And thank you both for all of your musical (and other) contributions to The Cornucopia.

Dragan and Ratko Dautovski; “To Moni” from Apocolytpticum

While the lower nature of man rules humanity, man will sow death and destruction.  It is the conscious few who lead humanity by example and show the way forward. Truth is never for the masses who are willing to allow themselves to be straight-jacketed into conformity with very little complaint or resistance. Yes, Soul, is inborn and indestructable, but in a dormant or unrealized state. Apparently the task of thinking for one’s self is too much for man, and he is willing to be led to slaughter like mute beasts. We saw this recently with the Covid “pandemic”.

Truth therefore is only for the individual, who is willing to make the necessary sacrifices out of love for truth alone, and for no other reason or personal interest. Man, over many lifetimes, eventually comes to the realisation that  by surrendering his fears, and attachments, he finds life. That is, by giving up his life he finds it. This is the divine paradox, as all great teachers who have come to uplift mankind, have taught.

There is an irony in all this. Spiritual law states that none may interfere uninvited in the consciousness of another. The individual alone is responsible for  himself, and must therefore bear respeonsibilty for what he creates in this world well as the invisible worlds, ie; our thoughts, feelings and so on.  Until man has had enough of the wheel of reincarnation, he will not take up the ploughshare and make the sacrifices necessary to step onto the spiritual path. This is what I was alluding to with my couplets. Ashes are what results of man’s selfishness, simply look at the world around us and what we have done with it, the oceans for example. Whereas, the spiritually oriented man, creates (spiritual) gold with every conscious act of love because he has become a fit conduit for the Music of the Spheres, or the Voice of God. This is what I was getting at, friend.

And we are faced with that choice every moment of every day.

only those who love God                                                                                                              are able to repel the scorn                                                                                                                and slander of the world like                                                                                                            water falling from the rubber tree leaf

ruminations on life and death

there is death,

so to speak, on every plane

in God’s universes

that understanding

can only be grasped, and never

comprehended

he who would save his

life will surely lose it

we escaped the storm, our house is gone,

it should matter, but it doesn’t;

this meeting again with you

was worth all that

no soul is ever

alone when crossing the

borders of death

death is only a

doorway to greater life;

be wise and let go

of that which you can no longer

hold onto

a man is not defeated

by external circumstances, but

by ignorance of the laws of life

Suzanne Vega; Rosemary

Do you remember when you walked with me
Down the street into the square
How the women selling rosemary
Pressed the branches to your chest
Promised luck and all the rest
And put their fingers in your hair

I had met you just the day before
Like an accident of fate
In the window there behind your door
How I wanted to break in
To that room beneath your skin
But all that would have to wait

In the Carmen of the Martyrs
With the statues in the courtyard
Whose heads and hands were taken
In the burden of the sun
I had come to meet you
With a question in my footsteps
I was going up the hillside
And the journey just begun

My sister says she never dreams at night
There are days when I know why
Those possibilities within her sight
With no way of coming true
Some things just don’t get through
Into this world, although they try

In the Carmen of the Martyr
With the statues in the courtyard
Whose heads and hands were taken
In the burden of the sun
I had come to meet you
With a question in my footsteps
I was going up the hillside
And the journey just begun
All I know of you
Is in my memory
All I ask is you
Remember me

the hidden secret
is that giving of ourselves
to others brings love

(Ok, just worked out the Preformatted thing, so will avoid that double spacing in future.

Someone sitting contentedly

in a quiet place, excited about things yet to come,

who’s not himself longed for by anyone

is a postcard to the rest of us

Rumi

(Open Secret; Translations Coleman Barks)

understanding who and what we are,

brings the required perspective

allowing us to cultivate spiritual grace

and so face every challenge

that process of becoming

enables us to accept God’s will,

we gradually let go of the struggle

and realise everything is for our own good