Defining Prosperity

If you define prosperity as having everything ego wants, you can never be prosperous.  If you define it as having what Spirit needs, you are likely to find you are prosperous already.

Equanimity

Equanimity and mindfulness go hand in hand.  The person who is totally aware of his environment but unable to view it with detachment may go insane.  But equanimity without mindfulness may be no more than avoidance and denial.

By practicing both mindfulness and equanimity, you are able to face your fears and demonstrate that they have no power over you.  You can experience chaotic conditions and view the panicked reactions of others without being infected by that virus yourself, enabling you to deal calmly and successfully with the situation. You can enter into unfamiliar surroundings in full confidence that you will be able to handle anything you encounter. You can refuse to take on other people's problems as if they were your own, and compassionately allow solutions to emerge naturally. You can distinguish between situations requiring action and those that are purely ego-generated distractions. Anxiety fades as you rest in the awareness that you and all beings are perfect and invulnerable children of God.  Your "comfort zone" expands to fill your entire Universe.

Namaste

Illness

Illness is not a demon to be cast out, but a misperception to be lovingly corrected; a darkness to be gently illuminated; an emptiness to be filled with gratitude and Grace.

Love and Self-Love Redux

Some time ago I blogged that Selfless Love Is Self-Love. Yesterday I tweeted that "You cannot love yourself unless you realize that there is no self." Both postings attempt to describe the same truths, but the tweet seems to call for some more explanation.

On the level of human relationships, it is a truism that you cannot fully love another if you are unable to love yourself. People who have not come to terms with their demons and accepted themselves as perfect children of God will prefer to crtiticize and stand off from others, rather than embracing their humanity along with their innate divinity. In the realm of spirituality you must identify and worship the God within yourself in order to be able to see and revere the same animating spirit in other beings. In both realms, as long as you hold back from loving yourself you may experience a sensation that you think is love for others, but is really simply attachment born of insecurity, a felt need to supply from external sources something that is seen to be lacking in yourself. Spiritual love, on the other hand, grows out of the mutual awareness of our essential perfection. The Dalai Lama has been quoted as saying: "The best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other."

At this point yesterday's tweet intersects the other tweet I posted yesterday: "The purpose of yoga is awareness; the purpose of awareness is compassion; and the purpose of compassion is Oneness." Yoga - a term which refers to all forms of spiritual practice - is directed at achieving the recognition of the divine Spirit within yourself. Because it is intensely introspective it may lead the practitioner to isolate himself, sometimes physically (the hermit) and sometimes emotionally, from others. Great teachers caution the student, however, not to allow this self-absorption to be taken over by the ego (when it expresses as narcissism), nor to allow it to become an end in itself. If those things happen, then awareness will not come. Recognition of the God in ourselves is the first step in spiritual rebirth, not the last. The glowing lotus which blossoms at the center of your being at the moment awareness is achieved is not the sole point of light in the Universe. To the contrary, its illumination is cast in all directions and soon unites with the light of infinitely many other souls.

Introspection thus leads to awareness, not just of your own divinity, but also of the divinity of all other beings. Hence awareness leads to compassionate connection, in which the Spirit in you reaches out in yearning to touch and be absorbed in the universal Spirit which is no more nor less than the vibrational energy of the entire Universe, that of which individual souls are manifest. It reaches out, not only to others who have attained the same awareness, but even more so to those who have not. It seeks to cast its cleansing light into the dark places within you and within others where Love has not yet penetrated; to release the phantom demons chained there, and to free every individual manifestation of Spirit from the illusion of separation.Humility is another outgrowth of complete awareness, because the individual recognizes himself as no different from any other.

Inevitably, the continued practice of awareness and compassion lead to the internalized realization that all beings are one; that the entire Universe is a single vibrational energy in which our individual existence is simply a localized illusion. As long as we persist in human form this realization requires constant reinforcement, because our experience seems to deny it and our egos resist it. Reinforcement takes place as we return to the practice of yoga, the source of awareness, and to compassion, the awareness of our coexistence in the Universal Mind of God. Thus, the loss of self is part and parcel of the experience of pure universal Love.

Complementing Meditation with Mindfulness

In the realm of spirituality, Truth is evident to the self-realized individual. For the rest of us, however, the quest for Truth sometimes seems to be a multiple-choice test in which every question has several equally appealing answers. Of course each of us wants to encourage within ourselves thoughts and actions that will guide our footsteps along the way of Truth. But how are we to know which of the infinitely branching paths before us will take us in that direction?

As I blogged yesterday, meditation is one tool we can employ to help us make choices that are consistent with our highest aspirations. However, we can't always take time out to meditate over every decision that life presents us with. Fortunately, we can complement our meditation practice with other practices that are equally conducive to "right action".

The main complement to meditation is mindfulness. Mindfulness is awareness; awareness of one's surroundings, including one's physical body, of the thoughts and actions of others, and of the workings of the mind. Whereas meditation often requires us to isolate ourselves from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, mindfulness flourishes in that environment. Meditation requires stilling the mind and turning within to the Source of all wisdom. Mindfulness, on the other hand, allows us to draw on the store of wisdom accumulated through our meditation practice and put it to work in the active part of our lives. Beyond that, mindfulness permits us to look to other equally valid Sources outside our individual beings. Where meditation involves single-pointed focus on Spirit, mindfulness requires us to perceive Spirit in every object and occurrence within the range of our perception.

I recognize that I -- the essential I -- am an individual manifestation of Spirit, or of Universal Mind, and as such I have access to unlimited Truth at all times and in all places. Yet not all of that Truth is to be found within. Each other person and thing that I encounter in this energetic Universe is a unique manifestation of Spirit equal to myself. We all have the same Source and ultimately, we are the same energy and the same Truth. Yet each of us illustrates Truth in a way that is different and special. If I pay attention only to the wellspring of Spirit at the center of my own being, I will miss the opportunity to access a more complete experience by bathing in the emanations of Spirit that are occurring all around me.

In meditation, I open myself to the direct experience of Spirit at a soul level. By mindfulness, I open myself to experience Spirit through its myriad manifestations in the Universe that surrounds me. Like Arjuna beholding Krishna in his God-form, through mindfulness I stand in awe at the infinitely detailed manifestation of Spirit. This also constitutes focus, but of an entirely different sort - the focus on Oneness as expressed in the manifold phenomena of existence.

Right action implies interaction with the physical Universe and with other individuals. In order for those interactions to contribute to the positive evolution of Spirit in this Universe, I must be aware of many things. I must see my surroundings clearly, free of the haze of ego and the distoring lenses of memory and anticipation; in other words, I must perceive only the present moment. I must accurately assess the thoughts and needs of others as manifested in their own actions. Most importantly, I must keep firmly in mind the principles and guidance I have received in meditation and from the great teachers. I must endeavor to maintain access at all times to that channel of wisdom first opened in meditation, so that when my own powers of observation, reasoning and compassion fail me, I may turn to Spirit to guide me in a positive direction.

Mindfulness, then, extends the awareness of Oneness with All That Is developed through meditation into the sphere of daily life. It is the only practice by which we can keep Spirit always in view while coping with the requirements of secular living. It can be considered meditation by action - the expression in thought and deed of the awareness developed through communion with the Divine.

Where Does This Stuff Come From?

If you asked me where my blog postings come from, I would be hard pressed to give you a satisfying answer. Usually I will have been turning over in my mind some everyday problem or situation that I have faced, or observed in someone close to me. These tend to be issues involving social interactions, the give and take among individuals. I put myself in the place of a student asking a question of his Teacher: What is the right action in this situation? Not "right" in a moral sense, but "right" as the Buddha used the term -- What action will lessen suffering, and bring me closer to the dharma? A Christian might ask the very same question this way: "What would Jesus do?" (I do not consider myself either a Buddhist or a Christian, nor do I identify with any particular set of religious beliefs, believing rather that what is true in any of them arises from a single source and is the same in all.)

I know that when I have formulated a question like this, and then still my thoughts in meditation, the answer will come to me quickly and of its own accord. It is not necessary or even helpful for me to try to puzzle out the solution in my own mind. My mind is just an individual manifestation of Universal Mind, the God-Mind that knows the answers to all questions before they are asked. All that is necessary is for me to be receptive to guidance, and guidance will come. Often it does not come to me at first in words, but as a non-verbal concept, an awareness that the solution has been with me all the time. If I think the question and its resolution will be helpful to others, I will often sit down and try to put in into words. More accurately, I will sit down and allow words to flow through me onto the keyboard or the writing tablet. Most of my blogs are written at a single sitting and in a short time, with only minor editing after the fact. I consider that the words, like the guidance they describe, are provided to me by Universal Mind, of which my own intelligence is only a messenger.

I find myself adopting this approach in more and more situations in everyday life. Every teacher I have found -- from Lao Tsu to Ernest Holmes, Joel Goldsmith and Adyashanti -- emphasizes that Truth is from God, however that Source may be called in that teacher's particular tradition. God knows our needs before we ask; what is the point of asking God for anything? We attract, or channel, into our individual existence those things that occupy our attention. If our desire is to live a God-centered life, then God must be at the center of all that we think and do. Whether I am deciding what to eat for breakfast, driving on the freeway, overhearing office gossip, or watching television, my thoughts and actions must be consistent with God's Will, which is Love. The answer to "what should I do?" in literally every situation is, "Love." If Love is the guiding principle of your existence, then everything else will flow as naturally and clearly as a spring-fed mountain stream.

Evidently, then, the guidance that flows through me is not attributable to some unique source to which only I have access. In fact, that Source is available to anyone, at any time, and in all places. It can be called God, or Spirit, or Love, or by countless other names in countless tongues; but it is simply the Voice that comes to you when you set aside egoic mind -- the small self -- and allow Universal Mind -- the Higher Self -- to speak to you. Blogging serves a purpose for me, because it allows me to formulate in concrete form the nonverbal guidance that I receive. I hope also that it may serve a purpose for others, by reminding them of their own access to the Source of all wisdom, and the means of accessing that Source through Meditation.

Is Life Bittersweet?

A friend recently commented that “life is so bittersweet.” This friend rarely makes such observations casually, so I know it followed some period of reflection on his part. So I had to reflect on whether I agreed with his statement.

Of course everyone experiences moments of joy and moments of sadness in the course of a lifetime. Life taken as a whole has its times of sweetness and of bitterness. But the idea that life itself is bittersweet means more than that. Most of us would think of a bittersweet moment as one in which happiness and sadness are felt simultaneously, and probably from the same cause.

Transitions are often experienced as bittersweet. The passing of an aged relative or good friend causes grief mingled with the reliving of happy times spent with that person. A new job may present an invigorating challenge and the optimism of a fresh start, along with regret for friends left behind, or doors of opportunity left unopened.

We are always at choice in life, even if we are not always aware of it. Every day we make an implicit choice either to continue as we have been, or to move in a different direction. The more mindful the individual, the more choices he or she must make. Sometimes these choices are easy, and sometimes agonizingly difficult. Almost always, a choice requires us to weigh pros and cons, to decide whether the benefits of one course of action outweigh its costs, as well as the net benefits of alternatives. If we decline an opportunity for change, we may later feel that what we held onto was not worth as much as what we might have had. Conversely, if we opt for change, there may be moments when we look back with regret at what we gave up.

Our feelings at these times of reflection on past choices – whether those choices were made consciously or by default – can often be described as bittersweet. These mixed emotions are very much a part of the human condition. They are due to the mind’s ability to remember past events (though not always accurately) and to compare them with present conditions; and even more importantly, to indulge in “what if” fantasies and second-guessing.

Most of this mental activity is pointlessly self-destructive, because it leads to suffering over roads not taken and things that cannot be changed. It can be ascribed to the ego’s insecurity: “I am not good enough, I could have been better (or happier) if I had chosen differently.” Ego can never be satisfied because ego lives in a fantasy world where total and immediate gratification is just tantalizingly out of reach – available to everyone else but not to the ego’s self. Ego believes it is entitled to this gratification without effort, and blaming the past for the lack of gratification in the present is a way of avoiding responsibility for the choice to continue in an unhappy condition rather than to do something about it. This infantile attitude serves the ego’s purpose to keep it’s own needs in the forefront and to divert attention from the open door of the soul.

Buddhism teaches that attachments give rise to suffering. Pleasure leads inevitably to pain, because the ego forms an attachment to the pleasurable experience, and suffers when that experience is withdrawn. We (that is, our egos) also become attached to anticipated pleasures, that we somehow feel are owed to us, and that we rely on like a drug to provide the illusion of present enjoyment. Whether the thought is a memory or an expectation, we dwell on it because it provides an ersatz enjoyment in place of the pleasure that the ego cannot access in the present moment – that is, in reality. Eventually we must endure the suffering that attends the realization that the experience is not real. The observation that life is bittersweet is a description of this process by which pleasure is created, only to be transformed into pain.

The mindful individual knows the difference between now and not-now, and knows that only the now is real. He can experience pleasure without becoming attached to the experience, because he knows that all worldly experiences are transient. He does not daydream about events remembered or anticipated, because he is totally absorbed in the present moment, the experience that is happening now. One who is aware of the now in this way cannot deceive himself that it can remain unchanged, or can be preserved to be called upon at will in the future. He is able to experience genuine happiness in the present. His enjoyment is not curtailed by the fear of loss, because what is inevitable cannot be feared. He may experience sadness, but never regret or despair.

Ultimately, he comes to the realization that there is only one genuine experience, which is the experience of Love. His awareness becomes “one-pointed.” He abandons dualism and sees that “not-Love” is not the opposite of Love, but only its absence; a shallow emptiness that can be obliterated by pouring into it the Love that comes from the inexhaustible Source of All That Is, leaving no trace of its passing but only the irreducible Truth of Oneness.

By experiencing the Allness of Love – its “isness” as the primordial essence of which the Universe is formed – he is able to perceive and participate in the Love that is present behind each of its individual manifestations. Then he will no longer experience bitterness, and only sweetness will remain: the calm satisfying sweetness of resting in the pure awareness of universal Love.