Conversations with the Universe, Robert Plant, Now and Then and Zen?

I just finished reading Simran Singh's book 'Conversations with the Universe' yesterday and it was her chapter 19 in the book that was titled 'Thought' that got me thinking, oddly enough, about the words "now and zen".

It was these lines in the chapter that Simran wrote that caught my attention, "You are creating from the moment of now, even if that now moment is attached to a then experience.
If you choose to look at it, reflect on it, heal it, and integrate the healing on all levels, you move the then moment to a Zen moment.
In other words, constantly doing this sort of work will keep you in the "now and Zen"."

I was having a bit of a Zen moment myself after reading that chapter and giving my "lucky bamboo" plant its morning drink and thinking that I should really give my plant a name, but how do I tell what sex it is when it comes to naming it? 
I didn't bother finding out what sex it was, or even if it had a sex at all, and ended up naming it Robert (Robert Plant to be exact:-).   

Now, I'm not a big Robert Plant fan and don't really know too much about his music apart from his Led Zep days, but I liked the word play between the words now, then and Zen and wondered if anyone had ever thought of naming a book 'Now and Zen'?
I never knew until I did a search on those words that Robert released a solo album 30 years ago this year called 'Now and Zen'.
It even struck me as amusing that he was dressed similar to Simran was on her book cover, especially with all those bangles they had on their left arms.
Not quite dead ringers, but close:-)

Jaime Pressly and Simran Singh in 2011?

I hadn't heard any of Robert's songs off 'Now and Zen' (maybe 'Heaven Knows', but it's pretty forgettable I think, so heaven knows if I have heard it before, cause I don't:-), but a couple of song titles on the album got my attention and I just had to have a listen.

And 'Walking Towards Paradise' was really a WTF(?) moment after seeing on the news that the Californian town of Paradise was just wiped off the map by fire.

I then got curious about other solo albums Plant had recorded in his solo career.

'Pictures at Eleven' was his first according to RP's Wiki page and Phil Collins played drums on six of those tracks?!

I'll pass on those songs thanks.
No offence Phil, but your songs hold a lot of bad memories for me that I don't want revisited in this lifetime.
Humour in Today’s Society ... and in Synchomysticism and Synchronicity?

Hmm ... a black hole sun and a siren?

And Robert even sings a cover of Tim Buckley's 'Song to the Siren' on 'Dreamland'.
Great (Jake) Scott!!! More Siren Connections?

Coffee and the Siren's Song

"Carry Fire is the eleventh solo studio album by English rock singer, songwriter and musician Robert Plant, released on 13 October 2017 [Friday the 13th, too] on Nonesuch/Warner Bros. Records.

It is the second studio album on which Plant is backed by the Sensational Space Shifters."

Released Friday the 13th, too?

I don't know just what the universe is saying by drawing my attention to Robert's solo back catalogue of songs, but since it was his 'Now and Zen' album I found first, probably nothing:-)

I didn't mind reading Simran's book, although it is a bit too hippy-dippy for me and repetitive as far as trying to reassure the reader about the universe's love for us all.
I also agree that the universe is us, but we aren't the whole universe while down here.
While I agree that we are all connected on some level, we are also separate from each other.
Like in nature if I see a bird fly to me I don't see the bird and myself as one, I see two separate beings connected through the great spirit, universe, or whatever you want to call it.
So, the connection between me and the bird is through the great spirit of the universe as the common ground, but I'm no more the bird than you are me and I are you.
Through the universal spirit we are one, but without that common ground we are separate beings.
A lot of people think that they are God, instead of only a part of God, or the universe.

I think that little prayer pictured above is a pretty good way to live, not that I'm into religion all that much, but because bad s#it will happen in our lives (and good s#it, too) that we as meat puppets will have very little control over for reasons beyond our understanding from down here.
I'm not suggesting you don't pray for something or try to think that you can work magic on a personal level, because maybe you just might be able to do it.
But don't kick yourself when higher powers have other plans than what you would will for yourself or others in this world.
Sure you can have a conversation with the universe, but it will be telling you what's goin' down and not the other way around IMO.

I give Simran's book the high end of a 3-star rating and while it's fun to read (I think anyway) how Simran converses with the universe, it's not quite how I think of a conversation with the universe.
There is enough common ground though.
It's her 11:11 radio show that I'm more of a fan of, although I'm not sure what's going on with the show since there haven't been any new shows for most of the year.
There are a lot of good archived shows to listen to for free, but I've caught up with all of the shows that I wanted to hear and that seems to be the end of the road as far as the radio show goes.
Maybe one day in the future Simran will get back into it, but it seems as though that might be it.

Robert the plant

Anyway, time to give Robert the plant some water and do some Zen with him/her now.
Maybe give his/her pebbles a bit of a rake-y, too:-)