Summer 2001 Excursion

 

SUMMER EXCURSION (Summer Solstice June 20) Constancy & Joy- Practices in Fullness, Freedom and Living in the Paradox of Everything & Nothing.

Campsite in the Mountains in Woods by Water under the Sky June 22, 23 & 24 -Friday night to Sunday
Lewis River Lower Falls - on Hwy 90 east of Swift Reservoir

AT THE FALLS - Writings by Paula Benton

The Soul's Horizon We stand on a peak of consciousness, bathing in light, breathing in wind, as swirling mist shrouds the foothills -- foundations of being. Our slopes are crowded with trees, a forest of daily concerns and ordinary thoughts of worldly matters -- of doubts and fears and scarcities. Small wisdoms like briars entangle this mountain's broad shoulders. What would be found were we to descend with a torch of trust and power into the shadows, into the clouding mist? What hidden faces of a larger Self would be retrieved in dark and chartless wilds encircling familiar ground of busy lives? The soul stands below, beneath, behind, with a different view of our dimensions, calling, waiting to be found, just beyond the conscious mind's horizon. The soul's horizon is below the peak -- untimed, unlimited, undimensioned -- a brink from which the ineffable emerges, cloaked and yet unbound.

Okay, I am here.
Yes, you are. Thank you for hearing. Thank you for coming.
What revelation am I here for?
Just sit for a moment, on a rock covered with moss, soft for your human comfort. Feel the spray on your face as the wind changes and the rapids churn.

Notice the light playing on the rocks, on the water, on the leaves.

Notice the mist moving in and out of the light. Soak it up. Feel the energy, the natural ambient energy, and soak it up. It is simple, not dramatic. It is as simple as being here, collecting yourself as you connect with this peace. The drama is over for you. What is notable is that you heard, you listened, you came. You acted on your inner guidance. Good.

And that is what is so scary. It is not for approval or agreement or recognition outside you. It has no economic value. It has no survival value. And yet, it does. Actually, it is for the growth and nourishment of your Soul, for the development of you as an entity beyond your inherited patterns. To be here connecting with this magic reminds you of your own magic and activates it. The land itself, the water, the air, the sun are all magical and sacred - holy gifts giving rise to the magic of life. And you connect with it through your body as an instrument for the experience of magic, of love. Your body contains all the elements and is animated by love, by the magic. You are the planet, ambulatory, awake. You are divine energy disguised as form.

So it is not a big deal. There are no trumpets, so lightening bolts, no crescendos of music. There is the roar of the falls, the sunbeams on the mist, the swirling needlets of fir, your friend's musical laugh of delight, and the overflowing sensation of fulfillment in your body. Will this do? The peace and calmness and trust and deep exhilaration - will they do? The utter confidence in the rightness of it all - will that do?

The leaves of the tree caress your face. The flying mist kisses your brow and neck and hands tenderly. The rocks cradle you and support you. The light shines upon you. As much as, nay, more than you love all this, you are loved. What other lover do you desire? Will this do?
Now go forth, connected with All That Is, and free of your old patterns. You are for the world, for all of it. Do what has been said, and keep talking to Source. Keep finding your heart, your connection. You are held. You are safe. You are well. You are cared for. You are protected. You are the child of Life, its flesh and blood. Soon your path will shine before you, clearly illuminated in grace and peace. All is well.

Solstice at Lewis River

Water pouring over lichen-padded rocks
celebrates its journey with unceasing roar --
jubilation constant as rocks and running water.
Magic lives here, home to spirits, creatures
and elements. Moving air, moving water,
solid (so it seems) rock lining the river bed,
sun moving across the sky, plants growing
and changing in season -- all conditions
perfect for the presence of magic and mystery.

This fulsome Presence awaits when I empty
myself - clearing my calendar to get myself here,
opening and emptying my mind, freeing my heart
and spirit to accept, to receive this awesome blessing.
Emptiness and fullness come and go hand-in-hand,
one allowing and receiving the other, each giving rise
to each in unending magical flow.

I can fill with the river as it washes me clean,
releasing the old. I can be the rocks, tumbled
and polished along the way. I can be the riverbed,
foundation, basis for the flow. I can be the shore,
marking the boundary and channeling the rushing force
of energy. I can be the verdant growth, strong
and tender at once. I can be the flying crow,
uplifted on the airy nothing. I can be the wispy cloud,
diaphanous and shape-shifting. I can be the beaming
sun, powering the process of life. I can be the endless
sky -- not a thing, really, but nothingness named,
thus becoming something. I can be the vastness
of the beyond. I can be the spacious grace inside
invisible molecules and atoms, existing because I say so.

And once said, I am left in the wordless, the silence
within all sound. Like a salamander sunning
on a rock, like skipper bugs walking on water,
there is nothing left to do but be. And in the being,
life is lived easily and with grace, holding when I hold,
dancing when I dance, letting go when I let go.

So here I sit, sun-drenched, soul-drenched,
doing nothing, being in the pattern of it all.

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