Shoji screens are made of translucent Japanese paper panels that lightly separate spaces. The screens form a thin divide between the outside and the inside world, yet intimately connect the spaces by transmitting light and shadow, sound and air. And, just as the glow of a candle, , and the smell of the rain is felt through the translucent Shoji screen, so death flickers its shadowed light onto life.
This story is about how magicians loosen our grip on how we perceive the world, and about endings.
My late mother in law was a weaver. She wove beautiful blankets, scarves and shawls, but my favorites are the multicoloured patterned towels that I use to dry my hands, that glow with contrast and harmony, thread together colours that you or I might never dare, unless you know their art, which she did.
Coming Soon: Sleeping Beauty
Warning: not much happens in this story, unless you count my description of a breathing lake; or count the unfortunate rent in my winter coat, torn by the thorns of tall blackberry canes. In this story, no coyote will suddenly trot across a frozen lake; and your tolerance, your threshold for boredom, might not be as high as mine.
Yesterday, weeks after that first day of the deer hunt, on a snow covered path along a line of now bare trees, I saw a large Barred owl, perched high, still, waiting, watching for its small furry prey. And then, quite suddenly, it lifted and waved its powerful wings, and dove towards the frozen earth.
We seem to seldom give ourselves the opportunity to experience our minds without the noise and clutter of our busy lives. Like a night sky polluted by city lights, we might, through the haze, only recognize and attend to the brightest and loudest experiences. But In the wilderness the stars are more clear, less distorted. Mindful meditation is a practice to begin to notice and better understand and experience the moments of our lives, the sights, sounds, sensations and thoughts.
Coming Soon: Milkweed
One might think that the show is over once the flowers of the Milkweed have flashed their beauty, and the leaves have fed the hairy black and orange caterpillar; but no, the best is yet to come.
This story is about Milkweed and a silver tour bus.
”Snakes and Ladders’, spins together dancing men, tourists and pilgrims, a canoe trip into the wilds, and the question: ‘Is this it?’ (See Links 5, 6, 7)
Yoga Nidra 9: Mountain (short)
This practice will take you on a long journey up a mountain path to watch the sun rise.
Meditation 7: Well
This meditation takes you deep into a well. For a longer version see Yoga Nidra’s Well.
sundogs.blog 