Hugh Prather III

In the later 80's I was in a search for meaning and found "Notes to Myself' on a bookstore shelf. Hugh Prather's writing provided insight and peace. He wrote about his thoughts, family and motivation in life, work and relationships. This was years before I had my own understanding so I was grateful for his writing. His book "How to Live in the World and Still be Happy" helped me realize that I am always in choice in what I think. In the early 90's I sent him a letter through his publisher. Three of four months later he called and wanted to know how he could help. We spoke about my topic and he provided suggestions. Today I still have ten of his books on my shelf; each one with pages dog earred as they were my most early resource and connection to the Universe as love, poetry, peace and meditation.
Hugh Prather made his transition on November 15 at age 72 while in his Hot Tub. Obituary and photo

Shadow and Light

A past experience- thought stuck in old beliefs
Unspoken words, situations unresolved
It's age independent

The Universe wants to express
To expand and create more
Since It lives only as now it can hold no grudge

Any thing stuck
Anything appearing as shadow
Emerges differently when the light shines

Dark and unknown has a new appearance
New insights, new angles are revealed
A new way of seeing things

Living fully illuminated
Living free
Today I shine the light

Words Fall Short

This morning's poetic greeting from Panhala is "What's in the Temple" by Tom Barrett.

I enjoyed the whole poem and particularly these sections-

.
...The poets speak in obscure terms pointing madly at the unsayable...
The monk sits pen in hand poised to explain the cloud of unknowing.

I am reminded when teaching classes this fall that we are always describing the invisible and the mystery and postulating our belief how it works. This section reminds me of describing the 'unsayable'

Put your ear to the wall of your heart.
Listen for the whisper of knowing there.
Love will touch you if you are very still.

Although there is no recipe for hearing this whisper it does happen. When you listen, the attention moves from the brain to a larger knowing, which some would say comes from the heart. I think the heart is a word that just means, 'from within' It is amazing because this inner voice comes with loudness and clarity. 'Love touches you'

If I say the word God, people run away.
They've been frightened--sat on 'till the spirit cried "uncle."
Now they play hide and seek with somebody they can't name.
They know he's out there looking for them, and they want to be found,
But there is all this stuff in the way.

I love this section- People come from all different backgrounds of religious and spiritual training. In order to move ahead to a deeper understanding of the mystical each person must come to peace with where they have come from- what they learned first and then 'all this stuff' falls away.
Words we have learned in the past can be accompanied with strict interpretations- e.g. faith, heaven, hell. I have learned to speak using language inclusive of Divine qualities- infinite, joy, trust, support, peace, kindness. The choice of words helps to bridge old history and old beliefs into being present today to the Divine ideas.

I can't talk about God and make any sense,
And I can't not talk about God and make any sense.
So we talk about the weather, and we are talking about God.

This is my favorite. From Emerson's 'The Transcendentalists' we walk as idealists and materialists at the same time. And the weather, the sun, clouds, wind and rain help us bridge that which can be challenging to articulate.

Poet Seers

I don't remember where I found this site- Poet Seers. I enjoy the sampling of poems and poet's expressions from East and West available all at one place. Their simple explanation of the site, "Poetseers seeks to offer a range of spiritual and illumining poetry from a diverse range of cultural and poetic traditions." It is produced by two members of the Sri Chinmoy Centre

And then I found the sub-site of the spiritual and devotional poets. From Christian, Muslim, Sufi, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism and more--such a great resource of inspiration. I had never heard of Sri Chinmoy until finding this site. In his bio they mentioned that he provided an opening at the Parliament of World Religions and so in addition to finding great daily inspiration in poetry I now plan to also read about his work.

Juxtaposition + Context- Lisel Mueller

Recently, I've been intrigued by the poetry of Lisel Mueller. Born in 1924 she won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1997. Her parents came from an academic background (bio short) (bio long) and fled Nazi Germany to work and live at the University of Evansville in Indiana. Some analysts say her work includes elements of a dark side- I like to think of it as contemplative. In support of the artist's work, here is her 1997 book Alive Together. I picked up a used copy from Alibris.

In a PBS interview 1997, Elizabeth Farnsworth asked, "Do you have a goal when you're writing poems? Is there some purpose you want to achieve when you write?"

Mueller responded, "Not really, not consciously. Something just comes to me. Usually it's the juxtaposition of two things. I see something in a new context in which I had not seen it before, and this excites me, and I mind this, try to figure it out in a poem."

It is the same for me. Sometimes the relative position of things makes them stand out against each other and it's interesting. I wonder about them and try to figure it out. It could be the light of the clouds and sky against the trees, the perfect reflection of sky water or the quiet of a conversation and understanding with a friend or family. About how business operates- measured by exacting metrics but enacted by breathing, emotion, thinking, tactile, unique human forms. These juxtapositions stand out and provide fuel for my thinking and writing. And often time it is through the writing that I come to a better understanding.

For the past two weeks I've kept a browser tab open with her poem, 'Monet Refuses the Operation'. I've read the poem many times but for some reason every time I go to close the tab I hesitate, there is more to interpret. Monet had cataracts and in this poem he is speaking to the doctor, explaining why he refuses the operation to remove them. Mueller depicts Monet saying, 'I will not return to a universe where objects don't know each other.'

When you begin to look at the Universe as being manifestations of one idea, you see a connection where objects know each other. There is no real separation. Monet and Mueller are saying this. In her closing line she says, "Doctor, if only you could see how heaven pulls earth into its arms and how infinitely the heart expands to claim this world, blue vapor without end."

That is beauty, that is nature, that is the Divine. I am now ready to close the tab.