Today's theme was Transcendence.
Neesa began with some breathing exercises from the Sufi tradition.
The Earth breath: in and out through the nose
The Water breath: in through the nose, out through the mouth
The Fire breath: in through the mouth, out through the nose
The Air breath: in and out through the mouth
Unity: natural breathing
On the in breath we concentrated on the words "Ya shafi", Divine Healer, and on the out breath "Ya Kafi", Divine Remedy, as we let go of any thoughts or feelings we wished to release.
Then we spoke a Hindu greeting, "I honour the place in you where the entire universe dwells, I honour the place in me where the entire universe dwells. Namaste, namaste, namaste."
Beth led two songs, "Peace I give to you", where we moved gently around the room and greeted each other with the Namaste gesture (a bow with hands together) while singing.
Peace I give to you, I give you my peace.
Peace I give to you, I give you my peace.
Let it flow to one another, let it flow, let it flow.
Let it flow to one another, let it flow, let it flow.
(Repeat with Hope, Joy, Love).
The second song was a simplified version of the Peace Prayer Mandala, which is a chant in seven parts, each from a different tradition. The full version is:
Om mani padme hum (Buddhist, the jewel in the lotus)
La ilaha il allah hu (Islamic, there is no god but God)
Shanti, shanti (Hindu, peace)
Shalom (Jewish, peace)
Gloria in excelsis deo (Christian, glory to God in the highest)
Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter Kali, Inanna (Feminine traditions, names of the goddesses)
Oh, great Spirit, earth and sky and sea, you are inside and all around me (Earth based traditions)
(Today we just sang the Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish and Earth traditions parts).
Then Peter read his wonderful poem, "In And Out Of Life And Death":
I stand tall at the top of a great mountain,
The air is a great blanket for life’s breathing.
I stand small in a forest of trees.
The earth is the soft rich bed life rests upon.
I have a home here.
The air is dancing with butterflies wings;
My part in creation makes me sing
In a sounding bowl of bones;
Flesh grows on me like leaves.
Many lifetimes rise and fall like breaths;
As one ends I feel life inside me ready for more,
Behind me and before me they go,
A thread running in and out of space and time.
Out of the past I walk blindly into the future;
Out of troubles I come, going on into more.
At the edge of the unknown I stand
Watching the moon rise out of the night,
Beneath a dome of stars, learning something about infinity.
My heart grows large and loud with fear;
My will says leave the troubles to their time;
My soul listens, writes poetry, and sighs.
Whatever I experience I learn, whatever I learn I become;
Whatever I become I am, whatever I am is all I can be.
The next step is always unknown;
The net of knowledge woven laboriously disappears like smoke
As I go out of the dark into the dawn
And out of the dawn into the dark.
What I have become survives.
Somehow each day is over before it’s begun;
Death is the measure of things,
Of what I have become.
I return to it quietly;
I return from it as a child
Crying out my pain and my joy.
Eve's activity was to draw, write and make a gesture inspired by our thoughts of Transcendence, to the accompaniment of chimes and singing bowl. We put our pictures around the central space (a beautiful decoration of autumn leaves) and each lit a candle, then stood around in a circle and shared our words and gestures.
Then Neesa led a dance "I am alive":
Lai la lai lai lai, I am alive,
Lai la lai lai lai, I am alive,
I am alive
And who is this aliveness that I am?
Could it be the holy, blessed one?
(Have a look at it being performed in this Youtube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ure-ZkiOM6U )
Jehanne (singing on her own in Rob's absence this week) gave us two songs, and Irish one and an unaccompanied song "Thistledown".
Next meeting will be the 14th November, and we will be in a smaller room, just opposite our usual location. The theme will be "The dark night of the soul".
