Finding the Path

Begin where we live
Embedded in our senses
Moving in and out of moments
Seamlessly strung together
As we find our life’s flow
Leaving a signature.

Observe life’s rhythm
Understand our endless desires for happiness
Set a course of exploration
Discovering well-being beyond life’s rewards.

Find a beingness, a stillness,
Live from our core of awareness
Leading us into joy.

Undergo a spiritual transformation
Focus all desires—tiny and huge upon a 
Path of awakening.

Weave amidst each day
A bedrock of ethical living
And love ourselves and all others.

Unpeel the heart’s yearning
A burning desire for freedom
As we touch life and see through death.


Apply wise effort
Awaken from the ignorance
Where we lost our way
Distracted, treading on life’s surface
Rich with gains and losses.

Summon forth mindfulness
Remember—wake up each moment
Let our life 
Be the container for the most precious act
Coming into the present moment.

Concentrate efforts
And purify our minds
As we awaken
Our world changes.

Persevere, settle for nothing less
Than full awakening
A journey into the unknown
As we strengthen
An abiding awareness
Precious and free.

© All rights reserved. John Fulan                                      

Wise Effort

Eyes veiled by a past

Skewed by hopes and fears

Bodies cloaked in mortality

Minds amazed by birth

Terrified by death.

Feverishly we cling to life’s treasures

Satisfying fleeting desires

Imperceptibly departing from

A radiant awareness

Always abiding.

Apply effort

Settle in an awareness

Luminous and knowing

Melt away icebergs of

Delusion and ignorance

Keenly navigate life’s imminent perils

Abandon naivety.

Continuously cultivate an intention

Eyes guided by wisdom

Gaze upon faint glimmers of truth

A world reflects

Our state of mind

Obstacles arise from within.

Grasp the view

Unwholesome actions

Bring torment

Swiftly blaming circumstances

Wholesome actions

Seasoned with ethics

Drenched with discipline

Foster peace.

Renounce a fleeting peace

Breed a fierce concentration

Steadied by effort

Serving to awaken

Liberate our minds

Seeing the world

As we are.

Unwavering effort

Unites a view with intention

To glimpse reality as it is

Flavored by faith to

Awaken in this moment.

A path of eudemonia

Renunciation reveals understanding

Nurture mindfulness

Hone concentration.

Forge a path

Too few travel

Grappling with actions and their effects

Embedded in the crucible of living.

All rights reserved. John Fulan.

A Path of Work

A carpenter's steady grip
A sugeon's delicate fingers
A plumber’s agile knees

A dancer’s nimble feet.

Human beings

Equal and unique

Following our own calling

Being of service

Moving along the path of work

Encouraging our world

Be a saner place.

Let work’s daily routines

Transform us all

Give of ourselves

Shape a kinder world.

Different skills we offer

Reducing us to equals

We all desire the same--

Happiness and wanting to reduce discomfort

Let us serve a greater good

Our common welfare can come first.

Our paths of work

Fill the sky with a vast rainbow

Each color shows a range of pay

Reflecting a beauty of talents

No one more gifted than another

We support each other

Along the way.

Let  work

Humble us

No matter poor or rich

We depend on each other

It’s possible to help our world thrive.

Work mirrors life

Such little control over who and what we encounter

A constant emerges—our state of mind

It shapes the choices we make

Minute by minute our life unfolds.

Dive deep into an inner path of work

We shape our work

As our work shapes us.

Let’s become more caring and unselfish.

Greed divides us all.

Stop drawing divisions between

Work and life

We are the crafters of both

Freedom shines

Right where we work and live. 

All rights reserved. John Fulan.

Precious Words

Listen to ourselves
A speech inside our minds
Pause…
Go deep beneath the surface
Pay attention to our inner conversations.

Closely observe
A space between our inner speech and reactions
Choose what we will say
As we breathe life into each syllable.

If our words
Are precious gifts
Glistening like diamonds
Can we risk wrapping our speech
In truth, kindness, restraint, and value?

Hold dear the stranger, friend, or loved one
Who receives the message of our voice
A reflection of our mind.

Do we leave painful imprints
With our words flung as arrows
Piercing with lies, insults, gossip, and idle chatter?

Words deposit a bit of ourselves
Forming an invisible bridge
Spanning from heart to heart
Choose wisely the imprints we leave
Upon another’s heart.

Can our speech release
A gentle touch
A warm caress
A hand outstretched
All revelations of our ourselves?

Let our words
Be greeted as a welcome guest
Who arrives from sunrise to sunset.

If we have but 12 words to say
Before we become silent
Would we surrender to a
Precious moment
Letting our hearts speak our minds?

All rights reserved. John Fulan

A Heart-felt Path: Love’s A to Z

Love is ambidextrous - learn to use your head and heart, it is hands on training, trial and error learning

Love is boisterous - be loud, be funny

Love is creative - dream together, play together, and laugh

Love is daring - take chances, speak from your heart, be yourself

Love is energetic - take a walk, go for a swim, engage each other in endless conversations

Love is fragile - speak wisely, words can hurt or heal, you both are fragile

Love is giddy - lose yourself in each other's embrace, laugh at yourself

Love is humble - you make mistakes, admit it, and forgive yourself and your mate

Love is ingenious - surprise yourselves at what you can accomplish with teamwork

Love is joyful - celebrate being alive, continue to discover the beauty of each other

Love is kind - you are kindred spirits on this life journey, shower each other with kindness

Love is light hearted - life is difficult, let love lighten the journey

Love is momentous - it is made of moments of connection, reconnection, disconnection, keep coming back to love and conversations

Love is nebulous - you both define it and redefine it each day, make love real - show each other you love one another in small ways - a smile, a twinkle in your eyes, a touch

Love is open-hearted and open-minded - you are on a journey of self-discovery, come to know and value yourself, you will better understand and appreciate each other

Love is prudent - think before you speak, especially in times of conflict, be conservative at times when the emotion is raw

Love is quiet - enjoy silence together, gazing at a sunset, holding one another

Love is robust - find new ways to enjoy each other, to play, and when needed, to be deeply honest and thoughtful and engage in discussion

Love is sensuous - savor the moments of passion, candlelight dinners, and gentle breezes

Love is talkative - you can always learn something new about each other, talk - not to give advice or opinions, talk because you are curious about each other

Love is understanding - listen to understand, give empathy to each other, and feel compassion towards yourself and your partner

Love is voluntary - each day you renew your commitment to be with each, avoid taking each other for granted, give your best - not to be perfect, just human

Love is witty - laugh together, laugh at yourself, life exists in contradictions - to  love, you need to let go

Love is xcitable - what a joy to share your lives together, companions on this journey of love and life

Love is yoga-like - be flexible, stretch your capacity to love, and love from your core, your essence

Love is zestful - renew yourselves each day, take care of yourselves, nurture yourselves, you then have something to give

All rights reserved. John Fulan

A Gentle Breeze

 A blissful breeze stirs the pages of life's book

Reclining I reflect on time's burning glow

The heart beats a breath of stillness

Pages unmoved

The mind glances a look.

The body pulses with sensations of silk - pleasure and pain

Pages of life becoming a wheel of time

Eighty years finding a path

Mysteries I probe as I grow more sane.

The path of independence I venture to say

Moves into bold connections I pray will stay.

A twirling breeze tingles the jewelry

As I mingle among life's pages

Stillness in the midst of movement

My heart stirs my path one beat closer.

Crowds thin around me

As thoughts vanish  in equipoise.

My path deepens as life's pages breathe.

All rights reserved. John Fulan

Lotus of Love

Mud

Sticky, slimy

My roots grow here.

My love finds its way down

Fearing loss

Bracing for disappointment

Trembling with insecurity

Gripped with self-doubt.

Honor the darkness.

Who said

Love is safe

Convenient?

Lost and overwhelmed

My roots reach deep

My lotus plant anchors itself

Knowing the upward path.

My love strengthens

Seeking the light

Faith as my stem

Somehow

Knowing.

My love stretches me

Beyond my safe boundaries

Turning me

Inside out

Exposed...Raw...Naked.

Surrender….

In spite of it all

Nourished by its roots

A lotus bud forms

Submerged under water

Biding its time.

Love knows

Its sacred rhythm.

Trusting.

My love reassures me

Love finds its way.

A lotus emerges

Poking thru the water's edge

Petals unfolding in the golden rays.

Love's aroma released

Greets the light.

My love matures

A vastness to behold

Sky and sun reflected in the pond.

Love's journey

Rattles my bones

Grips my hands

Settles my heart

Caresses my soul

Cracks open my self

Plunges me deep into the

Unknown.

Raises me to new heights.

All rights reserved. John Fulan