Planting Seeds of Faith
Your Seed Pouch
Lanterns
Hang from the night sky
So that your eye might draw
One more image of love upon silk canvas
Before sleep.
Words from Him have reached you
And tilled a golden field inside.
When all your desires are distilled
You will cast just two votes;
To love more,
An be happy.
Take the sounds from the mouth-flute of Hafiz
And mix them into your seed pouch.
And when the Moon says,
“It is time to plant,”
Why not dance,
Dance and Sing
–Hafiz, The Gift
Stumbling on the Path
When you reach down to touch the earth, you can have faith that she will be there to witness your liberation, to witness your awakening, so when you hear that voice of doubt that one that tells you that you are a separate self and that you belong to no one and nothing. It’s faith and wisdom that reminds us that we belong to everyone and everything. – Leslie Booker
Sometimes we think of faith as something outside of ourselves, or like it maybe belongs to a larger entity or holds a certain religious connotation. I think faith can be a type of subtle and powerful force, a uniting thread beneath the various ways that both ancient and modern civilizations communicate with something beyond the personal experience.
An expression of faith, may feel very personal because it is not something that can be duplicated, or even understood within the confines of language in many ways. It’s not something we can pour into a cup and carry throughout the day, it doesn’t have a name or belong to anyone. But in many ways it is what fills us with something sweet and nourishing beyond our sensory experiences. It could be just one drop of faith is enough to move mountains, to endure the most challenging and complex struggles we face. To move beyond what feels insurmountable with a resounding trust that even after life, is more life.
Of all the virtues to cultivate, faith holds a certain indistinguishable power to resolve our greatest fears. It can show up in little things, rainbows reflecting off of prisms, bubbles, or stumbling onto any unnamed beauty or force of nature. As if by accident, as if the tree and the deer, and the owl weren’t perfectly placed by some unknowable force to walk beside you. In the natural world’s infinite expressions of love, faith shines its light.
We’ve compiled stories and talks that inspire us on Faith in our daily lives and practice. We hope this inspires and supports you too!
Between Soil and Stars
A poetic musing by Rose Zimmerman
The way the sky falls like cosmic rain. For thousands of years I stood, looking up at only you. What was once falling stars again became oceans, washing us back into the great river of existence. To be now, is not what it was to be then. What is my destiny? I asked, palms open. As if fate hadn’t been the one in disguise, carefully placing the bricks on the path before me. The stars giggled, and said why ever live in doubt, sweetheart, when god is so clear and willing to be kind. She asked, what will you do with your light? I said, it’s in my bones, and the wind came to whisk me away…
Inside the brewing storm, edges now soft and twirling, become lumped together like soft damp clouds. Suddenly, the sky breaks open, fierce with its lightning, and the rivers again come rushing down, carving new paths of freedom. Standing here as witness, with two feet planted on dirt, on earth, wild like bees, and soaked in honey, dancing on golden shore! Meet me here by the glistening tides, rejoicing! Somewhere between soil and stars, all are praising, rising towards heaven. Just like on any other golden shore, this ageless body sways made of song, sea and stone. These eternal eyes gazing, overlooking the three worlds, I remembered, standing at the edge of the bluffs, how silly to have forgotten at all, that I was always on my way to you.
Tomorrow. Again at the beloved’s door, a window pouring out light. And just when you thought no one was listening, you realize that everyone is here, tuned in, and the whole world is on the line, and at long last, now, all we can hear is singing!
Tell me that story again, great grandmother, the one where you resolve our fear of flight, the one where we are all reunited in the arms of this holy mountain sky.
Media Library: Dive Deeper
Daily practices inspirational talks to deepen one’s experience of faith
Meeting the Hindrances with Faith
by Leslie Booker
In this talk Booker shares stories of faith as a necessary part of resilience and awakening. “when you hear that voice of doubt that one that tells you that you are a separate self and that you belong to no one and nothing. It’s faith and wisdom that reminds us that we belong to everyone and everything.”
Freedom in the Spirit
by Myra Lewin
In this talk Myra shares stories of spiritually as an expression of freedom. She discusses finding freedom on every step of the spiritual path, and the uniqueness of the journey.
Faith and the Power it Brings You
by Eric Smith
In this video Eric shares stories faith as a practice of empowerment. “What gives the power to continue moving forward, to never give up, regardless of the situation, Faith…Faith gives us power, we can see it, we can feel it, and we can use it to become the people that we’ve always wanted to be.”
The Power of Prayer
by Carolyn Myss
In this video Carolyn Myss shares stories of heaven, miracles and how prayers are answered. “One of the things heaven will not do is eclipse your will, but it will do what it can to direct you to not make a stupid choice, to not make a harmful choice, the nature of heaven is that it works within your bio-spiritual ecology, no matter where you are you’ll feel it moving in you.”
OM (Aum) Secrets, Symbolism, Significance, and Sound
by Udaya Shreyas, The Sanskrit channel
In this video Udaya Shreyas shares the secrets behind the sound OM, and how it is connected to the sound of God, the primordial sound of the universe.
The Power of Faith
by Leslie Booker
In this article Booker shares stories on dharma, faith, and practice in action. “When we hear the word “power,” we often think of a great force, possession, control, authority, or power over other people. But there’s another way to look at power: as a source of energy to produce an effect or an impact. That’s how I see the five spiritual powers, as the energy that moves us away from our suffering and toward our liberation.”
The Faith to Let Go
by Dave Smith
In this talk, Dave Smith shares more on the Faith to let go in our practice and daily lives. “Really it’s [faith] about placing one’s heart on something. What I am willing to put my heart on is something I have faith in, trustworthiness in.”
Building Faith Brick-by-Brick: How We Grow on the Path
by Ayya Santussikā
In this video Ayya Santussikā shares stories of God in her dreams, and faith as an expression of her devotion to the Buddha. “How would you say the dharma has moved you along this road? Well first and foremost it’s been faith, I mean really trusting the Buddha, so the decisions that came along the way of which one to pick up were guided in that faith in the Buddha.”
Surrender, Faith, Groundlessnes and Samadhi
by Matthew Brensilver
In this video Matthew Brensilver shares stories of surrender, faith and samadhi (enlightenment). “Samadhi arises out of many causes and conditions and is not something that in the kind of willful fantasy we just reach out and grab, it’s something that grabs us, and the dharma is like that too, we are like reaching out to understand and to hold it and get our sea legs in the dharma world… but dharma practice really begins when the path grabs us.”
Spring is in the air, and the natural world is singing it’s tune of colors in bloom.
Big Bear Retreat Center wishes you a healthy joyful spring!
