|
|
Web Page Index [ Home ] [Current Sunday Topics & News] [ About Us ] [ Site Directory ] [ Driving Directions or Information Requests ]
Articles of Interest
[ What is Time? ] [ Laws of Success ] [ A Little Light: Quotations Collection ]
Ancient Wisdom Taught in a Modern Way!
|
Creating New Spiritual RelationshipsSeptember 17, 2000
"Imagine
all the people, living life in peace." John
Lennon The
day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and
gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that
day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered
fire. Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin How
we build our spiritual community starts with who we are willing to include.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Create beloved community.”
He would stand on street corners and wherever he could draw an
audience and say, "It's not okay that the little black children can't come
to school with the little white children, just because you don't want them to
drink out of the same drinking fountain.”
And this was a man who would go to jail for his beliefs time and time
again. He demonstrated for us that we must work to realize what we believe in. I
am not saying that we must struggle or resist, but that we must act in a way
that conforms with our beliefs. Years
ago, a teacher I had who was from India said a remarkable thing to us.
It was remarkable for its blunt statement of Truth and because it came
from the most polite, soft-spoken little brown man.
He said, “Committed speaking without action is like a fart in the
wind.” If we do not act
consistently with what we say, there can be no realization.
Our acts in conformity with our speaking demonstrate the combination of
feeling and meaning that combine to form actual commitment. For those of us in Religious Science this means that after we
do our treatment work, I believe we have to demonstrate what we believe in a way
that changes consciousness in a way that we can experience within our
community. We cannot act
like the Wizard of Oz, where we keep everything that we are saying behind the
curtain. It needs to be out in
front for all to see. We
cannot just say we have released it to God and rest on our laurels.
From 1st Corinthians: “Love is patient and kind; love
is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.”
This is a wonderful description of faithful persistence.
Persistent affirmative thought leads to persistent consistent acts which
demonstrate the underlying beliefs that truly motivate all that we are.
We cannot move forward in our realization of our individual selves and
live our lives as if there is anything or anyone that does not matter. It takes
each and every particle of the all ness to be God and we have to demonstrate
within our acceptance and love of it all. To
grow we are meant to say "yes" to the reverent inclinations in our
hearts and we are meant to stand together for what we truly believe. We are
meant to act on our beliefs and realize them in the world.
Our job is to use the moments of our lives to realize and create sacred
experiences that transform not just ourselves but all to whom we are connected.
“Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they
can from a lack of bread.” —Richard
Wright, Native Son On
Friday night, we watched the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics.
During the commercial breaks, I tried to read for Dan the quotations I
had gathered and the notes I had prepared for my talk today.
We had already witnessed the dramatic dream sequence that showed an
amazingly all-inclusive vision and then an hour or so of the procession of
nations entering the stadium. My
heart was full to near bursting with the realization of the unity that was being
demonstrated. North and South Korea entering as one Korea, athletes
demonstrating the beginning of healing with their hands joined and the broadest
of smiles on their faces. There was the rich symbolism of the costumes worn by
many great nations and the sweetness of the choices made by those countries for
their flag bearers. There was an
amazing convergence of so much accomplishment, such amazing recognition, and
acknowledgement. 30
years ago, I participated in the Poor People’s March on Washington by
attending rallies in Denver where Ralph Abernathy spoke. I know now that I had
the seeds for how I would feel this last Friday night already planted in my
heart on that day and within the spiritual community in which I existed.
I know that we have moved ever-steadily toward the universal realization
of unity. I know that when I stop the everyday flow of consciousness and
remember the amazing realization that I had standing there in Denver, that I was
included in the visions of many great people, even when I had felt excluded
within the smaller communities in which I had grown up.
Now
here is what I want to say about the seeds that were planted in me.
Those seeds were publicly planted by Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Buddha, Lao
Tzu, and many other saints and sages, as well as modern leaders such as Martin
Luther King, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Dick Gregory, Jesse Jackson, Robert F.
Kennedy, Joan Baez and Woodie Guthrie and the countless millions who nurtured
those seeds in daily acts of affirmation of their rights and denial of any bar
to the exercise of their right to freedom and self-expression. The seeds of
freedom were tended by members of a community of belief that was populated by
millions and finally billions who share what Martin Luther King, Jr. called a
Dream. The
Bible says at Proverbs 17:17, “A friend loveth at all times.”
Sometimes the Love we have is a universal love for those, whom we do not
know personally, but with whom we have a profound sympathy and with whom we
consciously choose to identify. Now
I don’t mean that we feel sorry for them, nor do I mean that we feel that we
are more fortunate than they are and that we might condescend to help the less
fortunate, because I don’t believe that there is anyone less fortunate than I
am when it comes to the divine potential within each and every soul. What I mean is that we have the courage to feel with them the
difficult feelings that arise as we move toward the expression of the natural
freedom that is our birthright and that we share the realization of our
potential as we have experienced it. I
remember what it feels like to be excluded, not because I suffer it any further
in my life, but because it allows me to realize the compassion that is also our
birthright as children of God and which gives each of us the strength to feel
the difficult feelings that allow us to stretch out a hand that has touched and
known possibility -- as one sibling to another in a time of suffering or need
and share that Peace and Joy which we have known. This Grace reminds us of what
we have and shares the possibility we know, increasing the realization of
potential in both the giver and receiver. This
is the Law of Compensation in action. We
must be grateful for spiritual community.
None of us are smart enough or sufficiently sensitive to notice every subtle
sign that something is amiss before it becomes a large problem. Through
our experience of spiritual community, through our relationships with those in
our community who are awake when we go to sleep, we always have the opportunity
to tune in and ask God for guidance. No individual knows everything, but
God does. Spiritual community reminds us that we are connected to each and every
being and to the solution for each and every need. Spiritual
community is created when we come together on a regular basis with a common
intention: to extend love beyond our immediate families. Through this shared
affinity, we encourage, challenge, and remind one another that nothing is
impossible. Ralph
Waldo Emerson, in his Journals
said, “Sympathy is a
supporting atmosphere, and in it we unfold easily and well.”
Mystical sympathy occurs when your awareness of other people becomes so
developed you discover that the Infinite Spirit is moving through you — and
through the sympathy, you feel for your fellow beings. Your attitude of sympathy
becomes infused
with Spirit. This is mystical sympathy. You will feel so privileged and grateful
to sense the infinite love and compassion moving through your body. You will
realize a boundless, caring consciousness abides everywhere and that it moves
through you to others in your moments of heartfelt sympathy. What a
life-changing discovery! Nothing
is at last sacred, but the integrity of your own mind. Your thoughts direct your
life. They determine the focus and momentum of your energies. It's a mystical
principle: You are what you think. Your life, your personality, and your future
are all based on what you do with your power of thought. "As a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he," is a great mystical principle
from Proverbs 23:7. Rather
than allowing your thoughts to bring chaos and self-destruction, you can train
your mind to become helpful and take you where you want to go.
People have a choice. They can be victims and prisoners of their thoughts
or they can use the majesty of their own thoughts to live in bliss. By
thought
is meant your habit of
thought — not your occasional fine ideas, but your usual
ones. We all have a great idea from time to time but despite these lofty ideas,
our lives go on as before. We need to change our habitual way of thought
in order to make and enjoy big changes in our lives. The
Subjective Mind Mystical
power of thought is based on an understanding of what mystics call the
subjective mind. In
using the term subjective,
mystics are referring to you as the self, the subject, who is
experiencing your life. And, by the term subjective
mind mystics
mean your ongoing interpretations and general awareness of your life from your
personal vantage point. So, your subjective mind contains what you habitually
think and feel — including your views of life, of yourself, and of others. Your
subjective mind could be full of delusions and superstitions. It might be a hell
to live in. Or, it might be full of love and kindness. Your habit of thought and
feeling might be a heavenly, wondrous part of you. This is your choice. St.
Augustine asked “Don’t
you believe that there is in man a deep so profound as to be hidden even to him
in whom it is?” God is within each of us.
Coming together in Spiritual Community, creating new spiritual
relationships is based in that depth that is within each of us.
One of my mentors, Dr. Dominic Polifrone, has a deep, mellifluous voice.
I cannot think the words that follow without hearing him intoning these
words within me. More seeds planted
you could say. “When deep
calls unto deep, deep responds.”
This lesson I learned from Dr. Dominic:
When we consciously choose the company of those who recognize what is
deepest within us we naturally create an environment in which to exist that
supports and encourages the expression and growth of what is deepest and most
significant about us. The divine
within us is thereby known and recognized within the community itself and we, in
recognizing it in the company we keep, expand it within ourselves.
According
to Marcus Aurelius, “Our life is what our thoughts make it.”
Emerson said, “Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free.” Spiritual
relationships call for us to use our minds more readily, more often, more
powerfully, more responsibly and more of the time.
What we call “race consciousness” or the collective unconscious if
you have read Carl Jung, is a default mechanism that controls universal thought
at the level of the predominant thinking of human culture, if we do not choose
consciously what it is that we will think.
Conscious thought has more power than this collective of unconscious
thinking. This is what Emerson
meant when he said intellect annuls fate. Fate
is what happens when you don’t make a choice for yourself. So
when we choose who we wish to develop spiritual relationship with, it is
important that we ask ourselves about the kind of spiritual partnership we wish
to create. Do we really want a
comfortable “Hey, don’t call me on my “bad” stuff and I won’t call
attention to yours?’ relationship, or do we wish to find partnership with
those who gently and firmly stand for the possibility of the deep within us?
As Dr. Domenic says, "When deep calls unto deep, deep
responds." There is an
old saying that says that “Friendship is like oxygen, we need it to
live.” We need true spiritual friends to live and love well, to call
to that deepest part of us knowing that it will respond. This is the source of bliss and harmony.
This is what the Dalai Lama suggests to us in his teachings, that we
practice the art of happiness. Happiness
is not the seeking of an easy way, but a way unattached to things that do not
matter in favor of unabashed Joy and the continual unfolding of the expression
of Love, the true essence of the Divine. “Friends
are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to persevere in the
road to a happier life.” According
to the venerable and ancient mathematician, Pythagoras Finally,
we need to look to how it is we choose to participate once we have chosen a
spiritual community. Shall we
devote ourselves to something bigger than ourselves?
There is a difference between supporting a community and investing in it. Do
you give of your time, talent, and money? Through service, we can make
life-changing differences in the world that we live, not only for others, but
ourselves. Each of us has within us the opportunity to contribute and to choose partners who forward our progress, and whose progress we can include in a spiritual partnership commitment. This
is different than casually showing up on Sunday for a few wise words.
Usually folks speak of belonging to a church.
Here we are saying that we are friends and partners in realizing our
deepest and truest selves. So,
though we may feel at times like spiritual dwarves, in community we are so much
more than we can be alone. Together,
we become a giant, we become a much larger part of God, and in so doing, we can
move forward into the realization of spiritual potential in ways we might not
ever have imagined. Henry David
Thoreau shared: “Not by constraint or severity shall you have access to true
wisdom, but by abandonment, and childlike mirthfulness. If you would know aught,
be gay before it.” Apparently,
Thoreau agreed with the Dalai Lama that wisdom involved knowing true happiness.
What good news! Mystics
try to view life in its spiritual context. We practice sensing the spiritual
essence in every person and creature. We strive to recognize and appreciate the
spiritual aspect of everyone we meet, and of our own self, too. With
the help of the developing transformed mind, you develop the ability to see the
Divinity within each and every being. When your mind fills with peace, stillness
and bliss, you look at the world with love and tranquility. This mystical
ability to see Divinity in all that is, along with a more harmonious, less
scattered mind, enables you a finer view of life. With
such spiritual sight, you begin to see an underlying unity in your life. A
greater kinship and sense of relatedness with all people develops. You find it
easy to notice and enjoy the uniqueness and beauty of whatever you observe. This
mystical ability to see the deep within all of life, coupled with a transformed
mind, reveals the wonder and miracle of human beings. You feel a warmth and
delight in beholding another human life which has been thought up and given life
by the wondrous source of all life: Spirit. Looking
into the eyes of another, you gradually sense the Infinite Spirit looking back
at you — in an individual manner — through those very eyes. You see the
presence of Spirit whether the person is an old friend or a stranger. “The
trait that distinguishes these men from other men is this: their spiritual eyes
have been opened and they have seen.” Dr. Maurice Bucke, Cosmic
Consciousness. How
can we see the world properly without seeing Spirit? Spiritual
sight is the result of meditation and prayer, usually. Mystics daily close their
eyes for periods of spiritual communion. In these realizations of Spirit, they
gradually discover the spiritual nature within, before, above and around
themselves. Then,
they gradually recognize the spiritual essence within even when their eyes are
open and they're actively going about the everyday stuff of life. Their eyes are
wide open and yet, they're still conscious of the blissful essence. In
both closed-eye reflections and eyes-wide-open duties, they can sense the
essence not only within themselves but also in others. Furthermore, in time they
are so aware of Spirit that they can subtly see Spirit as a special kind of
light. They see a holy
glow around people. This spiritual sight extends to all creatures and things. Trees, the earth, and animals have this essence, too. In human beings, however, you will find the greatest infusion of Spirit. When your spiritual sight is awakened, life gains unutterable splendor. You
too are a seeker of Light, a living member of an ancient tradition. You will
inherit all the love, knowledge and sacrifices bequeathed you by countless good
men and women who, through so many centuries, lived in the illumination for
which you now prepare. These are the seeds we discussed earlier. "He
was in a state of quiet, almost passive enjoyment. All at once, without warning
of any kind, he found himself wrapped around as it were by a flame-colored
cloud. For an instant he thought of fire, some sudden conflagration in the great
city; the next, he knew that the light was within himself. Directly afterwards
came upon him a sense of exaltation, of immense joyousness accompanied or
immediately followed by an intellectual illumination quite impossible to
describe...he saw and knew that the cosmos is not dead matter but a living
Presence, that the soul of man is immortal, that the universe is so built and
ordered that without any peradventure all things work together for the good of
each and all...” Later, he said “… looking round then upon the world of man, he saw the significance of the subjective light in the case of Paul and in that of Mohammed. The secret of Whitman's transcendent greatness was revealed to him." From Cosmic Consciousness by Richard Maurice Bucke, MD. Thank
you for being here with us today! |
|
Warmly Celebrating Spiritual Growth and Abundant Life in an Open Community Send mail to Dr. Susanne Freeborn with
questions or comments about Emerson Center or this web site.
|
Emerson
Center for
