Tag: Present

No Tale in the Present

 

“You are not any of the stories you believed about yourself. What you are is actually the absence of story. That’s why the Buddha said, “There is no self.“”
— Adyashanti

 

To live in a story
is to live in a moment
that is not now
for tales imply an ending
a past already wrote
but the present is ever written
gone when word hits page
or lips.
Once upon a time..
a time not now
in a place
not here
but gone
the now may be spoken of some day
when it has become then
but our moment our now
is happening so no tale
in the unfolding..
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Spirits in MotionSpirits in Motion by G A Rosenberg

 

Serpentine OrbSerpentine Orb by G A Rosenberg

 

Not Where I Left It

 

“The past is never where you think you left it.”
― Katherine Anne Porter

 

Leaving the past behind seems deceptively simple at times. I have long believed it pointless for any adult over the age of 30 or so to cling to hurts real or imagined from one’s childhood and adolescence. I have seen far too many who’s adult lives were choked by resentment and an unwillingness to see themselves as anything but that which was done to them. I’ve worked hard to reconcile my past, forgive whatever there maybe to forgive and leave those parts of my past behind. The key word in the first sentence was deceptively.
Today I was interviewed about my childhood and it was amazing how many memories good and bad came rushing to the surface. Many of them I have dealt with but there were a few things that I had forgotten and the awareness of them was somewhat uncomfortable. It’s a fortunate thing for buried trauma can often lead to treasure and greater awareness. I will never again believe that I have left my past behind for I know I carry it all with me, perhaps not as its victim but definitely as its vehicle into greater understanding and awareness.
Blessings, G

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Organic ClockworkOrganic Clockwork by G A Rosenberg

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Free FlowFree Flow by G A Rosenberg

 

Time and Patience

 

“The Two most powerful warriors are patience and time.”
— Leo Tolstoy

 

Time takes and returns
slows down to a crawl
or speeds past like a freight train.
Time sets limits
Chronos is Saturn after all
and the sands keep slipping through.
Patience counters time
while it uses it shamelessly
allowing us to enjoy the present
knowing it won’t last.
Patience has and gives perspective
It tells us that nothing lasts
joy or pain are in the moment
and the moment slips away.
Time tests Patience
and patience outlasts time.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Opening ToOpening To… by G A Rosenberg

 

Coming Through the RiftComing Through the Rift by G A Rosenberg

 

What I Choose To Be; What I Choose to Become

 

“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.”
~ Carl Jung

 

The past is gone,
its footprints fade as the present
ebbs and flows along my life’s ocean.
With it goes the past hurts and triumphs
its losses and joys as well
The only use they have for me now
is as lessons that need not be learned again
It is what I encompass now that matters
and where I will take it.
Those who live in the past
reliving their glories
or remaining victim to their pain
are stagnant swamps
I would rather be the mighty ocean
flowing proudly into the future
living each day and then washing it away
with its sediment used to build anew
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Cosmic Spider LwaCosmic Spider Lwa by G A Rosenberg

 

ProtectedProtected by G A Rosenberg

 

It’s All Part of the Construction

 

“A ‘mistake’ is beside the point, for once anything happens it authentically is.”
― John Cage

 

Imagine a world where everything we have done has led us here. Our so called mistakes and triumphs and how we have dealt with them have shaped us and moulded us into the beings we are now just as our present thoughts and actions shape our future beings. Can we look at a moment and say ‘this is good’ or ‘this is bad’? Where does that get us? It is in this moment that we can remake ourselves. Everything that came before is just raw material and is all part of the mix. We now return you to your regularly scheduled journey which is as always in progress.
Blessings, G

 

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Choosing A Face (Dantalion)Choosing a Face (Dantalion) by G A Rosenberg

 

Transmitting OutwardTransmitting Outward by G A Rosenberg

 

Teachers…

 

“When focusing only on one’s credentials one boasts his own incompetence in his capacity for discernment of the individual.”
― Criss Jami

 

I met this old professor.
He wore his degrees like medals.
He would talk for hours of
all that he had learned thirty years ago
yet when I asked
what he had learned since
or what made his heart sing
he gave me a blank stare
“Hearts do not sing”, he scoffed
“I have learned all I need to know long ago.”
He walked away as there was nothing he could teach me.
He was right.

 

I met an old street woman.
She was a Princess in the land
she was from
or so she said.
She had only three tobacco stained teeth in her mouth
and her eyes shone.
She had dreams dancing there
and each one brought her from day to day.
She said for five dollars
she would tell me a secret
I handed her the money and she said.
“Love, Dream, Learn, Share”
I longed to forever here her teachings

 

I saw a child playing
He ran up to me and said “Play”
He did a little dance
I said “I must complete this project”
and then perhaps I will.
He looked at me and did a little dance.
He hugged me and then skipped and said “Play”
Totally in the moment
One day he would grow
and worry about yesterday and tomorrow
but today he was present.
I joined the Teacher in the moment
and danced in the now.
— G A Rosenberg

 

Blessings, G

 

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Intersecting RealitiesIntersecting Realities by G A Rosenberg

 

Fractal TemplateTemplate by G A Rosenberg

The Present Begins Now

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Leaving the past in the past each day has been a tough but worthwhile lesson to learn. How easy it seems to let past failures even minor ones build up and bring us down. Realistically we can’t change the past. As I have said many times each moment is the gateway to possibility and despite anything we’ve done up to now, we can only get better. Why does it seem so difficult to jump through this gateway? Is yesterday a quicksand mire holding us to it? Only if we let it, only if we struggle to hold on. No matter how I’ve been in the past. No matter what my weaknesses have been, in this moment I can be the person I wish to be. String enough of these triumphant expressive present moments together and we may actually find that we’ve built beings to be proud of.
Blessings, G

 

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The Storm PersonifiedThe Storm Personified by G A Rosenberg

 

Fireball 2Fireball 2 by G A Rosenberg

Quote of the Day – May 20 2012

“Lovers find secret places inside this violent world where they make transactions with beauty”
–Rumi

 

Enter the secret place
that lies between my ears
I live at the crossroads
each moment being where past meets future
and here meets there
From here all choices are possible
possible? nay necessary
or perhaps inevitable

 

I’ve always loved the in-between places, the hallways where any door is open to choice and new ones appear as old ones close forever. Each doorway begins a journey. All I have to do is choose.
Blessings G

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Fire Works (Take Two) by G A Rosenberg

Floating Stars by G A Rosenberg

Angelic by G A Rosenberg