SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 295

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is the third of four posts on the style of The Way of Wisdom as we complete exploring the practice of Heavenliness through the lens of the 12 styles of the Mandala process created by Edward Bastian.  Why only 4?  Because Wisdom is one of the 9 Attributes of Heaven which we will begin to explore when we get to SE297. Wisdom will come up as the third attribute after we explore Abundance and Joy.

+ “Something old and something new”: These three quotes represent ancient Chinese wisdom from the Tao Te Ching and twentieth century wisdom from Mahatma Gandhi and recent wisdom from Wayne Teasdale who is the founder of the modern InterSpirituality movement.

·          

The sage is ahead

by being behind;

Is first

by being last;

Is whole

by being empty;

And is fulfilled

by being selfless.

-- Tao Te Ching in Zen 24/7 by Philip Toshio Sudo

·         Our compassion is a fruit of our spiritual lives; it actually arises spontaneously when formed by intention in our spiritual practice. Love and compassion are always the goods of the spiritual journey, and they are guided by divine wisdom, which then shapes compassion in the concrete situations of our existence.

               -- Wayne Teasdale in A Monk in the World

·         Like the bee gathering honey from the different flowers, the wise person accepts the essence of the different scriptures and sees only the good in all religions.

              -- Mahatma Gandhi

+ As we practice all of the  12 Spiritual Practices we have been exploring, our wisdom grows simply because we are allowing ourselves to unfold naturally.  Every wisdom tradition teaches this in a variety of ways.  Artists, poets and musicians often teach this.  I particularly like “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” a popular song a few years back.     

   

+ 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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 86

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DISCERNMENT

+ In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.

-- Mohandas Gandhi

+ This quote was in SE74 and I repeat it here because the connection of the practice of silence to the practice of discernment is so vital.  And who better than Gandhi to point that out.  The discernment process is the way to truth which is an essential characteristic of heaven and must be implemented here on earth if we are to enjoy the abundance, the beauty, the love which is promised to all of us.

+ Spirituality&Practice offers many resources on Mohandas Gandhi including  Frederic Brussat’s “Ten reasons why Gandhi is My hero.”

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the practice of discernment.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 74

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SILENCE

+ In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth.
– Mohandas Gandhi

+ So true.

+ Spirituality&Practice offers many resources on the Spiritual Practice of Silence and a wonderful photo and quotes gallery.

+ Spirituality&Practice offers many resources on Mohandas Gandhi including  Frederic Brussat’s “Ten reasons why Gandhi is My hero.”

+ I have work to do on my Discernment page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Discernment” 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

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 42

+ updated at 2:24pm EST on Wednesday, January 30, 2013

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "Ten Reasons Why Gandhi is My Hero" by Frederic Brussat. I particularly like Reason Number 5:

5. He practiced compassion in creative ways.
"One day Gandhi stepped aboard a train as it started to move, and one of his shoes slipped off and dropped on the tracks. Unable to retrieve it, he calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land close to the first. When an amazed passenger asked why he had done that, Gandhi smiled and said, 'The poor man who finds the shoe lying on the track will now have a pair he can use.' With the eyes of his imagination, Gandhi saw a man with bare feet, saw him coming across a lone shoe and desperately searching for the other, and saw the disappointment on his face when he didn't find it; seeing these things, Gandhi did what he could to help."
— Donald McCullough in Say Please, Say Thank You | Read all of the reasons

+ A wonderful eCourse, Choosing to Love, is coming to an end.  Today, after listening to Brother David Steindl-Rast, I posted the following in the practice circle in response to the suggestion of using a photo to see your true Self.  The aim is to see your Self in all others with the same curiosity as seeing your self.  Hard to explain.  Oh well. Here is my post:

A Photo
At http://www.pbase.com/abundancetrek/image/147079702 you will see "Rose" & me & "Wendy" & Mary at the Great Wall last October.

After a couple of days we began calling "Rose" and "Wendy" by their real names. They chose "Rose" and "Wendy" as their names in English. We were treated to amazing hospitality by these 2 young women for almost 4 days. We became one as we visited The Great Wall, The Forbidden City and The Summer Palace.

"Rose" and "Wendy" go to the Beijing University of Medicine School of Nursing. They were chosen to be our guides because their English is pretty good. They enjoyed having the time with us to practice.

Mary was invited by the Dean to give a lecture. The Dean was a guest professor at The University of Rochester a couple of years ago. We reached out to her and she reciprocated.

Some of Mary's favorite colleagues and students are from China. We have been blessed by this new and wonderful connection in our life.

Something wonderful happened during our time with the 2 students. We went through the Gate of Heavenly Peace and into the Forbidden City in more ways than one. We connected. We became one. It's impossible to explain. They would do anything for us with a smile, with simplicity and grace. They helped us figure out what to eat, something which had eluded us for the most part in the previous few days in Beijing. They helped us use chopsticks with skill. But far more than that was this sense of harmony and unity which I have learned is a Chinese trait from years of reading the ancient wisdom of The Tao Te Ching by Lao-Tse and a great book, The Tao of Abundance by Laurence G. Boldt. Also I do Chi Lel Chi Gong, a type of Tai Chi for physical and spiritual healing.

But, now, The Tao and the Tai Chi mean more than great books and great quotes and great body stretches. It means hospitality and communion which Mary and I will remember forever. We were blessed. We were surprised by grace. It was an amazing 4 days.

The Tao is an orientation to life based on balance and harmony, unity of all things, following the path of least resistance, letting chi (energy) circulate freely, being over doing, "trusting and embracing the organic pattern of your life" (Boldt).

You can see more photos from those glorious days at http://www.pbase.com/abundancetrek/chinaoctober2012

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + “Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.” — Hildegard of Bingen quoted in The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Thomas Straub