31 March, 2014

The Wisdom of the Dao :- Deep Listening

 
DAOISM     Finding Balance
 
DEEP LISTENING & OPENNESS
 
Express yourself completely then keep quiet
Be like the forces of nature:
When it blows, there is only wind:
When it rains, there is only rain;
When the clods pass, the sun shines through
 
If you open yourself to the Tao ( Dao),
You are at one with the Dao
And you can embody it completely.
If you open yourself to insight,
You are at one with insight
And you can use it completely.
If you open yourself to loss,
You are at one with loss
And you can accept it completely.
 
Open yourself to the Dao
Then trust your natural response
And everything will fall into place
 


Signposts on the Way :- Sat 10th May

SATSANG ASSOCIATION MEETING

Sat 10th May 1.30 - 4.30 p.m.
Signposts on the Way

A Journey into Self-Discovery

“Stand at the crossroads and look;
    ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
    and you will find rest for your souls.

Jeremiah ( Jewish Scripture)

Which Way ?

The Spiritual Journey is often compared with a Journey and like all journeys we can reach 'signposts' or choice points. The quote above comes from the Jewish Tradition and provides some sound advice.

Our next Satsang ( UK Midlands & North) Meeting will take place at 



THE FRIENDS MEETING HOUSE
Summerfield Road
WOLVERHAMPTON

Our meeting will be informed by some teaching and a few short video clips from :

Sister Ishpriya   
the spiritual guide of the International Satsang

After each short video clip there will be  a short time for personal reflection . Each clip contains pearls of wisdom and provides food for reflection and a question and choice for the Journey .

We will gather for shared reflection towards the end of our Meeting



This is an OPEN EVENT and ALL ARE WELCOME


30 March, 2014

Transformation - A Journey of Self-Discovery


NB.  If y ou have not already read Part 1 , click on the following link
 
http://midlands-satsang.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/formation-before-transformation.html

Transformation –A Journey of Self-Discovery
2nd half of life Spirituality Part 2


Part 1 of these reflections looked at the importance of a strong formation and its part in developing our deep roots. It proposed that without some formation it can be difficult to be  transformed. Our task in the 1sthalf of life was, and is, to develop a strong and healthy ego and thus form a firm foundation in spirituality. For many, developing a healthy ego and a foundation in spirituality is both begun and heavily influenced by their family and culture of origin and informed by a Faith Tradition. It looked briefly at two major examples and guides , Jesus the Christ and the Buddha and contended that both were firmly rooted in a Tradition but in becoming ‘enlightened’ both challenged the ‘status quo’ and both believed in, and practiced, a ‘middle way’ .

This was a balanced and inclusive approach to the spiritual journey based on their experiential experience and relationship with Mystery. In the Buddha’s case he refused to be drawn on whether or not ‘ God’ existed. He emphasised the importance of the 4 Noble Truths as a guide to freedom and enlightenment.  His teaching centred on these 4 Truths outlined below:-

  1. The truth of suffering (Dukkha)
  2. The truth of the origin of suffering (Samudāya)
  3. The truth of the cessation of suffering (Nirodha)
  4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering (Magga) The eightfold path to righteousness

Jesus the Christ acknowledged, spoke and talked about the Mystery and referred to this Mystery as Abba and emphasised the oneness of his relationship with this Mystery at the Heart of Creation. He too , spoke of a Way that led to repentance , which has very little to do with ‘sin’ and more to do with ‘turning around’ and changing your path. His teachings centred around His Two Great Commandments and His Eight Blessings or Beatitudes.

For many, and perhaps a majority, their Tradition mainly places an emphasise on the ‘faith’ , its scriptures and a set of handed down and often proscriptive beliefs. This is particularly true for the 3 Western based Monotheistic Traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These very often over emphasise their Scriptures , particularly reading them in a literal sense and often totally out of context. In addition, they   either under emphasise or prohibit, any direct experiential relationship with the Mystery. Yet again, this also  applies more to the Western Monotheistic Traditions.

The problem with relying solely or mainly on Scriptures is that these are often ‘preached’ and ‘interpreted’ by those in authority based on a set of accepted norms and by people who may or may not have any direct experience of the Mystery. In addition, this often leads to an external frame of reference with the Mystery.  i.e. there is little  personal experience or relationship with the Mystery and ‘beliefs’ and ‘faith’ are o not internalised at the level of the real self. Or to put it another way, there is rarely any foundation in practices that help individuals to have an experience of the Mystery we call God. Therefore our task on the 2ndhalf of life’s journey is to begin to develop a personal and profoundly internal view of our Real Self and our relationship with the Mystery.

To undertake this task requires some guidance and some Spiritual Practices and an understanding of the importance of several key questions and the need to nurture our own Journey towards union with the Reality that is the Mystery at the heart of creation. Many can benefit from the experiences of the mystics of all Traditions and the recorded works that form our rich Universal Inheritance. In addition, meeting and listening to wise teachers and, like many in the International Satsang Association, I have experienced this from its Spiritual Guide Ishpriya Mataji. Mindful of her many teachings, these reflections will focus on the following questions.

Who Am I and where have I come from?

Why I am here and what is my unique task or purpose in life?

How can I best foster my own Spiritual Practice and Journey?

How to develop my relationship with Ultimate Reality – the Mystery and Oneness at the Heart of Creation?.
Future posts will continue these reflections 
TO BE CONTINUED ( click link below for Part 3 )


 
 

22 March, 2014

FORMATION BEFORE TRANSFORMATION?

Formation before Transformation ?
Reflections on 2nd Half of Life Spiritual Journey
Part 1 - Setting the Scene

There seems to be a ‘fashion’ for the recurring theme of ‘Transformation’. This has recently become more noticeable in many of the ‘ologies’ of academia. i.e. psychology, sociology, theology etc. The inference , and emphasis, can often seem to be that focusing on formation is not necessary and that there is a magic ‘trick’ or ‘pill’ that we can take to become transformed. Moreover, that there is something that can happen to cause a ‘quantum leap’ or a new paradigm. Now doubtlessly, these are possibilities but quantum leaps and new paradigms are relatively rare. Nonetheless, ‘transformation’ is the new buzzword and the new Nirvana. This emphasis can create difficulties for many. It hooks into the modern day urge for a quick fix or instantaneous results and instant gratification. In addition, deep and transforming change may best be both negotiated and maintained if based on some firm foundations and formation.

In Christianity, my own Faith Tradition, this growing surge towards transformation is becoming more and more prevalent. These reflections are written in the Christian Season of Lent, which is based on the experience of Jesus (the Christ) and his 40 days in the wilderness before beginning his Ministry. Traditionally, and arguably the majority opinion, most Christians consider Lent to be a time for ‘giving up things’. This can be a great error and is based on a very negative view of the Mystery, we call God, and fails to emphasise that the true purpose of our life is to grow in awareness of our unity with the Indwelling Presence of the Mystery. The word Lent comes from the word Lengthening and is a season based on the life of Jesus the Christ and his ‘wilderness experience’. What occurred for Jesus ( who for Christians is the Christ) was a period of aloneness which led to a ‘lengthening’ or ‘stretching’ of his awareness of his real self and his real purpose and union with the Mystery he referred to as ‘Abba’ ( Father).

So perhaps Lent is a time for us all to be ‘stretched and particularly in relation to our understanding of our essential self and our spiritual awareness and practice. Incidentally, it could be helpful for Christians to both remember and reflect on the traditional Christian belief Jesus was, and is , the Christ the Anointed One. This ‘Christ’ is the Cosmic Christ who existed before time began. In addition , Christians perhaps could benefit by reminding themselves that Christ is not a surname for Jesus.

As previously outlined, Lent is a Season for stretching us at all levels of our holistic being. It can play its part in our journey towards spiritual maturity. This is a journey that requires us to grow in awareness of self and our unity with the Mystery and as we grow we and thus become transformed. The reality is that for the majority of us transformation is a slow, gradual and growing awareness of self, be that at the psychological and/or spiritual levels. This short Blog aims to tease out some reflections and proposes that before we can be ‘transformed’ we might best aim our sights and reflections on our formation.

There are many areas that both modern psychology and spirituality can find agreement. It is a generally accepted agreement in psychology, that we are more than our simple view of ourselves. Our psyche possesses depth and breath and very often our perceived view of the self is distorted and, to some degree, false. The latter can be caused by the circumstances of upbringing, culture , environment etc. In Humanistic Psychology this is often referred to as the ‘Self Concept’ and our task is to find the Core or Real Self. In short, the task we face is to grow in awareness of the Real Self and to recognise the inherent distortions and falsities of the Self Concept. In other branches of Psychology and in Indian Spiritual Traditions, this is often referred to as the search for and breaking down of the False Ego.

So our lifelong journey is a growth is awareness that moves us from the Ego towards our ability to transcend the Ego and thus realise both our inter-dependency with others and the Cosmos and the non-duality of creation. This is not an easy task. However, it is an essential part of genuine growth. Although the task can seem daunting, thankfully we have access to the guidance and teachings of the Mystics of all Traditions. These emphasise our need to be open to the Mystery of Creation and to the ambivalence of the Spirit. In other words, there are very often no definitive answers to the most important and crucial questions and we need to develop the gift of ‘not knowing’. Many people refer to this as Faith.

An error we can make is to both think and believe that there can be a sudden flash of light that reveals all!. Perhaps, for Christians, this may be based on St Paul and his story. However, if we examine this from the viewpoint of two great traditions, Christianity and Buddhism, we can begin to see a possible flaw in our thinking. Both are based on a ‘mystical’ experience that leads to enlightenment or a totally different way of seeing.

St Paul, arguably the founding theologian of Christianity, is certainly one of the major sources of the Christian New Testament. His account of his ‘conversion’ is often quoted by Christians, and particularly Fundamental Christians, as the exemplar for all transformation. We have a story of a man bitterly opposed to the teachings of Jesus and his ( for Paul) heretical followers, an incident of blinding light and revelation , transformation and then the most ardent follower and proponent of the Way and of Jesus the Christ. So Paul’s conversion is held up as a miraculous and exemplary vision of transformation. It is so often referred to as ‘ the road to Damascus transformation’.

Now this is not only simplistic but can mistakenly put pressure on many to become instantly transformed and be ‘born again’ The reality and context of Paul’s transformation is often missed. Paul first had a solid ‘formation’. He was a pupil of a renowned Jewish Rabbi. He was steeped in the Law and the Prophets – the Jewish Scriptures. In short, Paul had a firm foundation and formation in his culture, tradition and spirituality. What occurred on the road to Damascus was certainly extraordinary. It was almost certainly a mystical experience and one which he tried to convey in his writings. He refers to ‘ a blinding light’. In Eastern terms Paul achieved enlightenment. This leads us on to the Buddha’s experience.  

Gautama , called the Buddha , was born in a country steeped in and blessed with a rich spiritual tradition. He too was well grounded and formed and was doubtlessly well acquainted with the spiritual riches of his time. However, having tried both ends of the spectrum – sheer wealth and luxury and poverty and deprivation, he sat under a Boddhi Tree and achieved enlightenment. Whatever happened is unsure. However, it led to a great change in him and to his many years of teaching about the Four Noble Truths , in which he too spoke about enlightenment.

Both examples speak of a deep and growing awareness or enlightenment that led to remarkable ability to both discern the Real from the Unreal ( in modern terms the False Ego from the Real Self), to avoid being Dualistic and  to grow in wisdom, discernment and love.
This opening set of reflections has focused on the potential pitfalls of ‘instant  transformation’ and suggest that  a failure to build on a firm foundation can lead to either a disaster or at best a quick falling away ( See the Parable of the Sower – in the teachings of Jesus the Christ.
Part 2 of these reflections will begin to explore our transformation as part of our spiritual journey into Self- Discovery.


To be continued ( click link below for Part 2 )


09 March, 2014

Further Reflections on the 2nd Stage of the Spiritual Journey

RADICAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE REAL SELF
Some Reflections on our recent Satsang Meeting

Our local Satsang Group ( UK Midlands) met in  Satsang on Saturday 8th March for a Day of Reflection . Our topic or theme was ' Spiritual Maturity - the 2nd Half of Life' .  Our main input for this theme was a video of Richard Rohr addressing this theme and his book 'Falling Upward'

Richard Rohr talked about the main function of the first half of life. He emphasised that this was NOT a chronological journey but rather a journey of developing awareness and growing maturity. The main task of our first half of life was to 'build a container' safe a secure enough to permit us, as mature spiritual travellers, to handle the ambiguities and paradoxes of the mature spiritual traveller.

Now this image of a strong 'container'is in reality an image for building a strong and healthy ego. Spiritual Masters of all traditions stress the importance of a secure base that is founded on a strong and healthy ego. Sister Ishpriya, the spiritual guide of the International Satsang Association, has often spoken about and emphasised this in her many talks or pravachans. 

A strong and healthy ego is formed in our crucial developing early years if we has secure attachment figures who provide us with love, safety, trust, nurture and support. For most these 'attachment figures' are loving parents and relatives. However, for many of us this is not true and thus we either have to find it in others or develop our ego in later years.

In any event, our task in life is to successfully develop a strong and healthy ego and then , as we reach maturity, begin to transcend the natural ego-centricity of our ego. So in early life as we develop our ego this leads to us internalising a strong picture or script of ourself. In psychology, this has many labels - in humanistic terms it is often referred to as either a 'False Self' or ' the Self- Concept'. In reality , although this view contains some truths it also contains 'distortions' and is definitely incomplete.  Our task, as we mature, is to begin to challenge our Self Concept, recognise its truths and its distortions and begin to broaden our awareness of our True Self.

However, in order to do this we must first develop our awareness of the Self - Concept, then lose it or drop it as we mature and broaden our awareness of self, others, our environment and of God or Ultimate Reality. This maturing requires that we develop the skill and ability of ' Not Knowing'. In  other words of sitting comfortably with the ambiguity and paradox of life and the knowledge that most of life's difficult issues are either a mystery or unsolvable. Richard Rohr, in his talk, returned again and again to this ambiguity and stressed that, for him, this ease with not knowing was another way of expressing Faith. !

Our world needs an increasing number of mature adults who are prepared to face both the challenges of developing their sense of self or ego in the first half of life and then, more importantly, moving with courage and faith into the 2nd half of life.  People who were prepared to do this are urgently needed as 'role models' , or in Rohr's term  ' Elders' , in order to show younger travellers some pathways through the 1st stage of life and assist and guide them as they approach the challenge of entering the 2nd half of life.

Our Satsang Group both enjoyed the day of reflection but also benefited from the mutuality of our sharing .

03 March, 2014

Falling Upward - The need for Radical Acceptance


Sat 8th March 
Falling Upward


We meet in Satsang for a Day of Reflection where our theme will be Falling Upwards - the Spiritual task for the Mature Traveller .Our day will focus around a video Falling Upwards.by Father Richard Rohr.  This addresses the many paradoxes on the Spiritual Journey.

Now many of the Faith Traditions and Mystics have focused on and reminded us of the importance of ‘Falling Upwards’ in the 2nd half of life. A time when we mature spiritually and fix our aim on Ultimate Reality, the Spirit by whatever name or form we call it.

This 2nd half is not about chronological age i.e. its not something for the over 40s ! Its about Spiritual Maturity, as the Christian Mystic St Paul says in 1 Cor 13 ‘ When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways’ 

 This maturity can occur at any age. The Dalai Lama was 9 when he became the leader of Tibetan Buddhists. Many of the great Saints and Gurus of Hinduism and Sikhism were relatively young and Jesus' favourite disciple ( John) was a young man.

Our day will look at the Richard’s video in 2 parts. We will focus on the importance of the first half of life in building our sense of self but then our need to willingly let it go as we enter the 2nd half , i.e. spiritual maturity.


We look forward to seeing you on Sat 8th March 10.30 – 4.30

Prior to that the following reflections are designed to focus on several practices that can help develop our spiritual maturity. These focus on the need for Compassionate and Radical Acceptance of self. In other words, to lose one's self we must first find the real and true self.

'Programmed' in early life, most of us judge, view and accept ourselves through our relationships, job roles etc.  In other words we view our self by referring to the outside world. In some branches of Psychology this is  termed  as object or outer referralThe problem with this is that we can fail to look at our inner self.  To become more aware of or real or true self requires us to journey inwards and to find  the inner self. This requires us to develop the practice of self-referral.  There are several steps or stages or practices that could help us in this endeavour.

Compassionate  Awareness

The first practice is compassionate awareness in the present moment. This is often referred to as either Awareness in the Hindu  tradition or Right Mindfulness in Buddhism or the Practice of the Present Moment  in Christianity. . It requires us to become more awake and aware of what is happening in the here and now. Particularly within us.


Radical and Non-Judgemental Acceptance

The next practice is to take this growing awareness of the present into a practice of Radical and Non-Judgmental Acceptance.

This requires us to Notice but don't judge.  It demands that we become compassionate with our self and others and we also become patient. Strong emotions and thoughts are best understood and , if necessary, healed both by being heard and by the soothing balm of self compassion and non judgemental acceptance


Empathic Inner Listening

We can then integrate these two practices into our daily life by a third practice of Deep Empathy and inner listening allied to  self dialogue.

This involves a kind of inner focus an exercise that is similar to Gendlin' s Experiential Focusing. Here we listen to our inner self and begin to both here and understand our deepest emotions. These are often referred to as a Felt Sense and are normally part of our intuitive and/ gut feelings. 

Some Final Thoughts

Finally, as we develop and deepen these 3 practices we begin to develop our awareness of  our self., others and our world. Then we step out and begin to meet others and share our growing awareness  of the underlying unity in our unique and varied diversity.

This last point can be assisted by regularly meeting with fellow spiritual travellers in Satsang and sharing of our self and our journey.