Soul of Intention

[Guest guest]

Hi~~~~000ooo

Where do they go~~~~ those smoke-rings I blow~~~*

' Blowing smoke,' was a term used in the Navy to describe

someone who kept trying to impress others with his amazing

( phantom ) exploits, and 'Smoke Stacking,' was related to the

youngsters who pretend to be drunk on a single bottle of beer;

but not gracefully. ha!

Frances, the one who dances understood what I meant

in my 'Stoned' post, but then, she dances around the same tree

as me.

Whatever comes easy, is taken lightly, and it dissipates into thin

air like smoke on a windy day, it takes considable effort to master

something that lasts.

The greatest part of effort is the mystery of intention. When we

want to do something, we turn our hearts toward it and eventually

a path opens. Much of the preparation for inward work lies in

developing the intention to do it, making it more important than

going to a movie or being admired by our friends. It is not enough

to long for freedom---we must have a platform in daily life, a basis

for the change. Change itself is sudden, like harvest.

It is preparing the ground that takes time. ( I shall not drink the wine

before its time).

The first moment of turning toward integrity is important because

at the time, many of the elements of the journey are present in

embryo. If we are hasty or tardy, if we neglect some part of ourselves,

later we shall have to turn back for it. Acting with integrity serves

notice to the universe that we will not neglect the beautiful & practical

things we humans must do----the soul's task--- and at the same time,

that we trust in the mysterious unfolding of the Spirit.

The universe may bend toward us in invisible ways, but only if we love

the journey enough to persevere in the face of utter discourgement.

We walk and walk even though voices call to us from the road.

And we grow accustomed to the walking, which gathers to itself a soft

dream-like air. The Japanese word for a plain Zen monk is ' unsui,'

which means " clouds and water " ---for eventually we flow, passing

beyond intention, clinging to nothing while nothing clings to us.

As doubt gives way to effort, so effort gives way to non-effort, drifting

into what it has always longed for, what has always been the only way

forward, in the brightest times and in the darkness----Faith, ~~~

the traditional third leg of the cauldren appears, as the gift of Grace.

Regards

S.C.