WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE
OF HEAVENLINESS
+ Stillness is the
greatest revelation
-- Taoist proverb
+ Silence, the
quiet calm at the heart of nature, carries, or even hides, the presence of the
Divine. Cloaked in the stillness, the Way, the Divine one dwells, always
available to us through our surrender. All we need do is dispose ourselves to
listening intently. This intent listening is the essence of meditation. If we
lean our ear toward the stillness, the outer quiet, it will lead us into a
realization of the Presence around us, within us and beyond us. Outer or
surrounding stillness will deliver us to the inward stillness, the ultimate
presence in which we really reside.
Eventually, as our listening and practice mature, outer and inner
finally collapse into each other, and we find ourselves in the One.
-- Wayne Teasdale in The
Mystic Hours, reflection #5
+ The Journey of the Soul concludes with the essential
practice of Heavenliness. Is Heavenliness really a practice? I think so. But it is
ultimately a gift which we receive through surrender. In other words, we can practice heavenly
patterns of behavior but we really aren’t aware of ourselves as thoroughly
heavenly until God totally takes over.
We are always heavenly beings but we all too often think, feel, say and
do things which do not reflect this heavenly state. Let us try to remember as often as we
possibly can that heaven is “the ultimate presence in which we really reside.”
You probably know by now that I believe the practice of stillness is essential. How are you doing? As you practice Stillness, are you becoming more and more aware of “the greatest revelation,” of the “presence of the Divine?” You can always begin again if and when when you realize you need to go back to the basics. There are 40 SE posts on the practice of stillness beginning with SE1.
Wayne Teasdale is probably responsible more than anyone for creating the new and I believe essential movement of InterSpirituality. I have found his books particularly inspiring and illuminating. They are well worth the read. I invite you to visit the Wayne Teasdale Amazon author page.
I also cherish the website and the books of my
InterSpirituality mentor, Edward Bastian. He is pioneering a method of
InterSpirituality which includes lots of wisdom from many different traditions
and several great practices. Several
colleagues including me are working closely with him.
+ To get inspired and illuminated by Ed Bastian, I invite
you to set aside some time for these videos:
+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this
practice or any practice. And, I have
work to do on my Heavenlinesspage. Maybe you can help. Send an email with the subject “Heavenliness”
or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.
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