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Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Speak then Live

 “Be still and know that I am God.” This truth is to be lived, it is not to be merely pronounced with the mouth…. There is really nothing to argue about in this teaching; Any arguing is sure to go against the intent of it. Doctrines given up to controversy and argumentation lead of themselves to birth and death.          

   --- Hui Neng

Born 638, southwest China—died 713, the sixth great patriarch of Zen Buddhism and founder of the Southern school, which became the dominant school of Zen, both in China and in Japan.

Apparently he was one of earth's Avatars. I just read a bit about him today, but this quote really grabbed me so I wanted to share it and see if it grabs you too.

Just the kernel of it, if followed, has the potential to change life on earth for the better. Imagine if everyone lived the truths that spring from their mouths. In other words, no more lip service to the great ideas and teachings, but actual attempts to live them.

Let's consider what we say and how we live. 

We speak of love. Can we be more loving? We speak of forgiveness. Can we be more forgiving? We speak of integrity. Can we be more congruent with integrity. etc

Can we spend more time in the silence just being with the Divine?

What would our lives be like if we lived the great teachings?

Monday, August 29, 2022

Birthing God Within

Huxley, in The Perennial Philosophy, wrote of the necessity of practice in order to learn a skill. One cannot, for example, become a great artist by simply reading a book on art. In regards to our spiritual growth he adds:

In no circumstances, however, can the study of theology or the mind’s assent to theological propositions take the place of what [William] Law calls “the birth of God within.” For theory is not practice, and words are not the things for which they stand.

As I look around the world today, it seems to me that more and more people are untethered from high aspirations and moral principles, let alone actively engaged in "birthing God within." There is so much chaos and violence, and I am led to conclude all of the mess we see is related to the lack of seeking God within and the emptiness in the core of our being this creates.

I hope and pray more and more people are led to a genuinely spiritually awake person who can lead them in practices that quicken the birth of awareness of the Seed of God within. It seems to me this is perhaps our only hope for us at many levels - to  stop humanity's current path of self-destruction, to fill the aching hole in the center of a person not awake to the Light within, and to fulfill our purpose for being born here on earth.

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Words from One of My Mentors

Back in 1978, as I prepared to move to Hawaii and found a new church, I was given the amazing gift of spending a day with Dr. Joseph Murphy in his home in Laguna Hills. He wrote over 30 books, at one time spoke to thousands every Sunday, and in all ways was an amazing man. His book, "The Power of the Subconscious Mind," was a best seller and therefore his most well-known book. He started out to be a Jesuit, but found more in other places. Look him up on Wikipedia, amazing man.

Anyway he told me that if I stayed focused on basic human needs, I would be a success. He said my sermons and classes needed to be practical, truthful, spoken at all levels, for those who came to me would be at all levels of understanding, and also needed to be inspirational and challenging too,

He said focus on relationships of all kinds - with self, with others and with God. Talk about healing them.  Talk about how they are interwoven. Talk of their importance. Talk about the power of the mind and self-talk. Give them practical and inspirational ideas.

He said focus on prosperity of all kinds - an abundance of good in their lives, abundance financially, abundance in life experience, abundance of goodness and compassion, abundance in spirituality.

He said focus on health and healing of all kinds - physical health, mental health, spiritual health. Share how they are interrelated and under our control for the most part. 

He said focus on God and practicing the Presence. All are important, but without God, one can only go so far in life in all other things. In fact, all other things are part of God, they are not separate.

Encourage everyone to be a life-long learner. Never stop. God is Infinite, so no one will arrive to the point of being all knowing. Humbly keep on learning and sharing and learning some more.

Tell them of the power of the subconscious mind and how to harness it for good. Tell them they are responsible to be and do the best, to rise to their lives as the best version of themselves they can be.

Tell them ways to get there, and with your own life model how it is the best you can. How you come to life will be the biggest teacher and encourager to those who come to you to learn.

Do these things, and all will be blest.

Saturday, August 20, 2022

Jesus vs Woke or Awake vs Puppet

This morning I awoke with a deep sorrow over the direction our nation and our world is sinking into. It's as if I'm watching what history will later call the decline of the great Western democracies and the downturn to authoritarianism, especially Marxism.

The thinking has become what we once called "stinking thinking." Following a thought to its logical conclusion, using logic, understanding cause and effect, taking responsibility for one's life and reactions to others and on and on - are now attacked as being unwoke. The woke are fast asleep however, asleep to all things sane and useful.

Christianity, and basically all religions, has been attacked, labeled unwoke, and shunned in the circles of the ruling elite. They are attempting to replace religion with other false religions such as climate change, rights of extreme minorities, sports, etc. They are actively working to destroy civilization such as: allowing invasions/taking down borders, ginning up wars and fears of nuclear attacks, banning books, trying to create a race war, removing law and order, taking children out of the control of family, destroying the sexes in various ways such as castrating children, making all language neutral, going against biology with fabricated craziness and on and on.

Christianity is deemed dangerous because Jesus teaches us to love, to forgive, to use our ears and eyes, to find God within, to pray, to care, to be kind, to be of integrity in all things, to think, to be fully human and divine, to value our contribution here and to know that we are accountable for what we do here when we pass on from this life.

The slimy woke activists despise this. They want us under their control. They want us to be confused. They do not want us to be in control of ourselves, as they promote being "triggered" as an awful offense. We used to call it having our buttons pushed, and then the need to get rid of one's own buttons or else be a puppet on someone else's string.

Can it be turned around? I really don't know. This arc of history may be bent too far right now. But I do know all who are awake are called to try.

Oh Divine Presence, infuse us with Your Clarity. Guide us and Lead us to follow the Teachings of the Great Spiritual Lights. Show us how to turn around/repent. If it is Your Will, stop the decline of civilization, of critical thinking, of spiritual awakening - help us turn this around. We are open to Your Inspiration.

Saturday, August 13, 2022

What Level?

The question arose in me this morning, out of what level am I living? It was prompted by something Meister Eckhart wrote.

To this end I was born, and by virtue of my birth being eternal, I shall never die. It is of the nature of this eternal birth that I have been eternally, that I am now, and shall be forever. What I am as a temporal creature is to die and come to nothingness, for it came with time and so with time it will pass away. In my eternal birth, however, everything was begotten. 

My creaturehood will certainly pass away, yet my soul will continue in its eternalness. So, my questions to myself are: Which occupies the majority of my time and energy? Out of which level of myself do I operate most frequently? Is there some reasonable balance?

It is obvious that some of me has to care for the temporary expression of me. My body has requirements. My mind has requirements. Relationships need to be cared for. Beyond these kinds of things, the eternal self is here too. 

If I make decisions purely from the level of my temporary self, they are shallow and egotistic. Decisions that include my eternal nature are expansive, inclusive and meaningful. I am aware that what I do here, I am accountable for there.

Let us consider out of what level are we living, choosing, expressing and in general showing up as.  How we show up in each and every moment reverberates across the ages and across the dimensions. 

Friday, August 12, 2022

Medical Week/Torture?

Sometimes, it seems, things get worse before they get better. For years I've had various issues with my digestive system, and they have intensified. I have a wonderful new gastroenterologist who pledges to get to the bottom of it and solve it. So there are a battery of tests underway. The most recent was a 24-hour acid test. They put a tube in my nose, down my esophagus just to the entrance of my stomach, taped the tube to my nose, over my ears, and to my neck, and attached it to a monitor. There were sensors at the bottom of it all to measure the acid and record the ph. It was very uncomfortable and also fascinating. It never went to the alkaline side, and went periodically as acidic as the lowest that can be. That is, the line between acid and alkaline is 7. Above is alkaline, below is acidic. It went as low as .01 several times, and I saw it at 0 a time or two. Mostly it was around 3-4.

It seems to me, that the most severe symptoms have always been related to stress. I imagine there are other factors, but stress is always there as the symptoms emerge. I don't mean the daily and usual stress of life on earth, I mean extraordinary stress factors.

Part of my curriculum here on earth must be to find ways to not let extreme circumstances stop me on my spiritual quest. The Divine relationship is my primary "assignment." I must not be diverted - not by body issues, not by others, not by finances, not by world events, not by my thoughts, not by anything.

So I keep on reading spiritual writings, keep on praying and meditating and contemplating, keep on serving, keep on writing, and keep on with all of my spiritual practices. And Inspiration is still giving me gifts of Guidance and Understanding, and God is still my companion. Life is good. Life is an incredible gift and must not be wasted. Excuses, even seemingly "good" excuses, are not acceptable. 

We must not let ourselves be sidetracked from our primary life and mission. We are here to be a light, a lifter, an inspirer, and to grow and expand our own spiritual lives. Let us move forward together to be all we can be, never mind that distractions pop up. Keep our eyes on the real goal.

Saturday, August 6, 2022

The Contact

To my feeling this final complete passing over of consciousness from the mind to the soul is by act and will of God alone, and cannot be performed by will of the creature, and is the fundamental difference between the contemplation of Nature and the contemplation of God. The creature worships, but the soul alone knows contact.

Lilian Staveley (1878-1928) was an Anglican laywoman whose inward spiritual life remained hidden even from her closest friends and family members until after her death,

Her amazing thoughts grabbed me this morning.  "the soul alone knows contact."  It seems to me that what our inner yearning draws us toward is The Contact, The Knowing by experience that God is and is with us and in us, that we are not spiritual orphans after all.

As I look upon my own life, at those Holy moments of Contact, it is clear to me, has always been clear to me, that I cannot make them happen. It is not by my will, it is a gift given by The Divine. 

I can, however, prepare myself through service, mindfulness, prayer, contemplation and meditation to be open and receptive, so that Contact is more frequent and deeper. 

The real treasures of life are those precious moments when the fog clears and there is God, God and I, we are one, enfolded in incredible Love, Peace flooding the mind until it is still, and suddenly we are One.

No, I cannot make it happen. I can prepare myself so when God wills it, wills me to Oneness, I am ready to receive Holy Contact.  

Oh Divine Presence, reveal Yourself to me. Reach into my soul. Touch my innermost being. I yearn for Your Contact. I hunger to know You. Let it be so.