We who live and breathe in a body
see the Creator’s signature as living gold:
the gold of a magnificent sunlight splashed on the active rivers
of our hearts’ generosity, pouring molten love into the world,
glowing in our greatest stories
signaling beauty
celebrating the courage to go outside and be
more than reflections, instead to be living flames of gold
burning in existence as naked human God sparks.
But gold is not the goal as some profess
it is the gate through which we pass into
the new life, into the greening of our spirit
into an aliveness vitalized in worlds unseen by the material eye,
the green soul force growing in vibrant concentrations of consciousness
where perception begins to merge with Source
and with all the incorruptible energies of Life Eternal.
Up to this point all is energy, energized by the green waves
of the heart’s subtle compassion.
But still there is an invitation beyond the gold of inspiration
and the green of illumination,
an invitation that seems to seep out of a velvet darkness
a lake of nothingness
an invitation to no space, no time,
no movement, no thought
no accomplishments, no accolades,
no echoes of the world
gone, gone, all gone
nothing left but the empty well of original bliss.
Only those who enter this dark night
can look up and see the hidden face of God
where Nothing and Everything are one.
James O'dea is an author of several books, former President of IONS and Washington Director of Amnesty International. For more, here's a recent conversation with James.
Seed Questions for Reflection
What does 'the empty well of original bliss' mean to you? Can you share a personal story of a time you took the invitation to go beyond inspiration and illumination? What helps you reorient toward the dark night where nothing and everything are one?
My eyes can’t see where you’re going
And my mind can’t put it all together
As you whirl through green and gold spaces
Like a swarm of whirling dervish lightening bugs
Trailing streamers of of gold inspiration
And green illumination
Through the velvet darkness of
The lake of nothingness.
I can’t follow you James.
So I can only sit here and let it all go.
I can only give up and just sit here.
It’s still and quiet here.
Now I can feel the peace.
Now I can feel the love.
To me, The empty well of original bliss, means Emptiness as in Buddhism. Leonard Cohen wrote "Dance me to the end of Love". For personal experiences, Nature puts me back in touch with visceral reality and then I sometimes "see the Master's hand" (Bob Dylan). For me its boundless neutral Love .
First I read this twice. Then I listened twice and wept. I’m still weeping. I watched my husband die a noble death four months ago. He worked very hard, courageously, to leave his body. Within 90 minutes of his passing, his face relaxed into a beautiful smile. I carry the Smile with me now, wherever I go. It was my entry into the One. Deep gratitude to my beloved.
My husband and I live on a few acres that allows us to rescue many animals - dogs, horses, chickens, ducks, roosters and cats. They keep us grounded and become our constant teachers and loving companions. This past week, Tessie one of our 4 dogs, had to be put down due to a spreading cancer. She was 14 and a rescue from the South. Whenever one of out animals dies or is put down, the intense grief I experience opens me to being more in the moment and much more compassionate with all beings, including myself.
For me, 'the empty well of original bliss' is no thing, is what we call God, is outside of time and space, is formless existence, is Pure Being, some of which took form becoming whatever is material in space and time. Not only does something come from nothing or the empty well, everything comes from nothing. For me, I haven't gone beyond inspiration and illumination -- I've responded to both resulting in my awareness and vision expanding. I was presented with the viewpoint that all is one, that all existence is one action, and I seem to have grabbed hold of it, it took root in me, and I cultivate it. That awareness helps me reorient toward seeing that nothing and everything are one, that whatever looks opposite -- such as separate and together, I and the other, inside and outside -- are 'both and', not 'either or', are one. What helps me is being open to and growing in that understanding.
Beautiful poetic reading! Indeed beyond the inspired expression manifesting the gold of Love, before the green awakening of clear awareness, has always been that place where they blossom from, the cauldron of time within which they sprout and then play out. Beyond, yet containing all beginnings and endings, all of these transient experiences we know as Life. The infinite bliss that is closer and more intimate than any separate thing can ever be, the unlimited NOW, within which all BE-ing continually IS. And of course knowing that deeply IS clear awareness, and of course the flowing manifestation and expression of NOW is infinite unconditional Love, and here we are!
I love the way James O'Dea expresses the spiritual way of filling the empty well of original or Divine bliss. As Gautam Buddha announces his awakening and attaining the original bliss: Gate, gate, paragate, parasangate, Bodhi swaha: Gone beyond, gone beyond, gone beyonnd the beyond. What an awakening? What a bliss?
When we go beyond what binds us to the material things and what we get attached to , we taste the freedom, unconditional love, and bliss.
I have learned the for Noble Truths of Buddha's teachings. The first noble truth is suffering. The second noble truth is there is a cause of suffering. The third noble truth is that suffering is transitory. It comes and goes. The fourth noble truth is there ia way to end suffering and be liberated. Whenever I have gone through deep emotional suffering I have accepted it with self-compassion and self-work. This way I have gone through darkness and go beyond it to be blessed by the Divine Light. In that light I see the oneness where nothin... View full comment
I love the way James O'Dea expresses the spiritual way of filling the empty well of original or Divine bliss. As Gautam Buddha announces his awakening and attaining the original bliss: Gate, gate, paragate, parasangate, Bodhi swaha: Gone beyond, gone beyond, gone beyonnd the beyond. What an awakening? What a bliss?
When we go beyond what binds us to the material things and what we get attached to , we taste the freedom, unconditional love, and bliss.
I have learned the for Noble Truths of Buddha's teachings. The first noble truth is suffering. The second noble truth is there is a cause of suffering. The third noble truth is that suffering is transitory. It comes and goes. The fourth noble truth is there ia way to end suffering and be liberated. Whenever I have gone through deep emotional suffering I have accepted it with self-compassion and self-work. This way I have gone through darkness and go beyond it to be blessed by the Divine Light. In that light I see the oneness where nothing and everything are one. It is where the self becomes the Self. Where individual consciousness becomes Unitive Consciousness.
Namste!
Jagdish P Dave Hide full comment
JO
joFeb 6, 2023
I had to read this a few times to understand! I see the light now! Amen! Most true and beautiful is wisdom spoken here! Beyond “the finish line”, there will be no more suffering. That’s what He said. This, I believe.
