HAPPY TRAVELS
Human consciousness is amazing we can choose to be in the past, the present or the future with our memory, our breath, our will and our imagination.
We can also go places with other people choosing to get absorbed in their mind’s creations: watching a film and going on their trip, reading a book, Listening to a podcast, hearing a story, reading a poem
Get trapped in FaceTime hoaxes, YouTube videos, tweets
And we always have the choice to create our own story in our own mind.
Now in this turbulent time of politics and pandemics
let’s explore how we can take ourselves to places of peace and delight.
HOLY PLACES, HOLY MOMENTS
Find your holy place and go there
leaving behind the unnecessary.
A holy place
wakes you up
to experience the divine
ever present in the moment.
These places are charged
with love and devotion
that draws one into the heart space.
We think it is the place
but it is the timeless feeling
that we create in our openness
that uplifts our spirits.
BIRTH & DEATH
Holding our new born daughter
against my heart,
a pure being of light
filling us both with unconditional love
forever.
By my mother’s bedside
as her last breath
peacefully leaves her body,
feeling her soul
gently floating away.
Her body and mind,
clever, generous and loving,
resting in peace now.
MEMORIES FROM THE CAMINO De SANTIAGO
“One God, billions of creatures”
Carved in the smooth rock
as you enter The Labyrinth
that suddenly materialized at the peak
That day on the Camino.
The swinging of the Botafumeiro
pulled high into the air
by the team of monks
as the nuns incantations echo
around Santiago’s cathedral dome
if angels exist
This could be their music
To Welcome the pilgrims home
The pilgrimage completed
a night of relaxing Jazz.
meeting George the German minister
standing, talking at midnight
about Jesus, God and Yoga
a flock of brilliantly lit white birds
rise up as one
circling above the cathedral
like angels listening to us
letting us know
that whatever our faith
being here at this moment
thinking about God is perfect.
INDIAN MEMORIES
In Delhi
The tomb of Nisramudin
simple and silent inside
echoing with exquisite Qawwalis
sung by ecstatic devotees outside
Spreading the virus of pure joy
As we listen blissfully Intoxicated
Diwali Indian New Year in Varenasi
thousands of floating candles
cover the river Ganges
as bodies are cremated
and ashes offered into the river
To merge into the Ocean.
THANA
Squeezing into the taxi rickshaw
with my massive backpack
the golden rays of sunset
seem full of powerful energy
Stepping in through the ashram gate
seeing “Leave your ego with your shoes”
feeling instant contentment and joy
My heart told me I was home.
In Jerusalem
the flickering array of candles
Spreading a warm glow
As christian devotees bowed heads
touch the stone where Jesus lay
in the church of the Holy Sepulchre
The dovening Jews
wrapped in Shiny white prayer shawls
swaying back in forth
while others place their heart felt prayers
into gaps in the ancient stones
of the Wailing Wall
In Bhutan
The old Bhuddist lady slowly hobbling
around the massive spinning prayer wheel
spinning her own prayer wheel
Om Mane Padme Om, Om Mane Padme Om
©MartinStrasmore2020