I heard this song many times performed by Skye, daughter of Wayne Dyer in his PBS lecture "The Power of Intention". It is an amazing show and I never get bored to watch the long show.

Dear DK, thanks for posting these lyrics and my best wishes to you and family.

fres

Dear DK,

I looked up the story of St. Francis of Assisi on the Wikepedia pages. This story reminds me a lot of that of the Buddha, as do other stories of great men in the past.

I wonder, all those stories about men, how many stories about and poems would there have been of women if they weren´t (deliberately) pushed a step lower than originally intended?

Genesis: the Gen of Isis, the Mother Goddess of Eternal Mother.

"The Cup Of Magdalen

So like green corn bending
St. Mary of Magdala carried
The Holy Seed of Wisdom,
Sophia`s quickening, nurtured
At her breast.

For in so loving the world,
God sent a gentle Light
To shine within the darker
Womb-space of time eternal
Until each soul dares to claim
It as their own."

Dear D.K.,

Wasn't it Lao Tzu who said, on his deathbed,

"Just this...this is all there is."???

Tat Tvam Asi, Thou Art That...am I this or that?

Assasi, a Christian, speaks of the seeming dualistic

nature of Nature and Reality in true dogmatic fashion.

First, Light was seperated from the Dark.

Didn't this have to happen at the beginning(or non)?

I don't know that Oneness is possible.

Awareness, without the Other, is hardly Creative.

Here, without There, makes no sense to me. So...

.

Which came first, This or That?

I believe This was in The Beginning.

Then...where was That? Following This!

This is brand new.

This is younger than That.

Where is That now?

It grew and transformed into This.

So then That became This and no longer exists.

Now see This...in a mirror, That is you.

Now know This...with no mirror, you are This.

You wonder...how can That be?

You ponder...This is all That is?

I only know This...This very moment.

I never really knew That well.

I cannot wish for This to become That.

I wish That could come with me,

Then This would be better than That!

This is all That was, is and ever will Be.

Me2

St. Francis is to Christianity what Gandhi is to Hinduism. St. Francis is my hero! O yeah! When I first read about him; I mean, he lived exactly what I understand Christianity to be!

Stigmata!

Peace

TO THE FOLLOWERS OF HIS HOLINESS SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI

Your prayers to God will go
unanswered, as there is no God
and if there is, he heeds no prayers.

if there is hate or wrongness ,he cannot
help you with love or forgiveness, do not
bother him he’s busy doing other things.

don’t ask him of hope, harmony, truth or faith,
he gave you life on this beautiful Earth,
isn’t that not enough for you,

you imploring sissy saint?
live your life in peace and happiness;
why do you bother him for little things?

you beg him for light and happiness,
for comfort and understanding,
and again for love and forgiveness.

shame again on you, you beggar holy saint.
if you are lazy, dumb and a sloth,
and can’t handle your own things,

don’t go on begging God for favors
he has on his mind many grand things.
If you’re so desperate and helpless.

you can’t live the life God gave you,
he can spare your misery; go kill
yourself and awaken to Eternal Life.

whitewings.sulekha.com

#2 Mieke, good point!! How many women, as wise and poetic in words as reknowned men; have been put assunder, because of gender inequality?

One of my poems I'd like to share:

FOR SHAME, YOUNG HEART!(DDS-10-1994)

For shame,
young heart;
to deceive thine own bearer,
as such;

to tangle her thoughts
as clouds;

drifting, changing;

roaming endlessly,

through time.

Ravi! Blasphemer! Thou shalt eternally suffer in the deepmost pits of fiery perdition! Darest thou blaspheme St. Francis!!!!!!

Ooooo: Solomon's wicked 72, I summon thee . . .

to Ravi hie thee away; avaunt, avaunt nefarious ones!

hmmmmm (are they there yet Ravi?)

Let me see here, where is that darned incantation at . . .

Fine, you're lucky my Linda has my books gosh darn it . . .

I admire St. Francis of Assisi more than pray "to him" for help. Same goes for our perception of godness.

WE know, god is within ourselves; we ARE the God-I AM!! We know this, as 8 out of 10 other people do as well.

However, it is difficult not to give due praise and admiration to St. Francis.. for his determination to remain untouched by temptations and personal desires; for the greater cause of inner peaceful contemplation in harmonious ONEness with nature... is commendable!!

I have been blessed with moments such as placidness and tranquility; and equally have had my share of sorrow and pain...

Sometimes though.. when the storm is greater than our body; and the task far obscured from our perceptive view of clarity; it is rather nice, to read the aspiring words of men such as St. Francis..

and my favorite female poet.. since I was young.. Elizabeth Barrette Browning!! A woman, before her time... at a time, when women were denounced as equal "beings" she secretly fed her "knowledge" with opportunity via books! : )

Hi North,

Thanks for your above poem. I enjoyed other´s from you that are as good as this one :)

I looked up the biography of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. At first sight: her picture reminds me of Barbara Streisand. I love Streisand´s poetic songs.

Hereunder a small poem of Elizabeth:

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints!---I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!---and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death."

:)

And here one of my own:

Spiritual Ecstasy

It seems i do not need any drugs
to feel whole and truly loved
when i am drowned into your hugs
is feel so special, so beloved
You are so kind and unconditional
i am accepted just by being there
that means that i always feels so special
it makes me feel that i am everywhere
cause always in your embracing arm
there will never be any harm
coming to me of that i´m so sure
that is why i feel so secure
the Lord is my saviour i know of no lack
and i am his forever without any backtrack

Dear DK and all,

I love that prayer of St Francis. My experience with that prayer was one of my first experiences with meditation. Years ago I memorized it and used to repeat it daily off and on like a mantra and then repeat it as I fell asleep. As time passed different passages of the prayer would draw me in and bring up intense and beautiful emotions for me.

I don't really even know that much of the story of St Francis life except that from what I understand he was controlled by his vices until he had some sort of awakening and chose to live for others. I think he embodied the prayer that is attributed to him. During the time I first began reciting his prayer I found a garden statue of St Francis that I bought for our yard. At that time, and even still, it brings me comfort to look at it because it reminds me of what the prayer expresses and the qualities St Francis chose to embody, qualities available to us all.

Love, Kristin

HI Mieke, thank you! EB Browning was a woman born, before her time; thanks for posting her "How Do I Love Thee-Let Me Count the Ways" poem! I completely enjoyed yours as well.. there is something so complete.. in poetry; like as if thoughts are encircled with clarity.

EB Browning:

"and I laughed aloud, with such surprise, to see the flowers, touch the skies!"

with loving kindness,
North

There is something rather odd with hyphenated religions. I mean, we constantly hear of Judeo-Christian values, but we never hear of Hindu-Christian, Islamo-Christian, Islamo-Judeo, Hindu-Judeo, etc., etc., values. I wonder why?

There is no other religioin in the world, that I know of, that accepts the cornerstone of Christian theology as true, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and in fact Mohammedans, in contrast to Judaists, at least accept Jesus as a prophet, actually, Christianity seems rather Zoroastrian in our 'good' versus 'evil' approach . . .

So, one has to wonder how the hyphenated religion of 'Judeo-Christian' came about . . .

Jesus is homoousios
Man can become homoiousios

I have my theories, but, I just thought I would 'through this out there' to the intentblog gang.

Peace

Hi empyrius,

Every religion is the same, at the base. For that i refer you back to the book of Deepak about Life after death:

"The divine plan is life itself. It includes all creatures in their proper place. The proper place for humans is first, in eternity and second, here on earth. Death, like the pause between two breaths, is how you cross from one home to the other."

Jesus was a "person" that received the Christ consciousness.
Buddha was a "person" that received the Buddha consciousness.
Mary Magdalene was a "person" that received the Christ consciousness

In fact Jesus and Mary received it together. If you talk about homoiousios, then this holy trinity is not Father, Son and Holy Ghost, but Father, Mother, son (or daughter :)).

We give life to our children and thusfar evolution shows us that every generation improves and we all carry this improvement in our "blood" or "genes" or in the quantum soup or (Akasha) field or noösphere or Matter of Spiritual Category or whatever, from which we time after time arise again.

Anyway this is only my simple view on it.

Buddha consciousness or Christ consciousness, it is the same.
As a child you have it unconsciously, as you grow up you will have to gain it back, consciously. This is what life is all about.

Hope you will not consider this "rubbish" :)

Am looking forward to your views.

Rubbish? Mieke please sis! You always got good stuff to read, and I always appreciate your writings. O yeah! Actually, a little earlier I was composing a little something for you, and then it became like really complicated, not really a rebuttal or anything, but just kind of something concerning some of Deepak's books I felt compelled to elaborate upon; so I will have to work on this little project . . .

And I just got an e-mail from the library saying it is now my turn to check out 'Life after Death,' alas I will not be able to pick it up until Tuesday . . .

So . . .

I can't wait!

Peace

Enjoy the book!

Thanks, :)

GOING WITH THE GUILT

What am I making up for?
Am I making up for last Thursday
when that Indian restaurant closed just as we were walking in?
But I didn’t actually promise.
I only said I’d try.
Breaking a promise to a kid is the sadest thing you can do but I didn’t break and
I didn’t promise.

Am I making up for not earning a living?
But it’s been proven already, the plight of the artist in society?

Am I making up for that rejection letter?
But I didn’t write that rejection letter.

Or is it that gymsuit?
That afternoon I got my mother to let me stay home from school because
I couldn’t find it?
But I really DIDN’T feel well.
And I had just gotten over a kidney infection.
And all I did was stay in bed. I didn’t ask for juice or anything.

Am I making up for Barbara’s sprained ankle?
True, she sprained it on my swing.
But I didn’t buy that swing..
And it wasn’t my idea to make fun of her because her mother wheeled her
around in the baby carriage.
It’s was Mattie’s idea and I said no many times before I said yes.
But I didn’t say yes for long.
And I was only four.
And maybe it didn’t really happen.

Am I making up for being born?
I should have known a good thing when I had it.
If I was really a poet, I’d’ve never taken that first step.
I’d’ve never begun weaving that terrible tangled web and practicing to deceive.
But I had no choice.
I was getting bigger.
I would have hurt her.
Besides, I did try to stay.
For thirty-two hours I tried to stay.
And it did hurt her.

Or am I making up for when half of me was an egg
when just before I left the sac I told my unripened sister, “Ha ha, I get to
go first”?
But I had no choice.
All those little sperm were calling me.
If I’d’ve refused I’d be dead.

Am I making up for being Marie Antoinette?
For saying “let them eat cake”.
But I had a different mind.
That’s why, even further back, I was Cleopatra.
That’s why I could sit on the couch all sexy and useless and not be a radical feminist.

Am I making up for being Eve?
But that apple would’ve been hanging there throughout all eternity.
Certainly i would have grabbed it sooner or later.
And maybe I did grab it later rather than sooner.

Or am I making up for when I was God?
But I didn’t say there HAD to be light; I only said LET there be light.
Besides, there’s still plenty of dark left.

Or am I making up for when I was the Big Bang?
Did I make too much noise? Did I wake anybody up?

Or am I making up for things I WILL do?
For the ideas I’ll get on my deathbed -- “Quick, get a pencil,” I’ll go. “But
aren’t your last words for me?” Jeff’ll ask.
Or much later, when one of my great-great-great-grandchildren grows into
a murderer or a conservative?

Original Sin, Final Sin, what the shit am I making up for?
What have I really done that’s any worse than what anybody else has done?
What have I done wrong besides the usual mistakes that everybody makes?
What have I done that wasn’t deemed by fortune?

Come on, now, let’s be serious. Or rather, let’s be silly.
Stop this nonsense and run, don’t walk. Take the money and run
to the nearest thrift store.
Go buy yourself four silly hats and three big bagfuls of the sloppiest goppiest jeans
the Mexican-est Guatemalen-est embroidered-est top.
Buy out the store. Buy out the block. Buy out the town.
THAT”ll give you something to make up for.

~Marion Cohen

Hello DK:
I was in Assissi last October and what a beautiful, peaceful place! From the minute we landed there, there were messengers (in the guise of young Indian men) who helped us find our hotel and bearings.
Just read your bio and I think I would love to send you the Multicultural Calendar that I have been publishing for the past 16 years. Every year I choose a theme that shows our connectedness as a human race and do all the paintings. Just opened an office in UK 2 years ago. The website is www.multiculturalcalendars.com. If you will send me an address, I would love to send you one with my compliments.
There is much you will be contributing to this planet in this lifetime and your journey has already begun.
Sheena