Mind-Constructs

It is easy to imagine that life is just happening to us, as though we had no part in directing the three-dimensional movie going on around us. Yet according to Buddhist contemplative psychology, and some Western psychological theories as well, our exerience of reality--how we see things, what they mean to us, how we fell and resspond to them--is largely constructed by the mind, this means that the mind can also undo the suffering it has created. -- John Welwood, Toward a Psychology of Awakening, 48.

Worship

Worship is like a work of art mastered only by the sincere, the learned scholars who practice what they know, who live and walk among people like everyone else, but in their hearts they seek freedom in the serenity of the wilderness. Because of this yearning they continue to grow until their spirits soar and become united with the numinous. About such God says, "Indeed they are the finest of human beings, cherished by us."

-Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani

The Science of Witnessing

Here is an article (and a link to that article) from Kabir Helminski's website that was brought to me recently by Ed Clifford. It is excellent, and I thought members and friends of the Order would profit from knowing about it:

There have always been schools of transformation operating behind the scenes of conventional life. These schools existed to free human beings from inner slavery and to awaken them to the responsibilities and joys of being fully human. Their teaching was based not on beliefs, but on principles that could be tested in everyday life. These teachings shed light on the unconscious assumptions that motivate most human behavior.


All of the many I's, most of the conditioning that makes up personality, much of what we consider our personal identity (personality, as contrasted with our essential self) is serving four ba­sic motivations. Each motivation is determined by the wish to gain or avoid something that is believed to be good or bad, desirable or undesirable. The totality of these motivations, or urges, are called in some literature “the world” (dunya), or “mammon.” We have the basic idea that the whole purpose of living is to be nondisturbed. The unconscious assumption that it is better to be undisturbed is the foundation of our inner slavery.

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The Divine Proportion: A Hidden Code

Kepler, the renowned scientist, said: "Geometry has two great treasures: One is the theorem of Pythagoras, the other the … Golden Mean. The first way may be compared to a measure of gold, the second to a precious jewel." From the Greek Pantheon to the Nautilus shell, this divine or golden proportion is the "gold standard" for good design, yet scientists still do not understand why this harmonic ratio is found throughout the natural world.

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The Journey

In a fine text recommended by Cynthia Bourgeault is the following quote (from Toward a Psychology of Awakening) concerning Enlightenment and the actual experience of the journey:

It is easy to become discouraged by life's challenges, to ask, "Why is it so difficult to be human, why do I have to go through this, why am I not more enlightened?" In our despair we fail to appreciate the path quality of human evolution. Enlightenment is not some ideal goal, perfect state of mind, or spiritual realm on high, but a journey that takes place on this earth. It is the process of waking up to all of what we are and making a complete relationship with that. --John Welwood

The "Sign"

In the Gospel of Thomas there is an intriguing statement made by Yeshua in response to the question, “What is the sign of the Source within you?” He instructs us to observe, and then to respond, “It is movement and it is rest.”

Characteristic of the aphoristic and terse forms in this ancient text, Yeshua’s instruction appears to us almost inscrutable. What could he mean by juxtaposing these two terms? What do they mean?

If one realizes that the teaching of the Gospel of Thomas centers on the relationship between Divine Oneness and the world of duality, these terms: “movement” and “rest” describing the Source, could be understood to refer to the Unitive nature of Divine Reality itself. These are the Yin and the Yang of God, principles resident at the very heart of Ultimate Reality expressed in Semitic terms.

In the Divine itself we can begin to understand that Oneness holds together what appears to be two opposite (but complimentary) principles, just as the famous symbol of yin and yang are held together in one full circle. In God, as Ultimate Reality, there is the reality of complete Rest—the Absolute Stillness of that which is beyond movement in terms of Being which is the “dark Unknown” of God—the principle of the Absolute. But if one is to say that this is “all” there is in God, then we would be missing the divine principle of Creative Manifestation which spills out in a million-billion gifts of existence revealing the Infinitude of the Divine Qualities inherent in the deep Stillness, the Unknown of God.

We are to come to know these two principles, and to hold them together within ourselves by deep personal experience (because we belong to them and have come forth from them). This is to be the Sign that we are rooted in and manifest by the Source. The question will always be, then, what are the “Signs” that these are experienced by and in us? This is an exploration that will fill the whole of our lives.

Prayer

Prayer is that which enables the soul to realize its divinity. Through prayer human beings worship absolute truth, and seek an eternal reward. Prayer is the foundation-stone of religion; and religion is the means by which the soul is purified of all that pollutes it. Prayer is the worship of the first cause of all things, the supreme ruler of all the world, the source of all strength. Prayer is the adoration of the one whose being is necessary.

-Ibn Sina, “Kitab al-Najat”

The Role of Religion

I see all the different religious traditions as paths for the development of inner peace, which is the true foundation of world peace. These ancient traditions come to us as a gift from our common past. Will we continue to cherish it as a gift and hand it over the the future generations as a legacy of our shared desire for peace?

-His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Knowledge of God

Knowledge is of three kinds: from God, with God, of God. Knowledge of God is disclosed to all prophets and saints; it is a divine guidance and cannot be acquired. Knowledge from God is the sacred law made obligatory upon us. Knowledge with God is the knowledge of the paths and stations and the development of saints.

-Al-Hujwiri, "The Kashf al-Mahjub"

Everyone can see the effects of God's mercy. But who, except God himself, understands the essence of his mercy? Most people cannot understand the essence of any of God's attibutes; they only know his attributes through their effects--and also through analogy. Only mystics have eyes to see the essence of God's attributes.

-Rumi

Ego and Heart

I struggled hard but did not reap the fruits of my labors. Then I gazed into myself and found that my ego and my heart were unified. When the ego and the heart are united, a portion of all that shines upon the heart is seized by the self. Thus I came to know the cause of my dilemma, that the light illuminating my heart was being seized by my ego.

-Al-Nuri, in "Islamic Sufism"

Cessation of Duality

Since the seed does not contain anything other than the seed, even the flowers and the fruits are of the same nature as the seed: the substance of the seed is the substance of subsequent effects, too. Even so, the homogenous mass of cosmic consciousness does not give rise to anything other than what it is in essence. When this truth is realized, duality ceases.

-Yoga Vasishtha