when it's us that's the creator.

God loves us beyond reason

and allows our will and folly.

For this is how we grow and change

and choose again a different play

a different game, a new response.

It can't remain the same for long

for this is how we grow our soul.

It's through our pain we change

or stay the same and suffer.

So it's a choice to stay the same

as well a choice to change.

God loves us and supports our choice

with majesty and might

he doesn't even mind it much

if we only choose to fight.

For he knows one day we'll get it

and we'll change our haughty ways

and move back again to love and peace

for our eternal days.

The Zen Mind - An Introduction

A beautiful video about being, flowing, oneness and now.  The Zen Way. Produced by Jon Braeley and Empty Mind Films. Hope you enjoy the space of peace Zen creates.

~Bonnee

Who am I?

This week I've had a series of thoughts and concepts present for a revisit. A friend mentioned Tolle's book 'A New Earth' and said I might want to watch the review at Oprah.com. While there I surfed around a bit and came upon Dr. Wayne Dyer on Oprah's Soul Series. Then one day on Twitter Paulo Coelho tweeted the quote below so I visited his blog. All week I've been pondering the concepts of ego, personality, pain body and now. And working  with present moment. It has been an interesting week. Thought I'd share with you some of my outer and inner workings.

 So I begin... When asked who are you? We often reply with a series of socially acceptable identifiers like, "I am 'name', I work for 'employer', I live in 'town', I am 'relationship status'." Are we that? A name? A job? A town? A relationship?

No of course not. These are identifiers.... name, job, location, relationship. They are current points in time which can change. We get married/divorced, move, change our name and jobs all the time these days.  But if we aren't these... what are we? 

We also say, 'I am a 'man or woman', 'I'm 'age','I'm 'sexual preference' . We look in the mirror and see ourselves. We think, "That's me." But we can alter our body too. Change hair color, lose or gain weight, have plastic surgery and not look the same at all. We can even change our sex. If we make any or all of these changes are we still the same? We look different. No one may recognize us. But are we still the same?

We describe ourselves as, "I'm 'outgoing or introverted or other'. I'm a 'habit (smoker, drinker, etc.)'. I'm 'emotional state (happy, sad, thankful, etc.)'. " And other descriptive phases which talk about our emotional state or ego/personality. Are we how we feel or even what we think?

Dr. Wayne Dyer gives this collection of ideas about ego...

I am what I do

I am what I have

I am what others think of me

I am separate from you

I am separate from what is missing in my life

I am separate from God

"We are not our ego. When we see ourselves and the world from these ideas we are 'Edging God Out' (EGO).  We are already connected to all... have all, we just need to align and surrender. Become empty."

"Oh Krishna, The stillness of divine union which you describe is beyond my comprehension. How can the mind, which is so restless, attain lasting peace? " ~Bhagavad Gita

If not egoic thought, who are we? What is at the core? How can we know who we are? Where do we begin?

"Not as I will, but as thou wilt." ~2 Corinthians 3:4,5

"We need to forget what we think we are, so that we can really become what we are." ~ Paulo Coelho 

So 'I will' is akin to ego. Forget or surrender 'I will' or 'what we think we are'. Give up beliefs about self which come from ego or personality. The concept is clear enough but how?

"Be still, and know that I am God." ~Psalms 46:10

"True self essence comes out of stillness. Your innermost sense of self, of who you are, is inseparable from stillness. This is the I Am that is deeper than name and form.

To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe. I call it stillness, but it is a jewel
with many facets: that stillness is also joy, and it is love."~Eckhart Tolle

'Be still'. In the stillness we begin to understand 'what we are'.  But we have a life to live, things to accomplish. How can we become still or empty and have a life?

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment." ~Buddha

"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the Now the primary focus of your life." ~Eckhart Tolle

Life can only be experienced Now. Not in past or future. Aligning self with the present moment aligns self with Life (God). But then how do we know our purpose? What we are to do?

"At the center of your being you have the answer; you know who you are and you know what you want." ~Lao Tzu

Being is focusing self on something other then brain grinding or mindless doing. It is Life. Breathe. Follow the breath. Still self inward by following stillness into through and around a flower, tree, plant. Becoming that stillness, quiet, peace. It enlivens. Follow it into the body, feel the buzz, hum or vibration of Life within you. Feel the Peace. Stillness. Joy. Bliss. Then you are fully present... NOW.  The fullness of Life can truly only be experienced now... end.

The photo above of the glorious rose was taken by my beloved friend Light who made his transition. Now he works in Spirit.

Hope you enjoyed my pondering.

~Bonnee

For more on Eckhart Tolle see eckharttolle.com or oprah.com  to watch 'A New Earth' book review with he and Oprah.

For more on Paulo Coelho see paulocoelho.com.br or read his blog.

For more on Dr. Wayne Dyer see drwaynedyer.com

Oneness and the Heart of the World

Father Thomas Keating talks about God's dynamic nature and the Divine Oneness of 'All That Is' in this wonderful inspirational video. He is wise, speaks from the heart and is sure to bring a smile. He says this about Oneness...

"We're (human beings) moving into Oneness. In other words a Oneness that we already have but at various levels of our being; and hence we're aware of the Oneness in different ways, and in different intensities, and in different levels and able to respond as our awareness of this presence keeps evolving. The presence keeps expanding and becoming more penetrating, more enveloping, more involved with each of our bodily, mental, physical and spiritual activities or capacities. So we're always experiencing this Oneness, but when does it become that, which is described as there being 'No other'? This is something that maybe we could talk about tomorrow after a good nights sleep.

That's really very advanced and has few (as far as we know about it from reports) people who actually experience it as a permanent state of awareness or consciousness. Who have become not only 'the Other', but are 'the Other' in a way. Now this doesn't in anyway deny the distinction between God and us which is infinite. It does deny the separation..."

Hope you enjoy watching the video and listening to his wisdom as much as I did.

~Bonnee

The Global Oneness Project: http://globalonenessproject.org/
Father Keating's works: http://www.snowmass.org/keating.htm

Thanks to Pamir for directing me to father Keating.