To Be Reborn

Surprising as it may sound, the theme of Christmas always had a very special significance even before Jesus/Yeshua was born. The reason is that it does not point exclusively to the birth of a particular individual, but to the birth in the body of something much more subtle and deeper: the spiritual baby-soul, which can grow up to the stage called Child  of Light, where a higher Father-Mother are acknowledged. 

It's worth remembering the Gopel of John, when Jesus speaks to Nicodemus:

"Verily, verily I say unto thee that unless you be born of Water and of Spirit, you shall not enter the Kingdom of God".

And unless you become like little children, you shall not enter....

The meaning of these words is something to discovered within, not outside. 

The search can only be guided by a Loving Consciousness that was expressed with archetypes such as the Buddha Mind or the Holy Spirit, which is the reconciled union of the Mother Light Soul and the Father Will and Intelligence, the fecunding principle.

In Antiquity, those who were at least able to be consciously born out of the Holy Spirit used to be called Christians and little Buddhas. They were very prepared and respectful men and women, humans as we rarely see in these days. 

Now, the ultimate and natural birthright of the human being is not only to be born as a Son of the Spiritual Mother-Father but to reach the level of Christ/Massiah, that is, the Perfect Man, who is not only able to access at will the heavenly realms of the Mother Light (aim of Buddhist and Sufi paths), but also has access to the Absolute Heaven of the Father, as Yahshua ha Massiah (i.e Jesus the Christ) was able to accomplish.

But how many are even willing to submit to the higher Will and be prepared to follow the source of true Love Compassion?

Given the conditioning, many think this is far from ordinary beings. But the light of Consciousness is always available for everyone, not just "soul-embryos".

So, it´s just a question of choice, of wanting to see how one gets trapped in blind desires, aversions, delusions, and find the other Way. That is already a  promise of future births.

What keeps the Light from shinning through us?

How Can We Keep From Listening...?

From all the "middle way" or "non dual" teachings we learn that every aspect of life is but an expression of Truth; even our states of unbalance can guide our steps, always provided the right alignment and listening take place at the precise moment.

In this sense, it's enriching to wonder why mystic shamans like the ancient Orphics, Pythagoras or Rumi stressed so much the importance of living in accord to an "inner song". 

Famous are the stories about Orpheus, who crossed the underworld with the help of his magical song; or the mythic references to "the language of the birds", which may be whispered by everything, at any moment, anywhere.

What does all that mean?

Humans are also taught that whether we know it or not, we were born for a sacred purpose, with a set of experiences to learn from. So, it seems vital to find our inner aims and live in accord with them.

A pertinent accompaniment for these reflections is perhaps an old song, whose title, How Can I Keep From Singing?, can be a bit bewildering, like the heading of this post, since these questions have a rhetorical sense that encourages us to open our mind and heart. Something else to ponder on.

The music of that song was composed by Robert Lowry in the nineteenth century, as melody for an old hymn, later adapted by the folk singer Pete Seeger and other artists.

Above we have a new version.

The Global Crisis

To many people the present confluence of socio-economic and geo-climatological perturbations seem a bad thing, something to be avoided. Now, isn't it all a cosmic requirement to force us pay debt?

Very few realize that the modern and supposedly civilized ways of living (consumerism, superficiality, exploitation of nature...) are what the Hopi called "koyaanisqatsi", life out of balance, which is in itself a call for transformation.

It's not the first time the human race experiences that state. But we keep so bussy believing our fantasies that can barely remember the previous collapse of other civilizations, as the one suffered by a legendary and greedy empire –akin to our Western world– that existed in prehistoric times.

Although those far off days were a twilight in the so called Great Year of the solar system, whereas today, after twelve thousand years, the night is over and a new dawn grows very slowly, following the steady rhythm of the stars, cleaning the ground for something new. An old and forgotten truth revived by Swami Sri Yukteswar in 1895, with his book The Holy Science. Something which is even in tune with modern discoveries (see www.binaryresearchinstitute.org).

Whether we respond accordingly or not, is uncertain. But as wise elders say, it's a priviledge to participate in this process, even though the dissolution of our socio-cultural and psychological structures brings pain.

It's a time to stop and to ponder on our place and role in life. The rest will come by itself.

In tune with the theme, we leave now a reflective video with a musical interpretation of the film score Koyaanisqatsi.

Conscious Suffering

Perhaps the greatest challenge every seeker faces in the inner search is the necessity to deal with the overwhelming presence of suffering in all its forms: anguish, physical pain, disappointment... 

Suffering can even blind us and it has been often used as a cruel tool of manipulation. People can do and believe anything to avoid suffering. And it's rather easy to wish for happiness and bliss, adopting a puritanical thinking, buying the typical presumptions of love and light.

However, if we're really honest with ourselves, it becomes obvious that the self-calming thoughts, the impulse to fight against darkness and get away from suffering makes the situation more frustrating; generating "unnecessary suffering".

Furthermore, our wish for happiness and love is in contradiction with our prides, anger or blind actions, which make ourselves and other beings suffer.

How many times do we accept other points of view without critizicing, without excluding? How many sincere efforts do we make to observe the negative habits that enslave us, such as self-deprecation, self-pity and self-indulgence with regard to little or great pleasures...? How much do we care for ourselves and others?

Certainly, Love forviges and overcomes everything, even suffering, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13. Yet, as we are, we can't love consciously.

Nobody loves or suffers consciously if not in the spirit of the Eternal Beloved that must dwell inside our body-temple.

With Christ-Massiah I have been crucified, yet it is no longer me who lives but Christ in me (Galathians 2:20)

So, maybe a crutial step is having the courage to stop for a while, seeing and feeling ourselves and others in silence, embracing humbly the pain, disappointment, frustration, depression, just as we welcome pleasure and happiness. As Siddharta the Buddha, there can be "pain" without "unnecessary suffering".

Besides, we did not come to earth on vacation. There are many debts to be paid, for all we´ve been given and all past misbehaviors.

Doesn´t the Lord´s Prayer say: forgive our debts in so far as we forgive our debtors?

Only humans with openness and compassion can we pay spiritual debt, letting true peace and conscious love arrive naturally. 

Pain becomes then divine, full of meaning, for it is no longer the old man that suffers, but God through us. 

Thus we also contribute to alleviate His Suffering.

Hence, the more we love, the more life hurts, but the more bliss shines to compensate. 

Such message seems to be implied by those famous words of Christ:

Whoever wants to be my disciple,  must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me (Matthew 16:20)

To follow Him is to study and eat his Word, which is his flesh, while to drink his blood is to live the Word with his Spirit, ready for Life, including pain.

Stillness

It's in the stillness of spirit where one can see the love and beauty that lies behind the impermanence of things. Then nothing dies really, for all is born and preserved in the ocean of Being. And since there's nothing like harmony to unveil what is, here we have a nice rendition of the famous hymn by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), whose words were written by Catharina von Schelegel (1697-?) and it's based on the Psalm 46:10: Be still & know I am the Divine:

The Other Side Of Sorrow

We usually remain prisoners in murky minds and grieved hearts. Yet, when a sharp but relaxed attention makes us receptive and free inwardly, a possibility exists for an enlightening shock of grace that makes us see further. A veil suddenly falls; a blissful serenity grows; our miseries don´t matter any more.

It happened several years ago, when a father and his son went to a music concert of the Scottish group Skyedance, in Madrid. At some point of that night, the fiddle player, Alasdair Fraser, recited a sublime poem called The Other Side of Sorrow by Sorley McLean. Then he took his fiddle and made it sing within the evanescent atmospheres that Paul Machlis played with an electric piano.

The whole pain of the world made sense and the truth of all we are shined by itself:

May everyone find the Cuillin.

Essential Reminders

1. Awareness in the breath. Be present at every breath. Do not let your attention wander for the duration of a single breath. Remember yourself always and in all situations.

The breath is the foundation of our work. The more that one is able to be conscious of one's breathing, the stronger is one's inner life. It is a must for everyone to safeguard his breath in the time of his inhalation and exhalation and further, to safeguard his breath in the interval between the inhalation and exhalation. (Baha ad-din Naqshband)

2. Watch your step. Keep the intention before you at every step you take. You wish for freedom and you must never forget it.

3. The Journey Home. It is towards your homeland. Remember you are traveling from the world of appearances to the world of Reality.

4. Be alone in the crowd. In all your outward activity remain inwardly free. Learn not to identify with anything whatsoever.

5. Remember God. Let the prayer of your tonge be the prayer of your heart.

6. Return to God. No aim but to attain Reality.

7. Attention. Keep alien thoughts away. Let your mind be focused on what you are doing.

8. The Divine Presence. Become used to recognize the Divine quality in your heart.

These reminders were originally presented in The Essence Of The Teachings Of The Masters, a compendium of Sufi techniques and teachings gathered by the great Khwajagân sage, Abdulhalik Gudjuvani (died in 1190 A.D).

The descriptions beside his reminders are by the scholar John G. Bennett, who examined the history of the Khwajagân (Teachers) in the book Masters Of Wisdom.

Those legendary teachers exerted a powerful influence all over Central Asia and probably over the whole world, between the XI th and XV th centuries after the Christian era, acting as keepers of wisdom in times of great revolutions and wars.

A halo of mystery has always surrounded them and they seemed to be inheritors of a much older tradition that goes back, at least, to the 2500 B.C. According to J.G.Bennett, P. Kingsley and other scholars, they sent emissaries up to places like Europe or China, mediating in important events that shaped modern history.

Abdulhalik Gudjuvani in particular was regarded as the chief of the central circle of Khwajagân. He and the other ten teachers became the root of the most important Sufi orders, such as the Naqshbandhi, Yesevi and Mevlevi.

Awakening The Senses

Come now: watch with every palm

how each single thing becomes apparent.

Don’t hold anything you see as any more of an assurance

than whatever you hear, or give those loud sounds

you happen to be hearing preference

over the sharp tastes on your tongue.

And don’t reject the assurance provided by any other limb

that offers some passage for perception, but

perceive how each single thing becomes apparent.[1]

It's not easy to understand this poem of Empedocles in a world where the constant misuse of the senses and the bombardment of data are so habitual. We may even believe that we perceive through the senses, but suffice to observe ourselves a little to realise we spend most of the time in the head, imagining how things are, how they will or should be.

Great teachers remind us that the possibility of being fully human can only be actualised with the practice of common sense (koinê aísthêsis, sensus comunis). But what is common sense? Today it is synonymous of being prudent, of following what is socially accepted. Curiously, those meanings are quite opposite to the original one.

The root of the misunderstanding probably started with Plato, for whom the senses were not a way to the truth, since these only show changing perceptions. All got even worse when Aristotle and his book On The Soul, where he assumes that "every time we look at a tree, we know we're looking at it, that every time we're thinking, we know we're thinking", because –as he says– every "biped animal" has common sense, a quality that resides in the heart and unites all the senses to give a coherent perception of reality. This blind assumption was later perpetuated when Kant used the idea of a sensus communis to justify humans perceive reality in the same way. Western thinkers have fallen in may intellectual traps since Plato.

There is indeed a discerning awareness that unites all the senses, including the mind and the heart. Pre-Socratic teachers also used to call it noûs, pure consciousness. Nevertheless, this quality is missing in our life, since it does not work through us if we don't become actively receptive.

The truth is that in ordinary conditions we wander asleep, perceiving through the murky screen of the mind, bypassing reality.

For more reflections on the subject see the link:

http://www.peterkingsley.org/cw3/Admin/images/CommonSense.pdf

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[1] Translated by Peter Kingsley, quoted in the book Reality.

Superficial Life

Palms—so narrow and closed in—have been

poured over people’s limbs. But countless

worthless things keep crashing in, blunting their

cares. During their lifetimes they see such a

little part of life and then they are off:

short-lived, flying up and away like smoke,

totally persuaded by whatever each of them

happened to bump into while being driven

one way, another way, all over the place. And they

claim in vain that they have found the whole.

Like this, there is no way that people can see or

hear or consciously grasp the things I have to teach.

But as for you: because you have come aside here, you will learn.

Mortal resourcefulness can manage no more [1]

These were preparatory words a great Greek master wrote for his disciple Pausanias. His name was Empedocles (490–430 BC) and he belonged to the Pythagorean tradition. His teaching, always expressed in poetry, embraced psychology, cosmology, biology, astronomy, medicine and chemistry, contributing to the inception of the modern science, and consequently, the modern world. But unlike contemporary thinkers and scientists, he understood humans are asleep, that a special attitude and perception are required to live lucidly...What Empedocles had to say about that will be the theme of the next post.

__________________
[1] Translation by Peter Kingsley, quoted in the book Reality.

The Inner Song

What does it mean to live in harmony with life?

Years ago, when the economic recession started to become obvious for everyone, a man went outside in a very cold morning and walked along a small Irish town, hoping to find a temporal job. And right after leaving his details in a library, something within moved him to walk up to a shelf and browse a very little book. He opened it at random and read:

EACH NOTE, by Rumi

Advice doesn't help lovers!

They're not the kind of mountain stream

you can build a dam across

An intellectual doesn't know

what the drunk is feeling!

Don't try to figure

what those lost inside love will do next!

Someone in charge would give up all his power,

if he caught one whiff of the wine-musk

from the room where the lovers

are doing who-knows-what!

One of them tries to dig a whole through a mountain

One flees from academic honors

One laughs at famous mustaches!

Life freezes if it doesn't get a taste

of this almond cake

The stars come up spinning

every night, bewildered in love

They'd grow tired

with that revolving, if they weren't

They'd say, "how long do we have to do this?"

God picks up the reed-flute world and blows

Each note is a need coming through us,

a passion, a longing-pain

Remember the lips

where the wind breath originated,

and let your note be clear

Don't try to end it

Be your note

I'll show you how it is enough

Go up on a roof at night

in this city of the soul

Let everyone climb on their roofs

and sing their notes!

Sing loud!

The man suddenly realized it was still more important to find himself, once again. And he left the library with an inner smile. Words charged with truth had come out of the blue. Reality was singing for him.

Send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee, wrote John Donne. How many will have the courage to find and follow their inner song for the sake of BEING?

The Shift Is "Now"

The present is a consequence of the past, and the future a result of the present. So, if one does not change right now, tomorrow will be like today. Therefore, the shift starts with the awareness of how we are and what we are now, not tomorrow.

Given the fact of endless conflicts, it's quite an irony that a man was sending this message decades ago at the so called "United Nations". Meanwhile, the change keeps waiting on the level of individuals, and never on the mindset of race, tribe, nation or any other kind of social label.