SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 243

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Continuing with the 12 styles of the Mandala process, we are exploring the style of Love and Compassion.

+ We know there’s something special about love because it manifests, albeit differently, on every level of being we can experience. On the automatic level, love enters primarily as desire, sex, nurturing, and protecting. On the sensitive level, love appears as the feeling of liking. On the conscious level, love becomes intentional consideration for others’ needs and desires. On the level of the creative, sacred light, love comes as the compassion that transcends our personal individuality.

-- Joseph Naft in http://www.innerfrontier.org/InnerWork/Archive/2013/20130603_Opening_Our_Heart.htm

+ This amazing journey we are sharing is nothing less than a journey in heaven, not a journey to heaven but a journey in heaven.  We are in heaven now. We are invited to become fully aware of this greater reality we already inhabit.  It’s an invitation worth accepting right now, right here.  Why wait for  abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom when we can have it now? The only thing required is an expansion of compassion.  God is Love.  Heaven is nothing but Love.  Do you feel it? Are you involved in expanding this Love here on earth?  How can you expand your involvement?

+ 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.

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 230

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Continuing with the 12 styles of the Mandala process, we are exploring the style of the Body.

+ This physical body serves not only as our means for participating in the world, but also as the primary channel for our contact with the present moment. Our thoughts and emotions tend to hop around in space and time, anticipating future events and remembering the past. However, our body remains tied to the present, affording a ready-made base for us in the here and now.

-- Joseph Naft in a section of The Sacred Art of Soul Making on The Energy Body

+ Joseph Naft offers an abundance of wisdom on the connection of body and soul in his illuminating books and his wonderful website, Inner Frontier.  I mention him here because in his weekly Inner Work posts  he frequently gives practical guidance on increasing our breath and body awareness since he believes this is the key to the essential spiritual work of being present. 

+ We explored the Journey of the Body practices of solitude, devotion and holiness in SE posts 105 to 160. 

+ 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:

·         SevenSteps 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 practice of Being Present and a 12s Gallery on Being Present

+ 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 “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 – 136

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DEVOTION

+ Three quotes on Devotion and Prayer by Joseph Naft:

·         Prayer is the heart of the spiritual path. When you ponder why this universe exists, you might speculate that the Creator needs beings who can pray, that in prayer a necessary exchange of energies and will flows between the created and the Creator. Prayer engenders a dialogue between an individual or a group and the Divine, ultimately transforming into a monologue of God (through us) praying to God. The quality of this dialogue ranges enormously from the perfunctory blessing over food to the utter surrender of the saint in mystical union. Four factors determine the power of our prayer: the degrees of our faith, humility, awareness, and intention. Read more at http://www.innerfrontier.org/Practices/Prayer.htm

·         The spiritual paradigm of devotion is prayer, where devotion describes the inner attitude one adopts in a sincere act of worship. Though it waxes and wanes, in praying we seek moments of utter devotion to the sacred. That is a major part of the work of prayer: to unite the whole of ourselves, body, mind, heart, attention and intention, in complete devotion to the Divine. Read more at http://www.innerfrontier.org/InnerWork/Archive/2005/20051205_Devotion.htm

·         With our body we adopt a posture appropriate to the prayer. Our thoughts are the words, if any, of the prayer. Our mind stays in contact with the meaning of the prayer. Our heart fills with reverence, awe, supplication, joy, and love. Our attention encompasses and supports all these aspects. And our intention becomes the core act of devotion, of opening to the spirit beyond our heart and mind, in love and in service, in fulfilling our sacred duty to the Divine. Read more at http://www.innerfrontier.org/InnerWork/Archive/2005/20051205_Devotion.htm

+ I consider Inner Frontier one of the best discoveries I made in my quest for more spiritual resources for the past 15 years or so.  And, so, I end this exploration of the practice of Devotion with a little sampling of his wisdom.

Naft reminds us that Devotion and the Body are closely related.  This is holy work and physical work.  We will now move on to the practice of Holiness, the goal of the Journey of the Body.  Everything is holy.  You are holy.  Your body is holy. Let us continue to practice Solitude and Devotion appreciating that our holiness is awakened moment after moment in these holy practices.

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Devotion.  You can explore Devotion even more with this link to “Devotion” on their search engine. You will find 2153 items as of 4/26/16.  And, of course, there is a Twelves Gallery of Memes on Devotion.  The Body also gets a lot of attention from S&P as you can see if you go to this link to “Body” on their search engine. You will find 1611 items as of 4/26/16.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Devotion page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Devotion” 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 – 123

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DEVOTION

+ All forms of devotion share the flavor of dedicated service combined with love. In the material world, the paradigm of devotion is that of parents to children. We also find the devotion of a scientist to science, an athlete to a sport, an artist to an art, a healer to healing, a lover to the loved one, and sometimes a worker to a job. Because its aim is service, devotion does not primarily seek profit, though profits may come. Instead, devotion bears its own success, its own inherent payoff in terms of fulfillment, in the satisfaction of doing what one is meant to do.

You may find it illuminating to ask yourself certain questions. To what, if anything, am I devoted? To what degree? Is there anything I wish I could devote myself to? Can I take steps toward that?

These questions relate directly to spiritual growth. Being devoted to other pursuits need not interfere with our spiritual work. Indeed, an important piece of our inner work involves becoming ourselves fully and uniquely, through devotion to our chosen pursuits. Your individuation renders unto God and society what only you can offer.

The spiritual paradigm of devotion is prayer, where devotion describes the inner attitude one adopts in a sincere act of worship. Though it waxes and wanes, in praying we seek moments of utter devotion to the sacred. That is a major part of the work of prayer: to unite the whole of ourselves, body, mind, heart, attention and intention, in complete devotion to the Divine.

-- Joseph Naft

You can read Joseph Naft’s entire post on Devotion at http://www.innerfrontier.org/InnerWork/Archive/2005/20051205_Devotion.htm.  There are links in that post to some of his other wisdom.  Inner Frontier is a great source of guidance for a devotee of any spiritual path.

+ I invite you to think about your devotion, spiritual and secular, past, present and future.  Here are a few things I have come up with in no particular order:

·         Church

·         Family

·         Friends

·         Meditation & Contemplation & Prayer

·         The New Faith for the New Earth

·         Baseball: especially Red Sox & Giants

·         Travel

·         Rock’n’Roll

·         Photography

·         Coffee

·         Wine

·         Politics

·         Yoga

·         Chi Lel Qi Gong

·         Star Trek

·         Peace & Justice

·         The Environment

·         www.SpiritualityandPractice.com

·         www.SpiritualPaths.net

·         www.innerfrontier.org

·         www.abundancetrek.com

I would love to know some of your devotional interests, commitments and practices.  You are wonderful.  You are fantastic.  You are amazing.  You are fascinating.  You have so much to offer.  Together, we are creating the new faith for the new earth.  This is making our planet more wonderful, fantastic, amazing and fascinating.  The more we commit ourselves to the spiritual practice of Devotion, the more wonderful we all become.

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Devotion.  You can explore even more with this link to “Devotion” on their search engine. You will find 2153 items as of 4/26/16.  And, of course, there is a Twelves Gallery of Memes on Devotion.  The meme above comes from that gallery. The Body also gets a lot of attention from S&P as you can see if you go to this link to “Body” on their search engine. You will find 1611 items as of 4/26/16.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Devotion page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Devotion” 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 -- 75

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SILENCE

+ In meditation and contemplative prayer, the purely receptive approach is to do nothing, or more accurately, to not do anything. We just sit. We do not try to shape our inner experience in any way. We notice any impulse to go with a thought, to pay particular attention to something, or to change our inner state. But we let those impulses fade without acting on them. We just sit and wait and allow everything to be as it is. This silence of our will attunes us to the deepest silence, to the realm beyond space and time. In this practice of non-doing, we make ourselves available to the Sacred depths. It is not our part to make something happen, much less make any demands. We just sit and be. Gradually our thoughts subside on their own. If and when and to what degree the Sacred touches us, we will know. But that only happens in its own time and only if we are available.

-- Joseph Naft in Inner Frontier Inner Work > Beyond Mind > Mind and Thought: Part 5

+ I know.  This is deep.  Maybe too deep for some of you.  If so, let it go for now, but maybe the day will come when you want to explore silence at this deeper level.  Maybe tomorrow.  So, do “just sit and wait” and listen and try to discern if this deeper practice is for you.  You may find that Anthony De Mello is right in asserting that “You are made whole again in silence.”

+ Most if not all of the contents of The Sacred Art of Soul Making can be found on the Inner Frontier website in the section entitled “Complete List of Practice Articles.”

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

+ 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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 42

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ … and, when the time comes to let it go...let it go.

 -- Mary Oliver

+ As the Buddhist master Achaan Chah put it: If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.

– Joseph Naft in http://www.innerfrontier.org/Practices/StagesOfThePath.htm

+ Letting go is worth considering.  You can let go of many things, many attitudes, many assumptions, many opinions, some even cherished.  Sooner or later, we have to let go of at least a little and maybe a lot.  Isn’t it better to have a sense of what is worth hanging on to and what is not?  I urge you to ponder and come up with a few unnecessary items in your life.  Every detachment brings us into the glorious realm of heaven even here on earth.  

Are you journaling?  Perhaps you could make a list of possible items you no longer want or need.  Pray and meditate about these items and see if you are ready and willing and, yes, eager, to let go of them.  Give yourself plenty of time before you act.  Make sure you really are ready, willing and eager.

More peace is available if and when you can let go.

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

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 44

+ updated at 10:11am EST on Wednesday, February 13, 2013

+ This is a great video. Take an hour and enjoy Peter Russell lecturing on The Primacy of Consciousness.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers A Quote on the Heart from Awake Mind, Open Heart by Cynthia Kneen:

The Strong Heart

"When we say a person has HEART, it doesn't mean they are weak and sentimental. We mean they are willing to be exposed, willing to be touched nakedly by the world. They are strong enough not to wear a suit of armor. They are not afraid of their own experience. In this sense heart is the one hundred percentness of experience. It is a strength and fullness in you that come from putting your awareness in the actual experience you are experiencing. This is true even of negative experiences. With a strong heart you are able to be gentle and sympathetic to all your experiences, not only the pleasant ones." | See the S&P map of The Heart

 + At Inner Frontier, a new Inner Work series has begun: WHO AM I? Here are 2 excerpts from the Introduction: “The question “Who am I?” in its various forms, has beset human beings from time immemorial. You would think it would be so easy and obvious, that it would not really arise as a question. But it has and keeps doing so, for good reason. Indeed, some spiritual paths and practices have this question at their center, because it is the key question of our life.” | "There is an answer to this question who am I. But it is not an answer that can be readily formulated in words. It is, however, an answer that we can become. We can be who we truly are. It is at the same time obvious, accessible, and hidden."

Last week, the series on LEARNING TO BE came to an end with Joseph Naft offering some profound thoughts on Love. Excerpts: "Love is union of the will, a union much deeper than the physical union of sex or the emotional union of attachment. Love asks for nothing in return, not even reciprocity, whereas attachment does ask. If it is union, if it is love, how could we ask something in return from our Self? Attachment competes with love for space in our heart and mind. For that reason, the inner work of love, of becoming able to love, consists of allowing oneself to be imposed upon." | "We look for and create opportunities to show our love. We act on them. What does this person want? What does this person need? What would delight this person? How can I provide something toward that?"

I know I have a lot to learn, a lot of detaching to do and humility to achieve as I continue on this amazing journey.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 39

+ It has been 6 months since the last Joyful Wandering post.  No excuses.  No explanation.

+

If you could get rid
of yourself just once,
The secret of secrets
Would open to you.
The face of the unknown,
Hidden beyond the universe
Would appear on the
Mirror of your perception.
-- Rumi

I found that quote at http://www.allspirit.co.uk/sufism.html

+ Joseph Naft continues to inspire, illuminate, guide, challenge as we seek to become truly mindful and aware.  In Inner Frontier Inner Work, he has been expanding our consciousness in the project of Learning To Be.  This week: Affirming Presence. Here is an excerpt:

So how do we get engaged, get involved? It begins with attention. The secret quality of attention is that it is driven by our will, it is our will. The practice of active attention is the road to coming into our own, our own will, our I. When you pay attention to what you are doing or seeing or touching or thinking, your I is there; it is you who are doing or seeing or touching or thinking. Not paying attention, allowing our attention to be drawn hither and thither, to be distracted easily, with no staying power, indicates that we are not here, that our I has withdrawn beyond our reach. We can learn to affirm our life, our living, our presence.

And we do that first by affirming our attention, by being our attention. It may sound abstract, but the actual practice of it is simple. We just pay attention to what we are doing and/or perceiving and we get fully behind that attention. We are there attending, wholly and completely, simply and directly. If you try this, you may see that you can do it. You may see how it is different than letting your attention just wander wherever it is drawn. We bring our power, the power of our will, our I, into our attention. We become our attention for that moment. Though it is simple, this is not so easy to maintain moment-to-moment over time. To do so, we need to continually renew our attention and our being in it.  | Read it all.

 

+ The current Spirituality and Practice Newsletter has great stuff, like usual, including:

 

• Remembering a great spiritual storyteller and interfaith pioneer. New in the Remembering Spiritual Masters Project is a tribute to Anthony de Mello, including a quotation sampler, links to reviews of his books, and video clips. More profiles in the Remembering Spiritual Masters Project.

 

• A prayer for forgiveness of our daily pollutions: We're "Praying the News" by focusing on what's behind the extreme weather happening all over the world. More prayers.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 30

+ Inner Frontier offers another weekly installment in the Inner Work series on Sacred Impulses by Joseph Naft.  This week's offering is on Joy. Here's an excerpt:

At the level of being conscious and fully aware, we rise into a natural, un-caused joy. We are suffused with joy in our awareness itself. Our very presence is joy. Sharing moments with friends and loved ones brings us joy. Taking actions that serve others brings us joy. Being useful, creative, or spontaneous brings us joy. Doing something well brings us joy. Dropping the burdens of egoism, dropping the defense of our pretenses, dropping our clinging, we are released into joy. We even feel empathetic joy in others’ joys. Our joy is no longer limited or in any way dependent. We live in joy.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 29

+ Inner Frontier offers "Acceptance" which is Facet 4 in the current Inner Work series on Sacred Impulses by Joseph Naft. Excerpt: “At the level of consciousness, acceptance means just being, non-doing. We let all our sensory and thought and feeling impressions come and go without clinging or identifying. We let it all be as it is. And in that being, we rest in stillness, in awareness itself. The conscious energy gradually collects in us, reintegrating from its dispersed state. And we come to peace and equanimity in the vast hall of cognizant stillness, in the field of consciousness that we all share. Indeed self-acceptance and learning to be enable us to drop our barriers to accepting other people as they are.”

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 26

+ This post is incomplete. I am working on it today, 11/28/11.

+ I thought that I would see where I have been so far in this particular form of Joyful Wandering.  I began the Joyful Wandering series of posts on May 21, 2010 so I have averaged about one and a half per month. 

+ I have explored ideas such as:

THE UNIVERSE IS A FREE LUNCH (post 1)

WE ARE ENJOYING ABUNDANCE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW (post 1)

TWO MINDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE (post 1)

WE ALL SHARE ONE CONSCIOUSNESS (post 2)

MYSTICISM, THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY, IS AT THE HEART OF ALL WISDOM TRADITIONS (post 2)

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS COMPASSION, PEACE, JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLE ABUNDANCE (post 2)

I AM, YOU ARE, A FANTASTIC AND WONDERFUL PERSON (post 2)

THE POWER OF PRAYER (post 3) (also post 10)

BREATHE DEEPLY.  BREATHE FULLY.  BE STILL.  BE SILENT.  BE SOLITARY.  BE SIMPLE.  BE CENTERED.  BE GROUNDED.  LIGHTEN UP. LOOSEN UP. LET GO. LET GOD. CELEBRATE. ENJOY. BE GLAD ALL OVER. (post 4) (also post 8)

BE HUMBLE AND BE DETACHED (post 5)

BE SOLITARY (post 6)

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION (post 7)

THE CHURCH OF I AM (post 7)

JOSEPH NAFT ON WILL (post 9) (also post 10 and post 11)

JOSEPH NAFT ON SPONTANEITY, CREATIVITY AND ECSTASY (post 9)

JOSEPH NAFT ON PASSION, FAITH, GRACE AND AWAKENING (post 10)

WE ARE INTIMATELY, INTRICATELY AND INFINITELY CONNECTED BY A MATRIX OF UNCONDITIONAL, UNLIMITED, UNITING LOVE WHICH IS MIRACULOUS, MYSTERIOUS AND MARVELOUS. (post 12)

FALLING AWAKE (post 12)

JOSEPH NAFT ON THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH OF BUDDHISM (post 13)

JOSEPH NAFT ON MEDITATION, AWARENESS, RELAXING, STILLNESS AND INNER PEACE (post 13)

ECONOMIC JUSTICE (post 14)

HONORING THE EARTH (post 14)

JOSEPH NAFT ON THE PATH OF LIBERATION (post 14)

+ I have linked to some great music including:

NEW SOUL (post 1) (unfortunately this link no longer works as of 11/28/11.  Hopefully I can find a new one for this great song,)

+ I have cyber-explored some places on the planet including:

ROCHESTER (post 8)
FENWAY PARK (post 13)

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 23

+ updated at 10:48am ESDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2011

+ I like I AM affirmations. When you say I AM, you are connecting with the All in All, the Source, the Creative Process, the Mystery, the Oneness, the Unity, the Way, the Truth, the Life.  I often say "I am awake, aware and connected." ... and I AM! ... and YOU ARE! ... WE ARE ... GOD IS ...

The Church of I AM (CIA!) offers some very wise sayings about this essential affirmation. Here's One: "Those wise ones who see that the consciousness within themselves is the same consciousness within all conscious beings, attain eternal peace." -- Katha Upanishad

+ Wisdom a la Carte offers "How to Keep Your Awareness: Seven Steps to Staying Alert and Engaged" by Patricia Lapidus.

+ Envy is the obstacle Joseph Naft confronts this week in his series on Obstacles on the Way. Excerpt: "The source of envy, as with greed, is our inner lack, the hole at our center that erupts into feelings of inadequacy and self-rejection. That hole can only be filled from within, by the spirit. And a prime road toward that consists of spiritual practice: presence, meditation, and contemplative prayer."

+ Spiritual Literacy Blog offers "Top 10 Reasons Why Mindfulness Is Cool" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat.  It begins: "In his blog at PsychologyToday.com, Jonathan Kaplan reviews some mindfulness basics. He quotes Jon Kabat-Zinn who defined it as 'nonjudgmental awareness,' adding that 'mindfulness allows us to recognize our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors as they arise without getting stuck in our usual automatic reactions.'"

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 22

+ Greed is the next obstacle Joseph Naft deals with in his Inner Frontier series on Obstacles on the Way. It begins: "How much is enough? Where is the appropriate line between needs and wants? What do we need? When does external work pass from contributing to society and earning our living to taking more than we should? These questions matter to us both personally and collectively, yet they fall into a gray area of personal judgment." Keep Reading!

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 21

+ updated at 9:50am on Friday, July 8, 2011

+ 4 of the major emphases of my journey and hopefully yours are Compassion, Peace, Justice and Sustainable Abundance. A great source book for Sustainable Abundance is the Bible and http://www.pcusa.org/resource/and-leaves-tree-are-healing-nations/ makes that totally clear. I highly recommend that you read http://www.pcusa.org/resource/and-leaves-tree-are-healing-nations/

Here is what the blurb at the PCUSA environmental Ministries website says about it: "This concise booklet explains biblical and theological foundations for cherishing God's creation. Focuses on Genesis, Psalms, Pauline writings and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ."

Amen!

The PCUSA Environmental Ministries Office offers Eco-Journey, a blog keeping us informed of the efforts of the church to promote sustainable abundance, or eco-justice.

+ Inner Frontier offers Week 5 of Joseph Naft's Inner Work series dealing with Obstacles On The Way. It begins: "To have created a species with the ability to think is perhaps the crowning achievement of evolution so far. So why do we include thoughts and opinions among the obstacles on the spiritual path?" Read On! 

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 19

+ Laziness is the obstacle Joseph Naft is confronting this week at Inner Frontier.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 18

+ A new Inner Frontier Inner Work series has begun.  It's Week 2 and we are called to work on our Aversions.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 17

+ This post is open for editing and additions.  So come back!  Last updated at 1:15pm ESDT on Tuesday, May 10, 2011.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Be Attention Now" by Joseph Naft.    

+ It is very likely that the Presbyterian Church (USA) will finally end its ban on ordaining openly GLBT folks to the office of Pastor or Elder or Deacon.  86 Presbyteries have voted to end the ban. We need 87 Presbyteries.  IT WILL HAPPEN TODAY, probably when the Twin Cities Presbytery votes tonight.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 16

+ updated at 12:05pm on Tuesday, May 3, 2011

+ Thanks to Spirituality and Practice, I discovered that Sojourners offers "How Should We Respond to the Death of Osama bin Laden?" by Jim Wallis. Excerpt: "We didn’t get bin Laden as a casualty of bombing raids or drone attacks on the city that harbored him; instead, this was the result of careful intelligence and a laser-like focus on the man most responsible for 9/11. Some of us believe that should have been the U.S. strategy from the beginning." Read it all.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Freedom in Presence" by Joseph Naft.  This is the sixth in his series on The Path of Liberation. It begins: "Having exposed the illusion of self, our former false belief that we are our personality, and having thereby awakened to a measure of freedom, we turn now to consolidating that freedom and living it. In the practice of presence, we find the primary path to living in freedom. Just as presence helps awaken us from the illusion of self and slavery to our personality, it can help us stay free and live without falling back under the illusion." Read it all.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 15

+ updated at 9:44am ESDT on Thursday, April 28, 2011

+ Spirituality and Practice offers an excerpt from The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle.  Here are two excerpts from the excerpt:

The reason why some people love to engage in dangerous activities, such as mountain climbing, car racing, and so on, although they may not be aware of it, is that it forces them into the Now — that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking, free of the burden of the personality. Slipping away from the present moment even for a second may mean death. Unfortunately, they come to depend on a particular activity to be in that state. But you don't need to climb the north face of the Eiger. You can enter that state now.

The whole essence of Zen consists in walking along the razor's edge of Now to be so utterly, so completely present that no problem, no suffering, nothing that is not who you are in your essence, can survive in you. In the Now, in the absence of time, all your problems dissolve. Suffering needs time; it cannot survive in the Now.

Read it all.

+ ChurchLeaders offers "The Popularity Of The House Church (Nearly 4,000 In The U.S.)" by Andrea Bailey Willits. Excerpt: "'Generally speaking, what today’s Church is doing isn’t working,” claims John White, a house church coach in Denver. 'According to recent Barna statistics, during the last 50 years, there has been more Christian activity than any time in history, and yet the church’s impact on the culture and quality of discipleship in the churches has continually declined. There are certainly exceptions, but overall, the system is broken.'" Read it all.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Exposing the Illusion" by Joseph Naft.  This is the fifth in his series on The Path of Liberation.  It begins: "Eventually we reach a tipping point, where enough moments of directly seeing and accepting the truth about our identification with personality, about its illusory nature, have accumulated and purified our view of ourselves sufficiently to prepare us for that singular moment of particularly clear seeing and letting go, the moment when freedom, permanent freedom, dawns." Read it all.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 14

+ updated at 11:06am ESDT on Friday, April 22, 2011, EARTH DAY and GOOD FRIDAY

+ EARTH DAY UPDATE: Spirituality and Practice offers "12 Spiritual Practices to Honor the Earth" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat.

+ GOOD FRIDAY UPDATE: Spirituality and Practice offers "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. This is a Spiritual Literacy Blog post commenting on an article by Joseph Stiglitz in Vanity Fair.

Yes, this is a Good Friday message.

I really appreciate the emphasis on Justice and Fairness Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat continue to offer.  Spirituality without genuine efforts on behalf of compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance is no spirituality at all.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Coexistence" by Joseph Naft, important Inner Work in his series on The Path of Liberation. Naft urges us to keep pressing on for our true freedom: "Stranded between the taste of freedom and our inability to stay free, we constantly renew our inner work. For this week, notice when you are free and notice when you are under your personality, believing it is who you are. Each moment of such seeing adds to the account by which you buy your freedom."