Meetings and partings

A sojourn, this life

I am not for any anyone,

I seek none for myself.  

A home I find, 

In the place called heart.

All come there;

a brief visit,

a smile, a word.

When all are gone,

I rest my self

In this home, the heart.  

Costa Rica, November Full Moon

The above words came soon after I finished meditating on the beach in Cahuita.  

The last five weeks have been busy, spent with six students, guiding, coaching and assessing them in their yoga teacher training.  

Each person who immerses themself in this journey of yoga comes out on the other side - changed in more then one way.  The long hours of the training are challenging and demanding.  Sometimes a person is faced with their fears and at times the strong filters of conditioning are brought to the forefront.  

Through all this, I am happy that Malorie, Lyndi, Chelsea, Joice, Rhéline and Miranda, came out smiling, confident and ready to share their practice.  

And now it's time to relax in Cahuita. A full moon dance, a day spent in the sunshine of the beach, sand and ocean and this evening teaching and sharing a yoga practice by the evening light, besides the poolside.  

The clouds parted and the full moon was a sight to behold, brilliant and shining, reassuring as the next breath.  

Meditation

The birds have flown into the sky,

The last cloud drifts away;

We sit together, the mountain and me,

Until only the mountain remains.  

Lao Tsu

Giving thanks - and "autumn leaves drift by my window"

I am thinking gratitude is a state of being, and giving thanks as an act.  We keep practicing, and we become the action.

Then there is the day celebrated as "thanksgiving"; in Canada its celebrated on the second Monday in October, associated with the harvest time,  and in the U.S its the fourth Thursday of November.

Great family holiday, one of the few where gifts, and shopping and traffic ordeals are not needed.  Well maybe the traffic one is a stretch.  As people do like to travel to be with their families and loved ones on this holiday.

Its always been a favorite holiday, with family and friends a reunion time.   In our family we gather on the Sunday, the day before the holiday.  It was logistics, kids returning to college on the Monday, and then also for selfish reasons of having a lazy morning after, before heading out to work.

So Lasagna with garlic bread, caesar salad and apple crumble, a long standing menu and everyones favorite.  Always request to make extra Lasagna as "it tastes better the next day"....

So today the meat sauce (has to be meat, for those of us who are vegetarians, a separate casserole is made), is ready.  Fresh meat, cooked for at least three hours, as the tastes all assimilate with the slow and extended cooking time.  With preparations done, Sunday morning will be assembling and cooking, conversations wrapped with love and laughter.

Fall weather has been beautiful, the colors vibrant, the sunshine clear and the air crisp.  Last night even the half moon seemed closer.

I give thanks, love abounds...

Rumi's words come as the autumn leaves fall: "inside of us, there's a continual autumn.  Our leaves fall and are blown out over the water".

Mask I wear

The veils come down,

courage is found.  

Then

What is this Mask I wear?

Is it not an illusion?

The answer is clear, 

for its not to deceive,

only to be free.

Freedom that we all seek,

alertness that awareness desires.

Luxury that is priceless,

for freedom can neither be bought not sold.

My mask is only of this world and for the world.  

In the knowing there is no doubt.