Three Doors of Refuge

Meditation or contemplative practice, such as centering prayer, is a practice of receptivity. To enter the space of pure being, we must change (for the time of meditation) our fundamental relationship with the outer world from one of action and expression to one of receptivity and openness. We shift perception to "What Is" as it is. "Not mine, but Thy will be done." is the Christian language for this posture of mind. 

In Christian thought, to enter into the flow of divine grace, one must assume a mental posture of humility, meaning that one must relinquish both external identity attachments and the false sense of control they give us, and be with circumstances as they are, trusting God to carry us. This posture of receptivity is referred to as kenosis, self emptying. It is releasing the illusions imparted by ego: separation, attachment, neediness for power and control, for affection and esteem, in favor of trust, truth and authenticity. When we can learn to make this change of mind in  meditation, from active control to passive receptivity,  we are better able to bring our peaceful presence to times of active engagement with the outer world. This is the objective of meditation or contemplation: to exercise the mind in the way of receptivity so that as we live in the world, it is engaged in receptivity in a balance with its engagement in activity.

This description of meditation by Bon Tibetan Buddhist lama, Tinzen Wangyal Rinpoche describes the contemplative process.

"There is no better protection than the refuge of unbounded sacred space, infinite awareness, and genuine warmth. With the inner refuge, you are not depending on someone or something outside you to make you feel secure. Any external source of refuge is ultimately unreliable. 

OPEN. The first refuge, unbounded sacred space, is a true support because it is unchanging, indestructible, beyond birth and death, and eternal. Whatever difficulties you face, the first refuge supports you in allowing your experiences and hosting them fully.

AWARENESS. The second inner refuge, the light of awareness, can never be diminished or extinguished by any cause or condition. Inner light is unceasing—forever luminous and clear. Even in the darkest of circumstances, you can trust that it is always there.

PURE BEING.  You can also trust that the warmth of the third refuge is within you. It spontaneously arises from the union of openness and awareness. There may be moments when you feel emotionally cold and dark, when it seems that all the light has gone from your life. But your experience and inner truth are not in sync—the light is always there. At these moments, access to the inner refuge may seem distant, but a sense of trust may bring you a glimmer of the inner refuge that can lead to a shift in the darkness of your experience. Trust is a necessary companion on the path.

There is no situation so bad that you can't turn toward the three doors. As you become more familiar with entering and abiding in the inner refuge, you will begin to trust in its healing presence.

Being aware of the three doors is not work. In fact, the more effort you put into connecting with stillness, silence, and spaciousness, the more elusive the inner refuge seems. Connecting with the inner refuge is simply a matter of shifting your attention. If you are already still, be aware of stillness. When you are silent, hear the silence that is already there. Notice the spaciousness at the very center of your being. As you rest in awareness, you connect with your authentic self. The effort of seeking dissipates, and you are unbounded sacred space, infinite awareness, and genuine warmth—you are the inner refuge. The inner sacred space is so simple and close that if we search for it, we cannot find it. But it is always there for you, the source of all the elemental qualities you need. As the inner refuge, you are whole and complete in each moment."

~Tenzin Wangyal

Adapted from Tricycle .  Originally From The True Source of Healing, by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (July 7, 2015). Reprinted with permission of Hay House.

Christian contemplative theology informs us that the first endeavor on the path to union with God is purgation. This is the process of opening, the removal of ego-defenses that keep us from a state of humble, loving acceptance; the psychological barriers to truth and grace. The second phase of the spiritual path is illumination, the same as awareness, described above as a light that is always on. Finally, union with God is akin to Pure Being, an experience of Oneness with the Divine finds us in the light of our own Pure Being.

May you be refined by the solitude of the open waters of grace, breathed through by the Spirit of light and love, and expanded into the open arms of Pure Oneness. It is from this Space that you can bring the highest healing to the world.

_/\_Peggy @ ecumenicus

“Interim Time,” Dark Night or Living in Ambiguity

When near the end of day, life has drained

Out of light, and it is too soon
For the mind of night to have darkened things,

No place looks like itself, loss of outline
Makes everything look strangely in-between,
Unsure of what has been, or what might come.

In this wan light, even trees seem groundless.
In a while it will be night, but nothing
Here seems to believe the relief of darkness.

You are in this time of the interim
Where everything seems withheld.

The path you took to get here has washed out;
The way forward is still concealed from you.

“The old is not old enough to have died away;
The new is still too young to be born.”

You cannot lay claim to anything;
In this place of dusk,
Your eyes are blurred;
And there is no mirror.

Everyone else has lost sight of your heart
And you can see nowhere to put your trust;
You know you have to make your own way through.

As far as you can, hold your confidence.
Do not allow confusion to squander
This call which is loosening
Your roots in false ground,
That you might come free
From all you have outgrown.

What is being transfigured here is your mind,
And it is difficult and slow to become new.
The more faithfully you can endure here,
The more refined your heart will become
For your arrival in the new dawn.

Interim Time from To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

This poem describes what some might call a dark night of the soul. It is a time of feeling resistance to progress, or the absence of fulfillment. Times like this are inherent in a constantly changing reality. For change to take place, an abundance of one thing must meet opposition, often it feels like resistance, forcing something new to emerge. This time of lost direction or struggle signals impending newness: new ways of seeing, new ways of being, new life! "New dawn."

Life in paradoxical relationship is constantly flowing from one expression to another, from forward to backward, feast to famine, into one thing/phase and out of another. In Jewish Kabbalah this is called Tzim Tzum - the contraction and expansion of God or Reality. Scientists might call it particles and waves or matter and energy, both the same, but in different states of being.

We can also think of this ebb and flow as the play between Light and Darkness, in fact it has often been described as such in the ancient literature.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.   John 1:5

"Every gift of divine awareness benefits our receptivity for a new and greater gift. Every divine gift increases our openness and longing to receive what is higher and greater. To the extent that God is boundless in His giving, our souls are equally boundless in their capacity to receive."

~Meister Eckhart (1260 – c. 1327),  German theologian, philosopher and mystic.

Eckhart refers to metanoia - a new way of seeing things. Awareness. And all it takes is willingness to make the change, to "look again." "Receptivity for a greater gift" is willingness to live again, to see things differently, and allow the "new dawn." Then listen to what Eckhart says, "To the extent that God is boundless in God's giving, our souls are equally boundless in their capacity to receive." Let me paraphrase: To the extent that you are willing to open yourself to a new way of seeing and being, Reality (capital "R") is ready to give it through you. Reality will grow you through your experience in light or darkness. The light will always come into the world through you, through your willingness to BE Light and your understanding that through you, even in darkness, all possibility exists. On the other side of "what is" is "anything is possible."

The color, black absorbs all colors….what we perceive as white reflects all colors. Black, or Darkness, is not void it is pure possibility.

Living in the Dark Night of the Soul, the transitional state of ambiguity, is always prequel to a new dawn. It is transformative. 

"...hold your confidence.
Do not allow confusion to squander
This call which is loosening
Your roots in false ground,
That you might come free
From all you have outgrown."

All will be well, and all manner of things will be well." Julian of Norwich

Live in the questions. Rest in the chaos. Keep confidence and trust the ebb and flow of Sacred Life to work through you. You are the Light of the World. Anything is Possible.

_/\_Peggy @ Ecumenicus

KEEPING QUIET by Pablo Neruda

Now we will count to twelve

and we will all keep still.

For once on the face of the earth,

let’s not speak in any language;

let’s stop for one second,

and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment

without rush, without engines;

we would all be together

in a sudden strangeness.

Fisherman in the cold sea

would not harm whales

and the man gathering salt

would look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,

wars with gas, wars with fire,

victories with no survivors,

would put on clean clothes

and walk about with their brothers

in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused

with total inactivity.

Life is what it is about;

I want no truck with death.

If we were not so single-minded

about keeping our lives moving,

and for once could do nothing,

perhaps a huge silence

might interrupt this sadness

of never understanding ourselves

and of threatening ourselves with death.

Perhaps the earth can teach us

as when everything seems dead

and later proves to be alive.

Now I’ll count up to twelve

and you keep quiet and I will go.

_/\_Peggy @ Ecumenicus

I WILL NOT WHISPER - You are Love

"I want to speak to you about Love

about how you deny yourself
its slightest entry...
about how much you truly fear
Love's silent embrace.

I want to talk to you
about what you will not
allow yourself to see-
about that beauty inside
that you turn your face from.

Yes, I want to talk to you.
You who have somehow
found a way to hide
within a sliver of darkness
cast upon the pure light of Being.

I want to talk to you.
I will not whisper.

You can live in that sliver of darkness forever
and tell yourself lies.
You can blame yourself.
You can blame others.
You can blame God and beyond.
And still that Love that you are will wait
until you can tell yourself
the lie of denial no more.

And at that very moment
you will see
just how silent Love's embrace can be.
And in that silence
the truth will ring clear.
Love demands everything:
all of your illusions
excuses and fears.

I want to speak to you about Love.
I want to talk to you about
what you will not allow
yourself to be.

I want to talk to you.
I will not whisper."

~ Adyashanti
My Secret is Silence
Shared from: Adyashanti

You are made in the image of God. A co-creator of WHAT IS, you allow Divine Grace to live through you.

You are the light of the world,
You have the Mind of Christ.
Release the veils that hide your True Identity. It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are...It takes enormous humility to Love this suffering world...to love that pain inside of you.

Be Love.
Know who you are.
You are not your thoughts! You are more authentically your wounded heart, than whatever thoughts you have. Look beyond the pain and you will find the Grace.

_/\_Peggy @ ecumenicus

Say I LOVE YOU - Now!

When’s the last time you told your father you loved him (or whichever parent cant seem to express emotion to you)? Whether you’ve called him yesterday or haven’t spoken in years, take a chance and connect. While you’re at it, tell everyone who means a lot to you that you love them! The rewards will last forever, as the unexpectedly emotional participants in this video discovered. 

~Love, Social Justice, Science, Art and Music, with gratitude! _/\_

I was just thinking about this because of a class on contemplative prayer I am teaching on Wed evenings. We talked about the lower frequency of male participation in contemplative groups and the idea that cultural norms play such a huge part in keeping our fathers - men, in general - from expressing their positive emotions. We also talked about (and we are all Feeler-biased on the Myers Briggs) how we Feelers had to downplay our preference for full self expression through Feeling in the current culture, both at home and outside of the home. We talked about how our culture, even if parents are compassionate about affirming emotional expression, tends to ignore or downplay that particular aspect of personality. Maybe that’s because there is such a palpable energetic component to emotionality. That strong energy can be a threat, even below the radar of the conscious mind. And so often, we express strong negative energy more readily than strong positive energy. That does not fare well in social settings.

But somehow, it’s a stifling of both negative and positive expression. Negative gets us a strong, “No!” Positive gets us, “I’m not really comfortable with that.” Either way the message is, “Emotions are not welcome here.” So, we learn not to express them. We don’t change the fact that we have them and need to express them, we simply deny that part of our self, repressing, both negative and positive emotions. We do such a great job of this, that we don’t even know what we are feeling any longer. We lose touch with who we are as emotional beings. We fear intimacy with others. We fear the vulnerability that comes with expressing positive emotions. And sometimes, we expect one other person to be the sole source of that intimacy dynamic; a tough expectation that can lead to the disabling of the relationship. It’s a shame, really, because the world could use more love expressed. And just giving a hug or saying, “I love you,” can completely change the energetic dynamic between 2 people.

Amma, the hugging “Mother of the World,” knows the value of a hug. “My religion is Love,” she says. Gosh, that’s the message of the New Covenant too!! Yet, Amma seems to be doing a better job of loving the world than many people who would characterize themselves as Christians, New Covenant partners. What if we had a sermon every Sunday on the Great Commission to hug the person next to you or say I love you to 10 people that day?

The other thing I noticed about this video is that the people involved looked each other in the eye, with some period of silence, before they talked. This is a very intimate act. Again, when we sustain that kind of attentiveness, we become mindfully aware of the energetic nature of the other person. Our physiology responds to that, even before our intellect interprets it. “What makes you proud of me, Dad?” Wow! That is opening one’s heart to the blade! But guess what happens? Dad, who cannot seem to express himself otherwise, is challenged to bear his own heart! Sometimes, getting what you think you need means giving it out first. Sometimes saying, “I love you,” to someone allows their heart to open and their courage to swell, even if they are your parent and making their love known to you is at the top of their job description. I like to think of it as being more emotionally mature.

The lack of loving communication, the idea that one can assume they are loved because they are provided for or looked after, it just doesn’t work for a great many people. Often, they don’t even know this! They tell you very proudly about how they don’t need words or intimate actions like hugging or looking people in the eye to know they are loved. But this is how they perpetuate the relationship void and all of us live our lives with our hearts in a cage, with such hard isolation.

I will tell you, Feelers make better Thinkers (opposite judging preferences on the Myers Briggs) than Thinkers make Feelers. Why? Because we all use our Thinking awareness too much and our Feeling awareness too little. Helping us to become aware of our intuitions and emotions is the great benefit of meditation. That’s another blog, but the fundamental upshot is, give yourself some space. Heck, give the space to yourself and someone else – look them straight in the eye and say, “I love you.” You…and they will grow as a result!!

It's so worth the "risk" to give this gift of Love in the fleeting space of aliveness than to wish we'd had the courage to do so in the eternal space of what lies beyond.

I love you! Thank you for reading my words so faithfully! You are a blessing, as you are so blessed, a circle of love. Peace and joy be yours!

_/\_Peggy @ecumenicus

Oneness, Dharma and Logos and Natural Order

When in harmony with the nature of things, your own fundamental nature, you will walk freely and undisturbed.

However, when mind is in bondage, the truth is hidden, and everything is murky and unclear, and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness.

What benefit can be derived from attachment to distinctions and separations?

If you wish to move in the One Way do not dislike the worlds of senses and ideas.

Indeed, to embrace them fully is identical with true Enlightenment

The wise person attaches to no goals but the foolish person fetters himself or herself.

There is one Dharma*, without differentiation.

~The Dhammapada

* Dharma (Sanskrit) or Dhamma (Pali) in Buddhism is a word with a wide variety of meanings.

1. The natural order of the universe, both physical and moral.

2. The teachings of Buddha of universal law

3. Internal and external perceiving and judging (psychological processes) of the human in relationship with her reality.

Dharma is closely related to the Christian term, Logos, which means "word," "speech," "account," "to reason." The Greek philosopher, Heraclitus (525-475 BC) used Logos to mean the universal principle of order and knowledge. Both of these concepts, order and knowledge, are dependent upon a person's psychological abilities to reckon with their reality. The term, Logos, like Dharma, was used in different ways: the sophists used it to mean reasoned discourse (knowledge communicated); the Stoics used it to describe the divine animating principle of the universe.

The early Jewish philosopher, Philo (c. 20 BC – AD 50) adopted Logos in his writings and the evangelist, John speaks of Logos as word made flesh, in others words, the divine animating principle of the universe incarnated. Further, the "Word," as it is written in John's Gospel, can be traced back to the Greek term, "Logos" and Hebrew, "dabhar," or "creative expression."

One can see how these words, Dharma and Logos, are related to universal order, the order of our mind's thoughts and emotions, the way we express those thoughts and emotions in words and in action, and how our expressions of thought determine our relationship with others and the universal reality, in general. One can see how the use of these words may mean "law" at one time and "wisdom" at another, as they always contain both the physical world external to us and the psychological world, within us: thoughts, emotions, memories, all intimately connected to the body's physiological mechanisms through the autonomic nervous system.

This is what the first phrase of the quotation from the Dhammapada refers to.

"When in harmony with the nature of things, your own fundamental nature, you will walk freely and undisturbed. However, when mind is in bondage, the truth is hidden, and everything is murky and unclear, and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness."

The mind is in bondage when we identify strictly with our thoughts and are not aware of the influences of our memories and emotions on those thoughts. If we can watch the ways our memory and emotions influence our thoughts, we realize that not all thoughts are true. Some are defensive responses to the way the situation makes us feel. Some are judgments we conjure to justify our feelings.

Dharma is to cultivate the knowledge and practice of laws and principles that hold together the fabric of reality, natural phenomena and personality of human beings in dynamic interdependence and harmony.   ~Msr Ayyanagr

One could use the same definition for Logos, realizing that the way we use it is to call it God incarnate, Jesus the Christ, to understand our selves as Christians as "Jesus followers," in thought, word, and deed.

"If you wish to move in the One Way do not dislike the worlds of senses and ideas. (thoughts and emotions)
Indeed, to embrace them fully is identical with true Enlightenment (Christ-mind)
The wise person attaches to no goals but the foolish person fetters himself or herself.
There is one Dharma*, without differentiation."

Our psychological sensing and thinking, and our external reality are One, constantly in dynamic relationship. Know this and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

With love and a prayer for One Mind, One Heart, One humanity, One planet!
_/\_Peggy at Ecumenicus

Contemplating Art - The Beauty of Perfect Imperfection

I gazed around the quiet museum gallery feeling the intensity of ancient struggle and overcoming. Mother Mary, holding the legs of her beautiful child, Jesus, the remainder left on a beach at Normandy; Thomas Aquinas, with one eye gleaming from the bridge of the nose, the other sunken into his temple. Then there was wooden Jesus, hanging crucified huge as life, and missing the pinky fingers on his left hand. 

They all stood stoic among the other artifacts, bearing their chips and gouges as a palpable witness to life. Bearing, not only the lives whose images they bore, but the years they had lived in posterity, as the earnest work of artisan hands. The tour guide said, ”Gaze at the artwork in this room and notice what draws you, what speaks to you.” All I could see were the perfect imperfections. All I could feel was the fierce wild and loving tenderness of those relics, the lives they endured so patiently and the grace that flowed from their wounds.

All I could feel was beauty.

 

“The beauty that emerges from woundedness is a beauty infused with feeling; a beauty different from the beauty of landscape and the cold perfect form. This is a beauty that has suffered its way through the ache of desolation until the words or music emerged to equal the hunger and desperation at its heart. It must also be said that not all woundedness succeeds in finding its way through to beauty of form. Most woundedness remains hidden, lost inside forgotten silence. Indeed, in every life there is some wound that continues to weep secretly, even after years of attempted healing. Where woundedness can be refined into beauty a wonderful transfiguration takes place.” 

― John O'Donohue

This is the truth. I have no right to significant woundedness at all. My life has been privileged, successfully industrious, primarily joyful and immensely fulfilling. Sure, I've had ups and downs, in relationship and in health. I can't imagine anyone who hasn't. I lived through them and I am who I am because of them!  When you are diagnosed with cancer, for example, others who have endured that challenge encourage you with their  stories of survival; stories you never heard before your diagnosis. Survivors of cancer are numerous. Same with addiction, miscarriage, sexual abuse, betrayal, discrimination, and more. 

"Love and suffering are portals to opening the mind space and the heart space, breaking us into the breadth and depth of communion." says Fr Richard Rohr. Suffering opens the mind space and then the heart space. Indeed, when we experience wounding beyond our control we have have no choice but to find the courage it takes to live through it without controlling it! And we join the community of souls who have done likewise. We learn, through the fear that comes with wounding experiences, who we are in God (our Higher Power) and we open our minds and hearts to the reality that we constantly live in the tension of vulnerability and strength. The beauty of our humanness is our frailty and our staying power!

Alfred North Whitehead said, Beauty = intensity + harmony. The most intense times of our lives are when we are fearful or in love. An illustration of this dichotomy, John 4:18 reads, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." When we pick up the broken pieces of our wounds and bind them back together in love, through the realization that we are stronger than than we knew, we (re)harmonize our being at a new level of awareness and empathy. We make friends with fear and transfigure it into Love. We accept our vulnerability and acknowledge our inner strength in order to  channel them into personal equanimity and social compassion. We make the "imperfection" perfect. And that is beautiful.

With the grace and peace of perfect imperfection, may you find your harmony every day, resting in WHAT IS with wisdom, balance and compassion.

_/\_Peggy @ Ecumenicus