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| Sister Ishpriya :- ISA Spiritual Guide |
A Group of us met in Satsang on Saturday 14th May to reflect on the twin issues of Deep Listening and Silence. Our day was a balance of Movement & Dance , Input , Reflection and Stillness . It was'split' into two complementary sessions. In the morning we focused on Deep Listening and in the afternoon we turned our attention to Sound & Silence.
These sessions were based on a DVD Retreat given by Sister Ishpriya ( the Spiritual Guide of the International Satsang Association ).It has the title The Grass Grows by Itself.
DANCING TO THE MYSTERY OF LIFE;-
The essence of our day, and of Ishpryia's message, was about the Mystery of life dancing within each of us. But first, the connection between this, our Zen saying, and our dancing on the day.
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BLESSING
A Dancing Figure |
If you have ever seen a prairie or a vast expanse of grassland ,either at dawn or dusk, you may have experienced the grass dancing. Very often, as the sun either rises or sets, the change in temperature can lead to an increase in wind speed. When this happens, as it has so often happened to me, it is good to just stand or sit and observe the grass move in a rhythmic wave across the horizon. It can seem like a 'dance of nature'.
I was reminded of this during our Day of Reflection , both when we watched the two talks from Ishpriya and when I looked at the selection of symbols in the Centrepiece we used during our sessions. This Centerpiece was a symbolic representation of both the day itself and the input from Ishpriya and part of this was a figure of a dancer. This brings me to a more detailed look at our Centrepiece.
OUR SYMBOLIC CENTREPIECE
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| Designed and Laid Out by Angela Creagh |
The Centrepiece was designed and laid out by Angela Creagh ( see the picture above ) . It consisted of a crescent of stones , a Candle,a Flower and a miniature Zen Rock Garden. Facing the Garden is a figure of a dancer.This dancer represents BLESSING. During the day, we moved around this centrepiece as we enjoyed some gentle Circle Dancing and some Meridian Energy Balancing exercises.
Session 1 :
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| Learning by Listening to a Stone |
Teaching A Stone to Talk
DEEP LISTENING
Using our Senses
Our first session opened up with a gentle dance or movement to music. This was led by Angela , as she introduced us to some dances she had experienced on one of the Circle Dancing Retreats she had attended. As we gently circled around the room , and our centrepiece, I could feel a sense of focused awareness. The gentle, rhythmic movement began to centre me and was an excellent opening preparation for the day -
We were then led, by Angela, in a 10 minute practice of Pranayama or breath awareness and control. This focusing on the breath - which Buddhist suggest is the 'bridge' between our outer and inner world, was a gentle and powerful mindfulness exercise that settled us down to listen to the first of Ishpriya's Talks.
Theme One :- Teaching a Stone to Talk In her talk, Ishpriya recounted a story from Annie Dillard. This was about a young man who lived on an island amongst an artistic community. His main goal in life was his attempt to teach a stone to talk. Others in the Community had mixed feelings about his goal, from derision, through anxiety, sadness and hopeful sympathy. Ishpriya reminded us, that this young man was an example of a common human urge, the urge to impose our will on Reality. This young man was trying to 'force' the stone to conform to his control.
She contrasted this, seemingly hopeless and foolish endeavour , with that of the Zen Monks who, instead of attempting to teach a stone to talk, spent their time 'listening' to a stone. She reminded us of the famous Zen Gardens, where rocks were laid out in a symmetrical and symbolic manner on a bed of sand or small pebbles. Around this Zen Garden were places to sit and meditate One famous Zen Sadhana , or spiritual practice' , is to sit in Zen Meditation looking at a rock in a Zen Garden. In this way, Zen Monks sit in silent 'practice' and are willing to 'be taught' by the stone.
She contrasted the young man in Dillard's story with that of the Zen Monks and suggested that some important differences were :
YOUNG MAN ZEN MONKS
He was trying to teach They are willing to learn
He was trying to talk They are willing to listen
He was trying to impose his will They are surrendering to the present moment
Ishpriya suggested that we needed to be guided more by the Zen Monks than the young Westerner. We needed to develop our capacity for 'deep listening'. This was a willingness to listen with our Body-Mind and Spirit. We needed to develop our capacity to listen with all of our senses; with our eyes, our ears, our touch, taste and smell and, above all, with our heart of awareness. I was reminded of the following quotation from Nitsch on listening:-
I listen and hear the silence,
I listen and see the silence
I listen and taste the silence
I listen and smell the silence
I listen and embrace the silence.
We all have the capacity and ability for this form of deep listening.'deep listening' we begin to both understand and communicate with ourselves and others at this deep , inter-connected and mutually compassionate and personal level.
Our Day of Reflection continued with a time for silent and personal reflection on this theme of deep listening. After this we returned to share on our reflections and journey before we broke for lunch. We shared on the importance of deep listening at all levels of Body-Mind and Spirit. The need to listen to the Exterior as well as our Interior. We discussed how failure to do so can add to our stress and how stress can be a great barrier to deep listening.
Session 2
God ( Brahman) is both Sound and Silence
Maitri Upanishad
( Upanishad comes from Sanskrit and simply means
‘ To sit at the feet of the Master’ )
God is Sound and Silence
It is the Silence that is the end of the journey,
A Silence of Joy,
where pain and suffering are no more.
It is through Sound that we go to Silence
The Silence of God ( Brahman)
For God is both Sound and Silence
The quote from the Maitri Upanishad sets the scene for the theme of our afternoon session .
But before we began to listen to Ishpriya's 2nd talk, Angela led us in a Meridian Balancing Exercise . This was something she wanted to share with us from her experiences on several Retreats/Workshops she had attended. She reminded us that we are Energy and that this energy can either get 'blocked' or unbalanced. So we began our afternoon with some energising, balancing and enjoyable exercises to ensure that we were all 'Wide Awake ! and prepared to enter once more into the centre of our being to where the mystery of the energy of life is flowing.
GOD ( Brahman) is both SOUND and SILENCE
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A Simple Meditation Gong or Singing Bowl
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Theme Two :- Ishpriya began to address the theme of Sound and Silence. She reminded us that , the sound of a Meditation Gong at the BEGINNING and END of our Meditation Practice , was not merely to signal its beginning and end, it had a much deeper and more important message. Whenever we ' invited the Gong to speak' ( for me it was a beautiful way of expressing the sounding of the gong) , we were inviting ourselves to move from the SOUND into the SILENCE and then, at the end, from the SILENCE back into the SOUND
She advised us to begin to recognise that God ( Brahman, Ultimate Reality , by whatever name we call IT) was in everything - both sound and silence. It was then that she used the quotation from the Maitri Upanishad ( see above ). She also emphasised the importance for each of us to begin to distinguish between SOUND and Noise. This was an important difference, particularly in our modern world of 24/7 business, communication and activity. What was NOISE for me could be a beautiful SOUND for another, and vice versa. We also needed to begin to recognise both External and Internal NOISE and SOUND.
She suggested that a simple definition of both could be as follows :- NOISE could be any sound that did not convey a meaningful message for each of us. Therefore SOUND could be a meaningful noise and method of communication for us all. In listening to the real SOUNDS , at both the INTERNAL and EXTERNAL levels, within and around u s; we could enter into more meaningful communication with ourselves, others , our environment and with Absolute Reality ( God)
True communication could only begin to happen when we could damp down the noise and thus be more aware of the various SOUNDS in our life. In addition , if we could move from SOUND into SILENCE we could begin to engage more meaningfully in our inner contemplative life. This was a life of true relationship with the Mystery, the flow of Life within and around us.
We then had a period of personal and silent reflection before we came together to share about our experiences of the day. Our sharing was wide ranging and covered the importance of sharing with like - minded people on our Spiritual Journey. The importance of both LISTENING and COMMUNICATING at the Heart - to - Heart level . How every time we shared we revealed something of ourselves that was normally hidden behind the many ' Masks' we put in place. These 'masks' can be important to protect us but they can also be a barrier to true communication. In addition, whenever we managed to deeply listen to another, they too were sharing something of their own uniqueness, their own vulnerability and their own giftedness.
Our sharing was then finished with the following quotation. This is one Ishpriya has used in other talks on the importance of deep listening and particularly on the importance of being a disciple and having the humility to sit and learn at the foot of the Master.
LISTEN LIKE A DISCIPLE
The Lord has given me a disciple's tongue
That I might speak words of comfort to the weary
Each day He wakes me, he wakes me early
To listen, to listen like a disciple.
( Isaiah 50 )
We then ended our Day of Reflection led by Angela in a gentle Circle Dance. This was based on the following version of the Ancient Celtic Blessing, As we listened to and sang along with this 'blessing' we moved gently around our Centrepiece on which stood the beautiful Figure of BLESSING
MAY THE ROAD RISE UP
May the Road Rise with you
May the wind be always at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
And the Rain fall gently on your fields
Until we meet again
May God hold you in the Hollow of His/Her Hand
Our day then ended and we departed until we meet again at our next Satsang on : ;
Saturday 11th June :- 1.30 - 4.30 p.m.
Friends Meeting House
Wolverhampton
Further details on this, its theme and content, will be published shortly on this Blog. For other details please go to our Website , where you will find directions to the Friends Meeting House.
If you wish to contact us, then either use the Website Contact link or contact our Area Co-Ordinator Angela Creagh at the following email address -
