Soulful Sadhak

 A cloud never dies Photo: Max Pugh You are leaving, but every moment you are still arriving in every step and every breath I take Your eyes are closed, but I can see you more clearly now in the clouds and in the water in my tea You are no longer here, yet I see you everywhere in the smile of a child and the blossoms of spring Your voice is silent, if it weren’t for the singing of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind There is no coming and no going as you are leaving, you are only returning to us The greater the distance between us, the more we carry you in our hearts You have left a void, which we can only fill with the the practice you gave us We feel an emptiness, but we know we are only empty of a separate self My sadness is beyond limits, but so are the gratitude and love I feel today A bottomless hole is gaping in my soul, from which a wellspring of compassion rises I am at a loss for words, my mind is blank and yet understanding is born: The boddhisattva stands majes...

Social media these days are full of people with beautiful, athletic and strong bodies doing the most impressive yoga poses. As I was stuck in bed for the past two months (and one more month to go at least) with an injury, it was a great reminder to me that yoga is not about how acrobatic you can be. In fact, the past months I might have learned more about yoga than during all those years of practice without injury. Yoga was very much what kept me going during this time of inconvenience. "What do you mean?" I hear you think, "How can you practice yoga with a broken foot?" Well, you perfectly can, I found out. I still had a body, that I could move around, maybe with some limitation. However, it became an exploration to see how I could move my body with the limits I had, and how I could - in doing so - bring ease and comfort to body and mind. And isn't that what yoga is all about? Practicing yoga with a broken foot Yoga to me is about being embodied, about the joy ...

Het idee voor dit liedje kwam tot mij toen ik in 2020 in België in lockdown zat, en een volgende lockdown werkte ik het verder uit. 'Knuffelcontact' was m.i. terecht het woord van het jaar in Vlaanderen. Het is zeer ontwapenend dat de minister van volksgezondheid zich van zulk taalgebruik bedient. Een goed leider kan in momenten van crisis de maskers laten vallen en recht tot ons hart spreken. Het lied staat stil bij de vraag welke 'ziektes' onze maatschappij en onze geest nu echt het meest plagen, en wat daarvoor dan wel de oplossing moet zijn. Het is een poging een liedje te schrijven dat ook wel door een van mijn grote voorbeelden - Bart Peeters - geschreven zou kunnen zijn. Tekst Het gaat de laatste tijd, niet vreselijk goed met mij, Ik voel me heel alleen Het is de eenzaamheid, die zich als een virus verspreidt Ik mis de mensen om me heen Ik krijg zo stilaan het gevoel Het leven heeft zo geen doel Ik weet met mezelf geen blijf Vandaar dat ik dit liedje schrijf REFR...

 A Lovesong with a Twist Sometimes - not often - inspiration comes to me in the form of a pop/folk song. It is not the form of expression I am most familiar with (I am not the greatest singer or musician to say the least), but I like this form of expression nonetheless. I can communicate serious ideas, but at the same time, pop songs have this kind of lightheartedness to them that encourages me not to take myself to seriously. So my songs always have different levels to them. On one level I am sharing deep truths, but on the other hand I am also questioning myself and trying to put things into perspective. In this way I also want to encourage people to look beyond outward appearances, and to move beyond black and white thinking. So this particular song is inspired by my own life, I do feel attracted to other spiritual practitioners, because, for me, that is something that I want to share, nourish and deepen in the context of a relationship. Yet, on the other hand, those practitione...