Tomorrow’s lesson

The title of tomorrow’s lesson is “Lessons from the Maypole.”  The subtitle might be “The Golden Rule.”  It’s interesting how those to concepts got hooked together in the “daily word.” 
The elements of a maypole would be the earth, the pole, the brightly colored ribbons, the flowers, the dancers, and the rebirthing time of year.  The Golden Rule can be found in almost every major religious tradition and directs us, teaches us, commands us to be aware of each other - of all things - as though they were us - honoring each individual as unique and of worth.  In dancing the maypole during the first days of spring, do we find a joyful, active, colorful way to represent that interaction, that connecting weave, that glorious sense of oneness, the powerful connection between earth and sky, the ability to hold unity and duality in the same space?  Maybe.  Let’s meditate on that and see what emerges tomorrow!

Are we listening?

A quote from Quantum Listening: From Practice to Theory To Practice by Pauline Oliveros:   “Listening is the key to performance. Hearing is the passive basis of listening. Hearing is involuntary. Hearing protects us from unseen dangers. We can hear without listening. (Unconsciousness) We choose to listen inwardly or outwardly to the past, present or future. (Consciousness) Listening actively directs one’s attention to what is heard, to the interaction of the relationships of sounds and modes of attention. We hear in order to listen. We listen in order to interpret our world and experience meaning. Our world is a complex matrix of vibrating energy, matter and air just as we are made of vibrations. Vibration connects us with all beings and connects us to all things interdependently. We open in order to listen to the world as a field of possibilities and we listen with narrowed attention for specific things of vital interest to us in the world. We interpret what we hear according to the way we listen. Through accessing many forms of listening we grow and change whether we listen to the sounds of our daily lives, the environment or music.” 
How often am I hearing, rather than listening - deep listening?  And when I’m really listening, how many layers - how many dimensions - can I recognize?