SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 248

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Continuing with the 12 styles of the Mandalaprocess, we are exploring the style of Love and Compassion as taught by Edward Bastian who writes:

+ The Way of Love and Compassion leads us naturally and unquestionably into the service of others. It is the foundation for spiritual activism, or engaged spirituality. When our motivation is love, then we compassionately engage with everyone in our families, communities, and professional lives. Our lives become living examples of our highest ideals, irrespective of our occupations, relative wealth or social status. Through this altruistic, spiritual love, our compassionate engagement with others becomes an unselfish insurance policy that guarantees our own personal happiness and well-being.

While there are some who are naturally infused and surrounded by the experience spiritual love, many of us need to be led into it through prayer, contemplation, meditation, ritual or even nature. Of course, it helps greatly to be in the presence of someone who embodies and radiates spiritual love to give us confidence that it is possible, and to help guide us along our path. We cannot achieve spiritual love through will-power alone; for this supreme love will elude our needy, egotistical grasp. It is subtle, delicate, and refined; yet once embodied, it is indestructible.

To begin on the Way of Love and Compassion, we need only to develop the honest and sincere wish and intention to be infused and surrounded by it. With intention as the starting point, the path opens up before us and beckons us inexorably to its source.

+ Ed keeps me and so many others on track as he reminds us again and again to work on intention and sustained commitment to this way, this essential way.  Oh, how the planet needs Love, Sweet Love.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

+ The 7 steps of InterSpiritual Meditation by Edward Bastian are listed in SE21 and SE213.  They are described fully in his book, InterSpiritual Meditation.

+ To get inspired and illuminated by Ed Bastian, I invite you to set aside some time for these videos:  Seven Steps of InterSpiritual Meditation (11 minutes) | 15 minute introduction to InterSpiritual Meditation and the Mandala Process | 2 hour lecture & conversation

+ Spirituality & Practice offers abundant resources on the practices of Love & Compassion: The Practice of Love | The 12s Gallery on Love | The Practice of Compassion | The 12s Gallery on Compassion  

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Heavenliness page.  Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Heavenliness” or “Love” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html