Beloved,
Gently close your eyes and allow the day to come to a quiet end.
There is nowhere you need to go and nothing you need to solve.
Simply,
Return to the place within you that is already waiting for the shape of you.
Bring your attention into the body,
Notice the subtle sensations wherever they appear.
The breath is moving on its own in this present moment.
The breath and the now have never been apart.
The heartbeat is beating under its own will.
The heart has never taken a beat outside of this moment.
Simple,
Sacred awareness and this body are indivisible.
Whatever you are aware of,
No matter how it feels,
Is known by and made of sacred awareness,
Making everything already complete,
Intimate and whole.
Take a deep breath,
Allowing the now,
Awareness and the physical sensations to melt into one unbroken experience.
Allow a scene to slowly form in your mind now.
You are standing on the soft,
Powdered ridge of a dune.
The sand beneath your bare feet is so fine,
With a pale tone that carries a soft blush under the rising glow of a distant moon.
Your feet sink slightly,
Supported and held,
And the sand drifts lightly across your ankles as you follow the slow curve of the dune's spine.
As you look up,
You notice the sky opening into twilight.
Stars are scattered in every direction,
And the dusty band of the Milky Way stretches far above you.
Dunes roll outward,
Endlessly,
Softly swelling against a violet sky.
There is a feeling here of something timeless,
As if nothing has ever begun,
And nothing will ever end.
You begin to notice the silence,
It is wide and unbroken.
Not empty or void,
But full and deeply still.
You feel this silence coming from you,
From an awareness that bleeds beyond the confines of your skin.
It feels as though this vastness,
And what you are,
Arise together as one.
As you stand within this quietude,
There is a gentle sense of being held.
Not by anything solid,
But like the invisible gravity that holds the body in place.
You are held by silence itself.
A darkling beetle scuttles across the sand in front of you,
And then buries itself quickly,
Leaving light-patterned footsteps in its wake.
In the distance,
A soft glow begins to appear.
You find yourself slowly walking toward it,
Descending the dune with ease,
Your feet pressing into the cool sand,
Leaving soft,
Billowing waves that fade behind you.
As you reach the base,
A small camp comes into view.
Smouldering bonfire illuminates the shadow of a dromedary camel,
Kneeling patiently.
Its majestic body lies in front of an open tent,
Whose soft fabric flutters like a heartbeat in the wind.
The ground flattens,
And you walk slowly across heavy,
Splayed-out carpets laid across the sandy floor.
As you approach the camel,
You feel an immediate sense of enchantment.
She is somehow ancient and sacred.
Notice the curve of her slender neck,
Her velvety skin,
And her long,
Quiet eyelashes.
She is a guardian.
You make eye contact with her rich,
Brown eyes,
And you intuitively know she is waiting to give you something,
A message,
Just for you.
Reach into your pocket,
There is a piece of paper there,
Folded closed.
On it is written your message,
But in order to truly receive it,
To be touched by it,
It must be seen by the eyes of your heart.
So,
Without looking at it,
You place the message into the open fire,
A fire that carries vital messages to the deepest part of your heart.
You watch as the embers catch it,
Flaring brightly for a moment and then disappearing into smoke and stardust.
You trust that it is finding its way to you now,
In its own time.
You now move toward the tent and bend slightly as you enter,
Greeted by the comforting scent of frankincense and sweet tea.
Inside a low bed is made up with heavy woolen blankets in warm tones.
A copper dalapod sits on the bedside table,
Where a thin stream of incense curls into the air.
You lower yourself onto the bed and allow the weight of the blankets to settle over your chest.
The body begins to soften.
Through the open tent,
You can see the endless dunes and the wide night sky above.
The fire's heat offers moments of warmth across your face,
Before the cool air returns.
There is a sense of being safe here,
Held not only by what surrounds you,
But by something deeper,
More still and constant,
Something timeless.
You begin to notice that this moment,
This now,
Is not moving.
There is no sense of time passing here.
There is only this isness,
This simple sense of being.
The body rests within it,
The breath moves within it,
And even the sense of self begins to soften into it.
There is nothing to search for,
Nothing to understand.
Whatever needs to come,
Will come in its own way.
You can allow everything to rest here.
Any effort,
Any holding,
Any sense of being time-bound or needing to figure things out can gently fall away into the peace that is already here.
The warmth of the blankets,
The coolness of the night air,
The faint scent of smoke and the desert stillness all come together as one seamless experience.
The stillness remains unchanged,
Before sleep,
Within it and beyond.
You are safe here,
Held by something vast,
Timeless and not separate from what you are.
As the body continues to soften,
You can let yourself drift more deeply now.
There is nothing more to do,
Simply rest and allow deep sleep to come effortlessly.
The breath and heartbeat continue,
Soft and unhurried.
The soft flicker of the fire rises and fades,
Just like thoughts,
Just like sensations.
There is nothing here that needs your attention.
Even the sense of listening can begin to soften.
The wisdom of the heart is making its way to you,
Without effort.
The night holds everything exactly as it is.
This moment does not pass,
It is what all passes through.
The feeling of now is not something you enter,
It is what remains.
This is not a moment in time,
It is what time appears within.
The desert does not move,
And yet everything within it shifts gently.
Even the sense of time-bound self can rest.
There is nothing to understand,
Nothing to solve,
Nothing to complete.
As time goes,
The stillness does not change.
You are safe in the drifting,
Safe in the softening,
Safe in the settling.
And as everything continues to settle,
Even these words can begin to fade,
Becoming silent,
More distant,
Until they are no longer needed.
