The Divine

The Divine is the formless, transcendent unity in the manifest, the very essence of all that exists and all that is unmanifest in this and all worlds. The Divine is the life force within all that lives, moves, breathes, and dies. The Divine is the light in the sun, the reflection of light in the moon, and the orbit that the Earth passes through in order to create the shifting cycles of day and night. The Divine is the water that nourishes the forest, and the light that shines upon that water. The Divine is the forest that provides food and shelter to all those who seek refuge there. The Divine is the berries that feed the birds, and the birds that feed the cats, and the cats that feed the wolves. The Divine is the flexibility in the branches of the trees, as they sway in the gentle wind, and as they bow graciously in a ferocious thunderstorm. And the Divine is the power of the thunderstorm that rattles the Earth, sending beings fleeing to shelter wherever they can find it. The Divine provides the cave, the burrow, the hollow that serve as that shelter, and is the lightning that strikes the tree and the ground. The Divine is the instinct that drives each being to find shelter, to take what is needed to live, and to surrender to the arms of death when the time has come. And when that time has come, the Divine is there waiting with open arms to embrace each of us in the transcendent unity that we can only intuit while living in this realm of karma and change.


The Divine is what wakes me up in the morning, and is the one that has given me this body without asking anything in return. The Divine offers me the gifts of pleasure and pain, a mind to approach with discipline and humor, and the inner strength to face life. The Divine sends the wave of knowing that has guided me when I have been lost, and in times of darkness and despair. The Divine has given me company for this life, companions with whom to share the joys and the sorrows. The Divine has given me all that I need in order to survive in this world – food, water, shelter, and safety. The Divine has given me gifts of creativity and intelligence so that I may make sense of my life, and express myself in whatever ways move me. And the Divine has given me endless opportunities for intimate communion with it, available whenever I choose to enter into its holy realm within my own being. The Divine has given me the capacity to experience love and fear, truth and deception, joy and despair, peace and conflict. And the Divine has given me wisdom to experience Love, Truth, Joy, and Peace that transcend duality. The Divine has given me the freedom to dance through this life – and all lives, past and future – with endless opportunities to learn, grow, expand, and surrender. And the Divine has planted within me the seed of ultimate wisdom that leads me along the path to Self, one day at a time. I bow in humble gratitude.