What happens to our lives if we release the compulsion, the burden that we may feel around time and place? Can you feel the constant stress or pressure that may arise from making a deadline or striving to get somewhere physically, a stress which derives from our assumptions about reality. If we relax these assumptions and let life “come to us” what do we discover? Is there a context right within our direct experience that upends these assumptions, pointing to an infinite, eternal reality that does not move or age? Well, it depends…. Where do you want to stake the center-post of your life?
The nondual perspective, within all of the traditions such as Vedanta, Shaivism, Tantra, Zen, Sufism, and mystical Christianity, derives from the fact that reality is One. Though reality appears to the finite mind as a multiplicity of events and objects in space and time, this appearance is due to the inherent limitations of the finite mind only. As reality is indivisible, so the consciousness that is aware of it is likewise a unity.
What are the components of a daily spiritual practice? Why would one undertake this? What may be revealed by consistent, sincere practice in the long run?
What is soul, or Self? What are some astounding attributes or things to notice about our Self or soul? Why can music be so evocative of soul? What does it mean to live true to soul?
Saladin and Munir’s Saturday morning class exploring “Empediment to Embodiment” given on May 27, 2023 at Inland NW Sufi Camp.
Saladin and Munir’s Saturday morning class exploring “Empediments to Embodiment” given at Inland NW Sufi Camp on May 27, 2023
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.