Intimacy with all things

Today I got to sit and to blip at leisure after a couple of busy days. The scent of these wallflowers drew me into a sheltered corner of the garden. I do believe the scent intoxicated me so that I became entranced with a single droplet on a single petal. This image is the result, and these are the words that describe the experience.

Abridged from Jack Kornfield A Path With Heart.
There is a tribe in East Africa in which the art of true intimacy is fostered even before birth. In this tribe, the birth date of a child is not counted from the day of its physical birth or even the day of conception, as in other cultures. For this tribe the birth date comes the first time the child is a thought in its mother?s mind. Aware of her intention to conceive a child with a particular father, the mother then goes off to sit alone under a tree. There she sits and listens until she can hear the song of the child she hopes to conceive. Once she has heard it, she returns to her village and teaches it to the father so that they can sing it together as they make love, inviting the child to join them. After the child is conceived, she sings it to the baby in her womb. Then she teaches it to the old women and midwives of the village, so that throughout the labour and at the miraculous moment of birth itself, the child is greeted with its song. After the birth all the villagers learn the song of the new member and sing it to the child when it falls or hurts itself. It is sung in times of triumph, or in rituals and initiations. This song becomes part of the marriage ceremony when the child is grown, and at the end of life, his or her loved ones will gather round the deathbed and sing this song for the last time.


Hearing such a story brings a yearning for such intimacy, to be held and listened to so deeply. Our capacity for intimacy is built on deep respect, a presence that allows what is true to express itself, to be discovered. Intimacy can arise in any moment; it is an act of surrender, a gift that excludes nothing. This quality of intimacy grows as we learn to stay connected with ourselves and respectful of those around us. No matter what we hope to get from each other, how we imagine it should be, what we do not expect to encounter, the mantra of intimacy says only ?This too, this too.?

To learn intimacy is not an easy thing. Growing up in our culture, marked by our wounds and longing, it is hard to be present, hard to be respectful. It is learned again and again as we relinquish the fears and conditions that keep us from one another, when we come close to the mystery of the moment. Many times we will feel our hesitation and tentativeness, a holding back. Yet this too can be touched with our intimate attention. And then in a moment we can let go of ourselves, be open and be here, awake and wholly present. Over and over when the world offers itself to us for our awakening, all we have to do is meet it.

In intimacy we recognise how unique is each man and woman each day before us, we discover a beauty and grace that makes all things worthwhile. When we become intimate with all things, we discover rest, well being and wholeness. When we become intimate with ourselves, we are able to bow and bless all that surrounds us. To discover the capacity to bless whatever is in front of us, this is the enlightenment that is intimate with all things. To learn how to bless, to honour, to listen with respect, to welcome with the heart, is a great art indeed. To live a path with heart, a life committed to awakening, we, too must care for whatever we encounter, however difficult or beautiful, and bring to it our presence, our heart in a great intimacy.

I'll have time tomorrow to sit with your journals, I've missed you all.