I almost forgot what it means to enter the void with the eyes open. It is so easy to let down one’s guard, to go to sleep. This morning’s meditation on nature brought me back to the breath observation practice with eyes open that has held me in good stead for quite a while now. I was able to look, listen, and sense with my eyes open, to be present for myself and the quiet drama of the early morning. I came back to a sense of inner contentment and peace.

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving. It doesn’t matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again , come , come.
― Rumi

The gate of heaven is everywhere.       — Thomas Merton

I have been seeing Merton’s quotes come up before me for some time now, through Facebook links. The more I discover about him, the more I feel a kindred spirit and a resonance with and affirmation of the path I am on, the path of union with, as some Native Americans would say, “All My Relations.”

“In one of his journals he recorded a moment of mystical insight that marked a critical turning point in his life as a monk. It occurred during an errand in Louisville, ‘at the corner of Fourth and Walnut, in the centre of the shopping district.’

I was suddenly overwhelmed with the realisation that I loved all those people, that they were mine and I theirs, that we could not be alien to one another even though we were total strangers. It was the waking from a dream of separateness, of spurious self-isolation in a special world, the world of renunciation and supposed holiness.

Merton suddenly experienced a sense of solidarity with the human race – not simply in sin, but in grace. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking about, shining like the sun…There are no strangers!…The gate of heaven is everywhere.

The Christian life, and especially the contemplative life is a continual discovery of Christ in new and unexpected places.

— Thomas Merton

—  Robert Ellsberg

http://www.catholicworker.org.nz/cw/ThomasMerton-RobertEllsberg.htm

It is necessary for me to see the first point of light which begins to be dawn. It is necessary to be present alone at the resurrection of the Day, in the solemn silence at which the sun appears.

— Thomas Merton

After I chose this photo to go with the quote, I found out that Thomas Merton was born in Paris!

• Sun Gazing

  Just look at existence and its abundance. What is the need of so many flowers in the world? Just roses would have been enough, but existence is abundant: millions and millions of flowers, millions of birds, millions of animals — everything in abundance. Nature is not ascetic; it is everywhere dancing — in the ocean, in the trees. It is everywhere singing — in the wind passing through the pine trees, in the birds…

  

Mornings are full of promise! This morning I looked out the kitchen window and noticed the planter that Brian had just filled with pansies. It was obvious that the plants were newly planted. They looked a bit confused and dishevelled. However, I know from experience that they will re-orient in short order and grow and flourish as one unit. This seems to be such a time for me, one of re-orienting. It was a blessing to have the reminder that a bit of confusion is okay and part of change and growth.

Also, I am reminded that entering the void requires a refreshment, or a reset of sorts, in perspective. A disconnect is, in fact, essential. I hope to remember this, and to allow a re-orientation, as I complete my drawing done on the lip of the gorge.

This morning I had postponed meditating, with the excuse that I was still transitioning from East Coast time. I was taking the laundry to the basement when the thought popped up that NOW is the moment to be present. So, I continued to the basement with a heightened sense of awareness, present in my body and senses. It was in this way that I took care of the laundry.

I have spent quite a bit of time at spiritual retreats, and nine months at Claymont Court, where the entire time was dedicated to working on being present. It is becoming more apparent day by day that mindfulness is to be practiced right here, right now. I don’t want to postpone it until another gathering or even until the time I sit on my meditation asana. NOW is the moment to be present. I do not wish to impose any conditions on my vow to be present in the moment.

I stand before you tonight to represent the people who do not count: The poor, the poets, and monks. As long as there are people who are trying to realize the divine in themselves, there shall be hope in the world.

—Thomas Merton

Earth may become on an instant all faery . . . and earth and air resound with the music of its invisible people… You may see the palace chambers of nature where the wise ones dwell in secret . . . and know an eternal love is within and around you, pressing upon you and sustaining with infinite tenderness your body, soul and spirit. – A.E.