11/14/2025
Closer Than We Think
Our departed loved ones
are closer than we think.
Not gone,
but transformed,
woven into the quiet moments
of our lives.
Love, once given,
does not disappear.
It changes form,
softens,
and lives within
the spaces between us.
If we grow quiet enough,
if we let the world rest
for a moment,
we can feel it,
not as memory,
but as presence.
They are here,
just beyond the veil of sight,
breathing through the spaces
love once opened,
reminding us,
with every stillness,
that nothing truly loved
is ever lost.
~ 'Closer Than We Think' by Spirit of a Hippie
✍️ Mary Anne Byrne
~ Art by Olamik
07/21/2025
A teacher often used everyday examples to explain the deeper meaning of spiritual growth and enlightenment. One day, he took his disciples out to a field to teach them how to practise.
Some students grumbled inwardly, thinking: “Why travel such a long distance? Why doesn’t he just say what he wants to say?”
However, when they arrived at the field, they understood the purpose of the journey and the meaning behind what their teacher was showing them.
Before them lay a field scattered with poorly dug wells. It was clear that each time the landowner failed to find water after digging a few meters, he abandoned the spot and started digging elsewhere. The field was pockmarked with these shallow, unfinished wells. The result was land ruined by effort that led nowhere - the work of a madman.
The teacher turned to his students and asked:
“What do you understand from this?”
“This is not a barren desert,” he continued. “There is deep water here. If the landowner had persisted with just one well, he would have eventually reached it. But his impatience wasted both his labor and the land itself.”
Then, looking at his disciples, the teacher said:
“Will you imitate this madman? Taking a few steps on one path, then jumping to another? Listening to one teacher, then moving on to the next. You may gather much knowledge this way - but if you don’t put it into practice, it will all be wasted. Without perseverance in what you’ve been taught, the lasting enlightenment you seek will never come.”
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Students must be wary of chasing after practices without first mastering one thing. Where many initiations, empowerments or teachings are available, be careful not to blindly follow your greed instead of being patient and diligent with your practice!
