happy summer solstice!

22/06/2011

Today is the summer solstice, the day of the year with the longest hours of daylight, and those in England of a pagan heart are celebrating at ancient sites such as Stonehenge.

Of course, in the southern hemisphere it is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, so my comments cannot claim to be global. I can justify my blatant northerly bias in two ways:

Firstly, I find myself north of the equator today, so it feels natural to write from this perspective. How often, though, do we overlook the fact that our thoughts and feelings are conditioned by our viewpoint, our perspective! Then we cause all sorts of trouble, assuming our opinions to be of an absolute nature when they are actually relative. We so easily forget that our standpoint is no more, or less, valid than anyone else’s.

Secondly, by far the majority of the human population live in the northern hemisphere, so if I have to pick one hemisphere to address, I guess it might as well be the north. (Actually, in most situations I find my emotional response tending to side with minorities, with the underdog. I am a rebel at heart!)

There is a simple reason why many more people live north of the equator than south of it. Most of the land is in the north. But once again I notice that my perspective is relative. If most of the land is in the north, then most of the ocean is in the south. So my northerly bias is coming from the perspective of a land-dwelling being. If I lived in the ocean, I would probably be singing a very different song.

So to the whales and dolphins out there, and to any other beings who find themselves in the south, I greet you with a heartfelt “Happy winter solstice!”

when the sun shines

20/05/2011

The sun is shining this morning, after a few days of grey skies. And I feel happy. It never ceases to amaze me just how dependent my mood is on the weather. When it is cloudy and grey, I feel subdued; When it is sunny, I feel joyful.

It is more-or-less that simple. It doesn’t much matter what else is happening in my life; whether I am enjoying the intimate company of a lover or spending time alone; whether I am living it up in a luxury hotel or dossing on a park bench; whether I am busying myself with a project or indulging in non-doing; with all these things I can be thoroughly content.

When it comes to the weather, though, my mood is at the mercy of the elements. It is not that happiness only comes when the sun is shining: I can thoroughly enjoy a wild thunderstorm; strong winds I find invigorating; heavy snow is delightful; a torrential downpour is cleansing. No, it is only the dull, grey, overcast skies which subdue my spirit.

But today the sun is shining!

the horizontal stripes tribe

16/05/2011

This year, horizontal stripes are in.

Fashion seems a rather ridiculous phenomenon to me.

I can understand that before liberation, which frees one to be oneself, there can be a psychological need to be part of a group, to feel the security of being amongst the herd. From that, it follows that a uniform can help define the herd, the tribe. So, I should not be surprised if people like to wear similar clothing.

What is more strange is that the uniform is always changing. This year’s fashion is not the same as last year’s. Of course, there are excellent commercial reasons for everybody having to buy a new set of clothes every season. The clothing industry would be a fraction of its current size if the uniform were not subject to the changeability of fashion.

Why do we fall for the industry led requirement to change our clothes? Perhaps we are also looking for a newness; getting bored and feeling stale if things don’t change. We can feel reborn every season, merely by donning a fresh raiment.

And it’s so much easier to change the superficial facade of our clothing than to change anything deeper in our being...

he or she?

02/05/2011

Is god male or female? The big monotheistic religions use male language: god is He, not She.

Of course, god is beyond sex, or rather, before sex. He or She is not of the dualistic world. The English language, though, does not leave us many options. God could be an ‘It’, which would probably be the most accurate word to use. Can we revere It though? Can we feel the sublime beauty in It? Can we worship It? Can we surrender to It?

No, it seems we have to perceive god somewhat in our own image. Even if we don’t go as far as an old man with a big grey beard, sitting in the clouds, still we seem to need to think of god as having some rather human characteristics. Are those characteristics those of a father? Or are they more those of a mother?

Many feel god as a protector and and as a mentor, someone to turn to in times of need, for guidance, for spiritual assistance. These attributes could be seen as masculine, the protection of a virile young man combined with the wisdom of an old man. But since when has wisdom been restricted to men? And which mother does not protect her children?

My feeling is that, if god has to be addressed as He or She, then She is the more appropriate term. For is it not in the womb of She that we have come into being? Indeed, do we not actually abide there now, even whilst we feel ourselves to be walking freely on this beautiful Earth? Are we not nourished throughout our life, by an umbilical cord that is never cut? Is not our very lifeblood infused with Her goodness, in the great placenta from which life itself flows?

glory be!

30/04/2011

I have just been for a walk through some of the fields surrounding the village of Cumnor, here in Oxfordshire. The sun is shining and a gentle breeze is blowing. Walking in this gentle landscape, fertile in its spring season, the feeling that all is well in the world came to me...

How sad it is when we lose that feeling, the feeling that all is well. And how easily we allow it to be crushed, by watching the endless stream of negative news on television and reading the same ugliness in the newspapers.

Here is the news from the footpaths around Cumnor today: The crops are growing healthily. The trees are alive with fresh new leaves. The human beings are, without exception, smiling and saying hello in a friendly way. The birds are chirping exceedingly merrily. The neighbour’s cat, though, did look rather guilty when I came round the corner, so it might have been up to no good. Apart from that, everything is lovely.

And this loveliness is not a neutral thing. It is more than just the absence of negativity. It is glorious. Watching the verdant leaves fluttering in the wind, the thoughts subside and give way to the feeling: Glory be!

a promise of love

29/04/2011

As I write this, a couple of people whom I have never met are about to marry. I guess that it is happening every day, but this couple are celebrities, which means that the mass consciousness of humanity has somehow become obsessed with their lives. And as the bridegroom happens to be a prince, their wedding represents the ultimate in the romantic dream. It is but a dream though...

What does it mean when two people promise to love each other? Love is not something which one has any control over. It can come. It can go. To make a promise about how long it is going to last shows a complete misunderstanding of love. Indeed, to make such a promise is to implicitly claim control over love. Ironically, that is the most unromantic thing to do. A true romantic can but live in the emotions of the moment and at best have hopes, have trust in the future.

Promises, though... promises come from those who are insecure within themselves, who have not yet met god, who know not the beauty of the ocean depths. And those that would hear such promises, they too have not yet discovered the mystery of life, they too are grasping at straws.

Forget promises, especially promises of love. Love comes by grace. When it is flowing in the heart, let us rejoice. And when it is absent, let one sit silently, alone in the desert, until it returns. But let us not pretend to be in control of love. Let us not make promises of love.