On Steadfastness

Lately I have been seeking to understand the meaning of steadfastness. N recently wrote about two stories illustrating steadfastness here.

In reading Baha'u'lla's The Seven Valleys this morning, I read about a quote from the Qur'an, "Guide Thou us on the straight path," which a Sufi leader named Khajih 'Abdu'-llah explained in a way that I think really helps illustrate what steadfastness means: "Show us the right way, that is honor us with the love of Thine Essence, that we may be freed from turning toward ourselves and toward all else save Thee, and may become wholly Thine, and know only Thee, and see only Thee, and think of none save Thee."

Amazing Peace

Here is a beautiful poem so well suited to the holiday season. As I reread it, it also seems so appropriate for this particular moment, with this new year on the horizon and the message of hope our new American president brings.
This poem also seems particularly well suited to this month of unity, for it seems there can be no unity without peace -- peace in our hearts, peace in our relationships, peace in the world.

AMAZING PEACE by Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.
It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.
Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
implore you to stay awhile with us
so we may learn by your shimmering light
how to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.
At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ

Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices to celebrate the promise of
Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.

We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace.

We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:

Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul.

Arising to Serve through Religion

I am still distilling the multitude of things that I learned at the Southwest Regional Baha'i Conference in Los Angeles last weekend, one of 41 conferences being held around the world over 3 months (you can read a report on the event here). One lesson that came across quite clearly is important role each of us plays in service to humanity. We must all arise to serve. Each of us has unique talents and skills and all of these can integrate into a larger whole to build unity and harmony across this planet.

Many people (particularly here in Santa Cruz County) consider themselves spiritual but are aversive to organized religion. I can appreciate this perspective. Indeed, in the Baha'i Holy Writings Abdu'l-Baha writes: "An essential principle of Bahá’u’lláh’s teaching is that religion must be the cause of unity and love amongst men; that it is the supreme effulgence of Divinity, the stimulus of life, the source of honor and productive of eternal existence. Religion is not intended to arouse enmity and hatred nor to become the source of tyranny and injustice. Should it prove to be the cause of hostility, discord and the alienation of mankind, assuredly the absence of religion would be preferable.… In this sense the absence of religion would be at least some progress toward unity."

While it is so important to keep this perspective of religion, of not letting it become a source of discord, I also recognize that being part of a larger spiritual/religious community helps to further this purpose of building greater harmony and unity in this world. Abdu'l-Baha writes also about religion:

"Superstitions have obscured the fundamental reality, the world is darkened, and the light of religion is not apparent. This darkness is conducive to differences and dissensions; rites and dogmas are many and various; therefore, discord has arisen among the religious systems, whereas religion is for the unification of mankind. True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men, the cause of the development of praiseworthy qualities, but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitation, negligent of the reality which unifies, so they are bereft and deprived of the radiance of religion. They follow superstitions inherited from their fathers and ancestors. To such an extent has this prevailed that they have taken away the heavenly light of divine truth and sit in the darkness of imitations and imaginations. That which was meant to be conducive to life has become the cause of death; that which should have been an evidence of knowledge is now a proof of ignorance; that which was a factor in the sublimity of human nature has proved to be its degradation."

This is something I am going to be thinking more about, that of how being part of a religious organization helps us in better developing "praiseworthy qualities" and translate these into action so that we can have the most positive impact possible. With all this in mind, I was quite moved to read the following quote today:

"Join those who are serving so that you are united in changing this world to a paradise established by God, a paradise where there is prosperity and beauty for all and where all are honored in who they are." - John Morton

Welcoming the Day

"Let us have a vision now, an experience within that we take into this world, where we see our feet firmly upon the ground, that we welcome this day. We welcome the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We see the beauty, we know the harmony and the peace that is God's will being done. We see that each condition and every moment is a blessing."
- John Morton, Institute for Individual and World Peace (From: "The Blessings Already Are," p. 57-8)

Brain vs. Heart Speed

Over the last couple days I've been envisaging, in talking to N and N, how our brains can get ahead of our hearts. Things may sink in rationally before they do emotionally.

Intellectually, we may understand trust, detachment, acceptance, etc. We may even think that we've learned these lessons and managed to acquire these virtues in particular relationships. But fully learning--in the sense of internalizing--these lessons (i.e., letting go of jealousy, covetousness, distrust, attachment, other insecurities) may take longer, emotionally. I have personally experienced the self-judgment and frustration that results from this lag time. And, as far as I can tell, I'm not the only one. When I think I've gleaned a particular lesson, I become frustrated when I find myself still having emotional reactions that stem from the lower self (see examples in previous parentheses). I've blogged about this before -- I tend to judge myself harshly and get angry with myself for even having these very human reactions, particularly when I think I "should have" already moved beyond having them. How to find peace in this situation? I propose that it must start with removing the self-judgment that arises in such a situation; let's replace the judgment with love, patience, understanding, compassion, and forgiveness. Perhaps this emotional learning requires a lifetime of effort. Perhaps we learn it in phases (I'm envisioning those glass jars with different colors of sand, one layer on top of another, that I used to create as a child). I suspect that as we make progress in learning one virtue it will likely help reinforce others (e.g., learning trust may help us to more freely love, and vice versa). And, quite likely, our growth trajectories may be imperfect. We may learn in bits and spurts, and sporadically take dips and turns and have moments in which we find ourselves in valleys of doubt.

I am uncertain how often emotional and spiritual learnings start at the intellectual level -- most of the time? sometimes? all of the time? What's your opinion, dear reader? But beginning with the assumption that our brains and hearts move at different speeds requires that we be patient with, loving and forgiving of ourselves, and I trust that exhibiting these qualities to ourselves will help us to grow spiritually.

On Unity, a Poem

In honor of this month's virtue of the month, unity, I am posting this poem by one of my favorite poets.

Working Together
David Whyte (from The House of Belonging)

We shape our self
to fit this world

and by the world
are shaped again.

The visible
and the invisible

working together
in common cause,

to produce
the miraculous.

I am thinking of the way
the intangible air

passed at speed
round a shaped wing

easily
holds our weight.

So may we in this life
trust

to those elements
we have yet to see

or imagine,
and look for the true

shape of our own self,
by forming it well

to the great
intangibles about us.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a seemingly appropriate time to reflect on giving thanks... and I have so much for which I'm thankful. The list could surely go on to infinity, so I'll just touch the highlights for the last month. In particular, the intense experience of having recently undergone emergency surgery for internal bleeding, while temporarily removing capacities/abilities I normally have, provided a wide window for increasing my sense of gratitude.

This month I am so grateful for:

beautiful, vivid sunsets out my back window
rain and the green green grass it produces
autumn colors, especially in the vineyards in Napa
the sound of ocean waves crashing, heard from my street and kitchen window
live music
books and movies
delicious food and an enjoyment of cooking

for having enough to eat, and a renewed appetite for food
having a roof over my head, and my own bed in which to sleep
having a job that I enjoy, especially in the current state of the economy

for a competent surgeon
pain medication and the advances of Western medicine
and living to see another day!
bodily intuition
a high tolerance for pain, and the strength of knowing that only that which profiteth me shall befall me
for compassionate nurses
a hospital room with just one patient bed and a fold-out chair for my beloved to sleep in
for the power of pain to bring unity, compassion, patience, thanksgiving and love
for the miraculous power of the body to heal

for laughter, and the ability to laugh
the ability to cough
the ability to sit up
the ability to pee by myself (and many more like this)
the ability to walk
the increasing ability to stretch again

for prayer and positive healing energy (please keep it coming!)
for spiritual growth

the love and support of dear friends, new and old
instant communications technologies that put me in touch with loved ones around the world
having such a loving, kind, generous, supportive, accommodating, open-spirited, and accepting family

and, most of all,
for having found someone who feels like my soul mate
for his constancy and devotion
his strength of character and ability to help calm and ground me in the most difficult of times
his love, compassion, sweetness, goodness, reason, nurturing and support...
(this sub-list could go on for infinity)

I have so much for which to be thankful.

Love and Thanksgiving

In the past month I learned that an attitude of thankfulness increases the outpouring of love. I observed that I felt a greater spirit of love towards those people for whom I felt a sense of thankfulness; conversely, when judgments or other qualities of the lower self impeded my ability to be thankful for another person, loving also lacked. It goes the other way too: love seems conducive to thankfulness.

Are all virtues foundations for other virtues? Can one ever really be separated from another?

Are Negative Emotions Always Bad?

In response to my last post, a very thoughtful question was posed: how do we distinguish virtues from vices? Are these so-called “vices” always bad?

Let’s start with another excerpt from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book True Love (which I’m loving and highly recommend):

"for Buddhists, we are joy, but we are also pain; we are understanding, but we are also ignorance. Meditating is not transforming oneself into a battlefield where one side is fighting another, where good fights evil.... Buddhist meditation is based on the principle of nonduality. This means that if we are mindfulness, if we are love, we are also ignorance, we are also suffering, and there is no reason to suppress anything at all" (p. 50).

Then, and here's the important part, TNH goes on to say: "When the seed of anger manifests on the level of our conscious mind, our immediate awareness, it is because the seed of anger is in the depths of our consciousness, and then we begin to suffer.... The task of the meditator is not to chase away or to suppress the energy of anger that is there but rather to invite another energy that will be able to care for the anger." (pp. 50-51).

You could take what he says here about anger and replace it with any other baser/negative emotion/vice, which I’ve also referred to as qualities of the "lower self' -- i.e. jealousy, worry, defensiveness, selfishness, etc. So the trick, as TNH tells us, seems to be to gradually replace baser emotions with stronger positive emotions/qualities of the higher self. That makes me think of a quote I love from the Baha’i writings: “when a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.” –Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks

Now back to the original question. Is it not true that even these lower emotions serve their purpose too, e.g., that the purpose of jealousy may be self-preservation? Sure, I certainly agree with that. There is a reason behind all of our reactions. I think this is precisely why we shouldn’t judge ourselves too harshly for having such feelings… not to mention that judging ourselves ends up producing more negative emotions, thus making it harder to move forward into a more positive state of existence. So is that it? Or is there more to it?

1) The first step seems to be to recognize the root of these lower emotions and discover how they’re serving us. We often build them up as defenses and they can work to serve us for years; e.g., I may become defensive, angry and not easily accept people if a number of people have proven un-trustworthy and un-just over the years, say if I’ve been judged for the color of my skin, been abused by a parent or sexually violated by a partner. This defensiveness and anger can serve to keep me safe.

2) The next step is to recognize that, while serving their purpose, these negative emotions, ultimately, do not serve the highest good for our own personal/spiritual growth, nor for that of humanity on the whole. Defensiveness/distrust/anger would keep me from fully expressing my capacity to love, and it is certainly not constructive of peace, harmony, trust and unity.

3) Finally, I believe that at any moment we can choose to trust our own ability to construct a new reality for ourselves. At any moment we can choose to recognize and affirm “I am a loving person”, “I am a trusting person” and imbibe those realities for ourselves. This does require some faith, but I can tell you from my own experience that such affirmations really work. We may need to say them a hundred times before our hearts finally open to their truth, but when we see this genuine deeper truth and recognize that each one of us has these qualities of the higher self in some potential form within us (at least, that's what I believe), we are able to move into using these qualities and to discard our past less constructive patterns.

The Problem with Aspiring to Be Virtuous

The problem with aspiring to be increasingly virtuous is that, at times, you are bound to fail. We're all human, a.k.a. we all fail. But when we fail, we may--as we seek to deepen our moral character--end up judging ourselves for having reactions that are not-so-virtuous.

Example #1: Attachment to Blogging
In my very first post on Constant Curiosity I discussed how for years I resisted blogging. This was, in part, because I felt that blogging would lead to too much self-indulgence, not to mention increased computer time (which, given that I already sit behind a computer all day at work and generally uses the computer far-too-often, did not sound very appealing). I didn't want to get caught up in blogging, didn't want to form an attachment to needing to blog nor self-judgment about whether I'd say anything of interest. And now that I do blog another concern has arisen: that of forming attachments to whether other people comment on what I say. I may feel hurt if people don't comment on my blog. Yet, I don't want to care about these things. These are not my motivations for blogging. I blog for myself, to educate myself spiritually, to arrive at a greater understanding of truth through discourse with you all, and to, through God's grace, to be of service and potentially share something that might be illuminating to the passerby. But alas, as much as I try, at times I feel these negative attachments. And then the self-judgment may come. When it does, I wonder whether I should even blog at all? One means of lessening attachments is disposing of the source of potential attachment. Perhaps I should stop blogging if I recognize that I'm developing such attachments? But that sort of seems like a cop-out.

So how does this example relate to virtuosity? Well, as I strive to be more virtuous I recognize that it would be better for me and all concerned if I did not have such attachments. What's interesting is that because I aspire to move beyond these attachments or qualities of my lower self, I may end up suppressing and/or hiding feelings of hurt, guilt, self-doubt, distrust because I see them as not being virtuous/qualities of my higher self.

Thus, I think it can be problematic to strive to be virtuous. This self-judgment that crops up when failure arises in our path to be more virtuous is not ideal. Surely such self-doubt, and the pain and suffering we inflict upon ourselves for having these very human yet not virtuous feelings would also be undesirable. We humans are bound to fail at times.

Example #2: Jealousy
Here's another example: let's say I'm feeling jealous. Jealousy is a quality of my lower self, one that hinders unity and trust. Jealousy is not a virtue. I tend to judge myself rather harshly when I notice that I am having any feelings of jealousy. I aspire to grow beyond having any jealousy.

For you to ponder...
I wonder whether we should always communicate with those we care about when we are feeling hurt because of a reaction that comes from our lower self? Should I tell my lover if I'm feeling jealous? Or would it be better to recognize this feeling/reaction silently and focus on moving beyond it without discussing it with him? Or, going back to the 1st example, if I recognize that I'm feeling hurt that a particular person has not posted a comment on my blog in a long time and I recognize that I'm aspiring to move beyond such attachments, is it better to not say anything (potentially continuing to let it bother me in the process) or to bring it up in order to deal with the feeling and move on? Does saying something merely fan the flame that reinforces the lower self? This is something I wonder about in a great number of circumstances when my thoughts/actions/choices are less than virtuous.

Here’s my answer. I generally tend to error on the side of communication. But this communication, while open, should be also be thoughtful, not reactionary -- we should take ownership for our hurt feelings, be honest about our vulnerabilities and fears.

Ideally, I don't think that the answer is to ignore or judge ourselves for our less than virtuous moments, precisely because we should also strive to forgive ourselves, be gentle and loving with ourselves. If we get stuck in the self-judgment, it becomes much harder to grow in a positive direction. Of course, all this is easier said than done. To restore peace within yourself, you must follow the Buddha’s advice to first love yourself. Thich Nhat Hanh writes in True Love: A Practice for Awakening the Heart:

“If you are not able to take care of yourself, if you are not able to accept yourself, how could you accept another person and how could you love him or her? So it is necessary to come back to yourself in order to be able to achieve the transformation.” (p. 44)

Pride and Thanksgiving

"Pride slays thanksgiving, but an humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves." -Henry Ward Beecher

The Purpose of Life

"The whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood of grace which God poureth forth for him. Let none, therefore, consider the largeness or smallness of the receptacle. The portion of some might lie in the palm of a man's hand, the portion of others might fill a cup, and of others even a gallon-measure."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh

Is it really this simple? Yet, why is it so hard for most of us? Each one of us, according to our capacity...

Bahá'u'lláh also writes that God says, "Thy heart is My home; purify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation."

God's Creative Word

Tonight I got back to reading Bahá'u'lláh's Teachings on Spiritual Reality when I found myself with a spare 25 minutes and was surprised by how very uplifted I felt in coming back to these readings after a couple week hiatus. I was particularly struck and moved by the following passage:

"Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth. All the wondrous works ye behold in this world have been manifested through the operation of His supreme and most exalted Will, His wondrous and inflexible Purpose. Through the mere revelation of the word 'Fashioner,' issuing forth from His lips and proclaiming His attribute to mankind, such power is 142 released as can generate, through successive ages, all the manifold arts which the hands of man can produce. This, verily, is a certain truth. No sooner is this resplendent word uttered, than its animating energies, stirring within all created things, give birth to the means and instruments whereby such arts can be produced and perfected. All the wondrous achievements ye now witness are the direct consequences of the Revelation of this Name. In the days to come, ye will, verily, behold things of which ye have never heard before. Thus hath it been decreed in the Tablets of God, and none can comprehend it except them whose sight is sharp. In like manner, the moment the word expressing My attribute 'The Omniscient' issueth forth from My mouth, every created thing will, according to its capacity and limitations, be invested with the power to unfold the knowledge of the most marvelous sciences, and will be empowered to manifest them in the course of time at the bidding of Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Knowing. Know thou of a certainty that the Revelation of every other Name is accompanied by a similar manifestation of Divine power. Every single letter proceeding out of the mouth of God is indeed a mother letter, and every word uttered by Him Who is the Well Spring of Divine Revelation is a mother word, and His Tablet a Mother Tablet. Well is it with them that apprehend this truth."

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh

Birthday of Bahá'u'lláh

On November 12, 1817, Bahá'u'lláh (meaning "The Glory of God" in Arabic), the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, was born in Tehrán, the capital of Persia. Bahá'ís believe Bahá'u'lláh is the most recent in the line of Messengers of God that stretches back beyond recorded time and that includes Abraham, Moses, Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, Christ and Muhammad. His father, Mírzá Buzurg, was a distinguished nobleman who held a high-ranking position in the court of the Persian King. Though he did not attend regular school and only received some instruction at home, from an early age Bahá'u'lláh showed signs of greatness and displayed extraordinary knowledge and wisdom. As a young man, He was offered a high position in the court of the King, but refused it because he wished instead to dedicate His time to helping the oppressed, the sick and the poor, and to champion the cause of justice.

The central theme of Bahá'u'lláh's message for humanity in this day is the oneness of the human race and the unification of a global society. This unification involves breaking down traditional barriers of race, class, creed, and nation and that will, in time, give birth to a universal civilization. Bahá'u'lláh calls us to arise to serve:

   "O wayfarer in the path of God! Take thou thy portion of the ocean of His grace, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in its depths. Be thou of them that have partaken of its treasures. A dewdrop out of this ocean would, if shed upon all that are in the heavens and on the earth, suffice to enrich them with the bounty of God, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. With the hands of renunciation draw forth from its life-giving waters, and sprinkle therewith all created things, that they may be cleansed from all man-made limitations and may approach the mighty seat of God, this hallowed and resplendent Spot.

   Be not grieved if thou performest it thyself alone. Let God be all-sufficient for thee. Commune intimately with His Spirit, and be thou of the thankful. Proclaim the Cause of thy Lord unto all who are in the heavens and on the earth. Should any man respond to thy call, lay bare before him the pearls of the wisdom of the Lord, thy God, which His Spirit hath sent down unto thee, and be thou of them that truly believe. And should any one reject thine offer, turn thou away from him, and put thy trust and confidence in the Lord, thy God, the Lord of all worlds.

   By the righteousness of God! Whoso openeth his lips in this Day and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light. Thus hath it been foreordained in the realm of God’s Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful." 

-Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh

Hearken to the Delightsome Words of His Mystic Holiness

There are always times when we may feel more or less inclined towards prayer, times when we are more or less open to the words God has revealed to us through His Manifestations. Sometimes the shadow of darkness in our lives makes it harder for us to reach for prayer; tests and trials can also have the potential to deepen our faith. For all of us, in all times, I pray that we increasingly find ways to come back to His Word and to discover greater certitude through it. For all of us, I pray the following, which was revealed to us by Bahá'u'lláh in The Hidden Words.

O MY BROTHER!
Hearken to the delightsome words of My honeyed tongue, and quaff the stream of mystic holiness from My sugar-shedding lips. Sow the seeds of My divine wisdom in the pure soil of thy heart, and water them with the water of certitude, that the hyacinths of My knowledge and wisdom may spring up fresh and green in the sacred city of thy heart.

Religion Should Not Motivate Conflict

I heard about this this morning on NPR: Pope calls for peace, end of religious strife. This story warmed my heart.
National Catholic Reporter, Dec 7, 2001, by John L. Allen, Jr.

"Asserting that 'religion must never become the motive for conflict,' Pope John Paul II has, for the third time in his pontificate, invited religious leaders from around the world to join him in Assisi to pray for peace. The gathering in Assisi, birthplace of peacemaker St. Francis, will take place Jan. 24." 

This statement rings true with the Bahá'í Faith's teaching about religion, which goes one step further: "Should it prove to be the cause of hostility, discord and the alienation of mankind, assuredly the absence of religion would be preferable." -'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

Returning to the Mat

It's amazing how a week and a half off from yoga (doctor's instructions) brought me such a renewed appreciation when I returned to the mat and to class today. Returning to the mat...

my spirit calms
my anxieties float away
my resistance subsides
I find my breath
I find my heart
I find my feet, rejoined with the earth
I find my arms, stretching to the sky
I find my drishti, soft
I find my liver, healthy
I find my spirit rising
I find balance
I find strength
I find effort
I find energy
I find vitality
I find forgiveness
I find peace
I find thankfulness
I find love.

Prayers for the Elections

With tomorrow's U.S. presidential elections in mind, I ask that we all focus our thoughts, hearts and prayers...

on hope
on establishing peace
on building unity
on eradicating racism
on preserving justice and making every person's voice justly heard
on honesty and truth
on sound and discerning judgment (amongst those voting and elected leaders)
on harmony
on prosperity
on God's mighty, perfect will

... in this great nation.

"O God, Your plans are firm, faithful and forever. The purposes of Your heart prevail through all the generations." --Psalm 33:11

"My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight;" --Proverbs 3:21

"O Thou kind Lord! This gathering is turning to Thee. These hearts are radiant with Thy love. These minds and spirits are exhilarated by the message of Thy glad-tidings. O God! Let this American democracy become glorious in spiritual degrees even as it has aspired to material degrees, and render this just government victorious. Confirm this revered nation to upraise the standard of the oneness of humanity, to promulgate the Most Great Peace, to become thereby most glorious and praiseworthy among all the nations of the world. O God! This American nation is worthy of Thy favors and is deserving of Thy mercy. Make it precious and near to Thee through Thy bounty and bestowal."
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Moment of Peace

"The way I relate to peace is like breathing in and breathing out. If we allow ourselves to do that naturally, there's peace. If we resist, if we don't fully breathe in or we don't fully breathe out, then there's an unnecessary interruption in that process. We're now starting to disturb the peace that's naturally in our presence, in the present.

Peace is a natural state. It's an innate part of who we are to live in peace and be at peace. It is we who interrupt that process and separate from what leads to peace."

- John Morton, Spiritual Director, Institute for Individual and World Peace

A Healthy Liver Deserves Due Praise

O God! As my body has become purified and cleansed from physical impurities, in the same way purify and sanctify my spirit from the impurities of the world of nature, which are not worthy of the Threshold of Thy Unity! -'Abdu'l-Bahá

Post-Surgery, Reflections on Prayer

I want to extend my sincerest thanks to all who prayed for me on Friday when I had my surgery. Your prayers for my continued healing and for positive results are greatly appreciated.
I want also to reflect on part of that experience. Leading up to the surgery I had hoped to make lots of time for prayer to prepare myself for the surgery (prayers for tests, assistance and detachment) and prayers for healing after the surgery. The day before and the day of the surgery I found myself with little of this precious time. I was able to steal a couple of brief moments to myself here and there, to say some comforting bits of prayers to myself when I was lying down on the hospital bed (a good reason to try to memorize prayers) ... but not as much as I would have liked. I had wonderful, loving people around me, but sometimes that can be a distraction from prayer.

I discovered two things related to prayer as part of this experience:
1) that I now really crave prayer, feel how important it has become to me and feel its lack when I do not find the time to center in prayer. Friday night, when I had this realization, my heart was overwhelmed with gratitude.
2) I gathered great strength and comfort in knowing that others were praying for me. Tears came to my eyes in the evening when, around midnight on Friday, in my first moment of peace to myself, I read a healing prayer my beloved had emailed me. Somehow knowing that someone else had held that energy of prayer for me felt like I had been taken care of, even when I had personally not found all the time I would have liked to take care of myself in this way.

So let us pray for one another in our utmost sincerity!

On Service

"Service is prayer."
"Service to humanity is service to God."
both quotes by 'Abdu'l-Bahá; would love to hear your thoughts on the meaning of service.

The Most Unexpected of Glorious Days

I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow today, with its difficult physical test (which ended up going quite smoothly) became perhaps one of the most beautiful days of my life. I feel so overwhelmed by gratitude, by love, by comfort, blissful joy, and surprising certitude... this prayer captures it so much better than I can with my words.

Remove not, O Lord, the festal board that hath been spread in Thy Name, and extinguish not the burning flame that hath been kindled by Thine unquenchable fire. Withhold not from flowing that living water of Thine that murmureth with the melody of Thy glory and Thy remembrance, and deprive not Thy servants from the fragrance of Thy sweet savors breathing forth the perfume of Thy love.

Lord! Turn the distressing cares of Thy holy ones into ease, their hardship into comfort, their abasement into glory, their sorrow into blissful joy, O Thou that holdest in Thy grasp the reins of all mankind!

Thou art, verily, the One, the Single, the Mighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
-‘Abdu’l-Bahá

We Are the Resplendent Daystars...

I'd love to get a discussion going about the following Hidden Word:

O MY FRIEND! Thou art the daystar of the heavens of My holiness, let not the defilement of the world eclipse thy splendor. Rend asunder the veil of heedlessness, that from behind the clouds thou mayest emerge resplendent and array all things with the apparel of life.
-Baha'u'llah (The Hidden Words, from the Persian)

Points for reflection:
1) What is Baha'u'llah telling us here about our station as humans?
2) What does it mean to be a "daystar of the heavens of My holiness"? Merriam-Webster define "daystar" as a morning star, or the sun. We're obviously not the Sun (a.k.a. God) itself, so what does it mean for us to be the daystar of that heavenly Sun?
3) I am so moved by this line of not letting the defilement of the world eclipse our splendor! Indeed, how splendid each one of us is, should we but choose to release that light. This is something I often think about - the extent to which I allow myself to fully show my inner self, the brightness of my Being, and truly live from that deeper spiritual core. Does this struggle make sense to anyone else?
4) In what ways do we wear the veil of heedlessness and how do we live from a more conscious and considerate manner of Being? If we do this, we are promised that we have the capacity to emerge "resplendent".
5) How are we to understand "the apparel of life"?

El miedo nos traga,
nos asfixia.
El miedo no nos deja en paz.
El miedo es un ladrón – roba nuestra razón
y roba la inspiración.

El celos, igual.
Asimismo, el enojo.

October

October
-Robert Frost
(thanks 8&20 for awakening Frost in my heart this morning)

O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow's wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
one from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes' sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost--
For the grapes' sake along the all.

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You!

I just received in the mail today a beautiful, bright crisp new copy of Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy, co-authored by Paul Brest and Hal Harvey (2008), on which I consulted on and off 2006-2008, developing examples (of successes and failures) and contributing writing and editing to various sections of the book. It was a massive undertaking to which a number of other people have contributed. Paul and Hal are two of the most well-respected experts on strategic philanthropy. I also had the privilege of working with them both as a fellow at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where Paul is President and Hal was past Director of the environment program (he's now President of ClimateWorks Foundation). They are two brilliant minds and I have learned so much from them both, particularly from the opportunity I had to work on this book. The need for smart, strategic philanthropy is even more pressing in today's economy -- philanthropic dollars are society's discretionary capital and should be spent wisely to achieve the greatest positive social/environmental impact. If you are interested in philanthropy, strategy or the non-profit sector, there is much to be learnt from reading this book.

Do we do the best we can in any given moment?

Eternal Hug

one of my more recent poems... this week seems like a beautiful time to share this one publicly.

Eternal Hug

Today we began an eternal hug

of incandescent perfection.

Within this embrace

there is boundless space

to accommodate all our needs.

There is the deepest caring

and generous sharing

of all we have to give.

There is room to grow,

infinitely more to know

and eagerness to learn.

There is gentle warmth

and potentially sublime fire

a million points of contact

to creatively inspire.

We can step into this sanctuary

and cast off all our fears.

Here there is only beauty

even in our tears.

Here there is only light

as, heart to heart, we shine.

In these arms, we find wings

to soar unto the Divine.

i thank You God for most this amazing

How many times have I read this poem, but it resonates at a whole new level today. ¡Gracias a Dios para este amor!


i thank You God for most this amazing
-e.e. cummings

i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky;and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday;this is the birth
day of life and love and wings:and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

What is Best?

"What's new?" is an interesting and broadening eternal question, but one which, if pursued exclusively, results only in an endless parade of trivia and fashion, the silt of tomorrow. I would like, instead, to be concerned with the question "What is best?," a question which cuts deeply rather than broadly, a question whose answers tend to move the silt downstream.
-Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

On Seeking God

O servant, where dost thou seek Me?

Lo! I am beside thee.

I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor

in Kailash:

Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and

renunciation.

If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt

meet Me in a moment of time.

Kabîr says, "O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath."

-Kabir (from Songs of Kabir)

Fear of God?

The idea that we should fear God is something that I have never understood. This came up last night as we read in our Ruhi Book 3 about teaching children both love and fear of God, which caused me to ask the others why we ought to fear God. If God is All-Loving, All-Merciful, and All-Gracious, All-Forgiving, what does this fear of God mean? Should we really fear God?

I'd love to hear your thoughts, dear reader, on what this fear of God means in any religious tradition. I never really understood it from the Christian standpoint either.

My own answer is that it's not so much that we ought to fear God directly, but rather that we should fear our fears, which distance ourselves from receiving God's love (see the previous post). We always have choice to receive God's love, so we can choose not to receive it, thus depriving ourselves of that blessings and bounty of God's love in our own lives. It is this consequence that we should fear. To me, fear doesn't feel like the right word to explain this dynamic, but it is convenient because humans understand fear and it conveys the undesirable consequence of undesirable actions. It also seems important to note that this undesirable consequence (a.k.a. distance from God) is not static: it can be righted at any point with different actions, namely choosing to receive God's love ("Love Me, that I may Love thee") and follow His commandments, which we do for the sake of our love of God. In obeying His will, we hone our spiritual qualities and bring ourselves closer to God, which is conducive to our own happiness.

Love and Choice

O SON OF BEING!
Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.
Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, from the Arabic

Last night at our Ruhi Book 3 study circle M gave a very useful metaphor that can be applied to this quote. Imagine that God's love is like rain, pouring down on all things. If we were to put up an umbrella, the rain would still be pouring down all around us, but the umbrella (like our fears and veils, which become barriers) would block us from directly receiving that love. But the love is always there should we but choose it.... which reminds me of part of a morning prayer I love:

"Thou disappointest no one who hath sought Thee, nor dost Thou keep back from Thee anyone who hath desired Thee." Bahá'u'lláh

Falta de libertad religiosa en Iran

(English below)

Hoy salió un artículo en el periódico español, El País, acerca de la falta de libertad religiosa en Iran. Habla especificamente de la discriminación de los Bahá'ís, tanto como de los cristianos protestantes y otros minoridades religiosas: "La libertad de religión no existe en Iran". Gracias a Marco O., amigo Bahá'í de Portugal, que me hizo el amable favor de compartir este enlace.

Today an article came out in the most widely circulated newspaper in Spain, El País, that addresses the lack of religious freedom in Iran. It speaks specifically about the discrimination of the Bahá'ís, as well as of Protestants and other religious minorities: "Freedom of religion doesn't exist in Iran" (it's in Spanish).Thanks to Marco O., Bahá'í friend from Portugal, who kindly sent me this link.

Here's a snippet:
"For the Islamic Republic, the Bahá'ís don't constitute a religious community but rather a political organization, often linking them to the regime of the Shah and accusing them of espionage, despite their local origins and also that they were discriminated against during the time of the Shah. Their 300,000-350,000 loyal followers, the largest non-Muslim religious minority, have difficulty obtaining identity documents (on which one has to record one's religion), which impedes them from finding work and getting married, an extreme that can lead to being condemned for adultery in a country that prohibits any extramarital sexual relations."

The Power of True Education

"Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures and enable mankind to benefit therefrom." -Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 260

This quote beautifully expresses the importance of education, that is, true education.
Questions for the reader: What is meant by true education? What are the aims of this kind of education? In what spirit should such education be conducted? (both by the teacher and the learner)

Peace of Soul

"O God! Make me ablaze, like unto the fire of Thy love, and make me free from attachment to this mortal world, until I find the peace of soul and the rest of conscience." 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets of Abdul Baha Abbas, vol. 1, p. 196).

Awareness II

This weekend was one of cultivating greater awareness...

From being of service
From collecting data
From picking up trash
From looking with new eyes
From fixating on particular details
From a stiff neck
From screaming hamstrings
From centering in the body
From being part of a powerful community for change
From concentrating my thoughts on peace and unity
From being present in the moment
From energizing rays of divine sunlight, dancing through the shadows of trees
From honest communication
From looking deeply into another person's eyes
From unleashing the heart
From the power of touch
From saying prayers

This is just the beginning. Awareness begins in each moment.

Awareness I

This weekend was one of cultivating much greater awareness in many new dimensions.

Participating in a beach clean-up through Save Our Shores (part of an International Coastal Cleanup) opened my eyes to detail... caused me to look down with new sight... I became particularly conscious of the little pieces of trash that get torn off of bigger pieces of trash. Take the example of a juice box (like the kind your dad used to pack in your lunch for school): most people these days, at least in California, are good about throwing away the box and even the straw, but what about that little piece of plastic that encases the straw before you use it? We found tons of these wrappers and similarly sized pieces of plastic, which often get ingested by seabirds and can block their passageways and cause suffocation. I also gained a new level of appreciation for the fact that even little microscopic pieces of plastic can never biodegrade, which means that every time more plastic gets produced, that's more trash that will remain in the environment forever. I've also become much more keenly aware of noticing litter since Saturday morning... e.g., in passing by a triathlon on Sunday, I found myself picking up cups strewn about, noticing participants simply throwing their trash on the ground (and being aware of the lack of easily accessible receptacles for all that waste that was being produced through this event)... it's important to not to let go of awareness, even though it can be so easy to slip back into our past habits of blindness. My coworker and I are planning on writing a letter to those who planned the triathlon -- are not the cups and bright, shiny, metalic packages from gel shots consumed by the triathletes the same kinds of culprits we were so mindful of at the beach cleanup?
Another lesson gained from the beach cleanup came through the body-- bending over, even just for these three hours, with neck craned down to search for trash, increased my appreciation and compassion for our farm workers. As we drove back past Wastonville strawberry crops, I felt greatly humbled by all the strawberry pickers out in the fields, who bend in such backbreaking work for far more hours and days on end. What was my stiff neck relative to their aches and pains? I will hopefully carry that awareness into a much greater mindfulness as I eat things like strawberries in the future, thinking of the sweat required for me to have access to enjoy that sweetness.

Further awareness also came this weekend through engaging in far more sun salutations than I ever have at one time before as part of a Global Yoga for Peace event I attended here in Santa Cruz. My hamstrings screamed (and are still stiff) from repeated lunge after lunge as we moved through one surya namaskar sequence after another. How, even in the midst of such physical discomfort, can we concentrate our energy on thoughts of peace, unity, gratitude? One of the yogis leading us through 27 of the 108 sun salutations called our awareness to developing gratitude for those individuals who challenge us in our lives (often our greatest teachers), towards whom we may feel anger / annoyance / resistance... how can we bring our mindfulness from the mat into those interactions and be more loving and kind?

An Instant of Certainty

This morning I rise
to effulgent streams of light
a moment of yes!
- an instant of certainty.
My heart leaps up for the Friend.

On this cold, dreary morning (of which we've had many here lately) I discovered a surefire way to lift the spirits: proclaim "Weeeeee!" as you're biking. I hypothesize that full abandon with this exclamation is necessary to maximize said results. It definitely produced a smile on my face, and even a chuckle. If you're interested in conducting your own experiment, perhaps even while standing still or in any other mode of transport, I'd love to hear about the results. ;)

A Prayer for Fellow Seekers of Certitude

Thank you N & V.

"Cast upon this poor and desolate creature, O my Lord, the glance of Thy wealth, and flood his heart with the beams of Thy knowledge, that he may apprehend the verities of the unseen world, and discover the mysteries of Thy heavenly realm, and perceive the signs and tokens of Thy kingdom, and behold the manifold revelations of this earthly life all set forth before the face of Him Who is the Revealer of Thine own Self. Direct, then, his eyes, O my God, towards the horizon of Thy loving-kindness, and make steadfast his heart in its attachment to Thee, and unloose his tongue to praise Thee, and make him able to hold fast the cord of Thy love, and to cling to the hem of Thy bounteousness, and to proclaim Thy name amidst Thy creatures...

Hold Thou the hand of this seeker who hath set his face towards Thee, O my Lord, and draw him out of the depths of his vain imaginations, that the light of certainty may shine brightly above the horizon of his heart..." -Bahá'u'lláh, Prayers and Meditations

I love the mystical nature of this prayer, particularly the image of the heart being flooded with the light of divine knowledge (a useful image for centering in prayer and meditation).

Yoga for Peace, this weekend!

A number of sites throughout the world are joining together this weekend to participate in an event called Yoga for Peace (to locate a site near you, go to: www.yoga-for-peace.org). We'll all join together in 108 sun salutations (why 108?), a symbolic gesture of unity and peace. Peace begins within with each one of us! As a bumper sticker I once had said: "There is no way to peace, peace is the way." I propose that each one of us use the occasion to focus our thoughts on unity and peace. Even if you can't get to an official event, please consider doing a few sun salutations on your own this weekend (here's a basic surya namaskar sequence) and focus your energy on thoughts of unity and peace!

There's an event here in Santa Cruz on Saturday, Sept. 20th @ noon in San Lorenzo Park. I'm planning to attend -- would love to have you join me! (I'm going to a beach cleanup beforehand, 9am - noon, which you're also welcome to join!) My fabulous yoga instructor will be leading some of the sun salutations. The Santa Cruz event will help raise money to buy yoga mats for kids and teens in Santa Cruz, as well as for women at the Blaine Street Jail.

Pueblos Mancomunados

Let us be pueblos mancomunados. pueblos is Spanish for peoples or villages, mancomunados refers to joining together and being united. The term is a reference to a network of villages in the Sierra Norte mountain range in Oaxaca State of México that have pooled their resources together and built trails through the mountains from one village to the next to promote ecotourism and the economic development of their communities. May we live by their example, working together hand in hand, mano a mano, especially on this day of remembrance, to focus our energy on the power of unity!

"O my God! O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavor, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God! Leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, Thou art their Helper and their Lord." Bahá’u’lláh

"I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content. Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness." 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks

"How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!" Psalm 133:1

"The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." Bahá’u’lláh

"Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:3-6

"Strive for universal peace, seek the means of love, and destroy the basis of disagreement so that this material world may become divine, the world of matter become the realm of the Kingdom and humanity attain to the world of perfection." 'Abdu'l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace

"Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?" Malachi 2:10

"O my God! O my God! Verily, I invoke Thee and supplicate before Thy threshold, asking Thee that all Thy mercies may descend upon these souls. Specialize them for Thy favor and Thy truth. O Lord! Unite and bind together the hearts, join in accord all the souls, and exhilarate the spirits through the signs of Thy sanctity and oneness. O Lord! Make these faces radiant through the light of Thy oneness. Strengthen the loins of Thy servants in the service of Thy kingdom. O Lord, Thou possessor of infinite mercy! O Lord of forgiveness and pardon! Forgive our sins, pardon our shortcomings, and cause us to turn to the kingdom of Thy clemency, invoking the kingdom of might and power, humble at Thy shrine and submissive before the glory of Thine evidences. O Lord God! Make us as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden, united, agreed through the bounties of Thy love. O Lord! Dilate the breasts through the signs of Thy oneness, and make all mankind as stars shining from the same height of glory, as perfect fruits growing upon Thy tree of life. Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the Self-Subsistent, the Giver, the Forgiving, the Pardoner, the Omniscient, the One Creator." ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Saint Teresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be confident knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Faith and Deeds

"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." James 2:14-17

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:24-27

Clarity of Vision and Perseverence

"...With clear vision we are enabled to struggle onward and upward, ever progressing in the paths of virtue and holiness, and becoming the means of light to the world." -'Abdu'l-Bahá

In the past 4 days I rediscovered how powerful it can be to mindfully set intentions (see my 9/5/08 post), for with purity of heart and divine guidance, it's hard to go astray when we have clarity of vision!

The above quote feels highly relevant to me in light of three key questions that came up over the weekend at a retreat on Mt. Hermon that I had the privilege of attending with my dear friend, M.

1) What is my next step of faith? I found this question to be very powerful, and also practical. A step of faith doesn't imply a leap -- each one of us can open our hearts to little baby steps of faith every day. And by faith I don't mean blind faith; rather, I understand it to mean seeking to further align our actions with the teachings that have been revealed to us through humanity's greatest teachers, whom Baha'is refer to as the "Manifestations" (a.k.a. folks like Jesus Christ, the Buddha, Krishna, Mohamed, Abraham...)
2) What dreams do I have that I need to hand back over to God? Having clarity about our dreams is the first step in learning to detach them being fulfilled only in our narrowly prescribed way/time frame. But, as I was discussing with my stepmom last night, detaching doesn't mean giving up one's vision/dreams. One still perseveres... while also leaving room for "God's final authority" to answer our dreams in a way that leads to our greatest spiritual growth.
3) In what things is God asking us to persevere? Again, it seems necessary to first clarify what things God really has destined for us. Or, one could pray to be shown in what things to persevere. It seems that questions 2 and 3 are intricately connected.
I'd love to hear folks' thoughts on how we go about clarifying the answers to any of these questions. I will say, from my experience this weekend and the rewards of the efforts of preparing for today, that setting clear intentions definitely helps!!!

Opening the Heart

Lord, open my heart this weekend...

To purity of heart
To humility
To patience
To freedom from judgment
To being fully present in the experience
To centering in prayer
To spiritual growth
To being of service
To rejoicing in God's beauty
To discerning Truth
To honest conversations
To loving everyone I meet
To loving deeply
To receiving God's love and grace
To casting off fears and expectations
To moving towards greater clarity and certitude

Pure Heart

Psalm 51:10-12

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore me to the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Create in me a pure heart, O my God, and renew a tranquil conscience within me, O my Hope! Through the spirit of power confirm Thou me in Thy Cause, O my Best-Beloved, and by the light of Thy glory reveal unto me Thy path, O Thou the Goal of my desire! Through the power of Thy transcendent might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness, O Source of my being, and by the breezes of Thine eternity gladden me, O Thou Who art my God! Let Thine everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on me, O my Companion, and let the riches of Thine ancient countenance deliver me from all except Thee, O my Master, and let the tidings of the revelation of Thine incorruptible Essence bring me joy, O Thou Who art the most manifest of the manifest and the most hidden of the hidden!

-Bahá’u’lláh

True Love

"True love's the gift which God has given

To man alone beneath the heaven:

It is not fantasy's hot fire,

Whose wishes, soon as granted, fly;

It liveth not in fierce desire,

With dead desire it doth not die;

It is the secret sympathy,

The silver link, the silken tie,

Which heart to heart and mind to mind

In body and in soul can bind."

-Sir Walter Scott

The most manifest of the manifest

Ponder, dear reader, the significance of God/Spirit being "the most manifest of the manifest and the most hidden of the hidden" (Bahá'u'lláh), also partly illustrated in another quote I quite like:

"Spirit is an invisible force made visible in all life." -Maya Angelou

On the Spiritual Path...

"On this path effort never goes to waste, and there is no failure. Even a little effort toward spiritual awareness will protect you from the greatest fear." (The Bhagavad Gita, 2:40)

Detachment is a Process

I read an interesting piece by Deepak Chopra today on detachment. See: www.intentblog.com/archives/2006/09/cultivating_det.html
In it, he describes detachment as a process:

"Detachment is a process, not a pretense. And it seems to be a natural process, as one can learn by conversing with mature people who have deeply considered their own lives. The beauty of detachment is that it needn't be a doctrine or a religious dictum. It can be the way your life is going once you contact the inner person who wants more than material desires can bring." -Deepak Chopra

I find this way of thinking about detachment as particularly useful for avoiding self-judgment. Spiritual growth will always be a process. At no point are we likely to be fully detached from material wants. That doesn't mean we shouldn't seek to try to detach, which I understand to mean keeping from getting bogged down by material wants while continually readjusting our focus towards something higher. At times we will be more successful than others in this process of realignment. While I don't think we'll ever become absolutely perfect, we can certainly make progress towards the light of perfection.

This makes sense, too, in the light of The Hidden Words, wherein Bahá'u'lláh refers to "the path of detachment":
"I bear witness, O friends! that the favor is complete, the argument fulfilled, the proof manifest, and the evidence established. Let it now be seen what your endeavors in the path of detachment will reveal. In this wise hath the divine favor been fully vouchsafed unto you and unto them that are in heaven and on earth. All praise to God, the Lord of all worlds." —Bahá'u'lláh

On patience

"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
--Saint Augustine

Exploring Faith, Recognition, Obedience and Openness

The idea of faith is something I’m still struggling to get my head around. For most of my life I have thought of Faith as necessarily involving some act of blind trust. In fact, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá has told us quite explicitly that faith should not be blind:

“By faith is meant, first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds.” -‘Abdu’l-Bahá

The first time I read this quote I wondered if the ordering of the sentence, with conscious knowledge “first,” was to be taken literally – a.k.a. that conscious knowledge is a precursor for us to be able to truly practice good deeds. I actually see this as a sort of chicken and the egg kind of problem: conscious knowledge and good deeds are mutually reinforcing – we consciously know things by experiencing them through our deeds, and conscious knowledge through investigation the holy writings also guides our actions by providing us with an ideal standard for our deeds.

I find that this relationship between knowledge and deeds is further illuminated by the following passage, which L recently directed me to:

“The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration.” (Bahá’u’lláh, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 19)

Here, “recognition” and obedience (“observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world”) are noted as being “inseparable.” For me, this dynamic relationship between recognition and obedience and the inseparability of the two is the underlying point. Simply saying you believe things or merely recognizing them with your brain means little if your actions do not work in accordance with that belief. This quote also states that the opposite is true: simply doing goodly deeds is insufficient without the recognition of God. That seems a bit hard to grasp, no? For me personally, this is far more challenging to accept (because aren’t good deeds still good without recognition of God?) This makes so much sense in today’s context, but this ignores an investigation of the origin of how certain deeds have normatively arisen to be good for society… which I understand to be through the teachings of various incredibly wise teachers throughout history… Manifestations, prophets, whatever you want to call them...

Brief aside: I do wonder to what extent recognition is here meant to be the same as “conscious knowledge,” for that would certainly be more in line with how I’ve understood the notion of faith through the Christian perspective. That is to say, while one should investigate the writings and teachings of any manifestation as much as possible, at some point one consciously chooses (or not) to recognize/accept those teachings as being reflective of God. I’d be curious to hear others’ thoughts about whether this is what is meant by conscious knowledge?

Coming back to the quote from The Aqdas, one must be careful in reading this not to put a fundamentalist bent to it… even when we accept certain teachings as the truth and work to align our deeds as much as possible with those teachings, we should always be open to being proven wrong, be open to a new truth emerging. This is absolutely necessary because, as humans, our understanding of the truth is always going to be partial. At one of my recent visits to Bosch, we were discussing this relationship between recognition and obedience. R mentioned that recognizing and obeying simultaneously is obviously very challenging. There might be times where we’re better able to align our deeds with the “ordinance” of Bahá’u’lláh (or Christ, or Buddha, etc.) but we’re struggling with the recognition and conscious knowledge part of the equation. Similarly, the reverse can be true. Dear wayfarers, I do not think we should despair when this is the case. Bahá’u’lláh is providing us with an ideal standard towards which we should work, and clearly this is incredibly hard to attain with perfection. My sense, from my own experience, is that the more that we’re able to make progress in one of these dimensions, the more likely we are to progress in the other dimension as well. Perhaps the twin nature of the inseparability of recognition and obedience could even be interpreted to mean that progress in one dimension inherently implies progress in another… what do others think?

To close, I was recently incredibly relieved and comforted to read the following quote by Shoghi Effendi, which also provides a useful warning to heed us from fanaticism.

“It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The standard inculcated by Bahá’u’lláh seeks, under no circumstances, to deny anyone the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator. ‘Should a man,’ Bahá’u’lláh Himself reassures us, ‘wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.’"
-Shoghi Effendi (The Advent of Divine Justice)

Breath

Let each single breath
Be like an infinite string
Drawing you to God.

Wisdom from the mat: Perfect bodies

My yoga teacher often shares some pearls of wisdom, which I think I might share out here now and then so that more beings may benefit from our practice. Tonight I was particularly struck by the following:

"We sometimes trick ourselves into thinking our bodies aren't perfect. Forgive yourself for that misrepresentation. Because it is... at this stage in its evolution." -Moondance

Amen. Actually, whether or not our bodies are "perfect" to me seems beside the point, though it's a lovely thought. I think the most important thing is accepting and loving the body wherever it's at, appreciating all that it does for us, recognizing what even pains and illness can teach us, and to detach from the self-judgment that most of us too frequently engage in. I could write volumes on this topic.

Sunset shadow dance

Just for fun, the result of a recent experiment with my new SLR:

Sunset shadow play

Like Lassos

(inspired by a comment from N under my previous post, and also reminiscent of one of my favorite childhood stories, The Rainbow Goblins by Ul de Rico).

Let each of us be
Like lassos thrown by prayer
To harness God's will.

Pondering Time, Space and Prayerful Energy

What does it mean to produce energy when we pray?

To me, this is one of the most mystical aspects of prayer. My mind cannot fully understand how this process works, how it is possible. I’d say it has to do with the fact that the mind, as the machine-work that helps us to access the spiritual qualities of the soul, has the potential to be a center of positive energy. As I become more adept at prayer, I improve my ability to generate more of that positive energy. When I pray together with others, that prayer becomes even more powerful because that combined prayer produces still more energy.

Though my mind may not fully understand how this energy gets produced, I know (in the conocer concept of "to know" – as in, to be acquainted with through experience) that when I fully concentrate my thoughts and open my heart in prayer, I can at times feel a physical effect – that of energy being produced. I have experienced this, at times, as a warmth in my chest. When an effect is produced upon my own individual consciousness, I, in turn, am possibly producing an effect on a larger “collective consciousness” of which I am a part. Pretty wild. By that account, our prayer has power to create change, to effectively change the world!

Lately, in reading a book I previously mentioned, The Energy of Prayer, I have been fascinated to think about how this prayerful energy is not bounded by our normal conceptions of time and space. For, when we pray, we and all other creatures are a part of this “collective consciousness” (God). Thich Nhat Hanh describes it in the following way:

“The collective consciousness is made up of the individual consciousness and the individual consciousness is made up of the collective consciousness. The two things make each other possible. It’s not that one comes first and the other comes later. There is no ‘above’ without ‘below’, there is no ‘inside’ without ‘outside’; the two things have to be there at the same time. The same is true with ‘I’ and ‘we’: they make each other possible.” (p. 58).

Let me digress for one moment from my original point, because this quote presents a fascinating question: can we prove whether God exists either with or without His creation? Can there be God without an “other”, a.k.a. without His creation? Is not God actually greater than the sum of all these created parts? Is not God the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end?
Returning to my original point, let’s pretend all agree that each of us individual human souls is already connected within a larger collective consciousness/energy/spirit (that we call God if we’re ok with the God label)… Thich Nhat Hanh writes about how there are there are two ways to think how prayer works when that object of prayer is another person for whom we want to pray. In one view (the one I find more traditionally engrained), the person who prays sends her/his energy to God to then transmit to another person on the planet. In the alternative view we and all other created things are part of this larger collective consciousness of God. By this latter view, “we don’t need to send prayers anywhere, because God is omnipresent. There is no need to convert God into some divine telecommunications satellite in the sky.” Space and time get crossed out of the equation and prayer is seen as being totally independent of these. Yet, the idea of "production" is something that we understand in the context of space and time, so what does it mean for energy to be "produced" through prayer if prayer were independent of these concepts? I’m much better at asking such questions than in coming up with the answers.

One step closer today

So many thoughts percolating in my brain from our chats last night at Bosch, many of which I’m likely to blog about soon… and to start the day in such a joyful way, my heart is overflowing. Every day is a new day for faith. Every day is a new opportunity to grow closer to God.

O SON OF LOVE!
Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity. Give ear then to that which hath been revealed by the pen of glory.
-Bahá'u'lláh (from The Hidden Words)

Morning Praise

Could there be a better start to the day than this? A 6am surprise wake-up call from Germany, they now have a phone! And Internet! The chance to hear my sister and nephew’s voices again, to see them both on the webcam –Cara has such a beautiful wide smile—and to delight in all the changes a month has brought to 5 month old Ronin’s character. “Ronnie Roo, how I’ve missed you! I love you!” Now a lush head full of hair, he looks so much older! What a handsome boy he is! All smiles, his usual peaceful demeanor, throwing flirtatious glances at the computer… is it not marvelous how much joy one can derive from watching how he can now roll around with ease, reach for things, stick his feet in his mouth? It almost brings tears to my eyes!

Bursting out in song as my legs pound on the pedals of my bike…
“Ich bin ausländer und ich spreche nicht gut Deutsche…” to the tune of She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain, I sang aloud to captive crowd last night at Bosch, “You have a good German accent,” Who knows how that’s possible.
“I’m a foreigner and I don’t speak good German,” Cara teaches me on the dance floor, five months pregnant, at Walt and Marissa’s wedding. We practice each word…
A rhythmical pushing, right, left, right, left, blood pumping through my veins, I feel so alive! This is what joy is! This is what love is! There is nothing but this moment, soaring down the hill… I’m flying on my bike, the morning marine layer fogging up my glasses… I really ought to study some German this fall.
Now, “Down by the station early in the morning…” looping back and forth between these two songs. How good it feels to sing, particularly while biking! Shouldn’t all morning songs be as merry as these? Dad and I singing in his Mercedes on the way to school, me bursting with anticipating for my glorious solo, “Toot Toot” went the little train “Off they go…”
Wow, I’m here already!

Delicious Peace

A friend of mine from college works for Fort Bragg based fair trade Thanksgiving Coffee Company and works with a most amazing coffee cooperative in Uganda, one made of more than 700 Jewish, Christian and Muslim coffee growers working side by side. The cooperative is called Merembe Kawomera, which means "delicious peace" (you may have noticed the link on the front page of my blog under "Fellow Truth Seekers" that will take you to their blog). O Magazine (as in Oprah) recently did a story on this inspiring cooperative. Check out the story (and considering buying some Merembe Kawomera "Delicious Peace Coffee" next time you plan to pick up a bag). I find this cooperative to be an inspiring example of how we can better build unity in this world.

Between Faith and Doubt

Yesterday my mom was telling me about the sermon given at Elim that morning. In it, the pastor drew from the following gospel reading about Jesus walking on water.

Matthew 14:22-33
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

The most striking part of this reading, said Pastor P., is not so much what it reveals about God but what it reveals about man. Each one of us, like Peter, is caught between faith and doubt. Though I didn’t hear the details of the sermon, this message struck me.

Surely it must be true. Each one of us is at different points along the continuum between faith and doubt, between certainty and uncertainty. Furthermore, each one of us moves forward and backward along the continuum at different points in time. I’m still sorting out what we must do to move closer to faith; surely our actions (to the extent that we are able to follow the teachings of Jesus or the other Manifestations) become reinforcing of our progress.
How often we, like Peter, let our fears overcome us in the present and even detach ourselves from evidence of our progress even as it’s happening right before our eyes. Our fears become blinders.
A bunch of metaphors for this very human way of progressing come to mind, but I’ll mention just one (humbly admitting that nothing I can come up is quite as powerful of this message of the Gospel). When climbing a cinder cone volcano, one takes two steps forward and slides one step back pretty much the whole way up. Such a hike is quite arduous (I think I’ll avoid all cinder cones in the future). Yet, with patience, faith, determination, and effort, we can reach the summit.