20/20 Vision

         Pocketful of Miracles, by Joan Borysenko, one of my favorite authors and teachers, is a book of prayers, meditations and affirmations to nurture the spirit.  For each day of the year, she offers a couple of inspirational writings.  Here is one short prayer/meditation, written for January 1. 

“You have known us, Divine One, since before the foundation of the world.  You are closer than hands and feet.   Truly, as it is said, in You we live and move and have our being.  Yet so often we feel alone, like strangers in a strange land.  Although the mind may forget its Divine birth, the heart yearns ceaselessly to remember.”

         May we all remember that, along with the goofiness we see within ourselves, there is also within us something beautiful and timeless - gently inviting us to remember who we are.

         Happy New Year!  May its unfolding bring us all a little closer to 20/20 vision.

Room in the Inn

         In the tradition where I was raised, the birth of Jesus is celebrated as the Incarnation – God taking human form in the person of Jesus. 

         I’ve often wondered when that realization of oneness with God happened for Jesus.  Was it a gradual dawning or a sudden inspiration?  At some point he knew – not as an abstraction, but fiercely, in his bones:  God lives in us; we and God are inseparable.  This knowing is sometimes called Christ Consciousness.

         Huston Smith, an author who has immersed himself deeply in the study of world religions, has concluded that there are four approaches to God:  Pantheism (many Gods), Atheism (no God), Monotheism (one God) and Mysticism (all is God). 

         Jesus was a mystic.  I believe that his claim of oneness with God included all of us.  His radical message invites us to see ourselves as he saw himself – and as he sees us.

         In the traditional Christmas story, there was no room in the inn for the birth of Jesus.  For me, that story urges us to make room in our inns – our hearts – for Christ Consciousness. 

         What reverence might then we bring to ourselves, to each other and to this planet!  

         Peace on earth.  Good will to all.

Whyte on Friendship

         The lyric line, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” - written by Paul McCartney and famously sung by Ringo Starr – is one of my favorites.

         David Whyte explores this theme more deeply in an essay, entitled Friendship, from his book, Consolations.  I share this excerpt for your edification – and mine. 

"FRIENDSHIP is a mirror to presence and a testament to forgiveness. Friendship not only helps us see ourselves through another’s eyes, but can be sustained over the years only with someone who has repeatedly forgiven us for our trespasses as we must find it in ourselves to forgive them in turn. A friend knows our difficulties and shadows and remains in sight, a companion to our vulnerabilities more than our triumphs, when we are under the strange illusion we do not need them. An undercurrent of real friendship is a blessing exactly because its elemental form is rediscovered again and again through understanding and mercy. All friendships of any length are based on a continued, mutual forgiveness. Without tolerance and mercy all friendships die.

“In the course of the years a close friendship will always reveal the shadow in the other as much as ourselves, to remain friends we must know the other and their difficulties and even their sins and encourage the best in them, not through critique but through addressing the better part of them, the leading creative edge of their incarnation, thus subtly discouraging what makes them smaller, less generous, less of themselves. 

“Through the eyes of a real friendship an individual is larger than their everyday actions, and through the eyes of another we receive a greater sense of our own personhood, one we can aspire to, the one in whom they have the most faith. Friendship is a moving frontier of understanding not only of the self and the other but also, of a possible and as yet unlived, future.

“Friendship is the great hidden transmuter of all relationship: it can transform a troubled marriage, make honorable a professional rivalry, make sense of heartbreak and unrequited love and become the newly discovered ground for a mature patent-child relationship.

“The dynamic of friendship is almost always underestimated as a constant force in human life: a diminishing circle of friends is the first terrible diagnostic of a life in deep trouble: of overwork, of too much emphasis on a professional identity, of forgetting who will be there when our armored personalities run into the inevitable natural disasters and vulnerabilities found in even the most average existence…

“Friendship transcends disappearance: an enduring friendship goes on after death, the exchange only transmuted by absence, the relationship advancing and maturing in a silent internal conversational way even after one half of the bond has passed on.

“But no matter the medicinal virtues of being a true friend or sustaining a long close relationship with another, the ultimate touchstone of friendship is not improvement, neither of the other nor of the self, the ultimate touchstone is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another, to have walked with them and to have believed in them, and sometimes just to have accompanied them for however brief a span, on a journey impossible to accomplish alone."

Mother Earth Qi Healing

         Yesterday morning, I enjoyed breakfast with my friend Jerry, who is a QiGong Master.  He told me about an exercise he learned from our teacher, Spring Forest QiGong Master Chunyi Lin.  I tried it in meditation group tonight – and it went so well, I thought I’d share it with you.

         The exercise draws on the loving/healing energy of the earth, Mother Earth Qi, and involves moving light of various colors up through the main, vertical energy channel in the body – from the perineum at the base of the torso to the crown at the top of the head.  This can be done lying down, sitting or standing.

         First thing in the morning, before getting out of bed, Jerry practices Mother Earth Qi healing.  He touches the perineum with the fingertips of his left hand and the crown with his right-hand fingertips.  According to Jerry, the physical touch helps, but is not necessary.  The energy can move just fine with only visualization/imagination.

         The twilight time just after awakening can be an especially powerful time for healing/transformation.  Other times can also work well.

         Here is the sequence Jerry suggests.  Note that it includes seven healing colors and (for the last five colors) the organ system and healing emotion that correspond to the color.

         Gold – a powerful, all-body healing color

         Purple – a color for spiritual transformation/healing

         Green – heals the liver system – happiness energy

         Red – heals the heart system – joy energy

         Yellow – heals the stomach – peace energy

         White – heals the lungs – contentment energy

         Blue  - heals the kidneys – gratitude energy

         The practice can be done quickly – opening the perineum (with touch or visualization to signal the intention to open) and imagining each color moving up the main channel between the perineum and crown – not focusing so much on the specific organ systems or emotions.

         The meditation/exercise I guided tonight took a good 45 minutes.  We spent time upfront connecting with Mother Earth.  We lingered with the movement of each color.  We bathed each organ system in its corresponding light and healing emotion.  We moseyed.  With plenty of quiet time, the process deepened naturally – and powerfully.

         Some final thoughts:

1.     I found it helpful – but not necessary – to coordinate the upward movement of energy with my in-breath. 

2.   If you decide to try this practice, please don’t work too hard.  Don’t aim for perfection. 

3.   Feel free to adapt this exercise in any way that suits you.  For example, you can spend more time, or even most of your time, in a particular area where healing light is most needed.

         Mother Earth Qi is an amazing resource.  Enjoy!

Great Fullness

         “The grateful heart sits at a continuous feast.” (Proverbs 15:15)

         This proverb suggests that abundance is largely an internal matter of the heart.  For me, abundance is an attitude of gratitude.  It is cultivated, over time, by thousands of conscious choices to see beauty and goodness. 

         Hard-wired, our survival consciousness focuses on what’s missing, what’s wrong, what’s dangerous. 

         The habit of gratitude doesn’t make us oblivious to what’s negative in life, but it does create a balance, in which negative stories are less automatic, less dominant, less likely to run amok.  Our hearts learn to hold gratitude and grief at the same time. 

         With practice, the gratitude attitude assumes more leadership in our lives.  Our hearts soften and expand.  Abundance consciousness thrives – prompting us to receive freely and give generously.  We feast.  The inner economy booms.

         Gratefulness naturally leads to great fullness.

         Happy Thanksgiving – and great fullness – to each of you!

Companionship and Growth

         I once read – where, I don’t remember – a phrase that has stuck with me for years, “the tyranny of self-improvement.” This nagging, tyrannical approach to growth imprisons us in the not-good-enough land of perpetual striving and perpetual discontent.

         In the presence of an inner dictator, we can still grow – but we grow, despite this judging presence, not because of it.  Force impedes growth.

         So, where do I plant myself in support of my growth intentions?  How do I exercise leadership with myself?

         My short answer: compassionate companionship.

         I invite a connection between the wise elder within and all the other parts within me - most of whom are younger, some of whom resist growth, all of whom are welcomed.

         From the leadership stance of this wise elder, I talk with myself, not at myself.  I don’t overpower resistance.  I listen respectfully and problem solve from a win-win perspective.  I work toward inner alignment.

         Sometimes, as the wise elder, I’m gently firm with myself - persistently encouraging and rewarding small steps forward.  Sometimes, when I encounter resistance inside – especially strong resistance – I honor and accept the message that I’m not ready for a particular step at a particular time.

          Healthy relationship is the source of all lasting influence.  Compassionate companionship builds healthy relationship.

         Our desire for excellence is innate.  Growth is a natural unfolding within us.  Compassionate companionship trusts this unfolding - and nurtures it. 

         In the nourishing environment of compassionate companionship - guided by the inner wise elder - we flow and we grow.  

Be Here Now

    88-year-old spiritual teacher, Ram Dass, author of the classic text Be Here Now, is failing physically and readying himself for death.  In connection with a recent talk, Ram Dass was interviewed by David Marchese for a September 2nd New York Times article.  My friend, Dan, sent the article my way.

         In response to a question about his teaching, be here now, Ram Dass replied:

         “In each moment, go into the moment.  Our minds take us back and forth in time.  I teach a moment.  And I teach that we identify with the ego.  The ego is a mind warp, and most people don’t identify with their soul.  They’re worried about excess meaning.  The soul witnesses the ego and witnesses thoughts.  ‘Be here now’ gives people an opportunity to re-identify outside of their thinking-mind ego and into that thing that’s called the soul.  It is the perspective from which we could live a life without being caught so much in fear.  To re-identify there is to change your whole life….

         “Thoughts, thoughts, thoughts:  Those are the daily attention-grabbers that make it so that you can’t come from your mind to your heart to your soul.  The soul contains love, compassion, wisdom, peace and joy, but most people identify with the mind.  You’re not an ego.  You’re a soul….

         “Go to the spiritual heart and there will be a doorway to the next plane of consciousness:  soul land.”

         Presence in the moment connects us with heart.  Heart leads us to soul.  Be here now.

Heart’s Healing Path

         Last week, while guiding a group meditation, I received an insight about the connection between the heart, the emptiness and the energy of universal love.

         We started the meditation with a focus on the heart – a grand central station, which receives and radiates love.  The heart is like a divining rod or a gyroscope for love.  When we ask the heart to guide us toward universal love, it leads us to the emptiness – the deep quiet at the center of being, which is the wellspring of all love.

         From that inexhaustible source, love flows freely and naturally to the heart, where it radiates as we intend.

         Sacred emptiness - where the center of each being and the center all being come together - is the source of all love and all healing.  Spending even small amounts of time in this deep quiet renews and restores us.

         Sitting in meditation - hands on my lap, with palms up and fingers relaxed and apart - I invite the universal energy to gather in my hands.  For me, this produces a tingling.  Others may feel a temperature change.  When inhaling, I imagine this palpable love energy flowing from my hands into my heart.  When I exhale, I follow the breath, guided by love, into the quiet within.  Each exhalation takes me deeper into quiet.

         A slight variation skips the hands part.  I breathe love energy directly into my heart, then follow the out-breath from the heart into the quiet.

         Distractions?  No problem.  Gently - patiently persistent - we begin again and again and again. 

         We each have access to the deep quiet, the emptiness within.  It’s the wellspring of universal love, the source of all creation and re-creation, our resource for healing and re-programming.  

         The heart knows the way.

Hunger Games

         For several weeks, I’ve been on an extended hiatus – spending hours late into the night reading science fiction, following sports, skimming news headlines, studying the bridge column, chuckling over the comics, solving Jumbles.  These and similar activities were entertaining, but not deeply satisfying.  The enjoyment did not bring joy.  I was entertaining myself, but not nourishing myself.

         My soul has been hungry – and the more I fed it poorly, the hungrier it became. 

         Sleep suffered.  Exercise suffered.  Spiritual practice suffered – as did my writing practice.  Weekly Wisdoms have become “periodic posts.”   (Actually, Periodic Posts may be a more appropriate title for this blog.) 

         So, what am I learning as I review this period of spiritual hunger and see the cycle I’ve caught myself in? 

         Mainly this:  Slow down and listen!  Don’t run from the hunger.  Attend to it gently from the wisest, most loving part of myself. 

         When I slow down and listen, I can feel the difference between a sugary treat and food that really nourishes.  At the spiritual level, I can feel the difference between what deeply satisfies – and what doesn’t.  I can feel the difference between escape and true connection.

         The quiet feedback from deep within is a trustworthy guide.  In my case, it calls me to care for my body with good sleep, nutrition and exercise.  It calls me to nurture my soul with regular meditation and QiGong practice.  It invites me to soften to the beauty of each moment and surrender to the mystery of oneness. 

         When I listen deeply - caring for body and soul - all those other entertainments, done moderately and mindfully, can shift from escapes to sources of joy – no longer hunger games.

Odd Moment Loving

         Odd moments, when there’s a lull in activity, occur hundreds of times a day.  Typically, during these moments, the mind wanders automatically to old habits of inner chatter.

         What if we paid more attention to where the mind goes?  What if we made a conscious effort to develop a new habit? 

         We could use our odd moments to practice inhaling and exhaling universal love – nurturing ourselves and others with intentional breathing.

         What a wonderful way to enter the flow - to have fun and feel joyfully alive!

         Love in, love out – odd moment loving.