Poetry, Philosophy, Teachings, and Musings may be found.. Right Here, Right Now
A compilation of my humble writings. Enjoy!
True Love:
All beings are born with True Love in their heart
It is the same True Love in all beings.
It isn't a matter of choice
It doesn't come in and out of fashion
Nor is it effected by belief
It is not diminished by confusion
Nor is it augmented by experience.
It is not created and can never be destroyed.
This is a Love beyond time, birth and death, and any cause or condition.
This True Love has no opposite, therefore it's employment makes one from the many
How we polish our selves is how we allow our True Love, our Truth, our birthright, our Gift to shine.
Excerpt From: Chris Luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.”
In letting go of the love we feel for the experience of "I", we allow the space we need to learn what true Love is. Not love as a sentiment, but the Love at the heart of creation, which lies beyond concepts entirely.
“Today I breathe in gratitude
For the gift of this precious human body
For the miracle of awareness
For the amazing opportunity to perceive
Such a world
Rich with infinite beauty, dazzling in its vast
Palate of color. Stunning in the sheer infinite
Possibility of it all
And it all arises and falls effortlessly
In the timeless awareness that I am. That we
All Always Already are.
Today I breathe in gratitude"
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks
“When we label, verbalize, and or define the world around us, we freeze our surroundings into concepts. We do this habitually in an attempt to protect ourselves from the natural state of impermanence. Because the natural state of impermanence frightens us so, we want to experience our world as static and permanent. In reality, permanence exists no where but in the imagination of humans. Thus, due to our fear of death, we do not experience the world as it is, but rather, as we wish it to be. If we can drop the incessant labeling (thoughts) we may begin to see the world as the stunningly transient, shimmeringly vibrant, life force. Overflowing with abundance, brimming over with Love.
“ Think about how often we define ourselves. If someone asked me who I am, I might respond “I am a musician, an avid meditator, I’m in this particular type of relationship, a fitness enthusiast, etc.” This is all fine and a functional part of socializing. The problem comes when I believe these defining qualities to be more than just a convention of society. When I believe these defining qualities to actually be who I am. If I define myself as a professional musician, then in my mind springs forth dozens of qualities which I would have to adhere to in order to satisfy that role. I wouldn't be able to seek other employment, or I might have to dress in a particular way, or limit myself to listening to certain types of music, or restrict my free time to several hours of practice a day. If I define myself as a Buddhist, then as a result of that definition I have cut myself off from hundreds of spiritual practices and traditions. I might then feel that I have to then meditate rather than study a christian gospel, or chant rather than use a centering prayer, all due to self definition rather than what might be most helpful or appropriate at the time. If I define myself as a pacifist, then I will be paralyzed or at best very ineffective if I was put in a situation where violence was necessary. If I define myself as a teacher, then being a student may become very challenging, thus limiting my capacity for learning. We can easily begin to see here how self-restrictive our own thought process can be. We become prisoners trapped in a cage of our own mental labels. What happens if I can successfully dis-identify with these labels? What happens if I can strip away these self imposed definitions which once gave me freedom, but now enslave me so? The ground drops away, the cage becomes lifted, the chains fall off, and suddenly I can be so much more. No longer just a musician, I can seek out other skills or life experiences which I may find equally enjoyable. I am free to explore other paths. No longer just a Buddhist, suddenly every spiritual path applies to me, and I can draw wisdom from all the great seers and sages from every spiritual tradition. No longer a pacifist, I can protect myself and loved ones if the occasion should present itself. No longer a teacher, I can more easily be a student of life. ”
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
“ Souls recognize each other by feel, not by thought.
When we learn the truth of this statement, we can stop objectifying our fellow humans. This is so because the beauty inherent in the soul is far more beautiful that the flesh, and once we objectify a fellow human, be it for sexual gratification, racism or sexism, selling items such as perfume, jewelry, music, food or drink, we steal away our fellow human's humanity. Habitually, we draw an imaginary line between our self (Typically inside our skin) and other. We then appropriate all consciousness for ourselves. This habit stops us from recognizing the soul in others. The consciousness in others. When we steal humanity away from our fellow human beings in such a way, violence, racism, sexism, slavery, murder, adultery, and many other illnesses of the human race are borne. But in the simple act of recognizing the light of humanity behind the smile of a stranger, the light of spirit within the laughter overheard in a crowd, or by being the comforting presence of compassion for someone in pain, or just by simply recognizing a fellow human's humanity, we can eventually heal these wounds.”
“The verbal mind provides us with a screen through which we see the world. This is the screen of beliefs, logic, opinions, judgements, boundaries, and labels. We are all born into a world where we are given this screen. This screen is what makes the world a world of “Original Sin” as the Bible calls it. Speaking metaphorically, when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge, we were destined to be born into a world where this “screen of separation” would be inevitable, because the “tree of knowledge” gave humanity the power to discern between opposites: useful vs. non-useful, up vs. down, evil. vs. good, etc. This ability to choose and discriminate separates us from whatever we are experiencing by labeling or judging the experience. When we rest in silence and just experience whatever is arising, this screen of separation falls away, and we become much more intimate with our experience. More intimate with life. This is so because we begin to see the world the way it is presented in nature. The world as it exists without, prior to, and above thought.”
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
“Love is the Absence of Judgement
Fear is the Absence of Love”
These two sentences have been a mantra for my practice in the past year or so. The more I meditate on these phrases, the deeper they seem to reach.
The Love that is being referred to here could be a romantic love. Certainly a romance free from judgement would be ideal. But perhaps this "absence of judgement" could be applied to every relationship. Applied to our relationship with life itself. What would our life feel like if we applied this type of Love to whatever form arises in the present moment?
Fear is the Absence of Love. This may also be applied to a romantic love. For certain, in the moments that I have experienced fear of a partner, my love for that person was greatly overshadowed. Greatly eclipsed by that fear.
But what about applying this fearlessness to our relationship with life? Our relationship to the present moment? If there is fear of an experience which is arising, it seems very difficult to love the form presented. The form which we are fearing. Perhaps then, we must welcome in the fear and the form together. Become comfortable with our fear, rather than falling into a reactive pattern and somehow dissociate or otherwise numb out so we don't feel the fear.
Love so that the two become one. Love that dissolves seer and seen into one experience. Most people have had a taste of this type of Love. Looking at a beautiful sunset, listening to an outstanding piece of music, or in the rapturous height of lovemaking, we fall out of the judging mind and the fearful mind...we loose thought entirely and unite with the very experience itself. No judgement. No fear.
Fear and judgement separate us from our life. If we can rest in the silence that exists prior to fear. Prior to judgement. Then love arises spontaneously in each moment naturally. Like water cascading down a brooke.
So the challenge becomes: Can we embrace the present moment? Not just the moments that seem agreeable to our wants, needs, desires, or personal agendas. No. Embrace the moment regardless of the forms contained within it.
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
“ In fact, without thought is the only way to submit to Love. As soon as we try to think our way through Love, we loose the experience. For it is the very act of thinking which separates us from what we are experiencing. "Love so that the two become one" Said Jesus. In that, the experience and the experiencer unite. No lover and beloved. Only Love arising.”
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
“ It is unfortunate in todays climate in America. The amount of fear there is for the "other" Right now the "other" often takes the form of Muslim. People forget that the great poets Rumi and Hafiz were Muslim, and the very profound Sufism, which holds peace and love at its very core, is a branch of Muslim belief. The "other" used to be the Russians, Before that, Vietnamese. Before that, the Japanese. Before that, Germans. We won't wake up from this pattern of projecting the fear of "other" until we recognize that there is no 'other." That there is only "We" One race, One planet, One Love.”
Excerpt From: chris luard. “Such Sweet Thunder.” iBooks.
