LINK TO SECOND EDITION OF THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH: OUR AMAZING JOURNEY > http://johnawilde.blogspot.com/2021/04/the-new-faith-for-new-earth-our-amazing.html
FACEBOOK GROUP LINK > https://www.facebook.com/groups/567789840446209
++++++++++++
JOHN WILDE POST 3/1/21
+ When I think of what THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH is
all about, several great teachers immediately come to mind. Perhaps the one who
deserves to be at the top of the list is Wayne Teasdale. In the 10 years or so
before he died in 2004, he wrote several books which I would like to say are
required reading for anyone who sees InterSpirituality as the way forward. For
Brother Wayne Teasdale, InterSpirituality goes beyond sharing wisdom and
practices to building new communities of faith which share wisdom and practices
and are actively creating compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance
for all.
Here is a link to an excerpt on transformation in THE MYSTIC HEART by Wayne Teasdale. https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/.../the-mystic-heart
And here's the link to the S&P review of this wonderful book > https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/.../the-mystic-heart
I am getting some clarity now about the focus of the posts I plan to offer. I will go into that soon.
But NOW HEAR THIS: I don't want my particular focus to
stop you from posting on any topic, any question, any thought, any insight, any
inspiration, any recipe, any practice, any link, any experience you would like
to bring up. The new faith for the new
earth is a dynamic and ever new and ever surprising evolutionary journey we all
are on. It is an amazing journey and we
need each other as companions, as guides, as truth tellers and truth seekers. Please offer your wisdom in posts or comments
so that we can all benefit from what you see and hear and taste as you go on
your amazing journey which is also our essential journey in some mysterious
way.
I urge you to include THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION as a significant place of common ground that we can share as we go on our amazing journey > https://charterforcompassion.org/
Comments by John A Wilde
·
oh, and oh how we need music and mantras https://youtu.be/lu5tnNUVhTs > The
Angels are Listening: Snatam Kaur sings Suṉi-ai with Ajeet Kaur at Sat Nam Fest
·
the meaning of suni-ai is offered at http://www.suni-ai.com/en/about/
+ Ed Bastian wrote four beautiful verses for each of the
seven steps of InterSpiritual Meditation which I am sharing in this post. There
is a wonderful video > https://youtu.be/MN2CtXTe1xw where Ed sings the ISM
mantra and recites the verses for each step. I have recently memorized all of
the verses and I sing them mostly just for myself but I have sung them for others
as well. If you find these verses meaningful, I invite you to memorize them and
maybe even sing them like I do.
Ed created this InterSpiritual Meditation process. The book is InterSpiritual Meditation: A Seven-Step Process from the World’s Spiritual Traditions. Read about it at https://spiritualpaths.net/interspiritual-meditation/books/
I would like to encourage you to do Lectio Divina with the four verses of Step One.
First, read the four verses twice each time entering into
a time of significant stillness and silence where a word or phrase might jump
out at you. The word or phrase can change as you continue this practice.
Second, read the verses again and enter into another time
of significant stillness and silence letting a word or phrase dwell in your
heart for a while. Contemplate what particular meaning and purpose you find in
the word or phrase or one or more of the verses.
Third, read the verses again and enter into another time
of significant stillness and silence where you allow the meaning and purpose to
penetrate into your consciousness more deeply and then be open to possibly
making a commitment or vow to follow through on a specific purpose.
Fourth, enter into another time of significant stillness
and silence where you simply rest in the here and now with unconditional love
for yourself and for all with absolutely no judgment of how well this time of
Lectio Divina went for you.
I encourage you to write about what came up and possibly share it with us.
Here are the verses for all 7 steps without pauses between verses because Facebook editing is very limited:
(1) MOTIVATION: May We be Happy and Healthy
In all the world
I cannot find
The source of peace
Outside my mind.
Neither play, nor drink,
Nor sex, nor food,
Can cause a constant
Blissful mood.
The things I see,
Touch, smell, taste, hear,
Cause both joy and pain,
Hope and fear.
Meditation relieves
my mind of stress,
Leading me to health
And happiness.
(2) GRATITUDE: May We be Grateful for Life’s
Many Gifts
To all my teachers,
I beseech,
Please stay near
and help me teach.
Your wisdom helped me
To find my way,
For constant blessings
I will always pray.
To the natural world
That sustains my living
I honor her
For always giving.
My many faults
I now confess,
And clear them all
Through forgiveness.
(3) TRANSFORMATION: May We be Transformed
into Our Highest Ideal
This ignorance does
A prison make,
Only true wisdom
Helps me escape.
Freedom lies
Inside, not out,
Of this pure truth
I have no doubt.
I know that
Real happiness
Must arise from my
Own consciousness.
Within my being’s
Sacred design,
Resides the heart
Of the divine.
(4) COMPASSION: My We be Loving and
Compassionate
For those who
Live in misery
I engage in
active empathy.
To help all creatures
To be free,
I place their joy
In front of me.
With love’s
Compassionate intent,
I strive for pure
Enlightenment.
The only true
Pain prevention
Is my
Compassionate intention.
(5) MINDFULNESS: May We be Mindful Through
Breathing
Mindfully my
Breathing starts,
My consciousness
Goes to my heart.
Within the silence
Of my breath,
There is no birth,
There is no death.
When thoughts
disturb the stillness,
I return
To emptiness.
And then I rest
With tranquil mind
In unity
With the divine.
(6) MEDITATION: May We become Wise Through
Meditation
I rest into
A sacred presence
Joined as one
Eternal essence.
The silent wisdom
Keeps me seeing
The loving nature
Of my being.
Sacred light pervades
Me through and through,
And bliss descends
Like mountain dew.
Radiating out,
I now impart
Rainbows of healing
From my heart.
(7) DEDICATION: May We Serve All Beings
I send love to friends
And foes who fight
To oppressors and
Oppressed alike.
I see the people
In my life
And vow to help
Overcome their strife.
I vow to sustain
This peace of mind,
To all I meet
I will be kind.
Liberation for all
Is my dedication;
May you be blessed
By this meditation.
+ As I continue to emphasize InterSpiritual Meditation, Step One: MAY I (YOU / WE) BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY, here are some favorite quotes I find motivational:
You do not need to do anything; you do
not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do
not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become
still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be
unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet. -- Franz
Kafka
In times of joy, all of us wished we possessed a tail we could wag. — W.H. Auden
To take an interspiritual journey is to circle ever inward, to a place of holy silence and vibrant stillness, and then to surge back outward with the contemplative fruits we have gathered to feed a hungry world. – Mirabai Starr
Where we have stopped dancing, singing, being enchanted by stories, or finding comfort in silence is where we have experienced the loss of soul. Dancing, singing, storytelling, and silence are the four universal healing salves. -- Angeles Arrien
We must come to stillness. In the silence of our hearts, we must wait patiently for the compass to steady. Then it will point to true north, the still center, the fine point of the soul, and we will be enabled to move forward again. — Margret Silf in Inner Compass
Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself. -- Herman Hesse
To meet everything and everyone through stillness instead of mental noise is the greatest gift you can offer to the universe. -- Eckhart Tolle in Stillness Speaks
+ I urge you to sign up for plenty of inspiration, illumination, encouragement and practices at Spiritual Paths
Comments:
·
Mary: I like integration of quotes about stillness. Thanks for
collecting and sharing these.
· Anna: Here is the verse I wrote for the first step - I reflect on
thoughts like these when I do this step of ISM:
Happy and Healthy
How can we be happy and healthy?
So many of the seven steps
Are interrelated,
For Happiness can come
Through gratitude.
Happiness is not a constant state,
For life is full of
Ups and downs,
But one can be
Contented and grateful
For what is.
And one can live with
The attitude of hope
That the happiness will
Come again,
Even in the more difficult times -
A kind word,
A touch,
An experience of
Having done something nice
For someone else.
As for health,
Meditation can help
In so many ways –
So let’s get going!
It can help us
Transform ourselves,
Through focus and calmness,
To be our best selves.
It can affect
Our outlook,
Our relationships,
Our connections
And our happiness!
Why wouldn’t we mediate?
CONTINUING TO REFLECT ON ISM STEP ONE: MAY I (WE / YOU)
BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY
+ The Course Introduction page (linked below) offers a
way to see each step introduced using a simple to use Mandala. It's fun and
illuminating.
+ Journaling on each section Ed wrote for each step is a
very worthwhile process.
+ Here's more on ISM step one from my Course Paper when I
took the InterSpiritual Meditation course in 2013:
HOW MEDITATION CAN HELP ME BECOME HAPPY AND HEALTHY:
Father Keating says we can find REST in Centering Prayer
and in other modes of contemplation, meditation and prayer. Resting in God.
Sabbath moments as well as Sabbath days or Sabbath weeks or Sabbath years. It's
a different kind of rest than sleep or vacationing. It's the amazing relaxation
found in breathing fully and breathing deeply, becoming still and silent,
centered and grounded, loosening up and lightening up, letting go and letting
God. It takes practice and it takes awareness. There are so many detours and
dead ends and distractions and seductions along the way.
ULTIMATE SPIRITUAL GOAL:
I meditate because I want to realize my real identity as
a heavenly being. I am (You are) (We are) a heavenly being. I am (You are) (We
are) intimately, intricately, infinitely connected by a matrix of
unconditional, unlimited, uniting Love which is miraculous, mysterious and
marvelous. As I diligently practice stillness, silence, solitude and simplicity
I become one with all creation. I realize who I really am. In this glorious
state I am liberated from all of my earthly addictions, particularly the security,
sensation and power addictions which keep me from experiencing heaven right
here and now. Love is everywhere and is always creating more abundance, joy,
wisdom, beauty, truth, peace, justice and freedom. One of my daily affirmation
is: I am (You are) (We are) (God is) creating the new, most holy, glorious,
fantastic realm of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice
and freedom. A shorter version is: I am creating more compassion, peace,
justice and sustainable abundance.
As much as I believe this, I find myself all too often
neglecting the practices which make it possible for me to realize my real
heavenly identity. So, I need many reminders from morning to night, day after
day. For me, these include frequent journaling and blogging, my Yoga and Chi
Lel Chi Gong practices, hymns, rock’n’roll, prayers and mantras based on
Christian and other wisdom traditions (my beads help). I get frequent doses of
wisdom and guidance from many books including: The Bible (particularly the
daily and Sunday Lectionary readings), The Book of Common Worship of The
Presbyterian Church USA, The Handbook of Higher Consciousness by Ken Keyes,
Jr., A Course in Miracles, How to Meditate by Lawrence LeShan, Awakening the
Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das, The Tao of Abundance by Laurence G. Boldt,
Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness by Erich Schiffmann.
Also from many websites including www.movingintostillness.com | www.dailyzen.com | www.spiritualityandpractice.com | www.gratefulness.org | www.innerfrontier.org
The amazing spiritually oriented rock’n’roll of Todd
Rundgren deserves special mention here. Healing is an album offered back in
1981 and recently revived on a new tour. Over the years, I have listened again
and again and been inspired and illuminated again and again by his journey into
inner space with the goal of healing based on compassion toward self and all
others.
https://spiritualpaths.net/interspiritual-meditation/
#TNFFTNE 32 > "My religion is kindness ... I'd
rather be kind than right ... You can always be kind." -- Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama
Comment by Rebecca: Amen and amen to that!!! 💙💜❤
+ The first edition of
THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH: OUR AMAZING JOURNEY is on the JOHN A WILDE
blog. If I have your email address, you will soon be receiving this as an
attached word document.
+ Here is a link to
the first edition on the JOHN A WILDE blog: http://johnawilde.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-new-faith-for-new-earth-our-amazing.html
- Naomi: Thank you John, wonderful!
- Mary: It is really coming along. Much wisdom in those little tweets of
yours. Thanks
+ I think Eckhart Tolle gets right to the heart of ISM
step one MAY I (WE / YOU) BE HAPPY AND HEALTHY.
https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/book-reviews/excerpts/view/19587/a-new-earth
> Excerpt from this excerpt > "People believe themselves to be
dependent on what happens for their happiness, that is to say, dependent on
form. They don't realize that what happens is the most unstable thing in the
universe. It changes constantly. They look upon the present moment as either
marred by something that has happened and shouldn't have or as deficient because
of something that has not happened but should have. And so they miss the deeper
perfection that is inherent in life itself, a perfection that is always already
here, that lies beyond what is happening or not happening, beyond form. Accept
the present moment and find the perfection that is deeper than any form and
untouched by time."
+ If you would like to work on The Seven Steps of ISM systematically with me as your mentor, message me and we can set up a Zoom meeting to get started and decide how to proceed. I and so many others have been blessed immensely by immersion in this practice. Visit https://spiritualpaths.net/ and learn more.
COMMENT
Mary: Love this statement from Eckhart Tolle.
+ In honor of Saint Patrick's Day and continuing to
emphasize ISM Step One -- May We Be Happy and Healthy -- I am offering links to
the Abundancetrek.com pages on JOY and DELIGHT and HEALING with a quote or 2
from each page. I also include links to the S&P practice of JOY and the
S&P memes gallery on JOY. What a resource. May you have a delightful day.
JOY > http://www.abundancetrek.com/joy.html
"As he was dying, Abba Benjamin taught his sons
this: Do this and you''ll be saved: Rejoice always, pray constantly, and in all
circumstances give thanks." -- Desert Wisdom: Sayings from the Desert
Fathers, Yushi Nomura, Editor
DELIGHT > http://www.abundancetrek.com/delight.html
"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to
the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying
attention." -- Julia Cameron
"In the time of your life, live -- so that in that
wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but
shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it. " -- William
Saroyan
HEALING > http://www.abundancetrek.com/healing.html
"The regular practice of contemplative prayer
initiates a healing process that might be called the divine therapy. The level
of deep rest accessed during the prayer periods loosen up the hard pain around
the emotional weeds stored in the unconscious of which the body seems to be the
warehouse. The psyche begins to evacuate spontaneously the undigested emotional
materials of a lifetime, opening up new space for self-knowledge, freedom of
choice, and the discovery of the divine presence within." -- Thomas
Keating in Invitation to Love
"Many native cultures believe that the heart is the bridge between Father Sky and Mother Earth. For these traditions the four-chambered heart, the source for sustaining emotional and spiritual health, is described as being full, open, clear, and strong. These traditions feel that it is important to check the condition of the four-chambered heart daily, asking: 'Am I full-hearted, open-hearted, clear-hearted, and strong-hearted?'" -- Angeles Arrien in The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher, Healer, and Visionary
S&P practice of JOY > https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/.../alphabet/view/17 > excerpt > "Joy is an essential spiritual practice growing out of faith, grace, gratitude, hope, and love. It is the pure and simple delight in being alive. "
S&P memes gallery on JOY > https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/galleries/...
Comment by John Wilde > “Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3” by Ian Dury and the Blockheads on Youtube > https://youtu.be/CIMNXogXnvE
+ Here are a couple of links I just discovered offering
wonderful wisdom and practices for our amazing journey:
S&P blog 3/5/21 > https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/blogs/posts/short-sweet-spirituality/807/rituals-of-our-lives > rituals quotes
Weaving Home page with great photos and quotes on the theme of Celtic Worship > http://www.weavinghome3.org/celtic-worship
How are you doing with your practice of INTERSPIRITUAL
MEDITATION: STEP ONE > May I (you, we) be happy and healthy?
What is it? I ask because I benefit from knowing what's working for you. I believe you benefit from knowing what's working for me. We all can benefit from sharing our discoveries in this realm. While the praying of any individual is powerful, it can be even more powerful when we enter into prayer as a community of contemplative, praying, meditating folks.
So, what is it? What motivates you and sustains you in this practice? How does your practice increase your happiness and health? How does your practice connect you to your greater self and to all creation?
Ed Bastian, the creator of this InterSpiritual Meditation process,
teaches us to keep discovering what works and finding ways to remind ourselves
about what works, what leads us to meditate faithfully, what encourages us to
create health and happiness for you, for me and for all. And it has to be for
all.
Comments
· Mary: I feel somewhat lost without prayer and meditation. That
motivates me.
·
Naomi: Right now yoga is my meditation practice.
·
Jill: Prayer, meditation and reflective journaling are opening me
to be more. I am transforming from a human doing to a human being.
· Clarice: I AM, happy and healthy. I embrace my joy, gratefulness, health
and happiness now, and at every moment. It is my choice at each moment. 
· Allison: It coalesces everything else....
· John
A Wilde > Calming, Centering, Grounding, Deepening, Focusing, Humbling,
Awakening, Extending, Challenging, Comforting, Inspiring, Illuminating, Loving,
Transforming, Connecting ... and more.
· Miyo: I try to at least meditate
daily, whether it's driving mindfully (I send out metta to those who are on the
road with me, and in the houses I drive by daily), and I also do sitting
meditation practice on the weekends, and sprinkle in some Qigong and bowing
practice. I find these things have helped center me and keep me grounded. The
qigong and bowing are new to me, and I've found that it has been an eye-opening
experience in terms of humbling me, and making me feel better able to be
present for people around me, to truly hear them and connect with them. It
helps me "feel" my service to others, if that makes sense.
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