Living on the Edge

Living on the Edge, Ko'olau Ridgeline, Kamananui Trail Summit, HI, March 2019, iPhone 11 Pro © Steven Crisp

Living on the Edge

What if Reality is that we are living on the edge?  The edge of what?

Right on the edge of an epic cliff, the pinnacle of a mythic mountain,
Or perhaps the mysterious precipice of the Here and Now
Looking over the edge, we cannot even see the bottom
It’s occluded by the clouded thinking of our minds

Can you sense that, in your body?  Yeah, I'm feeling a little vertigo, a little bit woozy
Exactly.  That’s what I’m talking about.  You’re tuning into it.
Your body knows something that your mind has chosen to ignore
Or is simply unwilling to recognize or acknowledge or process
And this is difficult to capture in words -- you have to feel your way

Indeed, language is both a pathway and a boundary between us.  Say what?
Life is always about the whole of it … the totality and nothing … that is, No Thing
So that’s a little taste of Living on the Edge … a reframing of you ... if you will
It requires a bit of a shift from your rational mind toward your intuitive sense
But try not to get lost in the language; words can only be a pointer, they’re not the point

Tell me, when did Creation occur?  Uhh,  I don’t know … about 14 billion years ago?
That’s just the Big Bang; I’m asking about Creation itself
Isn’t Creation happening this very moment?  Indeed, only in this moment?
In fact, isn't that knife-edge precipice the very place where Life lives us?
The exhilaration of birthing this very universe, in the eternal Now

You are both an insignificant speck of stardust and a magical note in this universal symphony 
Without you, this world would not exist … think about that … or rather, feel that and be that
Look deeply enough at anything in Nature and you will see it shimmer with Life’s creative energy
You are that very same creative energy … that inexhaustible, infinite potential
It’s coursing through your veins and thriving in the trillions of cells that constitute your body-mind

That creative energy is pumping every heartbeat, which races faster as you inch closer to that edge
Don’t worry!  You cannot fall from this edge, but you can leap, and if you’re willing, soar
Above the clouds of us vs. them, of right and wrong, of judgment and even preference itself
Every present moment of awareness opens up new pathways into fresh insights
Loosening the grip of old habits and patterned reactivity, while healing inner wounds

Isn’t this the place you’d want to live, every day, every moment?  Yeah, I think so
Trust me, thinking won’t get you there … indeed, simply let the mind quiet into stillness and peace
Sit with me, won’t you?  Right Here, Right Now.  Sure, why not ... I'd love to
Let us weave ourselves together into the emerging tapestry of this very moment

Words are not required.  Let’s just feel our hearts beating together, as one.  Can you feel that?  Oh Yes!

After the Deluge ... Without Condition

After the Deluge, Kailua, HI, March 2021, iPhone 11 Pro © Steven Crisp

Last night and into this morning we had torrential rains fall.  Indeed, I was awakened by the noise at 1:30 AM, and could not get back to sleep.  So I got up and did some reading on the sofa, hoping to fall asleep (no luck).  

The rains continued into the morning, and first-world-problem-I-know, we had our Yoga class cancelled 🤣.  And still the rains came.  Finally, the intensity diminished, and I put on a raincoat and went out for a walk.  And lookee what I found at our normally completely dry "grotto" near where we live.  So the rains were not all bad, eh?

Anyways, after this experience, and related to some non-dual spiritual reading I was doing, I wrote whatever this is ... enjoy (or not ;-)

            Without Condition

Unconditional, that is, without condition
No legalese to sign
No ifs, ands, or buts
Whatever is … is … just as it is

And so can be your acceptance of it
Unless of course you have preferences (and who doesn’t)
Now you are comparing “what is” to what you desire
And my guess is most of us would choose our desires over what is right here, right now

But here’s the revelation, and a radical proposition
There is another way
We can instead “desire” what is happening in the present moment
After all, that’s really just “desiring” Life as it is unfolding

And what would that be like to desire Life exactly as it is?
Without condition?
Well, it would be a complete “allowing” and “acceptance” and yes,
even profound “gratitude” for just what is, right now, in this moment

And the next moment … and the next
Then you are desiring Life exactly as it unfolds
Without trying to make it different
Without trying to change anything

Ahhhhhh, such a sigh of relief
All that is needed is your awareness
And acceptance of this mystery while
Being awed by the resplendency of Life

And then what becomes apparent
Is that this is, in fact, Unconditional Love
For the present moment 
For circumstances and people (and even yourself) just as they are

No need for anyone to change
For anything to change
Make no doubt about it, though, things are going to change
In every moment — that is the Reality and Truth that is Life

And now Life will be directly influenced 
by your Open Awareness,
by your Gratitude and Acceptance
... Without Condition

Imagine how you would respond to someone who met you
with that much openness to this Mystery of Life
with Simple … Unconditional … Joy

What have you got to lose?  Only your suffering.

Dancing Minnows

Dancing minnows 

What do they know?

Of water or sunlight or shadows

And what do they think

Of ripples or waves or vast ocean

Look!

They just flow within it all

No effort or worry

Just one more dance among the cosmos

Why must you do any more?

Pay no mind ... No Mind! 

Find your way with choiceless awareness 

Have you sensed it?  

That tingling ...  that connection 

Among, within, and as a part of Nature  

To all beings ... to all that IS. 

Your mind will protest ... that’s understood

 This is beyond your your thinking mind

Beyond me, my, and mine

Beyond I'm right and your wrong

Beyond past regrets and future plans

There is a wholeness 

Just ... Be ... Here ... Now ...

(Thank you Ram Dass)

Where preferences are a hindrance,

opinions are burdensome, and

beliefs are anything-but True faith
Where opposites just flow together

Can you accept good ... and evil?

Can you accept us ... and them?

Can you accept life ... and death?

Not separate ... nor superior

Just Reality as it IS

So simple ... even a child can understand

Let go of concepts that keep you old and stale

Become child-like again ... see everything fresh and new

Your Moment of Wow!

Another Kind of Cloudburst, Lanikai Beach, Lanikai, HI,
April 2020, iPhone 11 Pro, © Steven F. Crisp 2020

     What if every word you uttered, was ...                                      Just ... Wow!

     What if every sound you heard, was ...                                      Just ... Wow!

     What if every sight, smell, taste, touch,

     and most importantly, every thought, was                                Just ...  Wow!

     What a wonderful prayer, or gift, 

     or blessing, or even eulogy.                                                       Just ... Wow!

     What a motivational sermon 

     or speech or wedding toast

     or commencement address or pep talk

     or even therapy session.                                                           Just ... Wow!

     What poetry or prose or symphony

     or aria or jazz riff or jam session.                                              Just ... Wow!

     What a way to start each day or end each day 

     and to simply live each and every moment 

     in the timeless Now.                                                                 Just ... Wow!

     What if waking up to Life ...

     that eternal flux and flow ...

     was really that simple.                                                               Just ... Wow!

     What if all of our personal histories, 

     our tightly held opinions, 

     our indoctrinated beliefs, 

     our black and white thinking, 

     are nothing but concepts.  

     None of it real, nor Reality.                                                       Just ... Wow!

     Tonight the stars await your presence.  

     Tomorrow the sunrise will help you see   

     Reality as it is. 

     In all its simplicity. 

     With all its awe.                                                                        Just ... Wow!

     Like the wave that does not die upon the shore. 

     Nor is it born from the depths of the sea.  

     The world is simply waving, waving, always waving.  

     Look closely, deeply, calmly ... so is Thee, so is Thee            Just ... Wow!

              And in the spirit of Saint Jon of the Daily Show ... Here is Your Moment of Zen, er, Wow:

 

Day 7: The Window

The Window, Chapel Kühmatt, Blatten, Switzerland, July 2010,

Nikon D5000, 35mm focal length equiv. 49mm, Exposure 1/100 sec @ f5, ISO 200, no flash

© Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Windows are one way we can see the world out there.

Our mental windows are the way we perceive the world "out there".  They will filter, color, and distort reality, and influence the images, feelings, and thoughts we create of our situation.

Here's the good news.  You can do a little window cleaning any time you like.

Here's one story to help you understand the point I'm trying to make:

The Hospital Window -- Author Unknown

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.  His bed was next to the room's only window.


The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation.


And every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.


The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.


As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.


One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed.


One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.


Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself.

He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.


She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

• Donation:  Beaver Brook Association in Hollis, NH, preserving open land and walking trails for nature appreciation (suggested by my wife, Carol).
• Exercise:  After-dinner walk with Frito (35 mins)

Let yourself dissolve

Sparkling Ripples, Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, May 2008, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 80mm, Exposure 1/200 sec @ f18, ISO 200, exposure bias -2/3 stop, no flash, circular polarizing filter, color and contrast adjusted in iPhoto. © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Such a simple concept. No. Such a powerful action.

Let yourself dissolve. Just let your "self" dissolve.

Not by any effort. Rather, lack of effort.

Simply be. And then you will know.

Like bubbles in the sea,
All the worlds arise in you.

Know you are the Self.
Know you are one.

Let yourself dissolve.

You see the world.
But like the snake in the rope,
It is not really there.

You are pure.

Let yourself dissolve.

-- Ashtavakra Gita 5:2-3

Swan Reflection

Swan Reflection, Imperial Palace, Tokyo, Japan, February 2007, Nikon D40 with 18-200mm VR lens, Focal length 75mm, Exposure 1/250 sec @ f5.3, ISO 200, no flash, circular polarizing filter © Steven Crisp [Click on the photo to enlarge]

Which is real -- the swan or its reflection? Of course, they both are "real", right? But you cannot have the reflection without the swan, so perhaps the swan is "more real"? Or perhaps I have to ask instead about the water, since without the water, there is no medium for reflection?

Step back further and ask about the observer. If there is no one to see the reflection, does it exist? Depending on the angle of the observer, and the sun, one may or may not see a reflection. Or one observer may see it, and one in another location, may not.

I think the answer is that the only thing which is real is the observer-swan-water-sun-reflection-etc... combination. Remove any one of this endless chain of being, and what you see here will not have ever existed. It is that level of dependency, that cocreativity, which really defines being.

So what does that mean? Well, it means, essentially, that you cannot "really" cut up the world into separate subjects and objects. The swan does not exist in isolation. Just like its reflection. Nor do you.

Think of the swan as a energy perturbation in a continuum known (for the moment) as the universe. That energy perturbation will be perceived differently by different observers (and their sensory organs). So the only correct explanation is the subject-object combination itself. And this continues ad infinitum, until it engulfs the entire universe. No subjects. No objects. Only being.

Enough of the physics (or metaphysics). What of the beauty? Is it inate? Inherent in the swan? Or its reflection? Or the photograph?

I don't think so -- the beauty is in you, the viewer. Either it is beautiful to you, or it is not. This is a purely subjecive aspect -- yes, one that can be shaped by convention and norms -- but subjective, nonetheless.

So is the beauty "real"? Surely someone can tell you they know beauty when they see it -- it is not a random occurance. It could be tested and is repeatable. And I hope this particular image represents something beautiful to you ;-)

And yet, some people say they see beauty everywhere. Even in what other people "typically" think of as ugly. In death. In squalor. In war. Why do these people see so much more beauty than the "average" person? And is that "real"? Can one be "trained" to see more beauty? Will it come about from other personal changes? From what some call enlightenment?

I don't know. But I do know that depending on my outlook, my perspective, my attention, my intention ... I will see more or less beauty. And I'm always happiest when I'm surrounded by beauty. Wherever and whenever I am.