For our talking circle Monday morning following the ceremony, I posed the question "what's next" brought into the Silverton memorial by Lois McKenzie, giving us food for thought and an important jumping off place with regard to our sharing as the talking stick was passed... where to take the important gifts and contributions David brought to each of our lives... and the work/play we carry forward from here. In Monday's circle, our stick was to go around twice with this as the question for the second pass, the first being a "present-moment" weather report. Our first round showed the deep longing in everyone's hearts to share and grieve, and it went the full 3 hours blocked out for it. That of course meant that the second round got eliminated and I posed the question for people to ask each other and witness the answers over lunch.
The note pasted below came in today from Linda Weber). She took the question to heart and sent her thoughts in for all to appreciate. Send yours in too if you feel led. In heart, Ananda
What's Next? by Linda Weber, Boulder
What’s next? I ask upon returning from the memorial in Yosemite. Resting in the grief of the moment, I am getting ready to join with my Boulder sangha for the local memorial celebration for David, which will be held on Saturday, September 12.
But my question is about the larger future, because to honor David and his work I must enter the rest of my life and work with even clearer intention and attention, and approach everything and everyone with strong and gentle heart and mind. I am aware of a most unbreakable bond between us and of the mostly wordless communication we had for 25 or so years. And now, too, there is communication, but I have to get used to the language, which is different with his passing.
My grief is my guide. Each morning it brings me to an inner confrontation with the reality of this time, and reminds me to be with the all of it. Sadness swirls and merges with deep respect and love. I bow. I vow. To reach for all that is possible in this lifetime and to surrender to the flow. To do this with my feet on the ground and my eyes and heart open to receive whatever instructions there are for me. I will do my best to carry on, holding all that is to come with gratitude for all that has been given.
I just read the “what next” question and wanted to share a listening I did over the weekend, with the intention of connecting to what might be coming through David’s field, if at all that was possible. I was drawn to the same area where I’d done all of my other listening for David. I felt tuned into him, not asking any particular question, but waiting to see what arose. Here is the writing:
ReplyDeleteHow can I expand?
The eagle has flown
The dance has begun
The great kachinas are on the mountain, holding the medicine for the world.
Do not look for ways to serve yourself.
Tend your body as a temple,
But then open its doors
Wide, and invite the world in.
The light you have seen
when you were with me is
not my light. It is the light
that penetrates all darkness.
To see it, you must close your
Eyes, and bury your old self and old ways.
Then, practice seeing the world
As a playground for the Spirit.
When you play in the Light of
Consciousness, it reveals its
Subtle nature to you.
So play with art, with water,
With pencils and pens,
Play with children and
Sand and clowns.
When you need me, I am here
Not as you knew me,
Think of me as the man
Who has joined with the
Eagle Spirit. His crown
Is bejeweled with the joy
Of ten thousand light beings.
…
As these words came, the faces appearing were of great, child-like joy, and at one point an eagle dancer showed up. These last lines cracked open my heart, because I knew him to be in the light. So incredibly bright, beyond the light we can ever know--and so full of delight. I thought this would be a “goodbye” writing, but when I heard “I am here,” I broke apart in gratitude! He has become a spirit guide, no question in my mind now.
Love (Anonymous)