“I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let expectations hinder my path.”
Dalai Lama
A day of connections, sparking like synaptic communication, creating new neural pathways.
Had a well-timed contact yesterday from a buyer for a nest of tables I’d advertised online. I had a prior arrangement to visit Cardiff today, which is where the buyer lives, so I had a rather surreal meeting in Tesco Extra car park to hand over the tables in exchange for cash. all very ‘Smiley’ and cold war spy swap.
On to visit C, with plenty to discuss from my recent wanderings through the physical and spiritual landscape of this part of the world. I referred to a recent meeting in Maindee, which C picked up on, exploring the possible derivation of the name as Maen Du, or black stone. This triggered a recollection of my visit to Brynmawr cemetery yesterday when I’d come across the black pebbles dislodged from the grave. Over lunch we wrapped up my metaphysical rambling and I headed off to Llandaff cathedral, intending to have a meditation and get my take on the cathedral in response to BobsBlips aerial beauty a few days ago.
I was welcomed as I entered the cathedral and amongst other things was told that I could not photograph inside … unless I paid. Such a contrast to yesterday’s invitation to explore the Tibetan Buddhist Centre (Palpung Changchub Dargyeling) in Brynmawr. In the past I’ve happily coughed up for ‘Photography Permits’ (for commercial photography) and also made voluntary contributions for non-commercial use, but for some reason I found this approach got my back up and I decided not to do any photos inside. I took my time over my meditation in front of the magnificent Epstein sculpture, reflecting on my reaction, before heading to Jaspers for coffee and cake “to soothe the savage breast”, far more effective than music. Found myself sitting in an 18thC preachers chair (time to get off my soapbox).
The black stones connection had lodged in my consciousness, so back home I Googled it and came up with a few interesting connections :
the film ‘Knowing’, with Nicholas Cage, not my favourite actor but it was intriguing so I settled down to watch it for the evening. I had to watch nearly to the end to get the significance of the black stones – the invitation - which looked so much like the pebbles I’d found in Brynmawr. Fascinating.
Then I did another search and found that Black Stones are often used for grounding during meditation (never knew that before),, but also to open the mind to higher knowledge and remove the fear of the unknown.
And the final connection, which I was unaware of is that the Black Stone is set into the Kaaba in Mecca, and “…is heaven’s gift to all humanity. It represents the link between heaven and earth, between humanity and God, and the unity of all people” (Journeys of the Muslim Nation and the Christian Church: Exploring the Mission of Two Communities by David W. Shenk).
So there you have it.