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Light on the Path  (Remember to begin with the Opening Meditation and the Recitation of the Three Jewels as in Mindfulness Trainings One through Five -- scroll down in the burninghandblog for this.)
We begin: "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." Ninth Mindfulness Training: Aware that words can cause suffering or unhappiness, we are committed to learning how to speak constructively with a reverent use of language, using words that inspire hope and confidence. We are determined not to lie or manipulate "facts" in pursuit of a private agenda. We are determined not to gossip or utter words that might cause discord and division. We will stand for justice and serve the dignity of every person, especially the most powerless among us. Reflection: Every single time that we read through the Mindfulness Trainings, whether our "massaged version" or the original as written by Thich Nhat Hahn, we experience a deep interior shredding... "Did you notice another piece of my ego and my pride and my feverishly constructed self-identity slip off into the mud beneath our feet?" ..."Did you notice mine, too?" And then on into, "Gee, is everyone looking at us? Are we the only ones this hits square on the nose?" While the shredding is genuine, it is also true that there is no easy escape from the human condition -- there is no easy path forward into one's personal transformation, just as collectively we seem to only move forward by circling back much of the time, only to be nudged ahead again by the words and shining light of another prophet... This Ninth Mindfulness Training is jam-packed with clarion-calls for a thorough-going effort at transparency and wakefulness. It only takes a word to take a life. On the Chinatown streets of Salinas, "Bobby" was a goof-ball, crazy-happy, mixed-up young man. Always loud, usually obnoxious, frequently intimidating and threatening. For him, "let's party", meant a no-holds-barred night of anything-you-can-get-away-with-goes... on and on, month after month, year after year... his only "down" time was his jail time. If you flip this Ninth Training on it's head, and maybe turn it inside out into it's opposite, you'd have the daily life story of "Bobby"... not exactly an endearing character... and yet, and yet... (those "and yet's" are the hidden secret of "Bobby" and of all of us)... we had increasingly frequent conversations as to the "why's" of his behavior's. One day we were in the office together and he told me the story of his father beating him and sexually assaulting him as a young boy... in the midst of the flowing tears, and questions wondering "why why why?" (he asked me why why why, God Almighty, I don't want no cheap word to come out of my mouth - so what do I say?...) "Bobby" asked if he could use the phone -- he made a call to his brother, saying that he needed to talk to him... I don't know if "Bobby" ever got to talk to his brother... One bad-decision-too-many caught up with him that night: he sold some laundry detergent or some such powder to a couple of out-of-towner's. When the powder didn't do for them what they wanted, they came back to Chinatown and shot "Bobby" dead. He died by the railroad tracks just as the train was leaving town... just another day-another night-another life ending in Chinatown... and yet, and yet... The irony of our fractured human condition slapped me across the face a few days later when I was greeting our guests at the Soup Kitchen door... "Bobby's" father came up to me, shook my hand, and in the midst of his tears, could only ask me, "Why? Why? Why?" When "we stand for justice and serve the dignity of every person, especially the most powerless among us" we are choosing to stand on Holy Ground -- wherever it is that we are. We may not have the "right" word to say at just the "right" moment -- but the truth is, when someone is living in any sort of version of hell, they're not particularly or especially wanting to hear a "right" word. IT IS OUR BODIES THAT THEY WANT! They want to know that someone is standing, living, crying, salvaging, working, losing, struggling, winning, and dying WITH THEM. Sometimes we'll be surprised by the words that will leak out from our mouths -- like, where the hell did THAT come from? The only wisdom that's worth anything at all is the wisdom that flows from solidarity and the wisdom of US. This is Beauty and Love made tangible, made edible, made worth entering into the whirlwind of history for -- just to see what little bit of hell we just might be able to raise! "Pray for the dead -- Fight like hell for the living." --Mother Jones Have you noticed yet that each of the Mindfulness Trainings is specifically serving us, like a magnifying glass, by focusing our attention on suffering? Each and every one among us is / has / will cause even more suffering on this precious blue Planet. So the Mindfulness Trainings are a sort of crash course on how each of us might reduce a bit of this suffering. This is of great importance! Many many lives hang in the balance between our will to act in solidarity or our retreat into "getting along to go along" (which is just a stylish form of impotence)... But there is another suffering that needs, not a magnifying glass, but Books, Lights, Videos, Academy Awards, etc. etc. It is suffering voluntarily endured for life, for peace, for justice, for equality, for hope, for the children, and for the Planet. Mahatma Gandhi made voluntary suffering an art form in his Satyagraha campaigns. But this moment in time requires of us the courage to go deeper than the Mahatma in questioning the dominator paradigm -- and in deconstructing its myths and legitimizing power so as to reconstruct a human civilization that will work for and include all. Here are some examples for your reflection: Last January, Asmaa Mahfouz uploaded a video in which she stated, "I, a girl, am going down to Tahrir Square, and I will stand alone.' After posting it to Facebook, it went viral and today her video is credited with starting the Egyptian revolution. Jestina Mukoko, a human rights defender and director of an NGO called the Zimbabwe Peace Project was abducted from her home in December of 2008. She was tortured and detained for three weeks, before resurfacing in court on December 24, 2008 and charged with trying to overthrow the government. She was released three months later, and the Zimbabwe Supreme Court ordered a permanent stay of criminal proceedings on Sept. 21, 2009. A year after her release, the US State Department honored her with a 2010 International Women of Courage Award. She has said, "I think the detention made me even more resolute. I do not regret anything because whatever I did at the time was legal and had nothing to do with the spurious charges they eventually preferred on me... I did not intend to give these people the pleasure of victory because if I had withdrawn from my work they would have been victorious." On November 13, 2010 the barriers came down outside the house of Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi and the leader of her country's human rights and pro-democracy movement became again a free woman -- after about 15 years of the last 20 under house arrest. Despite years of isolation her resolute courage is still contagious. She simply states, "The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear." Dr. Wangari Maathai was born in 1940, and passed away in 2011. She founded the Green Belt Movement that has planted millions of trees to fight soil erosion and deforestation. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. Her husband divorced her saying she was "too strong, too successful, too stubborn, and too hard to control" for a woman. Her autobiography is entitled Unbowed. Arundhati Roy was born in 1961. She is an author, an activist, and a spokesperson for the alter-globalization movement and a fierce critic of neo-imperialism. She is adamant that peace with justice is everyone's responsibility. "Our strategy should be not only to confront empire, but to lay siege to it. To deprive it of oxygen. To shame it. To mock it. With our music, our literature, our stubbornness, our joy, our brilliance, our sheer relentlessness..." Herein lies our hope! An Alternative Ninth Mindfulness Training: Aware of my contributions to suffering, I am choosing to activate my passion for possibilities! I am choosing to practice beauty and liberation through my everyday choices and actions. I am choosing to stand and act in solidarity with everyone who suffers from injustice and oppression. I will serve the dignity of every person especially the most powerless among us. Wherever they's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. -- John Steinbeck A questing mind is a great help in withstanding violence or oppression. -- Aung San Suu Kyi God expects something from each one of us that no one else can do. If we don't it will not be done. -- Dorothy Day Question of the Week: Have you ever taken a stand for justice that made you feel very alone and uncomfortable? Practice of the Week: Write a story -- not more than 250 words -- in which you are the one to do / say something great and heroic. How can you make the story of your life as great as it can possibly be? Recommended Reading: Awakening, by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan With Love and Blessings, Michelle and Robert "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." Light on the Path  (Remember to begin with the Opening Meditation and the recitation of the Three Jewels as in Mindfulness Trainings One through Five -- scroll down in the burninghandblog for this.)
We begin: "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." Eigth Mindfulness Training: Aware that the lack of communication always brings discord and separation, we are committed to the practice of compassionate listening and a gentle, reverent use of language. We will learn to create space for dialogue, for listening deeply without judging or reacting. We will look for ways to renew and recreate our relationships. Reflection: This is a humdinger of a Mindfulness Training! Who hasn't been in a relationship, at a workplace, or let's face it, in a world in which irreverence and abuse were not an everyday common experience. It seems to us that there is a contagion of abuse of power loose upon this precious blue Planet. The news is replete with examples, but one that especially stands out is the recent video of American soldiers urinating upon the dead bodies of Taliban militants in Afghanistan... and then having one from among their number video record the act and post it on the Internet. Hate and violence are rampant, and in a certain sense many of us have simply become desensitized to it all -- it's all become so overwhelming -- and yet what troubles us as much as the violence itself are the justifications that flow so easily from the lips of the unthinking, the fearful, the mad, and the powerful. As Hafiz says, "I know the idiot's warehouse is always full. I know each of us could run back and forth from there all day long and show everyone our vast collection. Tonight though, Hafiz, retire from the madness for an hour, gather with some loyal friends or sit alone and sing beautiful songs to God." Everyone who has been around activist circles for awhile has by now probably participated in a workshop or two on "Nonviolent Communication" -- these workshops should be required of every legislator on every level of government! And they can make a difference in relationships and by extension in intentional communities. But the secret problems are the real problems and they are all the Shadows that lurk behind our good intentions! Inevitably, when once we have been hurt by another, we automatically erect defensive systems that allow us to cope and meander through life. Our Shadows can justify absolutely anything -- their subtlety is addictive and powerful (for many of us our Shadows are the only power we will ever experience -- at least until we explode). Obviously, a blog is not exactly the right place for any sort of deep Shadow work! Nevertheless, the fact of our Shadows must be mentioned because we will only be ineffective in developing both the willingness and the skills of "compassionate listening and a gentle, reverent use of language... for dialogue, for listening deeply without judging or reacting..." if they are never brought out into the Light. Really, could you imagine Limbaugh, Romney, Gingrich, Boehner, Bachman, and all sending a note to President Obama saying they are now looking "for ways to renew and recreate our relationships"? But the "real really" is that none of us truly intend to be rid of our Shadows (too hard -- and just where do I begin?), neither are we willing to no longer need to demonize anyone else! How does one organize a protest movement if you love your enemy? How does one speak ill of someone if you recognize that you are the same One?How can one yield to expressions or actions of hate if you had even the beginning of an inkling that there is a Beloved Consciousness creating, sustaining, and animating all of creation? It is time for a New Revoltionary Movement: beginning with "I" and with "You"... stepping then with grace into "Us"... When "We" come to believe that by sharing there is an abundance of every good thing for "All" -- and act accordingly -- all of our competitions for power can gracefully cease... and "We" will come to know peace... Until then, our Shadows will seek to keep us in fear, with our hearts in lock-down... But, here is a Key for those locks: our Shadows live in our minds, AND WE CAN CHANGE OUR MINDS! Whew, and you thought this was going to be hard! Are you ready? Okay, what do you want? Is it peace in your life? Abundance? Friendship? Respect? A New Revolutionary Movement takes steps from "I" and "You" into "Us" -- "Us" begins to step into "All" when we name the reality we intend to construct (peace, calmness, forgiveness, gentleness, harmlessness, pleasure, meaning, etc.). So we take up our chosen intention: "I desire peace in my life, therefore I will be peace for everyone I encounter today". The intention is declared, along with the conviction that "I will manifest my desire as a gift for everyone I encounter today". You see, genuine spirituality and change is always about the Other, the good of the Other, the love of the Other... When "IT" is no longer about "ME" I automatically stop feeding my Shadows; when "IT" is about the Other, "I" become free, and then I can freely practice my freedom and beauty... then OF COURSE! compassionate listening makes sense! Of course, a gentle, reverent use of language makes sense! Of course, I can dialogue, I can listen deeply, I don't need to judge, I can look for ways to recreate and renew relationships! And, of course, peace, justice, equality, food and health care for all, are certainly possible! Everything connects in the human heart... All You Will Ever Need To Know Is In The Following Paragraph: Imagine Hell. But it is not what you might have been taught, so start over. Imagine a banquet table stretching from horizon to horizon laden with an incredible array of food. Everything has been lusciously prepared. An overwhelming aroma fills the air. Unfortunately, there are two lines of folks, from horizon to horizon, on each side of the table. After the blessing of the meal, they all pick up their forks to have at it. Everyone is thinking about the team of idiots who made the forks... each fork is about six feet long... but everyone gave it a try. Everytime they were able to get some food on their fork, they would try to turn and angle it into their mouth... gosh darn it, the food would fall off every single time... for all eternity... Now put the same picture in your mind: a banquet table extending from horizon to horizon laden with the most incredible vegetarian feast God could imagine (Ha!), and the same lines of folks from horizon to horizon on each side of the table, with the very same blessed six foot forks... After the blessing of the meal, everyone picked up their fork with great big smiles on their faces -- this was going to be fun! They each carefully picked out the delicacy of their choice, and extended their fork across the table to feed the person opposite of them. Everyone was happy and forgiving of the occasional mess on the table or floor. No one needed to bother reading the little note in every flower arrangement gracing the table. The note simply said: There is Only One. Love Every One. Feed Every One. "Holy One, Beloved Friend, Manifesting as Lord, Master, Teacher, and in Love and Compassion, inspire and uplift my mind and heart to the steady practice of mindfulness and service. May I manifest kindness and generosity in my every encounter today, especially to those most in need of my hands and heart... may my thoughts, words, and actions become one thought, one word, and one action: Your Holy Name, as a river of Beauty, flowing towards and within the Garden of Souls here and everywhere..." An Alternative Eigth Mindfulness Training: Aware that I desire harmony and peace, I will manifest harmony and peace in my every encounter today. I will be compassion and kindness. I will listen with care. I will revere the different, the Other. I will find ways to become the change I am helping to build in the world. The primary aspiration of all history is a genuine community of human beings -- genuine because it is community all through. --Martin Buber Peace comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the Universe dwells Wakan-Tanka, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. --Black Elk We are put on earth a little space, that we may learn to bear the beams of love. --William Blake I am the life and verdancy of good works. I am the yoke of all virtue. I am the delight and illuminationof love of God. --Hildegard of Bingen Within the body are gardens, rare flowers, peacocks, the inner Music; within the body a lake of bliss, on it the white soul-swans take their joy. --Mirabai Question of the Week: How can we re-orient world cultures to the "practice of beauty"; where art, music, poetry, literature, theatre, etc. are recognized as essential for the full development of both the human person and the human community? Practice of the Week: With someone you love (actually, it can be anyone), sit for one minute (or five minutes or a full day, alternating fifteen minutes "on" and fifteen minutes "off") looking into the eyes of your partner. Say nothing, just look, holding each other's gaze. Do not look away. At the conclusion of one minute (or the chosen time frame), each person places a hand on the forehead and shoulder of their partner and says, "One Love Blessing". This is the deep practice of Rumi and Shams... Recommended Reading: The Rubais of Rumi, Insane with Love, Translations and Commentary by Nevit O. Ergin and Will Johnson With Love and One Love Blessings, Michelle and Robert "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." Light on the Path  (Remember to begin with the Opening Meditation and the recitation of the Three Jewels as in Mindfulness Trainings One through Five -- scroll down in theburninghandblog for this).
We begin: "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." Seventh Mindfulness Training: Aware that life can only be lived in the present moment, in the here and now, we are committed to cultivating the mind of the child and living deeply each moment in wonder and in awe. Reflection: "In the beginning was the Image." -- Fritz Eichenberg "The world will be saved by Beauty." -- Fyodor Dostoevsky moon climbing the black sky --- what is one breath? yet knowing that she waits, is my strength and contentment. When sitting in rapt wonder at the beauty of the moon climbing the sky, huddled beside a lover and a campfire, the earth, the Universe and all that She holds within Her can seem overwhelming and so filled with grandeur that one is "reduced" to awe and a kind of emptiness -- maybe a sort of "pregnant pause"... a pause that can suddenly awaken one to the power of one breath... One Love... "One breath" is every breath, or our last breath. Every breath is the Holy One, our Beloved Friend, breathing the gift of life into us and into every living creature... every breath and every life presents us with an astounding opportunity to revere and adore... Dorothy Day wrote that "The saints are those who know how to love, whose lives were transformed by love. The desire deep in the heart of every one of us is to love, to love in such a way that all things become new, that there is a new song in our hearts." In the ineffable silent space between the incoming and the outgoing breath is where the Heart may enter the Light of the Holy One -- almost as if from the inside out, the upside down, from the smallest or most fragile, and only then on into the grandeur of the Infinte One, the Holy, the Beautiful One. In this ineffable silent space, in this Place, one may hear the Heartbeats and feel the Breath of the Holy One on the nape of one's neck and see all creation shining with an almost unbearable Light... "I belong to the soul of the Beloved. I have put duality away, I have seen that the two worlds are one; One I seek, One I know, One I see, One I call." -- Rumi "For I created your soul with a capacity for loving -- so much so, that you cannot live without love. Indeed, love is your food." -- St. Catherine of Siena We pause here to remember one whom we had the pleasure and joy of working with for a few years... at first she seemed "just a bookkeeper"... her head always before the computer screen, focused, and determined... after awhile a daughter started volunteering, always with a radiant smile, but shy... then a USC Immersion Group showed up for a week... both Debra and Mary showed up for our USC vs. Dorothy's Place softball game... after much coaxing, Mary finally picked up a bat... one slow pitch later, the ball was sailing into the deep outfield and Mary was charging around the bases... and steadily after, Debra and her family were "charging" into our hearts. Stories of a constant practice of kindness abound, and a business office became the beating heart of a Soup Kitchen... Irene walked up the stairs for a good word to inspire hope... Raul came for inspiration to enter a recovery program... Kalei dropped by for a listening ear... Maurice would drop in because it was the one place where he could escape judgment... And then it came time for Camp St. Francis... would Debra's daughters, Mary, Savanah, and Carmen each like to be group leaders? Enthusiastic Mary was ready, but Savanah and Carmen were beleagured with doubt... nevertheless, they all showed up... Carmen just had to go home... but Savanah stuck it out -- and day-by-day, she blossomed into a caring and self-confident leader... then she began babysitting for Robert and I to actually go on dates -- what a luxurious gift! Needless to say, she fell in love with Donovan, Devin, and our wild Rose of Sharon, and became part of our family... then the Holidays rolled around and Debra had to take on a second job to provide the Christmas gifts she wanted for her family and friends -- while at the same time securing the donations and volunteers to offer a Christmas Celebration for hundreds and hundreds of children at Dorothy's... all done without fanfare, simply because she was "aware of suffering" and her heart had been opened by Love... and to top everything off, months ago she took a homeless woman home with her to be part of her family (and she's still sleeping on her couch)... We continue our reflection with another thought of the importance of opening and surrendering to Love -- and how very "different" the prophets, saints, rabble-rousing radicals, and world scriptures read when seen from the "vantage point" of the "disadvantaged": all those persons who have been marginalized by others with power! The luxury of "faith" meets head-on its complicity with injustice! The luxury of "faith" meets head-on the struggle that is solidarity and the Living Presence of the Holy One still alive among us! We realize that there are no easy answers -- just as there is no "guarantee of success". But there is a way as there is a task: scattering the little seeds of paradise as you / we go about our daily lives. Here in this moment (read Be Here Now, by Ram Das) we can choose to be fully present and alive with our possibilities a blessing and a gift for all those persons we will encounter. To "cultivate the mind of the child" means, before all else, to live without either the need or desire to judge another being. What a blessed relief! We don't need to judge! We don't need to manipulate reality to suit our ends (wow, what an exhausting use of energy)! We can choose to be free -- talk about "wonder and awe"! If we wish to become "companions of this Way", we must quiet down our scaliwag minds, and practice kindness and compassion -- we must live "target free" from now on (that one hurts: does that necessarily include Rush Limbaugh?) The deepening dimensions of this practice opens the heart to visions of Beauty everywhere, and Justice is then known to be our personal responsibility... the Beloved Community relates everyone and everything to this conscious commitment. "The end is the creation of the Beloved Community." -- Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Genius is childhood captured at will. --Baudelaire Why should we not also enjoy an original relation to the universe? --Emerson Unless from us the future takes place, we are death only. -- D.H. Lawrence My teacher told me one thing: Live in the soul. When that was so, I began to go naked, and dance. --Lalla The soul is kissed by God in its innermost regions. With interior yearning, grace and blessing are bestowed. It is a yearning to take on God's gentle yoke, it is a yearning to give one's self to God's way. --Hildegard of Bingen An Alternative Seventh Mindfulness Training: Aware of being here now, I am choosing to live with an everyday consciousness of having surrendered my mind, heart, and life over to the Beauty that is Love. I will make the actions that flow from this surrendering the story of my life. Question of the Week: How can we cultivate a culture of compassion and kindness in our homes, schools, workplaces, and all about us in the world? Practice of the Week: On this website, read "A Lesson in Meditation". Consciously and deliberately, for at least one hour during the course of the upcoming week, practice the One Love Blessing. Recommended Reading: Be Here Now, by Ram Das Be Love Now, by Ram Das The Illuminated Rumi, by Coleman Barks and Michael Green Naked Song, poems by Lalla, Translated by Coleman Barks With Love and Blessings, Michelle and Robert "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." Light on the Path  (Remember to begin with the Opening Meditation and the recitation of the Three Jewels as in Mindfulness Trainings One through Five -- scroll down in theburninghandblog for this.)
We begin: "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate, Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty... Sixth Mindfulness Training: Aware that anger, fear, and a delight in power disrupts communication and causes suffering, we are determined to recognize their roots that lie deep in our consciousness by mindful breathing, meditation, and by cultivating an attitude of "before-giveness". Reflection: How the heck does a positive attitude protect one from the dis-ease of an intensely negative person or life situation? How does "before-giveness" contribute to a better world when confronted with the deliberate poison of one (or a group) who lies, distorts, manipulates, and destroys every opportunity for harmony, tolerance, and community through a mad addiction to power? How can one avoid retreating from these situations and experiences into either anger or fear? How does one resist these very same temptations that are within every person? Is it enough to propose "mindful breathing, meditation, and 'before-giveness'" as a solution? What is the REAL ALTERNATIVE to the dominator paradigm that infests every mind and social institution? Where lies the NONVIOLENT POWER for transformation? How do I build the life I dream of? How do I build a community that thrives in goodness, kindness, and passion? How do I sustain my / our hope in the midst of certain defeats and failures? What do you think of our list of questions that begins this sixth "Light on the Path" reflection? What questions would you add? It seems to us that every life and great purpose begins with a question, or series of questions... every life and great purpose is a quest... it is that quest that makes life so incredibly interesting! Mother Teresa is quoted as having said, "You have not been called to success... You have not been called to failure... You have been called to fidelity." We would alter this statement somewhat and instead say, "We have each been called to the fidelity of our quest"... One more question: is there a quest that is common to every human person? Our answer is a resounding "yes"! So, what then is this quest and how do we actualize it?We've been following this meandering river of questions to propose two basic answers -- kind of like a patchwork quilt a great-grandmother would have made to keep all the kids warm on a cold wintry night... Our first proposed answer to our questions we found in our reading of The Grapes of Wrath (if you've yet to read this novel by John Steinbeck, get yourself into a library or bookstore and get to it!). The trek of the Joad family in the novel is always toward their place, their work, and their purpose, all of which is their Promised Land: their Home. The sweet irony of the novel is that by book's end they have yet to arrive at their goal. But in one of the most stunning conclusions to any novel, a marginal character, the Rose of Sharon, is presented with a moment of "sudden" grace and transformation and "suddenly" becomes the point of the book's revelation: we will only find our purpose and our home when "our finding" is no longer about "our arrival" -- but instead, it becomes the "welcoming home of the Other". (And it also seems to us that this is what we have forgotten as a people, as a nation... The Grapes of Wrath articulates the great American vision of "welcome home and justice for all". Isn't this the challenge before us now, to leave no one behind or out on the margins of human community and possibilities?) So if our first answer to our list of questions is, in its essence, "Welcome Home", then what is our second answer? Are you ready? Ecstasy! Okay, we can see we've got a bit of explaining to do! Instead of looking to the news for insights, we're going really weird: we're looking for the dictionary... We'll start with "home": the Random House Dictionary lists a number of definitions including "The place in which one's domestic affections are centered"; "any place of refuge"; and "a principal base of operations". And for "ecstasy" we find that the word's root is Greek "ekstasis": ek, out; stasis, standing or stoppage. So, ecstasy or a great joy and feeling of delight proceeds from having gotten "unstuck" and back into the flow of life, wonder, joy, and "surprise". The great alternative to power is creative ecstasy and the practice of beauty (a gracious yet radical harmlessness in daily life). Yeshua said something once, something like this: "Love is all around, but still you do not see." Talk about a Mindfulness Training! We live, move, and have our very being immersed in One Love -- Who is everywhere and everything... Who is the Only Reality -- nothing exists independent of "This". If this is true, then ecstasy is the path forward into this revolutionary delight. Rumi talks about the reed pulled from the stream bed and of how it longs to return to its source. This longing for intimacy and identification with the Beloved is the key for unlocking the treasures of the heart and for the ecstasy that will power the transformation that this moment in time holds out for us. Ecstasy is the conscious, deliberate cultivation of sacred imagination for the liberation of this Planet and the life that it supports. And ecstasy, as the activating energy of creative imagination, even offers the possibility of the redemption of Time itself by un-creating "evil", the negative, the destructive, and the "ugly" (in the long run, so much for the dominator paradigm and its practitioners...). Ecstasy, as "the Way", means to cultivate the plaintive longing of the reed: it means to risk everything for the chance / opportunity to love! This bowl of soup freely given with no expectation of "results" or "success" is enough. This deep bow of respect for the "other" is enough; this welcoming of the illegal immigrant, of the LGBT, of the Palestinian as equal to the Jew and the Muslim as equal to the Christian, is enough. This kind word, this momentary embrace of a wounded being, this counsel in distress, this uplifted thought, it is all enough. Ecstasy is the deliberate removal of barriers in our own minds and hearts, and then outward into our communities. Ecstasy can activate a sustainable revolutionary movement with which this precious blue Planet can be saved... Ecstasy is understanding that at the sub-atomic level, everything is very "loose". It all interpenetrates. It makes the rounds from star-seed to life-seed... we've all gone from algae, to this moment, and to the brink of ecstasy (who knows, but maybe we'll all go back again)... On the metaphysical level, the Divine Whole is the one reality of which everything is. This Love beckons with all the ardor of a secret lover wanting out of the closet! This Love shares the ecstasy of remembrance: this glance, this word, this touch, this kiss... this act of service, kindness, compassion, justice... this moment is pregnant with the possibilities of a revolutionary transformation: and here's the key, "Only One". In every way let this become your prayer, your politics, your passion, and your play. The sufi way of putting all of this is "La Illah, 'Il Allahu"... which is another way of saying you are in a car going down the road. But the road is inside of you, and you've already arrived home... so get loose, get out of your skin and out of any other boundary or box in which you have placed yourself, and rejoice... An Alternative Sixth Mindfulness Training: Aware that I am alive and of the preciousness of time, I am choosing to live with ecstasy and to serve others, and all life, with compassion, kindness, and holy joy. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast. -- Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There I find the older I get, the greater power I have to help the world. I am like a snowball -- the further I am rolled, the more I gain. -- Susan B. Anthony Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. -- A. Lincoln To leave mass suffering unattended is to signal that life itself is without value. Our children will be safe when children everywhere are safe, and when they are empowered to pursue their hopes and dreams. How thrilling that we can be part of that transformation. --Jeffrey Sachs Come out of the circle of time and into the circle of love. -- Rumi It is. We are it. We forget. We remember. -- Rev. Ellen Grace O'Brian Question of the Week (as if you really need one more): How can we guarantee equal rights and equal opportunities for women, for racial and ethnic minorities, for ALL minorities? Practice for the Week: Write a letter to someone you love; write Kiss More on your forehead in red lipstick and wear it for a day (just kidding)... but do schedule an ecstasy hour, family meal, or community celebration during this next week... plan on making ecstasy a plank in your personal revolutionary platform... Recommended Reading: Urgent Message from Mother, by Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D. Hoodwinked, by John Perkins The Great Turning, by David C. Korten The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck With love and New Year's Blessings, Michelle and Robert "In the Name of the Holy One, Boundlessly Compassionate... Boundlessly Merciful... Beauty within Beauty within Beauty..." |
AuthorRobert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time Companion of the Way still dreaming... Archives
May 2022
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