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Sunday, December 29, 2019

Body of Truth

A line in a Karen Armstrong book that I am reading caught my interest this morning.
In both Pali and Sanskrit - as in English - the word "body" (kaya) can refer to a group or collection of elements, so the "dharma-body" of the Buddha is composed of those qualities and teachings which represent the Truth that he embodied.

It led me think about the Cosmic Christ, about the qualities and teachings of Jesus who became Christed. Communion says we enter the body of Christ. Some have taken that literally, but it seems much more powerful and helpful to say I enter into the body of the qualities and teachings of the Christ. I take them into myself. I invite them in.  I endeavor to live them. I am aligning myself with compassion, wisdom, and love and all that is in The Body of Qualities and Teachings of Jesus, the Galilean who became Christ, the anointed.

Such an entering offers transformation. We know as He knew that it is the Divine Within doing the work.

Saturday, December 28, 2019

Motion Picture?

This morning in my contemplation, I saw my life as a sort of motion picture, one that cannot be rewound, but with smells and sensations. One that only God and I can fully know.

I saw the times I seemed off track, but those times ended up being my teacher. I saw joy and sorrow, hope and despair, beauty and ugliness, flashes of insight and moments of feeling lost, spiritual awakening and knowing contrasted with times of doubt. It was all there and more.

I saw that one of our "jobs" while on earth is to move into alignment with the principles of it all. Life works better when in harmony with and dancing with the Divine and Divine patterns. This requires moving out of superstition, and out of all evil actions such as violence, greed, etc. and out of certainty/closed mindeness, into a teachable and unattached mindset.

We cannot know it all, it's infinite. We must begin nevertheless. Today we participate in shaping tomorrow.


Wednesday, December 25, 2019

A Blessed Christmas To You

The potential today is for sincere seekers to birth the Cosmic Christ, to attune to the subtle Presence of the Divine seeded in each and every being. Of course this is a daily possibility, but today with so many focused on the birth of Jesus and his meaning, the energies are heightened.

Without our attention and choices, potential remains potential. We perhaps need to ask ourselves some questions such as:

  • What would my life look like if my ego issues were healed?
  • Am I truly ready and willing to choose peace, nonviolence, empathy, compassion, and wisdom every moment of every day?
  • Am I ready to listen and see and hear at a higher level?
  • Am I ready to spend daily time in the silence, in reading writings of inspired individuals, in contemplation, in nature?
  • Do I welcome the Mind that was in Christ Jesus to be in me?
If so, let's pray.

This day I turn to my inner core, to the seed of the Divine forever within. I pour upon that precious seed the waters of my faith in the name of all that I am now and all that I am yet to be. I wish for the seed to sprout and grow and bear fruit. I align myself with all that is holy and turn away from all that is unholy and false. I am here Lord, committing myself with all integrity to this rebirth.  

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Confucius Says

I've long appreciated the aphorisms of Confucius. This morning I read this one:
When abroad, behave as though you were receiving an important guest. When employing the services of the common people, behave as though you were officiating at an important sacrifice. Do not impose on others what you yourself do not desire. In this way, you will be free from ill will whether in the state or in a noble family. --- Confucius 551-479 BCE

The goal he set for himself and his students was transcendence of ego and therefore birth of kindness and compassion.  I remember years ago reading a similar thing of his where he suggested we act as a gracious host/hostess wherever we are. I have endeavored to live in this mindset. It has made me feel at home in widely divergent situations.

Today is Christmas Eve, so it may seem strange to you that I quote Confucius on such a day. I believe awakened people tune into the same Divine Presence and so mostly agree with one another, with some slight variations due to culture and times. It seems to me that Jesus would agree with the above quote, for example.

In this special day, what if we all lived kindness in every interaction - the Christian Golden Rule and Confucius ' aphorism? What if we realized the holiness at the center of all creation? How quickly could this world turn around?

On this holy night, may the spark of God ignite in me and lead me to live as a person awake in You. Flow the glow of Your Love through me to all. Let the Christ Presence live and move through me. Lead me beyond ego to You.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Plato and the Internet

Plato wrote about life in a cave, watching the back wall and thinking flickering images dancing on the wall were reality. Genuine life was sacrificed to these shadows. All one had to do was to turn around and venture into the world that created these shadows, life with its joys and terrors, with its hopes and dreams and challenges.

Today, it seems to me, some/many people are looking at the back wall of the cave via the internet, television and various social media. Twitter mobs irrationally form over false assertions. People watch other people having adventures. Fictional characters and celebrities people our lives as if real neighbors and friends. Some talking head is upset over this or that, and we become upset too, never mind they were upset about the opposite last week and they will be upset about something else next week. Some politician rants this is constitutional and next month argues the opposite. People, in some/many cases swallow all of this and avoid a real life, real thoughts, real experiences.

My all time favorite mystic, Meister Eckhart, had a lot to say about it all, not the internet of course, but the back wall of the cave life.

Detachment from the shadows is necessary in order to know the Presence of God, to awaken to the fullness of life. Awakening is what we long for, even when we are not yet aware we need to awaken. Attachment to how we think things are has to go. All of our precious ideas, that have been set as if in stone, have to go. Exploration begins.

This day, Divine Presence, I come to You  to ask help in detaching from the illusions of this world. My soul cries out for awakening. My soul hungers for You. I come humbly, realizing I know so little and realize what I thought I knew is likely just shadows on the back wall of the cave in which I have dwelt. Open all of me to You, dear One. 

Monday, December 16, 2019

I've Given Up the Christmas Spirit

On tv the spirit of Christmas is about buying things, about romance, about some kind of magic. It is not about the Christ within, not about the birth of possibility, not about spiritual connection and holiness.

I'm not about what Christmas has become on tv.

I cherish the vision once given to me and still vibrant in my memory. I saw that our hearts are potential cradles for the birth of the Light of Christ within. When Jesus said we would do greater things, he was challenging us to attune ourselves to the same Presence of God that led his life. He humbly said what he did was the Father within, not puffing himself up.

I can't help but wonder what would happen if everyone gave up tv Christmas and opened to an internal spiritual Christmas that led to attuning to God.

Friday, December 13, 2019

The Holy Spirit Is a Terrible Nag 😇

Today a friend said to me, "I don't know how you can constantly create. I have to be in the mood." I answered her with the above title. I know it's an odd way to put it, but it is actually sort of like that.

For as far back as I can remember, I've received incoming inspirations on an ongoing basis. It's a regular occurrence. It could be about most anything - recipes, quilt ideas, garment ideas, spiritual insights, things to write, solutions for this or that, places to go, etc. etc. etc....

I believe inspiration is always broadcasting from the Holy Spirit, but not everyone is tuned in. Just this very moment there are dozens and dozens of radio shows beaming in this place, but I don't have the radio on, so I cannot hear any of them.

The way we tune in to the Holy Spirit is by tuning up our instrument with regular spiritual practices, and with psychological healing of ego issues. Ego is crackling static and creates distortion, preventing our hearing Spirit clearly. Introspection, observation of self and counseling can help move out of egotistical life perspective. Regular prayer, meditation, contemplation, quiet time, time in nature, spiritual reading, spiritual conversation, practising the Presence all lead to awakening to what has always been there, if we would just turn to It.

Within us, original equipment, is the receptor to Spirit, the Christ Presence. We don't have to acquire it. We have to nurture it. All of us can live with inspiration on a regular basis. The Kingdom Is within.

I wish for you a life of inspiration.

Monday, December 9, 2019

Enlightenment

I just read: true enlightenment is free of animosity. 

To observe the world now and historically, we might conclude there is and has been very little enlightenment happening. It's more like hysterical attacks on one another and on oneself.

There have been just enough enlightened beings to let us know it is possible. We might be asking, is it possible for me, for my family, for society? Where do I go, how do I find it, who can teach me?

I think each must find our own way. For Buddha it was going all over the place and then finally sitting down under a tree, being still and receptive, maybe surrendering. He came to know our attachments keep us bound to the wheel of suffering. Jesus spent time alone in the wilderness and came to know the Kingdom of God is within and love is essential. (And of course they came to know much more).

It seems to me that we would do well to notice the testament of their lives. Our world is not easily conducive to quiet days of reflection, contemplation and listening within. We have to find our own version of wilderness.

Suggestions: turn off electronic devices for an hour or more a day and be still;  turn them off one day a week and be still; go out in nature and be with the trees and all that is natural; meditate daily; read inspirational thoughts and journal on them; practise the Presence of God as constantly as you can.

And, of course, we have to ask ourselves if we really and truly are willing to let go of all animosity, and if we are really and truly seeking enlightenment. Each answer "yes" lifts everyone a bit. Together we make a difference that is geometric, 1+1 is more than 2, and at the same time,  it is one.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Maybe Not Human Beings, Rather Human Becomings

For a moment let's loosen our grip on certainty.

We are always, constantly becoming more. Our life is not static. Change is a fact of life. Who we were at age 4 is light years away from who we are today. Who we were yesterday is at least a smidgen different from who we are today. Who we shall be tomorrow is yet to be determined.

Our bodies change, new cells form, neurons connect in new ways, we heal scrapes and cuts, we develop muscle in our exercises. Our understandings change. We hear new things, meet new people, read new ideas, engage in conversations.

It's all interconnected. Our new cells form out of nutrients from foods we eat which come from different parts of the world, nurtured by water and sun. It could be said we eat sunlight and rain. Our minds take in ideas from across history, from Moses to Plato to Jesus to Hildegard of Bingen to Thomas Jefferson to Einstein to the wisdom of Snoopy and everything in between.

In other words, we are in a constant state of becoming. In this dance of life, we do best to just relax and dance the dance, letting go of ego's urgent need to hold on, to grasp, to try to control. Our insistence on having it our way, our attachments/addictions, bind us to the impossible, and keep us from awakening and in a state of suffering in varying degrees.

Let go and let God. Judge not by appearances, but with righteous judgment. Let the mind/energy that was in Christ Jesus be in you. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. These and more words come to teach us from early Christianity. Let's listen and enjoy becomingness.

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Defeated?

We just returned from doing a variety of errands in several parts of town. I spent some time observing people, and was sad to see so many unhappy, angry or defeated faces and bodies.

The majority of people had no sparkle in their eyes or spring to their steps. I saw sad faces, downcast, shoulders stooped, and stomachs as if punched in. I saw angry faces, disgusted faces, blank faces. I saw so many who looked like they had given up on life and were just going through the paces.

Of course I also saw some sparkly eyes of people full of the zest of life. However, they were definitely in the minority.

I wondered what made the majority give up??? Was there a final straw? Were they more sensitive to negative experiences than those who hadn't given up?

I certainly have had a ton of deeply distressing experiences over the entire course of my life, but I refuse to let "them" win. Perhaps it's my faith that lifts me through it all. Perhaps it's all the forgiveness work I've done. Perhaps I have an optimist gene.

I'd like to be able to lift the defeated, heart-sick, downcast sisters and brothers. That's not the way to live on this gorgeous planet. Every moment is pregnant with possibilities. No matter the current circumstances, there are positive choices that can be made. Hope can bring light into seemingly dark corners.

I send love and light to all co-inhabitants of our beautiful planet. May the Joy of the Divine fill one and all. May defeat turn into celebration. This is the day to shine. Walk into the day as The Light. BE contageous with uplifting energy. Let's lift each other. To God be the glory.