No Excuses

My vanity is immense,
and fear infects everything I do.

For the first time
I can see this and not deny it.

Daily I am told of my shortcomings --
I listen to those who judge me.

The things they identify are true,
there is no excuse for them.

The Essence of Imprisonment

Deliver me from the isolation of the Self, for surely this is the essence of imprisonment.

Clever and calculating, I fall back into the prison of self.

When I am willful and overbearing, I am not loved, at best I am only needed.

The fetters of this reasoning binds me, but through the insight of this, I can be free.

The Cure

May we all sense the Purpose --
be it through God, or through mediation,
or by action, or through any way
that works, please let us find it.

We'll take this realization
when it happens.

Let it start this day.

Please let it be recognized now,
a cure of this cycle of wanting,
through the ache of it.

Delight

I pray delight never left
and when it comes back
it is accepted

I pray innocence are delight's
wings and generosity
illuminates it

May I not wait long in denial
before I make this place
snug for arrival

It Is In Giving That We Live

It is in giving that we live,
in giving we learn,
in giving we tell,
in giving we love,
in giving we receive,
in giving we know,
in giving we stay.

There is nothing else,
no lingering unhappiness,
no crushing doubt,
no harboring resentment,
no undying hatred,
no undone thing,
no broken promise,
no unfulfilled vow.

Let Me Never Forsake

Lord, give to me
the realization of
seeing things as they
are, and not how
I want them to be.

When I experience
difficulty, let me
pause & choose again,
because I know how
finite this Ego is.

Let me never forsake
such a great kindness,
from you towards all
loving & living beings!

Self Assured

Oh Lord, let me recognize my imperfections
so I may abide with them, neither rejecting such things
nor seeing them as existing.

It is through my defects that I gain insight,
it is through the confession of my inadequacies that I become
humble and receptive.

The day is good, and so is the night. Darkness
teaches me many things about the light, and a new dawn
is self-assured.

The World

The World trusts me, and loves me.
There is no other thing in the way,
how could it ever be not so?

And if the World is with me,
then I heal my own heart
& whole of the World can be healed.

A Prayer to the World

I have found enlightenment, and it is good.
I found it through
all the imperfections and sins
of the World.

Through suffering and confusion,
horror and bad
examples, I see what is love
imperishable.

For this I thank the World, I love it
and all of the things that
happen in this place daily,
a living wonder.

Not of This Place

My substance is not from this place,
therefore I cannot tire, or die. My body resides here
barely tethered to this Earth.

I will look up and see beyond all limitations,
it is the calling of my fiber. You and I see the shadow
of what is stainless & pure.

Mary Find Me, Mary Thank You

Mary find me,
when I think I am without freinds.

Mary find me,
when I am tired and sad.

Mary find me,
when it seems only deals can be made.

Mary find me,
when I know I've been bad.

Mary thank you.

Mary thank you.

Mary thank you.

Mary thank you.

To the Great Place

He sang:

Oh Great Place, in seeing
do not forget me!

Oh Great Place, in seeing
let me not forget you!

All things are provided
in the Love of Space.

The Space is invaluable
and beautiful, la!

I will be a path of yours
forever,

and be blessed
in my play.

Ruled by the World

Ruled by the World, I meet them.
They have every right to be angry,
every reason to be judgmental --
but in forgiveness, truly are they blessed.

Found in this is a strength
beyond body, and mind,
discovered through action
& then contemplation.

Reside in Peace and Love

Mary, I pray in myself:

Give peace, reside in peace.
Never forsake peace & the peaceful.

Mary:

Help us see the mystery of peace, inseparable
from a boundless love which cannot be measured.

Mary:

Help us love where we came from, where we are,
and love where we are going.

Our Deepest Desire

"A person is what his deep desire is. It is our
deepest desire in this life that shapes the life to
come."

The Chandogya Upanishad
Chapter III

I desire Sobriety, the Freedom of Desire, in this Waking Life.
I desire Sobriety, the Greatest of Equanimity, in my Spirituality.

May I achieve my Goal, and be within the Spirit and the Life.

The Things We Must Do

OM - We become paralyzed
in the name of the things
we must do.

Let me resist this indifference.

The Realm of the Spirit

Oh God, I pray in the realization
of my impulsive nature,
I move into the Realm of the Spirit,

For it is in this ultimate place
where all is whole and complete.

I Hear This

I hear this:

When I renounced selfish desires,
there was nothing morbid about it.

I had no grasping in the method,
I was not motivated to be wiser or holy.

I acted just to save myself from myself,
I refound a purity which was never lost.

In finding, I love what is there,
and I love what was not.

The Gift of Anger

Lord, I recognize my Anger -- it is a gift,
because in recognizing when I become angry,
I may not be enslaved by it.

I will have a chance to be alert, composed & aware.

The Man Meditates on Will & Love

I saw the Man, and he meditated on this:

All that was ever gained
was through the temperance of Will,
and the absolute embrace of Love.

Love is the only thing that lasts
and brings Eternity
into this Moment.

Let Me Not Forget

I have drawn water from many wells
in my search for spiritual perfection.

Without this sustenance I would have died
as I walked in the wilderness of Self.

We have no choice but to seek,
for some of us the journey is in familiar places.

My path has taken me to far away oases & back,
let me not lose gratitude, or forget the truths I learned.

To Be Humble and Joyful

Maker, I realize I am not unique in my problems,
in my experience I see obstinacy is commonplace.

Rather than feeling insignificant in this,
may I be encouraged to be humble.

When Francis faced hatred, derision, and abuse
he did not avoid it, he was joyful.

When I encounter things I feel are difficult,
let me be content to face them.

Speaking to Others, Listening to Others

Creator, when I want to speak to others
may I speak to them and not to myself.

But first and foremost, may I always listen
to others.

Deliver me from the Flame of Resentment

Lord, the only flame that will scorch me
is the flame of resentment.

By having resentments
my strength in you will falter.

May I give up resentment as fully and truly
as I gave up these selfish desires.