Stand by Me

SoundBites from the Still Point: Stand By Me

Stand by me

Reading time less than 90 seconds.   Contemplation for a lifetime

_____________________________________________________________

More often than not, words do not reach what poetry or music touch.  Recently, one of my better friends sent a link this song, “Stand by Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM (Click on the link and the video will play or paste it into your browser) As I listened to the music, watched these incredible musicians and listened to the message in the song, something near miraculous moved into the deeper parts of me.  Perhaps the movement stirred places in the soul because much of the song reflects the severity and exquisite beauty of indigenous people across the world.  Perhaps it is because so much of this reflects the reality of South Africa where my daughter lives, or because the song addresses the profound longing in the heart that America for a sense of peace and meaning.  In this interview with Bill Moyers, Mark Johnson describes the ten year process of creating this album Playing for Change and his inspiration to unite the world through music.. (This link is an interview with Bill Moyers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHU0BTGHe3g&feature=related) and in and of itself deserves your time.

It is not merely the lyrics or the melody that is so transformative, but the heart and spirit Mark Johnson responded to that provides the inspiration and hope in these very hard times.   Please take the time to let this music sing in the bones, then listen again and let it dissolve what stands between you and others, and resolve with me to Stand together. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us-TVg40ExM

________________________

The Stillpoint of Being describes the point of consciousness where, completely connected to the sacred center of life, pure awareness replaces thinking, the frenetic activity of the mind quiets, emotion ceases to dominate our inner experience, and we rest in the calm expansion inherent when the soul of the world carries us.  To live in the wholeness of the moment requires our skill to recognize when we’ve left the present in favor of living in the pain or nostalgia of the past, the fear or hope of the future, or in stories of what we think others think about us.

By David Bryen.  For more information contact: (503) 644 1027).

The Man Loves the Wine She Serves Through Her Body http://www.davidbryen.com

-          – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - – - -

David Bryen MA

www.StillPointServices.com

david@davidbryen.com

 

Disrobing

Disrobing

I love the Heron’s knowledge that its

momentary dance across

the water is reason enough for the lake to

calm itself into mirror.

I love the way she sits and waits until

the fish cease jumping

the breeze quiets

and gravity settles the water.

When the world has suspended all else

she unfolds her wings

and all those who have readied themselves

see the two graces flying.

I love the extravagant disrobing of the Heron,

fluid and abundant over night calmed water,

this pride in giving unobstructed

access to her delicate moon formed treasure.

It is enough to see it once

and I will gladly spend the rest of my life

here at the water’s edge

David Bryen

 

Curators of Consciousness

SoundBites from the Still Point #36 Curators of Consciousness

December 3, 2008

Curators of Consciousness:  How should we then live?

A house of cards collapsed somewhere between here and the summer of 2008.  The seeds of this collapse were evident to me during the election of Al Gore and George Bush in 2000.  Watching the incompetency of our country to properly elect the highest office in our land, it dawned on me that we had just reached the apex of our culture.  I didn’t know what to say publicly but I knew that because all things tend to cycle toward an extreme, a reaction would set in and the test of our culture would come in response to that reaction.  When the towers went down on 9/11 our nation responded with an unfortunate hardening which in turn paved a way for the disastrous war in Iraq and the subsequent loss of respect from many nations of the world.  The seeds of this demise were apparent in the incessant replay of the airplanes, the towers, the fires and the disintegration of the citadels of America’s financial institutions.  It was as if the collective could not wrap its mind around the tragic dissolution we all witnessed.

Taken from an archetypal point of view the collapse of the towers was a harbinger of the coming collapse of the financial world we once knew.  Before 9/11 who in America would have imagined that our country would experience such a dramatic shattering of our innocence and naivety.  Not only was it a physical tragedy and caused the suffering of so many, it was also an image, like a collective foretelling dream, to let us know that we were facing a precarious collapse, and our response to that warning needed the utmost wisdom to shepherd our way through the times we were to face.  Individually and collectively, the dreams of earthquakes, tidal waves, plane crashes, volcanoes etc. are indications from the deeper wisdom of the psyche that deeper processes drive conscious life.  These picturesque and intuitive warnings invite us to approach life with consciousness, care, and thoughtful considerations of the decisions we make.

It is important to know that these deeper processes demand that the ego’s hubris must soften

 

The StillPoint at Cape Point

SoundBites from the StillPoint #31

The Stillpoint at Cape Point:

Africa is old.  The animals seem almost prehistoric, worn, elegant as if from another time, irresistible to native and visitor, large teeth, thick skin, amber-brown eyes, cavernous mouths, dangerously wild, undomesticated.  I watched as my adult children stood eye to eye with the elephants, wrapped by their trunks, face to face with ostrich, baboon, and the Great White Shark. I saw the joy erupt on their faces when the ancient animal met the ancient in their soul: that feeling, old and refreshing, connected to the irreplaceable fascination for the animal.

The land is old.  This land transformed itself though us.  Like a candle dipped in another layer of hot wax, I thought of how our lives are shaped

 

The Heart of the Matter

SoundBites from the Still Point #35

November 5, 2008

The Heart of the Matter

My daughter Karis lives in South Africa, where she is often reluctant to let South Africans know she is an American because of the judgment she feels for Americans. I woke up this morning to an E-mail from her:

“HURRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GOOD JOB AMERICA! Dad, I remember when you came to SA (in 2006) the first time you mentioned this guy Obama and said you thought he could be president and I laughed saying that America wouldn’t elect a black man. I’m so glad I was wrong, the whole of South Africa is cheering for America, which is a first. . I heard a British journalist saying that this election is a ‘test to see how many stupid people there still are in America’ and at least we passed…”

I responded to Karis saying that rather than trying to find out how many stupid people there are in America,