The Invitation

The Invitation
It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for
and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...
I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us to be careful
be realistic
remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself.
If you can bear the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.

If you can be faithlessand therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty every day.
And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be doneto feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

© Oriah Mountain Dreamer, from the book The Invitation

Quote for the day

Albert Einstein

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift
and the rational mind is a faithful servant.
We have created a society that honours the servant
and has forgotten the gift.

Mitakuye oyasin (we are all connected)

Gaia, mother earth

We must learn to walk in balance
sacred steps to take
Weaving peace and understanding through all that we create
A tapestry of love and light
finest threads of gold
Sacred flame ever burning bright
through all that we behold
When we learn to walk in balance
the healing will take place
The healing of this earth our mother
the healing of the human race
A tapestry of love and light finest threads of gold
sacred flame ever burning bright
through all that we behold. -- Denean

Spiegelen / to reflect

Omdat ik jullie zag

zagen jullie mij niet.

Maar gelukkig was ik er wel

anders zagen jullie jezelf niet.

Translation:

Because i saw you

you did not see me.

Lucky I was there anyway

otherwise you could'nt see yourself!

My family in Surabaya

Each moment that you are happy

Each moment that you are happy is a gift to the rest of the world. - Harry Palmer

Loop niet voor me

Loop niet voor me,
ik zou niet volgen
Loop niet achter me, ik zou niet leiden
Loop naast me en wees mijn vriend

Skating over thin ice

In skating over
thin ice,
safety is in our speed.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lao Tse

If you tell me,
I will listen
If you show me,
I will see
If you let me experience,
I will learn
LAO-TSE

Sons and daughters of the earth

All things are connected.
Whatever befalls the earth,
befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life;
he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web,
he does to himself

Don't quit

Don’t quit

Don’t quit when
the tide is lowest,
For it’s just about
to turn;
Don’t quit over doubts
and questions,
For there’s something
you may learn.

Don’t quit when
the night is darkest,
For it’s just a while
‘til dawn;
Don’t quit when you’ve
run the farthest,
For the race is almost won.

Don’t quit when
the hill is steepest,
For your goal
is almost nigh;
Don’t quit, for you’re
not a failure
Until you fail to try.

Jill Wolf

Jij bent zo mooi

Je bent zo
mooi
anders
dan ik

natuurlijk
niet meer of
minder
maar zo mooi
anders,

Ik zou je
nooit anders dan
anders willen.


Hans Andreus

There is a crying

There is a crying
that happens at night
that does not come
while the light is with us.

There are things that cannot be evaded,
once the sun goes down
small nocturnal creatures
with sharp white teeth
silently gnaw
at the edges of belly and heart.

When the darkness descends
and the void inside grows larger
it can split you open.

And the bone in the centre of your chest
aches
like the cracked wishing bone from the turkey breast.

And if we are strong enough to be weak enough
we are given a wound that never heals
it is the gift that keeps the heart open.

Oriah Mountain Dreamer © 1995

Am I free

Am I free, not free, or neither?
Am I awake, non awake, or neither?
Am I enlightened, unenlightened, or neither?
Am I the body, not the body, or neither?
Am I happy, not happy, or neither? Am I stressed, not stressed, or neither?
Am I alone, not alone, or neither?
Am I worried, not worried, or neither?
Am I angry, not angry, or neither?

Wisdom

For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 1:17-8

bare feet

The foot treads a very small area of the ground but although the area is small, the foot must rely upon the support of the untrod ground all around before it can go forward in confidence. The understanding of man is paltry, but although it is paltry, it must rely upon all those things that it does not understand before it can understand what is meant by Heaven.

Chuang Zu

Before he sent his children to earth

Monument

God, before He sent His children to earth, gave each of them a very carefully selected package of problems. "These," He promised smiling, "are yours alone and no one else, may have the blessings these problems will bring to you.And only you have the special talents and abilities that will be needed to make these problems your servants.
"Now go down to your birth and to your forgetfulness.Know that I love you beyond measures.These problems that I give you are a symbol of that love.The monument that you make of your life, with the help Of these problems, will be a symbol of your love for me,Your Father."

The heart shall be prepared

The heart shall be prepared
to say goodbye
and embrace a new beginning
whenever life may call.
To enter new and different relations
in bravery and of all mourning free
thus dwells the magic force in each beginning
that will protect us and help us live.

We must move on space to space,
not clinging to a single one like home
the cosmic spirit dose not seek to tie us
nor restrain,
but lifts us stage by stage beyond.
No sooner nestled into homelike circumstances
and truly habit forming life,
when we must face the threat of sagging indolence.

But it is he that is prepared to move and travel
that may escape the laming permanence.
Perhaps the hour of death
will speed us young to newer spaces
the call of life will never cease
move on then heart
and say farewell
and find your very health again

Come, come

Come, come! Whatever you are... Whether you are infidel, idolater or fireworshipper. Whether you have broken your vows of repentance a hundred times. This is not the gate of despair, this is the gate of hope. Come, come again...
Mevlana Jelaluddin RUMI