The Lion's Power Lies in our Fear of Him

Lions After the Kill ©Lynne Buchanan (All Rights Reserved Watermarked by Digimarc)

“The lion’s power lies in our fear of him.”--Nigerian Proverb

When I was in Amboseli, I wanted to go for a run outside the confines of the compound.  I asked the people at the lodge if they would let me, after I promised I could outrun a lion.  They clearly thought that was pure foolishness.  Then I said I was not afraid of lions and they reconsidered and told me to come back in the morning, and they would let me know their decision.  In the end, I was permitted to run with the Kenyan head of security, who they said was very fast and knew how to avert danger.  We had the most incredible run and saw baboons and zebras and wart hogs and Masai women carrying sticks, who asked me to share their load.  So often it is our fear that causes us to lose our strength in the face of the unknown or “other,” and this prevents us from experiencing the fullness of life.

Bringing Love into All the Dark Corners

Bringing love into all the dark corners is the path of being a human being. The whole purpose of our spiritual journey is not just becoming happy and fixing everything.  Rather, it is to heal our relationship to our core wound, so that we no longer feel compelled to reject or avoid it.  When we can hold it and everything else in our lives in awareness and love, we become filled with a sense of well being. ( (Paraphrased from John Welwood's July 3, 2012 podcast with Tami Simon "Healing the Core Wound of the Heart.  http://bit.ly/LRb38J)

In order to genuinely love another, we must first love our complete being--the beautiful flowers of our heart, the snakes hidden in our subconscious, and the rest of our shadow side.  The more aware we are of all aspects of ourselves, the more whole we are and the more able we are to live an authentic life.  We can reconnect with our true essence, which is openness and love.  We run into trouble when we avoid parts of our personality and emotional scars and leave them buried inside.  When we aren't fully aware, the hidden parts often motivate our behavior and lead us to do things that don't mesh with who we  really are and our true path. My shaman tells me, when we are whole we attract others who are whole and our chances of entering into a right relationship improve.  Through right relationship, we learn to open to ourselves, to another, and ultimately to all of life.  Set an intention to water and tend to the garden of your being in its entirety...

"Lilies in Light and Shadow" © Lynne Buchanan

(All Rights Reserved by the artist, image watermarked by Digimarc)

Please visit my website at Lynnebuchanan.com.

Painted Skies

"Sometimes you need the ocean light
and colors you have never seen before
painted through an evening sky."
--David Whyte
(From the poem "Second Sight")

"Sunset Along Coast from Calumet Park"

"Visionary Sunset"

Photographs ©Lynne Buchanan, All Rights Reserved, watermarked by Digimarc

The Balance of Being and Becoming

The Balance of Being and Becoming

© Lynne Buchanan

(All rights reserved, image protected by Digimarc)

"The breaking wave and the muscle as it contracts obey the same law.  Delicate line gather's the body's total strength in a bold balance.  Shall my soul meet so severe a curve, journeying on its way to form."

Dag Hammarskjold

When we choose to follow any of the infinite possibilities that exist for our life at a given moment, it is optimal to center ourselves and manifest our choices in a balanced way that bridges being and becoming or our paths will not evolve authentically.  If we merely focus on being, we may become stuck and miss the opportunity to be transformed by our choices and they will become stale and lifeless.  Yet, if our choices are only significant as a means to an end, then we lose sight of the beauty of the process.  It is in the balance of being and becoming that the magic happens.

When I take photographs, I try to lose my ego and open myself fully to the present moment and source energy as it is reflected in nature.  The formless ground of being beneath the surface of things speaks to me, and I try to capture its presence in the subjects I have chosen through my lens.  When I am back in my studio, I look at the raw image and try to bring back and enhance the emotional aspects of my "seeing" experience through Photoshop and processing.   When I view and work on my images in this way, I am constantly being transformed by them.  My awakening as a human being is intimately tied to my path as a photographer.

The Heart's Longing

"I want to know
if you know
how to melt into that fierce heart of living
falling toward the center of your longing."
--David Whyte

(Dahlia Heart by Lynne Buchanan, All Rights Reserved, image watermarked by Digimarc)

Consciousness is an Ocean of Interconnectedness

"If you don't become the ocean, you'll be seasick every day."  Leonard Cohen

"Our personal experiences of pain and joy, grief and despair, may be unique to each of us in the forms they take, yet our capacity to feel grief, fear, loneliness, and rage, as well as delight, intimacy, joy and ease are our common bonds as human beings.  They are the language of the heart that crosses the borders of "I" and "you." Christina Feldman

Listened to Dr. Rick Hanson's Sounds True interview with Richie Davidson last night.  Studies done by Davidson and his team on Tibetan Contemplatives engaged in compassionate mediations sculpted the brain so dramatically they were able to observe these changes with the human eye.  Measurable changes were evident in novice subjects who meditated just 30 minutes a day for two weeks.  Our stance to the world changes our brain, according to Davidson, and enables us to act more skillfully when we encounter people who are suffering and behaving disharmoniously.

(Casey Key, Clouds and Water by Lynne Buchanan.  All rights reserved, watermarked by Digimarc.)

When we adopt a compassionate stance we experientially realize we are all one.   Even in conflict, we are two sides of the same being.  Consciousness is an ocean of interconnectedness.