Category Archives: body/mind/spirit

poem: a missive from a hard winter and a possible return

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poem: a missive from
a hard winter and a
possible return

from deep within
the dark lair 

wounds are salved
and broken things mended

a buffeting wet, cold
winter wind chills the bone

quality of life
frail and weak

free floating soul
battered in the storm

consciousness clouded
the way uncertain

circling in this thin place
in liminal time

letting go of survival instinct
for more understanding

perhaps a bit more repose
into the bardos of uncertainty

faith in one’s good nature,
clarity, and hope of return

opening to what lies beyond,
transformation, re-engagement

the intuitive wisdom of knowing
beyond the mind

emergence of True Self joined
mutually in beloved community

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
January 13, 2023

photo by author
‘Old Coyote in Winter’

an Advent poem: making ready (what comes before)

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an Advent poem:
making ready
(what comes before)

sitting in the pre-dawn
darkness of this spiritually
transformative season

silent, reflective, open,
to the Divine Truth within
and the new beginnings before us

witnessing the Universal Cosmic Christ
who came down to us, comes again,
and is always with us in eternal life

mindful of the season’s
sentimentality, nostalgia, and hubris
which comforts and distracts us

here and now in the bliss
of participating and being
in the way of Creator God of All

mutually committed in body/mind/spirit
to preparing the way and living together
in diversity, healing, and peace

we humans transformed and co-creating
the alternative neighborly community
of True Self and Authentic Belonging

a lone voice in the wilderness
crying out, make ready the way
for the in-flowing of the Great I Am

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
December 6, 2022

author’s note: The last stanza is a paraphrase of the prophet Isaiah from the old testament found in Isaiah 40:3. The Great I Am reverences the I Am statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John, and Yahweh, God’s name in the Old Testament. It also connotes the Sanskrit mantra Tat Tvam Asi from the Chandogya Upanishad which refers to the unity of the individual Soul with the Divine Universal Consciousness. My experience is that all Divine Truth is universal, perennial, and cosmic flowing from the one supreme source which underlies all religion, spirituality, and mysticism, and which can be directly experienced by human beings who follow the way of True Self. An excellent book on this idea is “The Perennial Philosophy” by Aldous Huxley.

art image ‘O Root’ by Sister Ansgar Holmberg

poem: conscious aging, spiritual foresight, perennial wisdom

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poem: conscious aging,
spiritual foresight,
perennial wisdommindfully present
flowing in the
universal rhythms
of the Cosmos
here and now

letting go any
pretense of
hubris, sentimentality,
power, control,
and domination

pure being,
not desiring,
doing,
grasping,
or withholding

emptying,
opening,
uniting,
in the eternal, omnipresent
One Peace/One Love

sharing mutually
authentic presence
of belonging: witnesses,
prophets, seers, souls,
and saints

focusing, preparing, practicing,
participating, reflecting,
celebrating, liberating,
transitioning, whole-making,
arriving full-circle

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 20, 2022

photo by author

“Full Circle”

poem: child of the universe, hippie, yogi, elder

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poem: child of the universe,
hippie, yogi, elderneither clinging to a nostalgic past,
nor projecting a future of sentimentality,
now resisting social norms of
emotional idealism and neurotypical
stereotyping

I, being a witness of here and now,
maintaining spiritual consciousness,
invitational presence, and attentive
mutuality, connecting deeply at soul level,
opening to the wholeness of other

we, belonging here together in beloved
community, falling upward in grace and love,
cycling through the bardo, eternally together
with the supreme in cosmic union,
that am I (tat tvam asi)

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry

August 28, 2022

photo by author

“Here is, in truth, the whole secret of
Yoga, the science of the soul. The active
turnings, the strident vibrations, of
selfishness, lust and hate are to be stilled
by meditation, by letting heart and mind
dwell in spiritual life, by lifting up the
heart to the strong, silent life above, which
rests in the stillness of eternal love, and
needs no harsh vibration to convince it of
true being.”- Patanjali, The Yoga Sutras of
Patanjali

“The Perennial Philosophy is expressed
most succinctly in the Sanskrit formula,
tat tvam asi (‘That art thou’); the Atman,
or immanent eternal Self, is one with
Brahman, the Absolute Principle of all
existence; and the last end of every human
being, is to discover the fact for himself, to
find out who he really is.” – Aldous Huxley

“It is only those who are in constant revolt
that discover what is true, not the man who
conforms, who follows some tradition. It is only
when you are constantly inquiring, constantly
observing, constantly learning, that you find
truth, God, or love.”- Jiddu Krishnamurti

poem: mindful, intentional, purposeful

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poem: mindful, intentional, purposeful

our presence deeply
touching the moment
beyond ego and selfishness

performing acts sacramentally
without attachment
to outcomes

interconnecting as One
in the flow
of all existence

manifesting equanimity of mind
healing inner fears
and worldly suffering

being holistically
body, mind, and spirit
in mutuality with the Cosmos

transforming personal self awareness
through dominant thinking to collective
Self realization of Spiritual Union

prepare
practice
participate

one turns around
receives the key
opens the door, enters

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
August 1, 2022

art image by Meghan Oona Clifford
‘Star Born’

poem: a Lenten blessing for personal and relational transformation for all

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poem: a Lenten blessing for personal
and relational transformation for all

in some shadowy Lenten corner of our
desert hearts, may we face all of our
small self-serving definitions of Creator God,
and the idols we erect and worship
of our hubris, conceit, and sentimentality

liberating our self from this wilderness,
following the Way of the Cross, as did Jesus,
the Universal Cosmic Christ, and resurrecting
into a more authentic becoming
with the Spirit

Creator God’s grace and love universally and
unconditionally given cannot sustain New Life
in an arid heart and wilderness mind,
the vine dies and fails to produce the
communal Fruit of Life

may the Divine Creator be the lotus flower
upon the throne of our heart chakra,
om manni padme hum, manifesting love,
grace, kindness, and compassion
to every corner of the Cosmos

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
March 9, 2022

images
Lotus heart chakra – unattributed
Open your heart, Paschima Namaskarasana,
Reverse Prayer Hands – unattributed

poem: the spiritual renaissance will not be social media-lized

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poem: the spiritual renaissance
will not be social media-lized 

the spiritual renaissance
will not be social-media-lized,
televised, publicized,
or evangelized 

the renaissance will occur
in the consciousness of humans,
in their mutual relationships,
together in authentic communities 

preparing, the mind in revolt
questions everything
we have been taught
by the oppressive, dominant culture 

practicing, turning within and opening
to the Dharma, the Universal Truth,
as expressed through one’s True Self,
one is transformed and transforming 

participating, our hearts open to Love,
no fear, no fences, no fooling,
eschewing power over control of others,
uniting together as One 

personal and collective consciousness
evolving to the Omega Point,
coalescing into neighborly communities,
walking one another home in True Belonging 

spiritual and human,
as above, so below,
biosphere, noosphere,
Cosmic consciousness, mystical union

Alpha and OmegaTat Tvam Asi, Thou Art That

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 30, 2021

image unattributed

Author’s note: The poem’s title is a play upon Gil Scott-Heron’s spoken word poem: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Scott-Heron was a soul and jazz poet, musician, and
author (1949-2011). The Omega Point is the name given by Pierre Tielhard de Chardin,
a Catholic priest and anthropologist (1881-1951), to the evolution of life in which
consciousness reaches a singularity event and we shift from a planet of biological life forms
to a planet of higher consciousness.)

poem: bringing Grace, Intent, and Will, to bear

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poem: bringing Grace,
Intent, and Will, to bear

open to the
Universal Divine Love
freely given
thus bringing Grace to bear

resolve to carry out
the actions needed to
effect Love’s outcome
thus bringing Intent to bear

directing energy
and awareness
to this end
thus bringing Will to bear

now being present with ‘what is’,
bringing Grace, Intent, and Will,
to bear, healings wholeness
courageously manifesting

be the practice; do the work

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
October 10, 2021

photo: unattributed

Author’s note: Supported Salamba
Matsyasana, or Fish Pose, opens the
chest and heart, and energizes the body,
as we open to further healing. Yoga is
an excellent holistic and healing practice
of the mind, body, and spirit. The Sanskrit
word ‘yoga’ means to yoke or to unite.
~Namaste~

poem: Autumn’s healing breath

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poem: Autumn’s healing breath

feeling the crisp, clean, chill bite
of early Autumn’s breath
on my skin

the sky a palette under a brilliant sun
tree leaves glisten high above
Earth is glowing

lips sigh, muscles unknot, heart lifts
my body, mind, spirit and
every cell of my body saying Thank You

Herb Stone
here&now working poetry
September 24, 2021

photos by author