March 4, 2015 by IdealisticRebel

Eastern Thoughts

Many of us enjoy reading the poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Kabir and others. I always feel as if I have been in the presence of God. Whatever form of the Divine you follow, their words take us into his/her presence. This is the same kind of experience. I hope you can enjoy these beautiful Zoroastrian words.

In Thy image let me pattern my life, Oh Ahuramazda,

Let me awake with Thy name on my lips,

In my eyes let me ever carry Thy image,

To enable me to perceive Thee and

Thee alone in everyone else.

Let my mind never waver elsewhere except

to hold Thee in mind.

Let me ever sing songs of praise for Thee.

Let me dance with joy ever in Thy presence.

Let me await Thee patiently for Thy coming

Let that be my everlasting joy.

To be with Thee forevermore.

I await Thee, Thee and Thee alone.

I seek none but Thee.

I long for Thee, I yearn for Thee.

Bless me with Thy vision and let me hold

That enchanted Vision every in my memory,

To Thy Glory, Oh Ahuramazda.

Teach me to knock, teach me to sing, to clim

So that the door may open with sweet music,

That will lull me to the world of creation,

World of geniuses, who all sing one song,

the song of Praise to Thee.

Oh Ahuramazda, I long for Thee,

I await Thee in patience, when shall I perceive?

When shalt Thou bequeath?

I patience I kneel and bow.

I await in silence, in expectation.

Have mercy on this aching heart.

Transform me with Thy Divine Touch.

My aching heart calls out to Thee.

My anguish can only cease with Thy Divine Touch.

I await Thee, I surrender to Thee.

I look forward to They coming in silent meditation.

–A Zoroastrian Prayer which is recited before meditating

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The Dove of Peace.

October 19, 2014 by IdealisticRebel

The Heart of Mother Earth

At the heart of the landscape of Mother Earth, there is a feeling of belonging. Belonging is the basic truth of our existence. We belong here. Life belongs here. At the heart of gratefulness we also find an expression of belonging. When we say “Thank you” we really are saying “We belong together.” Many people don’t want to be connected or interdependent. Many of us don’t want to be obliged.

In a healthy society that is exactly what we seek: mutual obligations. Everyone is obliged to everyone and everything else, we all belong together, we are of each other. In this awareness we are freed from self’preoccupation—and only then, emptied of self, can we be filled with thanks.

” Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise—then you will discover the fullness of your life.” —Brother David Steindl-Rast

Within this human impulse to gratitude flows the vast cycles of universal reciprocity—for everything that is taken, something has to be given in return. You can’t merely breath in, or only breath out. Death would find you. Life is not giving or taking, but it is giving and taking.

Universal Belonging

We give away our thanks to the earth

which gives us our home.

We give away our thanks to the rivers and lakes

which give away their water.

We give away our thanks to the trees

which give away fruit and nuts…

All beings on earth, the trees, the animals, the wind

and the rivers give away to one another

so all is in balance…

—Dolores La Chapelle

I will sing of the well-founded Earth,

Mother of all, eldest of all beings.

She feeds all creatures that are in the world,

all that go upon the goodly land,

all that are in the paths of the seas,

and all that fly,

all these are fed of her store.

Hail Earth, mother of the gods,

freely bestow upon me for this my song

that cheers the heart!

—Homeris Hymns XXX, adapted by Elizabeth Roberts

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Awakening

in a moment of peace

I give thanks

to the source of all peace

as I set forth

into the day

the birds sing

with new voices

and I listen

with new ears

and give thanks.

You can see forever

when the vision is clear

in this moment

each moment

I give thanks.
—Harriet Kofalk

Morning Salutation

Smokey Mountains. Photographed and copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2010

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July 5, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

The Lord Be Praised

” The lips of the one I love are my perpetual pleasure:
The Lord be praised, for my heart’s desire is attained

O Fate, cherish my darling close to your breast:
Present now the golden wine-cup, now the rubies of those lips.

They talk scandle about us, and say we are drunks—
The silly old men, the elders lost in their error.

But we have done penance on the pious man’s behalf,
And ask God’s pardon for what the religious do.

O my dear, how can I speak of being apart from you?
The eyes know a hundred tears, and the soul has a hundred sighs.

I’d not have even an infidel suffer the torment your beauty has caused
To the cypress which envies your body, and the moon that’s outshone by your face.

Desire for your lips has stolen from Hafiz’ thought
His evening lectionary, and reciting the Book at dawn.”
—–Hafiz, Translated from Persian by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs

” The goal of the journeyer is the Beloved.
The goal of the Beloved is the journey.”
—-Hazrat Inayat Khan

“From my lips to God’s ears, ” May the love, gratutude, and ability to cherish the Divine flow freely from every molecule within us and reach you with the fragrance of love.

The love in the world rises to refresh and fragrance the realms of the Divine

March 11, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

The Art of Chanting

The secret of chant

The tree and sun connect us with Mother Earth and with the Divine

Joseph Campbell brought to light many years ago, the importance of ritual in the life of human beings. In his opinion, we all need rituals and I agree. Rituals may not be extremely structured and they may be performed every day at a certain time for many years. It has been an important aspect in my life to practice meditation, chanting and prayer.

From the Native American Indians to the Jews to the Buddhists, and Sufis and Muslims, there are practices which when done daily with ritual can keep us connected to our spiritual center and the path we choose to follow. There are some days you are centered and the praise, and the knowing flow between you and The One. My eyes are closed right now as I type and I can feel my center flowing words from my hands to this monitor. Watching the breath is another important practice as it keeps us balanced and within the perfect order.

The beauty of chanting is that it is very easy to reach a state of absorption. Your mind follows you into the chant and you become the chant. Chant evokes the living, vibrational reality of these core truths: devotion, stillness, praise, and oneness.

Radiating energy and light as you meditate or chant

” You’ve been walking the ocean’s edge,
holding up your robes to keep them dry.
You must dive naked under, and deeper,
a thousand times deeper…” ——Rumi

” This is how I would dive into the love I have for you: as pieces of cloud dissolve in sunlight.” —Rumi

Mirabi was a Hindu saint, who gave up her privileged life of wealth and ease to wander in search of the Hindu god, Krishna. She wandered from village to village barefoot singing, dancing nand chanting. When a seeker’s longing is pure, the Divine is always there.

” My friend, the stain of the Great Dancer has penetrated my body.
I drank the cup of music and I am hopelessly drunk.”
” And having tasted the nectar of God’s love, Mirabai is His forever:
Like a bee trapped for life in the closing of the sweet flower,
Mira has offered herself to her Lord.” —Mirabai

Cleveland skyland from Huntington Beach, west of the city.

Cleveland skyline from Huntington Beach, west of the city. Photography copyrighted by Barbara Mattio 2013

January 27, 2013 by IdealisticRebel

Praise for The Divine

The color of flowers

The Wild Rose of Praise

Those unable to grieve,
or to speak their love,
or to be grateful, those
who can’t remember God
as the source of everything.

Might be described as vacant wind,
or a cold anvil, or a group
of frightened old people.

Say the Name. Moisten your tongue
with praise, and be the spring ground,
waking. Let your mouth be given
its gold-yellow stamen like the wild rose’s.

As you fill with wisdom,
and your heart with love, there’s no more thirst.

There is only an unselfish patience
waiting on the door-sill, a silence
which doesn’t listen to advise
From people passing in the street.”
—Sanai

“Let the beauty we love be what we do.” —-Rumi

October 22, 2012 by IdealisticRebel

Being Human

Waves, Myrtle Beach, Photo by Barbara Mattio

Praise to You, O God,

Let us imagine a world without color, without regal red or leafy green, a world that bores the eye with grey

Praise to You, O God for all the colors in the rainbow, for eyes that are made for seeing, and for beauty that “is its own excuse for being.”

Let us imagine a world without sound, a world where deathly silence covers the earth like a shroud.

Praise to You, O God, for words that speak to our minds, songs that lift our spirits, and all those souls who know how to listen.

Let us image a world without order, where no one can predict the length of the day or the flow of the tide. Imagine a universe where planets leave their orbits and soar like meteors through the heavens, and where the law of gravity is repealed at random.

Praise to You, O God, for the marvelous order of nature, from stars in the sky to particles in the atom.

Let us image a world without love, a world in which the human spirit, incapable of caring, is locked in the prison of the self.

Praise to You, O God, for the capacity to feel happiness in another’s happiness and pain in another’s pain.

As the universe whispers of a oneness behind all that is, so the love in the human heart calls on people everywhere to unite in pursuit of those ideals that make us human.

As we sing of One God, we rejoice in the wonder of the universe and pray for that day when all humanity will be one.

–Rabbi Henry Cohen