Friday, July 29, 2011

Conversion experience

Suddenly we find ourselves in love
              with fresh cilantro, both of us,

and now we put it into everything—
              salsa, of course, but also into salads

and sides, and we find ourselves
              eating it all by itself and putting

the fingers that have handled it,
              steadied it while we chopped it, up

to our noses, breathing deep.
              The crispness of its leaf's become

an unexplained addiction, a mystery
              so citrusy, of scent or secret spice—

and we are high on how it dawns
              in us anew each time we think

to add it to the soup, and we're
              embarrassed by the way we feel

because we both remember clearly
              another time, though not exactly when,

in which we'd had a very pointed conversation
              and agreed we didn't like it in the least.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The Playground of God ~ by Joyce Rupp

If I could share my treasures with you
I would constantly send you blessings
from the depths and beauty of each day.

I would seal your smile with sunshine;
I would leaf your walk of life
with the tenderest of greens
and the deepest of autumns.

I would catch at least three rainbows,
and set a seagull on each one
to sail you constant hellos
from the heart of the Transcendent.

I would whisper wonderings
from silent nooks of mountain tops
and the humming heart of the sea.

I would call for the deer
and all the tender animals
to run with you in happiness.

I would ask each tree
in her most majestic mood
to cover you with constant care.

I would breeze in billowy clouds
to share their rainy wanderings
when you need to feel washed new.

I would take you by the hand
and hold your heart near mine,
to let you hear the constant love
bounding forth from me.

and most of all

I would join my heart with yours
and have you share the path of love
that God has caused and carved
in the shadows of my soul.

                                   ~Joyce Rupp, May I have This Dance

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

We are not our thoughts*

All methods that lead to contemplation are more or less aimed
at bypassing the thinking process.  The reason is that our thinking
process tends to reinforce our addictive process - our frenzy to
"get something" from the outer world to fuel our compulsions
or to mask our pain. 
If we can just rest on a regular basis for 20 to 30 minutes
without thinking, we begin to see that we are not our thoughts. 
We have thoughts, but we are not our thoughts. 
Most people suffer because they think that they are their thoughts
and if their thoughts are upsetting, distressing,
or evil, they are stuck with them.  If they just stopped thinking
for a while every day as a discipline,
they would begin to see that they do not
have to be dominated by their thoughts.

[*Please remember that the term "thoughts" in our explanation of Centering Prayer includes not just
concepts or images, but feelings, sense impressions from within and without,
and even spiritual sensations. Every perception whatsoever goes under the umbrella of "thoughts."]


Thomas Keating, Intimacy with God

FROM THE JULY E-BULLETIN FROM CONTEMPATIVE OUTREACH clp@coutreach.org (email)
http://www.contemplativeoutreach.org/site/PageServer 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Spiritual Practices - According to Wikipedida

A spiritual practice or spiritual discipline (often including spiritual exercises) is the regular or full-time performance of actions and activities undertaken for the purpose of cultivating spiritual development. A common metaphor used in the spiritual traditions of the worlds great religions is that of walking a path. Therefore a spiritual practice moves a person along a path towards a goal. The goal is variously referred to as salvation, liberation or union (with God). A person who walks such a path is sometimes referred to as a wayfarer or a pilgrim.

Spiritual practices versus worship:
Some practices, like meditation, yoga and vegetarianism, are undertaken for a spiritual purpose. This tends to be thought to characterize Eastern religion more than Western. Perhaps this comes from the perception that Eastern religion is more marked than Western religion by mysticism. This perception might be true to some degree, but even Western religious traditions that eschew mystical practices often have many practices and rituals which could count as a 'spiritual practice.'

In any case, Western religions, speaking generally, tend to focus on professed theological ideas more than in the east. The Islamic salat, for example, confesses the shahada, and Christian prayer in its many forms often focuses on God, God's character, Christ, or the surroundings of the person praying. By contrast, Buddhist meditation focuses on deepening our experience and understanding of the mind or of Buddha, these things often being understood to be the same thing. In Zen practising koans focuses on the contemplation of unsolvable paradoxes as a tool for the emptying of the mind or no-self (anatman).

It may be useful to the reader to compare and contrast the notion of spiritual practice with that of worship, as well as the notions adoration, veneration, and prayer.

Eastern practices:
HinduIn Hinduism, the practice of cultivating spirituality is known as sadhana.

Japa, the silent or audible repetition of a mantra, is a common Hindu spiritual practice.
See also: yoga

Tantric practices are shared in common between Hinduism and certain Buddhist (especially Tibetan Buddhist) schools, and involve the deliberate use of the mundane (worldly, physical or material) to access the supramundane (spiritual, energetic or mystical) realms.
Buddhist

The Pali word "yoga," central to many early Buddhist texts, has been often translated as "Spiritual Practice." In Zen Buddhism, meditation (called zazen), the writing of poetry (especially haiku), painting, calligraphy, flower arranging, and the maintenance of Zen gardens are considered to be spiritual practices. The extensive Japanese and Korean Tea Ceremonies are also considered spiritual.
Martial arts

Some martial arts, like Tai chi chuan, Aikido, and Jujutsu, are considered spiritual practices by some of their practitioners.

Abrahamic practices:
Abrahamic religions are practiced throughout the world. They share in common the Jewish patriarch Abraham and the Torah as an initial sacred text, although the degree to which the Torah is incorporated into religious beliefs varies between traditions.

Islamic
Spiritual practice in Islam is practiced within salah (ritual prayer) during which Muslims subdue all thoughts and concentrate solely on Allah. Spiritual practices that are practised by Sufis include Dhikr, Muraqaba, Qawwali, Sama and Sufi whirling.

Jewish
Kavannah is the directing of the heart to achieve higher contemplative thoughts and attain inner strength. Perhaps the most elevated spiritual exercise for a Jew is known as Torah Lishmah, the diligent study of the Torah. Reciting daily prayers (such as the Shema and Amidah), following dietary laws of kashrut, observing Shabbat, fasting, and performing deeds of loving-kindness all assist in maintaining awareness of God. Various Jewish movements throughout history have encouraged a range of other spiritual practices. The Musar movement, for example, encourages a variety of meditations, guided contemplations, and chanting exercises.

Christian
Spiritual practices that have characterized Western religion include prayer, Sacraments (e.g., Baptism & Eucharist), monasticism, chanting, celibacy, the use of prayer beads, mortification of the flesh, Christian meditation, and Lectio Divina.

The Religious Society of Friends (also known as the Quakers) practices silent worship, which is punctuated by vocal ministry. Quakers have little to no creed or doctrine, and so their practices constitute a large portion of their group identity.

A well-known writer on Christian spiritual disciplines, Richard Foster, has emphasized that Christian meditation focuses not of the emptying of the mind or self, but rather on the filling up of the mind or self with God.

Baha'i
Prayer in the Bahá'í Faith refers to two distinct concepts: obligatory prayer and devotional prayer (general prayer). Both types of prayer are composed of reverent words which are addressed to God, and the act of prayer is one of the most important Bahá'í laws for individual discipline.

Other practices:
Stoic
Stoicism takes the view that philosophy is not just a set of beliefs or ethical claims, it is a way of life and discourse involving constant practice and training (e.g., asceticism).

Stoic spiritual practices and exercises include contemplation of death and other events that are typically thought negative, training attention to remain in the present moment (similar to some forms of Eastern meditation), daily reflection on everyday problems and possible solutions, keeping a personal journal, and so on. Philosophy for a Stoic is an active process of constant practice and self-reminder.

New Age
New Age spirituality practices vary as do diverse individuals and groups around the world.

Passage meditation was a practice recommended by Eknath Easwaran which involves the memorization and silent repetition of passages of scripture from the world's religions.

Adidam (the name of both the religion and practice) taught by Adi Da Samraj uses an extensive group of spiritual practices including ceremonial invocation (puja) and body disciplines such as exercise, a modified yoga, dietary restrictions and bodily service. These are all rooted in a fundamental devotional practice of Guru bhakti based in self-understanding rather than conventional religious seeking.

The term Neotantra refers to a modern collection of practices and schools in the West that integrates the sacred with the sexual, and de-emphasizes the reliance on Gurus.

Recent and evolving spiritual practices in the West have also explored the integration of aboriginal instruments such as the Didgeridoo, extended chanting as in Kirtan, or other breathwork taken outside of the context of Eastern lineages or spiritual beliefs, such as Quantum Light Breath

This article can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_practice

Monday, July 11, 2011

Poetry

Call it a field where the animals
who were forgotten by the Ark
come to graze under the evening clouds.

Or a cistern where the rain that fell
before history trickles over a concrete lip.

However you see it,
this is no place to set up
the three-legged easel of realism

or make a reader climb
over the many fences of a plot.

Let the portly novelist
with his noisy typewriter
describe the city where Francine was born,

how Albert read the paper on the train,
how curtains were blowing in the bedroom.

Let the playwright with her torn cardigan
and a dog curled on the rug
move the characters
from the wings to the stage
to face the many-eyed darkness of the house.

Poetry is no place for that.
We have enough to do
complaining about the price of tabacco,

passing the dripping ladle,
and singing songs to a bir in a cage.

We are busy doing nothing---
and all we need for that is an afternoon,
a rowboat under a blue sky,

and maybe a man fishing froma stone bridge,
or, better still, nobody on that bridge at all.

Poem by Billy Collins from the book Nine Horses

Friday, July 8, 2011

You keep us waiting.

You keep us waiting.
You the God of all time,
Want us to wait for the right time in which to discover
Who we are, where we must go,
Who will be with us, and what we must do.
So thank you…for the waiting time.

You keep us looking
You the God of all space,
Want us to look in the right and wrong places for signs of hope,
For people who are hopeless,
For visions of a better world that will appear
Among the disappointments of the world we know:
So thank you…for the looking time.

You keep us loving.
You, the God whose name is love,
Want us to be like you –
To love the loveless and the unlovely and the unlovable;
To love without jealousy or design or threat;
And most difficult of all, to love ourselves.
So thank you…for the loving time.

And in all this, you keep us,
Through hard questions with no easy answers,
Through failing where we hoped to succeed
And making an impact when we felt we were useless;
Through the patience and the dreams and the love of others,
And through Jesus and his Spirit,
You keep us.
So thank you for the keeping time,
And for now, and for ever.  Amen

Posted by Rev. Ivy Thomas

Friday, July 1, 2011

Canada Day


Today is Canada Day and though I have lived in Canada for over forty years it is my first Canada day as a Canadian citizen and so I offer this prayer in recognition of this day and our country.

Blessings,
Sally

Canada's Prayer

I’m dreaming of Canada tonight.
A country where mountains and hopes touch the sky
A country where an ocean of kindness fills all hearts
A country where ideas are a forest of wisdom
Oh God let me wake up in Canada!

I'm dreaming of Canada tonight.
A country where compassion is as tall as a Douglas fir
A country where understanding is as deep as a great lake
A country where confidence grows like grain
Oh God let me wake up in Canada!

I’m dreaming of Canada tonight.
A country where happiness flows like the water of a river
A country where love is a breath of fresh air
A country where peace covers the land like snow
Oh God, please let me wake up in Canada, tonight...

© Copyright 1997

Permission to Reprint
Canada’s Prayer Poem


Anyone may reprint the Canada’s Prayer poem with conditional permission as long as the following notation appears at the bottom of the poem.

Canada’s Prayer was written by Chris Robertson. Chris Robertson was the first person in history to travel from bottom of mainland Canada 6,520 kilometres to the top under their own power. Enroute he challenged over 5 million Canadians to make Canada better by answering the question: “What will you do in your life to make Canada a better country than when you found it?”