Surrendering

From the Osho Zen Tarot, the Eight of Cups; from the A'HA Oracle, the Temple of Gentle of Reasoning:

Just as this drop of water surrenders to gravity as it falls off the lotus leaf, so there are times when we need to surrender and let go emotionally. To fail to do so (trying to freeze reality in a specific place and time) will eventually become exhausting, creating a person we no longer recognize. Letting go doesn't mean we become cold and uncaring, nor does it mean we can't be sad. It just means the place where we can plant our seeds and watch them grow lies elsewhere. The Temple of Gentle Reasoning is not a building with a defining creed; it is within ourselves, the ground of our being. Beyond the ego's beliefs and opinions, it is a quiet place of clarity, wisdom and compassion. This temple is a good place to visit when we are reeling from the grief of letting go and in limbo about which direction to turn. It may provide us with the spiritual nudge and guide posts we need.

Love as Space

This week I'll be using the Osho Zen Tarot, created by Ma Deva Padma with Osho and published by St. Martin's Press. I'll also be using the A'HA Oracle, created and self-published by Linnie Lambrechtsen. Today's draws are the Lovers and Temple of Gentle Reasoning:

Love is space. It is developing our own capacity for spaciousness within ourselves to allow others to be as they are. That is love. And that doesn’t mean that we don’t have hopes or wishes that things are changed or shifted, but that to come from a place of love is to be in acceptance of what is, even in the face of moving it towards something that is more whole, more just, more spacious for all of us.
—Rev. Angel Kyodo Williams

          This Lovers card has two images of the same set of partners, one of which is inside a heart. As Padma explains, there is a whole spectrum of love: "as we begin to mature, we can begin to experience the love that exists beyond sexuality and honors the unique individuality of the other." Sex, while exciting and pleasurable, is just the tip of the iceberg in deeply committed relationships. The Temple of Gentle Reasoning (the heart) resembles a stupa - a hemispherical structure containing relics of Buddhist teachers that is used as a place of meditation. It reminds me that true love requires me to look beyond any fixed ideas I might have about it, to allow it enough space and freedom so each individual can continue to develop over time. As one-half of a decades-old partnership, I am beginning to understand this wisdom.