An exploration of our origins out of the vast cosmos, and how the substance of our physical reality is created within stars and supernovas. We are actually the way stars have a conversation. “We are stars wrapped in skin. The light you are seeking has always been within.” – Rumi
Exploring teachings from the Aramaic Jesus, what does it mean to be “spiritually ripe”, and what is the ripening agent? What are we missing in our society that prevents us from being “ripe”?
What is the significance of acceptance as a spiritual act? When inner and outer circumstances appear to be counter to life and to hope, when we are suffering, what do the spiritual traditions teach us? What is the open secret of acceptance that leads to spiritual awakening?
What is spiritual sangha? What are we here for? What is the teaching? What can I expect from sangha, and what must I provide for myself? How can we support one another in sangha going forward?
We know that if we argue with “what is”, we are going to suffer. “What is” has no opposites. It happens beyond good and bad, right and wrong, caring and indifference. What we are seeing is the cost of this moment. This moment appears to come at a very high price. In order to view the earth from Saturn, we also have conflagration on earth. They go together in this moment.
What happens if we were to wholly accept the fact that we really don’t know anything about the reality we inhabit? The mind stops churning, we are brought up short, we become quiet. Not knowing robs us of our hubris. When we are humble and innocent, a new way of “not knowing” starts to open up and connects us to everything in a fresh and renewing way. Not knowing, not trying to reach closure or a sense or safety rooted in changing phenomena, opens us to a different state of consciousness.
As we enter the silence of our being and start to follow the fullness of it as a total movement – ceasing to distinguish emotion, sensation, thought, sight, sound, etc., as separate phenomena – experience takes on the quality of a silent river or wind. This movement has energy, vibrancy and aliveness to it. In the midst of this river is the still “experiencing” that follows every detail of the movement. This experiencing or witnessing is a verb, not a noun or a subject.
This living presence is alert, relaxed and totally present. It holds the world with engagement and appreciation. Relationship is fundamental to it because the substance of presence is made of every factor of the environment. It is like looking into a mirror that reflects everything, not just the image, as living experience. We as sentient beings in essence are the aliveness of the world reflected in consciousness.
In Mansur Johnson’s memoir Murshid, Murshid Samuel Lewis reminds his students to practice “non-dual thinking.” Murshid Sam always seems to be speaking to the place in his disciples that is already awake, correcting them when they are thinking or acting from an idea about who they are rather than from their essential nature. Do we bring this teaching into our Sufi practice? In this article, I would like to ask, “Who do we believe ourselves to be when we sit down to do practice?” Many of us likely begin practice taking for granted who we are. Who we think we are is usually not part of the equation of practice. So, it seems important to explore this question, because the answer we assume could make the difference between a self-improvement program, rather than communion with the Infinite, the Eternal, and the Silent.