ONLY THE MYSTICS WILL SURVIVE - Outline

ONLY THE MYSTICS WILL SURVIVE

“The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me;

my eye and God's eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love.”

Meister Eckhart (13^th Century Christian Mystic)
,

These are some notes and reflections based  on two main sources.  The first ,and primary source, is  a series of talks delivered by Ishpriya Mataji,(the Spiritual Guide and Founder of the International SatsangAssociation) at a John Main Conference   held in Dublin, Ireland. The second is personal reflection and lived experience. The Conference talks were recorded and, along with some of  these notes, were used to support a series  of Satsang Meeting  (in Wolverhampton, UK). These  meetings focused on the crisis currently facing most formal Religious Traditions in this post-modern era.

Many leading figures of the modern mystical movement contend that only those who face the challenges and questions that arise out of our modern era will survive.  We are currently undergoing major shifts in our consciousness and  a massive growth in our scientific, cosmological and theological awareness and knowledge. This faces us with many challenges and opportunities. The Faith Traditions can help but  very often, in their struggle to maintain and retain their influence, they  merely give formal and  ready packaged theological answers to the questions. Very often these answers address questions which seekers are neither seeking nor  asking.

But first let us look at the word ‘ Mystic’. The following  dictionary definitions of  MYSTIC are ..

‘ Of or relating to mysticism or mystics.’

‘Inspiring a sense of mystery and wonder’.

‘A person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the Absolute’

These definitions give some sense of the essence of mysticism and mystics. They also indicate the root connection with the word mystery.  Spiritual sages, saints and prophets throughout time and from different traditions, all indicate that there is a MYSTERY behind Creation. It is this Mystery that has enthralled , and still enthralls, mystics in all cultures and Faith Traditions.

Ishpriya’s Conference Talks were delivered in six separate sessions. Over the next few weeks, our Satsang Blog will present  a series of Blog Posts which reflect on each of these talks. They will also include quotations and readings from a variety of Mystics to support the theme or topic being addressed. The following are the six themes :

Theme 1:      Listen to the Spirit: A movement into Mystical Consciousness.

Theme  2 –   Face to Face :- A Direct Experience of the Mystery

Theme  3 : –    The Signs of Mysticism.

Theme 4 : –    Our Common and Universal Spiritual  Inheritance.

Theme  5     Responses to Question Part One  - 
                     Developing a Mystical Consciousness

Theme  6 :- Responses to Question Part 2

                    Developing a Mystical Consciousness – The Importance of Meditation

In the time since we used these Conference talks  we have focused on many aspects of the Spiritual Journey and looked at a variety of Sadhana Practices ( Spiritual Practices) that assist us in developing both our awareness of, and relationship with, the Mystery we call God. We all have a 'mystical part' and each of us has experienced  times of being mystic. These Blog Posts will expand on previous notes and posts on this blog and on our Satsang Website.

The first of these Blog Posts will appear shortly.  Finally, when all 6 have been posted a pdf copy will be placed on the Resources  Documents Page of the website. Meanwhile, if you are interested in the Spirituality of the Satsang then visit the following websites :

www.international-satsang.org

www.satsang-companionship.org.uk

SILENCE & STILLNESS on the JOURNEY

REFLECTIONS ON OUR SATSANG MEETING

HELD ON SATURDAY 12th January 2013

SATSANG - Seeking Together - Helping to Create

A Planetary Vision and a Universal Heart of Compassion

Our local Satsang Meetings provide us with the opportunity to share, with other Spiritual Seekers, about  our Journey back to the Source or Mystery that lies behind Creation.  

On Saturday 12th January we met in Satsang at the Friends Meeting House in Wolverhampton for our first meeting of the new year.

Details of, our meetings  and other information on the Satsang, its spirituality and its ethos,  can be accessed via our local Website Our theme for the  meeting on Saturday  was :-

Silence and Stillness  on the Journey.

The following notes are meant to convey something of the spirit and events of our meeting

SHARING 

All Spiritual Seekers are aware that there is a Mystery or Source behind Creation. It is this Mystery that has drawn, and continues to draw,  seekers throughout time and from all Spiritual Traditions, Cultures and Faiths. This is the Mystery to which we are inherently attracted. This Mystery is well known to sages, saints, mystics and scientists. The opening sentence some of the following quotation from Einstein introduced our time together. Einstein, reflecting on the mysterious has this to say ...

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead — his eyes are closed. 

The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms—this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.”       

+Albert Einstein

The  Prophets, Sages and Mystics throughout the ages have advised Seekers that it is in Stillness and Silence that we can meet the Mystery we call God by many names.  One of our modern prophets was +Dom Heldar Camara  often referred to as ' The Archbishop to the Poor'  He was a Christian Teacher and Leader in South America and is widely recognised as a modern mystic. Camara wrote  widely on guidelines that could assist us to access the Mystery.  The following extract from his writings preceded our short Video Clip that explored the Mystery and our Theme on Stillness and Silence.

How poor you will remain until you discover

that you do not see best with open eyes.

How naive you will remain until you discover

that when your lips are closed,

there are silences richer than a torrent of words.

How clumsy you will remain until you understand

that joined hands can do far more than restless hands

which may inflict the unintended wound.

Heldar Camara

SILENCE & PRAYER 

There are many ways of accessing Silence and Stillness and many ways of meditation. The two important things to realise are ; first that no one way is any better than another and second, we must not confuse the PRACTICE e.g Meditation Practice , with the actual real experience of Meditation which is ultimately 'gift'. With this in mind we began to look at one form of Silent Prayer which is called Centering Prayer.  This form of Silent Prayer has been taught and championed by +Father Thomas Keating  a Trappist Christian Monk. 

We viewed two video clips. In the first Thomas Keating outlined the 4 main stages or steps in Centering Prayer. Now Centering Prayer is rooted in Christianity but its essential stages can readily be adapted by adherents of other Faith Traditions. It centres around the person finding a ' Sacred Word or Phrase' . In essence it is a form of Silent Prayer that encourages the practitioner to focus into the centre of their being , to what the Hindu Sages refer to as ' The Cave of the Heart'.  There we can meet the Unknown Mystery and as will happen, if thoughts and emotions distract, we return to a Sacred Word in order to retain our focus.

A  set of GUIDELINES FOR CENTERING PRAYER   are available to download from the Resources Page of our Website.

The 2nd Video clip was a conversation between  Fr Keating and +Ken Wilber with the title Spiritual not Religious    This was a wide ranging discussion from two Spiritual Masters or Teachers. Father Keating is a Christian Trappist Monk with more than 50 years experience of the Contemplative Life  and Ken Wilber is a renowned psychologist, philosopher and Integral Spiritual Teacher. 

Their sharing focused on the paradox of the Mystery and how we can only catch 'glimses' of this unknowable Source, we so readily refer to as 'God'. Keating  emphasised the struggle that we humans have to reject our 'false self' or ego and find our true self. He challenged the notion of 'sin' as so often portrayed in fundamental branches of religion. He suggested that what we called sin was merely times when we 'failed to reach the mark'.  This 'missing the mark' was an all too familiar human experience. This was caused by the fact that we all live  life with false and distorted self-images and thus fail to realise or recognise who we really are.

Our task was to enter the door of silence and stillness in order to find our true center. Over time, periods of silent prayer could assist us  in releasing the false images and feelings caused by  experiences and traumas in our past. In Christian terms, Thomas Keating  seems to me to be focusing on St Paul's advise that we try to seek our center and begin to see the Mystery with 'the eye of our heart'.  For me this seems somewhat similar to the Hindu concept of 'The Cave of the Heart' 

 Ken Wilber highlighted the various levels of spirituality and focused on recent research that indicated the difficulty. These levels' or 'Altitudes' range from Lawless - a very primitive stage, through Faith level, then a Rational Level and finally the Mystical Levels. These could be roughly equated to our levels of psychological development, from  'Its all about ME!' through some concern for others, then a Faith where ' Only my God is Right'  through more rational levels until we reached the Mystical Level and began to both recognise the inter - connectedness of  all and realise that there were no definite answers. Wilber also focused on how difficult it was to move Adults up through the stages and how much easier it was to change when we are younger.  This is connected with the urgent need in all our Faith Traditions for people to develop an Adult Faith. We will return to this in a later Blog.

At all of our Satsang Meetings there is time for personal reflection , silence and sharing but this sharing is only for those who attend. It was  wide ranging and informed by the two video clips and by our unique spiritual experiences.


SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

Walk the Walk ' We then had a Practice of time of Silent Prayer and the opportunity to enter the silence and stillness by whatever door each of us used, whether that be Centering Prayer or another method. To enter our time of silence , and also to end it, we used the following poem by that great Hindu Mystic - +Rabindranath Tagore 

silent footsteps

  

                       HAVE you not heard his silent, steps?

He comes, comes, ever comes.

Every moment and every age, every day and every night

he comes, comes, ever comes,

Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind,

but all their notes have always proclaimed,

"He comes, comes, ever comes."

In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path

He comes, comes, ever comes.

In the rainy gloom of July nights 

on the thundering chariot of clouds

He comes, comes, ever comes.

In sorrow after sorrow. 
It is his steps that press upon my heart, 
and it is the golden touch of his feet 

that makes my joy to shine.

In silent steps

"He comes, comes, ever comes."

  

Gitanjali: Spiritual Poems of Rabindranath Tagore

As always, we ended our meeting with a time of Sacred Circled  Dancing led by Angela Creagh. This centred on a theme of Sacred and Vital Light.

OUR NEXT MEETING IS A DAY OF REFLECTION  
on Saturday 9th March 2013  10.30 - 4.30 in Wolverhampton

Further details will be published shortly and also on our website 
www.satsang-companionship.org.uk 

ADVANCE NOTICE

Over the next few weeks a series of Blog Posts will explore the whole area of Mysticism. These will be informed by the Teachings of +Ishpriya Mataji - the founder and Spiritual Guide of the International Satsang Association.    THey will be based mainly around her talks on ONLY THE MYSTICS WILL SURVIVE.

Religion and Our Evolutionary Journey

"The finger pointing at the Moon is not the Moon"

The Great Flaring Forth

Welcome to a  New Year, welcome to 2013 - as we continue the great evolutionary journey of the Cosmos and Human Family.  A great exciting and unfolding Journey of mystery engaging with and relating to the Mystery at the heart of creation..

This is a journey that began almost 14 Billion years ago  with what Cosmologists call the Big Bang or the Great Flaring Forth. From this initial event the great unfolding of our Cosmic Journey began. We do not know what caused this Big Bang or Flaring Forth, its origins are shrouded in mystery.  However, thanks to the efforts of our scientists, cosmologists and mystics we are beginning to  both learn and understand a lot more about the origins of this great evolutionary journey.

Mother Earth

About 5 Billion years ago the star we call ' The Sun' came into being and around it evolved our planetary system and from that event our  wonderful Blue Planet was born.

Over the ensuing billions of years, life was created and began to evolve into the wonderful and intricate diversity that inhabits our marvellous  planet. This is planet that sustains and nourishes a wide diversity of life, including our human species. Truly Earth is our Mother!.

Now, as previously stated, the origins of all this is still a mystery. However, for those of us who believe in the Spirit, we attribute  the origins of all this to  a Mystery or Source  and this we often call God.   Now it is important to both recognise and acknowledge that this  Mystery or Source  has been present throughout the 14 billion years of known evolution. In the Christian Tradition this is clearly stated in the opening verses of John's Gospel ( see John 1 : 1-5 )

Slowly over the billions of years creation evolved and several million years ago the ancestors of our present human family first walked the earth. Our species Homo Sapiens Sapiens  came about around 250,000 years ago and the ancestors of the majority of us arose on the continent we call Africa.  From there, we began our great human journey. This was a journey that has taken us from Africa to all corners of our Planet and, in the last century to the Moon.

This brings me to the quote above . This is a shortened version of a famous  Buddhist story about a nun who asks the Master to explain to her about truth. The Master replies ....

Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?"

For me, this has an important meaning, a bit like ' Don' t mistake the violin for the music'  Because  very often modern humanity  and particularly Religions can fall prey to this mistake. Let us return to our Evolutionary Journey and particularly to the journey of our species.  First of all the overall Journey.

If the  Mystery or Source  is at the heart of all this creative evolution, then it existed prior to the Big Bang ( See John 1: 1-5)  and has continued to be present throughout time. Consequently, God ( the Mystery or Source) has been present with humanity for millions of years and also for the past 250,000 years of our species. Let us look a bit more closely at this period.

We know that the formal Religions or Faith Traditions  have only been around for about the past 5000 years. These have mainly arisen out of the Patriarchal Societies that sprung up in the past 8 to 10 thousand years. Yet Spirituality and the sense of the Sacred Presence has been around for very much longer. We have evidence that goes back about 70,000 years - 14 times as long as the Faith Traditions. We can surmise that Spirituality probably is an inherent attribute of our human species. Hence, this  which support the concepts of the inherent attraction  of the Mystery and the ever present ' Presence' of Mystery with our human family. The ancient mystics remind us of this with the quote ' I let you find me so that you might seek me'  . This  speaks of a God or Source to whom human beings are inherently attracted to and by. It supposes that there is an inherent mutual attraction between the Mystery and us, as seekers who are mystified. In the Hindu Tradition, the oldest of the formal Faith Traditions, there are many references to this in-built attraction to and search for the Mystery ( or as Hindu's call it the  Absolute Reality ). One of the most famous are these lines from the Hindu Upanishads

   Even as fire without fuel finds peace in its resting-place,

when thoughts become silence the soul finds peace in its own source.

Maitri Upanishad

So for the vast majority of time, our species have had a sense of the Mystery, a sense of the Divine. Spirituality is almost certainly as old an our human family. Therefore, the formal Religions or Faith Traditions are, to but it in the vernacular 'new kids on the block'   Now, this is not meant to imply that Religion has no place, it is merely to place it in both a context and in perspective. Long before the 'birth' of Religion there existed a sense of the sacred and the inherited Universal Wisdom of the ancient aboriginal peoples of the world. Long before we has Scriptures and before we had written languages, we had the oral traditions handed down for over a hundred thousand years. So our species were relating to and with this sense of the sacred before Scriptures existed.  What religion does is to formalise a set of beliefs about and experiences of the Mystery is a specific cultural setting and context. Thus we have a wide variety of religions , each with a view of the Sacred. In essence, religions are ' fingers that point at the moon' , or as Gandhi once remarked ' Religions are different paths up the mountain'

Our knowledge of the Mystery is 'limited'. Our Scriptures, traditions and the experiences of the Mystics, Saints and Sages , of all the Traditions, all help to expand our knowledge of the Mystery. However, they can merely 'point the finger' at the Source or Mystery  of All Life. They are not that Source. Each one of us needs to journey in faith. We each have to set out on our own journey  which ultimately returns us to the Source. Religion can be a great aid and support in this eNdeavour but , if we are not careful, it can also be a hindrance. History is littered with numerous examples of religions clinging to old outmoded theology and thus hindering the Spiritual Pilgrim on the Journey. Like each one of us, Religion and its leaders and followers, need to develop humility .  Humility is a great teacher, it reminds us of how little we really know , how small we are, not only in this vast Cosmos but in relation to the Immense Mystery that lies at the heart of all  creation.  To truly play their part in both guiding and supporting this spiritual journey our religions , along with their adherents, need to reflect on the old saying ' the finger pointing at the moon is not the moon'

Making a Resolution - RE-SOLUTION

 

This is a reflection based on the spirituality of the International Satsang Association, further details of the Satsang Association in the UK can be found on the clicking on the link to the  UK Local Website.)

 

New Year Re-Solution  :-

 

Theme - Seeing in Silence

Each year we are urged to make 'new year resolutions'  But what is a resolution?  Perhaps , as so often is the case, we could benefit from looking at this word and its root.  Resolution - really means RE- SOLUTION -   Each re-solution is an attempt to resolve our life either by changing direction and/or living life in a different way. This is often more clearly seen when we undergo the loss of a loved one, because when we suffer bereavement there is NO EASY SOLUTION, there is merely a re-solution.

Now Christians are well aware of that puzzling quotation by Jesus, taken from the Gospel of Mark 4 :-   "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!" 

These words come near the beginning of Mark's Gospel and suggest that people need to really look and really listen if they are to truly understand.  

 Now, we can so easily see these words either at face value or, more often, as being addressed to people living in Palestine 2000 years ago. But we could all benefit from pausing, reflecting and taking these words into the depths of our inner being. These are words that could provide us with a gateway into our own inner self and encourage and challenge us to really look afresh at our life and re-solve it.

Those of us who believe that there is an underlying MYSTERY at the heart of Creation are Theists. We believe in a Spiritual Basis for the wonders of this evolutionary journey we, and all the Cosmos, are engaged in. In that sense we are Spiritual Pilgrims. +Dom Helder Camara reflected on this aspect of Pilgrimage in his writings. Being a Christian he refers to 'Christians'. However, these words can  readily be applied to all who undertake the Spiritual Journey 

Extract from Dom Helder Camara - Essential Writings 

' The Christian is the well adjusted follower of Christ: one with Christ and made responsive to him and by him to the whole of human life.

The Christian is the universal brother and sister of all, and loves to give prayer a communal dimension .........     I have tried to express all this in the simple and humble words of the following prayer.

Being Responsive to Life - Seeing in Silence

How poor you will remain until you discover

that you do not see best with open eyes.

How naive you will remain until you discover

that when your lips are closed,

there are silences richer than a torrent of words.

How clumsy you will remain

until you understand

that joined hands

can do far more

than restless hands

which may inflict the unintended wound.

Now these words of Camara's begin to make sense of how we can begin to see things as they really are. If we are to begin to see,hear and understand things then we need to look and listen with a great degree of inner mindfulness. If we can begin to do this, then we will gain greater 'Insight' and thus begin to 're-solve' our life and also relate with greater compassion towards ourselves and others.

 So perhaps a good New Year Resolution or Re-Solution would be to open the eyes of our heart and both look and listen with more mindful attention at all aspects of our relating - with self, each other and creation.

Advent- Waiting in Hope

ADVENT – A Time of Hopeful Waiting

Advent, from the Latin word Adventus, which signifies a coming, is a significant and special season in the Christian Calendar. It also marks the beginning of the Christian year. Now it may seem strange and perhaps paradoxical, that the year should begin in a time of darkness, in a time when, in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are shortening and the nights are lengthening. However, this is a time of preparation for the birth of a Saviour, for the birth of Jesus the Christ who brings light into a broken world.

For Christians Advent is the spiritual season of hope. It is a time when every  Christian is called to reflect on their life  and how they might become hope both for themselves and the world. The Christian experience and message of the Mystery, we call God, is one of a “God who comes” (Adventus) and, moreover,  a God who calls us to go to meet him. This is a God, who in Jesus, responds to the Psalmist’s cry ‘I have called to you, Lord, hasten to help me. Hear my voice when I cry to you’. (Ps. 141:1).

Now traditionally, Christian’s begin each New  Christian Year  at the Season of Advent. It begins with the story of John the Baptist, a story of one ‘crying out from the wildernesses.

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3: 1-5

This was a voice that expressed the truth about the prevailing situation, a truth that was unpalatable for many and particularly for those in authority. Yet, rather than be a voice foretelling of impending doom, John’s voice also pointed to the Light ( Jesus) who was coming into our Broken World and a Light which would bring healing and salvation.

Now many in our current times may fail to see the significance of Advent or the story of John the Baptist – the voice crying out in the wilderness. Perhaps it could help to first get in touch with the term – ‘the wilderness’ and second to place the Christian Story in the context of  our present times and situation.

The term wilderness indicates a place of desolation, a place where little grows and where life exists on the edge. It denotes a barren and inhospitable place.  Now , our world has many ‘wildernesses’ and these are not necessarily confined to places such as deserts and the tundra. In our world we have many economic and social ‘wildernesses’. We have places of desolation such as :

v     The desolation of millions of children malnourished and lacking clean water. 

v     The desolation of women, denied their dignity and subject to the control and oppression of systems, culture and patriarchal domination .

v     The desolation of financial chaos, unemployment , financial instability and inequality.

v     The desolation caused by the abuse of power, whether it be financial, aggression or that of  sexual, physical and emotional abuse.

v     The desolation caused by our growing estrangement from our environment, our planet and ultimately our true and real selves.

Yes, we live in a world with many desolations, a world that is increasingly becoming a wilderness for so many of us .

Yet, it is into this world that God, the Mystery at the Heart of Creation, enters. The Christian story of the Advent of Jesus the Christ, offers a light of hope that streams onto these many desolations. It brings hope to those in darkness. For me and many others, the real message and meaning of Advent is to provide us with the opportunity to reflect on our lives and our world and to prepare to renew ourselves and to live life more in tune with our environment, each other and ourselves.

Making Peace with Self and Nature

HOPE FOR OUR FUTURE

The future well being of humanity and the earth is dependent on a new world view in which the care of the planet, nourishment of the soul and the nurturing of the human community are integrated and seen as a continuum. In the following You Tube talk, +Satish Kumar, an Earth Pilgrim , outlines some aspects of his personal Journey of discovery and life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EQ1HtzXxQU&feature=related

The Virtue of Reflective Practice

REFLECTION  & CRITICAL THINKING

( finding a better balance)

We live in a fast moving and dynamic world where new discoveries are occurring almost daily and where all professions , branches of society and sciences are challenged to remain rooted in truth and yet open to new  ideas. Most of the other main professions recognise our tendency towards thinking and the inherent imbalance between reflection and thinking . Therefore , they exhort followers to develop the attitudes and skills of Reflective Practice, combine this with genuine Critical Thinking and live a more balanced life.

The Table below outlines some important issues that contrast  Reflection and Thinking and are then followed by some important points about DEEP REFLECTION  or Meditation

REFLECTION  (PRACTICE)	(CRITICAL)THINKING
Emphasises the instinctive or intuitive	Emphasises explicit reasoning and debate  or discussion
Is expressive and inquisitive and explores  spirituality and religion as  a way of life and a journey into relationship	Is analytical and strategic, linking  knowledge bases , such as Scripture and other books etc to practice and worship

Emphasises learning through practice and personal experience of the Mystery

Emphasises deconstructing Religion by  examining processes, worship and

written Scripture

Appreciates that  the world and creation have meaning that can both inform and give deeper understanding to the Spiritual Pilgrim

Understands the difference between empirical information ( facts) , and attributed  meanings from  written tradition and personal perceptions

The Classic Challenge for Reflective Practice : -  Being sensitive to others  while at the same time being true to one’s personal experience of  the Indwelling Mystery . Remaining open , awake and aware  that each unique being has a personal journey back to the Source of Life we  refer to as God

The Classic Challenge for

( Critical) Thinking : defending current religious thinking and practice in a dynamically changing world. Remaining mindful that theology is constantly shifting in response to new knowledge and new understanding of the contextual issues that inform our Scriptures, Religions and cultural influences.

DEEP REFLECTION – Spiritual Wisdom

Spirituality is much older than the main Religions. Spirituality has been around since the dawn of humanity and we have over 70, 000 years of recorded evidence. Religion is a more recent expression of our human spiritual experience, it is ,at most, only 5000 years old.  

The Spiritual Wisdom has much to teach us about Reflection and provides many useful Spiritual Practices to aid our reflection. . Ultimately Deep Reflection  ( meditation) is a state of profound inner silence  and peace , a state of not thinking, of just being aware. And in this state of awareness, deep truths rise up within. Therefore, Spiritual Pilgrims can learn much from our past, from other professions and their own experience and thus develop a Spiritual Practice that places a greater emphasis on the value and virtue of finding moments of stillness and silence to aid Reflection.   Like salt or yeast, moments of reflection  add a great deal to life’s balance.

Peter Creagh

ECOLOGY & SPIRITUALITY

As part of our regular Satsang Meetings we look at a variety of Spiritual Practices and issues.At our recent Day of Reflection we looked at Ecology and Spirituality. One of our areas was the contribution of Native American Spirituality. The following two prayers were used to aid our time for personal reflection

Native American Prayers for the Earth



UTE FAMILY & DWELLING

The Native American Ute peoples are part of the Uto-Aztec peoples  of the Americas .No-one knows there exact origin. However, from about 1500 they were known to occupy the South Western Part of the United States, in present day UTAH, Colorado and New Mexico.

Like many of the Indigenous  peoples of North America, and  in common with the many Aboriginal peoples of the world, the Ute people had a spirituality that was rooted in Nature and in their understanding of the land, the environment, their inter-connectedness with all  creation and  their sense of the  In- Dwelling Presence of the Spirit.

The following is a typical prayer from their Spiritual Tradition.

Earth, Teach Me

Earth teach me quiet - as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering - as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility - as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring - as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage - as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation - as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom - as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance - as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal - as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself - as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness - as dry fields weep with rain.                                                    

An Ute Prayer

 The following is a prayer from the Iroquois Native American Tradition. These were a peoples who occupied the North Eastern Part of North America, in Modern day New York and up the Quebec.  Like all of the Native American peoples, the Iroquois have a profound and deep reverence for Creation and its wonderful diversity of nature, creatures and peoples.

Thanksgiving

We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us.

We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water.

We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases.

We return thanks to the moon and stars, which have given to us their light when the sun was gone.

We return thanks to the sun, that has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye.

Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in Whom is embodied all goodness,
and Who directs all things for the good of Her children.

Iroquois

The Wisdom of Reflection -Swadhyaya

Three Circumstances for Making Wise Choices

+Sr Ishpriya recently released a video clip on both You Tube and the ISA Website 
Its subject was Free Will. Now this got me thinking about the responsibility free will 'imposes' and its various choices.  I was also aware of our upcoming Day of Reflection and their place in my rhythm of special times set aside for deeper reflection. This led to the following brief reflections:

If we accept that we possess Free Will then this requires us to be responsible for our choices   and their consequences. However, it can help to be aware that there are three main mental, emotional and spiritual states we face when making choices.


First of all there are times when feelings are unsettled and our thoughts are in turmoil.

Sometimes our emotions are in turmoil when we ponder and struggle with the alternatives. We may experience many strong feelings as we face the prospect of choosing—anger, fear, confidence, confusion, hope, sadness and many others. Wise Spiritual Teachers warn us about making decisions at these times because these situations require us to more carefully observe, understand and interpret these feelings. We could all benefit by taking time out to discern the spiritual meaning of our feelings and thoughts and discover how they point us to the right choice, a choice based on deeper wisdom.

Secondly there are times when seemingly there is no doubt.  

Sometimes the right decision seems unmistakably clear. We know what the right choice is. All we need do is act on what we know. However, we often put off acting on what we know and this can be both puzzling and frustrating. However, the reality may be we don’t know enough either about the situation or our real self. Once again we could benefit from taking time out discern the spiritual meaning and discover how this could  point us  to the right choice.

Finally there are times when our emotions, thoughts and spirits  are calm.

These are the times when we can we approach a decision in a tranquil and settled frame of mind. This is probably the wisest and easiest time for decision-making  because we can bring to bear our wholeness, our oneness and all the power of our emotional, thoughtful and spiritual self to shine a light on our choices. These are times of real spiritual discernment and wisdom. All the great Spiritual Traditions have examples of how great Teachers took ‘time out’ to discern and make wise decisions and statements.

Reflection or more correctly self-reflection is a spiritual necessity. In the Hindu Tradition it is one of the 5 Niyamas – It is known as Swadhyaya. – Study of Self by the self. One focus of this niyama is learning from our own lives. We are our own teachers. Lessons abound for us. There is a reason that we are here in this life now and part of that is to learn.  Swadhyaya lasts a lifetime .

So , perhaps our task and responsibility as Spiritual Seekers,  could be to set aside times for Reflection that  help us reach  moments of calm – because in those moments we can more readily enter periods of Inner Silence and Tranquility  and thus both Listen to and  ‘hear’ the inner voice  that enables us  find our Inner Moral Compass, to more fully understand and be aware of our choices  and thus discern the right choice.