Pressed Down, Running Over

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you. ~Luke 6:38

Leave your heart alone,
pressed down, shaken, running over.
Don't be in a hurry to heal.
This wound exudes illumination
that can only ferment in a human cask.
Something glows, pressed from each cell,
each atom of your flesh,
from every proton's molten core.
Something that overflows the bindhu
between this breath and the next one.
This is the sap, the priceless Amrit you are.
This is the nectar of Brahman,
the radiance of your Beloved.
This is the Self-born light of Christ
that dances in the beauty of Mary.
All realized souls are droplets of this
mellifluous silence beyond thought.
And all are distilled into one
ocean of love-wine.
Yet the ocean becomes the drop.
You too must perish
in these depths, until
the depths become You.
By this bitter sweetness you will know
who you are, and why you are here.
Waves of grace in a human body,
the infinity breaking on finite shores -
this is who you are.
Goddess Shakti flowing through
your scars, touching, healing
her creatures, using your hands,
your eyes, your words, your breath -
this is why you are here.
Now open your chest.
In a season of grieving the blossom unfolds.
Loosen your crown, leave it tender.
Let the soles of your feet be bruised,
walking the earth so softly,
not as a landlord,
but a pilgrim.


Photo by Marney Ward, who is not only a teacher of watercolor, but a teacher of consciousness.