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Sharing a poem Nick Cave directed me to recently. It's definitely not a perfectly rendered piece of writing, but something about it struck me between the eyes! Sharing in case it does the same for you 😊 Sometimes a Wild God by Tom Hirons Sometimes a wild god comes to the table. He is awkward and does not know the ways Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver. His voice makes vinegar from wine.   When the wild god arrives at the door, You will probably fear him. He reminds you of something dark That you might have dreamt, Or the secret you do not wish to be shared.   He will not ring the doorbell; Instead he scrapes with his fingers Leaving blood on the paintwork, Though primroses grow In circles round his feet.   You do not want to let him in. You are very busy. It is late, or early, and besides… You cannot look at him straight Because he makes you want to cry.   Your dog barks; The wild god smiles. He holds out his hand and The dog licks his wounds, Then leads him inside.   The wild god stands in your kitchen. Ivy is taking over your sideboard; Mistletoe has moved into the lampshades And wrens have begun to sing An old song in the mouth of your kettle.   ‘I haven’t much,’ you say And give him the worst of your food. He sits at the table, bleeding. He coughs up foxes. There are otters in his eyes.   When your wife calls down, You close the door and Tell her it’s fine. You will not let her see The strange guest at your table.   The wild god asks for whiskey And you pour a glass for him, Then a glass for yourself. Three snakes are beginning to nest In your voicebox. You cough.   Oh, limitless space. Oh, eternal mystery. Oh, endless cycles of death and birth. Oh, miracle of life. Oh, the wondrous dance of it all.   You cough again, Expectorate the snakes and Water down the whiskey, Wondering how you got so old And where your passion went.   The wild god reaches into a bag Made of moles and nightingale-skin. He pulls out a two-reeded pipe, Raises an eyebrow And all the birds begin to sing.   The fox leaps into your eyes. Otters rush from the darkness. The snakes pour through your body. Your dog howls and upstairs Your wife both exults and weeps at once.   The wild god dances with your dog. You dance with the sparrows. A white stag pulls up a stool And bellows hymns to enchantments. A pelican leaps from chair to chair.   In the distance, warriors pour from their tombs. Ancient gold grows like grass in the fields. Everyone dreams the words to long-forgotten songs. The hills echo and the grey stones ring With laughter and madness and pain.   In the middle of the dance, The house takes off from the ground. Clouds climb through the windows; Lightning pounds its fists on the table And the moon leans in.   The wild god points to your side. You are bleeding heavily. You have been bleeding for a long time, Possibly since you were born. There is a bear in the wound.   ‘Why did you leave me to die?’ Asks the wild god and you say: ‘I was busy surviving. The shops were all closed; I didn’t know how. I’m sorry.’   Listen to them:   The fox in your neck and The snakes in your arms and The wren and the sparrow and the deer… The great un-nameable beasts In your liver and your kidneys and your heart…   There is a symphony of howling. A cacophony of dissent. The wild god nods his head and You wake on the floor holding a knife, A bottle and a handful of black fur.   Your dog is asleep on the table. Your wife is stirring, far above. Your cheeks are wet with tears; Your mouth aches from laughter or shouting. A black bear is sitting by the fire.   Sometimes a wild god comes to the table. He is awkward and does not know the ways Of porcelain, of fork and mustard and silver. His voice makes vinegar from wine And brings the dead to life.

Here's the table that Ven. Analayo gives about the things that help us work with the different hindrances:

Hi All, Just to say that if you book for one of the online classes, and it’s UNDER 24hrs before the time of session, you will not get a reminder email on the day. However the link for the zoom class should be in the original booking g If however for any reason there’s not link or your can’t find the zoom link, if you use the app, go to my profile, and go to bookings. If you go through the website, go to the top right where you will see 3 lines. Press on your profile image and it will open up to various options including bookings. Hope this helps for those that may have asked questions around booking and zoom link 🙂

I am loving the concept of liking and not liking. In today's somatic meditation with Alistair, I noticed relishing the feeling of dropping into my body - my body loves it when I take the time to drop in with a wide open awareness. It feels very healing and nurturing, especially when it is being guided by someone else who is holding the exploration space open for me - for some reason, I can relax into it more. I noticed sensations in my body that weren't totally pleasant and then from last week's meet I remembered: ah - I am not liking..! :) and I smiled at myself internally. I made my breath more gentle and the exploration more subtle to see if I could feel where the not liking was to what I was physically feeling in my body and I noticed it was a subtle feeling of contraction. At some point I dozed off and woke up groggy to the group chat at the end of the session feeling somewhat bewildered. I notice more "not liking" as I acknowledge my grogginess - and simply acknowledging it is enough to let the "not liking" and discomfort associated with it, lift somewhat. I am looking forward to joining more practises over the upcoming weeks and exploring mindfulness with an aim to be present and accepting day to day and turning towards what is.

Hi everyone! I attended the lovely meditation last night. We focused on the Tan Tien, (also called the Dantien). I had an experience where the Qi, or energy, started to circulate up my back and down the front of the body. It was enjoyable and I was asked to post here a picture of the Microcosmic orbit - which is what was happening. In Chinese Medicine the body contains many landscapes - particularly you can see here mountains (in the head) and a reservoir (in the Tan tien). A healing practice is to circulate the Qi in this way (up the back and down the front) however, …. I’ll add a note of caution. Some Qigong teachers advise against this practice - personally if I do it for too long I get dizzy!.. so please be careful and if you are interested in the Microcosmic Orbit - its best to do it with a skilled teacher. But…. I love the image of landscapes within the body! … so please take a look at this pic!

Here's a clip from this morning session, the first in our 8-week series looking at the Four Foundations of Mindfulness one of the most famous and influential meditation discourses of the Buddha. Please join us for the rest of the funfair ride - we're meeting every Thursday morning at 8am UK but if you can't make that, sign up anyway and we will send you a recording. It's an amazing text and I'm looking forward to unpacking it together. https://www.mind-springs.org/online-live

Lovely recording of him being interviewed by Tami Simon in Sounds.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I have written and spoken a lot about how the News Industry does not mirror reality and that one of its main drivers is to make people anxious and watch more news. This is why I am an avid support of Reasons to Be Cheerful and Positive News, two excellent outlets of what has been going right. So please take a moment to look at the Positive News' round up of 2024. Not to make us complacent - but certainly to give us hope! https://www.positive.news/society/what-went-right-in-2024-the-good-news-that-mattered/

Hello everyone, I know this is a sensitive time. Regardless of your feelings about the monarchy, periods of national mourning can connect us with pools of grief that can overwhelm us suddenly, so I'm sending lots of loving spacious energy to you all. Here at the Cliff Edge, the seasons are changing and I'm sitting in my new garden office listening to the rain (which as some of you will remember is a sign that the Buddhas are present and attending...) The new office comes with new wifi and solar panels to supply energy. And this means that I'm thinking of re-commencing regular weekly sits online. Some of you will have been with us through the lockdown, and some of you may be new. But hopefully, come the middle of October, when I'm back from Holy Island, we will start with three times a week Zoom sessions once again. I'll be announcing it more widely later this month, but I wanted to ask you for your advice and input in shaping the timetable and content. Perhaps you might take a moment to fill out this questionnaire so I can gauge what people are looking for. Also we're having a Mindsprings coffee morning (well, a Sunday sit and chat) on October 2nd at 10am UK time. We can discuss some of the stuff in the questionnaire then! Book in for the Zoom details at our new booking page: https://www.mind-springs.org/online-live Sending you lots of love. Alistair

Hi all, I hope you all had at least some good times this summer. I certainly had both beautiful days as well as challinging ones. I would like to share one picture snd story of a really nice day and would love to see some pictures of you too! This is a picture of my last day of our holiday in Sweden, in the region Bohuslän. This region has a stunning archipelago. Lots of rocks, beautiful flowers, spendid villages.... This day we had a short hike over rocks to a secluded bay. The sun was shining, dark coulds where drifting in. My(http://in.My) second son and I quickly undressed to enjoy a dive in the sea. Noone around. Just wildlife, sea and my family. I felt so blessed. When I got my cancer diagnosis last year and dreamt about surviving, I pictured myself swimming in the outdoors. I am still lacking in energy to get back to a normal life and some days I feel sad and frustrated because of that. But as I swam and reminded myself of this wish of being able to swim like this....well,....all was well for that moment. And now I have this golden memory to carry in my heart.

We normally attend the meditation sessions together. He is poorly in hospital. Please dear Mindsprings friends pray for my husband’s healing and recovery. We have a dog and two cats who very much want to see and cuddle their Daddy.

Happy new year! I just joined the group and am excited to meditate in community. The morning sits may be a little early for me as I am 6 hours behind England but who knows!