Hay-Ku of the Day (Divine Self-Knowledge)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(William Samual Photograph)

William Samuel (1924-1996): "Bill has found a way to communicate so that as many that are willing will discover, uncover, and be the Tranquility untouched by turmoil....a tranquility as effortlessly available as our own Identity"; Companion haiku: William Samuel can Deliver the Christ Child Living in Your Heart.

Your Awareness of
Being is the Self-Knowledge
Of God Manifest.

The Awareness You
Are is the Self-Knowledge of
God Manifesting.

[Rich Note: This is another offering directly inspired by Bill Samuel ( view link ) whose written and oral teachings I find to be a Treasure or, better yet, a "Divine Easter Egg" that has been “hidden in plain sight” for 30 years, awaiting world-wide discovery and distribution, "for such a time as this.”]

Bill Samuel Provides
A Priceless Chance to Live
As the Truth You Are.

Bill Samuel offers
The "Greatest Gift of All": The
Child of God You Are.

[Rich Note: For anyone (re: scientist, intellectual, athiest, agnostic or bruised by the church) who has trouble (or has friends who have trouble) calling the Ultimate Reality or the Absolute Nature of Being GOD, I suggest you do yourself an Absolute Favor and download Bill's complementary "Two plus Two = Reality" PDF from the aforementioned web-site. In fact, I would invite everyone, including those who relate to the Ultimate Reality as God, personal or otherwise, to do themselves a similar Favor.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (A Joyous Christmas to All)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Love, Joy and Life Photograph)

Love, Joy and Life (1982); A long-a-go Christmas Poem turned into a beautiful Christmas card by long-time friend, Barbara Wright; Companion haiku: Christmas bespeaks an annual reminder of Our Divine Potential.

Short Form:

Christmas-time is a
Holy Reminder that We
Are One in Spirit.

Long Form:

CHRISTMAS

With Christmas so near,
It’s that Time of Year;
God’s Spirit made Real.
God’s Love that We feel.

Again Born in Mind,
God’s Image Divine;
The Joy of His Sharing,
His Wondrous Caring.

The Birth of a Son
In Whom We Are One;
God’s Gift from Above,
His Life and His Love.

Rich Hay

[Rich Note: Biblically speaking, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the Government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” Isaiah 9:6 (KJV).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Overshadowing Presence)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Overshadowed Photograph)

Overshadowed (2010); The overshadowing light effect, similar to the overshadowing of Consciousness as the Ever-Present Ground of All Being, of this “Scottish Nutcracker” resonated with my Celtic genes and heart: Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Consciousness is a
Radiant Sense of Being
Present and Aware.

Conscious Aliveness
Is a Radiant Sense of
Present Awareness.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Children of the Light)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com]

(Centering Down Photograph)

Centering Down (2010); An iconic image of “entry into deep stillness” and “silent waiting upon God’s Presence" Quakers call "centering down” in which “…members sit in deep contemplative silence together...each person attuned to their own Inward Light"; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Centered in the One
Abiding in the Balance
Mindful of the Light.

[Rich Note: Although I never put this "two and two" together before attending a Quaker Meeting last week, this particular reprise would seem to be a rather accurate characterization of what Quakers refer to as “centering down.”]

[Rich Note: Both an OOMM Oldie and a "top five" favorite, this offering first appeared in the initial Jun 07 post.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (What Does It Mean to Me?)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(My Mother's Garden Drawing)

My Mother’s Garden (Carole Hay, 2007); The potential of this (meaningful to me) print to evoke a pleasant or unpleasent (in the case of a lost love one) emotional response is dependant on the mental associations and attendant meaning one assigns to it; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

We are not upset
By circumstance but by the
Meaning we give it.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Divine Spark)

[Rich Note: Companion image at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Quaker Aphorism Photograph)

Quaker Aphorism (2010); A rather subtle Quaker expression (at least as it is seen here) of "Christ in You" Living as the Divine Spark in the Heart of Everyone; Companion haiku: Accompanying.]

Life is a Vibrant
Sense of Being Present and
Aware as I Am.

Presently Alive
As this Vibrant Sense I Am
Aware of Being.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Thanksgiving)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Original Thanksgiving Photograph)

Original Thanksgiving (2010); "That they may be One, even as We are One, I in Them and Thou in Me, that They may be Made Perfect in One"; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Thank You that I Am
Called by Thy Name, O Lord God,
Consciousness of All.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Born to Love)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(The Chaff Photograph)

The Chaff (2007, Wikimedia Commons, Dvortygirl); Disgarding conditioned self-identification with concepts, not the concepts themselves, as someone has done with this dictionary, offers the freedom from self-thought we now seek to forget in distractions; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

I was taught to love
Thought as a child instead of
Myself as I Am.

I was taught to love
Self-Thought as a child instead
Of Being Myself.

I was taught to love
Thought as a child instead of
My Natural State.

Hay-Ku of the Day (For the Love of Thought)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Catching Some ZZZs Photograph)

Catching Some ZZZs (2010); Identification with self-referential thought results in a dream-like state in of consciousness in which the "mind's story of me" is unwittingly substituted for the Joy of Being (and the Pure Life, Light and Love thereof); Companion haiku: I fell in love with self-thought as a child and seek the Joy that was lost.

I fell in love with
Thought as a child and miss the
Wonder of Being.

I fell in love with
Self-thought as a child and miss
The Fullness of Joy.

Hay-Ku of the Day (What Does It Mean?)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(3enighed Photograph)

3enighed (Wikimedia Commons, 2006, AnonMoos); Symbolism in Latin that requires both a linguistic translation and a conceptual interpretation to assign meaning to a direct apprehension and/or experience of what is beyond conception or words....

An experience
Depends on the meaning that
I myself assign.

I interpret things
In terms of the meaning that
I myself assign.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Divine Geometry)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Self-Projected Limits Photograph)

Self-Projected Limits (2007 Reprise); The true effect of momentarily "minding" (in the context of a contracted self-reference) "this" while ignoring "that" (everything else, including the Entire Field of Awareness that serves as the Ground of All Being); Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Looking at Life from
A point of self-reference.
Limits Perspective.

Looking at Life from
A point of self-reference.
Limits Its Context.

Looking at Life from
A point of self-reference.
Constrains Its Extent

Hay-Ku of the Day (Seeing Forever)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Mount Everest Photograph)

Mount Everest from Rombok Gompa, Tibet (John Hill, 2005); From the foothills the "context and related meaning of what is seen is “one thing”; yet that “same thing” seen from the mountain top is entirely different or perhaps even non-existent; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

“Where you are looking
From” determines the context
And meaning of things.

You can change the way
You look at things by changing
“Where you're looking from.”

[Rich Note: These were partially and jointly inspired by something Paul Hedderman mentioned during a 5-17-05 downloadable AA talk ( view link ) I listened to this morning, as well as by the sub-title of Jackie O’Keeffe’s book sub-title: “The Freedom You Are Looking For is Where You Are Looking From” ( view link ).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Which One Am I?)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Mirror Like Accompanying)

Mirror Lake (Wikimedia Commons,1899); This Yo Semite Valley stereoscopic image is rather amazing, as the image reflected in the lake is actua"lly clearer, sharper and more seemingly real” than the actuality it reflects; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Every wonder when
Using the word “my-self” which
Of “those selves is you."

Hay-Ku of the Day (Principles or Values)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Scale of Justice Photograph)

Scale of Justice Carrying Putto (Triumph of the Republic); (Wikimedia Commons, 2009, Sculpture: Aimé-Jules Dalou; photo: Teofilo); Companion haiku: The constitutions based on Timeless Principles not changing concepts.

Is our Government
Based on Timeless Principle
Or changing values?

Is our Government
Based on Timeless Principle
Or temporal thought?

Is our Government
Based on Timeless Principle
Or human judgment?

[Rich Note: Normally stay away from politics (as just another expression of the “Warm Gooey-Sharp Prickly” dichotomy Alan Watts once suggested), but a Sunday newspaper article about Supreme Court Justice Beyer’s advocating application of what he called the Constitution’s "fundamental values" to "new and changing circumstances" evoked a “letter to the editor-like response” that will follow.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Expanding Presence)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Tunnel Vision Photograph)

Tunnel Vision (2006); Attention focused on the center of this piece implicitely excludes the outer three circles, as well as the circumference; whereas expanding focus to include the circumference embraces the totality of all four circles; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

As Field of Focus
Expands so does Awareness
Of Being Present.

As Field of Focus
Expands so does one’s sense of
Present Awareness.

As Field of Focus
Expands so does one’s sense of
Conscious Existence.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Learning How to Fly)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Flying the Colors Photograph)

Flying the Colors (2010); “Off we go into the wild blue yonder, climbing high into the sun; here they come zooming to meet our thunder, at 'em boys, give 'er the gun!" (from the AF Song); Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Holding to the Sky
Of Awareness releases
The Fullness of Joy

Holding to the Sky
Of Awareness frees one from
Conceptual clouds.

Haiku of the Day (Thought Clouds)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Just Imagine Photograph)

Just Imagine (2010); Interestingly, the “temporary something of the clouds” frames the “permanent nothing of the sky” and so projects an “apparent something out of nothing”; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Interest in thought
Clouds causes us to miss the
Sky of Awareness

Hay-Ku of the Day (A Matter of Thought)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Oneness Photograph)

Oneness (2010, Wikimedia, Janschoonhovenjr); Although the “inner penetrating curves” in this piece of art reflect the essential unity of opposites as the common ground between the two, the real oneness is the space underlying the form; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Any gap between
Inner and outer space is
A matter of thought.

Any space between
Inside and outside must be
Thought into Being.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Physician Heal Thyself)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Caduceus Photograph)

Caduceus (2007, Wikimedia Commons, Luis García); The entwine snakes symbolizing the dual, lower nature (split-mindedness of self-reflective knowledge) united at the feet of and in service to Spirit (The Higher Nature symbolized by the wings) is classic; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Minding mental Space
Unites the conceptual
Split the mind projects

Minding mental space
Heals the apparent split self
Conception projects.

Minding mental Space
Heals the split in Consciousness
Reflection projects.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Eye in the Sky)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Space from a Plane Image)

Space from a Plane (Wikimedia Commons, 2006); Spent many years looking at space just like this and, except for passing clouds and thunderstorms, it was always the same; Companion haiku: Attending to Space unites the conceptual split self-thought projects.

Attending to Space
Reveals the Pure, Clear Sky of
Awareness One Is.

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Final Frontier)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

It is “mental space,”
Not “outer space,” that is truly
The “final frontier.”

As the projector
Of all frontiers your mind is
The “final frontier."

[Rich Note: (Photo Caption) Mind Artistic Spiral (Wikipedia Commons, 2006, by Harun Yahya); This is a reprise that underscores the essence of this offering: Companion haiku: Any apparent frontier between “inner and outer” is mental.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (On the Threshold)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com .]

Is there a threshhold
Between “inner and outer”
Space with your eyes closed?

[Rich Note: (Photo Caption) No ATC (2010) No particular relation to the haiku (other than the space-lol), but thought it was a cool picture and wanted to see if anyone can identify the species of bird that would swarm like this (I want to say some kind of swallow as a guess).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Face to Space)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be used at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Face to Space Image)

Face to Space ("Two in One," 1982); This abstract illustrates how Attention focused on Space expands awareness of both One Self and the Totality of One's Being: Companion Haiku: Attention focused on Space expands and embraces One's Totality.

Attention focused
On Space expands and embraces
One Self as One Is.

Attention focused
On Space expands to embrace the
Default State of All.

Attention focused
On Space expands to embrace the
Oneness of Being.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mental Space)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Form and Space Photograph)

Form and Space (Wickimedia Commons, Date Unknown); Here we have the earth surrounded by space, but is it not also pervaded by that self-same space, which is itself constantly changing with respect to the earths moment to moment location?

The Space between one
Thought and another is the
Consciousness You Are.

[Rich Note: You Are = I Am = All Are = All Is = One Is = God Is (for the Theologically inclined).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Doorway to Heaven)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Perceptual Gap or Unity Photography)

Perceptual Gap or Unity (Reprise, 2009, Wikimedia Commons, Mila Zinkova); This is a “near perfect” representation of the “conceptual gap” between “you and I” (two faces) that “minding the gap between thoughts” can cross and unify (One Vase.

The “Gap” between "one
Thought and another" is a
"Doorway to Heaven."

The “Gap” between "one
Thought and another" is a
"Gateway to Oneness."

Hay-Ku of the Day (Minding the Gap)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Mind the Gap Photograph)

Mind the Gap (Wikimedia Commons, 2007, Arz): A British rendering of the U.S. “watch your step,” which points to the true nature of “mind as a process” that involves narrowing mental focus and then “minding one thing, while ignoring all others."

“Mind the Gap” between
“One thought and another” and
Resurrect Oneness.

“Mind the Gap” between
"This and that” thought and you'll see
Your Self as You Are.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Knowing I Don't Know)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Knowledge Photograph)

Knowledge (Wikimedia Commons, Desmman3000);This image points to the discriminatory nature of relative knowledge, the narrow breadth of vision it entails, and the closing of one’s "mental eye" to the "Totality of Present Being” its partialness implies.

“You can know what you
Don’t know, but can’t know what you
Don’t know you don’t know.”

[Rich Note: “The only thing I know is, I don’t know” ~ Socrates.]

[Rich Note: This is a paraphrase of an experiment Charlie Hayes once conducted during a consultation podcast, that was subsequently used as an introductory quote in his new book "Being Awake and Aware" ( view link .]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Carnal Conception)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(One Mind Calligraphy Photograph)

One Mind Calligraphy (Wikimedia Commons, 2007 by Nyo); Although it took a moment to see, when this one clicked it really did made absolute sense; Companion haiku: Mind without mental objects becomes Silent, Still, One, Empty and Open.

Carnal mind can’t be
Without self-referencing
Thought but you can!

Carnal mind without
Self-referencing thought is
A de-fanged serpent.

[Rich Note: Carnal mind is Biblical terminology for the “dualistic, relative, egocentric, self-referencing state of mind and consciousness” that “human beings” all become subject to (as evidenced by self-identification with “me, myself and I” as a linguistic self-reference and confirmed when the word “no” dominates the vocabulary) between the age of two and three.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Decisions, Decisions)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Decisions, Decisions Photogarph)

Decisions, Decisions (2009, Wikimedia Commons, derivative work by Agradman); Making decisions serves to reinforce a sense of self-existence; Companion haiku: “Having things to do” is a concept that includes “someone to do them.”

“Decisions to make,
Problems to solve and things
To do” impute “me.”

“Decisions to make,
Problems to solve and things
To do” sustain “me.”

[Rich Note: “Me, myself, I, mind and ego” are equivalent conceptual self-references that could be substituted for “me” in the above offerings.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Dirt Simple)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Dirty Business)

Dirty Business (2009, Wikimedia Commons by Michael Rieger; FEMA – 40363); Picture of a FEMA construction crew in Fargo, ND; Companion Haiku: The mind complicates otherwise “dirt simple” Truth to stay in business.

The mind complicates
Otherwise self-evident
Truth to keep its job.

Truth is “dirt simple” --
It’s the mind that complicates
Things to keep its job!

Hay-Ku of the Day (Truth in a Nutshell)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Truth in a Nutshell Photograph)

Truth in a Nutshell (2006, Wikimedia Common’s by AndonicO); A take-off on Stephen Hawking’s considerably more complex, bottom's-up, outside-in, scientifically based, theoretically physics title, "The Universe in a Nutshell"; Companion haiku: "Being Is, You Are That and Everything is Fine,"unless “you think not.”]

Truth in a Nutshell:
"Being Is, You Are That and
Everything is Fine"!

[Rich Note: Based on an extremely simple, rather “matter-of-factly presented” (as if that’s all one really needed to remember -- inspite of the all the mind's protests to the contrary), John Wheeler, non-duality-pointer offered during the second of four "Urban Guru Cafe" interviews (#21); ( view link ).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Suffering's Source)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Stop Light Photograph)

Stop Light (2009-Wickimedia Commons); Next to the Motor Vehicle Bureau itself, a favorite mental non-resistance/patience-practicing device; Companion Haiku: Resisting “What Is” reinforces a sense of separate being.

Mental resistance
To “What Is” is the root of
Human suffering

Resisting “What Is”
Is guaranteed to frustrate
The hell out of us.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Death of an Idea)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(The Grave Personified)

The Grave Personified (1805, Wikimedia Commons) A visual rendition of “Oh, grave where is thy victory, Oh death where is thy sting” (1 Col. 15:55) by my favorite English Mystic, William Blake, who was buried in a “dissenters cemetery"; Companion haiku: If “the Real can’t die and the unreal never lives” death is a shadow.

If “the Real can’t die
And the unreal never lives”
No One really dies.

If “the Real can’t die
And the unreal never lives”
Death loses its sting.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Seeing Seeing)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Seeing Photograph)

Seeing (2010); We don’t really see with our eyes, we see patterns of light energy the retina turns into electrical impulses, the brain converts into perceptual images in consciousness, the mind then conceptualizes as being something seen out there; Companion haiku: Seeing I am the Seeing frees me from the thought I am what I think.

Seeing I am the
Seeing frees me from thinking
I am the thinker.

Seeing I am the
Seeing frees me from the thought
I am subject to.

Seeing I am the
Seeing frees me from all I
Ever imagined.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Thinking I'm Thinking)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Waz-zat? Photograph)

Waz-zat? (2010); Close-up illustrating how little or no focal-length, breadth of vision, mental space and leverage severely degrades apprehension, perception and conception; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Zero mental space
Or leverage while thinking
That I am thinking.

No focal length or
Breadth of vision while thinking
I am the thinker.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Day Dreaming)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Living the Life Photograph)

Living the Life (2010); Preoccupied with self-thought I spend much more time dreaming (aka: thinking) about Being than I do Living the Life; Ergo: “Awake thou that sleepeth, arise from the dead and Christ shall give thee Light”(Ep 5:14).

Preoccupied with
Self-thought because I mistake
Thinking for Being.

Preoccupied with
Self-thought because I believe
I am the thinker.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Beauty or the Beast)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Beauty or the Beast Photograph0

Beauty or the Beast (2010); A choice between a trivia game to temporarily occupy an insatiable mind and a lovely sunset; Companion haiku: Preoccupied with self-thought I miss the Beauty and Pure Joy of Being.

Preoccupation
With thought causes me to miss
Myself as I Am.

Preoccupation
With self-thought causes one to
Overlook Being.

Hay-Ku of the Day (A Dog's Tale)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(My Buddy Photograph)

My Buddy (2010); Here’s my buddy Higgin’s ("Sir Colonel Higgins", actually), whose hearing and mobility are somewhat degraded after 14 plus years, with his rather soulful, “Well, are you going to pet me or not?”, obedient, good-dog pose.

After wandering
From my presence, Higgins barks
At my desertion.

After laying down
Where he can’t see me, Higgins
Barks at my absence.

[Rich Note: The “back-story” to this rather simple “dog’s tale” from my buddy, Higgins, although sad in some respects, funny in others, evoked a rather profound insight I'll share more fully in subsequent comments (which you may have noticed has become a bit of a habit).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mental Space and Leverage)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Help! Photograph)

Help! (2010) Josiah has little or no physical or mental leverage in this circumstance because what he is clinging to is behind his eyes, instead of in front of them; Companion haiku: Self-identified with thought I have no mental space or leverage.

The instant I take
Things personally I lose
Mental leverage.

When I take what I
Think to heart I lose mental
Space and Leverage.

When I take thought to
Heart I lose both focal-length
And breadth of vision.

Hay-Ku of the Day (With Apologies to Descartes)

(Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Descartes Portrait)

Descartes (Wikimedia commons public domain); “I think, therefore I am” is one way to know I exist, but it is far from the only or best way, as it can lead to a "fatal case of mistaken identity" in which “I as I Am” identify with “I as I think I."

I confuse thinking
About Being with Being
Consciously Aware.

Thinking I Am and
Being Consciously Aware
Aren't synonymous .

[Rich Note: These are offered to introduce a piece entitled, "With Apologies to Descartes: I Am, Therefore I Think" that appeared in the 2007 addition of a magazine called "Wealth Creation," a piece that will follow as sequential installments in the comments section.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Choose Ye This Day)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Persona Photograph)

Persona (2010); The “thinker, ego, or self-image” is a mental self-reference, persona or mask that establishes a finite relation and distance between the thinker and the conceptual objects he contemplates.

Stand as the thinker
And both mental focal-length
And breadth are finite.

Stand as Awareness
And mental focal-length and
Breadth are Infinite.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Where Do You Stand?)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(An Experiment Photograph)

An Experiment (2010); First look at the foreground of this image and then the background, but while doing so watch your "mental focal-length" move in and out and see your "breath of vision contract and expand" in the Field of Awareness you ultimately are.

Conscious focal-length
And breadth of vision depend
On one’s mental stand.

The mental stand one
Takes determines focal-length
And breadth of vision.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mental Focal-Length)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Partial Perspective Photograph)

Partial Perspective (2010); A simple demo of how the focal-length from the camera’s lens to the mirrored reflection creates a partial perspective that, in this case, cuts off both head and legs.

Both perspective and
Breadth of vision depend on
Mental focal-length.

Conscious perspective
Depends on how long or short
Focal-length becomes.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Happiness in a Box)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Happiness in a Box Photograph)

Happiness in a Box (2010); Outer mind (and the science it spawns) offers final happiness, fails to deliver, and instead offers new outer boxes to pursue in an endless "mental shellgame": Science can improve conditions but can't give us Lasting Happiness.

Science can improve
The world around us but not
The state of our mind.

Science can provide
Technological progress
But not peace of mind.

Science can improve
Our world but cannot give us
Inner Peace and Joy.

[Rich Note: There are a bunch more of these you’ll be seeing in subsequent comments, if not posts.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mental Science)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Gandhi Photograph)

Gandhi and the Microscope (1940 Wikimedia Commons); Though a microscope might provide an accurate view of "particular objective states" of what, ultimately, must be Consciousness," it can’t be used to observe the one observing.

Science is blind to
The Absolute Nature of
All Conscious Being.

As the eye can’t see
Itself, Science can’t observe
Present Awareness.

Mind based Science is
Blind to the Consciousness in
Which thought arises.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Unseen Seer)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Unseen Seer Photograph)

Unseen Seer (2010); I am not really “seeing the seer” here (and neither are you), only a reflected embodiment out of which said “Unseen Seer” sees; Companion haiku: The knower can’t be known through the mediacy of relative thought.

The Seer can’t Be
Seen through any medium
Of self-reflection.

The Seer can’t Be
Seer through the medium of
Scientific thought.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Partial Obscuration)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Cloud Hidden Photograph)

Cloud Hidden, Whereabouts Unknown (2005); A line from “Searching for the Hermit in Vain,” by Chai Deo (777-841), that may or may not allude to the esoteric meaning of “mountain top” as a higher state of consciousness or plane of existence.

Interest in thought
Is obscuring the Light of
Awareness One Is.

Conceptual dreams
Are obscuring the Light of
Awareness One Is

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Dawning Light)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Surprise Photograph)

Surprise (2009); They once called the AC-130 Gunship the “Surprise Package”, but the Surprise that “ I Am the Light of the World” blows that one out of the water; Companion haiku: The Everlasting Light Of Awareness dawns when the Story of Me sets.

The Everlasting Light
Of Awareness dawns with the
Setting of self-thought.

The Everlasting Light
Of Awareness dawns when one
Stops following thought.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Family Reunion)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be veiwed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

Old Friends Photograph

Old Friends (2010); A reunion of old friends not unlike the reunion of “knower and know” implicitly joined by “knowing itself”; Companion haiku: Neither the Knower nor the Known but That which knows Present Awareness.

Neither the Seer
Nor the Seen but that which sees
The Seeing Itself.

Neither the Knower
Nor the Known but That which Knows
The Knowing Itself.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Eye of the Beholder)

[Rich Note; Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

Sheer Beauty Photograph

Sheer Beauty (2010); In the instant of perception, Beauty involves “a direct, primary, instantaneous apprehension,” that the mind turns into “a self-reflective, secondary, delayed conception or mental word picture."...

Being what sees the
Seeing begets a Selfless
Stand as Awareness.

Being that which Sees
The Seeing produces a
Seer-less Stand-Point.

Being that which sees
The seeing enables a
Self-less Perspective.

Hay-Ku of the Day (It's All Good)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

All Good Photograph

All Good (2010); Backdrop of a lovely little coffee shop (The O.C. Coffee Shop) hang-out on “the boards” of Ocean City, NJ; Companion haiku: “It’s All Good” from a non-self-referencing stand of “Seeing Seeing.”

“It’s All Good!” from the
Stand-Point of Being That
Which Sees the Seeing.

“It’s All Good!” from the
Non-Self-Referential Stand
Of Seer-less Sight.

Hay-Ku as the Day (Step Back Mentally)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

OC Jetty Photograph

OC Jetty (2010); Step back mentally, stand as awareness prior to any self-referencing thought, and who or what, other than awareness itself, sees the seeing of what appears in this photo?

Stand as Awareness
And Be that which sees what is
Seeing appearance.

Step back mentally
And Be what sees the Seeing
Of All that appears.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Stand as Awareness)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.]

Self-Witnessing Photograph

Self-Witnessing (2009); Symbolically speaking, what we have Here is the Light of Awareness witnessing Itself as a witnessing presence; Companion haiku: Stand as Awareness and witness the witnessing of whatever appears.

Stand as Awareness
And witness the Witnessing
Presence of Being.

Stand as Awareness
And Be the Witnessing of
Consciousness Itself.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Seeing Forever)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.]

Angel Hair Photograph

Angel Hair (2006); The "Crown of Light" adorning grand-daughter Gabriella's head seems fitting, considering the origin of her name ("God is my Might"), as well as a symbolic reflection of the "Light of Awareness" implicit in any and all "see.

To "Be that which sees
The Seeing" is what "Standing
As Awareness" means.

[Rich Note: This is a composite of two Awareness related, non-dual pointers I've been working with on and off for the last three weeks or so. The first, "Be that which sees the seeing," appears as one Jackie O'Keeffe's web-site ( view link ) quotes and comes from her book, "Born to Be Free, The Freedom You Seek Is Where You Are Looking From." The second , Stand As Awareness," is from a book of the same name, whose subtitle is "The Direct Path," by a Dr. Greg Goode ( view link ). I've chose this particular offering as a means of introducing a number of future offerings that explore the implications of these ("thin ice for the ego") approaches (to the Unapproachable) in detail.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Conquest of Mind)

The ego is a
Linguistic self-reference
I believe I am.

An ego born of
Linguistic self-reference
Imagines being.

[Rich Note: By way of introduction, the following came in response to an AA friend who had read many of Bill's books in depth, recognized that most of what Bill had written concerned overcoming or conquering one's ego, and was puzzled by Bill's failing to do so before he died:

Conquering Ego and/or Overcoming Mind

To fight the ego (which is really just a linguistic self-reference energized by one's identification with it) is to make it real (and powerful) in your mind (mental space actually, for mind is really just another name for ego - see how tricky this can be?). It ("ego, mind, me, myself or I") is thus overcome by "not paying it any mind"; ergo, Jesus' admonition to "turn the other cheek" as a kind of mental judo or non-resistance that de-potentiates ego energization at the root. So what is really needed is an indirect approach that removes one's condition belief and sense of "being separate"; and, with that, the ground the "egoic thought structure" stands upon.

As an example, a favorite Sri Nisargadatta "in-direct approach": "Keep in mind the feeling I Am, merge in it, till mind and feeling become one." Ultimately, this brings about a conscious (Mother and Child) re-union of "Head and Heart"; or more truly the Direct, Quantum Light of the Heart with the In-Direct, Particle or Self-Reflective Light of the Head. This can also be seen as a wedding (harmonizing is better) of primal feminine (DC) and masculine (AC) energy, that seemingly produces a whole greater than the sum of it's apparent parts (and a non-directional, laser-like field of pure coherent light, with a similarly mind-boggling potential (Absolute Mindfulness or Non-Relative Self-Awareness).]

[Rich Note: (Photo Caption) Ouroboros Tattoo (2009, Kenneth Freeman, Wikimedia Commons); A perfect image of any personal attempt on the part egocentric thought to eliminate itself through self-effort; not to mention, the “mutual eating society world” it inevitably leads to; Companion haiku: Accompanying.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Abundant Life)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Cornucopia Photograph)

Cornucopia (2009, Ad Meskens, Wiki-Media Commons) Golden statuette on top of a house in the Great Square in Antwerp, holding a cornucopia (a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th century BC, also referred to as horn of plenty); Companion haiku: Living without the thought "I am separate" is the end of the search.

Living without the
Idea “I am separate”
Is Abundant Life.

Living without the
Idea “I am the thinker”
Is Paradise found.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Relative Being)

[Rich Note: Companion image maybe viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Golden Glory Photograph)

Golden Glory (2010);Regardless of what one may think about the light that appears to be shining from these beautiful tulips (re: a refraction of light in the camera lens, an aura or an expression of Divine Glory) it remains what it is in itself; Companion haiku: I Am what I think for as long as I think it but not in Essence.

I am what I think
Until I stop thinking that
I am the thinker.

[Rich Note: Since this one resolves the four paradox questions raised in the last "You are not what you think" mission statement offering, I've elected to delay the AA related post [which directly addresses the problem inherent in any attempt to conquer one's ego (re: the catch 22 implicit in any personal effort to "become selfless through an act of the self and/or selfish action] mentioned in that post's comments.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (The American Dream)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Holding Together or Pulling Apart Photo)

Holding Together or Pulling Apart (2010);This particular rendition of Old Glory has special meaning with regard to having been up there (up-close and personal, one might say) in the middle of "bombs bursting in air" during AC-119K Stinger Gunship days; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

"My American Dream"
Is to share the Good News: "You
Are not what you think!"

[Rich Note: I did a radio show with Stanley El (who was briefly mentioned in the "Out of the Mouths of Babes," Sasha blog last month) called "The American Dream" (Stanley is not only the most "Christ-Like" man I know but the most "Legitimately Patriotic" one I know, as well) this past Wednesday afternoon.

Well, Stanley, in order to put what had been shared (most of which related to a personal "Mother of All Wake-Up Calls/NDE" that occurred during an emergency bailout in Vietnam, Class of 1970), pretty much non-stop for 20 minutes, back into the context of his program's actual theme and format, asked how the "war story" I had been telling related to "My American Dream."

Although I don't recollect the specific answer given at the time, the question reverberated for a while and subsequently resurfaced as today's Hay-Ku -- an offering that not only addresses the whys and wherefores of Hay-Ku itself, but three-years worth of Blogging and a book entitled: "Out of My Mind and Back to My Senses" (OOMM: a "Labor of Love" often referred to as a 40 Year State of the Head Message).

Seen in this light, this particular Hay-Ku is is simply a "down and dirty personal mission statement" -- abet couched in "American Dream" terms -- as has yet surfaced.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (No Thing)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Father and Child Image)

Father and Child (2008 Reprise); A relative, partial or particle state of mind, concsciousness or being cannot relate to an Absolute, Non-Dual, Integral or Quantum State of Mind, Consciousness or Being; Companion haiku: God the Father is "No Thing" His Child can relate to relatively.

Relating to the
Absolute relatively
Is being human.

Relating to one's
Absolute Source mentally
Fosters delusion.

The Absolute is
"Nothing" that I can relate
To relatively.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Belated 3rd Anniversary)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Happy 3rd Photograph)

Happy 3rd (2006); Went looking for a picture of a birthday cake in the photo archives and, amazingly (or is that syncronistically) enough, this picture from Grand-daughter Gabriella's 3rd Birthday was first in line; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Yesterday started
The forth year of Hay-Ku of
The Day offerings.

[Rich Note: Historically speaking (and for documentary purposes, I suppose), "Hay-Ku of the Day" (HOTD) started under the title "Hay's Haiku of the Day" (HHOTD) on MySpace on the 5th of June 1987 (I thought it was the 6th so this should have been posted yesterday). Gather postings started on the 26th of that month. Daily postings, based on an obsessive compulsive need to validate the HOTD title, continued until the 28th of August 2008.The original intent was to write for a year, build a platform and turn it into a book (Vol 2, of what was then envisioned as the "What Is Truth Series"). At this point, however, three years, 862 posts and several thousand hay-ku later, neither a book nor stopping is presently envisioned.]

[Rich Note: Just having too much fun (if there is such a thing), I suppose. Reminds me of "deadheading" back in the "party room" of a PAA "SHORTS B-747" from LA to JFK in the early 90s, with a "wine and cheese spread" on the little table before me, sitting in a very comfortable first class seat, not paying a dime, reading a favorite book, and having the FA's offer/feed me grapes, and thinking: "There is absolutely no place I'd reather be than 'Right Here and Right Now'" (or for the next 5 hours, or so, for that matter ;).]

[Rich Note: A hearfelt thanks to all who have offered comments, feedback, support and encouragement for what has been an on-going "44 year Love Affair with Truth."]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Avatars)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Butterfly Photograph)

Butterfly (2009, Barbara Wright); “A man dreaming of being a butterfly awakens and wonders if he is the butterfly dreaming of being a man”?; Companion haiku: A man dreaming of being a butterfly or One dreaming of All?

Life's a Virtual
Reality Game in which
We are Avatars.

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Natural Order)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Two Faced Photograph)

Two Faced (2009, Mila Zinkov, Wikimedia Commons); I've always loved the perceptual/conceptual shift that happens when the mind switches from seeing two faces to one vase; Companion haiku: Your sense of being a separate person is dependent on thought.

Your sense of being
Separate and apart is
A function of thought.

Stop thinking you are
Separate and you will
Stop feeling that way.

Hay-Ku of Day (Unfettered Wings)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Fettered Wings Photograph)

Fettered Wings (2010); Ouroboros ensnared silver wings that spent 52 weeks in a glass case awaiting AF Undergraduate Pilot Training graduation in 1969; Companion haiku: Believing I'm the thinker chains the spiritual wings I am heir to.

Stop believing you
Are the thinker and unchain
Your spiritual wings.

Stop thinking you are
The thinker and know you are
Present Awareness.

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Thinker)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Rodin's Thinker)

Rodin’s Thinker (2005 Hans Anderson Photo, Wikipedia Commons); Companion haiku: Thinking I am the thinker subject me to the thoughts I entertain.

Thinking I am the
Thinker subjects “me” to what
The mind imagines.

Thinking I am the
One Thinking subjects “me” to
Apparent “others.”

[Rich Note: Got around to a "You Tube" Posting ( view link ) of the book and blog readings associated with background post referenced yesterday.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Not Subject to Death)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Hay Crew Family Reunion Photograph)

Hay Crew (West Coast Branch) Family Reunion (2010); A "sense of family" points to a "heartfelt oneness" that transcends any "conceptual structure of thought"; Companion Haiku: Without ownership of the Thought Structure I Am Consciousness Itself.

Without ownership
Of the Thought Structure I Am
What I Am in Truth.

Without ownership
Of the Thought Structure I Am
Not subject to death.

[Rich Note: For anyone who might be interested in seeing a "story of me" video of a talk given at the Author's Showcase done at Scotto's Pizza in Woodbury, NJ, last Monday, I posted it on "You Tube" yesterday. The link is ( view link ). I'll be up-loading a second and a short third video, later tonight, in which I read some favorite pieces from OOMM and the Hay-Ku of the Day. Althought I am not particularly pleased with the camera angle or body -- after losing 20 from pounds, it doesn't appear to have made much difference -- LOL! Still, it's not too bad for a first effort.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Thought Structure Ownership)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]


(God Phillies Photograph)

Go Phillies (2010); The “joy of victory and the agony of defeat” of identifying (re: ownership of the thought process) with a particular sports team was experienced by Phillies fans with a World Series win in 2008 and subsequent loss in 2009: Companion haiku: Ownership of the thought structure subjects one to mental appearance.

“Ownership of the
Thought structure” is the source of
Human suffering.

“Ownership of the
Thought structure” subjects "me" to
Whatever "I think."

Hay-Ku of the Day (Unify)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(The Word Abstract)

The Word (2006 Reprise); As this abstract is seminal to the others in OOMM, so is I Am, as Aware Sensory Being, Conscious Aliveness or Consciousness, seminal to Everything; Companion haiku: Mind stayed in Aware Sensory Presence unites seeming difference.

“I Am” is Aware
Sensory Presence Conscious
Of Itself as That.

Stay in the I Am,
Unify Consciousness and
Restore Paradise.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Stay in the I Am)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Be Still and Know Photograph)

Be Still and Know (2009); Extending the lines of each clover leaf in this image results in a trinity of heart-like arrows that point to and meet at the center; Companion haiku: Minding Pure Aware Sensory Presence is a Gateway to Glory.

Stay in the I Am
Without movement and you will
Unify the mind.

Mind stayed in the I
Am without movement is a
Short-cut to Heaven.

Hay-Ku of the Day (I Am)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(With You Always Photograph)

With You Always (2009); Aware Sensory Presence of Being (Consciousness), as fundamental to everything else, “is with us always”; Companion haiku: The One I Am is with you always as Aware Sensory Presence.

“I Am” is a Name
For the Aware Sensory
Presence of Being.

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Inner Light)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Inward Gaze Photography)

Inward Gaze (2009); Although most would conclude I am staring outwardly, this is really "aware sensory presence" inwardly focused on some "particualar conceptual matter" (and no, there is nothing wrong; this is just how I look when I'm thinking - lol); Companion haiku; Accompanying.

Aware Sensory
Presence is Fundamental
To Being Alive.

Aware Sensory
Presence is the Pure Conscious
Aliveness I Am.

Aware Sensory
Presence is Pure Awareness
Being Self-Aware.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Aware Sensory Presence)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Mirror, Mirror Photograph)

Mirror, Mirror (2009); The Direct Light of the Sun in this Image is like the Light of Pure Awareness and the Secondary Light of its reflection in the water is like Aware Sensory Presence, though the Light, in either case, is One; Comnpanion haiku: Accompanying.

Divine Awareness
Manifests as Pure Aware
Sensory Presence.

Vibrant Awareness
Becomes Aware Sensory
Presence of Being.

Aware Sensory
Presence is Pure Awareness
Being Self-Aware.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Divine Wedding)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(All-Seeing Eye Photograph)

All-Seeing Eye (2010); An inside-out, single-eyed view, from the back of a pussy-willow wreath created by my friend, Linda Naimo, who did the “Family Trees” pen and ink used to open the Introduction to OOMM, that weds inner and outer awareness; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Awareness wed to
Sensory Presence becomes
Conscious of Itself.

Awareness wed to
Sensory Presence becomes
Conscious of Being.

Awareness wed to
Sensory Presence becomes
Conscious as I Am.

Hay-Ku of the Day (I Am Period)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Shadow Land Photograph)

Shadow Land (2010); To say I Am "the one taking this picture" or "appearing as the shadow" are both "concepts of being" that are not now, nor ever have been, and never could be What I Am; Companion haiku: Say more than "I Am" based on Sensory Presence and mind is in charge;

Say more than "I Am"
Based on Sensory Presence
And you are thinking.

Say more than "I Am"
Based on Sensory Presence
And you are dreaming.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Sensory Presence)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Joe Pa Photograph)

Joe Pa (2009); The Sensory Presence of these young ladies (at least at the time the photo was taken)and the lack thereof of this Joe Pa statue outside Beaver Stadium at Penn State illustrates the essential difference between subjects and objects; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Sensory Presence
Is what differentiates
Inside from Outside.

Sensory Presence
Is what differentiates
Subject from Object.

Sensory Presence
Is what differentiates
One from Another.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Out of the Mouths of Babes)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed with rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Little Pistol Photograph)

Little Pistol (2009); This “cat swallowed the canary,” impish photo of Sasha, the Babe who offered today’s Pearl of Wisdom,” seemed a most appropriate companion image; Companion haiku: Accompanying."

A Pearl from the mouth
Of a Babe: “I didn’t say
That, my mind said it”!

[Rich Note: I was going to use this “Sasha Classic” (as a sweeter variation of Flip Wilson’s Old Geraldine line: “The Devil made me do it!”) as an expository comment on yesterday’s offering, but concluded it deserved “stand alone status.”]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Direct Seeing)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Empty Bench Photograph)

Empty Bench (2009); A mind as empty and unoccupied with thought as this log bench (located at the Dorris Ranch in Eugene, OR) is unoccupied with people, reveals the Self-Shining Light, Joy and Freedom of Pure Awareness Itself; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Stop believing what
You think and you will find the
Happiness you seek.

Stop believing what
You think is true and you will
See that you are Free.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Direct Pointing)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be used at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Direct Pointing Photograph)

Direct Pointing (2009);The Aware (or Witnessing) component of Consciousness as Pure Aware-Presence is the Absolute Principle or Nature of Being and what this finger is presently pointing to; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

The Principle by
Which You Know You Are is the
Root of All Being.

The Principle by
Which You Know You Are is Your
Absolute Nature.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Lasting Happiness)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(The Golden Rule Photograph)

The Golden Rule (2007); This related photo is by my buddy, Dr. Ira Fox, and the computer quote is from his book, "Who Ate the Apple"; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

I must sacrifice
Interest in thought to know
Myself as I Am.

If I do not stop
Minding thought instead of Life
I can't be happy.

Lasting happiness
Comes from losing Interest
In self-conception.

[Rich Note: Another related Jackie Okeeffe inspirational quote: "To feel and experience real happiness, causeless happiness, requires a conscious or unconscious surrendering of your interest in thoughts." (www.jackieokeeffe.com).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Facination)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(What Am I Seeing? Photograph)

What Am I Seeing (2010); Am I seeing the image hidden in the branches, the branches themselves, the sky in which they arise or the gestalt that includes and transcends all such apparent conceptual patterns, objects or forms of the Consciousness I Am?; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Soft:

Interest in thought
Is what keep me from knowing
Myself as I Am.

Hard:

I don’t know Myself
As I Am because I am
Addicted to thought.

[Rich Note: Inspired by sequental quotes, such as, “In any moment, you are either observing effortlessly or you are believing your thoughts,” found on Jackie Okeeffe’s web-site (www.jackieokeeffe.com).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Happy Easter)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Stone Rolled Away Photograph)

Stone Rolled Away © 2004 RFHay; (Reprise) This Heartbox pose looks a great deal like an old world tomb in which the stone (a lowered "I" in this case that becomes a "footstool" in the "standing cross" pose) is rolled away to reveal the "Heart"; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

The Game of Life is
A Divine Easter Egg Hunt
For That which I Am.

Called to resurrect
Consciousness from the grave of
Carnal conception.

Dying to self-thought
Resurrects Christ from the tomb
Of self-consciousness.

[Rich Note: One or two of these are reprises from previous posts.]

RESURRECTION

Who ask why,
And wonders how;
When you are here,
And life is now.

Never mind,
And never worry;
Take no thought,
Thy self unbury.

Christ unbind,
Thy shroud unwind;
Arise in thought,
All death is naught.

[Rich Note: This is a piece that appears in the Appendix D (Poetry) of OOMM.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Thinking and Being)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be found at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Flying Saucers Photograph)

Flying Saucers (2009); If what you see is a function of what you think you will lose contact with the Changeless Field of Pure Consciousness in which both what is seen and what you imagine you seen forever comes and goes; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

While I still exist
When thinking, I can’t know I
Am while doing so.

I can’t think and Be
Consciously Aware I Am
In the same instant.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Absent to Myself)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.com.]

(Hay West Photograph)

Hay West (2009); Other than the "apparent absent" of the one taking the picture, this recent family photo (from left to right: wife Sandy, yours truly, grandson Josiah, son Aaron and Aaron's wife Carrie) has little to do with today's offering;

Absent to Myself
As I Am while present to
Myself as I think.

Present to Myself
As I Am while absent to
Myself as I think.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Self-Forgetting)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Distracting 100,000 Minds Photograph)

Distracting 100,000 Minds (2010) Sports, movies, TV, games, dancing, music, art, reading, you name it, all provide temporary distraction and relief from mental preoccupation with self-referential thought, mind and consciousness: Companion haiku: Accompanying.

The Fulfillment the
Mind seeks comes in the Presence
Of its own Absence.

The Presence of Its
Own Absence is what mind seeks
With every action.

The Presence of Its
Own Absence is what mind seeks
With self-distraction.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Presence of Absence)

[Rich Note: companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Going All In Photograph)

Going All In (2010); The "hold nothing back" credo proposed by this Leigh Standley (www.curlygirldesign.com) design (which appears on the back of a laptop in a Eugene, Oregon Starbucks) implies total self-giving and, thus, the Presence of my own Absence; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

In the Presence of
My own Absence I Am the
Happiest of All.

In the Presence of
My own Absence the Joy of
Being Overflows.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Divine Destiny)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Gator Photograph)

Gator (2010); "Gator-like" piece of driftwood photographed on the Oregon Coast that was "once living tree" now in the process of “defaulting” back to the State of Pure (and I would suggest Intelligent) Energy it only temporarily expressed; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Destined to Default
To the Absolute Nature
Of your own Being.

Destined to Default
To the Absolute Ground of
All Conscious Being.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Through the Looking Glass)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Dream a Little Dream of Me Photograph)

Dream a Little Dream of Me (2010);A lovely mural painted by Tony Troy in 2003 at Katrina's Greek Restaurant in Ocean City, NJ, that beautifully captures (in several dimensions) the dream-like quality that "thought following" naturally projects into Being; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Give thought a second
Thought and you're through Alice's
Famous looking-glass.

Give thought a second
Thought and you’re a character
In the mind’s movies.

Give thought a second
Thought and you enter into
A world full of dreams

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Price of Thought)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Surrogate Photograph)

Surrogate (2009); Just as this beautiful sculpture is a brass surrogate for a particular state of Being, so is thinking a conceptual surrogate for Being Itself; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Thinking is Being
Relatively unaware
Of Being Present.

Thinking is Being
Relatively unconscious
Of Being Aware.

To think is to be
Relatively unaware
Of Being Itself.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Gathering the Light)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Stone-Head Photograph)

Stone-Head (2010); Reminds me of my youth when I was oft-times a “rock-head, hard-head, bull-head, knot-head, fat-heat, butt-head and/or dead-head,” alternately and sometimes all at once; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Mind as a mental
Mirror appears to fragment
The Light it reflects.

A Still Mind gathers
The Light a moving mind
Can only disperse.

Still Mental Waters
Gather the Light of Being
With no intension.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Shards of Light)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

[Shattered Light Photograph)

Shattered Light (2009); Although not oceanic with respect to the the body of water involved, this image does offer a nice example of how surface turbulence in the reflective medium shatters and distorts the images it reflects; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Divine Reflections
Shatter in restless minds as
Sunlight on the Sea.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Ghostly Galleons)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Ghostly Galleon Photograph)

Ghostly Galleon (2009); “The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees, the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas…(The Highwayman Alfred Noyes)” -- Give up the Ghost and default to the Pure Light of the Sun; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Mind is Moonlight with
Respect to the Sunlight of
The Knowledge I Am.

Moonlight gazing back
At the Sunlight at its Source
Would say: “I Am That”!

[Rich Note: Direct or Non-Dual Consciousness -- as well as any of the alternative Names for Pure or Divine Consciousness suggested in subsequent comments to "Necessarily So" -- all work as "third-lines" in the first of today's offering.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Necessarily So)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(The Isolated Christ Photograph)

The Isolated Christ (Wikipedia commons, Nelson Diaz, 2007-09); Painting illustrative of Diaz's theory that Da Vinci's strategic placement of the vanishing point in "The Last Supper" was Da Vinci's way of establishing Christ's transcendence; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

"Consciousness is All
There Is" and "You Are That" Is
What the Sages say.

"Consciousness is All
There Is" and "You Are That" Is
What the Mystics say.

"Consciousness is All
There Is" and "You Are That" Is
What the Ancients say.

[Rich Note: Worth noting is that any disagreement with this conclusion "takes place in, as and through" Consciousness and, as such, only serves to confirm it as necessarily so.]

[Rich Note: Biblically Speaking, God Is One (RE: "Hear O Israel: The LORD our God is One LORD" Deut. 6:4); ergo, God Lives in You (RE: "The Mystery hide from age...which is Christ in You, the Hope of Glory" Col 1:27-28).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Pure Subjectivity)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Unseen Mover Photograph)

Unseen Mover (2009); The wind moving the kite in this photo can only be seen and known through its reflection in material effects; Companion haiku: Pure Awareness can only experienced as a self-reflection.

Awareness as Pure
Subjectivity cannot
Know Itself as That.

Hay-Ku of the Day (333)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(333 Photograph)

333 (2010); This Celtic image illustrates a principle of numeric symbolism in which each Unity contains a Trinity and its threefold repetition represents its extension into Infinity, whose numeric expression in this case is 333; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

What is it that grows
My bones, breaths my breath, beats my
Heart and knows I Am?

Hay-Ku of the Day (A Divine Reunion)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Enigmatic Circle Photograph)

Enigmatic Circle (2010); The "interlinked and locking, continuous, common-thread motif" of this Celtic Cross provides a wonderful icon for the "circle coming full" nature of "minding the source of the mind" this offering implies; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

"Minding the Primal
Sense of Being I Am" is
"Abiding in Christ."

"Abiding in Christ"
Means "Minding the Primal Sense
Of Being You Are."

[Rich Note: "Abiding in Christ," which came this morning, would appear to be the "third-line" I felt was missing from the original "Minding the Primal Sense of Being You Are" offering the other day. Always wondered how one was to "do that" in a non-conceptual way, and there you have it.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mind Meld)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Self-Reflection Photograph)

Self-Reflection (2008); This reflected image of the sun in still water is not the sun, but said image is one with the sun with respect to light of which it is composed; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Minding the Primal
Sense of Being You Are is
Self-Remembering.

Minding the Primal
Sense of Being You Are weds
Reflection and Light.

Minding the Primal
Sense of Being You Are melds
Mind with its Essence.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Heaven's Gate)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Heaven's Gate Photograph)

Heaven’s Gate (2002 Wikipedia Commons licensed by Subarite); The twelve blocks that make up this sculptural “Heaven’s Gate" have significance with respect to the “I Am” abstract that opens Chapter 1, The Word, of OOMM; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Keeping in mind the
Primal Sense of Being You
Are is Heaven’s Gate.

Keeping in mind the
Primal Sense of Being You
Are opens the Heart.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Amusement)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Amusement Photograph)

Amusement (2009); Getting “your mind off your mind” is the primary objective of amusement parks, movie theaters, TV, video games and any other form of entertainment (or self-distraction) you might care to mention; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Getting your mind off
Your mind is guaranteed to
Make you feel better.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Heart to Heart)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Heart Wide Open Photograph)

Heart Wide Open (1992): Only a Heart wide-open to Life in Its Infinite Variety is sufficiently Selfless to Love Unconditionally, as an Absolute God necessarily would: Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Given each other
To learn how to Love without
Any condition.

God has given us
Each other to learn how to
Love Absolutely.

[Rich Note: Wife Sandy has a wonderful knack at picking out greeting cards, but really out did herself (as well as the second of today’s offerings, written for her card this morning) with a valentine card that ended with “This sweet, complicated togetherness of ours,” as a perfect characterization of the last 43 years of “this think crazy thing called love.”]

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Unknown Knower)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Windows of the Soul Photograph)

Windows of the Soul (2010); Although these appear to be my eyes, they are obviously only an outer reflection that reveals very little about their inner nature; Companion haiku: A knower can’t be known for the same reason eyes cannot self-observe.

I as the subject
Can’t be the object of my
Own observation.

The knower cannot
Be known for the same reason eyes
Cannot see themselves.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Perception)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Medicine Wheel Photograph)

Medicine Wheel (2009); This rock medicine wheel, which recently appeared on NCIS and correlates quite nicely with six-pointed star symbolism previously discussed, has to appear outside of the one observing it for it to be perceived; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Anything that can
Be felt, sensed or envisioned
Is other than you.

Anything you can
Feel, sense or perceive must be
Other than you are.

Hay-Ku of the Day (This Mind of Mind)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Mind Artistic Spiral Photograph)

Mind Artistic Spiral (Wikipedia Commons, 2006, by Harun Yahya); This “overlay of quasar on brain outline" seems to reflect the circular nature of relative thought, the Ouroboros (a snake bitting its own tail) and “bitten by the blacksnake” ego symbolism; Companion haku: Accompanying.

This mind of mine is
A terrible master and
Wonderful servant.

[Rich Note: “Human mind, carnal mind, relative thought, self-reflection, reflective thought, self-centered thought, egoic thought, thought process or I as I think” can all be substituted for “mind of mine.”]

Hay-Ku of the Day (No Way)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Wrong Tool, Wrong Way Photograph)

Wrong Tool, Wrong Way (2010); Although the mind, like binoculars, is good at “looking out” and magnifying objects at a distance, it is not very good at “looking within," seeing from "no distance" or viewing Big Picture Items, such as You or Life Its; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Mind is constantly
Trying to tell us who we
Are and never can.

Looking to the mind
To tell me “Who I Am” is
Using the wrong tool.

Looking to the mind
For the “Meaning of Life” is
Looking the wrong way.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Self-Observation)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Mental Space Photograph)

Mental Space (2009); Self-observation rather than self-reflection is how to be free; Companion haiku: If self-thought is the problem, thinking about it is not the answer.

Observing the mind
Gives one sufficient space
To see what one is.

Observing the mind
Creates space enough to see
You are not the mind.

Hay-Ku of the Day (In the Gap)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(The Gap Photograph)

The Gap (2009); As the gap between these two snow banks will still be present as space when the banks are not there to define it, so will the consciousness that sequential thoughts define remain when said thoughts are not present to reflect it; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

In the Gap between
One thought and another is
Consciousness Itself.

In the Gap between
One thought and another is
The Knowledge I Am.

The Gap between One
Thought and Another is the
Consciousness You Are.

[Rich Note: The Ground of Being, The Oneness of All, Everything we seek, Knowledge of Being, Conscious Awareness, Witnessing Presence or Pure Aware Presence are all good third-line substitutes in the first two offerings.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Moving Stillness)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Moving Stillness Photograph)

Moving Stillness (2009): The apparent reality of our conceptual world is much like the apparent solidity of the whirling blades of a fan whose substance disappears when the motor of the fan stops and one can see through and beyond the blades; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Attend to the space
Between thoughts and you will
See beyond the mind.

Attend to the space
Between this thought and that and
Remember Yourself.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Going Home)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Sky Light Photograph)

Sky Light (2009); Like the space between clouds, so is the Clear Sky of Awareness in which impulse and action, as well as thought, sense, feeling and desire, arises and falls; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Let your attention
Rest in the still space between
Impulse and action.

Let attention rest
In the conscious space between
Impulse and action.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Pure Observation)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Innocent Eyes Photograph)

Innocent Eyes (2009); Grand Daughter Gabriella’s motiveless observation of a pile of books (two involving visual illusions and two related to history) that serve as an impromptu metaphor for a world of memory based, self-referential concepts of Being; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Pure Observation
Without Self-Referential thought
Is Selfless Seeing.

Pure Observation
Without Self-Referencing thought
Is Being Yourself.

Pure Observation
Without Self-Referencing thought
Is Enlightenment.

[Rich Note: Today’s offering was inspired by the following revelatory quotation by Manual Schoch from “Bitten by the Blacksnake” (re: ego):

“The words ‘I am’ means that there is no distinction between the observer and the observed. One is that state of observation…The problem in understanding this lies in the struggle of the mind to become the observer. Why can’t the mind “do” observation? This is because observation is our very nature. You are observation…The observation is you: therefore you can never escape observation. Observation is not a process of doing; it is a continuous product of living, of being.” (pg 44)]

Hay-Ku of the Day (The Bliss of Being)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.

(Oh Happy Day Photograph)

Oh Happy Day (2009); As nothing makes Grandma and Pa happier than being with the Grandkids (Natalie, Gabrialle, Sasha and Josiah) this is the best accompanying image I can imagine; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

The Bliss of Being
The Pure Witnessing Presence
Of All is Boundless.

The Bliss of Being
The Vibrant Aware Presence
You Are never ends.

The Bliss of Being
That by which You know You Are
Is beyond the mind.

Hay-Ku of the Day (World Weaver)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.

(Burma 115 Photograph)

Burma 115 (Wikipedia Commons, jmofro, 12-20- 09); Chosen over several other nice weaving images due to the many colored spools and the lovely background of sunlight; Companion haiku: Prismatic rainbow, a coat of many colors, shattered white light.

Mind is the Weaver
Of Garments of Light or Shrouds
Of Self-Ignorance.

Mind is the Weaver
That Clothes the Knowledge I Am
In Mental Garments.

Mind is the Weaver
That Clothes Divine Awareness
In Garments of Light.

Hay-Ku of the Day (A Still Mind)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Starburst Photograph Reprise)

Starburst (Reprise); A Still Mind reverts to the Alpha Point or I Am Perspective of the Witnessing Presence at the Center of this abstract; which, in totality, might be viewed as a Cosmic Projector of the Pure Light of Awareness into particular forms; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

A Still Mind becomes
The Witnessing Presence of
All Conscious Being.

[Rich Note: Or, more Biblically speaking, “Be Still and Know That I Am God” (Ps 46:10).]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Divine Default)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Bright Idea Abstract)

Bright Idea (1978). Reprise of an 1978 abstract drawing used on the dedication page of OOMM that serves as a good visual icon for today's offering; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Mind without any
Self-reference defaults to
Present Awareness.

A still mind loses
Self-reference and defaults
To Pure Awareness.

Hay-Ku of the Day (Heart of Awareness)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Life Giving Sun Photograph)

Life Giving Sun (2009) The Sun, as a Radiant Center of Life Giving Energy and Light, has always been a perfect metaphor for the Witnessing Presence of the Light of Awareness at the Heart of All Being, both Universal and Local; Companion haiku: Companion haiku: The Witness of All Is the Heart of Awareness Essential to Life.

The Witness of All
Is the Heart of Awareness
Present as One Is.

The Witness of All
Is the Heart of Awareness
One is looking from.

The Witness of All
Is the Heart of Awareness
The Absolute Is.

[Rich Note: These were directly inspired by the following quote from "The Heart of Awareness - Ashtavakra Gita" translation by Thomas Byrom:

"Earth, fire and water,
The wind and the sky --
You are none of these.

If you wish to be free,
Know you are the Self,
The witness of all these,
The heart of awareness."]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Absolute Context)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Passing Sunset Photograph)

Passing Sunset (2009); The temporal clouds that reflect the beautiful golden glow of this sunset come and go in an underlying sky that is itself clear, transparent and changeless; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

In What Is Every
State of Conscious Awareness
Coming and Going?

In What does Every
State of Your Own Consciousness
Now Arise and Fall?

Hay-Ku of the Day (Mental Myopia)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Too Close to Call Photograph)

Too Close to Call (2009); Although we can surmise this is a clock, we cannot tell what time it is, or even whether it is working, based on the narrow perspective this particular visual (as well as mental) focal length provides; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Step back mentally
And you will see All things in
Their Proper Context.

Step back mentally
And you will see you are not
What you think you are.

[Rich Note: The “short focal length and narrow breadth of vision” we are subject to when self-identified with the "subject-object/self-other" orientation of "relative thought" has the effect of blinding us to the Totality of Being.]

Hay-Ku of the Day (Out of the Box)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Outside the Box Photograph)

Outside the Box (1992); First posted in June of 2007, this HB arrangement is a perfect visual metaphor for the “boxed in nature” of Being defined in terms of self-reflective thought and the “Free Nature” of Being beyond the “mental box" of mind; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

Life outside the box
Of mental experience
Is Paradise Found.

Life outside the box
Of conceptual matters
Is self-transcending.

Life outside the box
Of self-reflective thought is
Beyond conception.

Hay-Ku of the Day (You Are the Light)

[Rich Note: Companion image may be viewed at rfhay333.gather.com.]

(Light of the World Photograph)

Light of the World (2009); Without the direct light of the sun, neither its reflection as moonlight nor the moon itself would appear as an object in Awareness; Companion haiku: Accompanying.

The Light by which you
See All that appears is the
Light of Awareness.

Even the Darkest
Night is seen in the Light of
Awareness You Are

Without the Light of
Awareness You Are All You
See would disappear.

[Rich Note: ”Ye are the Light of the World…”(Matt 5:14).]