Mystic Halloween

This last week in October 2025, brings Halloween festivities. It is an ancient celebration, usually attributed to Celtic traditions and the end of Harvest Season, as the harsher elements of winter draw near. Over time, Halloween became a companion holiday to the Christian All Saints Day, set as November 1 in the 8th century, with Halloween, known as All Hallows Eve, on October 31. All Saints Day celebrates the lives of the Saints, with variations of meaning in different denominations and countries. These ancient celebrations coincide with Dia de los Muertos in Latin-America, as well as Spain, a tradition which celebrates life, honors the dead, and sustains their connection across time and space. Each of these holidays lend themselves to varying beliefs and possibilities of commingling and communication between the living and the dead. As October ends, Halloween ushers in these ancient rituals. Then we collectively enter November. and we have the first hints of the old year finishing up, and the faint feel of a new year on the way. Yet, Halloween, All Saints Day, and Dia de los Muertos, point to the ambiguity of endings. Every year, I see Halloween a bit differently, and this year it speaks of mystic connection and an exchange of blessings.

But what of all the "Evil" in the world? Certainly there is suffering. Wouldn't it be easy to just blame human suffering on an ultimate evil mastermind, who is bent on de-throning God. I remember a time years ago, when Larry Morris and I taught meditation classes, long before scientific research legitimized meditation and its verified benefits. Research ushered in the cultural acceptance of secular, or "medical" meditation. The spiritual benefits (which include the health benefits) have been recognized and practiced for centuries, but when we promoted meditation in the community, we were met with controversy. Within certain religious frames, there was a real block; their fear demonized meditation. We taught meditation classes that often included people whose families were convinced that a "silent mind" was dangerous. They asserted the mind should stay busy, because Satan would slip into the space of quiet and cause evil thoughts and desires! Twenty years later, we would joke that there were meditation centers on every street corner, and by then, many church denominations offered such classes. Now, here in California, meditation is introduced in preschool, along with various other calming strategies. My point is that modern life brings complexity, including complex knowledge, that can carry us beyond superstition and simplistic answers in our quest to live better lives, and our quest to end pain and misery.

Our collective interpretation of the workings of Life, shifts the frameworks of human understanding of whatever times we live in. The way we understand life now, and the way we view our collective past, is an ongoing--and quite possibly infinite--process. Yet, there is universal appeal in the I Ching quote: "The best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good." This week, consider your intuitive awareness of the comings and goings of Life and heart connections, beyond fear, threat, and changes of form. Halloween is a great time for a mystic encounter. (Susan Nettleton)

for poetry: https://poets.org/poem/haunted-houses

https://poets.org/poem/theme-yellow

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/L/LevertovDeni/OfBeing/index.html

Quiet Freedom

This is an excerpt from Susan Nettleton’s Sunday Zoom talk, Oct. 19, 2025:

Quiet is not the same thing as secret or hidden, neither is it flaunted. I am not looking at public, on stage, lights/camera's freedom, but Quiet Freedom. The definition of quiet, of course, begins with the idea of minimal noise or sound. Not silence, per se, but muted; I see quiet as the precursor to silence, as if we could sink deeper or the scene around us, could enter silence at any moment. We are on the edge of silence by becoming quiet. And quiet is not just about sound, it's about minimal movement or natural movement, moving freely if and when you move. And not about being on display, it is more discreet, or again spontaneously, easy. As I was writing my thoughts about quiet freedom last week, everything slowed down.

I was typing away on the computer, but the atmosphere quietened and the tension, the pressure loosened--freeing my movements and my thoughts. Amazing! Then I got this text from family a preliminary storm warning, headed at L.A. over the next couple of days, and a long list of "get ready now", There were possible mud slides on the burn scars, and evacuation warnings. But the quiet freedom held. I knew we need rain, but not floods! In this instance, freedom included a sense of knowing what to do and how to do it, (and really a bit of Kris Kristopher, considering the question, what is left to lose?). The inner directive was still, “take the emergency boxes and go if necessary. “ So that is the freedom to act without looking to far ahead and unnecessary calculation. The quiet freedom lingered; I watched it over the week, come and go, come and go. Still, the word quiet, changes everything.

This is not about defiant or passive aggressive freedom, which can be the challenge of youth, along with loud and/or excited freedom. When you are young, you test the boundaries of freedom, partly out of biologic drive for freedom and independence. Realistically, it is a time when you do not know the limits, --how could you know? Are there limits on freedom? Of course, our history of acquiring liberty, maintaining liberty, reclaiming liberty in society involves defiance—collective defiance. (I am using the word liberty, not that it's really an important distinction, the words are commonly used interchangeably, but I want to distinguish the awareness of a quiet freedom, beyond the energy of political events and liberty.) The whole American Independence story is build on the demand for Liberty, but Quiet Freedom, is not about a political demand or the reclaiming of political freedom, it's more an inner discovery, rather than an outer push. That inner discovery can lead you to participate in culture and awareness of the "allocation of values for society", and you take a role in the outer push, as a collective value. Or it may not. We have a broad range of beliefs. One's own sense of personal freedom doesn't necessarily mean that you support the freedom of others. On the other hand, the Quiet Freedom that I am encouraging, brings you to the awareness that others are not other, but essential aspects of the Whole of life that is our being.

Spaciousness

This Sunday, I invite you to consider the spaciousness of Life. It's an expansive word, invoking a sense of openness...plenty of room here...Life is Vast, beyond the confines of our mental understanding and ability to measure: Spaciousness. Yet, within the world of Earth, places and spaces are sources of conflict. The second Monday in October. traditionally celebrated as Columbus Day {in recognition of Christopher Columbus' exploration of America, financed by Spain in 1492}, is now also met with Indigenous People celebrations. These celebrations arose in recognition of the fact that Indigenous civilizations lived on these lands for thousands of years before the "discovery" of Columbus and other explorers. Although Columbus Day has long remained a federal holiday, this year President Trump proclaimed an official reinstatement of the October holiday, emphasizing Columbus' Italian roots. The arrival of Europeans to the "New World" brought centuries of conflict, decimating the native population. The history of the world includes a repeating story of discovery, with a subsequent struggle for dominance, including the battle for land, for physical space. The wars that have raged on in 2025, may be rooted in ideological difference (political, religious, traditional) but resources, especially land, water, and even minerals, are tangible, essential necessities--found in spaces of conflict. All this activity and struggle is included in the spaciousness of Life.

What possibilities exist when we consider Life as boundless? There is an apocryphal story about Niels Bohr who won the 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on atomic structures. When waking up one morning in his upstairs bedroom, Bohr was seized with dread, afraid to to place his feet on the floor and stand. He was convinced his feet would sink through the floor, since ultimately, the floor was only a mass of atomic particles! Between those particles, he perceived the spaciousness of All. Obviously, along with the the animal and insect world, humans have learned to construct dwellings, bridges, canals, skyscrapers, install cables crossing the ocean floor, names spaces as countries, and even construct an International Space Station above the Earth. While we build, negotiate, and fight for our spaces, Life remains spacious.

There is space that has yet to be discovered, including the depths of our own interior spaciousness, as well as the vastness of the solar system, galaxy, and cosmos. This week, along with prayers for new Peace in Gaza, and in Ukraine and other world conflicts, spend some time exploring spaciousness within and around you. Let Life's spaciousness loosen what seems so tightly woven within your inner and outer world. Let the tight spaces loosen. New spaces can open new creative possibilities and deeper Spiritual discovery. Consider that even the Earth, with all it's battles and shifting environment has undiscovered spaciousness. (Susan Nettleton)

for poetry: https://www.poemist.com/octavio-paz/spaces

https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=292925

https://genius.com/Imtiaz-dharker-living-space-annotated#about

Anxiety and Trust

As we fully enter October with a government shut-down bringing more accusations, retaliation threats, and overall uncertainty, it is easy to take on personal and collective anxiety. By anxiety, I mean an uneasy sense of alarm about this conflict: How long it will continue? What does it mean for our future, and the future of those that truly matter to us. Anxiety, when it takes over, impacts and impairs both our physical and psychological functioning. In times like these, with escalating, seemingly rapid change, there is a compilation effect. And in a strange way, a sudden reversal of whatever change, while perhaps welcomed, can at the same time feed the feeling of chaos. Even small uncertainties can disrupt our sense of well being. We need time to process and gain perspective. Last month I wrote about the spiritual antidote to fear and hate, is love. This week, I invite you to consider the spiritual antidote to anxiety is truth.

I had another kitchen epiphany this week. It was pretty late when I started making a dinner salad; I had recently bought a big box of arugula from the grocery store, planning to use it for the entire week. When I opened it though, it was unusually wet. I've known arugula as of those long lasting greens, and even if it gets a dry, it's still quite good. I had never opened a completely wet box. The "use by" stamp gave me another 6 days. But this batch was almost soaking in water, like nothing I'd encountered before. Some of the leaves were actually looking like mush. I really did not want to give it up, but something inner was putting on the brakes. My medical training underscores the value of basic research on food safety. These days, produce reports can be inundated with lists of listeria and other bacterial food contamination, but I'd not seen anything worrisome about arugula. I was of two minds--something in me warned, "no, don’t eat it”; habit and appetite said "Yes!” Still, I decided to take a "scroll my phone vote"! When I am stumped by a recipe, or other food issue, I look at various food sites on my phone for information and perspective. I use a cross-section of sites that include the Food Safety "rule book", as well as individual personal experiences. It's a fast search, since I am looking for "just the facts, please." My arugula phone search concluded, "when in doubt, throw it out." I struggled with my resistance to letting the whole mess go into the compost, but the inner directive pulled with the counter message again, "let it go", so I did. Ultimately, it may not have mattered to the body if I ate the leaves; the real meaning was in my willingness to give it up, to follow that feeling, to make a choice.

Here's what struck me (after I had eaten something else): All day long we are bombarded by messaging of one form or another. Very few of them are urgent; yet in these times, the illusion of urgency, the echo of urgency, is there. The urgency creates anxiety. Trust becomes the antidote to anxiety, when we make a decision, when we take action, when we see we do have choices and we chose, including sometimes, choosing to trust others. The Spiritual life brings a deeper level of trust in the essential goodness of Life, including a deeper trust in our own resilience and situational flexibility, as well as subtle cues that guide us through the maze of difficult times. We shift from the powerlessness of anxiety to trusting the powers of action and choice. This is a good week to study the anxiety of collective and personal uncertainty, and your deeper capacity to move forward with inner trust. (Susan Nettleton)

for poetry: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50109/trust-56d22ce3845d0

https://www.best-poems.net/wendell-berry/sabbath-poem-i-1979.html#google_vignette

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/O/ODonohueJohn/ForaNewBegin/index.html

Self/Health Care

As September fades into October this week, it's a good time to remind us all that self-care, includes health care. This is the time of year that traditionally means more time indoors than outdoors, and more exposure to seasonal contagion, including of course flu and Covid. I use the word "traditionally', because as I have written over this year of change, natural seasonal patterns are shifting, independent of the social order, or critique of scientific study, or outright disbelief. When the weather turns colder and daylight shortens, people spend more time in closed environments, and viral contagion is more likely. In the 21st century, self-care includes taking care of our health and cultivating a new awareness of changing seasons and weather patterns. Self-care also includes the awareness of others, their well-being, because our actions have consequences for others, and for society as a whole. In turn, the overall health of society, ultimately affects us as individuals.

For me, September has been this year's healthcare catch up time--I have lined up appointments for all the basics: annual primary care visit, mammogram, eye doctor, dentist and cleaning, immunizations--if not completed, they are scheduled, since medical scheduling can mean making appointments months in advance. My list includes Covid (I joke that it seems like my millionth shot), Zoster, and Flu shots. To me, these are all part of a Spiritual check list. It was my spiritual life that pulled me into the study of medicine, and carried me through my early science courses: chemistry, organic chemistry, biology, and physics. I never saw science as separate, or in opposition to spiritual discovery and the wonder of It All, all are aspects of the Grace of Healing. Alternative medicine, ancient systems of understanding the body, Aryuvadic traditions, Chinese systems and acupuncture--all have their place, as does body and energy work, and yoga, and meditation. There are so many forms of illness and injury and so many ways of healing. But, as with varieties of religion, we humans have trouble navigating multiplicity and variation. Not every healing mode matches every malady, or public health need.

As medical knowledge evolves, researchers are developing ways that specifically tailor treatments to individual needs, with the potential to develop precise, particularized treatment possibilities for the future. For now though, in public health, collective vaccines save lives. They are our collective power of healthcare, as are health screenings and prevention. The good news is that our accumulated, world-wide knowledge of healthcare is unprecedented. However, accessing that knowledge, and making choices, has become more and more complex. The "rules" are changing; availability is changing; predicability is changing, and the cost is rising. This week I encourage you to consider a broad sense of self-care, that includes how you take care of your health, from a Spiritual perspective, to a pragmatic practice. The current upheaval in American healthcare may be unstable for awhile; all the more reason to take time to remember your Spiritual life includes your physical health and well-being. Your personal well-being, as a unique expression of life, flows from the Source of all Life. Life takes care of Life. Listen to the way of health for you. (Susan Nettleton)

A site for reliable health info: https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/al

https://grateful.org/resource/the-cure-for-it-all/

https://www.readpoetry.com/met-my-younger-self-for-coffee-jennae-cecelia/

https://wordsfortheyear.com/2020/04/08/the-cure-by-ginger-andrews/

Equinox of Love

On Monday, we enter the fall equinox, that time when the measure of daylight and the measure dark night achieve a momentary balance. Autumn arrives, with it's traditions of harvest, brilliantly colored foliage, and crisp air--at least, in our collective memory, even if temperatures soar. This idea of the mid-point, a balanced seasonal scale, has me reflecting on the balance of our immediate cultural emotions: love and hate. It's difficult to collectively enter into the freshness of a new season, when modern culture is split. It's even more difficult, when religious/political traditions are used to drive a further wedge between neighboring countries, or local "districts", communities, and even families. Imagine a moment, as the balance of the equinox tips, that it can only tip to a collective feeling of being loved and cherished (the receiving end), counterbalanced by a collective showering of love and acceptance (the giving end). It's a utopian fantasy, of course, given the vast variations of this world, but still, tipping the scales toward more love and less hate is possible. Your measure resides in you.

So I am offering a few thoughts on hate as fear, and love as the antidote. Hate and love, as words, are polar opposites. Yet human emotions are seldom that polarized, or even clearly defined. Some days we hate 'things' and whatever/whoever we feel are responsible (including ourselves), and the next day, or later in the same day, we can lighten up, gain perspective, or move on to something else to preoccupy our thoughts. The same shifting awareness is true for that which we love. Human emotions come and go. Sometimes, we get entrenched in the mud of repetitive negativity and pain. We may learn how to change our thinking, but our emotional nature, which includes the physical body, may lag behind. Here, the key is to consider hatred as a response to fear; we grow to hate what we fear.

Spiritually, the antidote to fear is Love. To be clear, you cannot make yourself love what you hate, nor what you fear. Suppressing hated, like suppressing fear, may aid you in the moment of overwhelming tension or anxiety, but sooner or later, suppressed emotions erupt again. Instead, you learn to accept this emotion we call Love, when and where you actually find it. Realize love when you actually do feel it. Cultivate it by your attention and acceptance; harvest it. It may have nothing whatsoever to do with the things and experiences and people and events you fear, or you outright hate. You feel what you feel. But you give the weight, the balance tip, to cherishing Love, as you actually feel it. Savor it. Rehearse it, rather than rehearsing hate and fear. Remember in this equinox metaphor, there are two forms, or movements, of love, giving Love and receiving Love. When we cannot give, we can receive. Either way, we live in Love. Ultimately, our Source is a Cosmos that delights in you, or you simply would not be here. (The same is true for your "enemies".) Ultimately, all love is Divine Love. (Susan Nettleton)

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King, Jr.

for poetry: https://poets.org/poem/autumn-8

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/A/AngelouMaya/TouchedbyanA/index.html

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/B/BahuSultan/IknewGodwell/index.html

Restorative Calm

Maybe it was the full lunar, Blood Moon eclipse, Sept 7-8, or maybe the series of asteroids that NASA announced were zipping by Earth: QC5 and GE on September 8, and the closer QV9's (1,250,000 miles) flyby on September 10, 2025, or maybe it was the impending September 11 anniversary, or all three, but this past week has been arduous, indeed explosive. World conflict brought bombings, drone attacks, deadly protests, and in the U.S., the unveiling of shocking files, pictures, stories, and deadly political battles. Yet, this past week of threat and tragedy still holds the way to deeper spiritual realization, for those who seek it. I have been searching, inwardly, for the word or practice that can move us, from this volatile time, to restorative calm. This is the phrase for us this week: Restorative Calm.

Not all restoration is calm. The rebuilding of homes and neighborhoods, after the January fires here in L.A. County, was far from calm. Further upheaval was necessary in the rebuilding process—inspections, soil and air testing, debris removal with unrelenting trucks carting hazardous materials, planning meetings, insurance settlements, business workshops, etc. Calm expands as we learn to accept some degree of upheaval in a restorative process.

During the recent extreme heat here, I had a near empty refrigerator, so I placed an online order the night before, and scheduled my "pick up" for early morning. I could have everything safely in the freezer/refrigerator, before the temperature became unbearable. That morning, daylight streamed in the windows and I was unaware that the power was off, until the coffee pot didn't work. I started checking lights, but nothing was working, except my cellphone. I was not calm. At least, I had not opened the refrigerator or freezer, so what was in there was still alright, if I kept it closed. I knew, with the extreme heat, overuse of cooling can trigger neighborhood outages; no cooling can be deadly. I fretted about the outage, searched my phone, and discovered the outage was actually planned as a kind of safety-check inspection. It was expected to end approximately at the time I was scheduled to pick up groceries. That gave me hope, but I cannot say I was calm yet. Instead my mind was working on plans B, C, and D alternatives to storing some kind of food supply, as I watched the clock. Amazingly, at precisely the scheduled time, the power came back on. And stayed on. I jumped in the car, picked up the food, returned, and filled the refrigerator--grateful, and finally, calm.

Through out this mini-drama, myself as "watcher", watched my own process of anxiety, mingled with doubt (in the electric company website), along with a subtle dark shadow of fear of changing times, and yet, there remained a deeper spiritual trust that things would resolve well. The watcher was calm; the impatient, doubting one was not.

Today, and the week ahead, I encourage you to find spaces and time for calming yourself, and calming that bit of the World that is Your world--your space, your place, along with those you care for. This is a calm that allows you to rebuild, or restructure, or renew your way of being in these times. Restorative to me, implies healing. You may not think that you are the one that needs healing, but you are the access point; the main access you have for restoring calm around you. Peace and calm, begin with you. (Susan Nettleton)

For Poetry: https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/poetry/poems/inisfree.html https://boomerecocrusader.com/stillness-a-poem-to-restore-calm/ http://bibles.wikidot.com/sample-mitchell

Pause

The last few days I've been contemplating the power of the pause. The idea was triggered by a family 1st grader who has mastered the frustration of interruption. When annoyed by being interrupted in a project, she will hold up a hand that clearly signals "stop", as she firmly orders "Pause", until she is ready to divert attention from her task. It is a quite polished command. The charm of it initiated my contemplation on our human capacity to pause. While pausing is a form of stopping, it's power comes from it's temporary nature. We suspend action temporarily. That suspension can be a moment, or a much longer stretch of time; it can be restful, reflective, or disruptive. It can be calculated for a deliberate effect (creating a silence that invites the speculation of others, a moment of suspense), or it may signal our hesitancy and uncertainty.

We can pause by physically stopping activity and/or movement, and we can pause mentally, internally cutting off a stream of thought, letting our thoughts "rest" or fall silent. Pausing emotionally is a bit more difficult, requiring more practice, because our emotional states involve both physical and mental quieting. We can pause to "take in", as in letting ourselves be suspended in time, immersed in music, or absorbed in a sunset view, when the beauty of the moment suspends worry, or anger, or even physical pain. Or we can pause to "let go" to silence and the stillness of meditation.

Spiritually, our capacity to Pause is an aspect of our intuitive nature. In these shifting, unsettled times, we learn to lean on the inner directive, the guidance that is both a natural flow from this Life, this World we belong to, and the larger Transcendent Field I call God. We can Pause, in inner listening, for direction. We can Pause in silence, whatever form our religion or meditation path. Those Pauses may be brief, but powerful--simply stopping, and turning to That. Other times, there may be a restlessness, perhaps an invitation to a Pause in the routine and rhythm of your set order. New doors open unexpectedly. It's not always so clear where we are headed, and what we should do differently, if anything at all. The power of Pause is useful here. Those who are impulsive, might benefit through Pausing before acting. Those who are bound by strict routine, yet pulled to the unfamiliar, might benefit by a Pause in the fixed order of repetition. Pause can be a window of experimentation. The beauty of Pause is that it is flexible--suspending ideas, temporarily shifting action, and evaluating what unfolds.

Regardless of the social order's pressure of constant urgency, not all things are urgent. Spiritually, there remains stillness, peace, and the saintly, "leisureliness of eternity." Consider this week that you have time to Pause, reconsider, listen, absorb, discover the way for you, now. (Susan Nettleton)

for poetry:

https://www.nickleforce.com/poetry/2017/7/12/pause-now

https://morethanmindful.com/wp-content/uploads/Between-Going-and-Staying.pdf

https://public-domain-poetry.com/susanna-moodie/pause-26450

Labor Day

Monday, September begins with the federal holiday, Labor Day, marking the "unofficial" end of summer. The holiday, established in 1894, has an interesting history, formed during a time of rapid industrialization and urbanization. The speed of industrialization required an increasing demand for workers, who faced harsh conditions, low pay, and little concern for their health and environmental risks. Over time though, workers formed trade unions and developed the power of collective bargaining. Collectively, they established basic rights, negotiated increased pay, and improved safety conditions. And Labor Day became a day to highlight workers and their ongoing contribution to the country's achievements and wealth. While there is much to consider about respect and recognition of workers in 2025, (massive layoff's, firing of government workers, dissolution of jobs, deportation of thousands of migrant workers), as well as the escalating promotion of, and investment in, Artificial Intelligence, (with uncertain consequences for workers), this Labor Day, I invite you to personally reflect on labor as Love.

We are all workers, everyone of us works in one way or another. We expend energy--we may work for our personal well-being and comfort; we may work for our survival, we may labor at a task for our own pleasure and interests. In this context, labor is not limited to a job. Neither is it necessarily "work as worship", which is the idea of uniting our work in the world with our spiritual practice. Rather, I am inviting you to experiment with the discovery of Love at the root of work.

My thoughts go back to 40 years ago, to one of the first meditation classes I taught. I remember there were 17 people in that class, there to learn introductory meditation. During one of the meetings, a woman spoke of her frustration with her life and her "housewife" role. She particularly resented time she spent dusting her home as a meaningless use of time. In contrast, she imagined my life as a psychiatrist, teaching a meditation class, as something important and inspiring. I had to admit, I didn't dust much--not that the house didn't need it, but there was no time. I worked, I was a wife and mom, I cooked, did laundry, cleaned what I could, when I could. I talked about Meditation as my center, out of which, all other tasks arise. I encouraged her to consider dusting as a way to practice meditation; let dusting be a meditation, through intent, focus, and discovery. Today, I would tell her to try naming her dusting, Love. If it is only duty, or a sense or responsibility, "the shoulds, musts, oughts and have to's" as my teacher used to say, there is nothing life sustaining there.

This is not about making yourself love something you do not love. It certainly is not about forcing yourself to do things you hate doing. Rather, it is about the possible discovery that underneath what you name as labor, as work, as duty or responsibility, or even necessity, may in actuality be driven by Love. Why not start with the assumption that Love brings the task. Love unfolds the work. Love fulfills. If Love seems far, far from a task or responsibility, take a deeper look, or move on to another experiment in labor. May this week lift your labors in a discovery of Love. (Susan Nettleton)

For Poetry: https://wordsfortheyear.com/2020/04/25/gift-by-czeslaw-milosz/

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/57673/to-be-of-use

https://poets.org/poem/work-4

Charred Sutra

This final Sunday in August, 2025, hopefully brings an end to the extreme heat in Los Angeles, County. I've been exchanging thermometer readings with friends along the Pacific coast, from Portland to San Diego. The heat has been difficult, but we've adapted. Here in L.A. County there has been quick responses to erupting fires, and welcomed evening cool-downs. The Public service announcements remind us: "Stay cool, stay hydrated, stay informed." Staying cool can be a reminder that navigating heat, traffic, and other people involves patience and care for others; staying hydrated, includes being aware that water is necessary for your cognitive functioning and awareness of what is happening around you and others. Staying informed, is more than the weather report--we live in complex times, high heat is a call to simplify your movements for the day. It means adapting your day to our shifting environment. To me, "informed" also means following the inner directive and a spiritual perspective. While the West Coast is in a heat wave, the East Coast faces flooding, brooding storms, and the need for similar vigilance.

This week, someone sent me a brief story of the "Charred Sutra." Sutras are ancient and medieval Indian texts revered in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. These condensed "truths" open to deeper interpretation and meaning. I don't know the original source; there are many stories of Sutras lost, or partially burned in fires. In this tale, it was dawn when a novice monk found the sutra fragment; the rest had burned in the night's fire. As he lifted the burnt page, ashes fell everywhere. "Master," he pleaded, "how do I save this wisdom?" The master blew at the fragment, watching it as it scattered and dissolved in the garden. "Now," he said, "read it in the cucumbers growing through the soot."

This struck me as an ancient tale of living teachings in the midst of changing times--of fires, floods, and seasons, of Nature's return, and what we consider sacred. After January's destructive Eaton fire, we were warned not eat anything from the backyard garden for a year, except for the thick-rind citrus fruits. Chemical analysis had shown the ash contained potentially harmful chemicals, and it would be safer to wait for next year's crop. The charred sutra tale felt particularly significant in 2025, a time of changing climate. We can't eat the cucumbers this year, but they will return.

As I mulled over the story, I met layers of meaning. Is an ancient sutra as wondrous as a living garden bringing forth food? Well, it depends. I considered the times when I am seeking some spiritual understanding or guidance. I might flip through my books--that could include the Bible, or other religious texts, or poetry, and an idea, an answers, a spark, grabs me. Sacred Sutras are sparks of ancient wisdom and insight that can ignite us thousands of years later. But they also, like all religious teachings, can crystalize, become rote and empty ritual, and even blind us from seeing what Life offers us now. There is another kind of ancient wisdom in every garden. And not only the way of cultivation--the way of food, clothing, shelter, companionship, and creativity can be found in contemplating the living, natural world. Read it all, "in the cucumbers [in the whole of Nature's story], growing through the soot." Consider this week, that Life is urging You to adapt. Life is urging You, to recover awareness and sensitivity of this Natural world as it shifts. Yes, it is a collective task, but we begin with ourselves. (Susan Nettleton)

for poetry: https://spiritoftrees.org/poetry/woods

https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/Poets/R/RilkeRainerM/Silentfriend/index.html

https://intrinsicheart.com/the-seven-of-pentacles/