Tag Archives: Spirituality

July 27, 2013 · 11:21 pm

The Call…

There is a birdhouse on my patio that contained four baby sparrows. Three left the nest and I missed their exit. Now there is one all alone in the house and I’m determined to witness it leaving the nest.

The only way the loner knows there is something more outside is when it hears “The Call”.  This Call is different from any other bird call in the yard and I can recognize it even if I’m away from the patio.  The Call from the mother is relentless.   She gives the Call and then goes to the opening to feed it and repeats this routine most of the day so that the Call will be associated with something wonderful coming from the outside.  When the mother leaves for a while you can hear a faint calling coming from inside the box because now it’s known there is something wonderful outside of the box but the sparrow is not yet brave enough to venture out and find it.

This Call and response routine went on for two days.  At one time there was a community of at least ten sparrows flying up to the birdhouse trying to coax it outside. I’m ready to give up myself but have invested so much time now I don’t want to miss the finale.

Today I saw it venture out of  the box.  The young sparrow poked its head out of the hole and then back in again several times.  There were no other sparrows on the patio for guidance …the exit team had taken a break and everything was quiet. It looked out one more time but this time without any hesitation took a final leap, flew across the patio and into a nearby tree.  I saw at least twenty sparrows fly out of the tree a few seconds later and together they all flew to the next tree.  I couldn’t see the young sparrow in the distance but assume it is now flying in its new world outside the box.

Would the bird have taken the leap of faith without ever hearing the Call? Probably survival instincts would have eventually forced it out into the world but certainly it must be easier if the Call is heard and more importantly….if it is answered.

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July 3, 2013 · 12:33 pm

Freedom….

Thinking of the word and concept of freedom today.  We fight for freedom and lives are lost for the sake of freedom. This holiday is all about our nation’s fight for freedom.

In my daily spiritual practice, the word freedom is used in almost everything I read or hear.  Freedom from the bondage of the separate self, freedom from suffering, freedom from nagging useless thoughts.

The meaning of freedom is “not being confined, exempt from external control or release from bondage“.  So the battle for freedom can be fought on two levels.  What is obvious is the battle for freedom in the external world.  Not so obvious is the internal battle that might be going on for many….except for those who are now engaged in or have been engaged in this battle.

I never really thought of it as a battle since spirituality is all about non-violence even though most spiritual writings use the metaphor of a battle to bring home the point.  The point being, if you really want freedom be prepared to give it your all and be brave because in the end you realize that the biggest battle of all …..is being able to surrender.

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May 29, 2013 · 7:48 pm

Turn Your Radio On

I think about the mind a lot, who is doing the thinking and it’s relationship to the brain.  There are numerous concepts about the Universal Mind or Universal Consciousness used by different paths regarding the role that mind plays in self  realization.  It all gets very complicated and the terminology of the different paths make it even more difficult.  But then, that’s the way the mind likes to work, to try to  understand everything and figure out complex concepts and is part of what keeps the seeker seeking.

Like many, my first exposure to eastern thought was “Autobiography of a Yogi”.  Yogananda frequently uses the analogy of a radio when talking of the mind.  You can have a radio that works perfectly but it does nothing without some kind of energy source.  Even when the perfect radio is plugged in to an energy source it’s still worthless without being tuned into a particular station or frequency.  Only static exists if it is not tuned into exactly where the frequency can be picked up.  Our bodies are also electrical devices and consciousness is providing the energy source to keep everything going.

I worked for a short time in a mental institution on a closed ward of severely emotionally disturbed patients who had been hospitalized most of their lives. They were totally in their own reality which was just as real to them as ours is to us.  It could be the hardware (brain) or software (mind) not functioning properly but regardless, they were tuned into the wrong station to be functional in our society and there didn’t seem to be any way to help them change the station.

All of us have the problem of slipping off the station of our true reality and living on the static fringe of our perceived reality.  I like to think that most of us have the ability to keep fine tuning our radio until we have the clearest station we can get….and maybe that’s what seeking is all about.

“O Lord, with the soft touch of intuition I will tune my soul radio and rid my mind of static restlessness, that I may hear Thy voice of cosmic vibration, the music of atoms, and the melody of love vibrating in my superconsciousness.” ~ P. Yogananda

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May 12, 2013 · 9:54 am

Nobody’s Mother

I always think of the women who are not mothers on Mother’s Day.  I was not a mother until I was 41 years old so I spent many a Mother’s Day helping others celebrate their motherhood.

Not having children didn’t bother me in my 20s, no need to hurry although some of my friends were beginning to join the motherhood group.  In my late 30s I began to realize that I may go through my life without children. I was once told that having children was a blessing and not having children was to live by grace.  I didn’t understand that at the time and thought it was an attempt to make me feel better about my perceived lack caused by not being a mother.

Having experienced both being a mother and many years not being a mother, I can say that motherhood may be a more direct path to realizing unconditional love. I was always searching for unconditional love and thought I’d experienced it a few times but now it’s evident that I didn’t have to search for it, it was given to me.  Whether you are a mother or not, unconditional love is a gift.  You don’t need to search for it because it’s magically there at any time…..waiting to be accepted as a gift.

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May 4, 2013 · 9:05 am

Home is…?

For those of us who are seekers or ex-seekers, the word Home is one of those words used in an effort to relate a state of Being. I’ve looked up the definition of Home and some I liked were:

  • A place where one dwells permanently.
  • Social unit formed by a family living together.
  • An environment offering affection and security.

Our physical home may or may not fit those definitions but almost everyone has their own concept of the word Home. I like the last word of the first definition…”permanently”.  In a world of impermanence, we could use the word Home interchangeably with the Absolute (where one dwells permanently).  You are already Home…it’s not about how to get there, not about waiting for it to open its doors and welcome you in.

The word homesick is defined as “sad or depressed from a longing for home while away from it for a long time”.  When we are not present, we all suffer from homesickness which can manifest in many forms with the symptoms and cures being discussed and analyzed endlessly.

I’ve read that your physical home is a reflection of your inner home.  Now that’s an interesting concept. Is it aesthetically appealing, is it secure, is it chaotic, does it need attention, is it in need of repair? If it is perfect in every way, are you content?

“Home is where the heart is”.  The earliest author given credit for that quote is Pliny the Elder AD 23-79.    I guess none of this is exactly a new concept.

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April 20, 2013 · 9:04 am

Shall We Pray…..

I’ve been a pray-er for as long as I can remember.  As soon as I became aware that there was a power in charge and there was a possibility of a direct line to that power, I was all in.

Who I pray to and how I pray has taken different forms throughout the years depending on the spiritual practice I was involved in at the time.  I’ve gone from simple praying to a personal God figure for help to a more cerebral kind of praying to a scientific quantum level of connectedness.

Praying to myself seemed strange so I used the mantra “Om Namah Shivaya” during meditation which means  I honor the divinity within myself.  However, that also plays to the illusion of calling forth something for guidance and help that is hiding out someplace waiting for permission to show up.  Now that I’m drawn to nonduality…who am I praying to?

Even tho prayer is not a major part of my life like it once was, I still like the connectedness and need to stop analyzing it and just enjoy the silent conversation….with whatever it is….

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April 11, 2013 · 12:12 pm

Original Sin

I never understood the Christian idea of original sin and the concept that we are all sinners until I heard a theology professor interpret sin as simply a pulling away from God. Through our human conditioning, we perceive ourselves as separate individuals and lose touch with our connection to Oneness which causes suffering.

To use the much over-used metaphor of the wave and the ocean, we could say that when we are only aware of being the wave, that could be interpreted as living in sin.  When we are aware that we are the entire ocean perceiving ourselves as the wave, we are saved.

For the last few weeks I have not been able to do some of my regular spiritual practices or reading and find that I feel more like an isolated wave than the ocean.  Things don’t seem quite right.  I’m aware that my thinking is different, my body feels more tense, my mind works overtime and my peace is fading.

Does it take constant vigilance and effort to ride the wave and enjoy the ride?  At some point shouldn’t the ride become effortless?

The definition of sin is a transgression or violation of divine law.  The story goes that we are all born with original sin, there is no escape unless we receive the holy spirit (or whatever the tide-turning event may be).

As a seeker I guess I have been looking for the holy spirit in one form or another….calling it many names.  Maybe the answer is just to accept that the nature of a wave is to appear to be separate from the ocean on the surface….underneath there is no difference.

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April 5, 2013 · 9:26 am

Spiritual Hypocrisy

Sometimes I feel like such a hypocrite. I see myself as a spiritual person, a seeker possessing some clarity and think I have life in perspective.  All this is easy and flowing when my life is easy and flowing. It’s when life brings me difficult situations that I pull out all of the tricks in my “awareness/enlightenment bag”.

I’m in a difficult situation now caring for a parent and all thoughts unpleasant are arising from the past. I want to be the spiritual me and see the situation as growth, a challenge, opportunity, practice, learning compassion, staying with the here and now, integrating the past, acceptance, what is.  All the words and concepts help when I’m away from the situation but when I am immersed in it….they are not to be found. Emotions are set in the default mode and don’t respond to reason.

During these times I want to whip out my bag of tricks to help get to a place of peace and clarity.  I need to meditate, I need to do more yoga, I need to drink alkaline water, I need to eat more organic foods, I need to stay in the here and now, the past does not define me….anything to help.

Maybe the conditionings of the past will never leave…maybe this is who I really am…and the spiritual me is the illusion.  These are the thoughts that scare me the most.

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March 15, 2013 · 10:58 am

Nothing Personal

Why do bad things happen to good people is a question that generates a variety of concepts each constructing a solution to the fairness of life dilemma and how judgments of good and bad are to be made. When circumstances are examined closely there seems to be no direct evidence that there is a method of fairness existing here.  It certainly isn’t very comforting to maintain that stuff just happens, that there is no system of justice operating and we are all just here until we’re not.

Strange as it seems, this question arises for me when I look at a windshield splattered with remnants of what used to be a bug.  The bug was just flying along enjoying the day, not a care in the world and then in the blink of an eye it’s just bug juice on a windshield.  We think nothing of it, it just happened and that’s a bug’s life…. no plan, no justice, just happening, nothing personal about the bug’s life.

Of course, it appears that a human life is much more personal than a bug’s life because we’re so entwined with complex characteristics, memories and relationships.   I like the idea that my life is personal and important with purpose and would like to hold on to that idea.  However, nothing really makes sense to me except that the bug’s life is no less or no more important to the Absolute than my life….it’s really nothing personal….

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February 26, 2013 · 12:42 pm

Seeking Everywhere but Here

This morning I read an article posted by Science and Nonduality, “Stop Trying to Solve Problems” by David Rock who has been researching what happens during the “moment ” of insight.  Neuroscientists have found that complex problems are usually solved during the brain’s “downtime” not during vigorous activity.  My own experience confirms that when I stop thinking about a problem for even a few minutes, consciousness continues to sort out data without my interference and suddenly the solution comes to light.

A constant thread in nonduality literature is that the mind is not the tool for perceiving the Absolute reality.

I agree that searching for Truth with the mind can be fun, interesting and exciting because of never ending concepts to explore.  But maybe the Absolute reality is not to be explored anywhere but is always here waiting for the mind’s “downtime” in order to be discovered.  If the answer is always here…where am I?

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