Celtic Prayer of the Senses

Meeting God Face to Face

Prayer of Presence

  

The majority of Spiritual Traditions all 

 emphasise a sense of the presence of 

  the Mystery,  we call God by so many names.

  In Celtic Spirituality this  MYSTERY is often

  referred to as PRESENCE  .  

  

In  other words a sense of an Indwelling Spirit or Presence

Prayer and Presence  are two of the 4 essential Ps of Celtic Spirituality .  The other two being Place and Pilgrimage.

 These Four Ps, inform and include all aspects of Celtic Spirituality  They underpin the whole Celtic Approach to Spirituality and its many Spiritual Practices or Sadhanas.( Sanskrit for Spiritual Practice) 

In Celtic Spirituality, Prayer is seen as an on-going and constant sense of being present to the Mystery both within and without. Every moment and every action or thought can be seen as Prayer. There is no distinction between Normal Life and Religious or Prayer life. That is modern , mainly Western, dualism. The Celts, share many of the ideas and concepts of Eastern Spiritual Traditions 

Prayer is not merely seen as an action that requires one to kneel or to go to a special 'place of worship'   Neither does it require special formulations or words.   It is an attitude of relationship with the Indwelling Presence and one that requires both a Heart and Mind connection.

The following  Prayer/ Practice, that uses the senses,   can be a helpful aid in any Practice of the presence of the Presence.

The practice can be done either sitting, lying down or standing.  It can be particularly effective if done standing out in Nature.

Modern Neuroscience emphasises the importance of 'holding'  each of the  5 short 'prayers' for at least 5 seconds.

An easy way to do this is the 'hold' each moment/movement for 3 slow rounds of breathing 

Prayer for Openness

 
Gently touch finger tips to forehead as you say either aloud or silently:

"Open my mind to remember Your Presence"







Gently touch or place your fingertips to your lips and silently say 

" Open my mouth to speak Your Wisdom"



Touch your heart with the palm of your hand as you say:

"Open my heart to extend Your Love"

Hold our your open hands , palms up, together as you silently say

"Open my hands to serve You generously"



Finally , with arms open wide, standing firm and aware of your presence say:

"Open my whole being to You"

Enjoy Being Loved

Reflections for the Spiritual Traveller

Each of us is an unique human being born out of LOVE. We all come from the One Source - the Mystery we call God by 1000 names.

The following is another quote or saying from  the Teaching of Sister Ishpriya - the Spiritual Guide of the International Satsang Association

It focuses on our need to ENJOY!  the life we have been granted

 

The Flow of Life

The Stream of Life

 Using the analogy of life as a stream can be helpful. It encapsulates the dynamic flow of life. Sometimes it is in full flood and at other times it flows more slowly and often it seems to stand still.

In our continuing reflections on the Spiritual Journey, the following quote from Sister Ishpriya points out how we can live each day. It is a quote about a little stream

The Little Stream 

We hope you find this reflection helpful. Until the next reflection - Peace and Joy on the Journey

Reflection - Who Am I ?

BRIEF REPORT ON SATSANG MEETING - 

Who Am I ?

The question of WHO AM I? was the theme for our recent meeting in Satsang held on Sat  14th May 2016.  This is a perennial question for Spiritual Travellers. 

So often we can get caught  with the ' False Ego Self' and fail to see the True Self.  Our meeting focused mainly on a Video clip from Sister Ishpriya    from her current You Tube series on Reflecting  With Ishpriya on a New Way of Liiving

 You can view the talk by clicking on the following link  WHO AM I ?

The video led to some Personal Reflection and then followed some shared reflections. This focused on both the TRUE and FALSE Self. T

he following Poem by  the Bengali Poet and Mystic  Tagore   summed up the 'shadow' side that is our False Self

 Over the past few weeks and in the coming weeks, a series of short reflections have been , and will be,  posted on this Blog. 
Many will contain short extracts from the teaching of Sister Ishpriya. designed to focus on the importance of staying awake to the Present Moment , where one can glimpse the Real Self

DAY OF REFLECTION - Compassion

SATSANG ASSOCIATION DAY OF REFLECTION Saturday 18th June 2016       10.30 - 4.30 Friends Meeting House - Wolverhampton

The principles of compassion and love  lie at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all as we wish to be treated ourselves.   Love and Compassion are two sides of the same coin. They are  Verbs not adjectives and thus require both Contemplation and Action.

This Day of Reflection will provide an opportunity to look at the vital importance of compassionate love  as a way of addressing   the many challenges facing our human family. We will have both video and other input  from various Spiritual Traditions focusing on  Radical  Compassion .  There will also be time for Personal Reflection and Sharing

THIS IS AN OPEN EVENT – ALL ARE WELCOME

PLEASE BRING A PACKED LUNCH

Suggested Contribution  is £5 (to cover costs)

SATSANG        Seeking Together – Helping to Create

A Planetary Vision  - A Universal Heart of Compassion

The Gift of each Moment, each Day

MINDFUL AWARENESS

Staying Awake to the Present Moment

( Advise for the Journey)

 Both Neurosciences and the wisdom of the Mystics of all Traditions, advise us on the benefits of staying awake to the present moment.  

The current emphasis , and some may suggest 'fad' of Mindfulness , is neither 'new' nor rare. It is a very ancient wisdom that is rooted in Humanity's early evolutionary journey. All the great cultures and Traditions have Mindful or Awareness Practices.  Teachings and Practices from the Aboriginal Peoples, Native Americans, Celts, Buddhists, Hindus and the Sufis of Islam. are widely available.

Consequently, the Spiritual Traveller  has available a wide variety of Mindful Practices. Essentially, it is all about the Practice of Staying Awake to the Present moment. The following is a 'quote' from Sister Ishpriya - The Spiritual Guide of the International Satsang Association- on the simple, but important, gift of the Present Moment . 

This is a 'gift' that comes to each of us if we can intersperse throughout each day the practice of  remaining awake and ready. If we do so an  listen carefully, then we may hear the soft sound of the Mystery we call God by a thousand names..

The Spiritual Traveller

ONLY THE GOING :- The Spiritual Traveller

 Pilgrimage exists in all Spiritual Traditions. It emphasises the importance of the outer Journey as both a Reflection of, and Metaphor for, the Inner Journey.

Although travelling with Companions ( as in Satsang) is important, essentially we each travel alone. Sister Ishpriya often teaches about and emphasises this point. Two  short quotes , one above and the 2nd below,  from Ishpriya's many  Pravachans ( Conference talks) emphasise the essential nature of the Journey and the inner attitude of the Spiritual Traveller .

This week, we in Satsang, wish all who read this short Reflection,  a Peaceful and Joyful Journey.

FINDING THE TRUE SELF

 REAL or TRUE SELF   versus  The FALSE SELF

The Journey to find the Real Self

We are each 'challenged' by life's questions, to begin to recognise that our 'Self Image' is merely a projection of our Ego or False Self.

As we mature, our task, in life,  is to begin to drop the false self images and recognise that our TRUE or REAL SELF is something quite different.

This is the journey for the 2nd Half of life and one that is a Theme for this month's Satsang Meeting.


PLEASE NOTE   The term' 2nd half of life' is used to denote our need to develop a Mature and Adult Spirituality. One where we take Responsibility fort our Journey. 
It IS NOT age dependent. Maturity  can come at ANY age. 

Further reflections will follow in the next few weeks

Seeing Light in All

The Indwelling Presence

 Recognising the Indwelling Presence in all we greet 

 

The Search for the True Self

WHO AM I ?

This is the Theme of our Satsang Meeting on Sat 14th May in Wolverhampton.

Thomas Merton, arguably one of the greatest Christian Mystics of the past few centuries, has this to say about the choice that faces all on the Spiritual Journey. 

We will reflect on this and much more on Saturday.

WHO AM I?

SATSANG Sat 14th May

1.30 - 4.30 p.m.

Friends Meeting House

Wolverhampton