IX
97
Commune with Nature
“The earth seems to rest in silent meditation; and the waters and the mountains and the sky and the heavens seem all to be in meditation.”
—Chandogya Upanishad
Get in your car, unlock your bike, or put on your hiking shoes and head out to your favorite place in nature. If you’re an urbanite with little experience beyond concrete, make this outing an adventure of discovery. There’s something about unruly, unpredictable, fickle nature that can attune us to being right here, now. While the city wears and tears at the nerves and makes constant demands on the senses, nature offers a miracle cure that soothes the ragged, weary soul and gives a sense of confidence that all will work out.
Scientists prove that there’s more oxygen where trees grow in abundance and this naturally energizes the body. But there’s something more about forests, streams, stones, seas, plains, and deserts—something that brings a sense of awe and even makes a rushing mind ease into a more natural rhythm. There’s harmony in the elements; the tones and shades of green, gold, sky blue, pink, and violet calm the eye. Sounds blend together with a host of other songs from the cricket and cicada to the frogs, hawks, turtle doves, and owls calling all with purpose. The earth, solid underfoot, supports every step. Scents of honeysuckle and wild flowers mingle with moss and sap to tantalize the nose. Nature calms the senses.
Change, that natural movement of life that we tend to resist, is the permanent state of the natural world. Though we resist it in our lives, we love it in nature. We are awed when the buds pop out on trees in the spring; when the clouds turn to wisps and then drift away; when the leaves turn brilliant gold, red, and orange and drop off the branches; when a million unique snowflakes fall gently and the sun sets golden pink. We smile in awe and make treks to the forest or mountain tops and streams for a taste of harmony and peace.
In nature we move out of controlled climates and four square walls to places where rivers rush and roll, polishing stones into smooth, round works of art that attest to the passing of time. On the mountain peak the blowing breath of the breeze inspires the human heart to accept change, enjoy it, and experience wonder at the invisible hand that works its constant magic as the spheres turn and day becomes night. The silence, punctuated with gentle rustling of leaves or a hawk’s cry, urges us to sharpen our sense and expand, transcend, and fly. A flash of a deer’s tail or the sparkle of a trout’s scales brings the mind to slip into satori wonder and pause. A hawk swooping silently downward rises up with a fat croaking frog dangling from its talons, and even death becomes part of the natural process of life—Generation, Organization, and Destruction: GOD. God is in the details.
Let your gaze become relaxed and open. With a deep breath, allow your brows and forehead to loosen as your mind eases into a gentle attentiveness to the moment. The heart’s awareness expands and replaces the constant, narrow-minded goal seeking of the head. But the time draws to a close. The real challenge comes now: to carry this mindfulness with each step back to the car, bike, or train, back to the din and drone of the city, and remember that just below the surface, the silent harmony of nature waits ever present. In one last breath, take a piece of nature with you to carry you through another day.
98
Greet Others with Namaste:
See God in All
Namaste means “I bow to the God within you.” Namah in Sanskrit means “to bow reverentially” and te signifies “you.” Namah is often used in conjunction with a mantra associated with divinity as in Namah Parvathi or Om Namah Shivaya (“I bow to Parvathi or I bow to Shiva”). “Namaste” is a common greeting in some parts of Asia where the salutation is often accompanied by the gesture of holding both palms together in front of the heart and bowing to the one to whom it is spoken. It’s a reminder of the omniscient and omnipresent God within all. Practice seeing the form of God you love and revere in all human beings.
Ramakrishna experienced the divinity in all directly and immediately, but he almost lost his job as a priest when he fed the ritual food offerings to a cat. One of the priests took the issue in protest to the wealthy woman who owned the courtyard and temples. The priest complained he did not follow the prescribed rituals and that this was a form of sacrilege. Ramakrishna answered that all had become divine consciousness, including a wicked man who passed in front of the temple, a prostitute, and the cat.
“That is why I fed a cat with the food that was to be offered to the Divine Mother. I clearly perceived that all this was the Divine Mother—even the cat,” he said. At that point, he no longer needed to go to the temple to move his mind to worship. Instead he adored everything. “I used to worship the deity at the Kali Temple. It was suddenly revealed to me that everything is pure Spirit. The utensils of worship, the altar, the door frame—all pure Spirit. Men, animals, and other living beings—all pure Spirit. Like a madman, I began to shower flowers in all directions. Whatever I saw I worshipped,” his disciple recorded in The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna.
Practice Reverence of All through Namaste
Greet others with “Namaste.” In your heart, reverentially bow to them and seek out the divine. If it’s not appropriate to do this aloud, then greet them in the silence of your heart and mind. Expand this practice by working with light meditation, and imagining the light in all. When encountered with challenging people and situations, recall the light and the greeting “Namaste.” Make it a practice of conscious awareness. By becoming aware of the divine in all, this transformative practice changes us as well as others. In the moments of grace and awareness, at a cash register with a gruff attendant, at a hospital with a disgruntled nurse, or at the airport with a curt employee, bring the awareness of the divine into the moment and let it uplift others along with you. Seeing God in all is a quality of the divine.
99
Defragment:
Unify Thoughts, Words, and Actions
If you’ve ever seen Picasso’s portrait of the fractured Weeping Woman, the image captures a sense of the fragmented soul. One jagged, oversized eye hangs on a face, seeming to look in a different direction than the other eye; the mouth splits off appearing almost like two mouths on one distorted face. The image reflects a common malaise in modern society—fragmentation. In most of us, it manifests when the mind moves in one direction, the mouth says something that contradicts it, and actions take off in a completely different direction. This inner lack of unity results in a sense of disharmony, unease, and a deep agitation of the spirit.
When we’re divided within ourselves, we waste energy and contribute to confusion around us by thinking one thing, saying another, and doing yet another. How can we expect to find peace with so much division? Division weakens, but unity brings compounding strength. A house divided against itself cannot stand. The head pitted against the heart cannot go very far. Begin to do your inner work and make sure that all of you is moving in the same, unified direction toward a positive, uplifting outcome in the direction of wholeness.
Harness the power of unity. If the mind thinks, “I want to write a book. I must write it,” but in speech you say, “I can’t write. I’m not a writer,” and you never schedule time to sit down with a pen and paper or in front of the keyboard, then you will be challenged to obtain a successful outcome. On the other hand, if you think, “I will write,” and you say, “I am a writer,” and you also sit down to a daily writing practice at five a.m. and learn the process, then the alignment brings great energy and power. Sooner or later a book will emerge.
The Buddha said, “The thought manifests as word. The word manifests as the deed. The deed develops into habit. And the habit hardens into character. So watch the thought and its way with care. And let it spring from love, born out of concern for all beings.” Practicing unity of thought, word, and deed is a way to simplify, save your energy, and gain momentum to carry you forward with powerful force. A regular meditation practice or periods of quiet contemplation will help you gain perspective.
Watch yourself, and at the end of the day measure your aim to be unified against how well you achieved the goal. Work to unify body, mind, and spirit. Keep working at it and make it a regular practice. It’s a powerful practice of self-observation that will lead you to higher elevations. Another divide occurs when attention splits to different things. We know when we converse with someone who is off thinking about something else. We also know if the mind isn’t there and we’re not being heard. Yet when energies and mind are concentrated in the same place at the same time, the quality of presence enters in and the relationship improves radically. We act consciously and our lives transform. Memory also improves and we’re better able to know exactly what to do and what words may be comforting or how to resolve a problem.
It’s very disconcerting when one goes to get a haircut and the hairdresser’s mind is out to lunch. Know what I mean? She’s clipping on automatic pilot—she’s not there and you know it. Kids are very attuned to this quality of presence in their parents. They’re likely to call them out and demand complete, one-pointed attention. God’s the same way. God wants the full focus on the divine, not some half-hearted approach where the mind’s pretending to be in meditation, but is off traveling half way around the world. Through constant integrated awareness, unity becomes the rule rather than the exception.
100
Merge in Silence
Author Aldous Huxley called our modern times, “the age of noise.” We hold history’s record for physical and mental noise as well as the “noise of desire,” he wrote. Rarely can a nook or corner be discovered where television, radio, advertisements, cars, or other vibrations do not disturb. For some people, lack of noise implies boredom, isolation, and separation. But the practice of silence opens up a transcendent place in harmony with nature and puts life into perspective. It’s a way of stepping out of the rushing river and standing on the river bank away from worries. Silence brings us into attunement with a deep source of inner stillness.
“Silence is God’s first language,” wrote sixteenth-century mystic Saint John of the Cross. Exterior silence in the environment promotes interior silence that draws us close to God. God’s voice or the still, small voice of the soul can be heard in the depth of silence. Intentional silence is a good way to deepen contact with the inner divine source. With regular practice, it provides the foundation for a steady mind. This is why it is said silence is golden. Practiced for centuries by yogis and yoghinis (male and female ascetics who master the senses and the mind), monks, and spiritual aspirants, it’s a powerful way to remember one’s Self and be conscious while others may get lost in the rush.
The Religious Society of Friends, better known as Quakers, make silence a key in their gatherings. As seekers of Truth based on direct experience, they use silence to know the divine within and only speak when they feel prompted by this divine voice. They seek out the presence of God beneath the superficial. In the silence, they affirm that all are equal in possessing “that of God” within and can address the essence of God in others without the need for an authority or minister. Sometimes silence is used when two or more gather outside of worship as a way to invite in divine presence before moving onto discussion.
After a divorce and job loss, quiet time and solitude became part of the process of self-discovery and a way of learning who I was without a partner and who I was beyond the role of a business executive. When I traveled on business, my immediate reaction to an empty hotel room was to turn on the television and occupy the space with noise. It soothed, I thought. Later, when I used the television to fill up a quiet, deserted home, the noise became an attempt to escape from emotions and thoughts hovering beneath the surface. Filling space with sound became a way to avoid facing fears and insecurities and hear the whisperings of my soul. It took some time to become comfortable with my Self in the silence. I practiced a day with no television or music. Later came a day without speaking, and it prepared me for a silent mountain retreat that lasted nearly a month. These days gathered momentum, and in silence I learned to befriend my Self and be a good, supportive companion for my own growth.
The notion that I needed to get to know myself may sound funny or odd since I was with “me” twenty-four hours a day, but I really only saw and paid attention to the tip of the iceberg. In the silence came self-knowledge, as the stuff from down below began to float upward into view. With the self-knowledge came acceptance and self-love. Silence gave the gift of all of these very potent and priceless treasures. Once I befriended myself on those deeper levels, I became better able to love and befriend others too.
The Practice
Take five minutes, an hour, half a day, or a week and keep silent. Do not speak or write during the chosen period. Get off the Internet. Silence, mounam in Sanskrit, refers to taking a vow of silence to listen to the deep interior quiet of the heart. This silence is always there latent within us beneath the agitated ocean of the mind. Don’t wait for a retreat to try it. Eliminating talking will bring you more in touch with it and soothe the mental agitations.
If you choose to have a silent period and can’t retreat, carry your silence into the world. It may require some preparation and possibly a badge or a note to inform family and friends you may meet during the day. Shut off your cell phone. Turn off the music and television and unplug the computer. Still the tongue and stop the pen. Use the quiet time to observe yourself, your mind, and others. Notice sounds, sights, and smells you might normally have overlooked or ignored. In the beginning, if you are not used to silence, you may notice the agitations of the mind. Go deeper. Note how you feel in the quiet of your heart. With practice you will come to look forward to these periods of silence as a retreat. Appreciate the calm interior and the joy of turning inward toward your divine spirit. You may notice that you have more energy after a day without speaking.
If you’ve never tried it or feel intimidated by quiet time, make a special effort to give it a try. Ease into it and test the waters. Explore what makes you feel uncomfortable. Write about your first experience with silence and watch your reactions on the many levels of body, mind, and spirit. Writing exercises that come out of the periods of silence often give birth to deeply inspired words. I encourage you to move into the silence. Be brave, take heart, and try. It may require some effort, but the gems that you’ll find will be more valuable than anything that you’ll pick up in a marketplace. The silence is pregnant with possibility.
101
Lighten Up with the Jyothi Meditation
A thousand candles lit from a single flame will not diminish the first light. The jyothi, or light meditation, ignites the lamp of love in the heart and shares it with others. It’s an ancient meditation that helps improve concentration by encouraging the mind to follow the flame of a candle as it moves throughout the body, mind, and spirit, then expands to friends and family, the environment, colleagues, strangers, and even enemies. It broadens the sense of self beyond body consciousness and ego and brings a deep sense of peace. The light meditation uses the light of a flame as the focus for the practice, and leads the one who practices from concentration to mediation, which merges the individual consciousness with the universal consciousness.
If you stand in a dark room and light a single candle, the light becomes a beacon. When that light extends to other wicks around the room, the light begins to overpower the darkness and the first flame is not diminished in any way by what it has shared. The light as a symbol eradicates darkness, ignorance, desire, fear, hatred, and ego. God is light, and when light meets light, your light merges in divine light.
Lighting the Lamp
This practice draws from the ancient Indian spiritual texts called the Vedas. To begin, find a quiet place where you’ll not be disturbed. Shut off cell phones, computers, and any background noise. Schedule it at the same time and place every day. Collect your candle and matches. An oil lamp with a steady flame also works well. Keep the spine straight throughout the practice by sitting on the floor or in a straight back chair. A meditation cushion may also be useful if you choose to sit on the floor. A meditation cushion placed on a yoga mat will protect the ankles if floors are hard. Begin the meditation by lighting a candle or lamp. Softly focus on the flame and then close the eyes.
Imagine bringing the flame into the head between the brows. As it enters the head it fills the thoughts with light and brings good thoughts. Where there is light, no darkness can enter. The light moves gently down to the lotus blossom of the heart. As the rays fall on the heart petals, they begin to open and unfold. Bad feelings dissipate. Darkness cannot remain here. Next, move the flame to fill the chest and shoulders, then move the light down both arms and into the hands. Light-filled hands will do good deeds. Next, move the flame to fill the torso, legs, and feet. Feet filled with light will carry you to good places.
Move the flame gently and slowly back into the head and into the eyes and ears. These eyes filled with light will see only good. And ears filled with light will hear the good. As the soft light fills your entire being, your senses take in vibrant, bright, pure sensations. Now move the light out and let it expand into your friends and family. Let it expand to animals and birds, to your enemies, and into all the objects around. Let it purify your habitat and spread to all of the earth until all is illumined by the same light. Basking in this expansive light, repeat to yourself: I am in the light. The light is in me. I am the light. Bring the meditation to an end by moving the light back into the heart. Let it remain there to accompany you throughout the day.
This meditation leads to liberation. The light in one’s self is found in others. In the jyothi meditation, the body drops away and you are the light. There are three things: the meditator, the chosen form (as in the light), and the process of meditating. When these three merge into one, this is meditation. The light meditation helps to move the seeker through these steps. If you’d like to simply listen as you’re guided through the meditation, please visit the website www.awakeintheworld.com.
102
Practice Nonviolence
Maintain peaceful thoughts, words, and actions. This is the practice of nonviolence—do not harm others in thought, speech, or deed. Even a harsh look or an angry word may cause injury to others. Responding with violence to others is ultimately committing injury to oneself. Every action evokes an inevitable reaction. Will you practice tolerance, fortitude, perseverance, and equanimity today or resort to animal-like behavior? Remember to help ever, hurt never. Or as the biblical saying goes, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Mahatma (meaning “great soul”) Gandhi considered the practice of nonviolence and the search for Truth inseparable. “Not to hurt any living thing is no doubt a part of ahimsa [nonviolence]. But it is its least expression. The principle of ahimsa is hurt by envy, evil thought, by undue haste, by lying, by hatred, by wishing ill to anybody. It is also violated by holding on to what the world needs,” he wrote in Truth is God. For Gandhi, greed or hoarding and harmful thoughts became acts of violence as much as physically injuring someone. Gandhi’s practice of nonviolence brought down the British rule of his country and inspired nonviolent protests by Dr. Martin Luther King in the American South.
This practice of compassion and nonviolence can be extended to what you eat, how you live, and how you speak of others. Nonviolence is a key principle in spiritual practice. When extended to oneself, others, and the world at large, its effects are far-reaching and profound. Imagine a world where no one spoke unkindly of anyone. Imagine having the foresight to consider how one’s actions today may harm or help others and shape events and lives.
Making It Your Reality
Hold this practice of not harming close to your heart and make the effort to practice it in your life. First, watch your thoughts. Pay attention to the inner dialogue, and observe the words and feelings behind it. Are you encouraging to yourself and kind to others? Do those thoughts criticize and denigrate?
How do you treat your body? Do you overburden it with too much weight and little exercise? Do you drink, smoke, or take in substances that will harm it? Do you eat a well-balanced diet? In relation to others, how do you speak and act? Do you wish them ill? Do you rejoice when others are happy and have success?
How do you treat the world? The Earth is there always supporting life through its gift of food, air, water, and fire. Do you acknowledge and respect it? Do you recycle? If you have lawns, do you cut out chemical pesticides and petrochemical fertilizers? The Jains revere every living thing from the planet Earth to the microbes. They do not consider themselves as above anything or below anything in creation, but rather equal to all. Lord Mahavir, a founder of Jainism born in 599 BCE, preached universal love and emphasized that all living beings, irrespective of their size, shape, and form, and however spiritually developed or under-developed, are equal and deserve love and respect.
When Jains walk they carefully avoid stepping on ants and insects and they often wear surgical masks to protect microbes from being drawn in by their breath and killed. To some this may seem extreme, but even spiders and bugs are sentient beings that feel fear and sense peace. If one gets trapped indoors, if possible place a container or glass over it and slip a piece of paper underneath the glass, creating a temporary portable cage. Carry the glass outside and release the creature.
This mantra wishes peace and bliss to all of creation and all sentient beings: “Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu; Samasta Loka Suhkino Bhavantu; Samasta Loka Sukhino Bhavantu,” meaning, “May all worlds and all living beings be happy.”
103
Embrace Someone of Another Faith
“In reality, there are as many religions as there are individuals,” Gandhi wrote. At work, in our neighborhoods, and throughout life, we meet people who celebrate a variety of religious and spiritual practices and beliefs. Often we grow up with the teaching that our tribes, religious beliefs, and God(s) are the right ones and others are all wrong. But what if God and the religious forms that arise take varied forms to please different cultures and fit their needs?
Jelaluddin Rumi was a revered poet who lived in the thirteenth century during a time of violent crusades and conflict. Despite the divisions that created wars for holy lands, Rumi said, “I go into the Muslim mosque and the Jewish synagogue and the Christian church and I see one altar.” His enlightened vision saw God in each place. He saw God also in bread baking and lovemaking, not separate from himself. Rumi perceived that someone who placed importance on boxing people into religions and nationalities would cut off the heart from the vision of God. La’illaha il’Allahu, or “There’s no reality but God; there is only God,” (or, more simply stated, “There is no reality but the Self”) sums up his being and body of work. When he died in 1273 in Iran, people from across a vast array of religions gathered for the funeral to pay tribute to his deep wisdom, tolerance, and exuberance for life.
Where minds sequestered God into little spaces belonging to only a select few, for Rumi, God knew no boundaries, did not discriminate, and indeed was not separate from anyone. His words in his Book IV of the Mathnawi say, “Some go first and others come long afterwards. God blesses both and all in the line, and replaces what has been consumed, and provides for those who work the soil of helpfulness, and blesses Muhammad and Jesus and every other messenger and prophet.” No condemnation filled his words, no division, no discrimination between Christian and Muslim. His view of the world originated in his deep, embodied experience of the divine and his realization of the Truth as omnipresent.
Forms are many, but the God we all celebrate and revere is One. Open your heart; open your mind. Embrace the people who come to mind as worshiping in a different way and accept them and their choices. Many people who do not follow organized religions march to an inner tune with the same God marking the rhythm.
“All are calling on the same God,” said Sri Ramakrishna. “It is not good to feel that my religion is true and the other religions are false. All seek the same object. A mother prepares dishes to suit the stomachs of her children. Suppose a mother has five children and a fish is brought for the family. She doesn’t cook the same curry for all of them. … God has made religions to suit different aspirants, times, and countries. All doctrines are only so many paths.” Ramakrishna spoke from experience and explored not only the Hindu path, but he adored Jesus and the Christian way, as well as the Islamic path. He found all to lead to the same God. Forms are many; God is One. Indian ruler Akbar is also renowned for his ability to embrace and synthesize not only his traditional Islamic religion, but also Hinduism, Jainism, and Zoroastrianism, and he also met with Jesuits, setting an example for his times in the sixteenth century.
Promote understanding and look for unity instead of division and separation. Embracing those who are different does not weaken the connection to God, but rather reinforces and makes us stronger. Rigid beliefs become brittle and crack while those that expand and allow others in can make us deep and rich in wisdom.
104
Contemplate a Yantra, Mandala,
or Medicine Wheel
Yantras and mantras hold spiritual significance and transmit subtle properties that help seekers move closer to the divine. Used in Hindu practices, yantras are symbolic representations of a mantra and aid to help focus the mind in meditation. The word “yantra” means “machine or instrument” and it is considered a tool for spiritual practice or upliftment. It is represented in an image that may include a square, circles, a lotus, triangles, and a point at the center. Usually etched on metals like copper, silver, gold, or stone, the yantra is a physical or visual representation of a mantra. A mantra is the name of God and the yantra enhances the power of the mantra and gives it a visual form. By focusing on the yantra, the seeker is conducted to the one single point at the center where all merges. He is able to internalize the message of Oneness through meditating on the image.
Yantras come in many forms. The Shree Sai Chakram yantra contains the symbols of all the world’s major religions around the exterior and these each represent pathways into the center. They include the Om symbol representing Hinduism, the cross for Christianity, the flame for Zoroastrians, the Jewish menorah, the Islamic moon and star, and the Buddhist wheel within a twelve sided boundary. Inside, the form of the yantra follows the stages of the spiritual journey. The practices of truth, right action, peace, nonviolence, and love create the names of the petals of a lotus near the center of the image. An inner triangle brings balance and names the three sides as goodness, beauty, and truth. In the center, a single point represents merging with the divine. This yantra represents the unity principle and how all religious paths essentially espouse the same underlying truths and lead to God.
Mandalas, created and used by Buddhist monks, take on deeply spiritual meanings and also provide a powerful experience to the observer. “Mandala” is a Sanskrit word meaning “circle,” and it depicts the circle of the soul or Self with steps or doors to move inward. Sand mandalas are like maps of the psyche and make up an essential teaching of Tibetan Buddhists. Like a yantra, the mandala is much more than it appears. As the monk lays out the foundations in geometric design to create the mandala, he learns that the image in sand is a representation of a palace. His aim is to meditate on the process of crossing the threshold into the palace. He must overcome obstacles and demons and move to the center to merge in Buddha-consciousness.
Buddhist monks who create colorful sand mandalas may take a week to tap out the bright colored sands in intricate designs. The Drepung Loseling monks in America create mandalas at museums and sacred sites around the country. After the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, the monks created a special healing sand mandala to honor the dead and foster world peace at the Sackler Gallery in Washington, DC. At a Lugano department store, I watched seven Tibetan Buddhist monks on an elevated platform create a vibrantly colored healing sand mandala in honor of Tara, the goddess of compassion, health, longevity, and healing. In a Swiss library, another Buddhist monk spent one week slowly drawing the boundaries and filling in the geometrical design with millions of grains of sand tapped meticulously through metal cones.
In Western culture, we would carefully protect and preserve something that we’d spent so much time generating. But at the end of the process of creation, all of these mandalas were consecrated, chanted over, and then dissolved. At the ceremony of dissolution, the monks sweep the sands together and the brilliant colors merge into a mass of gray. Half of the Tara mandala, believed to be imbued with healing vibrations, was distributed to the crowd in vials. The rest was taken to the lake and poured in to share the healing properties with fish and animals. The mandalas at the library and the Sackler Gallery were swept into brass metal pots and taken to the nearby river where the sands washed them away to the ocean. This final act of dissolution acts as a reminder of the impermanent nature of life.
If you’re inspired by the art and beauty of yantras and mandalas, find one that suits you and contemplate it. Focus on the center and remember that Oneness with all is the goal. Mandalas and yantras are beautiful works of art and may be placed in an office or another area where you spend time to help you maintain a spiritual focus throughout the day. Like the Tibetan Buddhists, Carl Jung saw mandalas as images reflecting innate archetypes, patterns built into the soul that guide our journey. “Mandalas reveal images of our spiritual essence, the seed forms that contain the tree of our existence,” writes Anthony Lawlor in A Home for the Soul.
Make Your Mandala or Medicine Wheel
You may wish to create a mandala of your own. It doesn’t require special training, only a desire to experiment, explore, and play. The basic elements include paper, colored pens, crayons, or pencils, and if you’d like to get adventurous, prepare some paints. Draw a circle and begin to fill it up according to your mood, your feelings, and your aims. Do you seek to make a mandala that represents your soul? It may be a map of where you are right now. Find your center and experiment with the colors and forms that attract you. Remove the idea of a right or wrong way and return to your childlike sense of play. It’s still there. No one will grade or judge your creation. Free up the space and enjoy the process. Don’t stop at one. Continue to create others. If you’re inspired, do one a day over a month or create one that reflects a recent dream.
The medicine wheel also uses a circle as its container. Used by Native Americans of the North West and plains, it was originally laid out in stones across a field. Today, it’s adapted for work in therapy to help patients find balance. Draw a circle and divide the wheel, a symbol of the continuity of life, into four quadrants that represent the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental realms. Consider each of these areas of your life and draw or write what fills each area. Consider if the four are balanced. The central point is the most powerful place. You stand in the center.
105
Become Like a Flute
The flute has long been a spiritual symbol. Krishna loved his reed flute and carried it on his belt. One day Radha, his consort and companion, asked him, “Why do you love your flute so?”
Krishna smiled his alluring, playful smile and said, “This flute was first a reed. It withstood the hot sun and monsoon rains. Then it got itself bored out completely until it became entirely empty so that now I may blow my breath through it and make divine music.”
The flute was also an image of the human being’s relationship to the divine for Sufi poet Rumi. His poetry flowed through him like divine music through a flute. “Who is making this divine music?” he asked as he wrote. He referred to God, of course. Sometimes Rumi let the Invisible Flute Player take over and said, “Let that musician finish this poem.” Rumi’s poetry arose naturally and mystically because he became an empty flute through which the divine inspiration gently blew its sweet notes.
God picks-up the reed-flute world and blows.
Each note is a need coming through one of us,
A passion, a longing-pain.
Remember the lips where the wind-breath originated,
And let your note be clear.
Don’t try to end it.
Be your note.
I’ll show you how it’s enough.
Go up on the roof at night
In this city of the soul.
Let everyone climb on their roofs
And sing their notes!
Sing loud!
—Rumi
Only by becoming empty and open to the divine that beats out the rhythm of the human heart, will the music of Love move us. Without taking credit for the words, actions, wealth, and progress, all is devoted to God and not separate from God’s will. In this emptiness there is not me and you, not us and them, but only divine I, united in breath.
Emptying Out to Make Divine Music
When the ego stops taking credit for all that happens, the illusion of control falls away. Make a daily practice of offering yourself, your thoughts, words, and actions to the divine. Pray for guidance that the small ego self may not interfere and that divine will be done. At the end of each day, offer the good deeds, work, accomplishments, and all that has happened to God. Step into the realization that God is the doer. By offering the action and work to God, as well as the fruits of the actions, God will gain the benefits and the spirit will grow in humility.
106
Conserve Natural Resources
Conserving natural resources is a spiritual practice. When it comes to water, air, foods, and all of Earth’s gifts that we consume, we’ve become so disconnected from the processes related to them, that we no longer realize the effects and consequences of our decisions. It’s only in drought periods with city water restrictions that we may begin to consider taking shorter showers and cutting back irrigating lawns and gardens.
If we make Internet purchases and a delivery truck brings it directly to the door, the waste and greenhouse gases from transport will be more significant than if we source something locally. Farmers’ markets provide produce from locals; this produce will more likely be fresher, use fewer petrochemical fertilizers and pesticides, and be more environmentally sound than items shipped from across the globe. As for household items and clothes, I love the European attitude of going for quality rather than quantity. In France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and much of Europe, people often prefer to spend a little more upfront to have items that are well made and beautiful rather than cheap and in need of replacement in a few months.
By holding an attitude of conservation and preservation, you will naturally begin to look at the bigger picture and think of what you need to buy in a more conscious way. Consider taking shorter showers to conserve precious water and help the environment. Pay attention to waste of food, paper, electricity, gas, and all of the resources used every day. Can you find a shorter route to work? Can you use a bus or subway instead of your car? Is it possible to turn the heat down a couple of degrees and shut off the lights? Could you use LED bulbs to lower electrical usage? You may not think your contribution to conservation will make much of an impact, but every little bit counts. Think of the effects multiplied by seven billion-plus people on this planet. Imagine the effects if everyone lives with respect for our Mother Earth. Do it for your Mother Earth, this magnificent orb that sustains life and nourishes us lifetime after lifetime. Here are two simple steps:
Go Organic
Practice conscious, eco-friendly buying when possible. Purchasing organic products over conventionally grown ones can help the environment by reducing the use of synthetic fertilizers, chemicals, and pesticides. Why is this a spiritual act? When we begin to realize the far-reaching effects of our smallest decisions, like buying organic lettuce, then we take care to make choices that will provide benefits beyond our own wallets and backyards. Taking this broader perspective promotes interconnectedness and expands our sense of community.
Conventional growers use pesticides that can seep into the water tables and become toxic to animals, nature, and human life. Organic farming practices work more in tune with nature through water conservation and the elimination of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Many organic products exist in supermarkets and health food stores and can be purchased at a small premium over regular fruits, veggies, and other products. Organic cotton clothing and beauty products also make you feel good and move you deeper into harmony with nature.
Recycle
To recycle means literally to “put through the cycle again; to give something another life.” Many cities provide recycle bins to collect plastic bottles and paper. Make a contribution by separating recyclables from the trash. It will cut down on the size of waste sites, and only takes a moment by tossing the aluminum cans, milk jugs, and newspapers into the right container as soon as you dispose of them. It’s easy. Switzerland, a country with one of the highest standards of living, recycles some 95% of waste. We can too. Do your part. Every small effort counts, and Mother Earth will appreciate it.
107
Seek Truth
A teacher led five blind men to an elephant, placed their hands on it, and asked them to describe it. One held fast to the trunk, another to a thick, leathery leg, another to its side. Another blind man asked them to each describe an elephant for him so he would have some knowledge about it. One man said, “It’s like a python.” Another man said, “No, that’s not it. It’s thick and hard like a tree trunk.” Another who had touched the tail said, “No it’s like a thin rope.” Yet another who touched its side argued, “You men didn’t encounter the same animal as I. The elephant is no different than a big wall.” The teacher with sight stopped their arguments and intervened. “You are all correct,” he said. “You all perceived pieces of the whole. But in reality, the elephant is all of these things and more.” Only the teacher saw the whole picture and helped them to understand it.
Truth is of two kinds: relative and absolute. Relative truth may be true right now and change later. Absolute Truth is eternal and unchanging. A relative truth might be, “the grass is green.” Tomorrow it may turn brown from drought or frost, so this truth is one that changes according to circumstance. Absolute Truth with a capital T points to the permanent. This Truth includes precepts like “God is Love.” Grasping the bigger divine Truth is like seeing the whole elephant. When we cultivate sacred vision, it connects the pieces together and gives insights into the Oneness of all life.
When we hear or experience a truth, it resonates within us like a perfect set of harmonious chords and we just know with all of our being that something is right. Listen to what resonates with your deepest sense of life-affirming truth today. Make an attempt to step into a different place and see a bigger piece of the picture. When hiking in the mountains, one usually begins in a low area with a very limited perspective. You might see the parking lot and a house or two. But on the way up the mountain, the surrounding village and valleys come into view. When you arrive at the peak, a vista opens up where it’s possible to see for miles in many directions. Imagine an event you’d like to gain some perspective on. Now imagine you’re standing at the top of the mountain; examine it from this perspective. From the higher perspective does more understanding dawn?
Explore truth and what it means in practice. Speaking truth is advisable if it does not harm others. Listening to truth from great teachers broadens the mind and inspires the hungry heart. When notions of relative truth become more real, we realize that more than one way or view can be right. By holding the search for truth as an aim, answers will become visible like facets of a jewel. From one side or another, only parts of a diamond may be visible. But from the top, the whole stone with its many facets is revealed. Seek the higher view.
108
E Pluribus Unum: Cultivate Oneness
“Move together; grow together; remain united and share knowledge. Live together in harmony and friendship without giving rise to conflict.”
—The Vedas
The noble motto E Pluribus Unum appears on the ribbon clenched in the eagle’s mouth on the U.S. one-dollar bill. Those words are linked intimately to the foundations and aspirations of this country. It’s meaning, “From the many, One,” transcends the simple idea of unifying states into a government and cuts through divisive politics. It calls for unity in diversity as a guiding principle and resounds with deep spiritual principles. Its truth reaches into the depths of human hearts and has been used as a guiding principle to shape the nation and the hearts and minds of citizens. The saying whispers of the Oneness that is the essential underlying reality of this world.
In today’s America, we have a lot of pluribus (plurality or diversity in Latin) and not enough unum (“oneness” or “unity”). The nation focuses on division and multiplicity rather than on the vast commonalities that unite us. We concentrate on our little tribe, our family related by blood, our immediate community, or our special interest group. Media, religious groups, ethnic groups, and political factions consider their own narrow interests without remembering the fundamental value of unity and sacrifice that built the country and hold this diverse society together. These distinctions of “my community” or “my group” are like walls in the mind—and like the Berlin Wall, they must be torn down to unite the separate parts.
“A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space,” Albert Einstein wrote. “He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
Abraham Lincoln took a similar view of peoples during his time. When asked as to his opinions regarding the new Irish and German immigrants that were the subject of much debate and abuse at the time, the president answered, “I esteem them no better than other people, nor any worse.” He sought equanimity. This is the gift of seeing all with equal eyes.
Physicist David Bohm in Wholeness and the Implicate Order writes about wholeness and the mind:
What I am proposing here is that man’s general way of thinking of the totality, i.e., his general world view, is crucial for overall order of the human mind itself. If he thinks of the totality as constituted of independent fragments, then that is how his mind will tend to operate, but if he can include everything coherently and harmoniously in an overall whole that is undivided, unbroken and without a border (for every border is a division or break) then his mind will tend to move in a similar way, and from this will flow an orderly action within the whole.
Sun shines on all equally. Trees share their shade with all without discriminating who is good or bad or what color or nation they come from. Jasmine flowers and roses give their sweet scent to all. Practice looking at what unites you with others today. Acknowledge the differences and respect them, then look for the things you have in common. There are more things that connect us than divide us. Focus on what unifies and find common ground with those around you. This will bring understanding and break down mental barriers at work, home, and in the world. Give up pushing politics; stop trying to enforce your likes and dislikes, and instead become aware of judgments to discard. Many views can be truthful and right depending on where one is standing. Move into the deep terrain of the soul. In the eyes of the other is the same spark of the divine that resides within you. Seek it. Acknowledge it in your heart. The mind divides. Spirit unites.
But here is a caveat. Use your wisdom. Identifying and practicing the unity principle does not mean that all are treated identically. Use discernment in this regard. A Supreme Court justice may get on his hands and knees and allow his grandchild to ride on his back, but when he sits on the bench, he will stand upright and play his role with dignity and authority and command respect. Contemplate the connection between unity and your dharma or right action. Listen to your common sense and act on it.
Practicing Oneness
1) The jyothi, or light meditation, is a good way to expand the heart, break away false mental perceptions, and share light and love with others. It helps to transcend body consciousness and break the bonds of body identification. In the light, the darkness of separation cannot survive. The original sense of the phrase “E Pluribus Unum” was considered related to and inspired by the color spectrum. Pure white light is made up of blue, violet, green, orange, red, and yellow.
When a prism refracts or divides the light the colors are separated out. When they’re united, they form one beam of white light, a symbol of purity. Medical intuitive, Edgar Cayce, in his booklet on auras wrote, “The perfect color is white, and this is what we are all striving for. If souls were in perfect balance, then all our color vibrations would blend and we would have an aura of pure white.”
2) Let go of attitudes that bring judgment and criticism.
3) Connect with others through the heart more than through words. Make efforts to understand and serve others regardless of their background, social status, ethnic group, or country of origin.