Showing posts with label Thomas Merton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Merton. Show all posts
Monday, November 28, 2016
SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 345
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.
+ Then there is the
listening at the gates of the heart which has been closed for so long, and
waiting for that mysterious inner voice to speak. When we hear it, we know it
is the truth to which we must now surrender our lives.
-- Beth Ferris
quoted in Finding
What You Didn't Lose by John Fox
+ The time for contemplation
is the spring that feeds our action, and our action will be as deep as the
spring. We need time to allow the spirit to clear the obstacles – the clinging
debris and mud – that keeps the spring from flowing freely from its clear, deep
source. And we need time for the spring to overflow into insightful and
compassionate action.
-- Thomas Merton
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on
November 28, 2016, offered on the very day I wrote and uploaded this post.
Merton, a great twentieth century mystic and writer is found frequently in
these explorations.
+ I think it is The Mystic who understands Truth most completely. We
explored the style of The Mystic in the first 18 posts of our exploration of
the practice of Heavenliness,
SE201 thru SE218.
As you probably know by now, I believe that the practices of stillness, silence, solitude and simplicity are the
foundation for all this exploration. We need to find time for that essential “waiting
for that mysterious inner voice to speak” and ultimately come to “know it is
the truth to which we must now surrender our lives.” It may take minutes. It may take months. It may take years. It may take decades. We are all different and must find our own unique
paths. But we can’t ultimately say No to
this quest to hear “that mysterious inner voice.” No one can avoid it
forever. And why would we want to avoid
the Truth, anyway? It is beautiful and abundant and delightful beyond our ability
to describe. Perhaps the 9 Attributes of Heaven I have
come up with are a way to begin to perceive this reality. But a mystical
experience is what is really needed. There is no law that says you can’t have
one.
+ You can always find a link to any of the
Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 274
WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS
+ This is a post on the style of The Way of Prayer as we
continue to explore Heavenliness through the lens of the 12 styles of the Mandala process created by Edward Bastian. There are 3 more Mandala styles to explore
after this: Reason, Relationships and Wisdom. After that, we move on to the 9 Attributes of Heaven.
+ My Lord God, I
have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know
for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I
think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I
believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I
have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the
right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you
always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not
fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils
alone.
-- Thomas Merton
+ We must come to this realization that no matter how
much we want to control events in our lives we simply cannot ever achieve total
or even frequent control. It just
doesn’t happen. We must accept our
limits, learn to live with them, trust the process. Prayer is the only way to accomplish
this. Unceasing prayer is the only way
to accomplish this all the time, in every situation.
+ We could do well to explore prayer under the guidance
of such a great spiritual guide as Thomas Merton. Indeed we have been under his guidance on
this amazing journey a number of times as we have moved through the Journey of
the Mind, the Journey of the Heart, the Journey of the Body and now the Journey
of the Soul. See SE69, SE111, SE199,
SE212, SE214, SE217, SE221 & SE244. He has left us his wisdom in the many
books he wrote and his insights are found in many more. He is featured in the Spirituality & Practice Remembering
Spiritual Masters Project.
+ The 12 styles of Mandala: Creating An Authentic Spiritual
Path: An InterSpiritual Process by Edward
Bastian are listed in SE206.
+ To get inspired and illuminated by Ed Bastian, I invite you to set aside some time for these videos:
+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html
Thursday, August 11, 2016
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.
+ 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.
+ 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
Thursday, August 4, 2016
SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 221
WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS
+ Art enables us to
find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
+ Merton
again! And why not. Anyone doing
spiritual exploration faithfully can benefit immensely from the wisdom and
inspiration and devotion of this great spiritual guide. He was one of the best writers of the
twentieth century. Millions of seekers
have been touched by his writings and the example of his life. It is fitting that the image of Merton here
which comes from Spirituality & Practice is an artistic portrait. Merton’s unique approach to a meaningful life
included a deep appreciation of art. He
encourages us to appreciate the artist and work on developing the gift of
artistic expression, a gift we all have whether we know it or not. That’s because we are all heavenly beings as
well as human beings. That heavenly
dimension is huge, infinite, eternal, mysterious, wonderful. Enjoy being human and enjoy being heavenly.
+ 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:
+ 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 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
Saturday, July 23, 2016
SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 214
WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE
OF HEAVENLINESS
+ Compassion is the
keen awareness of the interdependence of all things.
-- Thomas Merton
+ ... it was as if
I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their
hearts..., the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God's
eyes. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we
could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more
hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. . . . I suppose the big problem would
be that we would fall down and worship each other.
-- Thomas
Merton in Conjectures of a Guilty
Bystander
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on
December 25, 2015
+ In that quote from Conjectures
of a Guilty Bystander, Merton put into words as best as he could (and
that’s pretty good) his insights from a very famous mystical encounter on the
streets of Louisville which changed his life.
Here’s more about this >
These great spiritual teachers, Pema Chödrön, a Buddhist
& Thomas Merton, a Christian, teach us that it is always important to see
our spirituality in the context of “our kinship with all beings.” “If only (we) could see (ourselves) as (we)
really are.” We are not meant to be
separate from each other. We are not
meant to build walls keeping segments of humanity apart and estranged from
other segments of humanity. We are in
this together.
The planet needs us to come together since we now have so
much power to influence the planet’s future.
We can make it better. We can
make it worse. We can even create catastrophic
conditions. Unfortunately, the latter
seems to be happening with increasing regularity. Let’s stop this dangerous trend.
I believe we will stop this dangerous trend because there
is an abundance of Love & Compassion among us
and it is growing. More and more of us
are realizing that we have the power to expand Love & Compassion. We are making all things new. We are creating heaven on earth because we
really are heavenly. We really can “see each other that way all the time” and
we really are ready, willing and eager to “make it so.”
Some people think I am seeing things through rose-colored
glasses. What do you think?
+ Spirituality & Practice
emphasizes the practices of Love & 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 Heavenlinesspage. Maybe you can help. Send an email with the subject “Heavenliness”
or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.
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