SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 359

WE ARE EXPLORING THE HEAVENLY ATTRIBUTE OF JUSTICE

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

+ We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations.

-- The Earth Charter, 2000

This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on December 31, 2015

+ The quest for justice is basically one and the same as the quest for the creation of one human family.  Let us hold this vision in our mind, heart, body and soul as often as we possibly can and make it a reality: heaven on earth.  “(God’s) will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.” “Let there be peace on earth and Let it begin with me.”

+ Spirituality & Practice offers plenty of plenty of resources on the practice of Justice and plenty of resources on the practice of Peace and plenty of resources on the practice of Connections. Also S&P provides a 12s Gallery of Memes on Justice, a 12s Gallery of Memes on Peace and a 12s Gallery on Connections.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post.  And, I have work to do on the Abundancetrek Peace page. Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Peace” or “Heavenly Attributes” 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 – 358

WE ARE EXPLORING THE HEAVENLY ATTRIBUTE OF JUSTICE

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

+ Martin Luther King, Jr. on Justice and Compassion:

·         Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

·         A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

·         Any religion which professes to be concerned about the souls of men and women and is not concerned about the social and economic conditions that can scar the soul, is a spiritually moribund religion only waiting for the day to be buried.

·         Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

·         I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

·         I will mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one; not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

·         Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. This echoes: I do not pretend to understand the moral universe; the arc is a long one, my eye reaches but little ways; I cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; I can divine it by conscience. And from what I see I am sure it bends towards justice. -– Theodore Parker

+ Martin Luther King, Jr. often said: “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” He got that line from a 19th century Unitarian minister, abolitionist, transcendentalist, Theodore Parker. Parker was right and King was right. Justice is definitely God’s way and it is our way as we assume our rightful role as a heavenly being.

In stillness we can’t help but hear the cries of the poor, the alienated, the confused and the oppressed. Sooner or later we know we must act, act on their behalf, act for ourselves, for all. For we are all poor, alienated, confused, oppressed as long as any one of us is. We must always identify with the marginalized. Solidarity.

Those of us who have long benefitted from white privilege must not be content until the day comes when the color of our skin really does not matter. We have made progress but we still have a long way to go.

Where justice is denied, Love is denied. We have put up barriers to keep out God, to keep out heaven, to keep out wholeness and truth and beauty. We must confess this regularly and seek to tear down those barriers. We must find ways, all kinds of ways, to create a society where no one is denied access to the abundance God provides.

This requires plenty of compassion and creativity. We get this from God when we pray. Prayer changes things. It’s not magic. Prayer is an attitude adjustment. God changes us and makes us become agents of change. We simply don’t accept an earth where justice is denied. We can’t. We won’t.

Each of us must choose among all of the causes demanding our attention and action. Prayer leads us to a good fit, where our unique gifts can make a difference. Believe. The more we pray for justice, the more we can make a big difference. Yes, we hear the cries. Our prayerful response leads to smiles and laughter and equality. The heavenly feast is intended for everyone. Let no one be denied.

The celebration is so much better when no one is denied. There is so much variety on this planet, so much beauty. Justice means we all can enjoy what everyone is offering. The barriers we have built have prevented a lot of joy from circulating freely. This is not God’s will. Tear down those barriers. Let Justice flow.

+ Spirituality & Practice offers plenty of plenty of resources on the practice of Justice and plenty of resources on the practice of Peace and plenty of resources on the practice of Connections. Also S&P provides a 12s Gallery of Memes on Justice, a 12s Gallery of Memes on Peace and a 12s Gallery on Connections.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post.  And, I have work to do on the Abundancetrek Peace page. Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Peace” or “Heavenly Attributes” 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 – 333

WE ARE EXPLORING THE HEAVENLY ATTRIBUTE OF LOVE

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

+ Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.

-- Maya Angelou

This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on October 23, 2016

+ No boundaries! That’s what we need to know and embrace as we seek to spread the joyful abundance of heaven to those who are feeling excluded or are resisting or ignoring or denying the glorious truth that we are always in heaven even as we sojourn here on earth.

+ We explored the practice of Love & Compassion during our exploration of Heavenliness as a practice in these SE posts: 241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 |250 | 251 | 252 | 253

+ Spirituality & Practice offers plenty of resources on the practice of Love, on the practice of Compassion and on the practice of hospitality and other related practices.  You can also be illuminated and inspired by their many 12s galleries of memes including the 12s Gallery on Love, the 12s Gallery on Compassion, the 12s Gallery on Hospitality and the 12s Gallery on Connections. The meme for this post comes from the Connections gallery.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post.  And, I have work to do on the Abundancetrek Love page. Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Love” or “Heavenly Attributes” 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 – 258

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ This is a post on the style of The Way of Nature as we continue to explore Heavenliness through the lens of the 12 styles of the Mandala process.  There are 5 more styles to explore and then we will move on to te 9 Attributes of Heaven.

+ When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world.

-- John Muir

+ Trees and plants bring the magnificence of heaven to the human spirit.

-- Tachibanano Toshitsuna

+ Maybe I have said this before:

We are intimately, intricately, infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited, uniting Love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous. 

This becomes more real to us as we immerse ourselves in the natural world and natural universe which we have only begun to really understand.  Love makes the world go round.  Love awakens us to all there is and there is so much more than we ordinarily perceive.  Maybe I have said this before:

There is stuff going on in your mind right now which is far more amazing than what you are thinking right now.  

So, go ahead, “tug at a single thing in nature” and be amazed at the “magnificence of heaven” we can always enjoy as we become increasingly awake, aware and connected.

+ 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 – 215

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ There is an endless net of threads throughout the universe. The horizontal threads are in space. The vertical threads are in time. At every crossing of the threads, there is an individual, and every individual is a crystal bead. And every crystal bead reflects not only the light from every other crystal in the net, but also every other reflection throughout the entire universe.

-- Rig Veda

This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on June 21, 2016.

+ Although we seem to be different individuals inhabiting separate bodies, we are intimately connected with each other at some level of the mind. This image has surfaced consistently throughout human history. It permeates the language of poets, artists, and mystics, and has been repeatedly understood by spiritual adepts in all great religious traditions.

-- Larry Dossey

+ Are you ready for my credo one more time.  I hope so because I am.

We are

Intimately,

Intricately,

Infinitely

Connected

In a Matrix of

Unconditional

Unlimited

Uniting

Love

Which is

Miraculous,

Mysterious and

Marvelous

Maybe I am seeing through rose colored glasses as I share this again.  Or, maybe this is the way things really are.  What do you think?  The quotes above, and the great John Lennon song: "Imagine," suggest that I am not the only one who thinks like this.  Imagine it and make it so.

+ Spirituality & Practice emphasizes 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 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 – 214

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

 + True compassion does not come from wanting to help those less fortunate than ourselves but from realizing our kinship with all beings.

-- Pema Chödrön in StartWhere You Are

+ 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 >

http://www.spiritualtravels.info/articles-2/north-america/kentucky-a-thomas-merton-tour/thomas-mertons-mystical-vision-in-louisville/

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 offers an abundance of resources on Thomas Merton.

+ Spirituality & Practice emphasizes 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 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 – 212

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence to the indefinable AM that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center I pass into the infinite I AM which is the very Name of the Almighty.

-- Thomas Merton

< http://www.peterrussell.com/CIA/CIA11.php

+ OK, I will say it again (but with I AM this time):  

I AM intimately, intricately, infinitely connected in a matrix of unconditional, unlimited, uniting LOVE which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

And so are you.  And again:  You are wonderful, fantastic, amazing, delightful, heavenly. 

For more I AM statements from many traditions, go to Peter Russell’s THE CHURCH OF I AM.

+ 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 – 209

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

-- Isaac Watts

+ Looking deeply at any one thing, we see the whole cosmos.

-- Thich Nhat Hahn

+ Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the earth is penetrated with connectedness, penetrated with relatedness.

-- Hildegard of Bingen quoted in The Sun & Moon Over Assisi by Gerard Thomas Straub

+ What mystics have always known has been confirmed by physics and ecology — all things are interconnected. Dueling dualisms are giving way to holistic thinking.

-- Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat

+ Let us awaken to the glorious, heavenly reality that, right now, right here, we are intimately, intricately, infinitely connected in a matrix of unconditional, unlimited, uniting LOVE which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

I know.  I said that in the last post.  But it is worth repeating, isn’t it?  How wonderful life is, how amazing, how heavenly, how intricate. We need to appreciate, share and expand this heavenly reality with all our mind, heart, body & soul breath after breath.  That’s what it’s all about, isn't it?

+ Spirituality & Practice offers plenty of resources on the Practice of Connections. It is one of the 37 practices Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat feature at their amazing website, the best website in the universe. There is also a 12s Gallery on Connections.

+ 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 – 185

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DELIGHT

+ 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

+ And, of course, we can get plenty of inspiration and wisdom and guidance from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat who offer so much at what I like to call the best website in the universe: Spirituality & Practice.  Attention is the first of their 37 spiritual practices.  Here is what they say about the essential practice of Attention:

Attention is also known as mindfulness, awareness, concentration, recollection. It is a primary practice, and not just alphabetically. We must stay alert or we risk missing critical elements of the spiritual life — moments of grace, opportunities for gratitude, evidence of our connections to others, signs of the presence of Spirit. The good news is that attention can be practiced anywhere, anytime, in the daily rounds of our lives.

Begin by doing one thing at a time. Keep your mind focused on whatever you happen to be doing at the moment. It is through the mundane and the familiar that we discover a world of ceaseless wonders. Train yourself to notice details.

Most of us have exhibited the symptoms of lack of attention at one time or another. It's actually harder to stay awake than we might think. Perhaps we are easily distracted by trivial pursuits, attracted to any media message, ready to jump into any conversation, or susceptible to periods of endless surfing through the information and choices available to us.

Eventually, without awareness, we end up living in a daze of stimulation without any grasp of its significance. We are operating on automatic pilot. Because nothing really registers on our consciousness, we feel drained of energy.

Sometimes, however, not paying attention has just the opposite effect: everything registers, and we find we don't know what to do with it all. We are so bombarded with stimuli that we can't focus on anything. We feel scattered. We are, to put it simply, stressed.

For both lack of energy and stress, attention is a good corrective prescription.  

So, pay attention and you will find all kinds of reasons to be delighted and delightful.

+ There is an S&P Twelves Gallery on Attention. The meme here is found in that gallery.

+ 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. You can also be inspired by their Twelves Gallery on Joy. 

+ Joy will come up again very soon in these explorations since it is the second of 9 heavenly attributes we will be exploring.

+ 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 – 177

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

+ A number of people in our increasingly complex world have found themselves going on unexpected pilgrimages back to the world of indigenous peoples to tap into a simpler, more natural connection with the earth and with a spirituality somehow based on that closer connection. The change is then experienced by the pilgrim as a spiritual experience, a change in values, in how they look at the world and at other people, finding wisdom in unexpected places.

— Jean Dalby, Wallace Clift in The Archetype of Pilgrimage by Jean Dalby Clift, Wallace B. Clift

+ I think these two authors get right to the heart of what the spiritual practice of Simplicity is all about.  Pilgrimage can be a metaphor for taking a journey, an inner journey, where we let go of so many things which are getting in the way.  When we go on a journey we have to let go of many of the items we think we need when we are at home.  But then we find that we didn’t need them after all because the journey itself becomes so meaningful, inspirational and illuminating.

+ Simplicity is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Simplicity in their Search Engine and you come up with 314 items including 117 quotes, 156 books, 11 practices, 9 teachers, 1 arts link, 11 e-courses, 7 films and 1 blog as of 6/4/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Simplicity

+ The photo comes from the S&P Twelves Gallery on Questing.

+ Questing is one of the 37 S&P practices offering many ideas and resources.

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

CONNECTIONS (2)

Here's another powerful quote found on the quotes page of the S&P spiritual practice of connections : "If everything is connected to everything else, then everyone is ultimately responsible for everything. We can blame nothing on anyone else. The more we comprehend our mutual interdependence, the more we fathom the implications of our most trivial acts. We find ourselves within a luminous organism of sacred responsibility." — Laurence Kushner in Invisible Lines of Connection

+++

I am convinced by profound experiences day after day that ...

we are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

• go to the S&P Connections practice

CONNECTIONS (1)

+ One of my favorite spiritual practices offered at the fantastic Spirituality & Practice website is the practice of connections. Here's an excerpt on the basic practice: "Separateness is an illusion. That's what we learn through the spiritual practice of connections. Everything is interrelated — in time, space, and our very being. Both religion and science reveal this truth — Hinduism's image of Indra's net, Buddhism's understanding of interbeing, the experiences of the mystics, the teachings of ecology and physics, even the Internet."

Here's one of the quotes offered on the quotes page: "Everything is integral and interacts with everything else. This means that nothing is itself without everything else. There is a commonality, an integrity, an intimacy of the universe with itself." — Thomas Berry quoted in Listening to the Land by Derrick Jensen

You can take a test to determine which spiritual practices fit you the best.

• go to the S&P Connections practice