Wisdom in Waves
  • Home
  • Classes
  • Meditations
  • Books
  • Poems
  • Musings
  • About
  • Contact
  • Love

Hiking at Foothill Park

4/25/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture

​To live without anxiety about imperfection, we must be able to rest in natural presence.  We need to take shelter in something larger than our own fixed ideas of a flawed or faultless self, something that reminds us of our true nature again and again.

For some folks this comes in various forms meditation.  For others it happens through the arts: music, poetry, painting, dance, etc.  For some, it's born in the arms of unconditional love from a spiritual or earthly being.  For me, it happened today on a hike at Foothill Park.

The Great Mother whispered the words of David Whyte's poem to me:
 

Lost
 
Stand still.
The trees ahead and the bushes beside you Are not lost.
Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
 
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still.
The forest knows Where you are.
You must let it find you.

​
Picture


​It's been a few months since I was last here.  Despite the usual to do list today, I felt the intuitive call to hike at Foothill Park.  Over the centuries, Mother Nature has witnessed my soul evolution from primordial soup to primate, from damaged goods to a divine flow of energy that is never in the exact same physical or emotional state twice.

Whether I am an insensitive physician or an eloquent poet, a compassionate mother or a selfish daughter, a wise teacher or an ignorant student, she has always loved me unconditionally, no matter who I thought I was at any given moment in time.
 

I have made this place around you,
If you leave it you may come back again, saying Here.
 
What more can a woman ask for?

May we all rest periodically in natural presence.  May we all find peace.
​

Picture

​(All Images K. Patel)
0 Comments

You Can Hear the Tide Turn

4/7/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
“If you’re alert, you can hear the tide turn.”
-Suzuki Roshi

Walking back from Lappert’s in the hopes of burning off some Kauai Pie ice cream calories, I stop at a scenic overlook.  My family is expecting me back at our condo soon, but my body will not move. 

Reflecting back on a guided meditation from Tara Brach’s online course,
Awakening Your Fearless Heart, I’m seeing a vast ocean striated with waves of jumbled thoughts.  The waves are numerous, but each one eventually bows and breaks against the shores of loving presence.

I will never get rid of the waves.  Though there is something quite peaceful about a surface of still water reflecting ease without ripples, it isn’t waters elemental nature.  Water is meant to flow the path of least resistance.  Waves are not meant to break until they can surrender all fear to shores of loving presence.  Only then will they have the courage to return to an ocean of uncertainty, remembering and forgetting to repeat the cycle again, and again and again.
​
“If you’re alert, you can hear the tide turn.”  It shifts our perspective.  May we practice not only for ourselves, but for all beings everywhere without exception.  When I forget, may you remember.  When you forget, may I remember.
0 Comments

    Author

    Kaveri Patel, a woman who is always searching for the wisdom in waves.

    Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014

    Categories

    All
    Anatta
    Body Wisdom
    Burnout
    Communication
    Compassion
    Creativity
    Diwali
    Doubt
    Elements
    Energy
    Equanimity
    Fear
    Forgiveness
    Freedom
    Gratitude
    Guilt
    Habits
    Impermanence
    Joy
    Kindness
    Light
    Middle Way
    Mindfulness
    Motivational Interviewing
    Parenting
    Passion
    Patience
    Peace
    Poetry
    Relationships
    Sacred Feminine
    Self Compassion
    Surrender
    True Nature
    Trust
    Uncertainty
    Wisdom

    Click to set custom HTML

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly