The Seer

Well, in the southern hemisphere, we’re here again, in the dark of the year and approaching the winter solstice in a few short days.

As we move about in the outer world of things, forms and appearances, one thing we notice is that everything seems to be changing all the time — everything we put together eventually comes apart — everything that is born, dies — everything that we get is eventually lost again. The leaves that grow on the trees in the spring, fall again in the autumn. Everything in this world of form seems to shift and change, including us. We are getting older.

Sometimes, if we have seen enough metaphorical leaves fall in our personal lives, we can begin to notice what is hiding behind the changing play of forms. It is often most visible to any one of us when the leaves that we were most attached to are in the midst of falling. The ever-changing nature of the world of form is a constant opportunity to notice what is amongst us and in us that doesn’t change.

The world of changing forms is issuing an invitation to notice what doesn’t change. When we look in the same way at ourselves it becomes an invitation to acknowledge that the personal form-bound mind-constructed version of who we are (that we have learned to call ourselves by as children) is not what we truly are. There is something in us that doesn’t change when appearances or personalities change.

When we notice that our personal mind-created and form-bound identity is not who we are, we can begin to see the full beauty of the world of form and yet not be devastated by its changing nature. We can move through the world of form and its constantly changing conditions, thoughts, feelings and appearances, realizing that every bit of it is as sacred as the most holy temple or mountain-top. We bow to the world of form in awe and amazement.

This is the invitation of this time when the wondrous form world has died back to its minimum — when the days are short and the nights are long and cold. At this time of year, there is a transparency about the forms of our lives. We are revealed to ourselves in our true raiment if we accept the invitation. We are life itself! We are the life rising in the baby lamb being born and the same life falling in the plants on the compost heap from last year’s garden — all at once.

All that has fallen away is still with us because we ARE what it all falls into.

~ by Alice Gardner