It has been stated repeatedly, “You are a spiritual being having a physical experience.” Most of us have had an experience with ESP, an inner vision or dream that was prognosticative or an outright miracle. It’s difficult to grasp the fullness of what a miracle truly is or how Jesus performed miracles. In our own life we tend to rationalize these occurrences. The simple solution with Jesus is that he was the son of God, or that the occurrences are myths. Our mind has trouble with the concept because it competes with our conditioning. The Messiah’s role is one of example and teacher; however, we- have made him the exception not the example. The fact that he taught his disciples-mere mortals like us- to heal, affect matter and even raise people from the dead is a poignant example that brings the idea right home. Matter, thought, and miracles are not what we think them to be. Buddha describes the material world as an illusion sustained by our mind and cravings. All spiritual teachers are pointing the way to self-control, forgiveness, and faith as a way to open us to our Spiritual being. We are this spiritual being-the Soul-dreaming we are a body.
Humans have been conditioned to believe that they are finite structures that are at the mercy of the physical universe. We have hypnotized ourselves to believe that we are the characters we see in the mirror, separate from the world and from our soul. Buddha described the Oneness of our Mind and world. Like the sleeping dreamer, we are the mirror and the image in the mirror. We are the observer, the observed and the observing. And we are One with what we see and with each other. Nobody comes into our world that is not our Self and doesn’t represent some unhealed aspect of our psyche. Now, that is hard to accept at first blush. Our conditioning has constructed an elaborate schema to support the ‘reality’ of the separated world. In our quest for truth, we must dig deep.
Further, we were not kicked out of heaven: rather, we have fallen asleep out of heaven. Right now, we are in the arms of our creator (and our soulmate),while having a dream of being separate and all that that represents: alone, at the mercy of the dream, fearful and consequently angry and protective.
read more The Illusion
Meditation is the Divine Therapy, Keating posits. Buddha states that the Essence of Intuitive Mind is naturally enlightening. That’s quite an idea. A mind free of judgment, then, naturally will experience the peace and love of God. Meditation allows the mind to let go of its thirsts and strivings, its judgments and fears. Jesus tells us that judgment stirs up our mind and creates a place of darkness. There is only One Divine Mind from which we have never fallen. We are in Eden right now! Not only have we forgotten that fact, we actively criticize ourselves and our neighbors as unworthy which further stirs up the mind, thus separating our wonderful enlightened mind from our awareness of it. Judgment creates a mind of separation and conflict. The enlightened Mind is right here, peacefully shining, waiting for the winds of our judgment to calm, allowing the gentle waves on the pond of our mind to slow and unite in a tranquil, transparent surface. read more Thomas Keating
We keep thinking that happiness is outside us. Grasping for anything takes us away from Source. The fountain of God’s abundance is within, not without.
Worrying and grasping is saying that we don’t trust God’s love and abundance.
It is an interesting conundrum. God wants our fulfillment. But He is the fulfillment. It’s kind of like a lover. The lover wants to give us everything, “what can I do to make you happy?!” . But the minute that you aren’t grateful for her efforts and lavishing her with praise, is the moment that the gifts disappear. There’s a fount of abundance within our loving mind. Attention inward with gratitude keeps the spigot open. Worship of the outer gifts turns the tap off. read more The Inner Fount
We intuitively feel the power in “letting go and letting God”. The idea does touch our heart and leads us inward. There’s that sense of well-being as we relax into inner trust. Ah!!!… But it doesn’t last long. The inspiration fades as we think with our own self: “Yeh, I need to do that! Let’s try and get that going.” The tension of trying brings us away from trust and into our own effort. Spirituality is an enigma. Faith is a mystery. Quietly, we can ‘let go’ without ‘actively’ letting go. Effort in the process brings the focus back to the ego-self. EGO is Edging God Out. FROG is Fully Relying on God. We cannot do both! One foot in the relationship with the Divine and one foot out. On the one hand, “I better get going. I need to have perfect faith.” The other is, “I really want to let go and rely on you, Lord. Please help my unbelief. “ It is an allowing. It is trusting that the invisible is more real than the visible. It is based on the belief that God is present and loving. Faith is a process beyond words. An Eastern mystic saying aimed at ceasing the floodgate of effort is, “There is no gate! Come, let me show you how to cross it.”. If the Master says, “I, of myself, can do nothing.”, that’s a pretty good clue that I might want to rely on the Father for everything. There is no guilt or effort or doing that will make us good enough to enter heaven. It’s the recognition that God within us makes us Holy, now. read more F.R.O.G.
There is wisdom in all religions. Religion is created by man to understand God, the Unknowable. Thus, there are many wise and some not so wise aspects of all faiths. There is only one God, worshipped in many ways. After Siddhartha’s enlightenment, he felt he had no other purpose than to awaken as many people as would listen. The essence of his teachings he called The Four Noble Truths. They are something extremely wise that we can learn from. read more The Four Truths
All God’s children are One. We are the Body of Christ. Our thoughts are intermingled. There is no ‘out there’ and ‘in here’. Part of our perception of the fall from Grace is that we are separate from each other, … read more You are the World
Consider the state of Being when you are aware of desire for something and simultaneously the emptiness of seeking pleasure in materiality. This is an act of untying the knot in finding true compassion through sharing of the world around us. It is mindfully eating a delicious piece of chocolate cake with a dear friend all the while feeling the indwelling presence of God which produces the incredible taste, the essence of Love with your friend and the overall joy of the moment. In this state, the inner fount of joy is never lost. That joy is experienced in the center of all activities. read more Nonattachment
If you are not feeling loving, or peaceful or joyful then you are living in the “self”. The self tricks us into being upset because our beloved is not acting correctly. We fall out of a space of unconditional love and either attack or pull away. That is the moment that we can realize we are stepping outside of a spiritually focused marriage. So much of our behavior as a couple is projecting and blaming. Become committed to putting the Divine first in your relationship. Make your marriage contemplative. Get quiet, fill you heart with God’s love and only then share your feelings from a contemplative stance. Where does joy come from? Yes, from Christ, from Buddha consciousness, right within us. read more The Contemplative Marriage
The best part of couple prayer is spending quiet time with the Lord and with your spouse. This is the time of silent meditation. This is what Jesus was doing in the early mornings on the mountainside: communing with God!! The intention of connection with God in stillness allows the Holy Spirit to heal our deeper mind. We are not able to do this on our own. Try this a few times with your mate and feel the energy in stillness. You don’t talk when you kiss! Relationship with our mate and God is passionate. Words don’t convey the meaning. Allow God to love you in silence. Feel the connection with your mate in silence. read more Prayer and Meditation for Couples
Meditation is very simple. Meditation is the process of quieting the mind which allows our little self, our worries and concerns, to take a break. As our mind quiets, our true Self can emerge. God can express Himself in our world. Our agitated mind is constantly dwelling on the past, reacting to some event in our world or preoccupied with concerns about the future. These worries of our fearful self, like wind on a lake, keep our mind stirred up and keep us removed from the Peace of God. Quietness is the secret to deepening the connection and relationship with the Divine. read more Meditation: Silent Prayer