BEFORE

Posted by on Sep 15, 2020 in Blog, Inspired Readings, Western Insight | Comments Off on BEFORE


Before…

you cling.

You cling to hopes and fears
and even people
without realizing
what you’re doing.

The Teacher says:

“Pull that straw out of their neck!

And out of yours while you’re at it!
Stop leaking life force.
The Age of Vampires is over!

Forget  any notion
of enemies.

Your only jihad,
your only struggle,
is with yourself.

Until you burn the ego
once and for all
everything
will feel
like moving mountains
from one side of the world to the other.”

AFTER

After…
there is no peace like it.
Victorious-Through-Surrender
you see
there never really was a battlefield.
You melt all your swords
and turn your words
into iron.

Then,
yes really does mean yes,
no is just…no,
and no explanation is needed.

BEYOND

Traveling is so simple after that.
You become a child again,
smiling
as you work
as a shoe shiner,
rubbing out
the tears and scuffs
for your fellow travelers.

You become a quiet prospector
mining for diamonds
being shaken loose
in the honey stream
gushing from your chest.

Then, you wear an invisible cloak
and keep a secret name,
and you sit and speak
with every person
as if they were
a king or a queen.

—- Frank Owen

Posted by | Paul Reynolds

“Not Christian or Jew or Muslim, not Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, or Zen. Not any religion or cultural system…..” - Rumi

For over 30 years Paul Reynolds has collected and shared inspiration from a wide variety of sources. Embracing the philosophy that at the core of all these expressions is the reminder that we are loved and supported every moment. This unending stream of inspiration, imagination and wisdom is posted via his weekly ‘Living the Question Blog’, which has become ‘home’ for those discoveries. If you would like to receive the readings and share them with those you feel will benefit, please fill out the ‘Subscribe’ form to the right and Paul’s selections will come to your email every Friday.

Comments are closed.