What Does Your Home Look Like: On The Inside, Of Course?
One particular day, while planning the soup of the day, I received a call from a long-time donor wanting to know if I could drop by his home to pick up a check. Right away I said "Yes!" for two reasons: the first being, we were always in something near desparate need; and secondly, his checks had his business logo of interior decoration... I really liked the thought of seeing what the house of an interior decorator would look like...
Later, when I knocked on his door, he welcomed me into his home: I was very surprised to see that everything was white... white walls, white carpets, and white furnishings... not a speck of either dirt or fuzz, and nothing out of place... And then there is the above photograph of perhaps a bohemian den... which got me to thinking about how life tends to decorate our minds, hearts, and souls... and our own personal soul-spiritual decorations...
In building your sacred life, you are in fact, a spiritual interior decorator... Our interior decorations are the various means that we employ to live as happily and as well as we can. Our attention to those things that assist in the maintenance of our happiness are, again, in fact, our actual spiritual life... The secret is develop a certain rhythm to our maintenance... Rhythm is a pleasant word, whereas "routine" sounds (and is) both boring and limiting: we naturally want to feel expansive...
To me, white walls, white carpets, and white furnishings are limiting: I want color, art, books, pillows, music, plants, animals, candles, incense, blankets, and furnishings that invite lounging and conversation... I love the sensual! And even though I have never had much money, I have always tried to live as a rich poet: rich in welcoming, in conversation, and in possibilities... this wealth has mirrored the treasures of my heart: a loving companion, loving children, and the great gift of some incredibly dear friendships... And this carries over into my spiritual interior decorations... As we construct our environments, so too, we are building our sacred life as a continuance of flow... doing and being, both, are energy and consciousness... both are the means to maintenance and expansion... through it all, we are breathing...
Our breath is our primary interior decoration. Attention to our breath, as it was true for the ancient masters and sages, can lead us into an increasing awareness of the Oneness that is the very structure of the Universe... Oneness is the non-dual nature of Reality... It is a philosophical leap that Western culture cannot really even imagine, for our religions, economics, and politics are all rooted in either / or, and good / bad, dualities... But here we have a choice: we can step away from the Western antipathy to the body and reclaim our divinely natural unity of body and soul... Attention to breath is our primary method of interior decoration / contemplative practice...
Finally, what awakens and releases the storehouse of bliss that is your essential nature? The sooner we seriously ponder this question will we be able to relax and have a good laugh... And so we begin to gently cultivate the many opportunities for "little blisses" that might come our way: we look for them as we anticipate them. Relaxing into a humble breath-prayer inevitably leads to a gentle surrender into a general feeling of adoration and intoxication within the Divine Beloved: then, everything becomes an interior decoration... everything becomes an icon of the Divine Oneness: the only surprise in all of this is when we are startled by the revelation that we should kiss more: kiss the cup that holds the water we drink, kiss the secrets of our lover, kiss the trees along the paths we walk, kiss the songs of the birds in flight, kiss everything kind, gentle, humble, gracious, welcoming, and thankful as an icon that has its place in our plethora of interior decorations...
One particular day, while planning the soup of the day, I received a call from a long-time donor wanting to know if I could drop by his home to pick up a check. Right away I said "Yes!" for two reasons: the first being, we were always in something near desparate need; and secondly, his checks had his business logo of interior decoration... I really liked the thought of seeing what the house of an interior decorator would look like...
Later, when I knocked on his door, he welcomed me into his home: I was very surprised to see that everything was white... white walls, white carpets, and white furnishings... not a speck of either dirt or fuzz, and nothing out of place... And then there is the above photograph of perhaps a bohemian den... which got me to thinking about how life tends to decorate our minds, hearts, and souls... and our own personal soul-spiritual decorations...
In building your sacred life, you are in fact, a spiritual interior decorator... Our interior decorations are the various means that we employ to live as happily and as well as we can. Our attention to those things that assist in the maintenance of our happiness are, again, in fact, our actual spiritual life... The secret is develop a certain rhythm to our maintenance... Rhythm is a pleasant word, whereas "routine" sounds (and is) both boring and limiting: we naturally want to feel expansive...
To me, white walls, white carpets, and white furnishings are limiting: I want color, art, books, pillows, music, plants, animals, candles, incense, blankets, and furnishings that invite lounging and conversation... I love the sensual! And even though I have never had much money, I have always tried to live as a rich poet: rich in welcoming, in conversation, and in possibilities... this wealth has mirrored the treasures of my heart: a loving companion, loving children, and the great gift of some incredibly dear friendships... And this carries over into my spiritual interior decorations... As we construct our environments, so too, we are building our sacred life as a continuance of flow... doing and being, both, are energy and consciousness... both are the means to maintenance and expansion... through it all, we are breathing...
Our breath is our primary interior decoration. Attention to our breath, as it was true for the ancient masters and sages, can lead us into an increasing awareness of the Oneness that is the very structure of the Universe... Oneness is the non-dual nature of Reality... It is a philosophical leap that Western culture cannot really even imagine, for our religions, economics, and politics are all rooted in either / or, and good / bad, dualities... But here we have a choice: we can step away from the Western antipathy to the body and reclaim our divinely natural unity of body and soul... Attention to breath is our primary method of interior decoration / contemplative practice...
Finally, what awakens and releases the storehouse of bliss that is your essential nature? The sooner we seriously ponder this question will we be able to relax and have a good laugh... And so we begin to gently cultivate the many opportunities for "little blisses" that might come our way: we look for them as we anticipate them. Relaxing into a humble breath-prayer inevitably leads to a gentle surrender into a general feeling of adoration and intoxication within the Divine Beloved: then, everything becomes an interior decoration... everything becomes an icon of the Divine Oneness: the only surprise in all of this is when we are startled by the revelation that we should kiss more: kiss the cup that holds the water we drink, kiss the secrets of our lover, kiss the trees along the paths we walk, kiss the songs of the birds in flight, kiss everything kind, gentle, humble, gracious, welcoming, and thankful as an icon that has its place in our plethora of interior decorations...
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