Today, I was blessed with the unexpected gift of love from two sweet pups during my morning walk down to the sea!
The experience reminded me of our connectedness to all…in the Oneness that is. I was so glad to alter my original plans and play for these pups for an hour. What a divine gift! I am thankful.
May we see more deeply into the nature of things and love all. Namasté.
love,
Image: Photo collage from snaps I took today from here in my city of Ponta do Sol on the island of Santo Antão in Cabo Verde :)
True faith in God means that all is happening by God’s will. In this way, there is no idea of “doership” beyond devotion. In perfect faith, there is simply no space for anything other than worship. There is no space for worry.
The practice of self-inquiry dissolves even you! From the position of the Absolute—the Infinite, the Void, the Tao—there is no-thing at all.
Even from the position of the Observer Consciousness, worry can be seen to arise from no-where and no-thing into a space made of a collection of thoughts we call the “mind.” Belief in this mind creates the person, and it is only through identification with the person that any worry can be felt.
Simply sharing my morning thoughts for your contemplation :) Namasté.
love,
———
“If you truly believe in God and have faith, how could you ever worry?
If you truly know what you are, why would you become attached to any worry you see arising in you?” — Selena Sage
Hiking today on my beautiful island of Santo Antão was intense with the sun and exertion of going up and down mountains (for 7 hours!), but it was also a reminder of the beauty of nature. What a gift! Just thought I’d share some of the views :) Namasté.
In my second book, “unbreakable,” I have a poem called Let Go:
I’ve been thinking of this poem so much lately as I’ve been led to let go of new things. Even when it’s hard, I’ve learned to let go with love—with thanks and gratitude for experiences and lessons learned.
I know that this letting go is to empty me of all of my attachments to make space for communion with the Absolute. But when I truly let go of everything, I become space itself and know myself to be Awareness itself—the space from which all is arising from and all can be observed within. This is always me.
But why is this so hard? Why are attachments so strong? It is the strength of the personal identity and conditioned mind that keeps us clinging to this limited form. Being Awareness—what we truly are— is the ultimate peace, but perhaps the desire for experience keeps making the Attention become identified with the personal mind.
This feels like a struggle—to break free of the mind and stay as the Awareness that we are, but that too is a trick of the mind. We can never not be what we are. We must choose the high.
The waves come and go, but I know myself truly to be the ocean from which all of the waves arise from.
How I pray that I will finally move past the tendency to identify as the personal mind. I pray to be free of the limited one who becomes troubled, and stay as the Awareness I know myself to be. This is my prayer for you too.
Namasté and love,
Image from my evening walk today in my city of Ponta do Sol, Cabo Verde.
I am excited to announce that Season 2 of my *free* podcast, “Live Free with Selena Sage”is now streaming!
Thank you so very much for your support of the first 50-episode season! Your subscriptions, plays, 5-star ratings, reviews, and kind notes of support inspired me to continue on!
The daily podcast features positive and uplifting content that is all centered around freedom. I hope that you’ll tune in to see what it’s all about! I’d be happy to hear from you and/or receive your spiritually based questions.
You can search for the podcast by name (Live Free with Selena Sage) on your favorite platform; or you can listen+find links at anchor.fm/selenasage
Thank you! Namasté.
love,
Note on cover art: All of the images on the podcast cover art were taken during various hikes I’ve taken around my home island of Santo Antão, Cabo Verde.
This morning, I was inspired to discuss spirituality in the context of activism on my podcast, “Live Free with Selena Sage” (all podcast platforms or listen/link at anchor.fm/selenasage).
I hope this message of Oneness and hope might be a source of inspiration, support, and love for you. I welcome you to share it with others if you feel so inspired. Love to all. Namasté. 💜🕉
Especially during these times of heightened fear, I think it’s incredibly important to monitor your consumption. Is what you’re reading and watching fueling fear? Does it paint a full picture of what’s happening? Who or what is being supported by the narrative being presented? Who or what is being negatively impacted? These are questions that each of us must answer for ourselves.
From a spiritual perspective, many people fear death, but should this even be a real fear? Can what you truly are ever die? These bodies are but a costume for the infinite. What we truly are is infinite. This truth should dispel all fear.
Peace and blessings to you. Namasté.
love,
Photo: Taken by me from the rooftop pool at my favorite hotel in Kowloon, Hong Kong :) I still have fond memories of sitting in the hot tub every morning at sunrise to read the paper after working out at the gym there.
P.S. For more posts like this, please visit my Instagram page (you can access the latest posts online even without an account here or via my “About” page here). Namasté ;)
Sometimes it happens that we decide on a course of action and become driven to achieve a certain goal.
Outwardly, this determination is not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, it can lead to the creation of beautiful things (especially artistically).
But if this drive creates internal stress, turmoil, confusion, and/or illness, this can be a sign for us to slow down.
It is an opportunity for us to realize that there is time…and that there are many ways for us to achieve our goals and live our dreams.
I believe that rest is undervalued. Our sense of urgency can create undue stress on ourselves and this is not healthy.
When I think back to when I moved to Africa and felt a sense of urgency to get all of my furniture made and delivered within weeks, I look back and see that I had time.
When I remember finishing work on “Get Free” when I had the flu, I realize again that I had time.
Give yourself the space and time to rest and reflect on whatever matter feels most urgent to you. Take a calming walk in nature and allow inspiration to fill you with dreams of different possibilities.
This life you have is infinite because YOU are infinite. There are an infinite number of options available to you. Allow inspiration to flow and then flow with it. 😊🙏 Namasté. 💙 🌊
love,
P.S> I shared this message on my Instagram account today and I decided to share it here too with an additional message:
Things are also as urgent as you think they are.
The power of our attention means that if we direct a sense of urgency to certain thoughts and ideas, those things become heightened and prioritized over all else.
Recognize the source of this power. Know that to be you too ;)
HAIKU to be freeis available FOR FREE! All you must do to get this ebook is simply subscribe (at the bottom of any page) at ZENTAO BOOKS.
I decided to make this ebook free because in these uncertain times, I believe that art provides the greatest inspiration and opportunity to peacefully reflect on the nature of life and freedom. Since all of the books I write reflect a kind of passionate pursuit of freedom, I wanted to provide a free way to help support that journey in others.
HAIKU to be free contains over 300 haiku that I wrote this year, in the midst of creating the first season of my podcast, Live Free with Selena Sage (thanks to all who listen to the podcast!). The book spans four different writing sessions that I had in some of my favorite areas in Santo Antao, Cabo Verde — the beautiful beaches and caves of Singagoga, and the beautifully green inland of Vale de Paul.
The peace and nature of these areas inspired contemplative reflection about both nature and freedom. HAIKU to be free is a collection of haiku (written in chronological order of creation) which reflects various thoughts about these topics in beautifully direct poems.
I believe that haiku, the 5-7-5 syllable poetry that originated in Japan, is magical. While my book contains haiku to be free…I chose the title as additional encouragement for you to try writing haiku, as I believe that creating these poems also leads to freedom. While the mind is occupied with counting syllables, somehow the voice of spirit is a bit louder. Being forced to keep thoughts simple forces the poet to get to the heart of the matter. And that’s all that freedom really is about ;)
I hope that you will enjoy the book! And I thank you for your kind support, encouraging words, and beams of love—from both near and far! I truly appreciate you!
love,
P.S> A note about the cover art for HAIKU to be free. It was really easy for me to decide to go with another beautiful Japanese woodblock print by the great Hokusai for the cover! Hokusai is both my favorite artist, and also the perfect artist to give homage to the beautiful Japanese style of haiku poetry that became really popular around the time that this classic print was published (1830-1831).
The Great Wave is Hokusai’s most famous piece of art…and it is even the art that was used as the basis to create the wave emoji on our cell phones! It is an enduring, and beautiful, classic that evokes so many emotions.
For me, the turbulence of the sea (crashing the boats in its midst) is balanced by the calm and steady Mt Fuji that is in the distance (this print was the first of the very famous 36 Views of Mt Fuji series by Hokusai). I choose to make the mountain the focal point, and center of the cover because, to me, it represents freedom. When everything is turbulent around us, our freedom lies in the steady, detached observation that Mt Fuji represents.
The original woodblock print is multi-colored, and though it is beautiful, I felt that the colors would have distracted from the title. I feel so fortunate that I was able to find and buy rights to this edit in indigo blue…my favorite! Blue, for me, is the color of freedom. And this blue edit of the classic print allowed HAIKU to be free to be a seamless edition to my other works, for which blue and water are a major part ;)
As with my other books, I have used the intro pages and back cover to focus on distinct parts of the front cover. In particular, I really loved how to leading part of the great wave looked a bit like a bird to me! I used the front pages to focus on this detail a bit more, as birds are also a symbol of freedom to me. I hope that you enjoy the art too! ;)
