SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 264

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is the final post on the style of The Way of Nature (for now) as we continue to explore Heavenliness through the lens of the 12 styles of the Mandala process created by Edward Bastian. There are 4 more styles to explore. Prayer is next, followed by Reason, Relationships and Wisdom. Soon we will move on to the 9 Attributes of Heaven.

+ My friend Naomi Kelly submitted this post.  Nature is one of her primary spiritual styles.  She often shares photos & reflections & questions for us on the Weaving Home Facebook page and the Weaving Home website.  She took the photo of the rock in this post.

Walking in the woods can be a heavenly experience. Recently we took the familiar walk around Moss Lake, yes there were a lot of people camping, walking, recreating, but the forest is so vast that in minutes you can be alone with hardly a sound of civilization. The path looms ahead of you arched with pine, birch, maple - tree after tree. A tree was even growing on top of a rock. Up hill and down hill, crossing a brook that feeds into the lake, ferns, witch hobble, lichens and moss are everywhere that the eye takes time to look upon. At noon, you can hear the Eagle Bay fire siren reminding you to eat, distant voices and laughter are heard here and there, but other than that when you are far enough from the road  you think you’re in a very secluded place. When you listen in stillness, there is the haunting sound of the wood thrush, a few chickadees, and above all there is peace.

There are huge rocks along the trail, and you wonder where did they come from, how did they get there? The answer is they were pushed in place by the huge  glacier that covered the whole area in the last ice age which receded about ten thousand years ago. Ancient rocks, rocks of ages, it is awesome to think of how long they’ve been there, and how long you have not. John Wilde’s words to mind:

We are

intimately,

intricately,

infinitely

connected

by a matrix of

unconditional,

unlimited,

uniting

LOVE

which is

miraculous,

mysterious and

marvelous.

and  that we, like the rocks are made up of star dust. We have our heavenliness in common.

The hush of the forest whispers many stories, that we have passed this way before, that this is new, that we are a part of something that is much bigger than we think, that we are known intimately. We drink in the quiet, we let is surround us and in that present moment we are experiencing heavenliness.

-- Naomi Kelly

+ 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

+ 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