Sailing Home in Royal Way
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 16:40 — adminSailing home
I’m here to stay in Royal Way
My life’s a constant wave
Up and down, in and out
Standing firm, standing about
What I feel and what I know
I’m the captain of my soul
I listened to your words
Your words changed my life
On the deck as the sun goes down
I know what I have found
The bright light of the moonlight
Tells me to hold on tight
What I feel and what I know
I’m the captain of my soul
I listened to your words
Your words changed my life
Lightning flashed on the open sea
Showing me my destiny
With my will and with my might
I continue to win the fight
What I feel and what I know
I’m the captain of my soul
I listen to your words
My Teacher
Your words change my life.
A Beautiful Marriage
Thu, 02/26/2009 - 11:01 — adminDearest Michael,
Because of you, because of Royal Way, my marriage is NEW and beautiful. I love being Jonathan’s wife!
I love you.
Stefanie
Into the Sea
Thu, 04/16/2009 - 12:41 — adminWords and music by R.G.
Into the sea
I go with thee
My feet
In the sand
My heart
In your hand
The tide shifted
The anchor lifted
The breeze at my side
My Teacher
My guide
Into the sea
I go freely
A transformed shell
At full sail
An ocean uncharted
Old maps discarded
The waves rise and flow
With you, I go
Into the sea
I see
In me
The sea
In me
Into the sea
I go freely
A transformed shell
At full sail
The sea
In me
The sea.
True Gratitude
Wed, 02/25/2009 - 11:40 — adminMore than five years of designing, constructing, spending, worrying, pushing, and pulling culminated in the date we would move into our new home. What I expected to be a joyous milestone revealed itself as a turning point of a deeper level. The actual move went fine, but by midmorning of the next day, our first official day in the home, we received word from the Iranian government that my wife’s father was in fact not alive.
About an hour after learning this news, I discovered that our family safe had been stolen. Like ghosts, they came during the night and took with them family heirlooms, jewels, and gifts I had bought my wife during 15 years of marriage. When I went to tell her about the safe, she was still on the phone with her family, trying to sort out the meaning of what they had just learned about their father.
All sorts of thoughts raced through my head—how I could have avoided the burglary; what can I do to recover my property; was this karmic payback for something I had done. But within a couple of hours, when the stagger of the back-to-back events started to subside, I thought about Michael's teaching about Master Zusya, who said nothing bad ever happened to him.
Wow! Right then, I felt in my gut the weight and significance of this quality of being. I felt a release go through me. I let go of this stuff, knowing it had nothing to do with who I really am and can be. I felt the dividends of what Michael has been teaching me, as I felt grateful for the abundance in my life.
After 26 years, this news about my father-in-law was more of a confirmation than information. However, it did remove any infinitesimal sliver of hope that may have remained. Not much was known about his passing, such as when or how. Nevertheless, by Jewish law, we had to say the mourner’s kaddish (or prayer) for him right away.
The next morning, very early in the morning, sitting in temple, I remembered my own father’s funeral about 13 years ago—the flowers, the procession, the tears, shoveling the damp dirt. Rising to say the kaddish, I felt the injustice and cruelty my wife had endured. I could not help but cry for her.
My aloofness and arrogance, which I work to overcome, were not even there. They gave way, as I really wanted to be there for my wife. Over the next few days, I persevered in being vulnerable with her. I was with her in a real way, so we could move through this passage together.
Some say that building a home tests a marriage. Well, we had that test and a few pop quizzes to boot. We celebrated the completion of our home by hosting two Royal Way events, consecrating it with Michael’s energy.
My real jewels are not the kind anyone can take away. They are my growth, surrender to what I don’t understand and never will. This experience has created a new plateau for me.
Thank you, Michael, for opening my eyes to what life offers beyond material success, and for opening my heart. Thank you for teaching me to meditate and teaching me so many beautiful meditations. Thank you for being so patient and persistent with me. Thank you for my growthful marriage, my beautiful kids, the warm home, and so much more. Above all, thank you for being my Teacher. You have given so much and continue to give to me and all of us in Royal Way. Thank you.
The Dance
Thu, 02/12/2009 - 22:13 — adminby John Zemanek
The Space
Space made amid tons of stones
Space, the host to light, even in the dark
I can wake any time of night
And know exactly where it is
I yearn to make this space inside myself
Amid the weight of all the days
The Light
For your words I have no words
But the light they give goes everywhere
And does not dim with time
The Reverence
Well, then, I will seek him out
This alien
And over time may I make myself his friend
The Dance
There was the this dance and the that dance
And the sure do like your hat dance
But the big dance, the one I really remember
Was in your eyes, Michael
In your eyes.
Who Do You Think You Are?
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 21:18 — adminWho do you think you are? I want to find out!
Who do you think you are? I want to know!
Lying in my bed in the middle of the night, thoughts turning in my head
Who am I, what am I, where am I going, a voice inside me said
How can I know what is real and what is not?
Sometimes it’s not so clear
Maybe I will resign myself to wait another year
Who do you think you are? I want to find out!
Who do you think you are? I want to know!
Suddenly a brilliant cascade of light shattered me to my core
Healing me, soothing me, cleansing me forever
Still I wanted more
A sound so pure and simple, I could feel it in my every part
I had touched my divinity, I could feel it in my heart
Who do you think you are? I want to find out!
Who do you think you are? I want to know!
Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are?
Levitating in the Kitchen
Fri, 02/27/2009 - 17:13 — adminYes, there is a place in the world
Where you can wash the dishes and dance
You can mop the floor and levitate
You can fill the water pitcher and
Feel you are swimming in the ocean
Where every cell of your body
Is nourished with Royal Way joy
Yes, this heavenly place
Is humbly called
The RW Ranch Kitchen.