August 26 2018 Pranams to Grandmother Lalla

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Grandmother Lalla,
With words to open the heart.
Chasing her – chase God.
💛 ✝️ 💛 ☪️ 💛 🕉 💛 ☸️ 💛 ✡️ 💛 ☯️ 💛

I have been hanging out with a saint.
The life and poetry of Lalla keeps running around and tearing though my life. In spare moments, I will pick up her book and I will read a page or two of her biography. In spare moments I will flip to one of her poems – then the simple clarity and beauty of the words carry me across the bridge.
Last night I woke over and over to find her running through the field of my heart. She would not let me sleep. She keeps pointing the way to the true heart. She keeps pointing the way to be love. Her hair flying wild like a nimbus around her head yet is she motionless. A paradox.
A fourteenth century Kashmiri mystic, a woman who broke all the morays of her society to travel the road of love. Her fortitude and bravery are astounding.
She has been called by many names: Lallesvari or Lalla Yogini by the Hindu, Lalarifa by the Muslim and then Lal Ded the local colloquialism. However, she called herself Lalla and this is how I most often think of her.

With gratitude for the words of Lalla that have come down to us through 700 years, bringing light to dark corners. 

💛 ✝️ 💛 ☪️ 💛 🕉 💛 ☸️ 💛 ✡️ 💛 ☯️ 💛

“I will refer to this mystic-poet by her most celebrated and nonsectarian appellation, ‘Lal ded’. In the colloquial, this means ‘Grandmother Lal’; more literally it means ‘Lal the womb’, a designation that connects her to the mother goddesses whose cults of fecundity and abundance form the deep substratum of Indic religious life. I will also use the name by which she is most popularly and affectionately known, across community line: Lalla.”

Ranjit Hoskote from the Introduction to I, LALLA page x

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Images of Kashmir – home to Lalla

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July 12 2018 POETRY - I didn't trust it for a moment - but - i drank it anyway

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Rising in morning
Heart expands with love to share.
We were born for this.
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Lalla a female mystical poet from 14th century Kashmir understands one of the reasons I write poetry: It opens doors inside of myself. Sometimes questions will be asked, I did not even know were waiting to be asked. It can also give answers, I did not know, before I saw the writing on the computer screen or the slip of paper penned by my own hand. The discipline I have given myself of putting the seed thought into haiku helps to bring an idea to the sharpness of a tiny focused point of light. Some of the things I have learned in this way have changed the focus, intention and direction of my life. The writing process can be that profound.
This direction of discourse reminds me of Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way. I read The Artist’s Way when it was first published a little over 20 years ago. A profound book on nurturing creativity, a core is ‘the morning pages’. Below is a link to writing ‘morning pages’. I will say – for me stream of ideas personally tends to not have negativity as Julia suggests is common. Related to negativity, on one hand, I can see the virtue of allowing the negative to come out – so you are aware of it. Ruminating, there may be a point to nip negative mindsets in the bud – put on your work shoes and take care of business – kicking self-pity to the curb – with compassion for the suffering self yet iron resolve to move in the direction of the light.

Returning again, to beautiful Lalla here are words from this 14th century Kashmiri mystical poet on writing poetry:

“I didn't trust it for a moment,
but I drank it anyway,
the wine of my own poetry
It gave me the daring to take hold of the darkness
and tear it down and cut it into little pieces.”

So, here is a suggestion; Give writing a try. It need not be poetry. Just pick up a pencil and begin to write. You will learn things both big and small. You may find, what you would really like to be doing with your spare time. You may learn, what is really important to you and you are more than willing to take a stand on. You may learn, that after so many years you still have dreams and goals to bring to fruition that you have yet began the deep work required to bring into light of day. You may like what you learn about yourself. You may see that there are aspects of the person you see when you look in the mirror that needs to change. The important thing is – once again you can see. Your personal writing has opened windows bringing in light filled life and vitality.
Then – at any time feel free to add – or perhaps even start with voice in song, painting, sewing, wood working, cleaning your home and work space with love – perhaps even cleaning and opening up your inner temple of light.

Like Lalla you may find – “the daring to take hold of the darkness and tear it down and cut it into little pieces.”

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Painting – A Girl Writing by Henriette Brown

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Julia Cameron shares - how to write MORNING PAGES;
http://juliacameronlive.com/basic-tools/morning-pages/
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