In brief, the story dominating me was based on an inner judgment towards another and how their behaviour was impacting me emotionally in a negative way. With this self-perpetuated story, I was justified in my own self-pity. At the time, the story felt real, it was “my” truth, causing me deep wounding and pain.
Late on Saturday night of the recent retreat, "The Alchemy of Character," Kabir gave this short talk about the essentials of the inner life. Within each human being is a witnessing silence, a space beyond thought and emotional reactions, and it is from this state that we can truly practice, worship, and attain communion with the Divine.
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At the recent San Francisco retreat, "The Alchemy of Character," Dr. Sara Winter spoke about the tendency to avoid ego development needs and the messier issues of our lives through spiritual bypass, i.e. a state of premature transcendence, trying to circumvent the developmental issues of the self in the name of spirituality. Unresolved emotional issues and wounds can sabotage spiritual practice, interfering with our meditation and zhikr.
My ancestry led back directly, I discovered, through Deacon John Dyer and his wife, Freelove Williams, and further back to such a strong woman of Spirit whose story I had never known—Mary Dyer, the only woman in the history of the United States of America to be martyred for religious freedom. It was 1660 when she was hung on Boston Common by the Puritans, for promoting freedom of religious conscience. She went to her death with joy, witnessing to Truth, determined to honor the freedom of each soul to discover and relate to the Truth as he or she felt moved by the “Inner Light.” She was a Quaker.
We can be grateful for the possibilities of service that life presents us with. The more we serve the better we feel, especially about ourselves. The mature character does not need, nor expect, to be thanked by others. The chance to serve, which is so good for ourselves, is itself a gift and is its own reward. Maturity is to serve without any expectation, and to be grateful to simply be.
A beloved dervish asks: I wonder how I can deal with the resistance in me to do my zhikr. I haven’t been able to find the core of this resisting part and what it is telling me. It keeps coming back. Could you help reflecting on this or do you have any suggestions on how [...]
Sohbet recording with reflections on the theme for November 2014, two lines from a Ghazel of Hafiz:
“Wash your hands of the cheap metals of existence like the mature, so that you may find the philosopher’s Stone of love and become gold yourself.”
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Reflections on the theme for October: “The interpretation of a sacred text is true if it stirs you to hope, activity, and awe.”
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There is something precious in a human soul that treasures communion with the Divine. All other riches are a poor imitation. What is real is the Spirit within us. Our being in community reflects Reality from heart to heart. Until our own heart becomes a reflector of Truth. Sometimes we need some help to awaken that reflection. There is help from the other side if we make at least a gesture of human will.
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This interview is part of the Summer of Peace 2014 Summit, a free online event featuring 70+ of the world’s top peacebuilders, social change leaders, indigenous elders and spiritual mentors offering inspiration, skills training and powerful solutions – to bring inner, interpersonal and collective peace efforts to the next level. The Summer of Peace will continue for another [...]