One Reason...

 

Diane Leonard

One reason 

why it is so important 

to find our real selves

is that no one can hurt us. 

No one knows who we are.

Others can sec the outside 

but not the inside, 

the real self.

We must be individual, 

to make our souls strong. 

Your soul can make mine stronger, 

mine can make yours stronger.

Twenty strong people could change the world - 

pure, good, strong individuals. 

There could be peace, 

always peace and harmony 

if there were only twenty men 

who understood and practiced harmony.

~Rodney Collin, The Mirror of Light

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Evolution of Faith

AI - Gemini - Generated

"When I first came to this school 

Mervyn told me that faith was not required 

and this suited me as I had none 

that I could discern. 

The only requirement from him was to 

practice the exercise of 'Divided Attention'. 

This I was willing to do as I could 

verify it for myself and at that point in my life was not

willing to take anyone's word on 

what they called faith or belief. 

As the practice continued and I learned 

more from the teachings it led me to love/grace 

(mystical tradition) and I experienced states 

which connected to higher realizations, 

experiences happened because of the 

increase in knowledge, being and understanding. 

It created a stronger ability to withstand life 

and hold on to the state of self-remembering 

and in that state other mystical things can happen and 

we begin again at higher levels of consciousness 

as we proceed up the ladder of evolution, in my experience." 

~B

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Mervyn Reminded Us...

 

AI Generated

Mervyn reminded us often during meetings 

about the importance of crystallizing in our verifications. 

I see him gesturing with his hands in front of his chest 

as he mimes stringing single pearls onto a string, 

each one a verification.

Listening to Mervyn 

I remember being drawn to the image of a pearl. 

Mervyn described the great rarity 

of a single pearl's miraculous existence. 

It seemed impossible 

that what he described 

could be a pearl's path to creation, 

the irritation inside the oyster 

of many single grains of sand. 

I knew I would be home 

looking this image up later 

and departed easily from the I'd 

of my lunar fascination 

with facts and science 

because Mervyn was guiding the conversation 

along to the pearl's relevance to awakening 

and mechanical friction.

Why is the string of the necklace in my attention 

now after all these years?

The string must be strong and flexible 

and can be seen as the essential vehicle 

for the collection of verifications. 

It can be worn, 

and that distinguishes it from loose pearls 

in a collection box or bag. 

In this way it can be described as sacred 

because without these verifications 

Mervyn saw another path 

where we could lose the work.

Over time I understood that concepts can be verified. 

It starts with the question: 

How can I verify this? 

Then the journey begins. 

Life and the play 

provide answers in their own time.

Perhaps it is this questioning 

that is the invisible, yet essential, 

rigor required that strengthens the string, 

our being.

~M

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Dark Night Of The Soul...

 

 

Nicole Haimar

“Dark Night of the Soul

On a dark night,

Kindled in love with yearnings

—oh, happy chance!—

I went forth without being observed,

My house being now at rest.

In darkness and secure,

By the secret ladder, disguised

—oh, happy chance!—

In darkness and in concealment,

My house being now at rest.

In the happy night,

In secret, when none saw me,

Nor I beheld aught,

Without light or guide,

save that which burned in my heart.

This light guided me

More surely than the light of noonday

To the place where he (well I knew who!)

was awaiting me—

A place where none appeared.

Oh, night that guided me,

Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,

Oh, night that joined

Beloved with lover,

Lover transformed in the Beloved!

Upon my flowery breast,

Kept wholly for himself alone,

There he stayed sleeping,

and I caressed him,

And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.

The breeze blew from the turret

As I parted his locks;

With his gentle hand

he wounded my neck

And caused all my senses to be suspended.

I remained, lost in oblivion;

My face I reclined on the Beloved.

All ceased and I abandoned myself,

Leaving my cares

forgotten among the lilies.”

― St. John of the Cross

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On The Detour...

 

On the detour of seeking "perfection," 

there was a time in my life 

when I carried around inside myself 

a sense of shame that I was imperfect, 

that I made mistakes, 

that I couldn't get everything "just right." 

A very wise woman one day said to me 

"What right have YOU to be perfect?" 

And I thought about that deeply 

and how even my highest heroes had imperfections, 

and YES, those very flaws 

were what made them unique, human, personal. 

It was a Kairos moment for me. 

Giving up the HUBRIS 

of thinking I could be perfect. 

And yet there is something "perfect" 

which is willing to make its home in us, 

to grace us with miraculous happenings, 

if we can simply get these silly notions of "perfection" 

out of the way, 

that illusion that we can control everything (or ANYTHING!).

~J

https://linktr.ee/academyofeuropeanarts

I Often Think...

 

Vincent Van Gogh

I often think of a 'perfect day'. 

A day where I am present. 

A day where I accomplish tasks. 

A day where all is well and good. 

Funny, right? 

While that thought of a ‘perfect day’ 

still ruminates inside of me, 

I'm seeing more, 

and allowing for room for the unknown. 

For what is perfect? 

Is it even possible?

I think of Van Gogh 

and his paintings are NOT perfect. 

In fact, they are beautifully imperfect. 

And perhaps that is what makes them so powerful. 

I can see and feel him working out, 

working through some struggle in his painting. 

He's in the moment 

and grappling with all the imperfections.

~M

https://linktr.ee/academyofeuropeanarts

If I Can...

 

Caleb Friesen

"If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain".

~Emily Dickinson

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Returning to Myself

I could not remember my soul language, 

the higher reaching me, hydrogens collected, 

spaces of communion. I only know the struggle 

brought me back to you. The effort, the wish 

to remember was all it needed to respond 

with its brilliance. The universal you that is not I, 

it is all that is contained, holding space 

for us to exist in.

~ M

Inviting you to listen to the song 

of the Reed Flute, may it inspire your inner work.

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The Reed Flute Wailing

Only by listening to the plaintive cry of the reed-flute 

while reading Rumi's poem that I was truly able to understand it.

I invite you to press play on the audio below, read the verses 

slowly, and let the song of the reed speak directly to your own inner fire.

Play: LM Ayrogh Veuchtitz

Now listen to this reed-flute's deep lament,

About the heartache being apart has meant:

Since from the reed-bed they uprooted me,

My song's expressed each human's agony.

To share my deepest secret is what I seek with you:

When kept from their true origin, all yearn

For union on the day they can return.

Amongst the crowd, alone, I mourn my faith;

With good and bad I've learned to integrate.

That we were friends, each one was satisfied,

But none sought out my secrets from inside;

My deepest secret is this song I wail.

Body and ears can't penetrate the veil:

Body and soul are joined to form one whole,

But no one is allowed to see the soul.

It's fire, not just hot air, the reed-flute's cry;

If you don't have this fire, then you should die.

Love's fire is what makes every reed-flute pine,

Love's fervor lends potency to the wail of the flute.

The few who hear the truth the reed has sung

Have lost their wits so they can speak this tongue.

When you're with us, you're friend beyond compare.

While ordinary men on drops can thrive,

A fish needs oceans daily to survive.

The way the ripe must feel, the raw can't tell.

Unchain yourself, my son, escape its hold!

How long will you remain a slave of gold?

You've tried to fit the sea inside a jug;

Shells only grow pearls when they are content.

Be joyful, Love, for sweetest bliss is you.

Love wants its tail to be told to everyone.

- Rumi

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Developing an Inner Taste

Gemini AI Generated Image

“As we progress in the work, we began

to develop inner taste, an inner sense or 

faculty that makes us realize when 

we are negative or identified.

By inner taste you can recognize that 

you are lying or in a negative state 

without difficulty, although you are justifying 

yourself and protesting you are not. 

Here the whole thing turns upon whether 

you possess inner sincerity or not. 

If not, then best to give up the work. 

Inner taste can be said to be the faint beginning 

of Real Conscience, because it is something 

that recognizes the quality of one's inner state. 

Self-observation and inner taste are not the 

same but my coincide. The more you understand 

the work, the more it is arranged rightly in your 

mind and its meaning seen, the more does it 

pass into Real Conscience. It is sometimes said that 

if we had Real Conscience the war would be 

unnecessary for we would know it already. “

Maurice Nicoll, Commentaries, 

“Concept of Conscience in the Work,” 

July 16, 1941, volume 1, page 41

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Thank You...

 

Ilaria Arpino

Thank you 

for the beautiful quote of Mervyn. 

I love the simplicity, 

the instruction on how to establish the relationship with God, 

“To talk to your Soul, Love or God, 

first be quiet and still". 

I also love "the Gods will communicate in their own way, 

embrace it". 

Reminds me of a time 

where I was so low in hydrogens, 

feeling so abandoned in a church. 

I knelt down and prayed for a hug. I got up, 

turned around, a homeless man was behind. 

He asked for a dollar. 

I gave it to him, 

and he threw himself on my shoulders and hugged me. 

Not the way I imagined. 

But the shocked lifted my hydrogens, 

reminded me I was in the presence of the highest, 

and had responded. 

The moment still feeds me. 

~T

https://linktr.ee/academyofeuropeanarts

I Am...

 

"I am the vine,   you are the branches;

he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit"

~Jesus of Nazareth  

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My Machine...

 

AI Generated

My machine was looking for a perfect scenario. 

Even sitting outside while I’m on this meeting, 

a few so called imperfections. 

And somehow, I remembered this is the place to work. 

Here and Now with ALL AND EVERYTHING. 

Imagination is such a clear check if I’m working or not.

Today is Kathryn Hulmes birthday, 

and she has been helping me tremendously in the work recently. 

She was a student of Gurdjieff. 

And I recently read this excerpt that pertains to imagination. 

Another student named Wendy 

just received a toast from Gurdjieff 

and she responds: 

“I hope I fulfill your wishing Mr. Gurdjieff”. 

And he says “Not hoping…he picked her up quickly 

“Hope in my opinion is an evil thing, 

is why man is nearly not man any longer. 

Man must  use what he has, 

not hope for what is not!”

And the way I digested this thus far, 

is use what is Here Now. 

That is the most important thing. 

It is a thin line. 

Imagination is always looking to take our Attention. 

That’s why it is so useful to keep returning to it. 

And I will conclude 

with what Jeanne de Salzmann keeps reminding me. 

Not to be at war with myself or imagination, 

but don’t let all my attention be taken by any of it. 

~S

https://linktr.ee/academyofeuropeanarts

On The Detour...

 

Sharon Cummings

On the detour of seeking "perfection," 

there was a time in my life 

when I carried around inside myself 

a sense of shame that I was imperfect, 

that I made mistakes, 

that I couldn't get everything "just right." 

A very wise woman one day said to me 

"What right have YOU to be perfect?" 

And I thought about that deeply 

and how even my highest heroes had imperfections, 

and YES, those very flaws were what made them unique, 

human, personal. 

It was a Kairos moment for me. 

Giving up the HUBRIS of thinking I could be perfect. 

And yet there is something "perfect" 

which is willing to make its home in us, 

to grace us with miraculous happenings, 

if we can simply get these silly notions of "perfection" 

out of the way, 

that illusion 

that we can control everything (or ANYTHING!).

~J

https://linktr.ee/academyofeuropeanarts