{"id":6547,"date":"2019-09-13T09:32:21","date_gmt":"2019-09-13T16:32:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=6547"},"modified":"2019-09-13T09:32:22","modified_gmt":"2019-09-13T16:32:22","slug":"dorothy-walters-still-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2019\/09\/13\/dorothy-walters-still-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Dorothy Walters – Still Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Still Life
\nby Dorothy Walters<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The rose that no longer blooms in the garden,
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 blooms inside her whole body, among the veins
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and organs and the skeleton.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014 Linda Gregg<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n

A hidden blossoming.
\nPetals flaming beneath the skin.
\nAnd a softness pressing,
\nas delicate as the mouth
\nof a blind lover.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/em>Each movement,
\neach quiet gesture
\nawakens
\na rosary in the blood.
\nWas it desire
\nwhich brought her to this moment,
\nthis arrival at source,
\nor was it merely a need
\nto be still, to be richly fed
\nfrom this fountain
\nof dark silence.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from Marrow of Flame : Poems of the Spiritual Journey<\/a>, by Dorothy Walters<\/font><\/p>\n


\n\/ Image by Arielle Kincaid<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

I consider Dorothy Walters to be a friend, as well as a source of inspiration. She is in her 90s and still very active with various spiritual groups, sometimes giving talks, and regularly offering advice to people who contact her online. She and I have a running joke \u2014 One of us suggests getting together for brunch and conversation\u2026 until we try to pin down a date. Her schedule is always so busy that she ends up saying something like, \u201cHow about in two months?\u201d<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019m in fairly regular contact with her, I was surprised to randomly find a new interview she recently did for the YouTube channel Buddha at the Gas Pump. I was surprised because she didn\u2019t tell me about it or send me a link, it just popped up unexpectedly in my YouTube queue.<\/p>\n

You can watch the YouTube interview here: Dorothy Walters Interview \u2013 Buddha at the Gas Pump<\/a><\/p>\n

A couple weeks ago I noticed that her book of poetry, Marrow of Flame<\/a>, which the Poetry Chaikhana publishes, had experienced a bump in sales recently and I was curious why. Then I noticed the new interview on YouTube. That\u2019s why. More people are discovering this fascinating, unconventional spiritual elder and are wanting to read her writings.<\/p>\n

With Dorothy in my thoughts, it only seems natural to share one of her poems from Marrow of Flame<\/i> today.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the poem\u2019s title itself, \u201cStill Life.\u201d Normally, that suggests a static painting, something beautiful with life in it, but without movement. Reading this poem, there is so much vitality that it is easy to forget that it is all happening within. The person of the poem \u2014 Dorothy Walters herself, you or me as the reader \u2014 is actually not doing anything outwardly. All of that life, the blossoming and searing, that is all happening within, and outwardly there is stillness, or perhaps just a slight gesture here and there. Still life, life within, stillness without.<\/p>\n

Dorothy Walters speaks very directly about the spiritual and energetic opening often referred to as Kundalini awakening. She regularly talks about the highs and lows of Kundalini, that it can be blissful, rapturous, transformative, but it can also be deeply challenging and disorienting. Not only is it spiritual, with profound affects on the consciousness and one\u2019s sense of self and interconnectedness with all things, it can also be quite physical, bestowing the most delightful sensations down to the cellular level, but also sometimes producing physical difficulties and discomfort. Dorothy\u2019s poetry gives voice to the entire range of the Kundalini experience.<\/p>\n

When she takes Linda Gregg\u2019s quote, the inner blossoming becomes a representation of the spiritual energies of the Kundalini, flaming like the fire so associated with the experience, and also delicate and soft, like a lover, since this opening is often likened to ecstatic union with the Divine Beloved.<\/p>\n

A hidden blossoming.
\nPetals flaming beneath the skin.
\nAnd a softness pressing,
\nas delicate as the mouth
\nof a blind lover.<\/i><\/p>\n

With her first lines we immediately feel the searing, possibly painful passion, somehow balanced with a sense of profound peace.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget the sense of life, an entire garden within, and that garden is waking up, blossoming.<\/p>\n

Each movement,
\neach quiet gesture
\nawakens
\na rosary in the blood.<\/i><\/p>\n

I love that phrase, \u201ca rosary in the blood.\u201d When fully swept up in the experience of the awakened Kundalini, when the energy flows without hindrances, there is a profound sense of stillness and interconnection. It is as if there is no sense of a little self to cause disruption within the wide open expanse of being. And in that open stillness, if you then move the body slightly, or if it moves on its own, as sometimes happens in such moments, even if you shift your energies a bit, that profound inner stillness can become a gently flowing bliss that bubbles and anoints every cell of the body. There is a wondrous interplay between stillness and movement, movement emerging from stillness and returning back to stillness, highlighted with ripples of delight.<\/p>\n

Was it desire
\nwhich brought her to this moment,
\nthis arrival at source<\/i><\/p>\n

What brings us here? Whether we call it Kundalini or by some other name, what brings us to moments of awakening and communion? Is it because of some inner drive, some effort or practice? Is it because we have found the right pathway or teacher?<\/p>\n

Or is it because something in us hungers and can be fed by nothing else? Is the hunger itself the beginning of one\u2019s awakening?<\/p>\n

or was it merely a need
\nto be still, to be richly fed
\nfrom this fountain
\nof dark silence.<\/i><\/p>\n

Whether we have some big experience that we label Kundalini awakening or simply live our lives day-to-day learning to better embody our true selves with kindness and compassion, that secret fountain feeds us.<\/p>\n

In our quiet moments we can feel it, that secret life unfolding, a hidden blossoming.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Dorothy Walters<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
The Longing in Between: Sacred Poetry from Around the World (A Poetry Chaikhana Anthology)<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThis Dance of Bliss: Ecstatic Poetry from Around the World<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nMarrow of Flame : Poems of the Spiritual Journey<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nDiamond Cutters: Visionary Poets in America, Britain & Oceania<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Ley Lines of the Soul: Poems of Ecstasy and Ascension<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\"Dorothy<\/a><\/td>\n\nDorothy Walters<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

US (1928 \u2013 )
\nSecular or Eclectic<\/a><\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Dorothy Walters, PHD, spent most of her early professional life as a professor of English literature in various Midwestern universities. She helped to found one of the first women\u2019s studies programs in this country and served as the director of this program for many years. After an extended residence in San Francisco, she now lives and writes in Colorado, where she has a close relationship with the mountains as well as various streams and canyons.<\/p>\n

She underwent major Kundalini awakening in 1981 (a phenomenon totally unfamiliar to her as well as to most of her contemporaries at the time); since then she has devoted her life to researching and writing about this subject and to witnessing the unfolding of this process within herself as well as assisting others on a similar path through writing and other means. As someone who made her extensive journey without the direction of any external leader or guru, church, or established order, she is a strong believer in the \u201cguru within,\u201d the inner guide rather than the external authority figure or institution.<\/p>\n

She feels that universal Kundalini awakening is the means for planetary and personal evolution of consciousness, and that evidence of planetary initiation is becoming more and more prevalent. Her Kundalini awakening and subsequent process of unfolding are described in her memoir Unmasking the Rose: A Record of Kundalini Initiation<\/a>.\u00a0 Her poems taken from her four previous volumes are published as Some Kiss We Want: Poems Selected and New<\/a>. Her article on \u201cKundalini and the Mystic Path\u201d was included in Kundalini Rising<\/a>, an anthology from Sounds True Publications. Her poems, which have been included in many anthologies and journals, have been set to music and sung at the Royal Opera House in London as well as Harvard University, used as texts for sermons and read aloud in churches, included in doctoral projects, been frequently quoted, and have given inspiration to many.<\/p>\n

The Poetry Chaikhana publishes her best-known collection of poetry, Marrow of Flame<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She often gives counsel and referral free of charge to those undergoing spontaneous Kundalini awakening and\/or spiritual transformation.<\/p>\n

Dorothy Walters publishes her blog, Kundalini Splendor, at www.kundalinisplendor.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Her e-mail address is dorothywalters72@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Dorothy Walters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Still Life by Dorothy Walters \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The rose that no longer blooms in the garden, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 blooms inside her whole body, among the veins \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and organs and the skeleton. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2014 Linda Gregg A hidden blossoming. Petals flaming beneath the skin. And a softness pressing, as delicate as the mouth of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[885,517,518],"class_list":["post-6547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-blossom","tag-dorothy-walters","tag-kundalini"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6547"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6548,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6547\/revisions\/6548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}