SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 220

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don’t claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.

-- Jalaluddin Rumi

+ From time to sacred time, silence is definitely a holy response to the wonders, the artistry of creation.  But so is noise.  Make a joyful noise.  And I am sure that Rumi would say that too. Sing, dance, move, play, write, speak, listen, dream, hope, pray, run, jump, paint, love. It’s all art. Enjoy the creative process which is happening all around you, beyond you, and deep inside you at all times.  Find all kinds of ways to participate in the creative process.  You are an artist. You are fantastic.  You are wonderful. Enjoy the moment.  Establish your way to be creative.   

   

+ 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 emphasizes the practices of Beauty, Creativity, Imagination & Wonder: The Practice of Beauty | The 12s Gallery on Beauty | The 12s Gallery on Creativity | The Practice of Imagination | The 12s Gallery on Imagination |  The Practice of Wonder | The 12s Gallery on Wonder

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Heavenlinesspage.  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 – 182

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DELIGHT

+ In Thinking Body, Dancing Mind, C.A. Huang and Jerry Lynch observe that in Chinese writing, laughter is depicted by a character suggesting "a human with arms and legs flung wide apart, head up to the sky, vibrating with mirth like bamboo leaves in the wind" — the Wild Man and Wild Woman, anchored to the earth but also penetrating heaven, whose laughter echoes throughout the universe.

-- Larry Dossey in Healing Beyond the Body

< http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotations/view/28745/spiritual-quotation

+ What an image.  Delightful. Joyful. Wild. Free. Spacious. Open.  Expanding.  Penetrating. 

Is that how you see yourself?  You are delightful, you know.  Yes, you.  Hopefully, these practices, particularly the Journey of the Soul practices we are currently exploring are opening up new ways for us to express our heavenly nature.  Do you laugh enough?  Do you smile enough?  Do you dance enough?  Do you sing enough?  Do you play enough? 

+ Larry Dossey is one of the S&P Living Spiritual Teachers.

+ Delight is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Delight in their Search Engine and you come up with 85 items including 67 quotes, 16 books, 1 practice, and 1 film as of 6/14/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Delight.  However, it is clear that Mary Ann & Frederic Brussat are big fans of Joy. Therefore, put Joy in their Search Engine and you come up with 2057 items including 867 quotes, 835 books, 160 practices, 11 teachers, 24 arts links, 29 e-courses, 98 films, 26 blogs and 4 traditions as of 6/14/16. Oh, and Joy IS one of the 37 spiritual practices. The photo is found there. You can also be inspired by their Twelves Gallery on Joy. 

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Delight page.  Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Delight” 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 – 150

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HOLINESS

Shiva The Cosmic Dancer

+

Gracious One, play.

The universe is an empty shell

Wherein your mind frolics infinitely.

+ Maybe you need a context for this wonderful wisdom from the Hindu wisdom tradition.  It is #110 out of 112 meditation techniques offered in the ancient Indian text Vigyan Bhairav Tantra where Devi Asks:

O Shiva, what is your reality?

What is this wonder-filled universe?

What constitutes seed?

Who centers the universal wheel?

What is this life beyond form pervading forms?

+ When you go to this text at http://home.primusonline.com.au/peony/112_meditations.htm you will find an emphasis on breath awareness right from the start.  Here are the first 8:

1.

Radiant One, this experience may dawn between two breaths.

After breath comes in (down)

and just before turning up (out) - the beneficence.

2.

As breath turns from down to up,

and again as breath curves up to down -

through both these turns,

realize.

3.

Or, whenever in-breath and out-breath fuse,

at this instant touch the energy-less,

energy-filled center.

4.

Or, when breath is all out (up) and stopped of itself,

or all in (down) and stopped -

in such universal pause, one's small self vanishes.

This is difficult only for the impure.

5.

Attention between Eyebrows,

let mind be before thought.

Let form fill with breath essence

to the top of the head

and there shower as light.

6.

When in worldly activities, keep attention between two breaths,

and so practicing, in a few days be born anew.

7.

With intangible breath in center of forehead,

as this reaches the heart at the moment of sleep,

have direction over dreams and over death itself.

8.

With utmost devotion,

center on the two junctions of breath

and know the knower.

+ Our holy breath which keeps us alive here on earth is also the great connecting link to our eternal life, our heavenly life, our greater life.  We all too often think of heaven as a realm we can only access after we die but the truth is that we can access it right now, right here, at this time, at all times, all the time.

+ 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