Understanding The Whole Helps Understand The Parts

There seems, to me, to be only several over-arching principles in virtually every spiritual tradition I have come to know: The Oneness of all humanity; The interconnectedness of all Life; The significance of stilling my mind or observing myself and recognizing that the universe I perceive exists only between my ears (or, put another way, discovering the power of my thoughts and my responsibility to manage them); and the growing perception of the one true spiritual Reality – the power of Love.

These facets of my spiritual development have little to do with traditional cerebral dogma – but everything to do with experiential faith. These are elements of Spirit that I know to be true for me simply because I have experienced their reality even though, on most occasions, I cannot express that reality in words. The difficulty in Finding The Right Words to use to express my spiritual reality was, in fact, the title of one of the chapters in my book, How the Bible became the Bible (Chapter 9).

I’ve written before in these messages about sensing the mystery of life as I cleaned muck out of my wet-weather creek or as I watched a wary meeting between an ant and a spider. You have listened to me describe my growing connectivity to my Tennessee environment – the hot, the dry, the frigid, and the icy – as I notice myself responding to the weather as the animals, birds, and plant life do. It has become the easiest way I experience the NOW. It has been therapeutic for me. It has connected me to my environment.

It helps me understand the small “pieces” of reality I’m witnessing by having, first, understood the “big picture.” Perhaps that’s just the way I learned to think. Perhaps it’s an important lesson in itself. I don’t know. It’s just the way I have always processed information. Example – there is a great quote from a small book I’ve read entitled Original Wisdom: Stories of an Ancient Way of Knowing, by Robert Wolff [Inner Traditions Publishing, 2001]. In the book (p., 192) he quotes Ursula K. LeGuin: “No truth can make another truth untrue. All knowledge is part of the whole knowledge. Once you have seen the larger pattern, you cannot go back to seeing the [single] part as the whole.” [from her publication: Four Ways to Forgiveness].

How true that statement is for me!

I might add to LeGuin’s observation: Once I have understood me in terms of the larger whole, no longer can I go back and see me and my perceptions as all there is.

The author of Original Wisdom, also wrote the following, when discussing our “Western” ways of treating our natural resources [from page 68]: “We may think that our resources are the rewards of our efforts, our productivity, but in the earth’s closed ecosystem when we use resources (trees, oil, ores) much faster than they can be replenished, we destroy.

“ If we destroy life to save life, our civilization is doomed to extinction, as the plant and animal species are doomed when … the harmony of the whole [is disturbed].

“Aboriginal people of the world will be as extinct as tigers will someday be. Tiger tissue may be frozen in the hope that future generations can re-create these animals. A few tigers may be kept alive in zoos. But only a Westerner could think that a tiger could exist apart from his own unique environment and still be a tiger. The belief that we can save tigers by freezing some cells is the very belief that is destroying the tigers’ habitat: the belief we are separate. A habitat is more than an environment, something to be exploited. In fact, the tiger and the jungle are one; each cannot exist without the other.”     

All I can add is that I have experienced the power of understanding I am but a part of my environment not a user of it. That simple recognition has profoundly impacted my life and my perception of it. If I’m outside in colder weather and get chilled, I don’t run inside my heated house. I simply get up and go put on a sweater. If it’s hot and humid outside I don’t escape to my air-conditioned house, I put on a more appropriate shirt. If I sweat, I relish the sun and the breeze fanning me knowing that’s how my body keeps me cool. I have come to realize how much electrical and gas energy I have used to keep me impervious to what’s happening outside – allowing me to ignore or overcome my environment. What a waste.

People will approach me, while in line at a grocery store, and say, “Brrrr! Man it’s really cold today.” I’ll reply, “It really is. You’d almost think it was February in the mountains. Oops. It is February, isn’t it?” They always smile.

Take what you want from this message and leave the rest. Oh, and embrace the weather today. It will enrich you.

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

I will be out of town next week, There will be no message.

Don

#3 Feb 2016

Copyright 2016

The Role Of My Higher Mind

I have received quite a few messages from subscribers and those that are reading me through the blog-sphere about my recent posts and what is happening in Iraq/Syria from ISIS or ISIL. How does this horror seem to fit? Isn’t ISIS/ISIL the epitome of evil? Shouldn’t we kill them all? Questions/Comments like that.

There are two worlds we live in: A horizontal one and a vertical one. The horizontal world contains a linear past, present, and future. If I imagine this world on my lap, on my left is the past, the middle of my lap contains the present, and on my right lies the future. There also exists the vertical world. It moves straight upward from the middle of my lap. It is the eternal NOW.

A Course in Miracles (ACIM) states that this vertical world is the only real world.  There have been others that have proclaimed this reality, as well. For a couple of examples, Eckert Tolle and his book, The Power of Now or Alcoholics Anonymous and its emphasis on the current 24-hours or One Day At A Time, or Jesus’ teachings, as recorded in the Gospels, that Eternal Life is inside you now if you would but notice it.

The horizontal world is the world we generally think of as “the real world.” It is the world of my perception – and your perception, as well. Our perceived worlds have a lot in common – a lot of shared, taught, and believed images / presuppositions / predispositions. But there are also some significant differences in our perceptions. My wife and I refer to our basic, lower egoic minds as Hortense and Felix, respectively. When we have arguments – and we do – they are always about the perceptions of Hortense versus the perceptions of Felix. They are generally arguments trying to establish who is right, or more right, or mostly right?

So what’s going on? Let me furnish an analogy.

In a dream I am trying to win the lottery in order to become a super-duper benefactor of Progressive causes. I awake in the morning angry at God because, in the dream, He refused to “give” me the current six winning numbers. He appeared not to listen to my entreaties, my pleas, or my wonderfully altruistic intentions. In my dream I was frustrated, resentful, angry, and irritated at God for not “helping” me attain “my” goal. As I awake I am still angry and short-tempered. That’s how I begin my day. It’s probably not going to be a calm, peaceful, joyous one.

That dream is analogous to this horizontal world – this world we all perceive but which exists only with the meanings each of us attributes to it. Hortense has meanings she attributes that are different than those of Felix. That can cause us “problems.” Some perceptions Hortense and Felix share and that produces “harmony.” On some attributes Hortense and Felix have simply agreed to disagree. Nevertheless, this horizontal world is as unreal to God as my dream is to me. It is only a dream.

Our horizontal world is full of pain, anger, resentments, and unfulfilled expectations – all based on fear. It’s a fear that stems from my fundamental belief, assumption, or supposition that I am fully separate – I am me and you are not. What is “mine” is not “yours.” I will protect “mine” from being taken away by “you.” I know you are trying to get “mine” because I am trying to get “yours.” Consequently, my life in my perceived horizontal world is based on this fundamental fear that I will not get what I want or that I will lose what I believe I have.

ISIS/ISIL believes just like this. They want their image of Islam to prevail. You must either agree with them or die. There is no compromise. We do exactly the same thing – only with a little more subtlety. ISIS/ISIL fears that we will take from them and we fear they will take from us. Because ISIS/ISIL believes they are right, they are justified in killing those that disagree. Because we believe we are right, we are justified in bombing the hell out of them.

I know this sounds harsh, but….  There is no degree of evil-ness. There is no degree in love-ness. It’s one or the other. The Old Testament word for sin is “to miss the mark.” If you have one arrow and a lion is charging you and you miss – it doesn’t matter if you miss by a lot or a little. You’re supper that night – which is pretty harsh.

However, ACIM teaches us there is no “sin.” Operating in this dream-world – the horizontal – there is only error, which can be corrected by choosing again and again until we finally experience the true reality of the eternal NOW – the vertical.

In addition to Felix, my lower egoic mind, I have a higher mind. My higher mind will see through some of this conflict. In fact he has composed much of this message. He is able to focus on more “moral” thoughts. But he is still residing on this horizontal plane of existence. However, he is aware of a vertical channel to the “real” world of spirit. He is open and willing to listen for the whispers of the Holy Spirit. I can allow him to become more and more trained to be more and more aware of clues or red flags that indicate Felix is in charge. However, when he consistently begins to say to Felix “Thanks for sharing, but that’s enough,” and asks for help to see the situation differently, the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to work a miracle. My higher mind has the ability to choose whether to relinquish control to the horizontal world or to be open and willing to explore the vertical, real world.

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

Don

#5 August 2014

Copyright, 2014

Living in the “Great Quiet”

On Thursday morning I received an email from a very good friend. She said, in part: “[My husband] and I have started studying ACIM together again and, of course, every time I get your wonderful [weekly message] I think of you doing it too…. At any rate, it's making a lot more sense to me than it did three decades ago.  I read someone the other week who referred to God as ‘The Great Quiet.’ I love that name – it rings true for me. So I think, ‘The Great Quiet is in me and I am in the Great Quiet.’ It helps so much.”

What a wonderful description – “The Great Quiet.” I had never heard that before.

Oddly [don’t you just love spiritual synchronicity?], that same Thursday afternoon I felt that Great Quiet. It had not been a very good day for me. I had to have some dental extractions and be fitted for a removable partial. The extractions went like clockwork. However, the partial had been made incorrectly, and I was going to have to return the following day for another fitting. As the day wore on the anesthetic wore off and my jaw began to hurt. On top of that I couldn’t eat anything REAL men eat – so I ate yogurt, soup, pudding and other foo-foo foods. I couldn’t work in the yard. I couldn’t lift anything. I couldn’t do much of anything.

It was a perfect storm consisting of perfect ingredients for me to crawl up into my King Baby chair and sulk long enough to conjure up a gold-plated Pity-Pot for myself.

Later that afternoon it began to rain – and rainstorms on Tennessee’s Cumberland Plateau, which creates a 1,000-foot overlook into the Tennessee River Valley, can be gentle, refreshing, life-giving nourishment for the woods. Yet, in an instant these storms can become wild, wooly, gale-blown sheets of penetrating water darts. It was that way this Thursday. Gentle rain fell straight down with no wind. I could almost hear the grass and plants as they were giving thanks. My Pity-Pot dissolved and I stood on my porch rather transfixed.

“The Great Quiet!”

Then trees began bending to the wind, shaking so violently tips of limbs were flying off. The gentle, nourishing rain became a squealing banshee [one-half inch in 10 minutes] and the grateful vegetation began yelling, “My God! Stop! In the name of Heaven what are you thinking of?”

I was fascinated with the sudden fury of the storm. What a change! – Yet I remained on the porch in that “Great Quiet.”

I was also very aware of what a blessing that was.

It made me realize I can do that anytime I want/need when I’m around people, places, or events. All I need to do is step outside myself and observe all the goings-on, including myself – just become the Great Buddhist Observer – standing shoulder-to-shoulder with (and in) the “Great Quiet.”

But, most of the time it’s hard for me to do that.

When I talk about quieting my mind I do not mean stilling all the thoughts that go on constantly in that universe between my ears. I seem to have a whole committee of voices that lives up there. If I try to quiet them, that’s where my concentration lies: trying to still the voices and thoughts that pop out of nowhere and demand my attention. My concentration does not lie in listening to the whispers of the Holy Spirit. It lies in fighting a very futile battle with my voices.

So, I’ve learned that to still or quiet my mind means simply to learn not to pay attention to the thoughts of my resident committee. This takes practice and a modicum of self-control. I can teach myself to do that. ACIM calls this process “mind training.” It’s not a brain-washing. Rather it’s a learned skill to pay attention to the whispers, not the shouts, of the constant stream of random thoughts that travel from one of my ears to the other. I use the mantra of Ho'oponopono to do this. It has been rather effective. [See Msg-1-Jun-2014: Experiencing the Peace and Truth of the Realities of Spirit]

There’s an old saying: I do not have to believe everything I think. The louder the voices in my head, the more I know they are of my ego. I am learning (and practicing) to listen for the whispers that will guide me to understanding the next, dumb, right thing I need to do. I’m beginning to understand that many times this next right thing to do is nothing.

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

Don

#2 Jun, 2014

Copyright, 2014

Experiencing the Peace and Truth of the Realities of Spirit

I received some significant traffic about last week’s message [Msg-4-May-2014: Coping With My Ocean of Guilt and Shame] concerning the Hawaiian spiritual practice of Ho’oponopono. Most of the traffic was positive; some indicated confusion, as if Ho’oponopono was some form of “spiritual gimmickry.”

When I was writing my book, How the Bible became the Bible, Infinity Publishing (ISBN: 978-0-7414-2993-3), I struggled a lot trying to use words to describe what had happened to me spiritually as I got sober with the grateful help of Alcoholics Anonymous. I simply couldn’t do it. I couldn’t describe with the written word the reality and significance of my transformation. It was very frustrating. 

I decided, in the end, to concentrate that discussion in its own chapter, The Difficulty in Finding the Right Words (Chapter 9).  From a literary point of view this seemed to help with the flow of the book. However, my internal frustration and dissatisfaction remained. Words can be horrible buckets with which to convey very personal spiritual realities. That is further complicated by the fact that, even if I were to communicate my unfolding spirituality in a way that allowed readers to fully grasp what I was saying about me, it would have nothing to do with those same readers experiencing their own spiritual realities. Whether or not the words of mine (or the Apostle Paul, or the writers of the Gospel of Mark, or John of Patmos, or Wayne Dyer, or Eckert Tolle, or Deepak Chopra, or Marianne Williamson, or anyone else) resonate with you – simply believing this happened to me or other writers does not mean it will happen to you.

The realities of Spirit are experienced, not arrived at intellectually. The Truth of Spirit is known on a visceral level, not as a logical conclusion to a series of philosophical arguments. The Truth of Spirit brings a Peace I simply know from my insides. And I have learned to recognize when it is missing.

There are significant similarities between Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), A Course in Miracles (ACIM) and Ho’oponopono. To acknowledge that one of these “speaks” to me more readily than the others does not elevate that one above the others. It simply means, at this particular time, that particular approach and language resonates better with me. The same is true with you.

Simply rejoice!

In AA, whenever I had gotten too involved in my own life, I have experienced a change in perception – which changed my world – by following the suggested path of getting involved in the life of another alcoholic. By honestly sharing my experience, strength and hope with another I forgot about my own pity-pot – my own self-absorbed perceptions. Those actions allowed the Truth of Spirit to unfold. As it’s often stated in AA: Change the way your look at things and the things you look at change. In ACIM I have experienced the process of forgiveness as described in the Course and felt the frustration, anxiety, and fear of my error-filled perceptions melt away as the Holy Spirit whispered to me different ways to look at situations, people, and events. In Ho’oponopono I have used the suggested process of repeating its mantra: “I’m sorry. I love you. Please forgive me. Thank you.”  This mantra evokes the 3-step process of repentance, forgiveness, and transmutation. I have found my inside-me turmoil begin to dissipate.

All these processes are similar and very effective tools to encourage my willingness to ask for help and to encourage my openness to see things differently. And not only do I get better but my universe responds and heals. It’s always a miracle when this happens!

If you are talking about how the principles of AA and its suggested Twelve Steps of recovery allowed the Spirit of your Higher Power to transform you and someone else describes a similar transformation following the principles of ACIM – simply rejoice! If someone describes something similar following the cleansing steps of Ho’oponopono, simply rejoice! If people describe how a Paul-type road-to-Damascus revelation or a Buddhist “external observer” revelation was transformational for them, simply rejoice!

The experience of a spiritual transformation is the Truth that brings Peace. The reality of freedom that Truth and Peace bring is beyond words. I just know it viscerally, and although I still try, it is frustrating to communicate. [As I write this, I am working on uncovering the thoughts that compel me to feel that I have to still try to put it in words. I am asking myself, “Why?”

When I begin to believe my transformation is “better” than your transformation, I know my ego has “kidnapped” me once again. I then use the Steps of AA, ACIM’s process of forgiveness, or the cleansing of Ho’oponopono to correct that error. That correction will open the door to allow my Holy Spirit to begin nudging me back to the experience of Truth and Peace that I have tasted before in my spirituality.

Although these messages are mostly for me, thanks for listening. As always – feel free to forward this message to your friends, family, and those accompanying you on your spiritual journey.

Don

#1 Jun, 2014

Copyright, 2014