Gaia and The Girl: Hang out with the Breath …
As an outgrowth of my novel In The Lila and the Gnani Chronicals that have been percolating for the last few years … I have embarked on a new category for my Not So Shaggy Dog Stories called Gaia and The Girl. If it seems like I am pouring new wine into old skins … then let me assure you that I AM! There is forever, only ONE conversation. As we seek our own tail (tale) we amble about in a circle telling the same parable about the two Zen monks who carried the geisha across the river, or the farmer whose son broke his leg on a wild horse, or the hairless dog who transmitted the dharma to the new puppy (ok, that one is mine 😉
No matter what words we choose, when it comes down to a conversation about the sacred we can not help but repeat ourselves and ultimately fail in trying to point to that which can not be spoken. So here I am, yet again with my wild images and imagination as I paint a picture this time in the 2D world of cyber-cartooning that speaks to what my heart sings.
And let’s face it … the world of Zen could use a few more women in the muddy waters. Gaia and the Girl contains the sacred enquiry into the nature of that which we are. Sometimes funny, often wide of the mark, this matriarchal archetype of conversations with God puts a little lipstick on the Buddha. Did I mix enough metaphors for you yet?
Point blank … if you are looking for answers … Google has a world of data just ready for you to burry yourself alive. If on the other hand you are drawn to play in the lila … well then this might be just what your mind longs for.
Deep breath …. here we go.
The Girl: This seems all a bit strange.
Gaia: Is there an aspect of “Life” that is not strange to you?
The Girl: Well no. I guess all of it is strange. But the sacred inquiry within the 2D world of cyber cartooning? What noble insight could possibly come of it?
Gaia: If you are looking for answers, because in some way you think you are lacking sufficient information then you would do well to stop this nonsense now. Better to Google some string theory if it is science and data you are seeking. But if you want to simply pull upon the string to see what unravels … what better place than here where the illusion is clear and the Lila is right before your eyes.
The Girl: So where do we begin?
Gaia: What is the most important question?
The Girl: I could say that I want to know God, or some other lofty new age recycled metaphor … but in truth … for ME what is most important is to end the suffering. Peace. I am looking to cultivate Peace within this body that is dysfunctional and this mind that spins stories even in the absence of an audience.
Gaia: When you understand that the audience is never absent. As you apperceive the One that watches in silence … the Peace that you think you are searching FOR will become THAT which you ARE.
The Girl: And until then?
Gaia: There is no THEN … if you are already THAT which you are seeking … then there is no distance for you to travel in order to arrive home.
The Girl: But in this moment, I feel light years away from the abiding awareness.
Gaia: Understand that there is an investment a hook if you will for the conditioned mind to hold on to the story of “me”. But there are no chains that bind you to that seat where you have taken a stand. In this moment … just for now … feel the breath enter your nose and notice how your shoulders drop slightly as you let go.
The Girl: yes. In one breath … there can be so much of a release.
Gaia: Before you took that last breath … WHO was breathing on your behalf?
The Girl: That which watches in silence.
Gaia: Excellent. Until next time. Hang out with the breath and realize the Peace that is already always present.
The Girl: I am always so grateful to be in the conversation. Gassho.
Gaia: Gentle journeys. Gassho.
