Sacredness of Life & Creation

 The Sacredness of Creation and of Life

We live in a world where humanity is struggling with many issues and in many ways seems to be facing an some existential choices. Many of the Mystics and Sages , both from the past and present consider that humanity has taken a ‘wrong turn’ on its evolutionary path. It has branched off from the natural path of evolution and seems headed for a destructive and very negative dead end or cul-de-sac. This could lead to the total destruction of our human family. There are many indicators that highlight this destructive path, but here are three stark examples of crises that our human family needs to honestly face:

                    The Crisis of our Environment - 

as we abuse and misuse our planet - Mother Earth 

                    The Crisis of Violence and Destruction.
                                we live on a world that is far too violent and self-destructive

                    The Crisis of our lack of compassion

( for more on these 3 issues  , and particularly the first  two, see  the resources page  www.satsang-companionship.org uk and the two articles Rooted in Mystery)

Our Crisis of Compassion

It is the last of these that this post wants to briefly address. This lack of compassion  highlights our failure to see who we really are and our intimate connectedness with all. As Carl Sagan notes,.

 The Cosmos is also within us. We are made of Star Stuff.  We are a way for the Cosmos to Know itself’   

Thus the first two crisis are iner-connected with and rooted in the 3rd crisis - that of our lack of  compassion for self and others.
  

Humanity has evolved over hundreds and thousands of years and, as a species, we have a great capacity for empathy and compassion.  Increasinglt, neuro-science is providing more and more evidence that traces the evolutionary growth of our brain and its remarkable capacity for connection. This requires both Empathy and Compassion.However, the Patriarchal lust for power over and  the growth in  fundamentalism 'blocks' or diverts this great Heart - Mind human capacity.

We can see this in the current growth in both materialism and fundamentalism all around our planet. It impacts on politics, religion and all areas of human endeavour. In our rapidly changing world with its many crisis , it is an example of  how human beings, particularly when faced with complex crises, tend to block out or ignore them. They do this in a variety of ways and a favourite 'defence' or 'diversion' is to focus on issues that are not essential or immediate. This has led to a common human syndrome of ' sorting the deckchairs on the sinking Titanic.'    We panic and instead of accepting personal responsibility, we begin the dualistic 'blame game' with its my way is better than yours and 'its not my fault, its your fault.'

We forget the ancient wisdom of our inter-connectedness. So aptly  and beautifully expressed in these words from the Katha Upanishad ( from the Hindu Vedanta)

There are not many but only one.

Who seeks variety and not the unity,

Wanders on from death to death.

I was reflecting on much of the current news and the challenges faced by the fundamental lack of compassion. By chance, I came across the following reflections by Reina Parada. Reina, is a Satsang Member from California. Many years ago she generously shared these reflections, which were published in our ( now out of print) Satsang Newsletter - Indwelling. I re-issue this and record my thanks to Reina as she reflects on her feelings of SACREDNESS written in 2006.

SACREDNESS A Reflection by Reina Parada ( 2006)

Every moment is sacred Every moment is to be revered It is Thursday, early morning The house is still Everybody sleeps And I feel the sacredness of the Early morning at dawn I looked at the window and all The trees seemed to be captured In a perfect picture That remained still in time It is dawn Not a sound is heard yet The birds are sleeping The plum tree in the garden, My old friend, Seems to meditate along with Everything around I walk quietly I do not want to break the precious Sacredness I feel in this moment All of a sudden The stillness I feel Around me Embraces me in a silent hug And, like if I was in the arms Of my love I closed my eyes And I felt With my whole being and with all my gut How precious every moment is Because only for that instant I was able to touch briefly the heart The heart of the Oneness that IS And pervades everything that is and Exists I bowed in my heart with a deep reverence To the silent sacredness of this moment For feeling the pristine music of silence That constitutes every single moment Of what we call life

It is the same heart embracing All the colors spread on earth In every form and shape of creation This moment is sacred Because it IS This moment is sacred A child is being born Somewhere in the planet Someone is dying Somewhere in the planet Someone is loving Somewhere in the planet Someone is crying Somewhere in this planet Someone is laughing Somewhere in this planet Someone is sleeping Somewhere in this planet Someone is dancing Somewhere in this planet Life and death Pain and joy Sadness and happiness All the colors of the spectrum Of emotions and feelings And, unfortunately, Someone is dying Somewhere in this planet Because of violence and hatred…. The moment we break The sacredness of this moment That moment we bring Pain to others Either in thought or in action We have become irreverent to the only reality that IS But, every moment we live We have the opportunity To realize, at least for the split of A second, The sacredness of this moment And rejoice and sing in praise For all that IS