Awakening sense

spaced out?

Many assume that detachment from this world is a desirable attitude.

Sure, and it always boils down to whether the effort is wholehearted or artificial.

What do you mean by artificial?

I mean a piecemeal approach plastered on to an ego-mind that's pretending to be a spiritual aspirant.

This leads in to another point. Sometimes being detached can feel like being disconnected, even disassociated, spaced out, disoriented.

Again, all those conditions are likely the result of a splintering effect in the psyche, a segment of ego-mind claiming or assuming it is being detached.

How would you describe the real thing?

That would feel like an even more integrated state than usual, a feeling of being more in sync, in tune, at home, more oneself and less attached to our conditioned mind, to the false picture of who we think we are.

life on loan

Why keep expecting more from life,
When this life itself is already on loan?

And if gain through loss is the name of the game,
Aren't the more strikeouts the better?

Why stay bound in mind's tyrannies and self-induced pains,
Why not a tolerance for loss, an inner knowing of losses' gains?

Best to remember that unlimited treasure,
Hidden within the walls of ego-mind's hut.

ticket of admission

Though usually one may feel an absence of Presence,
Why not let that absence feed the fires of remembrance?

Either way, absent or present to Presence, there's gain, not loss,
As spirit's workings erode who we think we are.

It's all our labor of love, this grinding or eating away,
Whether we feel it as a burden or a gift of mercy.

Perhaps it's the only real price to pay,
The only real ticket of admission to the Beloved's courtyard.

plunging ahead

A focused mind may reach out to the Beloved One,
Even if it can't attain what appears unattainable.

Can the limited one ever dare approach the unlimited,
Without heart's willingness to plunge ahead?

For sincere longing surpasses mind's limits,
As such hearts have already been touched by what they seek.

Then even one's survival instincts are thrown to the wind,
Wishing only to receive that One's wish.