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 – 244

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.

+ Compassion is the keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.

-- Thomas Merton quoted by Wayne Teasdale in The Mystic Hours.

+ God's dream is that you and I and all of us will realize that we are family, that we are made for togetherness, for goodness, and for compassion.

-- Desmond Tutu

+ This quote by ArchBishop Tutu could have been used when we explored Imagination.  Love expands as we imagine and then create a realm of compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance for all.  It is so important to emphasize that this realm is “for all” and not for some.  There are no boundaries in heaven. When we are engaged in creating and enjoying this realm, we are awake, aware and connected to the heavenly energy which is totally available right now, right here.  This is our prayer.  This is our mission.  This is reality. This is happening.  This is bliss.  Enjoy.

+ 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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 229

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

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

+ May we be mindful through our Breathing.

This is the fifth of Edward Bastian’s 7 steps ofInterSpiritual Meditation

+ Breathing teaches you everything you need to know –right under your nose.

-- Gay Hendrix

This is the quote in The Mystic Hours by Wayne Teasdale for Day 251

+ Breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness, which unites your body to your thoughts. Whenever your mind becomes scattered, use your breath as the means to take hold of your mind again.

 -- Thich Nhat Hanh

+ Think of your body as a musical instrument, a wind instrument. Your breath, accordingly, is the wind through the instrument. As such, it is the single most important aspect of yoga technique. Traditionally considered the primary carrier of prana – life force – your breathing originates deep inside you, radiates outward and then inward, providing a gentle and steady rhythm for movement, stretch and release. Sometimes you will breathe softly, other times with vigor, but the breathing itself will always be a central and governing focus. Proper breathing brings the poses to life, inspires every subtle shift and movement in every yoga posture, and can help center your awareness in your conscious experience of the now.

-- Erich Schiffmann

This is the opening paragraph of The Wind Through The Instrument, a chapter from Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann

+ Breathing techniques are an important part of the practice of Yoga. Way back in the beginning of this exploration I highlighted the teaching of a great Yoga teacher, Erich Schiffmann.   Unfortunately the links to a chapter in his book, Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness on stillness which I put in SE post 6 and SE post 7 no longer work but you can read his great quotes in those posts.  He has a wonderful chapter on Breathing in that book which is available online at a different website than the one I had found years ago.  I will have to go through my website and edit quite a few links.

+ 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 – 207

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Humanity stands at a crossroads between horror and hope. In choosing hope, we must seed a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to life drawing its inspiration from perennial spiritual and moral insights, intuition and experience. We call this new awareness interspiritual, implying not the homogenization of religion, but the recovering of the shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions.

-- Wayne Teasdale in The Mystic Heart

+ I am not going to say that the way of the mystic is more important than any other way but I am sure you could make that case since there is that “shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions.”  I can’t imagine that Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and so many other great wisdom traditions could ever have been started or continue to empower without  this “mystic heart.”  So, whether or not you and I have mystical experiences, we do need to embrace what the mystics teach us.  This is truly an essential dimension of the practice of Heavenliness. 

+ I invite you to check out the Amazon author page for Wayne Teasdale.  His books are well written, comprehensive, inspiring, illuminating and timely. 

+ 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 – 158

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HOLINESS

+ Holiness is being aware that you are in the presence of God. That something else is happening, something numinous, trascendent, other. Something that partakes of life and death, good and evil (remember the two trees in the Garden of Eden). An object, a place, a time, a person, is holy because it evokes the presence of God. We cover our heads, remove our shoes, look away in reverence. Unlike some spiritual traditions that see the world divided ontolgically and irretrievably into sacred and profane, here we are told that, by our actions, we can realize the holiness in everything.

— Lawrence Kushner in Five Cities of Refuge by Lawrence Kushner, David Mamet

+ Or we uncover our heads!  Christian men traditionally take their hats off in churches. 

Traditions differ but beyond all of the differences is that “shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions” as Brother Wayne Teasdale put it.  No one has an exclusive hold on Holiness.  We become more holy as we open ourselves up to the presence of God in every person, every creature, every culture, indeed everything that we encounter.

+ Holiness is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Holiness in their Search Engine and you come up with 460 items including 227 quotes, 168 books, 28 practices, 14 teachers, 12 arts links, 7 e-courses, 3 films and 1 blog as of 5/11/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=holiness.

+ The Body gets a lot of attention from Spirituality and Practice as you can see when you go to a 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 Holiness Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Holiness” 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 -- 64

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HUMILITY

+ I will let Brother Wayne have the last word in this exploration of the spiritual practice of humility. 

+ There is no possibility of a mature spiritual life without humility. Nor is it possible to be a successful human being without it. Humility is also, most fundamentally, a relationship of truth with ourselves. Humility begins with self-honesty about our actions, attitudes, and speech. It compels us to accept the fact that we are capable of being wrong, perhaps even when we are convinced we are right. It means that we acknowledge our mistakes, not years from now, but when they are made.

We must be willing to own up to these mistakes before others and not simply ourselves. Such humility is a basic operating principle of ordinary life. Without it, we can hardly move at all, since the mystical process is based on honesty and humility of heart. Search your experience and examine if humility is at work in you.

-- Wayne Teasdale in The Mystic Hours excerpted  from http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/features/view/27978/quotations-on-humility

+ As you “search your experience,” remember to be very gentle with yourself, forgiving yourself again and again and again. Yes, examine yourself but don’t be harsh.  All too often, we judge ourselves too critically.  Humility requires diligence but not destructive thoughts and actions.

+ We have reached the final post of the Journey of the Mind section of this exploration.  Next we will build on our mind practices as we explore the Journey of the Heart.  The heart practices we will explore are silence, discernment and healing. 

The categories of Mind, Heart, Body and Soul are not new but, the idea of connecting these practices with the paths of Mind, Heart, Body and Soul came to me as I read The Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure by Elizabeth Lesser, a truly amazing book. She uses these four categories which she calls Landscapes. She offers great wisdom and many useful practices for each of the landscapes: Mind, Heart, Body, Soul.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a wonderful 12s gallery of images and quotes on Humility
> http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/galleries/category/12s/2#/37/12-humility. The photo with the Roger Housden quote comes from this gallery.

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