Surrender as a Constant Practice

Surrender is the recognition that seeking God is pointless because God is nowhere to be found; but that God will come to you if you are open and accepting. This openness is first achieved in meditation or other spiritual practice, where the demands of body and mind are set aside in favor of your relationship with Spirit. However, few if any are so fortunate as to be able to spend all their time focused exclusively on a formal practice. Eventually the demands of the world must also be given some attention. For most of us, the great majority of our time and attention is devoted to worldly matters.

It is essential, then, that we learn to carry the attitude of surrender with us as we go about our daily affairs. This does not mean to be passive, but rather to conduct ourselves always in ways that are attentive to the inner Voice that first comes to us in our practice. In fact, we will find that maintaining our intention to surrender to the will of God is a very demanding exercise out in the world. First of all we must be mindful; mindful of the influence of body and mind on our attitudes and behavior, and mindful also of our interactions with people and with worldly situations, aware that these too are Divine creations. We must provide food, clothing and shelter for ourselves and any others who depend upon us, yet we must seek to do so in ways that are consistent with our commitment to Spirit. In the time-honored phrase, we must be "in the world but not of it". This requires continual self-discipline, recognizing and dealing appropriately with the demands of the small self from the perspective of the larger Self.

Joel Goldsmith reminds us of the ancient teachings that God will provide for those who surrender to It. In more contemporary terms, "being in the flow" means that by maintaining our connection to Spirit, we navigate easily the straits and shoals of worldly life. God provides the ship, the wind and the sails; all that It asks of us is to steer. With a firm and steady grasp of spiritual practice as our rudder, we are sure to bring ourselves and our communities safely to harbor.

Happiness and Buddha Nature

From Krishna Das' forthcoming book, Chants of a Lifetime:
"Ultimately, we'll come to live in a state where our hearts are so expansive, so open to love, that everyone and anything is free to come and go without being judged or pushed away."

What Am I?

What am I?

There are so many things I sometimes identify with that are not me.  I am not my car or my house.  I am not my computer.  I am not any of my belongings.

I am not my friends or my family.  I am not any of these precious relationships, no matter how closely I may cling to them.

I am not this hand, this foot, not even this heart and lungs, not even - dare I say it - this brain through which all my experience surges ceaselessly like a storm of lightening.

I am not this thought that is passing through my consciousness at this instant.

That which I am would exist if all these things were destroyed, or if they had never existed.

I am none of these things that seem to distinguish my being from any other.  I am Universal Spirit; I am Oneness; I am that which is real and has no opposite; I am Life.  Existence coalesces around me, individual elements lose their identity. I am the swirling black hole at the end of this Universe into which matter falls and becomes undifferentiated energy, or at the birth of the next spewing individuality newly re-formed.  I am Universal awareness, spinning the mandala of existence, consciousness without duality, without judgment, surpassing time and space ... I am no thing but that without which no thing, no condition could appear ...  I am that I am.

Knowledge of Immortality

I know there is a universal Spirit of which my own awareness is an integral part. I know this Spirit consists of joy and love. I know these things because I also know my body must die and dissolve, and that part of my consciousness that depends upon support from the physical body must pass away.‏

Knowing my physical mortality allows me to accept the inevitability of physical death and move past it.  It is insane to fear the inevitable.  Still, even calm acceptance of mortality is far from the exuberance of joy and love. If physical existence were all we had, then the sure knowledge that life is limited would be sobering, if not saddening. 

Yet in meditation, and any time that I sense my connection with Spirit, joy and love are all that I feel.  These cannot have their source in the body or the mind that depends upon it. They can only emanate from a Source that is eternal, omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.  That Source is Spirit, God, Life, or Oneness . . . I am, the unnamable.  Mortality does not dampen my enthusiasm for Life because I am an individual manifestation of this universal Spirit.  I am as immortal as God Itself, because God and I are one.

The God In You, the God In Me: Love Without Attachment

The God In You, the God In Me: Love Without Attachment

Focus on Spirit

Place your entire attention on Spirit, and no harm can come to you.

Have you ever noticed that when you are completely absorbed in a thought or an activity, other concerns disappear?  The egoic mind uses this phenomenon to distract us from Spirit.  However, you can turn the tactic around by concentrating on Spirit.  When you do, all worldly fear, pain, and distress vanish.  The bliss that is found in meditation is like a light banishing the darkness.  Mind, body, and soul become attuned to the harmony of the Universe, which naturally expels negative thoughts and attitudes, and the physical and mental ills that they produce.

Banishing Fear and Insecurity

Some people live closely guarded lives, fearful of encountering someone or something that might shatter their insecure spiritual foundation. This attitude, however, is not the fault of religion but of their own limited understanding. True Dharma leads in exactly the opposite direction. It enables one to integrate all the many diverse experiences of life into a meaningful and coherent whole, thereby banishing fear and insecurity completely.

- Lama Thubten Yeshe, "Wisdom Energy"