The Abundancetrek Blog: Edward Bastian

Showing posts with label Edward Bastian. Show all posts

Monday, November 28, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 342

WE ARE EXPLORING THE HEAVENLY ATTRIBUTE OF TRUTH

+ We are called to create and enjoy a realm of compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance for all.

+ Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

+ What is required of us is that we love the difficult and learn to deal with it. In the difficult are the friendly forces, the hands that work on us. Right in the difficult we must have our joys, our happiness, our dreams: there against the depth of this background, they stand out, there for the first time we see how beautiful they are.

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

+ To base a religious philosophy on questions instead of answers increases the likelihood of wonder and amazement.

-- Lawrence Kushner

+ Life can be viewed as a quest, an adventure, a journey. Destination unknown until it becomes known. Questions are powerful because they lead us to explore undiscovered realms and find so much beauty, love and truth in these heavenly realms we inhabit right now, right here.

Ed Bastian not only offers the 12 Mandala Spiritual Paths styles we have explored. He also offers 12 categories of vital spiritual questions. I am now planning to post beyond these 366 Spiritual Explorations posts and explore the questions Ed wants us to explore. Here are the 12:

Consciousness
Death
Existence
Freedom
God
Good and Evil
Happiness
Reality
Soul
Spirit Beings
Suffering
Transformation and Ultimate Potential

+ Ed’s powerful wisdom on these spiritual questions are in his book: Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian. The styles we explored during our exploration of the practice of heavenliness are listed in SE206.

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

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 296

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is the fourth of four posts on the The Way of Wisdom which is the 12^th of the 12 styles of the Mandala process created by Edward Bastian. This post also marks the end of our exploration of the 12 Spiritual Practices. We will return to Wisdom soon since it is the third of the 9 Attributes of Heaven which we will begin exploring in the next post.

+ Without wisdom, there is no wonder. Without wonder, there is no wisdom.

-- Rabbi Elazar Ben Azariah

+ It’sa wonderful world. It’s a wonder-filled world. Let’s look for wonders in all kind s of ways. Let us become really, really wise as we enjoy this fascinating world. Let us devote ourselves to compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance so that neighbors, strangers, enemies, indeed all creatures and definitely future generations can enjoy this fascinating world.

I hope you are enjoying this amazing journey. For many years I have focused on the 12 Spiritual Practices and the 9 Attributes of Heaven. The practices are essential and that’s why this is post 296 on these 12 practices. I have come to believe we are always in heaven but it takes practice, practice, practice to become fully aware of this. I hope this is your belief and that these practices are contributing to your awareness of this heavenly realm we inhabit mind, heart, body and soul. Let’s transition into an exploration of heaven based on our growing awareness of our infinite, intimate and intricate heavenly identity. Abundance will be the first heavenly attribute we explore beginning with the next post. It’s a wonderful world. It’s a wonderful world because it is heavenly right here, right now, always was and always will be.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

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

Amazing Journey, Spiritual Explorations, Heavenliness, Edward Bastian, Interspirituality, Spirituality and Practice, Prayer, Compassion, Wisdom, Truth,

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.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 294

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is the second 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 exploring when we get to SE297. Wisdom will come up as the third attribute after we explore Abundance and Joy.

You desire truth in the inward being;

therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and put a new and right spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence,

and do not take your holy spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and sustain in me a willing spirit.

-- Psalm 51:6, 10-12

+ Yes, so many of our life experiences have made us wise BUT God is always doing a “new thing” (Isaiah 43:18a). So, we become truly wise only when we are open to the truth that God is “making all things new” (Revelation 21;5), always creating “new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21:1). We always need that “new and right spirit” because “…everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17b). So, let us always become new and we will certainly become wiser and wiser in the process which is so miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 293

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is the first 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 exploring when we get to SE297. Wisdom will come up as the third attribute after we explore Abundance and Joy.

+ The Sage embodies the wisdom of a life fully-lived and the truths transmitted by profound wisdom-holders throughout the ages.

· Do you long for the wisdom to guide your own life and help others?

· Do you yearn for transcendent insight into the true nature of reality?

· Do you aspire to the wisdom of the Buddha, Christ, Lao Tzu, Black Elk, Ramakrishna, Muhammad

or Moses?

WISDOM IMPLIES a knowingness of truths harvested from the totality of one’s life-experience. It surpasses the knowledge gained through mere intellectual conceptualization and empirical observation. It emerges from the synthesis of all our knowledge, gained throughout our lives, through the combination of physical, emotional and intellectual sources, infused and informed by perceptions that reach beyond ordinary appearances and mental projections of reality.

There is a deep reverence for Wisdom in many spiritual traditions, along with an implicit assumption that all humans are capable of achieving it. Prajna is the Mahayana Buddhist word for Wisdom. It connotes a direct perception of the Ultimate Truth—emptiness—which is an unmediated knowingness that is not filtered by concepts and the senses.

In Buddhism, as in some other traditions, Wisdom is associated with the Feminine, whereas the compassionate method for applying Wisdom is associated with the Masculine. Sophia, the Greek word for Wisdom, was adopted by Christianity to connote the knowledge of God that comes from a direct relationship with the divine. Gnosis, also a Greek word, has been used to connote a direct mystical insight and spiritual knowledge of the divine. Hokhmah, the Hebrew word for Wisdom, is also associated with the infinite knowledge of God and connotes direct intuitive insight into the essence or truth of existence. In Taoism, Wisdom is the quality of mind that is in harmony with the unnamable essence of the universe.

-- Edward Bastian at the beginning of his chapter on the Spiritual style of Wisdom in Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process

+ I score high on Wisdom when I do the tool indicating which of the twelve styles I prefer. The tool is found in Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian. And, as I said, we will soon explore Wisdom as an attribute of Heaven. Hopefully, at this stage of my life I can be a source offering many of those “truths harvested from the totality of one’s life-experience.” I think it’s fair to say that this style is expressed in a variety of ways in all of the 12 Spiritual practices, the 12 Spiritual Styles and the 9 Attributes of Heaven we are exploring. I know you are wise and that you want to keep growing and become even wiser.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

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

Friday, October 14, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 292

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is the final post on the style of The Way of Relationships as we continue to explore Heavenliness through the lens of the 12 styles of the Mandala process created by Edward Bastian. There is 1 more Mandala style to explore after this one: Wisdom. After that, we move on to the 9 Attributes of Heaven.

+ The Lord's Prayer shows us that loving God is loving the living beings we see and touch in our daily life. If we can love them, we can love God.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh in Living Buddha, Living Christ

This was the Spiritual Quotation offered by Spirituality & Practice on November 24, 2015.

+ I think it’s great to end this exploration of the Spiritual Style of Relationships with the teaching of a great Buddhist teacher who reveals here his appreciation of another wisdom tradition, Christianity. Recently I came across a wonderful book by Thich Nhat Hanh: How to Sit. He knows how to make profound spiritual guidance simple and gentle. He writes: “The first thing to do is to stop whatever else you are doing.” He is guided by a wonderful principle that I love so much: We are not human doings. We are Human Beings.

+ 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 – 291

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is a post on the style of The Way of Relationships as we continue to explore Heavenliness through the lens of the 12 styles of the Mandala process created by Edward Bastian. There is 1 more Mandala style to explore after this one: Wisdom. After that, we move on to the 9 Attributes of Heaven.

+ The feminine principle in nature always upholds relationship, while the masculine principle upholds autonomy. The one seeks to merge while the other seeks to individuate. We can only experience true relationship when we are capable of standing alone. And we can only truly stand alone when we realize that we are forever interconnected with everything. We are a paradox of opposing urges. We are both separate from, and one with, all of creation. We must stand alone and we must stand together. This is the sacred marriage.

-- Ann Mortifee in In Love with the Mystery

This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on February 14, 2016.

+ I haven’t repeated my credo here for a while so here it is:

We are

intimately,

intricately,

infinitely

connected

by a matrix of

unconditional,

unlimited,

uniting

LOVE

which is

miraculous,

mysterious and

marvelous.

Are you “in love with the mystery” which connects us so intricately to everything? Which do you need to work on more, the feminine principle or the masculine principle? They are both so important.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 290

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Love One another.

-- John 13:34 and elsewhere in the Bible

+ In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

-- Matthew 7:12 NRSV

This is the Golden Rule which is taught by Jesus and is found in other places in the Bible and in many other wisdom traditions.

+ Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

-- Luke 10:25-28 NRSV

This is the Great Commandment which is based on 2 verses from the Torah: Deuteronomy 6:5 & Leviticus 19:18.

+ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NRSV

+ "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.

"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back."

-- Luke 6:27-38

+ The Bible is certainly a major source of guidance on creating and sustaining compassionate relationships.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 289

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking their words more seriously and discovering their true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to be friends, to get to know their inner selves more fully, and even to dare to be silent with you.

-- Henri J.M. Nouwen in Bread for the Journey

This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration onNovember 21, 2015.

+ Henri Nouwen is definitely one of the best spiritual guides of our age. We have met him before in this exploration: SE29, SE107, SE113, SE120, SE 126 and just recently: SE 282 in this exploration. Let us practice “the beauty of listening” as often as possible so that we can all enjoy knowing our “inner selves more fully.” When we listen deeply we not only help others discover their true selves but we discover our own true self as well

I said there would be at least 8 posts on this style but it will go up to 12. I have collected some good quotes on the Spiritual Style of Relationships which I want to share with you before we explore the next and last style of the Mandala process: Wisdom.

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 288

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ An interesting experiment is to try to say something nice to or about someone every day for a month. Try it. It makes us much more aware of what we say and why. It encourages us to change our perspective so that we notice others' good qualities. Doing so also improves our relationships tremendously.

-- Thubten Chodron in Taming the Mind

> http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotes.php?id=24630

+ It takes intention and practice to be the loving and compassionate people we are seeking to be. We can never be totally satisfied with what we have accomplished in our relationships and what we are currently contributing to our relationships. Thubten Chodron offers one powerful way to expand our compassion. Can you offer some other ways to do this?

+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward Bastian are listed in SE206.

The Abundancetrek Blog

Monday, November 28, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 342

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 296

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 295

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 294

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 293

Friday, October 14, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 292

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 291

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 290

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 289

Saturday, October 8, 2016

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 288

RECENT FINDS ON THE WEB

ABUNDANCETREK WEBSITE PAGES

ENI | Featured Articles

A fjord in Norway

Do you enjoy seeing the world?

BLOG ARCHIVE

Contributors

FAVORITE BLOGS