Where is the Love?

"Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.  Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.  But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded him."  (1 John 2:9-11)

"If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen."  (1 John 4:20)

"Hatred will not cease by hatred, but by love alone."  (Gautama Buddha)

I'm so tired of all the hatred.  It's everywhere - and it seems to be getting worse.  It's especially troublesome in people who should know better:  Republicans (God lovers?) hating Democrats; Christians (God lovers?) hating Muslims, gays, women, etc.

When will we all learn that hatred, judgement and condemnation of others can never bring us peace, happiness and joy?  Only love begets love.

This doesn't mean we will ever agree on all things.  We're meant to have our differences - but we're also meant to be respectful and compassionate, regardless of the differences.

We can do our part to end hatred, yelling and fighting by refusing to be pulled into such negative energy.  If we cannot share love, let us at least remain silent.

We Are Co-Creators

"God created man in His image; in the divine image He created him; male and female he created them.  God looked at everything He had made, and He found it very good." (Genesis 1:27, 31a)

In the creation story of Genesis, Chapter 1, we see God creating everything - and specifically creating human beings in His own image.  I don't think it's possible to ever pin down exactly what God's image is, because God is beyond all human concepts and descriptions.  (God doesn't have gender, either, so we just use the word "He" out of convenience - see my post "Conceiving of God").

However, in this story, we see God as the Creator.  Since we are made in His/Her image, we are all creators, too - co-creators with God.

God sees everything He/She creates as "good" and "very good."  Therefore, we are meant to create things that are good (rather than harmful or selfish).

Some women feel called to create children or prepare wholesome family meals.  I spend my days creating uplifting yoga experiences for my students, a loving home for my husband, and poems or blog posts to inspire readers.

There are so many opportunities for us to be co-creators with God each day.  Doing so helps us live up to the image of God that is our blueprint.  What types of "good" things do you enjoy creating?

God's House

"One day within your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.  The threshold of the house of God I prefer to the dwellings of the wicked."  (Psalm 84:11)

I love this psalm - and this verse of the psalm in particular.  When I hear it, I envision the ancient Jews longing to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.  I remember that conservative Roman Catholics consider their Church to be the one true house of God.  They consider themselves to be safe and blessed as members of the true house of God.  I remember lavish cathedrals as well as tiny shrines that embodied "the house of God" for me.

Yet the verse also reminds me of holy, mystical experiences out in the natural world - on beaches, in forests, near waterfalls.  Such places are houses of God, too.

Lately, the verse reminds me that each one of us has been blessed with a heart and soul to house God.  Each of us is a house for God - if only we make room for Him, remember Him, and praise Him every moment in our small and large ways.  We need not fear the so-called "dwellings of the wicked," because God is within.  He is constantly loving us.  When we love Him in return, we sense His presence with us no matter where we happen to be.

Breaking the Rules

Does it bother you to see people breaking rules?  One time, when I was working in the fitness center, one of the members (a grown adult) came into the office to tell me another member was talking on her cell phone while working out - a posted "NO-NO" according to our rules.  He wanted me to tell her to stop talking on the phone or take the conversation outside the fitness center.

I politely reminded the woman of our rules.  She apologized and said a call had come in, so she took it briefly.  The other member said, "NO, she's been the one calling out."  I refused to get in the middle of the situation.  I purposely choose not to work with children because I don't want to deal with childishness.

However, there's another aspect to rule breaking.  The Catholic Church has a lot of rules and regulations (in addition to commandments and dogmas).  The news media like to point out there are many Catholics who refuse to follow certain rules, regulations and dogmas.  (I'm leaving out the commandments because those apply to all Christians, and as we know, all Christians break them in the course of being human.)

Some Catholics have no problem breaking certain rules and regulations while still considering themselves Catholics.  That may be fine for them, but it doesn't work for me.  Once I realized I couldn't follow all the rules and regulations - because I disagree with them - and I didn't believe most of the dogmas, I had to leave.  Why stay?  I'm not really one of "the club" anyway.

Here's the amusing part about rule breaking:  Since I started writing formal poetry, I've discovered there are poets who claim to write formal poetry while breaking the established rules for such poetry.  I don't get it.  Maybe I'll get it eventually.  But to me, why write formal poetry if you're going to break the rules?  Just write free verse, which is complex in its own way.

At this point, I'm loving formal poetry because I like the challenge of being creative while remaining within the structure of the form.  The demands of the form open my mind in unexpected ways (unlike the Catholic Church, whose rigid structure merely stifles - for me).

I've heard that once a poet has mastered the formal structure, then breaking the rules becomes an expression of such mastery and creativity.  I don't know yet.  It still sounds like a cop out at this point, but I'm being open-minded about the whole experience.  Perhaps I'll be breaking the rules sooner than I imagine.

Selling God

Truth be told: I like reading spiritual books, blogs, etc.; I belong to various spiritual groups on LinkedIn. However, what really bothers me is when someone's specific spiritual question is met with responses like, "check out my book" or "check out my CD" on that very subject.

Something inside me is immediately turned off by what sounds like a sales pitch. I can never feel comfortable with the idea of people making money from giving spiritual advice. The spiritual path is the highest journey of life (in my opinion) - and true spiritual teachers are not in it to make money (in my opinion). Yes, everybody has to make a living. Yet traditionally, spiritual teachers have lived on the goodwill offerings of devotees (students, seekers, disciples - or whatever you want to call them). In other words, the students/seekers give whatever they can afford to give (not necessarily money) in exchange for teachings. Some people cannot afford to "give" anything. Their donation is the faithful, genuine living - in gratitude - of the teachings they've been given.

When I met with my first spiritual director in 2004, she told me her usual fee was $25 per session. I gave her a brief skeptical look, but immediately agreed. She saw my look and responded with, "If you can't afford that much, then that's fine, too." I paid her the money every time because I knew the money was important to her - otherwise she would never have brought it up. She and her husband were well-off and didn't need the money as far as I could tell.

To me, it's a great honor and privilege to have the ability to share spiritual teachings for the good of people's souls. I aspire to one day help people this way. The teachings are given, not with the hope of any kind of personal gain, but purely out of compassion.

Maybe I'm wrong about this. Do you have an opinion on this topic? Should spiritual teachers uphold different standards from the usual "marketplace" values and practices?

Affirming Experience

"I relax and cast aside all mental burdens, allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace and wisdom."  (Paramahansa Yogananda)

About two months ago, I came across the above affirmation in my spiritual reading.  I liked it so much, I wrote it on a narrow piece of paper to use as a bookmark in my prayer book.

This affirmation speaks to me because most of my burdens are mental:  judgements, anxiety, negative thoughts, depression.  On the one hand, it often seems to me that I want to do and to be so many things; yet on the other hand, all I really want is to be an instrument of God's love, peace and wisdom.

Last week, I had a phone conversation for spiritual counseling with one of the nuns of Self-Realization Fellowship in California.  This was the first time I'd ever spoken with her.  She answered some of my questions about my spiritual practices, prayer and meditation.  She asked if I use affirmations in my practice.  When I said yes, she replied, "Wait a moment.  There's one here I'd like to share with you."

I waited as she leafed through some papers.  She said, "Ah yes, you may like this:  'I relax and cast aside all mental burdens [here, I began to giggle], allowing God to express through me His perfect love, peace and wisdom.'"

I got the message that God and Yoganandaji (my guru) wanted me to know that this is indeed an ideal affirmation for me at this time. An affirmation of the affirmation!

Don't you love such confirmations?  Please share your similar experiences here (in the comments) for the upliftment of all of us.  Peace to all!

Fear of the Lord

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise."  (Psalm 111:10)

Being afraid of God never seemed right to me.  In middle school, I learned that a better translation of "fear of the Lord" is "awe of the Lord."  Holding God in awe.  I like this because God is indeed awesome in His power, His knowledge, His justice - and also in His mercy, love and compassion.

The notion of an awesome God helps keep us humble.  It reminds us that we are creatures.  It inspires our prayers of praise and gratitude to God as the One who does all things (even when He uses us as His instruments).  It makes us happy to follow God's precepts because we know He is trustworthy; we know His laws are designed for our own good.

Our God (everyone's God) is an awesome God!  Let us praise and thank Him every day for the many blessings of His creation, for the countless blessings of our own lives.

Compassionate Religion

Several years ago, I told my spiritual director I thought the spiritual journey is like a spiral staircase:  Although we're making slow, steady progress, we often feel we're going in circles or moving backward as well as forward.  He liked this analogy a lot.  I told him I didn't make it up; I read it in the writings of some saint - but I couldn't remember who.

When I went home to research this topic on the internet, all I could find was Karen Armstrong's book, The Spiral Staircase - her memoir of living as a Roman Catholic nun, becoming disillusioned and eventually leaving the Church as a seeker after Truth.  At the time, I wasn't interested in reading the book since I was a diehard conservative Catholic and didn't want to read anything that might "endanger" my faith.

My husband and I have read The Spiral Staircase and some of Armstrong's other books such as A Short History of Myth; Buddha; and A History of God.  We are continually amazed by her knowledge and her ability to make complex ideas understandable.

Today, I discovered that she has been instrumental in creating and promoting the Charter for Compassion.  This charter advocates compassion as the basis for all authentic religions and calls people everywhere to practice this deep compassion.  The Charter, based on the Golden Rule (valid in all religions) has been formed through a collaboration of religious leaders and high thinkers everywhere.  It is backed by an impressive array of Partner Organizations. 

I invite you to read the Charter and affirm it if you feel so inspired.  May we all treat others as we wish to be treated.

Micro-Vacations

My husband and I have yet to take a real vacation - and we certainly have no plans to go anywhere exotic.  Later this year, we hope to make a short trip to Monongah, WV to pay our respects to my great-grandfather and the other men and boys who perished in the 1907 coal mining disaster.  That place and that story remain sacred to me, especially after my own visit there in 2010.

So, in lieu of a regular vacation, I take micro-vacations every day.  Before and after my Yoga classes on the fourth floor of Dominion Tower in Norfolk, I spend some time gazing out the window at the Elizabeth River.  Sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it's choppy.  Sometimes the scene is clear and sunny, while on other days it's gray and cloudy.  The ferry is always there, shuttling back and forth to Portsmouth.

Driving home from work in the evening, I have several routes I could take.  I choose the path that takes me over a long bridge so I can see the water, boats, and the houses along the shore.  I drink in the sight, smile, and take a few deep breaths.  I connect with a sense of contentment.

I think:  All is well. 

Such micro-vacations give my soul a sense of freedom and satisfaction.  They keep gratitude alive in my heart.  They remind me of the many blessings awaiting my acknowledgment each day.  Thanks be to God!

Stop Being a Slave

I confess that as I'm reading books or articles, I sometimes jot down a line or two but forget to note the source.  Here are two examples from my journal:

"Material desire depends for its existence on ego (asmita), habit (samskara), and delusion (avidya)."

"Whenever the desire for a particular sensory experience becomes habitual, it is time to stop that practice."

These quotes remind me that we all get sucked into the repetition of certain acts that make us feel good - temporarily.  For example, after a hard day at work, why is it that we can't wait to get home to veg out in front of the TV or Facebook, to stuff ourselves with potato chips or cookies, to have a glass (or several) of wine?

Stopping unhealthy habits necessitates replacing them with something more beneficial.  For example, reading a book instead of gravitating to TV or Facebook, eating fruit instead of cookies, drinking tea instead of alcohol.

However, the above quotes suggest something even deeper:  We can become enslaved by ANY habit, even habits that are good for us.  When we're overwhelmed by the desire for some object or experience, and when we cannot stop ourselves from indulging (even in "good things" such as a cup of coffee or a bout of exercise), then we're enslaved.  We are deluded into believing we can find contentment or happiness by satisfying our desires.  Somehow we don't notice our happiness is temporary.  Or maybe we DO notice but we figure this is just how life is.

Let us stop and really notice the next time we think we just HAVE to have some experience.  Do we?  Can we try something else instead?  Let us cultivate curiosity for experiences outside our deep habitual ruts.  Let us free ourselves from the endless desires to cater to our senses.

Peace, love, joy and happiness are within us.  Those are what we really want anyway.