Walks Into The

An early morning walk and I saw this .

I went out after a week of rains and captured these ducks preening themselves on the lake near our home. It was great to get out after the wild seas and winds that lashed the porch .

Some more natural patterns show around the garden and I captured a micro shot of the leaves leaning quietly and at ease.

Water patterns in the crystal clear shimmer .

Above is the winding path of trees I came across when walking in the Denmark forest , I managed to capture a sense of transending into foresty silence .The friends I accompanied disappeard not to be found , alone I wandered after them .





One of the many shells on the porch . Spirals upon spirals leading naturally to the center of it self .

Walking the dog , the sea was welcome .

and contentment reigns!

I lay down on the dune and look up through the reeds to the sky.

And die .

Then I hear the barking of a dog !

And walk home .

Wild Mountains To Serene Sea

My House from Jogiwara road (yellow building right middle)

Dharamsala view from Bagsu Road .

I had to take some parting shots . Here are some of the images I left behind before the descent into the Delhi heat . I found that once I arrived there it was not as bad as I thought it would be , I had some resilience that I had from previous journeys when I lived in the Lucknow heat , which can be appalling .

An Aghori Baba

HH. Dalai Lama Coming and Going

Now I have returned from Dharamsala and the bustle of mad hot Delhi . I had to make sure I got out as there were riots on the outskirts of the city and I was'nt so sure I would make it , the Gujjars (a tribal group) were fighting for recognition from their government . But I got through , unfortunately my camera batteries where out so I could'nt catch the wild and screaming protesters as we drove past their burning effigies.

(Only joking ) .........But they did actually talk and come to a resolution as I left in the taxi . It seems that my timing was good.



From Zero point



As for Perth ... well here it is . The birds are chirping outside and the sea is ever present for me to walk upon like Jesus did . After coming back I had so much energy I could fly across the sands , I was running for a hundred meters and just amazed myself . When was the last time I did that ???

It is a bit strange being here after all the human contact I had in India . Because all of a sudden it is vanished in the totality of spaciousness or a solitary quietness.I have taken the task of minding a mean looking Rottweiler who is very kind .I am taking her for long walks.Yes this is my lot for Karma Yoga ! I found myself in a house by the sea , a big empty house with a lap top to play plenty of movies .














Being surrounded by this space is overwhelming at first and even bringing up some dreadful feelings in the morning . Reading Ranjit Maharaj; he says you have to make it dance on your little finger . "Take the world as a joke, your joke. Then make that joke dance on your little finger ". So From high up in India to sea level ! Nice to see the sea again and to walk on the coast .

Scrolling Down?

NOW!
Here is the Gap I cannot get rid of.........scroll all the way down for the NEXT post !

How to get rid of this gap ???? It's sooooo black .......I guess it means there is light!

If your scrolling up

Here comes the Gap again !

All of the Above

The sea this morning .

This morning I walked outside and saw a kestrel hovering over the dune , the sea is calm and a lone trawler drifts near the shore , a light sparkling like a luminous beacon . Within my heart is an open space which reflects the world and I feel like I am kissing this open mirror which is reflecting everything . It is moments like this where I can see the easyness of this direct reflection of Self , and that the mind can be like a restless ocean waving up and down with the images of people and events that have taken place recently .

A true friend.

These impressions can stir up the thoughts that are gross in that they depict the stories of 'you' and 'other' . I wander, how it is happening , and the mirror has no say in it . The pure reflection just is and the mind in its nature is waving in images and pictures which I can grab hold of or just let pass .People say "Oh let it go ! it's just the past " and yet I cannot ignore it . I can also choose not to place too much attention on these images which invest in holding .

Honesty.

Honesty is one of the qualities that I like to have with others and I have been finding lately that certain people (certainly most people that I have befriended) have not been clear with this , I find that I can not help but read their faces and their actions . Like a mirror can reflect ,it can also reveal the lines in the image of the other.Once I sat in a peaceful park a few years ago and an old man came up to me and looked into my eyes , he smiled and I smiled back , not wanting anything . Then he suddenly grabed me and started to pull me up . I had to push him away because I could not see what he was seeing . Obviously he wanted to possess what was'nt in his warped mind , the space of quietness.If you see from an innocent space you cannot imagine what others are saying or thinking , but as someone said to me lately maybe I am abit 'naieve'. This pure screen of mirrorness is not involved at all and yet there is like a need for me to be aware of situations like this . It is similar to seeing a truck tearing down the road towards a little puppy which I can reach out and remove . If I ignore the puppy it will be pulverised , yet I can reach out and pick it up and take it back to the mother under the tree .

Seeing Mirrorlike

One of the early teachings I received was from a Tantric master who was teaching about honesty , and I have been reminded of that way when I see this situation . The mind is dishonest because it is perverted in its way and emotionalism can rule in place of honesty .Also the mind is not the enemy because we cannot kill the mind with the mind . It can be used as a tool , but it can also wander like an aimless dreamer and it can shift and move like a good manipulator . With this is the dishonesty and it manifests in different shapes and forms .Being polite but not saying really what's going on is a way that it plays it's game . It is then that the classic analogy about the mind in the masters household comes up , and that is why meditators have been meditating ;in order to replace that disorder and show the mind that the master is present also . Like a teacher entering

Sri Yantra

a classroom full of rowdy students the prescence of the master or teacher makes them sit still . I see how this mind can play like this when some days it is turbulantly wandering aimlessly . Wandering aimlessly is not the problem but letting it get to you is . Once again I wandered into the Sauna and observed a ghost appearing before my eyes and this ghost tried to convince me of its reality .Seeing clearly that there is no body to control all of this, definitely destroys the idea that you are the choppy mind and it's contents , yet the habit to grab hold of thoughts can still be there in its habit form . A ghostly habit form which makes up the feeling of your individuality , if you keep looking at the ghost the ghostliness is seen .Could you be a ghost?? I have observed this a thousand times in a thousand ways and some times a spark of 'aha!' comes and other times it's so quiet, it's a feather floating. This is seeing the same spark floating up in a thousandth way .As the Zen saying goes , " This , This aThousand times This!!!".

The crystal is you, who is looking.

"Just as a transparent crystal takes on the lines of it's Background, but is in no way changed thereby,and just as the unchanging moon on being reflected on undulating (wavelike)surfaces appears agitated, so is it with You, the all prevading."

Hastamalaka Stotra

Which leads me to the topic of the mirror like space which is one of my portals. The closest depiction of this is a picture a friend in Tiruvannamalai showed me painted by M C Escher , I was very pleased to be shown this picture .It demonstrates this portal closely , but you must see from behind Escher's eyes to become Escher .Someone told me once "But what about the space between the crystal and the eyes of the holder? " some people over analyse! I can see from a mirror like space , the body in this space , including space itself and others are included.This sensation is very similar to gazing into a mirror and finding that you are no longer the observer or the observed but rather an undefined prescence.There is a joy when seeing this infinite clear openess. Because it ( and clearly it is not an object; because it is who you are) includes ALL OF THE ABOVE !

Sea and Sky

I thought I would start this blog again after my long intermissions away from the keyboard I have been told to write Haiku’s but it looks like I’m saying more than a few sentences here. A lot of my time here, (I always have an ocean view to return to after some time indoors, or to look out as I cook an omelet) is spent just attending to the duties of the house and driving down to see Russell (a drink invokes communion) and looking for work at the job agency, but lately I find them hopeless. I have also ventured down to the swimming pool to slide into the spa and sweat in the sauna after a good swim .I have discovered that the sauna, like sweat lodges have ways to bring healing and recently I experienced insights into my past history which just bubbled up while I sweated .This lead me to a story about what happened to me as a schoolboy surrounded by overzealous Christian brothers . I started to look at this vasana (habit tendency) and last week while talking with Russell about it, I realized that I had nothing at all to do with the victim that came out of that story, for I was NEVER a victim. I knew that I am love to myself after all and that there is nothing wrong .It was the problem of the teachers and not the student. We all love ourselves even though we might not see it this way. After all we would do the utmost good for our own heart.


"I would love to kiss you,
The price of kissing is your Life.
Now my loving is running toward my life shouting.
What a bargain, let's buy it.
- Rumi

The lagoon is one place I often drive past either on the way to the shops or just to see conditions for swimming .On hot days it can be a gem of a place to look at and better to swim in because hardly anyone is here during the week days and it is so inviting. Nowadays with Christmas coming more people may find their way up. I found it very soothing place to float in the water after I contracted Dengue Fever in India , two weeks later I was here in the lagoon , just floating on my back in the shallows. I came here everyday for sometime and just spent my time in the cool current. Dengue fever really knocks you out it just sucks all your strength and then you are weak. So slowly I regained my strength for months, it felt as if the body’s constitution had changed. Anyway I have been living here by the sea and traveling to India, usually arriving in Tiruvannamalai which I call the ‘filthy dusty temple town’ when shocking any puritans who are in my vicinity. Then I always come back to Perth full of space and clear skies. I remember a story about a prince from Hyderabad who came to live here in West Australia, when he saw hardly anyone on the streets he thought there was a curfew! So it can be a very open place physically to come and also to get used to after being in the milling crowds of bustling cities like Bangalore or celebrations like Deepam. Instead you can find yourself in a mob of roos! They are quietly resting and scratching their bellies while masticating on grass, the excitement of some youthful males becomes a dance fight right before my eyes.

One day I wandered out and took these photos of the nature that is here. The golden light of the sun setting blazing off blue pink clouds caught my eyes and I got trigger happy with the camera. I stood on the tracks around the lake and listened quietly as the cockatoos gathered and made a racket. Their insistent cawing and calling were punctuated by the silence of the surrounding trees and burnt charcoal stumps which stood out like visitors from another world. I also spent a lot of time here walking around this lake (used by Nyungah indigenous people) usually in a clockwise direction as if in Pradakshina of Arunachala. So in walking meditation I became the vastness that surrounded my walking. The volume of space that was unseen became the point in silence. Around the lake nature and the vastness of Self are meeting as if an inner power were grounding in a formidable outer stability , where there is no difference. I always found myself pausing just to inquire a bit more to see the depth of clarity , it was a little effort that made it too much and I always found myself relaxing more as I continued along the track .


Every day I am always looking at the sea from my vantage point at home one way or another the blue water is meeting the blue sky and meditation and inquiry is always naturally present. Sitting on the red bench overlooking the green hedge to the horizon blue, silence quietly reveals all that is . There is always a pointing back to a place that is closer than the closest and nearer than the nearest. When I am with a friend we both find ourselves looking at the sameness of ourselves and see the clarity of our nature. When I am talking to others in the coffee shop it is not as profound because we are talking and chit chatting. I don’t have a desire to meet here in this space because we are not open to it here yet there is an acceptance and if it happens then that is good if not, okay too. Like the true meaning of karma yoga which is to not expect anything from the fruit of our actions ,the results being Prasad or a gift from source . It is ALWAYS open to us even while chatting; it is only that we are attentive to the listening of words and their content. Always quietly in the background no matter what is being said is the heart of everything, my own Self. The discussion is about cryptic words for cryptic crosswords and the cryptic silence beholds our discussing and figuring out descriptive cryptic words! As I finish a long black and chat I find myself like a bouncing ball walking back to my van. And then back to Russell’s for another drink.