TEA AND ZEN - THREADS

Jalal al-Din Rumi

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In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

Where Change Truly Begins

Knowledge can tell us what needs to change. It offers the facts, the reasons, the clarity. It can show us what’s broken—and even suggest what might be better.But knowing something… doesn’t mean we’ve changed.Real change—the kind that reshapes a life, the kind that moves us from the inside out—comes not from the mind, but from the heart.You can understand a thing a thousand times in your head and still not take a single step in your being.Because until that knowing is felt—until it becomes tender, lived, held with love—it hasn’t yet become wisdom.Wisdom is different. Wisdom is knowledge that has been softened. It has passed through the fire… through sorrow, through surrender… and come out the other side as something quieter. Kinder. Truer.Wisdom lives in the heart.It doesn’t rush.It doesn’t insist.It waits. It calls—gently—and lets us come when we’re ready.So yes, learn. Read. Listen. Understand. But don’t stop there.Let what you’ve learned drop down—into the quiet of your own heart. Let it rest there, in the stillness… Let it steep in your tears, your longing, your love.And then, when the time is right, let it rise—not as something to strive for, but as something that’s already true in you.That’s where real change begins.That’s where we begin again. Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

The Silence That Holds Us

For those who have been holding sacred space for Antoine —he slipped gently through the veil in the quiet of the night.Breathless, but not gone.Silent, but not absent.Simply… deeper in the mystery now.Thank you.— Nigel Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

HOPE

I HOPE this inspires.In the depths of despair, when the weight of the world seems unbearable, the concept of hope can feel distant…..perhaps like a flickering flame in a storm. Yet, from a spiritual perspective, hope is not just a fleeting emotion; it is a vital force that with courage can transcend our circumstances, a divine gift that connects us to a higher purpose.Hope, in its purest form, is not about wishful thinking or naive optimism. It is rooted in the belief that, despite appearances, there is a greater plan unfolding. In many spiritual traditions, this belief in divine providence, in the existence of a guiding force greater than ourselves, offers comfort during life’s darkest moments.It is the spiritual strength to face the present with courage, knowing that we are held in a love that transcends time, space, and circumstance. Nigel Lott teaandzen.org. 501 (C) 3 NON PROFIT CHARITY TAX EIN 81-3411835 Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

The Field Where We Meet

There are words that do not merely speak,they remember.“Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing,there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” RumiThis is not metaphor. This is the soul’s geography. I have stood in that field— not with my body, but with my being. It is the stillness behind all sound, the light behind all appearances. A place untouched by division, where love no longer needs a reason.“When the soul lies down in that grass,the world is too full to talk about.” RumiFor in that sacred resting, language dissolves into presence. And the heart, freed from its fences, recognizes everything as itself. There is no other. Only the One, reflected endlessly in form. And even “form” becomes just another way the Infinite leans in to know itself.“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.Don’t go back to sleep.” RumiOh, how gently the veil lifts in those hours—when the sun is not yet risen, but the spirit stirs. There, in that hush, guidance comes not in words but in feeling. Subtle currents. Quiet revelations. If you listen with your inner ear, you will hear eternity whisper.“You must ask for what you really want.” RumiNot from fear. Not from lack. But from that deep and holy place where your longing and the Beloved’s desire are one flame.“People are going back and forth across the door sillwhere the two worlds touch.” RumiThe mystic lives at that threshold—not departing the world, but deepening into it. Seeing through it. Walking barefoot on the earth, but rooted in the stars. This place is not far. It is here, now, a breath away. It has always been round and open.“Don’t go back to sleep” RumiSleep, in this sense, is the forgetting of who we are. And the waking? It is remembering that this moment, this breath, this ache and joy and stillness— are all the Divine in disguise. So I will meet you there, beloved, not as teacher or seeker, but as Presence itself. The field is open. The breeze is speaking.“And the dawn is near.” RumiThis work is offered as a living fire — a place of warmth, remembrance, and quiet illumination for those walking their own sacred path. If something here has touched you, and you feel moved to help keep this fire burning, I invite you to make an offering of support.Your gift helps me continue to walk beside the dying, to write, to teach, to listen — and to remain present for the unseen and sacred moments that ask to be witnessed. We each tend the fire in our own way. Thank you for tending it with me.Nigel Lott teaandzen.org Meditation Sans Frontieres is a 501 (C) non profit registered charity tax EIN 81-3411835 and all donations are therefore tax deductible as applicable by law. Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

No One Dies Alone: A Vigil for Antoine

Part of the volunteer work I do is this: on occasion I am called to sit with souls who are nearing the threshold of this life— those who are dying.They are in their final hours, and they have no family. The hospital where I volunteer is cultivating a beautiful, human policy:no one should die alone.And so, when there is someone with no family present, I go. I pull up a chair beside them. There is nothing to do, really….. and I sit. Be still. Be PRESENT.Today, I met Antoine. He is 51. His body is broken now. And I will go again tomorrow, and the next day, until I receive that quiet text letting me know he has passed. Until then, I return. Not to fix or to save— but to witness. To be with. To meet him in that timeless field where all souls meet— that vast, radiant field of Love. Of eternal consciousness. Of energy that was never born and never dies.And while I sat with Antoine today, I penned him this prayer, and I read it aloud to him, gently— just loud enough for his soul to hear. Will you join me in this vigil for Antoine, that he really knows he is not alone, lets send the light!Prayer for AntoineGreat Mystery, whose breath moves through the stars and the stillness— be here now. Wrap this dear one, Antoine, in the quiet cloak of unnameable mercy.Let the veil grow thin— not as ending, but as returning. May his body be received into the arms of the Earth with tenderness, even as his soul rises into the embrace of the Infinite.I do not ask for the healing of body— but for the deeper healing, the sacred remembering that draws all things back into the heart of Source.May he feel, even now, the Presence that has never left him—unseen, but never absent. And may the silence he enters be filled with the music of homecoming.And when his breath grows still, may the Light that never fades gather him gently—as dawn gathers the stars.Go well, dear soul.Go free.Go loved.Nigel teaandzen.org Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

When the Heart Outgrows What It Once Held Close.

There is a kind of grief that doesn’t get spoken of much.It isn’t always the grief that comes with death, though many of us have known that sorrow too. This is a different kind of parting—a quieter, more interior loss. It happens when we begin to outgrow those we’ve loved. When something within shifts, and the old ways of connecting no longer quite fit.It’s not something we choose. Often, it unfolds slowly. Over time. Through years of surrender, of silence, of tending to the deeper truth within us. And then one day, we realize the landscape has changed. We’ve crossed a threshold. And though the love may still be there ALWAYS, the resonance is gone.We look around and notice the conversations that once lit us up now feel distant. The people we used to confide in no longer meet us in the same place. Not because they’ve failed us. Not because there’s fault. But because our souls have ripened. And we’ve come to speak a language they may no longer understand. sorrow in that. Deep sorrow. Because we still care. We still bless the road we once walked with them. But now the thread begins to loosen. And what once felt like home becomes something we visit, not something we can live in anymore.Some friends die. Others fade gently into the past. A few may remain, but the thread between us changes form. From a deep, inward turning that realigns us with a new center, a deeper aspect of truth.As we walk further into the spiritual life—into the silence, into the sacred—we may find our circles thinning. This is not a sign of failure. It is the soul tuning itself more deeply to the divine. Not everyone is meant to walk that far with us—at least not at this time. Their path, their timing, may be different than ours.So we grieve. We honor. We release.We give thanks for the seasons shared—for those who helped carry us to this point. And we trust that, as we continue walking, new companions will appear. People who understand the language of the soul. People who can meet us in the stillness without flinching. People for whom silence is not absence but presence.And until those companions arrive, we keep walking. Barefoot, open-hearted, letting the grief wash through us like a tide. Letting it shape us. Letting it carve space within us for an even deeper love still to come.And if these words find a home in another heart—if someone reading this understands the path—we have already found each other.And that…… is Grace.If these reflections speak to something true in your own life…I invite you to sit with them gently. Perhaps light a candle. Breathe. Let your grief be honored. If you feel moved, share a few words in the comments—this is a space for kindred souls to gather quietly and truthfully.Nigel Lott teaandzen.org Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

You Cannot Heal by Harming Another Life

Every time you harm another life — any life — you harm yourself tenfold.I’ve shared this truth before, and it bears repeating.You cannot escape your pain by passing it on to another.We are all one — all beings, all forms — woven from the same living fabric, born of the same Source: Love.There is only One of us, in all truth.Any thought of separation is pure illusion.You can try to deny this.You can consciously — or unconsciously — harm another being.You can continue to act from your own unhealed pain.But know this: in doing so, you are deepening your own suffering — not lessening it.You are digging yourself deeper into your own mire.Let me say it again, clearly:You cannot free yourself of pain by inflicting it upon another life.Whether that life breathes air, swims in water, walks on two legs or four, or sings unseen in the currents of this world — to harm it out of anger, to dump your pain upon it, to use it as a vessel for your own unhealed wounds, is to harm yourself.You will not find freedom this way.You will multiply your pain — tenfold — and this harm ripples into the energy field of this planet, and far out into the greater cosmos.This is the law of life — whether we like it or not.And this is why the path of true healing is always the path of Love.Of responsibility.Of reverence for the life that moves through all things.Thank you for listening.Nigel Lott teaandzen.org Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

TEA AND ZEN LIBRARY

Dear Friends,As many of you know, this path of Tea & Zen — and of my life — has been one of long unfolding.For many years I have shared reflections, poems, teachings, and spoken offerings — born from the deep river of lived experience: thirty-nine years of sobriety, decades of walking through trauma and healing, and a life surrendered ever more fully to the Great Love that carries us all.Over time, these offerings have grown — scattered across Substack, podcasts, social media, letters, and my heart’s journals. Now, at this season of my life — at 76 — it has become clear to me that it is time to gather this river into its true form:A living Library of Tea & Zen — a sanctuary of writings, reflections, and presence, to serve those who walk this path now, and those who may come after. This is not a project of ego or legacy — it is simply the next natural flowering of the work I have been given to offer.The Library will hold:Reflections & Letters of the Heart / Poems of Love, Presence, and SilenceTeachings on Healing, Grief, and the Threshold of LifeSpoken MeditationsA growing archive of this life’s stream of teachings It will be open and free to all — a nonprofit sanctuary of the heart.How You Can Support This WorkTea & Zen is offered under the umbrella of Meditation Sans Frontières, a registered nonprofit charityThe building of this Library — and the ongoing life of this work — depends on the generosity of those who feel called to support it.If my writings, reflections, or presence have touched your life, and you would like to help sustain this unfolding offering, your gift — whether one-time or recurring — will help make this Library possible.Your support will directly help with:→ Building and hosting the new Library website→ Organizing and archiving a lifetime of writings and teachings→ Supporting me to continue offering this work freely and sustainablyTo Support the Work:From my heart to yours — thank you for walking this path with me.Together, we keep the river flowing.With love and deep gratitude,Nigel Lott teaandzen.org Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE

Thirty-Nine Years Sober: A River of Grace

It seems such a long-ago time now — June of 1986. Another life, another self, another dream. So much water has passed beneath the bridge. A lifetime of tides, eddies, and unseen depths.Today marks thirty-nine years of sobriety — thirty-nine years since I first laid down the bottle, not yet knowing what it would mean, or where this path would lead.For beneath the drink, beneath the numbness, there lay an ocean of sorrow — reams of trauma woven into the marrow of my being. Ancestral wounds. The silent grief of a heart long unheld.The drink was never the true enemy —only a cloak for the unbearable.And when the bottle was gone, the real pilgrimage began — the long walk through shadow and fire, through memories unspoken, through pain that seemed it would undo me.One breath.One step.One letting go.Again and again — returning to the heart.In the deepest surrender, a Love beyond all measure was waiting. Not apart — but at the very center of all things.It is this Love that heals. Not by force. Not by striving. But by its very nature — soft, vast, without end.Now — thirty-nine years on — I bow to the Mystery.Not a triumph — but a remembrance.A river that carried me when I could not swim. A silence that held me when all words were lost.Still it flows.Still it carries me home.Nigel Lott teaandzen.orgIf these words have touched your heart, and you feel moved to support this space of reflection and healing, you are welcome to offer a gift. This benefaction is offered freely — sustained by Love and the kindness of those who resonate with these sharings, in support of the work and programs at……Meditation Sans Frontieres A 501 (C) 3 Non Profit Registered Charity Tax EIN 81-3411835. Get full access to Tea and Zen - Threads at teaandzen.substack.com/subscribe
In the quiet between heartbeats a whisper calls you home, you are not broken you are becoming. These threads of silence and sound are letters from the threshold, offerings from the edge of stillness. Nigel  TEA AND ZEN - MAIN LIBRARY                                                                                                                                                                  DONATE