Inspired

4am

I don't want day to come

I want ever-night.

I want to suspend this sacred time

My body worn, grows whole again

My mind, restless, restores in this dark.

The candle cuts the thickest of it.

I can breathe here.

I am kind to my every part.

I do not resist.

And beauty covers me.

Laura Tyree

2/24/2015 

Keep Practicing
 

At home.
In your studio.
In your car.
In the argument.
 

Keep Practicing.
 

In your mind.
In your heart.
In the grocery store line.
 

Keep Practicing.
 

In yourself.
No matter where you find you.
 

Keep practicing.
 

lkt  ©2008 

Steadiness practice
    We are all in the movement of Universal Flow.  To believe that things can be great and stay that way is like wishing it would never rain.  It may be true that the sky is blue, but eventually the lushness of life is drained and there we are praying for sweet rain, in any form, to fill us up again. This is the same for steadiness and chaos.  

     We can learn to enjoy both, as long as we see the benefit, and equal drawback, to both.  We are given the greatest of gifts, right here, in this matter/time/space existence…her name is Nature. If you observe, everything in Nature is in a constant rise and fall, balance and counter-balance, a sumptuous ebb and flow.  This is our map.  We are not meant to be fixed.

     That longing for things to stay the same is an “other than natural” phenomena of the ego mind. The ego mind plays opposite of the divine mind.  And there they dance.  The ego mind (sem) is filled with endless noise, ideas, projections, doubts, manipulations, regrets, desires, longing.  All of which are necessary for growth and understanding of the self.  The proverbial growing pains in life.  The Steadiness (rikpa) is the centered, quiet, here and now, seamless breath of Divine awareness, expansive, juicy.  The proverbial take a break and “be” place.  

     Where we are at any given time, in either sem or rikpa, is ultimately a choice, although it doesn’t seem that way in the midst of a really bad experience or day. This is why meditation is so key.   When things really go South, a matured meditation or chanting practice provides the foundation need to get back to balance.
lkt  ©2009 

Poem #47
I never realized My…... trite-ness My ever clear presence of Mind Dwelling, on a shoe. or a shirt.   In my grief I am standing beside myself Holding the thick hand of Sorrow Realizing. The Unimportance of this shirt.
 

lkt ©2001   

So what about the union of opposites?   How do we use our yoga practice to begin to bind together the seemingly opposite experiences of our lives and our characters?   I believe it begins with acceptance.  Moving beyond old patterns that would have us amputate the uncomfortable and welcome only what we think is good, whole, perfect…… Or at the very least, Tidy.   Can we really look inside and find the good in our suffering?  How could one’s need to help others ever be a bad thing? It could be……if we take away the lessons from those who need them in order to save them from suffering.  Is that service?  Hmmmmm……. And what about the bad stuff?  Can that worn argument really have a benefit when both parties are left feeling irritated and empty?  It could be…….if we take the time to consider what really caused the reaction in the first place, what new ways did we learn to place our boundaries, what new thing do we now know about one another?   One of my favorite passages in the Tao Te Ching goes something like this….. (Sorry Lau Tzu….this will not be exact)     In order to be productive We must first learn to be lazy In order to be quiet We must first learn to be loud In order to be generous We must first learn to be greedy   An object can not be fully learned without understanding its opposite.     So…… embrace the good and the bad, they are both of equal value, holding sparkling gifts, and a bounty of knowledge to know yourself fully.

 lkt ©2005

 

Poem #32 

I will do it.   

Lop off your head.      

Not for spite     

Or glory      

Or justice   

Just because I am made to take you there. 

Lkt ©2006   

The Daisy       

Without spectators the daisy is still a daisy.   

It does not relax again and turn into a blade of grass.   

Or become a bird.   

It is itself.   

Dreaming Its dream.     

lkt © 2006   

On God's Table 

  I come to realize now that I was born a spoon.  A thing that serves.  

 It’s not something you think about really.   God wanted a spoon and there you go.   

These things in life have changed me now.  

I have been tumbled, twisted, chipped, abandoned.   

At some point in my battered-ness I began to turn, shield, expose, wait.  

I let it all hone me.  Sharpen me. 

Until one morning I made my coffee.  And I realized.   

“I am a knife.”   

I woke up cunning. watchful, manipulative.   

All just under the skin. 

It was…. comfortable and unpleasant. 

“I have new edges.” New Boundaries. New habits. New thoughts. 

A knife in spoon’s clothing.   

For a time it suited me. 

I played at blending my spoonish-ness with my Knifey-ness. 

Until I realized I longed to be a spoon again.

So I turn, shield, expose, wait.  

Until life and I return me to that soft curving shape. Stronger now. Less bendable.  

Forever to carry with me 

the knowledge of the knife.   

lkt © 2006 

Poem 67   

You cannot do it 

You cannot change a caterpillar into a butterfly 

Who knows the magic of that glorious soup? 

Who can say better the name of God like the first breath of a newborn? 

We can do nothing, really. Save breathe and watch the chaos of our minds ebb and flow. 

At times even That is too much .    

So let us, instead, inspire, through our own way. 

Live authentically.   

Unabashed.   

Brilliant.   

Then that sweet light will become a beacon, 

For all mankind to use.  

lkt © 2010
 

Winter words

I've been walking the dogs on my childhood farm this holiday.  The woods are too thick in the summer to pass through....but winter...perfect.  The trees are like great bones rising out of the earth.  I came on a truly special place to me.  I didn't even know I was headed there, as I came from a far direction.  It was the place some of you have heard me talk about.  When I was a little girl we had a very troubling time in our family.  One day I bolted from the house and ran right into the thick of the woods.  It was tough going as there were vines, thorns, poison ivy everywhere.  I just kept going.  I ended up it what seemed like a magical place.  

I sat against a tree and after a while received a holy peace.  It changed me forever.  Today, coming upon it, I began to laugh.  The same holy feeling, yet from my adult eyes I saw old tires that had probably been there for years, broken fencing, fallen branches.  

Still Holy.  Still Sacred. 

You see, God doesn't need a perfect environment to bring blessing.  

You don't really need alters, buildings, icons, although I see they help us feel devotion.

All that is really needed...... is a willing, receptive heart.  

May this season and year open your heart in the most gentle, beautiful, and receptive way.  

You Are Loved.
lkt ©