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the recognition of our own heart

by Joan Ruvinsky

In this interpretive translation of and commentary on the Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam, one of the foundational texts of Kashmiri Shaivism, Joan Ruvinsky conveys the richness and incandescence so characteristic of the lineage without losing sight of the last 400 years of philosophical inquiry, spiritual revelation, and scholarship. Part poetry, part guidebook, part art, The Recognition of Our Own Heart invites you into discovery of the unknown — living directly, moment to moment, in the mystery.

this wind

by Joan Ruvinsky

Blending hard-edged observation with a fine dash of humour, the text maps the apprenticeship of the heart from the individual breath to the wind. At once an affirmation of the self and its annihilation, This Wind opens into the silence behind the words.

poetry

by Joan Ruvinsky

sunset on the last day of hunting season

What deer still remain are far back in the woods by now.
They count their losses. The others count
their trophies. The score is even.
It’s always a tie in the duality game.

guy sitting in a field

Guy sitting in a field
(it’s Sunday)
stringing a kite –

field sitting in the sun
shaking off an early snow –

space, posing as sky,
sucks up the whole business into
itself –

guy thinks he’s flying the kite.