SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 208

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HEAVENLINESS

+ 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

+ 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.  This can only happen as we practice, practice, practice the Journey of the Mind practices of Stillness, Detachment & Humility; the Journey of the Heart practices of Silence, Discernment & Healing; the Journey of the Body practices of Solitude, Devotion & Holiness; and, the Journey of the Soul practices of Simplicity, Delight and Heavenliness.

+ 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. The meme here comes from that gallery.  

+ 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 – 178

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

+ In her book Choosing Simplicity, Linda Breen Pierce offers a list of common lifestyle patterns in people who live simply:

1. Limiting material possessions to what is needed and/or cherished.

2. Meaningful work, whether paid or volunteer, ideally spending no more than 30 hours per week (in order to make time for items #3 to 12, below).

3. Quality relationships with friends and family.

4. Joyful and pleasurable leisure activities.

5. A conscious and comfortable relationship with money.

6. Connection to community, but not necessarily in formal organizations.

7. Sustainable consumption practices.

8. Healthy living practices, including exercise, adequate sleep, and nutritious food.

9. Practices that foster personal growth, an inner life, or spirituality such as yoga, meditation, prayer, religious ceremonies, journal writing, and spiritually-related reading.

10. Connection to nature — delighting in spending time in nature regularly.

11. Aesthetic beauty in personal environment.

12. Living in harmony with values and integrity.

+ I will never forget hearing a friend describe what he encountered on a mission trip to Nicaragua in the 1980s. He said he had never seen such poverty in his life AND he had never seen such joy.  Could it be that less really is better?

+ Spirituality & Practice offers a review of Choosing Simplicity by Linda Breen Pierce.

+ 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

+ 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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 165

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

+

Those who are known

As Real People

Are united in essence

With the Way,

So they have endowments yet

Appear to have none;

They are full yet

Appear to be empty.

They govern the inside,

Not the outside.

Clear and pure, utterly plain,

They do not contrive

Artificialities but return

To simplicity.

- Lao Tzu

Simplicity, patience, compassion.

These three are your greatest treasures.

Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being.

Patient with both friends and enemies,

you accord with the way things are.

Compassionate toward yourself,

you reconcile all beings in the world.

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.

― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

+ What is real anyway?  Are you real?  Of course you are but there are, most likely, aspects of your life which are unreal.  Discovering our real self and the reality of our existence is a life long journey into the unknown and mysterious.  It is quite an adventure.  Lao Tzu, and other ancient teachers of the Tao, or The Way, offer us plenty of wisdom on this quest but perhaps the most important thing he ever said was that those who know do not speak.  Reality is elusive and mysterious and always surprising us and changing us.

Clearly this practice of Simplicity has its foundation in the Journey of the Mind practices of Stillness, Detachment and Humility which we explored in posts 1 through 64. The Tao Te Ching of Lao Tsu has stood the test of time and is universally revered, particularly by Zen Buddhists, for its clarity regarding these essential practices.

+ You can see many more Lao Tsu quotes at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/2622245.Lao_Tzu

    

+ 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

+ 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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 117

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SOLITUDE

+

You ask why I live

alone in the mountain forest,

and I smile and am silent

until even my soul grows quiet.

The peach trees blossom.

The water continues to flow.

I live in the other world,

one that lies beyond the human.

-- Li Po in The Poetry of Zen by Sam Hamill, J. P. Seaton

< http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/quotations/view/24621/spiritual-quotation

+ We have explored the spiritual practice of Detachment and we will explore the practice of Simplicity soon.  It is imperative that we find ways to let go of many of our ambitions and addictions so the “New Heaven and a New Earth” can be created.  When we practice Solitude, we find that we don’t need all the things we thought we did.  Together, we are creating the New Faith for the New Earth which is “God’s New Thing.”  God is creating the New Faith for the New Earth.  You are creating the New Faith for the New Earth.  I am creating the New Faith for the New Earth.  This is fascinating.  This is wonderful.  This is an amazing journey we are on.   This is bliss.  Let solitude be the path which allows you to realize this. 

Let your discoveries on this journey be known.  We need your insights and inspiration, your wisdom and wonder.  You are a unique expression of heaven.  When you share what you learn in solitude, you make the earth more heavenly.  We never really are anything but heavenly.  We are always in Heaven but we need that sacred space and sacred time to realize how wonderful it all is.

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Solitude.

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the spiritual practice of Questing and a Twelves Gallery of Memes on Questing. The meme above comes from that gallery. Thank You S&P.

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Solitude Page.   Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Solitude” 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 -- 82

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DISCERNMENT

+ I think this is how we are supposed to be in the world -- present and in awe.

-- Anne Lamott

+ Discernment happens when our attitude is gratitude, when we realize how wonderful life is, how precious, how beautiful, how awesome, how amazing.  Now that we know are practicing stillness, detachment, humility and silence, we can discern our purpose, our mission, our next step.  These precious moments of discernment are crucial in the journey of the heart and its main purpose: Healing. 

What is your unique purpose, the mission you called to accomplish, your next step?  What is your intention for today on this journey?  I do not ask these questions to burden you.  I ask these questions only to make your life awesome.  When you are in the zone of your life purpose, your calling, your mission, you are awesome and you become one with all of creation.

I invite you to enjoy “Everything is Awesome” sung by Tegan and Sara for the Lego Movie.

  

+ Spirituality & Practice offers many resources on the practice of discernment.

+ I have work to do on my Discernment page. Maybe you can help. Send an email with the subject “Discernment” 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 -- 80

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SILENCE

+ We live in the noise, and we are so busy all the time, there is no time, no space, no silence for the heart.

-- Isabel Allende

+ This is such essential wisdom as we continue on this Journey of the Heart moving from Silence to Discernment to Healing.  We have explored the Mind practices moving from Stillness to Detachment to Humility. With practice, practice, practice and more practice, we become holy and even heavenly.  Our citizenship is not of the earth but of heaven.  Let’s now move on and explore the amazing spiritual practice of Discernment.  We can do this now that we are committed to practicing Stillness and Silence on a regular basis.  Are you?  Am I?  Let’s continue to make this our intention.  It is so fantastic, so wonderful, when we can still our mind and quiet our heart.

Breathe deeply. Breathe fully.

Be still. Be silent.

Be centered. Be grounded.

Loosen up.  Lighten up.

Let go. Let God.

Celebrate. Enjoy.

Be glad all over.

+ Spirituality&Practice offers many resources on the Spiritual Practice of Silence and a wonderful photo and quotes gallery.

+ I have work to do on my Discernment page. Maybe you can help. Send an email with the subject “Discernment” 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 -- 64

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HUMILITY

+ I will let Brother Wayne have the last word in this exploration of the spiritual practice of humility. 

+ There is no possibility of a mature spiritual life without humility. Nor is it possible to be a successful human being without it. Humility is also, most fundamentally, a relationship of truth with ourselves. Humility begins with self-honesty about our actions, attitudes, and speech. It compels us to accept the fact that we are capable of being wrong, perhaps even when we are convinced we are right. It means that we acknowledge our mistakes, not years from now, but when they are made.

We must be willing to own up to these mistakes before others and not simply ourselves. Such humility is a basic operating principle of ordinary life. Without it, we can hardly move at all, since the mystical process is based on honesty and humility of heart. Search your experience and examine if humility is at work in you.

-- Wayne Teasdale in The Mystic Hours excerpted  from http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/features/view/27978/quotations-on-humility

+ As you “search your experience,” remember to be very gentle with yourself, forgiving yourself again and again and again. Yes, examine yourself but don’t be harsh.  All too often, we judge ourselves too critically.  Humility requires diligence but not destructive thoughts and actions.

+ We have reached the final post of the Journey of the Mind section of this exploration.  Next we will build on our mind practices as we explore the Journey of the Heart.  The heart practices we will explore are silence, discernment and healing. 

The categories of Mind, Heart, Body and Soul are not new but, the idea of connecting these practices with the paths of Mind, Heart, Body and Soul came to me as I read The Seeker’s Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure by Elizabeth Lesser, a truly amazing book. She uses these four categories which she calls Landscapes. She offers great wisdom and many useful practices for each of the landscapes: Mind, Heart, Body, Soul.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a wonderful 12s gallery of images and quotes on Humility
> http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/galleries/category/12s/2#/37/12-humility. The photo with the Roger Housden quote comes from this gallery.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 63

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HUMILITY

+ [Ramakrishna said] ‘Adore and honor yourself humbly as my child.’ Not as your small self, not as your ego, not the false self, the constructed self, the biographical self, the self that wants power, but as the Divine Self, the Divine Child who through love, through adoration of the Mother and of each being as the child of the Mother, develops the awakened mystic senses of divine childhood. Honor yourself humbly as my child. Worship the body in which you are having this experience. Protect it. Worship your hair, your knuckles, your feet, and the strange little bones you have in secret places. Bless each aspect of your being, including those aspects that you have been taught to feel ashamed of. Bless them, release them all into the light and embrace of the Mother. Adore yourself, honor yourself, revere yourself. Salute yourself. Bow down to her in you, and to the divine childhood in you that is waiting to be born.

— Andrew Harvey in The Return of the Mother

+ Adore yourself?  Honor yourself?  Is this what humility is about? YES.

But remember what Max Wertheimer, a pioneer of Gestalt Psychology said: “An adult is a deteriorated child.” It is essential that we return to our original state of divine simplicity.  As we continue to practice, practice, practice stillness and detachment, we return to our authentic or real self.  Humility is the practice of being real, being honest, being sincere, being compassionate, being childlike.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a book review of The Return of the Mother by Andrew Harvey.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a wonderful 12s gallery of images and quotes on Humility
> http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/galleries/category/12s/2#/37/12-humility.  The meme above is from that gallery.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 57

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF HUMILITY

+ Humility frees us up to use all our gifts and talents to the best of our abilities by enabling us to accept our limitations and vulnerabilities as well as our strengths. With humility we can enjoy our achievements without unnecessary ego-inflation or -deflation; we are neither full of ourselves nor do we pick ourselves apart. And being humble doesn't mean that we stop trying to better ourselves. We are all works in progress!

— Estelle Frankel in Sacred Therapy excerpted from
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/quotes/features/view/27978/quotations-on-humility

+ When we are truly humble, we can rejoice in the successes and achievements of others knowing that we are not superior or inferior to any other person. 

The practices of stillness and detachment have brought us to this amazing state of acceptance and unconditional love.  In this state of humility, we are given the gift of unlimited compassion to unwrap and share.  Enjoy and be glad all over.    

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a wonderful 12s gallery of images and quotes on Humility.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 48

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ Detachment doesn’t mean not loving. It means to be free to love with God’s love. Without detachment we are not free. We are bound to our limited selves, our egos, and when we are bound we project onto others, grasp after them, and/or reject them. Without detachment we cannot be fully aware of others or fully present to them. So we love selfishly, at least partly, and in self-serving ways.

Detachment enables us to be aware of and engage reality as it really is. It enables us to welcome and embrace the unfolding of reality and be present and responsive to the Spirit at work within it. Without detachment we cannot see truth, cannot realize or actualize the truth.

Detachment requires skillful, intentional humility and vulnerability because detachment does not come naturally to us; it is a supernatural gift, a grace, though we can practice making ourselves available to it. My prayer for myself and for our community is that we continue to grow in loving others with awareness, humility, and skill. And this, I think, requires detachment.

+ This was posted by Rickey Cotton (RC) at the Living Stones Blog on June 29,2009. The blog has ceased to exist or has moved but you can still find this post at  http://livingstonesweb.blogspot.com/2009/06/thoughts-on-detachment.html and many more great posts by this community.  I found his website > http://rickeycotton.tripod.com/

+ Detachment is liberating.  It opens the door to amazing grace, grace upon grace upon grace.  Humility is the glorious outcome of this practice “… and Whatdoes the Lord require of you but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God?” --Micah 6:8

But before we move on to the practice of humility, the next practice beginning with the next post, be sure you make a commitment to continue to practice, practice, practice stillness and detachment, the required practices which make humility happen.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 47

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+

Do not look for innate knowledge

In the mind that has already gone astray.

Look for it in the mind

Before it has gone astray.

The essence of mind is our true

Nature. We cannot depart

From our true nature.

So how can mind get lost

And go astray?

When we say we have lost it,

It means it is frantically

Pursuing things.

- Qian Dehong (1495-1574) in DailyZen 12/20/15

+ Detachment, letting go, allows us to become who we really are.  The practice of stillness has led us here.  It’s different.  It’s heavenly.  It’s reality.   Are you ready, willing and eager to explore heaven here on earth day after day, breath after breath? Am I?  Are we?

Detachment means Letting Go and Letting God. It means accepting the fact, the reality, that our earthly life with all of its delights and disappointments is temporary.  There is a greater reality worth finding, exploring, sharing, creating.  What will you create even as you let go?  I hope you will share your intentions and accomplishments with us. 

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 46

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ It is not the actual literal renunciation which counts, it is the personal abandonment of belief in the importance of transient things. ... If there is such a thing as saintly renunciation, it is renouncing small gains for better gains; not for no gains, but seeing with open eyes what is better and what is inferior. Even if the choice has to lie between two momentary gains, one of these would always be found to be more real and lasting; that is the one that should be followed for the time. When we take the torch of wisdom to show us our path through life, we will end by realizing what is really profitable in life and what is not.

-- Hazrat Inayat Khan excerpted from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_15.htm

+ Hazrat Inayat Khan (see SE posts 22, 31 and 45) wisely points out that detachment, or renunciation, is a process in itself which can lead to more and more profitable experiences in this life.  Discernment, a practice we will soon explore more thoroughly, can’t happen without it. 

As we move through these practices, more fruits become available to us.  Detachment, based so much on the practice of stillness, is a way to true abundance, not scarcity, a way to more, not less.  Deprivation is not what this practice is about.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 45

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ He who can be detached enough to keep his eyes open to all those whom circumstances have placed about him, and see in what way he can be of help to them, he it is who becomes rich - he inherits the kingdom of God.

-- Hazrat Inayat Khan, Bowl of Saki, June 12

+ Hazrat Inayat Khan was a twentieth century Sufi teacher who in so many ways was as InterFaith and InterSpiritual as any human can be.  I have found his wisdom on so much of life to be a wonderful source of inspiration and illumination.  Practically every day I go to the Bowl of Saki for a feast of compassion and wisdom.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 44

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ Detachment is not that you should own nothing. But that nothing should own you.

-- Ali ibn abi Talib

+ That’s it, isn’t it?

Again, it’s not that we are not going to remain attached to all kinds of earthly things in this lifetime.  But we need an attitude of equanimity which makes it possible to explore heaven right now, right here, even as we continue to be earth bound.

I would love to hear from you.  How are you doing with stillness and detachment?  Are you feeling like you are a Heavenly Being right now, right here?  Can you describe what this is like in your journal and, perhaps, share it with the rest of us?   

The goal of these grounding Mind practices of stillness and detachment is humility which will be the topic of the next series of posts after Detachment.  I have come to believe that humility is absolutely required in heaven and that’s what we are working on right now, right here as we practice, practice, practice stillness and detachment.

Humility is a most misunderstood concept but we will deal with that when we get to it soon.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 43

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ Peter Russell says:

Letting Go is a mantra of our times. "Just let go," we're advised. "If only I could let go," others complain.

The call to let go lies at the core of humanity's many spiritual traditions. Non-attachment to outcomes, surrendering desires, accepting the present, opening to the guidance of a higher power, relinquishing the ego, forgiveness—they all entail a letting go.

Why is letting go so important? Holding on, these teachings repeatedly affirm, limits perception, makes us tense, and obscures our true nature. Moreover, it lies at the root of most our suffering. Letting go, on the other hand, brings relief, ease, joy, and love.

But if letting go is so valuable, why don't we just do it? The answer, as anyone who has tried can testify, is that it is not as easy as it sounds.

To appreciate why letting go can seem so difficult, we need to understand why we hold on, and what we hold on to. To answer these questions we must delve into a more fundamental question: What is it we really want?

+ I excerpted this from “Letting Go” a great article by Peter Russell on his fantastic website, Spirit of Now. I invite you to explore Spirit of Now. I first discovered this amazing teacher when I found The Church of I AM perhaps 15 years ago.  It’s still there.  It’s fun and it’s meaningful. 

Paradoxically, letting go is the way to gain far more. As we go deep into the mystery of greater reality, we find that we can have it all.  But it must be understood that this is a heavenly realm of all and not a limited earthly realm of all.  There is no adequate way to explain this.  It’s a mystery.  It’s an adventure.  It’s something we must all experience for ourselves in our own way.    

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 42

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+ … and, when the time comes to let it go...let it go.

 -- Mary Oliver

+ As the Buddhist master Achaan Chah put it: If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.

– Joseph Naft in http://www.innerfrontier.org/Practices/StagesOfThePath.htm

+ Letting go is worth considering.  You can let go of many things, many attitudes, many assumptions, many opinions, some even cherished.  Sooner or later, we have to let go of at least a little and maybe a lot.  Isn’t it better to have a sense of what is worth hanging on to and what is not?  I urge you to ponder and come up with a few unnecessary items in your life.  Every detachment brings us into the glorious realm of heaven even here on earth.  

Are you journaling?  Perhaps you could make a list of possible items you no longer want or need.  Pray and meditate about these items and see if you are ready and willing and, yes, eager, to let go of them.  Give yourself plenty of time before you act.  Make sure you really are ready, willing and eager.

More peace is available if and when you can let go.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 41

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF DETACHMENT

+

If you could get rid

of yourself just once,

The secret of secrets

Would open to you.

The face of the unknown,

Hidden beyond the universe

Would appear on the

Mirror of your perception.

-- Rumi

+ Beyond yourself.  That’s where we are going.  That’s where we want to go. This is quite an adventure.  Heaven is beyond the fear, the anxiety, the doubt, the insecurity, the demands and expectations of our very limited egocentric self.

This heavenly realm we are seeking is not actually a destination.  Destiny is a more accurate description. We are always exploring this glorious realm whether we know it or not.  It is a mystery most of the time.  With a few exceptions, we humans don’t get to know “the secret of secrets” fully but we can get to know it partially and even have glimpses where we get to know “the secret of secrets” fully for a moment or two.  

Complete detachment is not what we are after.  We have to be attached in many ways here on earth.  But we don’t have to be attached as much as we are.  We can let go of a lot of unnecessary baggage.  Some of us might let go of more, even a lot more, than others.  We are free to decide moment after moment how much attachment to relationships, things, beliefs, opinions, etc. we need now.  We all can detach from a lot if we think about it and pray about it.  As Thoreau said: “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify.”

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 40

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF STILLNESS

+ As spiritual searchers we need to become freer and freer of the attachment to our own smallness in which we get occupied with me-me-me. Pondering on large ideas or standing in front of things which remind us of a vast scale can free us from acquisitiveness and competitiveness and from our likes and dislikes. If we sit with an increasing stillness of the body, and attune our mind to the sky or to the ocean or to the myriad stars at night, or any other indicators of vastness, the mind gradually stills and the heart is filled with quiet joy. Also recalling our own experiences in which we acted generously or with compassion for the simple delight of it without expectation of any gain can give us more confidence in the existence of a deeper goodness from which we may deviate.

― Ravi Ravindra, The Wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: A New Translation and Guide by Ravi Ravindra

+ This is the last post on the practice of stillness in this series.  The practice of detachment is next. This quote is an invitation to keep practicing stillness and allow this wonderful stillness to move you gently into the practice of detachment  which will lead us to the practice of humility and ultimately on to the glorious, fantastic realm of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom.

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

SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS -- 39

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF STILLNESS

+

Like a broken gong

Be still, be silent.

Know the stillness of freedom

Where there is no more striving.

- Buddha in the Dhammapada offered at DailyZen on 6/13/14

+ There are some who seek to enjoy this refuge of total freedom 24/7 but most of us seek to find this refuge from time to time because we often need to detach from our many addictions, distractions, and even our worthy strivings. 

How often you decide that you need this refuge is, of course, completely up to you.  I know I seek it often and feel strongly that I need it often.  I also believe that many if not all humans would benefit immensely from regular periods of stillness, silence and solitude.  I believe it leads to more and more compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance, not to mention more health and happiness. 

When we get to post 41, we will explore the next “Journey of the Mind“ practice, detachment.

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

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 41

+ updated at 10:15am EST on Wednesday, January 30, 2012

+ A Poverty Awareness Month Quote: Spirituality and Practice offers a quote by  Gustavo Gutierrez on Compassion, Poverty, Hunger, Understanding and Abuse from his book We Drink from Our Own Wells.

+ A Poverty Awareness Month story: Spirituality and Practice offers a story about a woman who stole a loaf of bread and how a Judge dealt with the matter.

+ January is Poverty Awareness Month and Spirituality and Practice offers abundant resources which show how we really can end poverty if we put our mind to it.

+ Fred Brussat of Spirituality and Practice always offers great tweets on his Twitter page.  I often retweet them on my twitter page. Daily he offers wonderful spiritual quotes and usually offers links to great movie and book reviews and book excerpts.  Today, January 29, his tweets led to a book review and a book excerpt I found particularly important.

The review is on Our Day to End Poverty: 24 Ways You Can Make a Difference by Shannon Daley-Harris, Jeffrey Keenan and Karen Speerstra. | Read the review

The excerpt is from Spiritual Genius: The Mastery of Life's Meaning by Winifred Gallagher. Here is an excerpt from the excerpt:

"All of us use spiritual genius some of the time, but some of us use it all of the time. This book explores our human gift through the lives of such spiritual geniuses, because in them we see our own potential writ large. No matter how extraordinary they seem, these men and women differ from us only quantitatively, not qualitatively. Religion has many names for them — saints, tzaddiks, bodhisattvas are just a few — and describes them as 'holy,' or intensely aware of the sacred grand design; as 'good,' which means not just moral but compassionate; and as 'charismatic,' or able to inspire others. Using different language, psychology describes the same individuals as visionary leaders who share the respected statesman's altruism and social skills and the artist's capacity for transcendent experience." | Read the whole excerpt |Read the S&P review

+ Today, January 29, 2013, I begin a new focus.  I will dwell for a while on stage 1 of my spiritual practice model. 

Stage 1 is STILLNESS which leads to DETACHMENT which leads to HUMILITY.  And, for the first time in a long time, you should begin to see additions, revisions, improvements of the web pages devoted to these practices.  There are four stages altogether leading to our full embrace of our true identity as a heavenly being, far more important, infinitely more important than our identity as a human being. When you practice stillness you begin to realize this.  Maybe only an inkling.  Sooner or later a mystical experience which radically transforms our awareness of who we really are.

Looking ahead, sooner or later I will get to the 3 next stages which are:
STAGE 2: SILENCE which leads to DISCERNMENT which leads to HEALING
STAGE 3: SOLITUDE which leads to DEVOTION which leads to HOLINESS
STAGE 4: SIMPLICITY which leads to DELIGHT which leads to HEAVENLINESS.
Attributes or characteristics of the state of HEAVENLINESS are: ABUNDANCE, JOY, WISDOM, BEAUTY, LOVE, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, FREEDOM. I have a web page devoted to each of those 9. Click on the word.

The Bing search engine lists 65,500 results for STILLNESS DETACHMENT HUMILITY.  The first 2 bring you to 2 of my pages.  How about that?  Connecting these 3 practices as a first stage of spiritual practice seems to be my invention.  I think there is a logic to the progression I am advocating but maybe it only works for me or just a few of us.  That's OK.  If it works for you, please let me know.

I found a lot of wisdom on detachment at 2 of the early results in the Bing search. Here are excerpts:

In Buddha & Eckhart: On Detachment, the blogger G writes: "The teachings of Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1327) have much in common with those of the Buddha. One subject upon which they have the greatest of convergence is that of detachment." | Read the whole post

In Detachment vs Apathy, a forum contributor writes: "Detachment is a word that conjures up different meanings to different people and seldom is associated with being virtuous. In psychology it is referred to as dissociation or apathy. But to some people detachment is the noblest of all virtues. Meister Eckhart said of it, as “He who would be serene and pure needs but one thing, detachment.” He also described it as the most noble of all virtues, higher even than humility or Love." | Read the whole post