Oneness Through Technology?

We are all challenged to put down our smartphones, laptops, and remote controls long enough to establish a daily meditation practice - and to encourage others to do so. Technology, at least until now the enemy of mysticism, is pushing us farther away from the one-on-one experience of the Divine even as it brings us closer together as people. I see a glimmer of hope even here, however. As we become increasingly a world community, a new path to Oneness may emerge from the growing awareness that people everywhere aspire to peace, love and respect for our planet. The original title of this blog - The God In You, The God In Me - derived from the desire to reach out and connect to the Divine spark in other beings. I don't believe that social networking will replace meditation, but it may lead to a greater willingness to practice metta - loving kindness - in meditation and in daily life. Oneness springs spontaneously from metta practice.

The Kingdom of God

This is an answer to a comment on an earlier post.

You want to know how to live your life right now; and you believe the Kingdom of God is at hand. These two sentences contain a question, and the answer to that question.

The Kingdom of God -- these are Jesus' words. I know they aren't his actual words, but I believe their meaning is close to what he actually said. Many of Jesus' followers expected him to establish an Earthly kingdom that he would rule as God's representative. He used the word "kingdom" in order to redefine it. His teachings are quite clear that the Kingdom of God is no worldly princedom, but a spiritual condition. Moreover, he taught that the Kingdom is not imminent - that is, in the future - but immanent - already present and accessible by spiritual means.

We have recently completed the Easter season with its many opportunities to reflect on the meaning of the life and death of Jesus. To me this year, the lesson has been that his death was a purposeful demonstration of the transitory nature of physical things. According to popular history, Jesus could easily have fomented a rebellion and proclaimed himself king. Instead, he chose to submit his physical form to destruction at the hands of the secular authority. What a powerful demonstration of his belief that worldly power is fleeting and, ultimately, meaningless! What a clear message to all who would pay attention that the Kingdom of God is an eternal kingdom of Spirit that cannot be harmed by the acts of human beings. Jesus' words to Pilate reinforce this teaching.

I believe that the Kingdom of God of which Jesus spoke is no more nor less than the divine presence that sits at the heart of every individual consciousness, and unites all consciousness in the bliss of Oneness. This kingdom is not attained by conquest, but by surrender; the surrender of the small self to the will of the higher Self. Even Oneness is not a prize to be pursued, but a gift to be accepted. Peace, joy and Love are attained simply by acknowledging the powerlessness of the small self in the spiritual realm and accepting the gift that is freely offered once the barriers erected by ego are torn down.

There are a number of practices that can help us accomplish this. Meditation is the practice of surrendering the ego and laying the consciousness bare and defenseless to the all-consuming power of Love. Prayer also contributes, as long as the prayer is simply "not my ego's will, but Spirit's, be done." (I borrow this formulation from Adyashanti.) It is essential to incorporate this same attitude of surrender into our secular lives, not by becoming passive and submissive to the wills of others, but by carrying out all our worldly activities in an attitude of love and thankfulness. It is to Spirit, not to other egos, that we surrender. Jesus was no wimp, but he did perform every act out of Love.

One thing that the Kingdom of God is not, however, is a life of material bounty and comfort. Too many people of all faiths have joined Jesus in poverty or martyrdom for that to be true. Attaining the Kingdom of God does not give one worldly power; it only makes one indifferent to it. The peace that passes understanding is the peace that wells up from an inner source even in the harshest circumstances, for those who have cultivated the ability to tap the Source of peace. It does not require much study of the daily news to learn the truth of the saying that money cannot buy happiness. Jesus went so far as to say it was impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom. Poverty may not be a prerequisite to saintliness, but the attachment to creature comforts is a formidable obstacle.

Knowing all this, there is only one possible way to live your life. Live in such a way as to open the inner gates to the Kingdom. Practice mindfulness, meditation and compassion. Forsake attachment to (but not necessarily the enjoyment of) physical things. Find comfort in the wisdom that all that is material must pass away, including particularly your own body and those aspects of your personality that are dependent upon that body. This is comforting because the material world contains suffering that has no place in Spirit. Live in the awareness that you and God are one, as Jesus did. Let the light and spiritual power of the Kingdom emanate from its Source within at every opportunity. Accept the gift of unconditional love and bask in the bliss of radiating that Love to all around you, not just those few souls who are close to you in time and space, but to all beings in all dimensions. This is truly the Kingdom of God, and a sufficient answer to every question.

Can Mysticism Be Popular?

Mysticism is best practiced in solitude away from the eyes and ears of the multitude. This is well understood by all great teachers who urge us to find stillness and look within. Mysticism is about a personal relationship with the Divine. While this relationship leads to awareness of oneness with All that Is, paradoxically it is most easily cultivated away from society.

Once the mystical experience has been realized, it must be constantly reinforced. In all but a few individuals, the experience fades and becomes unfamiliar if the individual allows the practice of quiet meditation to lapse. In other times, most who sought this experience lived monastic lives in which they were permanently isolated from the distractions of secular life.

Contemporary teachers stress that the times demand that mysticism emerge from the monastery. There is a sense of compelling urgency about broadening the scope of mystical experience not for the benefit of the individual, but for the benefit of all - all beings and all things, whether or not sentient or even animate. This is because humanity as a species has achieved the ability to destroy itself and every other form of life on this planet; and at times seems hell-bent on exercising that ability. Salvation, it seems, can come only by bringing a larger proportion of humanity into direct contact with Divine Spirit than has ever been the case in the past. There is a sense that once a certain critical mass of souls has achieved a sense of Oneness, the scale will tip in the direction of survival rather than annihilation.

Learning Oneness from differences

We incarnated as individuals so that we could be different. Because we are different we can learn from each other. What can a person teach you who thinks exactly as you do?

Because we can observe our differences, we can also observe our similarities.  This teaches us the concept of Oneness encompassing the diverse manifestations of our Universe.  Having learned the concept, we can progress toward the conscious experience of Oneness.

Thoughts on Bin Laden's Death

Even the Dalai Lama must have mixed emotions today. It is to be hoped, though there is no certainty this is true, that the death of Osama will help reduce terrorist threats. On a spiritual level we can have compassion for his soul while accepting  on a practical level the necessity of his death.

Years ago I received this teaching which I shared in this blog:

"Even those who seem to have come into this world only to cause pain and destruction are sinless children of God at the core of their being. Encrusted and bound as they are by the scars of past pain, the soul within still glows and yearns to be released. Osama's soul is like a man buried alive; his hatred is like a coffin blocking out all light and even air, and the weight of Separation bears down like tons of earth heaped upon him. Wrapped in ropes of pain, it struggles only to find itself held tighter. It will require much compassion and lovingkindness from others to free that soul from the crushing weight of all the pain its thrashing about has caused. But if Osama and the millions of others like him are ever to be deflected from their destructive course, it will be by the true force of love and compassion, which is Spirit, and not by the false and hollow means of further death and destruction."

His soul is now free to return wrapped in another body, with a different mind and personality. What experiences await it are beyond our power to predict.

I see today's news as the carrying out of an execution. Temporal powers demand an eye for an eye. We would do well to remember that the personal desire for revenge does not emanate from the God-spark at the core of our being, but from a primitive part of the mind expressed through the ego. Society must have laws and there must be punishments for breaking those laws. Society also has the right to protect itself from those who would cause it harm. But we can be steadfast and uncompromising in enforcing our laws and protecting our families without taking pleasure in the pain it causes to such as Osama. To take such pleasure is to yield to the same egoic pressure that drove his own actions, and to ensure that the cycle of violence and hatred will intensify. As for myself, I understand the urge to celebrate, but I will try very hard to be faithful to the teaching I have been given.