God Encounters: Sacred Silence

L.D. Turner

For many sincere followers of Jesus, the Master’s words about being with us always and about his love for us are little more than arid ideas with little emotional, experiential impact. This is due to the fact that so many times we are distracted by “busyness” and spend little time communing with the light and love that are the first emanations from Christ’s being. The only way to rectify this and turn God’s love for us into a living, life-changing reality is through regular periods of quiet communion. Contemporary spiritual director Jan Johnson speaks clearly to this issue, reminding us of the importance of our times of spiritual refreshing:

 One of Jesus’ greatest promises was this: “I am with you always.” (Matthew 28:20), but we may not experience this. Instead, we keep praying, “God be with us.” That’s because we are distracted by life’s thousand demands and by our habit of filling in empty time slots with entertainment. Our mind flashes from one thing to another, always occupied. A weekly visit to church can’t begin to penetrate this busyness. Contemplation reconnects us with God in the midst of this scatterdness. Life pulls me in so many directions – between the demands of my work, my husband’s plans, the kid’s needs…..I may say I am “thirsty for God as the deer is for water,” but at the moment I need to get my hair cut. However, when I pause to contemplate and be with God, I sense that this God who holds the universe together can also hold me together. In the quiet, I recall how God has helped me in the past. Without the clamor of demands around me, I remember that I am one God so loves.

  Contemplative practice can be far more than a powerful mode of mystical prayer – it can also be an exercise in healing. This is especially true in relation to psycho-spiritual issues. Jan Johnson discusses a few of the ways in which contemplative practice can help with personal healing:

 The practice of contemplation creates a bond with God in which God can heal the scatterdness of our lives and these other unhealthy spiritual states you may be experiencing:

 Spiritual dryness

Guilt and Shame

Lack of Direction and Purpose

 I don’t know about you, but in my life, I can relate to all three of these negative psycho-spiritual states. And, like Sister Jan, I have found that contemplative prayer, in whatever form it might take, can be of immense value.

 Evelyn Underhill, that master of the mystic life, vividly described the nature of her prayer life in its more negative aspects:

 We mostly spend our lives conjugating three verbs: to want, to have, and to do. Craving, clutching, and fussing, we are kept in perpetual unrest. My jabbering prayers have been full of what I want, what I think I should have, and what I want God to do.

 Johnson goes on to describe how our self-absorbed prayers have a tendency to lead us down the road of spiritual anguish and despair. In the end, it results in a sense of hopeless desperation and the irony of it all is that it stems from our own misguided notions of what prayer is to begin with:

 Imagining He has let us down, we become estranged from Him. In a culture that teaches us to perform for rewards, prayer becomes one more place of defeat and God is one more disappointment. We may even keep going through the motions spiritually – going to church, helping others – but in our heart we wonder, “If God is good, wouldn’t He give me the good things I want? Because He doesn’t, either God is not good, or I’m hopeless….We come to a dismal place because we misunderstand prayer as a means to have our desires fulfilled instead of a place to encounter the compassionate, all-seeking God.

 There are times, those special times when I sink deeply enough into the silence, when I come face to face with my own tendency to not pay close enough attention to what is going on in these “quiet times.” I love the way the writer closes out the paragraph with that stinging juxtaposition about whether we see prayer as a place where we have our desires filled or a venue where we encounter the compassionate, all-seeking God.

 Sometimes I think we lose track of how incredible the whole concept and process of prayer is. I know I am guilty as charged. In my work at LifeBrook I once designed a two-day training, not on prayer as many people had asked, but on preparing for prayer. You see, I had come to the point of awareness where I saw that I had not been giving the practice of prayer the place of honor it deserved.

 It is hard to express this in words, but I had a personal epiphany around this issue. It dawned on me, in my gut, that when I went into my prayer closet I was coming into the presence of that very being, that inexplicable intelligence responsible for putting together this incredible universe, with all its complexity, diversity, and finely-tuned balance. Friends, it literally took my breath away.

 What made this prayer experience so profound for me was the reality that God, the divine being and creator of all that is and ever will be, not only wanted to spend time with me, but he actually loved me. And what is even more amazing was the fact that his love was not static, but instead, was dynamic – a genuine affection that provided me with provision, purpose, and passion for life. As I sat there in silence that blessed morning, the words of the prophet Jeremiah jumped off the page and penetrated my heart in a way both novel and life-changing:

 For I know the plans I have for you…They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you…I will end your captivity and restore your fortune. (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)

 As I said, this episode literally left me panting for breath, but it didn’t end there. As is my practice, I normally take a book of devotions with me into my prayer sanctuary, just in case the Spirit leads me to open and read, especially if my period of prayer seems do be without direction. I opened the book, a short collection of essays on scriptural themes. It was no coincidence that I opened the book to the page where I had placed book mark, totally at random, prior to beginning this period of prayer. You can imagine what I felt when I began to read these words by Lloyd Ogilvie:

 Talk about a conversation opener! Imagine someone you love and admire and whose thoughts and opinions you cherish, saying to you, “You are constantly on my mind. And when I think of you they are wonderful thoughts of peace and future happiness for you. I’m pulling for the very best for you. What a joy it is to be your cheerleader!” I would not be difficult to find time for conversation with a person like that. Multiply the best of human care and concern for us a billion times and you’ve only begun to fathom God’s love for us as He calls us into conversation. That’s the whole point of time alone with God. It is to allow Him the opportunity to love us.

 Rather than write more about this, let me issue you a challenge. Over the next week, spend a block of time each day, say 15-30 minutes, during which you reflect on just what prayer is and what it is not. Really spend time with this, keep a small journal of your thoughts, and especially consider just who and what it is you are encountering when you go into prayer.

 Don’t approach this as an exercise in intellectual snobbery or any kind of effort at theological description. Instead, let your heart lead you into your response.

Be especially open and sensitive to meeting the incredible being that created all that is, even you, in all its incredible complexity.

If you persist with this exercise over a period of several weeks, I predict your prayer time will be forever transformed. Try it and see.

 © L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

A Powerful Little Spiritual Practice

Mick Turner

In my quiet time yesterday, Spirit gave me the message to share something with you that has been such a natural part of my life for so many years, that I haven’t really thought of sharing it on my own. I am grateful for the gentle whispers of Spirit that come during periods of meditation and reflection; they often tell me things I need to do and that someone, somewhere, may need to hear.

 

Starting back in 1977, I began the habit of keeping what I came to call my “Notebooks of the Sublime.” I began carrying around a small, pocket-sized notebook in which I would jot down spiritual ideas that came to me in unexpected moments or events that occurred in my life that, for many, might seem insignificant, but for me bordered on epiphany. Later, I would transfer this material to a separate journal that I kept for just such things, along with spiritual quotations that were meaningful for me on some level.

 

I now have many of these small, portable notebooks and also more than a few of the journals in which I transferred this material. These various notebooks are treasures to me. I now use them not only for personal inspiration, but also for my writing projects and even on this blog. For example, some of the material I post in “Wise Words for Today” comes directly from these battered little notebooks.

 

For me personally, these notebooks and journals are “portals of power” in that they only contain words that are highly meaningful. I only put down an experience, an event, or a quotation if it rings my chime in a strong way. By doing this, I insure that later, when I re-read what I have recorded in my notebooks, I can see the kind of themes that were highly significant to me at particular times in my life.

 

I have since discovered that quite a few other travelers on the spiritual journey do this as well, or at least something similar. I would like to suggest that, if you are seriously committed to your spiritual development, that you give this helpful practice a try. If you are diligent in making entries in your notebook, I promise you will find that over a fairly short period of time, you will begin to discover just how valuable these little notebooks can be.

 

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Meditation and Living From the Sacred Mind

 

Lead us from darkness to light;

Lead us from illusion to wisdom;

Lead us from death to the deathlessness.

Lead us from conflict and suffering to harmony, peace, and happiness.

 

These brief words from the Upanishads, one of India’s spiritual classics, gives a brief but comprehensive view of what the spiritual journey is all about. As I meditated on the principles here, I became aware of the opposites that exist within the words and how these polarities in many ways describe the basic difference between living from our lower mind and our Sacred Mind. For example, when we operate in the confines of the lower mind, here is what we get:

 

Darkness

Illusion

Death

Conflict

Suffering

 

In contrast, living from the limitless position of our Sacred Mind, entire vistas open to us that we most likely overlooked before. When we arrive at a space where we can consistently allow our Sacred Mind to be in the driver’s seat, we encounter:

 

Light

Wisdom

Deathlessness

Harmony

Peace

Happiness

 

 I have consistently found that practices such as meditation, prayer, mindfulness, silence, and service help us acquire the ability to live more consistently from our Sacred Mind. It is because of this reality that here at Lifebrook International we spend so much time stressing the importance of spiritual practice, especially the practice of meditation.

 

Meditation is one of the most significant and beneficial practices in which we may engage. Putting aside the deep spiritual benefits derived from its utilization, there are numerous highly practical benefits as well. Medical science has discovered and verified the fact that regular meditation practice reduces stress and its resultant complications, lowers blood pressure, improves memory, slows aging, and aids in healing from both illness and injury. Mediation’s use as a stress reduction technique alone is ample reason to give it a fair trial, given the hectic lifestyle each of us maintains. The benefits, however, are far more than physical and psychological. As all lasting faith traditions have maintained, meditation helps us to find the Sacred Light that exists at the core of our being and provides a tested and proven method of making that Light an integral part of our daily living.

 

What I have discovered in my personal practice of meditation is that it is a way to deepen my contact with God and to make the power of divine energy more of a practical, pragmatic resource to use for God’s purposes. As countless mystics have asserted across the ages, meditation helps us know God as opposed to knowing about God. In so doing, regular meditative practices put is in contact with the very creative power of the universe.

 

As you expand your awareness of meditation, you will find that there are many techniques, each with its own goals and procedures. The trick is finding the method which may serve you best, then sticking with it in order to attain the deeper, more subtle benefits of the technique. While it is interesting to flit from one practice to another, much like a Humming Bird going from flower to flower, the most profound and lasting benefits of meditative practice comes from deepening your connection with one practice. As an old Buddhist adage implies, if you are looking for water, it is usually better to dig one hole 50 feet deep, rather than digging 50 holes one foot deep. Author and meditation teacher Jack Kornfield tells us:

 

To deepen our practice further, we must choose a way to develop our attention systematically and give ourselves to it quite fully. Otherwise we will drift like a boat without a rudder. To learn to concentrate we must choose a prayer or a meditation and follow this path with commitment and steadiness, a willingness to work with our practice day after day, no matter what arises. This is not easy for most people. They would like their spiritual life to show immediate and cosmic results. But what great art is ever learned quickly? Any deep training opens in direct proportion to how much we give ourselves to it.

 

Although finding our particular meditative practice is highly important, for many of us this is a difficult process. For some, this indecision is due to a general personality issue about making a commitment to anything. For most, however, it may be something else – it may be the result of having too many options to choose from.

 

Without a doubt, America has rapidly become a spiritual smorgasbord. A sincere spiritual aspirant has a wide variety of menu items to choose from ranging from the highly spiced cuisine of Hinduism to the bland austerity of Zen. While this far-ranging religious buffet has numerous benefits, it can also present several significant problems.

 

First, this plethora of spiritual options creates an army of metaphysical nibblers. Although well-meaning, these folks take a bite of this and a taste of that – a smidgen of Tibetan Buddhism and a morsel of Theravada. As a result, these seekers are always running from one sample to another without ever getting a real sense of what these various paths are about.

 

Related to the above described spiritual nibbling are other seekers who take a larger sampling of one of the available options, but never go too far. These are the aspirants who satisfy themselves with spiritual finger-foods but never get around to eating the whole meal. Content with the appetizers, this group seems capable of discussing the many spiritual paths that are available, but cannot speak to the deeper issues of any faith.

 

During the years that I taught regular workshops on spirituality, meditation, and Buddhism, I often encountered these individuals. I don’t mean to make light of their sincerity. The majority of these seekers were desirous of spiritual growth, but were unable, for whatever reasons, to get past the bombardment of what can legitimately be described as America’s Spiritual Circus. Whenever I would ask, “What is your spiritual practice?” they would respond:

 

“Well, I have done some Vipassana and some Sufi dancing, and last summer I went on a vision quest and, oh yeah, I did a sweat lodge.”

 

More times than not, these aspirants resembled the folks we just talked about, searching for water by digging 50 holes, one-foot deep, rather than one 50 foot hole. The results, of course, were predictable: superficiality, lack of wisdom, and spiritual confusion.

 

With the myriad spiritual options available to us today, it becomes increasingly vital that we learn to be discerning in terms of choosing a spiritual path. Moreover, it is equally important to be able to make a firm commitment to our chosen path and stick with it long enough to encounter difficulties, work through them, and come out the other side. Only then will we begin to make true progress.

 

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying. Sampling the spiritual options available to us is not a bad thing. In fact, without such sampling we will most likely never discover our best path. The point I am making is each of us must eventually move beyond mere sampling. We have to, as the Buddhist principle states, “take our one seat.”

 

In his insightful book, A Path With A Heart, Jack Kornfield speaks to the necessity of choosing one spiritual practice and staying with it:

 

Spiritual transformation is a profound process that doesn’t happen by accident. We need a repeated discipline, a genuine training, in order to let go of our old habits of mind and to find and sustain a new way of seeing. To mature on the spiritual path, we need to commit ourselves in a systematic way….Until a person chooses on discipline and commits to it, how can a deep understanding of themselves and the world be revealed to them? Spiritual practice requires sustained practice and a commitment to look very deeply into ourselves and the world around us…

 

It has often been said that there are many ways up the mountain and this is most certainly true. However, the existence of numerous ways to advance toward our goal does not mean that each of these ways is best for us. After a period of sampling, it is imperative that we select a practice and get on with the process of making this discipline a regular part of our daily living. To continue dabbling here and there can be exciting, but in the end will not produce lasting results.

 

If you happen to live in an area where there are several centers that teach meditation, I would encourage you to visit more than one and experiment with the various techniques, then select one that seems to resonate with you. If no such center is available, look around on line and try some of the myriad techniques available there. The point in the beginning is not so much which technique you select, but that you establish a disciplined practice. Experience teaching meditation over the years has taught me that the setting of a disciplined spiritual practice is the most important lesson a seeker can learn at the beginning of their spiritual journey. Unfortunately, discipline is not such a popular word these days.

 

As each of us continues on our spiritual journey it is vital to understand that the foundation of our growth is the establishment of a disciplined spiritual practice. Without such a practice, much of what we do will, in the words of that great sage Solomon, be “chasing after the wind.”

 

For many of us living in the contemporary culture, this reality is sometimes tough to swallow. There are many reasons that we are resistant to this cardinal principle of spirituality. Space doesn’t allow for a full treatment of this theme, but I would like to give at least a brief overview of two primary reasons we tend to skirt the issue of establishing a firm spiritual practice. These are: Lack of time and lack of discipline.

 

Whether teaching spiritual principles to workshop participants, business professionals, or college students, I have found the most frequent reason offered for the absence of regular spiritual practice in a person’s life is lack of time. I understand this all too well because it is a reason (read excuse) that I have often offered myself.

 

Granted, life in today’s hectic society is filled with seemingly overwhelming tasks and myriad obligations. I frequently find myself wishing for 28 hours in a day, rather than 24. And, at times, even those extra four hours would be insufficient. I know many of you can relate to what I am saying. However, I have found that in my life, if I am truly committed to growing spiritually, I can find a place to carve out the time. Will I have to sacrifice something I enjoy doing? Perhaps. Will I have to change my schedule around? Most likely. Without belaboring the point, suffice it to say that rarely have I found an individual who couldn’t find the time to establish at least a short daily session of meditation, prayer, Scripture reading, or another spiritual undertaking.

 

Think of it like this. If you honestly believe that your spiritual evolution is a high priority in your life, then regular spiritual practice is essential. One cardinal truth of the spiritual path is the fact that you are not going to get to the other side of the river unless you get in the boat. The important principle here is to just get started. Don’t plan beyond that. Begin with only five minutes. After a brief time, double it to 10 minutes and eventually work your way up to whatever you believe is right for you.

 

Often, our lack of setting aside part of our day for spiritual practice is not so much a lack of time as it is a lack of discipline. “Discipline” is not a politically correct word these days. This is unfortunate because without discipline, you are not going to progress in any area of living, especially your spiritual life. You may be desirous of advancing in your spiritual walk, but that is only a fantasy. Like the “Beauty School Dropout” in the movie “Grease,” you have the dream, not the drive.”

 

I wish I could tell you that there was an easy way to develop more discipline in your life, but that’s not the case, especially if you have a long pattern of being undisciplined. The fact is, you’re going to have to work at it. Without discipline, one’s life devolves into a chaotic mediocrity. Without discipline, there isn’t the slightest sliver of achieving a life of vital spirituality.

In closing, I hope it is obvious how connected lack of time and lack of discipline are. It seems each one feeds the other in an endless cycle that results in paralysis of action. Because we do not take the time to establish a regular routine of spiritual practice, we are not able to develop discipline; and without discipline, we never find the time to practice. And on it goes.

 

What is clear is the fact that we need spiritual practice that is disciplined, focused, and productive. Without such a practice, we wind up like a dog chasing its tail, or, in the words of Solomon, chasing after the wind.

 

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Meditation and the Sacred Silence

L. Dwight Turner

What if I told you there was a wonderful place on this planet that you could visit for little or no cost, but would ultimately change your life for the better? Suppose I also said that this magical place was a place of beauty, creativity, love, peace, joy, and personal nurturance, what would you say? I think most of us would, without undue hesitation, ask for a map and directions.

 

Well, my friend, there is such a place and people have been visiting it for eons. It is a place of where peaceful solitude and exciting energy coexist in a harmonious synergy that, when you bathe in it, gives you refreshment and rejuvenation greater than any fountain of youth. Over the centuries, those who have frequently visited this holy site have attested to it myriad benefits and blessings and have all said that to fully put its wonders into words is an exercise in futility.

 

Most remarkable, no one owns this place and you are free to come whenever you like. But please be forewarned, once you sample its blessings, you will want to come back time and time again.

 

Where is this blessed place? It is within you. It is, for lack of a better phrase:

 

The Sacred Silence.

 

Once you skillfully master the methods of getting to the Silence, you can go there from any place – a busy street, a business meeting, a church service, or even from a dentist’s chair. In the beginning, however, it is useful to establish a consistent time and place where you practice going into Sacred Silence. You will find, in the end, that is worth the time and effort.

 

 It is in the Silence that you make contact with the Divine Source and, it you are mindful, alert, and attentive, you will get to know this Source at a deeper level. In Sacred Silence, the most important lesson you will learn is how to listen to God. Spiritual teacher Wayne Dyer, in discussing what he calls “The Gap,” that space between our thoughts where the Silence lives, illustrates an important lesson about the connection between the Silence and learning to “listen.” Dyer points out that the words silent and listen are composed of the same letters. In essence, listen has the same content as silent, and silent has the same content as listen. Further, you can rearrange each word to spell the other – rearrange the letters of silent and you get listen; rearrange the letters of the word listen, and you get silent. There is an obvious lesson in this small “synchronicity.” The intimate connection between these two words tells us a profound truth: In the Silence our primary goal, once we get the monkey mind to quiet down, is to listen.

 

Our Sacred Sanctuary

 

We encounter the Sacred Silence in our personal “Sacred Sanctuary.” This inner chamber is like our own sacred space, the place that houses our Inner Light, as our Quaker friends call it. We enter this special place by, as mentioned earlier, by quieting our minds and clearing out our own brand of chronic, mental clutter.

 

The Sacred Sanctuary is that special place inside our being that serves as our own personal “Holy of Holies,” a divine chamber where our human spirit comes into more intimate contact with the One True Spirit. This inner temple is where we are first emptied of the limitations of the “little mind,” our lower self, and we are filled with both Light and Life.

 

More than just an empty mind, our sacred inner sanctuary is a place of preparation. It is a holy temple where the Spirit of God dwells and it is a place where, if we possess ears to hear, we can be taught those “great and mighty things we have never heard.” This sacred place is not only a place of teaching, but also a great temple of comfort and nurturance. It is in the spiritual light of this inner sanctuary where God’s unlimited grace, mercy, and comfort are imparted into the depths of our spirit. In this aspect, our inner sanctuary is a chamber of divine healing and spiritual balancing.

 

Moreover, it is our holy place where real miracles are conceived.

 

Noted Quaker writer Thomas Kelly speaks of this inner sanctuary and the benefits accrued from learning to abide there:

 

Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of men. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.

 

 

Buddhist teachers often refer to the mind as a monkey, jumping from branch to branch, screeching loudly even if there is nothing to screech about. I can relate to this description and I suspect most of you can as well. It is difficult to hear the voice of God with all this clamoring going on. It is the mind’s nature to flit from place to place like a bee moving from one flower to another very rapidly.

 

Our job is not so much to still the mind, but at least quiet it down enough so that when that “still, small voice” speaks to us, we have a chance to hear it. That’s where contemplation and the various forms of Christian meditation come into play. The various methods used are designed to achieve a certain level of quietness in the mind. It is not so much to stop our thinking or as some say, “empty the mind.” Instead, it is to center the mind down to a point where it is receptive to the work of God through the Holy Spirit and our own Inner Light. The benefits of such practice are too numerous to list, but one of the first things we may notice is this form of deep prayer allows us to reach a point where we may develop a clear, spiritual perspective on life. Christian teacher Jan Johnson speaks to this:

 

Our mind flashes from one thing to another, always occupied. A weekly visit to church can’t begin to penetrate this busyness. Contemplation reconnects us with God in the midst of this scatteredness. Life pulls me in so many directions – between the demands of my work, my husband’s plans, the kid’s needs, commitments outside our home, dreams I want to pursue – I may say I’m “thirsty for God as the deer pants for water,” but at the moment I need to get my hair cut. However, when I pause to contemplate and be with God, I sense that this God who holds the universe together can also hold me together. In the quiet, I recall how God has helped me in the past. Without the clamor of demands around me, I remember that I am one God so loves.

 

Getting to a level of quietness so that we can actually begin to hear the whisperings of the Holy Spirit is easier said than done. The monkey mind keeps on clamoring, especially if we have many pressures and/or problems in our lives. It has been said that the average human being has 60,000 separate thoughts each day. That’s a lot of thinking and a lot of noise. Our internal chattering is often repetitive in nature and incessant. When initially faced with the admonition of scripture to “Be still, and know that I am God,” (Ps. 46:10) the notion of achieving  quietude of mind seems like a pipe dream. However, the task is not nearly as daunting as it may initially seem, although it will require commitment, patience, and persistence.

 

At times, it is not easy to see the progress that has been made until you take some time out and really look at what is happening with your mind. It is in these periods of self-reflection and evaluation that you begin to see actually progress you had failed to see before. Often this growth in cognitive mastery is quite subtle and sublime.

 

If you are a seasoned practitioner of meditation, I encourage you to keep at it. Make extra commitment and effort to go even deeper. Truly, beyond a certain point you can’t go back. Your only choice is to forge ahead toward a goal well worth striving to attain. This is part of Right Effort and it is indispensable on the spiritual journey.

 

If you are just beginning a mediation practice, I laud your decision to encounter the spiritual light that exists within you. Although your journey is just beginning, I assure you that with consecrated effort and proper encouragement, you can make consistent progress and every aspect of your life will improve.

 

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Meditation and the Sacred Silence

Mick Turner

What if I told you there was a wonderful place on this planet that you could visit for little or no cost, but would ultimately change your life for the better? Suppose I also said that this magical place was a place of beauty, creativity, love, peace, joy, and personal nurturance, what would you say? I think most of us would, without undue hesitation, ask for a map and directions.

 

Well, my friend, there is such a place and people have been visiting it for eons. It is a place of where peaceful solitude and exciting energy coexist in a harmonious synergy that, when you bathe in it, gives you refreshment and rejuvenation greater than any fountain of youth. Over the centuries, those who have frequently visited this holy site have attested to it myriad benefits and blessings and have all said that to fully put its wonders into words is an exercise in futility.

 

Most remarkable, no one owns this place and you are free to come whenever you like. But please be forewarned, once you sample its blessings, you will want to come back time and time again.

 

Where is this blessed place? It is within you. It is, for lack of a better phrase:

 

The Sacred Silence.

 

Once you skillfully master the methods of getting to the Silence, you can go there from any place – a busy street, a business meeting, a church service, or even from a dentist’s chair. In the beginning, however, it is useful to establish a consistent time and place where you practice going into Sacred Silence. You will find, in the end, that is worth the time and effort.

 

 It is in the Silence that you make contact with the Divine Source and, it you are mindful, alert, and attentive, you will get to know this Source at a deeper level. In Sacred Silence, the most important lesson you will learn is how to listen to God. Spiritual teacher Wayne Dyer, in discussing what he calls “The Gap,” that space between our thoughts where the Silence lives, illustrates an important lesson about the connection between the Silence and learning to “listen.” Dyer points out that the words silent and listen are composed of the same letters. In essence, listen has the same content as silent, and silent has the same content as listen. Further, you can rearrange each word to spell the other – rearrange the letters of silent and you get listen; rearrange the letters of the word listen, and you get silent. There is an obvious lesson in this small “synchronicity.” The intimate connection between these two words tells us a profound truth: In the Silence our primary goal, once we get the monkey mind to quiet down, is to listen.

 

Our Sacred Sanctuary

 

We encounter the Sacred Silence in our personal “Sacred Sanctuary.” This inner chamber is like our own sacred space, the place that houses our Inner Light, as our Quaker friends call it. We enter this special place by, as mentioned earlier, by quieting our minds and clearing out our own brand of chronic, mental clutter.

 

The Sacred Sanctuary is that special place inside our being that serves as our own personal “Holy of Holies,” a divine chamber where our human spirit comes into more intimate contact with the One True Spirit. This inner temple is where we are first emptied of the limitations of the “little mind,” our lower self, and we are filled with both Light and Life.

 

More than just an empty mind, our sacred inner sanctuary is a place of preparation. It is a holy temple where the Spirit of God dwells and it is a place where, if we possess ears to hear, we can be taught those “great and mighty things we have never heard.” This sacred place is not only a place of teaching, but also a great temple of comfort and nurturance. It is in the spiritual light of this inner sanctuary where God’s unlimited grace, mercy, and comfort are imparted into the depths of our spirit. In this aspect, our inner sanctuary is a chamber of divine healing and spiritual balancing.

 

Moreover, it is our holy place where real miracles are conceived.

 

Noted Quaker writer Thomas Kelly speaks of this inner sanctuary and the benefits accrued from learning to abide there:

 

Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return. Eternity is at our hearts, pressing upon our time-torn lives, warming us with intimations of an astounding destiny, calling us home unto Itself. Yielding to these persuasions, gladly committing ourselves in body and soul, utterly and completely, to the Light Within, is the beginning of true life. It is a dynamic center, a creative Life that presses to birth within us. It is a Light Within which illumines the face of God and casts new shadows and new glories upon the face of men. It is the Shekinah of the soul, the Presence in the midst. Here is the slumbering Christ, stirring to be awakened, to become the soul we clothe in earthly form and action. And He is within us all.

 

 

Buddhist teachers often refer to the mind as a monkey, jumping from branch to branch, screeching loudly even if there is nothing to screech about. I can relate to this description and I suspect most of you can as well. It is difficult to hear the voice of God with all this clamoring going on. It is the mind’s nature to flit from place to place like a bee moving from one flower to another very rapidly.

 

Our job is not so much to still the mind, but at least quiet it down enough so that when that “still, small voice” speaks to us, we have a chance to hear it. That’s where contemplation and the various forms of Christian meditation come into play. The various methods used are designed to achieve a certain level of quietness in the mind. It is not so much to stop our thinking or as some say, “empty the mind.” Instead, it is to center the mind down to a point where it is receptive to the work of God through the Holy Spirit and our own Inner Light. The benefits of such practice are too numerous to list, but one of the first things we may notice is this form of deep prayer allows us to reach a point where we may develop a clear, spiritual perspective on life. Christian teacher Jan Johnson speaks to this:

 

Our mind flashes from one thing to another, always occupied. A weekly visit to church can’t begin to penetrate this busyness. Contemplation reconnects us with God in the midst of this scatteredness. Life pulls me in so many directions – between the demands of my work, my husband’s plans, the kid’s needs, commitments outside our home, dreams I want to pursue – I may say I’m “thirsty for God as the deer pants for water,” but at the moment I need to get my hair cut. However, when I pause to contemplate and be with God, I sense that this God who holds the universe together can also hold me together. In the quiet, I recall how God has helped me in the past. Without the clamor of demands around me, I remember that I am one God so loves.

 

Getting to a level of quietness so that we can actually begin to hear the whisperings of the Holy Spirit is easier said than done. The monkey mind keeps on clamoring, especially if we have many pressures and/or problems in our lives. It has been said that the average human being has 60,000 separate thoughts each day. That’s a lot of thinking and a lot of noise. Our internal chattering is often repetitive in nature and incessant. When initially faced with the admonition of scripture to “Be still, and know that I am God,” (Ps. 46:10) the notion of achieving  quietude of mind seems like a pipe dream. However, the task is not nearly as daunting as it may initially seem, although it will require commitment, patience, and persistence.

 

At times, it is not easy to see the progress that has been made until you take some time out and really look at what is happening with your mind. It is in these periods of self-reflection and evaluation that you begin to see actually progress you had failed to see before. Often this growth in cognitive mastery is quite subtle and sublime.

 

If you are a seasoned practitioner of meditation, I encourage you to keep at it. Make extra commitment and effort to go even deeper. Truly, beyond a certain point you can’t go back. Your only choice is to forge ahead toward a goal well worth striving to attain. This is part of Right Effort and it is indispensable on the spiritual journey.

 

If you are just beginning a mediation practice, I laud your decision to encounter the spiritual light that exists within you. Although your journey is just beginning, I assure you that with consecrated effort and proper encouragement, you can make consistent progress and every aspect of your life will improve.

 

© L.D. Turner 2009/All Rights Reserved

 

Wise Words For Today

 If you will take time daily to sense the presence of Life within you, to believe in It, to accept It, it will not be long before the life which you have known will gradually disappear and something new will be born, – a bigger, better and more perfect you. You will pass from death into life; from lack and want into greater freedom; from fear into faith. From a sense of being alone, you will pass into a realization of oneness with everything and you will rejoice in this oneness. You will soon discover that when you recognize this Life in others, It will respond to you through them. It will be like calling someone by name. It will respond and you will know that it is responding because you will feel its response. All sense of aloneness will disappear.

Ernest Holmes

(from The Art of Life)

 

The Blessings of Mindfulness

L. Dwight Turner

Mindfulness is not a strong suit in western culture. A fast-paced, hectic lifestyle joined at the hip to myriad responsibilities creates an environment where the pursuit of mindfulness is at best a pipe dream for most people. Our minds are scattered between work, family, finances, and a plethora of other pressures contending for our attention. It is little wonder that most of us feel stressed, overwhelmed, and on the cusp of burnout most of the time.

 

The irony here is that mindfulness may very well constitute the solution to this ulcer-inducing way of life that most of us call “normal.” The fact is, once we really learn to be mindful and fully attentive to what we are doing, we become more efficient and able to accomplish more while expending less energy. Further, my personal experience has taught me that when I am truly conscious of my actions, my feelings, and my thoughts – I am less likely to feel overwhelmed and stressed. I find that I can remain at least marginally centered in spite of conflicting pressures and voices jockeying for my attention.

 

Mindfulness is at its core a spiritual issue. Although all faith systems stress mindfulness to some extent, nowhere is it a more central theme than in Buddhism. Mindful living is one of the central components of the Noble Eightfold Path described by Gautama Buddha as the path out of human discontent. I have found that when I make a consecrated commitment to work on mastering my monkey mind through consistent meditation practice and make efforts to become more mindful, life becomes generally better. Nothing really changes externally – the same pressures, responsibilities, deadlines, and stress – they are all still there. But something gradually begins to change internally as a personal anchor of centeredness begins to take shape. Although I am not perfect at it and certainly I am a long way from the calm demeanor of a Mahatma Gandhi, I am less likely to appear as a trance channel for Yosemite Sam.

 

Personally, I find it hard to wrap words around the full array of positive qualities that emerge from the practice of meditation and becoming more mindful. Perhaps that is one of the reason I appreciate the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, a pioneer in the use of mindfulness and meditation practice in health applications. Kabat-Zinn, in his book Coming to Our Senses, gives one of the best descriptions I have encountered:

 

More than anything else, I have come to see meditation as an act of love, an inward gesture of benevolence and kindness toward ourselves and toward others, a gesture of the heart that recognizes our perfection even in our obvious imperfection, with all our shortcomings, our wounds, our attachments, our vexations, and our persistent habits of unawareness. It is a very brave gesture: to take one’s seat for a time and drop in on the present moment without adornment. In stopping, looking, and listening, in giving ourselves over to all our senses, including mind, in any moment, we are in that moment embodying what we hold most sacred in life. In making the gesture, which might include assuming a specific posture for formal meditation, but could also involve simply becoming more mindful or more forgiving of ourselves, immediately re-minds us and re-bodies us. In a sense, you could say it refreshes us, makes this moment fresh, timeless, free up, wide open. In such moments, we transcend who we think we are. We go beyond our stories and all  our incessant thinking, however deep and important it sometimes is, and reside in seeing what is here to be seen and the direct, non-conceptual knowing of what is here to be known, which we don’t have to seek because it is already and always here…..In words, it may sound like an idealization. Experienced, it is merely what it is, life expressing itself, sentience quivering within infinity, with things just as they are.

 

From Kabat-Zinn’s description, it is obvious that coming to live in the present moment, to be mindfully attentive to what is happening in front of our eyes, is a spiritual experience of high significance. On rare occasions, we may be granted by grace a glimpse of this unadorned reality of “just what is” beyond our ideas about what is. These moments are personal epiphanies, always remembered and transformational in nature.

 

As special as these moments are, they rarely come frequently unless a persons prepares the soil for their coming. That is where meditation comes in. Teachers from all faith traditions stress the importance of spending time in meditation and/or contemplation. For some reason not completely apparent, the more time we spend in proximity of the “Sacred Silence,” the more likely we are to experience these divine moments of pristine clarity. Meditation, whatever form it may take, appears to prepare the soil of our being for the coming of these special times when we actually see what is before us. Meditation and mindfulness are the twin practices that increase our capacity to be receptive to these divine gifts of the Spirit.

 

In my own experience, those forms of meditation that lend themselves to the quieting of the mind have proved the most beneficial when it comes to opening up to the kind of special encounters described above. My preference has been the utilization of techniques involving focusing my attention on my breathing as an anchor to which my often skittering mind is tethered and brought under at least a modicum of control. For others, mediations involving visualization, chanting, or mantra may be more conducive to the experience we are discussing. Whatever the technique, the important component is regularity of practice. The more we meditate, the more mindful we will become. This is a simple equation, but it has been consistently verified.

 

I am of the firm conviction that the more mindful people become, the more they will be able to master themselves and by doing so, behave in ways that are less problematic and more harmonious. Meditation is the pathway to mindfulness and mindfulness is indeed, a great blessing to one and all.

 

© L.D. Turner 2009/ All Rights Reserved

 

Spirituality in the New Millennium

Mick Turner

Over the past few days my meditation time has been personally fruitful in that I have received clarification and insight in regards to several issues that have been roiling around within in me for some time now. I am always blessed when these things begin to take shape. It is as if I can see a bit more clearly than before and for this I am eternally grateful.

 

I have been reflecting on the nature of spirituality in the new millennium and have written several articles on the subject on this and other web sites. I strongly feel that we are in a unique and special time in terms of the future of our planet and also convinced that a living, vital, and global spirituality is an integral part of the solution to issues we will face as individuals, communities, nations, and globally in the coming years.

 

In the context of this brief article, I cannot go into great detail about all this. To do so would make the entry too lengthy and overly soporific. With that thought in mind, let just mention a few points that I believe are worthy of attention and reflection. It seems to me that whatever form or forms the spirituality of the 21^st Century takes, there should be at least three basic foci:

 

A theoretical and experiential recognition of the interconnectivity of all life

 

An increased capacity for individuals to live from the “Sacred Mind”

 

A heart of compassion manifesting in proactive service to others

 

Granted, we could list quite a number of other characteristics of the new spirituality. In fact, I have done so elsewhere on this blog. However, let’s look at just these three key elements of a vital spirituality as many other characteristics flow from this sublime trinity.

 

Just as the ancient scriptures, especially the early Buddhist and Daoist writings, explained, we live in a universe that is interconnected in all its parts. Not one thing exists in isolation but instead, is an indispensable part of a web of life that shares a commonality of essence and purpose. If you need further clarification of this fact, I encourage you to take the time and make the effort to study some of the scriptures from the Hua Yen school of Buddhism.

 

Hua Yen flourished in China in the early centuries of the Common Era and produced some of the most profound spiritual teachings ever recorded. The Flower Adornment Sutra was the primary scripture for the Hua Yen followers and its pages contain a very deep and descriptive picture of the interconnectivity of all that is. Admittedly, this may be somewhat deep reading, but it will be well worth your while. The text I began with is Entry into the Inconceivable: An Introduction to Hua Yen Buddhism, edited by Thomas Cleary. I am not sure the book is still in print but it should not be overly difficult to locate. Also, a Google search will turn up many useful web sources.

 

Our understanding of interconnectivity has to go beyond the theoretical if it is to have any transformative effect on daily living. It is difficult to discuss these types of experiential matters as they, by their very nature, are personal and subjective. For our purposes here, suffice to say that establishing and maintaining a regular meditation practice will go a long way toward opening you up to an experience of your connection with others. Along the way, the meditative practice of “Metta” can also be highly useful in this regard. An extended visualization practice from the tradition of Therevada, Metta (trans. Loving Kindness), helps foster a sense of the interdependence of all life.

 

Meditation practice is also central to the realization of the second element of a vital spirituality: increased capacity to live from the Sacred Mind. Put briefly, each of us comes equipped with what we here at LifeBrook call a little mind and a Sacred Mind. The little mind is our ego, our lower self, which is an illusory entity we create in order to survive in the world. In and of itself, it is not a bad thing, but it does create numerous problems. Where we run into trouble is when we identify so completely with the little mind that we think that’s who we are. When that happens, we increasingly lose contact with our Sacred Mind, which is our true identity. It is through the Sacred Mind that we realize our oneness with everything else. The little mind, by contrast, thrives on separateness, competition, and conflict. It is highly difficult to feel “at one” with your enemy or someone you are competing with.

 

As we progress on the spiritual journey, we increasingly become aware of an expansive aspect of ourselves that we rarely experienced. As our spiritual practice deepens, we begin to connect with this Inner Light, our “Buddha Nature,” our Sacred Self. This is our true spirit and true identity. It is a fountain of wisdom, love, and light which allows us to see things as they are, not as we have mistaken them to be. It is the source of our spiritual intelligence. As we increasingly live from our Sacred Self, our spiritual intelligence, life begins to have more direction, meaning, and mission. Whereas before we viewed much of life as poorly organized chaos, we now see patterns, story lines, and wisdom that was invisible when we operated out of the little mind. This is especially true of our ability to see the unity that permeates and underlies all that exists.

 

This sense of the “bigger picture,” of the oneness of life, when connected with our Sacred Self, leads to a true sense of compassion. And from this sense of compassion we develop a desire to be of service. This desire to step beyond our limited self and help those in need now comes from our Spiritual Heart, which is a component of our Sacred Mind. Instead of trying to be of service to others from the vantage point of our little mind, we now have a more expansive and realistic view. Instead of having our service tainted by our own selfish concerns, our recognition of the unity of life gives rise to the Bodhisattva Heart, a desire to serve out of the living awareness that when one suffers, we all suffer.

 

Again, space does not allow for a full treatment of this subject. However, one other point needs to be made. In the new millennium, our service needs to become proactive rather than reactive. We need to look for ways in which we can help. Ideally, by studying patterns and trends, sometimes we might be able to see problems before they arise and take preventative measures. Even when we can’t do this, by being proactive we might be able to intervene in areas of need while they are still small, rather than waiting and reacting when they have grown to epic proportions. It is far easier to put out a fire when it is on a match head than when it has invaded a forest. This is what I mean when I speak of proactive service.

 

I would like to encourage you to take some time out from your busy schedules over the next few weeks and at least reflect and pray a bit about this exciting and challenging new century. See what insights and ideas come to you about your place in the evolution of the spirituality that will be a part of this era. It will be well worth the time and effort.

 

© L.D. Turner 2008/All Rights Reserved

 

Wise Words for Today

…the more time you spend in your point of stillness, the more you experience a sense of peace and serenity…..You begin to recognize your oneness with all creation. Paradigm shifts can happen simply by spending time in this deep center of your being…..It take deep quiet to begin putting you in touch with your connection to all creation. Then you can begin to understand the great laws of the universe and how they play out in your life. As you understand these laws and work with the energy system of your own body. you can work with Spirit in cocreative partnership. This partnership is available to all but called into action by few. As we move deeper into the journey, entering into the silence is the most important tool we have, the most valuable skill we can develop, the gateway to accelerated understanding. For in the silence we can hear the guidance of our soul and Spirit. Through the silence, we recognize the full spectrum of possibilities and find our wings for free flight.

Alan Seale

(from Soul Mission, Life Vision)

 

Personal Epiphanies: The Clarity of Silence

Mick Turner

One Sunday morning, as is my habit, I arose early. I spent time asking God to speak to me regarding an issue I had been struggling with for some time. As is often the case, my tampering with this problem eventually led me to a state of perplexed paralysis.  It was an issue related to how I was to proceed with one aspect of my professional life.

After praying, I sat quietly and gradually began to feel the peace of Spirit fall over me. It was nothing earth shattering and no burning bushes spoke to me, nor did any donkeys give utterance, but I had a palatable sense of God’s presence. This is significant in that it had been months since I had felt any sense of The Light in my life. It seemed that in my busyness, God had somehow gone on sabbatical. I longed for his touch, even if only brief and subtle. I was, in essence, in a stark period of spiritual dryness.

 I had several books at my side that I had been reading prior to my prayer time. I opened one of the books and soon came across these words by the French mystic Francois Fenelon:

 Be silent and listen to God. Let your heart be in such a state of preparation that His Spirit may impress upon you such virtues that will please Him. Let all within you listen to Him…. 

Now comes the good part!

 Don’t spend your time making plans that are just cobwebs – a breath of wind will come and blow them away. You have withdrawn from God and now you find that God has withdrawn the sense of His presence from you. Return to Him and give Him everything without reservation. There will be no peace otherwise. Let go of all you plans – God will do what He sees best for you. 

Fenelon’s words hit me between the eyes like a Louisville Slugger. I knew immediately what I needed to do, even if it might be difficult.  I needed to return to The Blessed Silence, wait in positive expectation, and trust that the answer would be revealed. Basically, in my own anxiety and uncertainty of potential outcomes, I took charge of the situation and ended up at what seemed a dead end.

Trusting Spirit to guide us and lead us to the place we need to go is not an easy proposition. This is especially true for those of us who are used to “making things happen.” I made the decision that Sunday morning to let the entire project go. I put it in Spirit’s hands and, in due time, the situation worked out better than I could have ever manipulated on my own.

Of equal significance was the validation of the importance of encountering the “Blessed Silence” in my spiritual life. My hectic schedule and my mental strategy sessions had left little time for being still. I now make silent meditation or, if you prefer, contemplative prayer, the foundational practice of my spiritual life. If I neglect this practice, I rapidly become like a thirsty elephant trumpeting around a dried up waterhole.

 Over the next few days, spend time examining your own life. Are you in a similar predicament? Is there an area where you are spinning your wheels, going nowhere? Go back and meditate on Fenelon’s words, and then go to God in prayer and wait in silence. And please, don’t skip or skimp on the silence. This is the place of quiet; the place of both emptiness and yet fullness; a place of paradox. In this reverberating silence, you will eventually here your answer and, beyond that, find your purpose. It is in this silent space that you will not only hear your song, you will learn how to sing it.