© March 26, 2010 by Swami X
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“…break the binding chains of dead words and dare to walk into the unknown.”
—The Mana Keepers by Kristin Zambucka
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This message is for you
My brothers and sisters stepping into the unknown
The fact that you’ve found it
Means that you have walked beyond
The safety of solid cities
And into a landscape
That forms and changes and disappears
With each step taken
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You’ve heard the stories
of green pastures
and blue skies
and fields of flowers
Which feel like children’s tales as your bare feet walk over
rocks that rip
and twigs that twist
and broken glass that gashes
And you find yourself scared to take your next step
Thinking you’ve reached your limit of pain and frustration
Feeling incapable and unworthy
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But you haven’t…
And you aren’t
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I tell you, my fellow journeyers
You will get through it
For just starting the walk
You have stepped into Warriorhood
Having my full love and respect
And a Warrior never stops what he has started
not out of obligation
but out of an inner drive to be more than she is today
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There will be others along the way
Who will offer you Sandals of Protection
Some who want to stop your pain
Others whose life has become selling footwear
All of them thinking that by bulldozing the path smooth
It is still worth walking
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And it will be almost inconceivable
Not to slide them onto your aching feet
A Cinderella Slipper that you think you need in order to attend the ball
But there is no dress code at this party
You need nothing more to enter it and start dancing
Than Who You Are
beyond the gowns and top hats and chariots and formalities
Leave their coverings alone
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For the path is not there to complete
But to experience
And with protection
you won’t be able to resist walking faster
For what you have been taught as conditioning
Is more concerned with how the heart beats blood
Than how it fills love
And you will miss fully imbibing from the Stream of Beauty
That can be seen only when Time is taken out of the walk
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It is only through
The digging and slicing and cutting
With feet that don’t turn callous and numb
But feel every hurt fully
That one day without notice
or preparation
or guidance
You will reach the Promised Land
Talked about by the Masters
Who have walked the walk
unlike map makers who chart unknown terrain
without ever leaving the peaceful slumber of their patios
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I share this with you, my fellow travelers
Because I have walked the path
And while my feet have never stopped aching
My heart no longer does
For it has found pleasure in the path and no longer needs
green pastures
blue skies
and fields of flowers
In order to power my step
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I would say, “I’ll wait for you”
But I won’t
Not because I wouldn’t like the company
But because I have already dropped all my companions
of Fear and Expectation and Desire and Needing To Know
I have blinded their eyes with my sword
And cleared of company’s cloudiness
It feels like I have opened my eyes for the first time
And everything looks fresh and anew
the sky…
the grass…
as well as the blistering below
The whole lot fills me with awe
And I cannot stop walking
As each new unknown vista unfolding before me
Waters my eyes with gratitude
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My vision has expanded
A 360 degree panorama
Which sees ahead, behind and to the sides
And finally understands that the steps taken
are not with the feet
And what feels like movement
is really stillness disguised
And, for now, I need to savor this sight with my own eyes
And not ones that are borrowed—
Even from those I love and respect
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The path must be walked alone
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While you are not with me in body, my fellow Warriors
I can feel you walking the path
And my love for you
Is carried in a smile on my face
And a bounce in my step
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As you traverse the roughest terrain—
Which is still to come
Don’t let the poppies in the field separate your head
From your heart
as it floats away thinking it has arrived…
when it has only just begun
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I will not offer you concern
For this is a smell that causes most flowers to turn brown
Rotting as victim as they hide their colors and full expression of beauty
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All I can offer you is the aroma of love
breathe deeply…
let it fill your nostrils…
strengthen your reserve…
take it into the bottom of your lungs…
And you will know that wherever I have walked
Your feet can carry you
And that while the pain may never fully go away
I will tell you, it soon feels the same as joy
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And when that day comes, my Warriors
You will flower
And your scent will make the whole path more fragrant
For the scared Warriors who are following behind
And for those yet to start their walk home
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And when “scared” turns to “Sacred”
Perhaps then we will sit together at the precipice
Showered in the colors of the setting sun
Bathed in the beauty of
Where we have traveled
Where we have arrived
And where we have yet to go
Finally clean of the dirt that has kept us from knowing Who We Are
Not needing to say a word
As we dissolve into our truest form
And add our own colors to the Sacred Sky