Love

There is noting more beautiful, nothing more breath taking than the scene that is before me.
Look at how the sky and the earth glow when the sun shines over my darling's shoulder.
I can think of nothing when my mind is blinded by such magnificence.
The universe stands still and time is irrelevant when she approaches.
My heart stops and my breath is taken away as she gets closer.
The essence of the love that exists drowns out all fears.
I fall to my knees and weep as she comes near.
Tears of joy and ecstasy fill my very soul.
Sparks ignite the moment we touch.
We melt together like soft clay.
There is no longer us.
There is only one.
We are married,
Unified and
In love.
Love.
L-o
v-
e
 

The Naked Woman

The woman stood naked in the window.
For the first time in her life she felt free
as she looked out over the meadow.

"I'm free. No more dread. No more doubt."
The thoughts were soothing and consoling.
She no longer had to put up with cajoling. 


Staring out the window, she knew
things were going to be better now.
Confidence flooded her body anew.

Her reflection in the window pane
proved without a doubt that she no longer
had to deal with the man that gave her such pain.

For where there once was a penis
there was now an exquisite
clitoris. 
 

A Wider and Deeper Here and Now

Mindfulness is an excellent way to be in the moment but it doesn't allow you to be completely open to your self and the surroundings. Mindfulness brings you into a narrow focus of an activity such as tasting a morsel of food, strolling along , riding a bicycle,  or listening to someone talk. Mindfulness brings you into the moment by allowing your mind to rest on an event, not thinking of the past or the future. The practice of mindfulness is very rewarding but it does require  a good degree of diligence and focus not to mention practice and persistence to master.  

There is an easier and more immediate way to be in the moment with a wider and deeper range of awareness than that of mindfulness. And you can do it anywhere and anytime. Simply notice your body and its energy and then open your awareness to your immediate surroundings.  You will automatically be in the moment internally and externally. While you are in this wide and open field of awareness you can even think and talk about the past and the future while maintaining the presence of Now. 

Feel the energy that is in your body from the top of your head to the bottoms of your feet. Notice sensations in your hands and toes. Be aware of your breathing and then bring your awareness out into the open. Look and see what is around you. Listen to sounds. Feel the temperature on your skin. Smell odors that may be drifting in and out of your presence. You are now experiencing a wider and deeper Here and Now. 

Music makers needed for VA

I teach yoga at the Gainesville, Florida VA hospital and am in need of some music makers when we sing at the beginning of the class. There are 24 disabled veterans in the class; some have PTSD, some are in wheel chairs, and so on.  We sing and chant songs like "Mother I feel you under my feet," and
"We are connected."  I had a volunteer guitarist that was with us for nine months but he has gone on to do other things. I play the Native American Flute but to make it a more joyous event I thought that if each vet had a music maker like a jingle stick, tambourine, drum, shaker, or maraca it would get everyone involved.  We don't need anything fancy - just some simple music makers that anybody could play.

If you have a music maker laying around the house you aren't using we would appreciate your donation.  You can send it to me:  Neil Crenshaw, P.0. Box 799, 6369 E Place, McIntosh, FL32664.

Anything is appreciated.  Thank you.

neil

Is duality real?

To the human eye everything exists as individual objects, however you cannot depend on your eyes or your brain's interpretation of the world to be accurate. As you know, there are many illusions that can make us believe something which it is not. Even though the brain's accuracy is questionable, that is usually all we have to work with in order to function in a three-dimensional world. We have evolved and adapted to live in a 3-D environment. We live in a world of dualities - up and down, male and female, them and us, love and hate, and on and on. 

Thinking in terms of duality keeps the body and mind irreducibly distinct. This means that neither mind nor matter can be reduced to each other in any way. Mental and physical properties are categorically distinct and cannot be reduced into one another. This allows matter to be labeled, classified, judged, and categorized into units and subunits. It frees up the mind allowing one to think objectively; as though everything is separate and distinct from the self.

But the truth is, duality is an illusion because everything is made of the same stuff - infinitely small particles and space; mostly space. Reality, or the natural world, as we know it, is merely made up of different concentrations and configurations of quantum energy.  How we view reality will always be an illusion because of the inability of the human senses to detect the energy in its true form. 

Most scientists agree that the universe and everything within it is energy. We are energy, trees are energy, air is energy, light is energy.  Everything is energy and there is no duality. It just looks that way. Objects are illusions. The saying that "you can't see the forest for the trees" applies to what we are talking about. The truth lies before us but we don't recognize it because objects keep getting in the way. The objects are the truth just as the trees are the forest. When you are able to realize, without thinking, that all beings and things exist as one and not as separate objects, you will experience pure awareness.