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Contemplative Living As Continuous Inner Renewal - 9/25/2014

9/29/2014

2 Comments

 
It never ceases to amaze me by how blessed groups like ours are that allow folks to deeply and openly share in the trust that they will be heard openly and compassionately by all those listening. It is a genuine witnesses to true depth of spirit that exists in the world and our genuine need for community.

I commend those who participated in Holy Listening, you did a wonderful job of understanding and using this method of opening yourselves to the Spirit and I sensed movements of the Spirit in what we all shared. 

It was wonderful to hear so many folks comment about their experiences and reflections on last session's theme. I found this video of "Give Me Your Eyes" about which one of our members spoke. The song came into her mind while reflecting on her way home from out last evening session and then proceeded to come on the radio as she drove. God does some amazingly surprising things.
We spent a good deal of time reflecting on Pilgrimage as not just a trip from A to B but as a journey of transformation on the way to a sacred destination. We discussed Pilgrimage as a series of sacred steps. When we look at life as a Pilgrimage we find the sacred by being fully open and present to life's ordinary events. I've attached Tolstoy's pilgrimage story of Two Old Men here that speaks simply of the Pilgrimage experience.
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The term difficult consolation was used to describe how transformative and healing a difficult family encounter was that triggered vulnerability in one party and unexpected tenderness in others.

The topic of the evening's readings was transcending the limited understanding we all have of what it means to be human beings in community. The readings talk about the spiritual awakening of mind and heart. In New Seeds of Contemplation Merton wrote: "Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name."  


In decades of work spent building on the foundations of Thomas Merton, the Christian Contemplative tradition and modern psychology, Fr. Thomas Keating has developed an understanding of the Human Condition. His work explains how humans build to the false self system through early life experiences and socially constructed realities associated with their families, communities and the societies they grow up in. An over-reliance on satisfying false self system needs (safety/security, affection/esteem, power/control) in order to achieve happiness is enforced by ego. The Human Condition gets in the way of our True self which knows joy through Selflessness and True Love. The Spiritual Journey is the process of our false self dying and continual rebirth to our True self. This inner renewal is the an ongoing discarding the layers of false self just like "old snake skin". 

Many people were touched by how Marcus J. Borg's reading demonstrated the universally the theme of "daily dying and rising with Christ" was across different faith traditions. The following examples come from the Another Voice reading:
  • Christianity: "If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, renounce yourself, and take up your cross every day and follow me." (Luke 9:23)
  • Judaism: Following "the way" involves a new heart, a new self-centered in God.
  • Islam: Surrender one's life to God by radically centering in God. Muhammad is reported to have said, "Die (spiritually) before you die (physically)."
  • The heart of the Buddhist path is "letting go". According to the Tao te Ching, "If you want to become full, let yourself become empty; if you want to be reborn, let yourself die."

Finally, we had a discussion about Saint Benedict's Rule for Monks which instructed monks to remember every day that they would die. As we discussed this, there was unanimous agreement that reflecting on our death was a very positive reminder to live life to the fullest, to remember Psalm 118: "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.". We were reminded that we can be so deadly serious with ourselves and our sacred journey through life that we lose site of joy and gentleness that is the fullness of life and the purpose to which God created us. 

As we shared, I was reminded of a similar, end of day quote used in Buddhism which served to remind practitioners that they had 24 hours less to live but I could not find the exact quote. Instead, I found a quote by Thích Nhat Hanh  which is reminded me of the Psalm:
  • “Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion.” 
2 Comments
Mike Smoolca
10/5/2014 06:25:19 am

In the week since I posted my last Blog entry, I kept coming back to humility as the virtue by which we let go of the (false) self need to make judgments. Judgment, by its nature is self-centered and self-serving and often leads to the negative emotions of anxiety, hate, envy, etc. When I suspend judgment I remain open to the reality of life’s situations and therefore am able to truly encounter myself, God and others just as we are present in those moments of reality.

As I further reflected on the notion that God wants us to be happy in life, I came to see happiness as the peace and joy found in fully experiencing life with the variety of emotions (easy or difficult) that arise from life’s experience. God’s gift of life to each of us is the full richness of our life experiences and our ability to share in the richness of experience with a community of others.

If I remain fully open to life, without judgment, I become aware of the promptings of God’s Spirit which guides me to act from my True self.

I believe that this Sunday’s second reading from the letter of Paul to the Philippians (4:6-9) serves as a reminder: “Brothers and sisters: Have no anxiety at all… Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds…” There is also a Zen story which I am reminded regarding staying open to life without making judgments:

Once upon the time there was an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.
“Maybe,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed.
“Maybe,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune.
“Maybe,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.
“Maybe,” said the farmer.

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Mike Smoolca
10/8/2014 10:11:59 am

Today I realized that truly letting go of judging leads to a fundamental transformation of the Spiritual Journey that allows me to accept and acknowledge Mystery. The Mystery that is God, the Mystery in the world and the Mystery of myself. When I can get beyond my own self-centered need to explain everything (which is useful and necessary for my survival in the ordinary, day-to-day world) I open myself to the Unknown and accept Mystery as something that does not require particular explanation. As I get beyond my need to explain, I open myself to the Spiritual virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. I go beyond trying to understand, explain and justify Mystery (something I may never truly be able to do) to simply being comfortable with experiencing God in and as Mystery. Being able to trust that with God, all is good although I cannot understand it, allows me to be grateful for those things I allow myself to openly experience. As Merton notes:

To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything God has given us - and God has given us everything.

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    Paul Uccello and I have been facilitating the Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton program at the  Spiritual Life Center in West Hartford CT since the Spring of 2013. I've begun posting reflections from these workshops here starting in Fall 2014.

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