Today, I talked to a Tree.

The card for today is EXPERIENCING (3 of Wands or Fire). This card has appeared a couple of times this week. So I listen. As I look out of the window, I see the synchronicity of this card with nature outside and as I look inside me, I see autumn there too. The colors of the fall are so pretty; the bronzes, the golds, the reds, the pinks, the oranges, and the yellows. The day seems just right for hiking so that is what we obey.

As I walked, I talked to myself and to the trees too. As tears rolled down my eyes, I asked the trees how they could they let go their pretty colorful leaves? Is it because they knew that fall must follow summer and if fall was here, one day spring would come too? Would this also be true in my life? Will I ever be so light and joyous again? At one point, I just ran and put my arms around an tree so enormous that it was comforting. My heart was pressed so tightly against the tree trunk: As it heard my heart beat, I heard its too. The tree told me that it doesn't think, it just does. When its pretty leaves can no longer bear the cold, they let go and become one with the earth. This earth then in turn replenishes the tree. In this way, the leaves continue to be a part of the tree. In the grand scheme of things, when you truly let go; you belong. But what of the pain, I ask? The tree replies that once you learn to let go of expectations, burdens, and illusions; you learn to let go of the pain too. I inhale deeply and as I exhale I begin the process of letting .....Sigh

By this time, I have relaxed my death grip on the tree. I thank my dear nature friend for its guidance. We have touched our souls and now its time to move on. Blessings to you, my dear tree. The tree smiles and blesses me too.

Clearing the Clouds

When life seems so complicated that I don't even know what to ask; ironically the best option is to ask the simplest (and most effective, imho) of questions. So,

Deck Deck on my writing desk
what does the universe want me to know right now?

Deck (aka the Universe): 2 of Air (2 of Swords) Schizophrenia

Ha, ask and you shall receive. Indeed. Thank you for hitting me with the obvious. This card has hazy nebulous clouds (not in this picture but in the corresponding card in the Osho Zen tarot deck ) that have clouded my judgement so much that I can't decide. A stalemate. My "no" nor my "yes" have any meaning because my "no" contains a teaspoon of "yes" and my "yes" contains a teaspoon of "no" stirred in it.
According to Osho, the way out of this lies not by playing mind games, or making a pro and con list, or letting your mind make more hazy clouds (the mind seems to excel at this cloud creating game) but in following your heart. What if you don't know what your heart wants, you ask (I hear, I hear). Then, says Osho, just jump and make a decision and then your heart will beat so fast that you shall know.

If we don't make a decision, our choices get worse. The clouds condense and freeze your heart or disperse and break your heart (3 of swords), this then leads to the slippery slope of procastination and we go deeper and deeper into more negative states. This path is so many hyperspace jumps away from the path of celebration and the path of totality.

May the universe bless me with the intuition to hear my heart and the strength to follow it!! May I have the decisiveness to use the two swords to kill the half "yeses" and half "no's"!! May I remember that my life is a dance of celebration not an awkward attempt to hold on to challenging situation!!

Today's Card: 2 of Cups

Today's card was one of my favorite cards (you may hear this expression often). The number "2" typically symbolizes a partnership and the cups symbolize the emotions. So by just combining these two ideas (pun intended) you can arrive at the very romantic word "union". For me, this card is the union of equals. Like Arjun and Krishna (the two main characters of the great Indian book the "Bhagwad Gita"), it can be platonic love but it is between equals. This card reminds me of a line from one of the poems (which incidentally was read at my wedding) by Khalil Gibran.

On Marriage

"Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
......................................................................................
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."

Infact, this card in the Osho-Zen tarot deck shows two trees (one with pink blossoms and other with orange) growing near each other but yet there is space between them for love to flow.

How was my day today? Well, I just want to say that I want to go back and live every moment of this beautiful today.