The Far, the Near & All That’s Between

Near Snake Mountain Range, Nevada, Feb 17

While traveling across the states, a fine companionship came in reading Mingled Waters. An early section tells of “Maya” and its many faces: nature, multiplicity/union, love/desire, and magic.

“Maya is Magic that makes something seem other than it is…Maya is only the means; devotion, gnosis and union are the end… there is hope, as the Bhagavad Gita announces: ‘Composed of Nature’s qualities, My magic is hard to escape; but those who seek refuge in Me cross over this magic.’” (Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, Mingled Waters: Sufism and the Mystical Unity of Religions, pp. 25-27).

        In our journey, we crossed over rivers—Potomac, Ohio, Wabash, Mississippi, Missouri, Gunnison, Colorado, Snake, Columbia, Yakima—and traversed mountain passes—Monarch, Snoqualmie, and many without name. We were breathless in the awe of snowpeaked mountain ranges and in wonder at the rugged yet delicate hues in high desert and canyonland.

Yakima River, WA, Feb 19

Eagle in close-up from tree top in Yakima River photo

   It’s wonderful to imagine the crossing-overs that compose life as the wellspring of moving further in knowing God.

San Rafael Swell, UT, Feb 17