Talk Series: Non-duality
By Sharon Grussendorff
Stained-glass window from the Church of the Holy Spirit
"Prophecy and Gospel are rooted in a contemplative and non-dual way of knowing—a way of being in the world that is utterly free and grounded in the compassion of God." - Richard Rohr
Non-duality has become a regular catch-phrase in spiritual circles, and can sometimes be bewildering and alienating. However, I have found that this theme offers profound insights and depths to our spiritual journey. It was the first theme that we covered in the Living School of Action and Contemplation, and I find that I go back to it again and again as an important grounding.
In this series, we will explore non-duality from a Christian contemplative perspective, while drawing on the wisdom of other traditions that offer richness and fresh insight to this area of exploration. I have to admit that it is with some trepidation that I approach this theme, as I so quickly feel out of my depth when talking about these profound, unitive mysteries, so some of the videos that I will be sharing are talks by other teachers that I have found helpful along the way.
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Additional talk: Christianity and Unknowing, by Richard Rohr
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Talk 3: Presence and non-duality
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Additional Talk: Centering Prayer and Non-Dual Awareness
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Talk 1: “Who am I?"
Opening music:
Guided quietening and opening prayer:
Length: 20 minutes
Guided self-inquiry practice:
Questions for reflection:
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What do I mostly pray about? What is this telling me about where I am finding my identity?
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Is there anything that I can think of that has not changed at some point in my life?
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Who am I? What is my natural face? What has always been here, regardless of what comes and goes? Hold these self-inquiry questions open, not only in your prayer times, but as you move through your day, and find your own way of living into the vast mystery of who you are in your deepest essence.
One thing alone
One thing alone I crave, namely
All in everything
This One I seek
the only One do I desire
What or Who this One is I may not say
can never feel
Nothing more or less is there to say
For the One is not simply in all
the One Being is over all
YOU are my GOD holding me within my very SELF
-- Dame Catherine Gascoigne
Psalm 27:4 paraphrase
One thing I ask of the Beloved; for this I yearn:
to find my deepest dwelling place in Heart of Love all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Beloved,
and to flow into life from this fountainhead of Love.
"The ocean pours through a jar,
and you might say it swims inside the fish!
This mystery gives peace to your longing
and makes the road home
home."
-- Rumi
Ending prayer:
As an ending, I invite you to pray for all those who are suffering as a result of the present war. Thich Nhat Hanh invented a beautiful word that expresses our union with one another at this deep level of selfhood – inter-abiding. And so as you listen to this song “Abide with me”, let’s hold all those who feel terrified and helpless in our hearts in prayer, in our inter-abiding union with one another and God.
Ending song:
Lyrics
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide
The darkness deepens Lord, with me abide
When other helpers fail and comforts flee
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away
Change and decay in all around I see
O Thou who changest not, abide with me
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness
Where is death's sting?
Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Talk 2: “Who belongs?"
Image by Cerezo Barredo
We live in an increasingly opinionated and divided world, with an ever-widening distance between opposing viewpoints. Modern media is fuelling our conviction that we are right and "they" are wrong, and this too often results in violent conflict. We need to keep hearing the beckoning of the heart of God, and this is what we will explore in this week's theme "Who belongs?"
Begin with listening to the following chant as an opening prayer:
Length: 19 minutes
Guided heart-opening practice:
Daily Practice:
The practice of non-duality and opening of the heart is not just theoretical, in other words, it's not just a matter of changing our beliefs to be more inclusive. Rather it involves a vigilant awareness in our daily lives of any circumstances where our hearts tend to harden towards others, and then actively and prayerfully making the choice to soften and open our hearts instead of reinforcing those prejudices with commentary and self-justification. You could then allow this attitude of open-heartedness to overflow in some form of compassionate action if this feels appropriate.
For further reflection:
Below are some readings from the talk and an additional poem for your reflection:
Luke 4:14-30
Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”
Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.
Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’ ”
“Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
James Finley:
There are those who hold that one religion is the true religion, and almost always when this occurs, the religion happens to be their own. There is in the absoluteness of view a lack of humility, which closes us off to the way God works in the hearts and the lives of other people in ways that are different than we are accustomed to. Humility liberates us from such notions – this is why humility is so paired up with wisdom. The wise person is the humble person – they know so deeply because they know the limits of their knowledge. The limit is actually the rich fertile edge along which all that is new keeps appearing. In Thich Nhat Hanh’s language, this is to realise that every view is wrong view when it’s held as the only view that’s the true view.
Rabbi Yael Levi:
The Pesach story lifts up what our souls know:
Oppression and violence rise from fear and arrogance and the unwillingness to open our hearts to the experience of others. It is fear and arrogance that brings about the enslavement of the Israelites and it is the hardening of the heart that keeps them and the Pharaoh in bondage.
With everything that is happening in our world, it is easy for all of us to fall into the habit of hardening our hearts. As we do, it becomes more difficult for us to respond to
each other with patience, understanding and compassion. With hardened hearts, we can’t fully appreciate life’s blessings or respond well to life’s challenges.
And so we practice:
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Every moment we are able to resist the urge to harden our hearts to our own pain and to the pain of others, we resist oppression.
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Every time we are able to act with compassion rather than anger, we step out of the flow of violence.
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Any time we find the strength and courage not to be ruled by fear, we loosen the bonds of slavery.
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Each moment we pause to embrace each other and the world with love, our hearts open a way into the expanse.
James Alison:
God looks an awful lot less religious than most people expect and very often is seen in the collapse of religious things ...When the real thing is there, the effects it produces are simply not commensurable with any normal human tit-for-tat. ... Jesus says in effect, “I’m going to use my death to love all perpetrators even more.” And that’s what we expect from grace.
A Community of the Spirit, by Rumi
There is a community of the spirit.
Join it, and feel the delight of walking in the noisy street and being the noise.
Drink all your passion and be a disgrace.
Close both eyes to see with the other eye.
Open your hands if you want to be held.
Consider what you have been doing.
Why do you stay with such a mean-spirited and dangerous partner?
For the security of having food. Admit it.
Here is a better arrangement.
Give up this life, and get a hundred new lives.
Sit down in this circle.
Stop acting like a wolf, and feel the shepherd's love filling you.
At night, your beloved wanders.
Do not take painkillers.
Tonight, no consolations.
And do not eat.
Close your mouth against food. Taste the lover's mouth in yours.
You moan, But she left me. He left me.
Twenty more will come.
Be empty of worrying.
Think of who created thought.
Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence.
Flow down and down in always widening rings of being.
Ending music:
Lyrics
Lonely desert below
Barren soil ‘neath the sky
Only death in the wind
Every echo is dry
Hills and valleys on fire
Mere memories of life
Parched and thirsty by day
No relief in the night
Hunger cries in the heart
Groanings reach up, touching heaven
Buried hopes start to tremble and breathe again
Deep longing is heard
All waiting will cease
For the Heart of the heavens is love
The sky smiles on the earth
Releases living rains
Great clouds of mercy empty
One gives, one gains
And both are satisfied
The desert and the sky
For the Heart of the heavens is love
Such tears of grace pour
Streams swell into a river
Wonder of divine reflection
The needy and the giver
And both are satisfied
The desert and the sky
For the Heart of the heavens
The God of the heavens
For the Heart of the heavens is love
Additional Talk: Christianity and Unknowing, by Richard Rohr
If you have the time, I encourage you to watch this talk by Richard Rohr, where he touches on the dangers of dualistic self-certain thinking, the importance of unknowing, and the Trinity as a non-dual Divine Dance. In typical fashion, Rohr delves into deep spiritual truths in his delightfully humorous and light-hearted way.
Talk 3: “Presence and non-duality"
"The spiritual life can only be lived in the present moment, in the now. All the great religious traditions insist upon this simple but difficult truth. When we go rushing ahead into the future or shrinking back into the past, we miss the hand of God, which can only touch us in the now." - Cynthia Bourgeault
In this talk, we will explore this practise of presence, and how our typical dualistic consciousness keeps us from living in the present moment.
Begin with listening to or singing along with the following chant as an opening prayer:
Length: 22 minutes
Practice for returning to presence:
Follow this guided practice with listening to the following piece of music:
Lyrics:
Every breath is Yours, Beloved,
Every breath is Yours.
I give myself to You, Beloved,
The self that I thought I was;
I give myself to You, Beloved,
The self that was false and lost.
Every breath is Yours, Beloved,
Every breath is Yours.
Who is it moves in me, Beloved,
Whose hands and feet are these?
Who is it moves in me, Beloved,
Whose heart beats, who breathes?
Every breath is Yours, Beloved,
Every breath is Yours.
Sacred reading:
Read the following two poems slowly and listen for any lines that strike you or shimmer for you.
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing,
there is a field. I’ll meet you there.
When the soul lies down in that grass,
the world is too full to talk about.
Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’
doesn’t make any sense.
– Rumi
There are so many gifts
Still unopened from your birthday,
there are so many hand-crafted presents
that have been sent to you by God.
The Beloved does not mind repeating,
"Everything I have is also yours."
Please forgive Hafiz and the Friend
if we break into a sweet laughter
when your heart complains of being thirsty
when ages ago
every cell in your soul
capsized forever
into this infinite golden sea.
Indeed,
a lover's pain is like holding one's breath
too long
in the middle of a vital performance,
in the middle of one of Creation's favourite
songs.
Indeed, a lover's pain is this sleeping,
this sleeping,
when God just rolled over and gave you
such a big good-morning kiss!
There are so many gifts, my dear,
still unopened from your birthday.
O, there are so many hand-crafted presents
that have been sent to your life
from God.
– Hafiz
The following is a short (6-minute) talk by Richard Rohr on the Yahweh breath prayer:
Practices for being present:
Below are a few suggestions that you might find helpful for practising becoming present:
Stepping into presence
A simple exercise that you can do when you find yourself caught up in thinking is to stand still, becoming aware of the feeling of your body and your feet on the ground. Then very slowly take a step, and as your foot lands on the ground say quietly “I am here”, or “I am home”. You can do this for a few steps, anchoring yourself in presence and being with each step.
Am I breathing?
From time to time ask yourself the question: “Am I breathing?” This immediately puts you in touch with the sensation of your breathing, which helps with letting go of whatever the mind has been busy with, and anchors you back in the present moment.
Body awareness exercise (based on an exercise by Anthony de Mello)
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First quiet yourself through bringing your awareness to different sensations in various parts of your body. Sharpen your awareness by picking up even the subtlest sensations, not just the gross and evident ones.
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Now gently move your hands and fingers so that your hands come to rest on your lap, palms facing upward, fingers joined together. The movement must be very, very, slow, like the opening of petals of a flower. While the movement is going on, be aware of each part of it.
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Once your hands are resting on your lap, palms facing upward, become aware of the sensations in the palms. Then become aware of the gesture itself: this is a gesture of prayer to God that is common to most cultures and religions. What meaning does this gesture have for you? What are you saying to God through it? Say it without words, merely identifying with the gesture.
10-minute exercise with your senses
Find somewhere to sit where you are comfortable and relaxed. In this exercise, you will spend two minutes focusing on each of your senses. It will be helpful to have a timer with you that you can set for 2-minute intervals.
Sight - Spend 2 minutes just looking at what is around you. If your mind wanders, gently let go of the thoughts and bring your attention back to what you are seeing. Try not to name anything, or to think about how beautiful or ugly it is, just look.
Sound - Spend 2 minutes just listening to the sounds that are around you. Start with sounds that are nearby, and then gradually notice the sounds that are further away. If your mind wanders, gently let go of the thoughts and bring your attention back to what you are hearing. Again try not to name anything, or to judge the sounds in any way, just listen.
Touch - Spend 2 minutes becoming aware of what your skin is feeling. You could feel the texture of your clothes against your body, or the ground under your feet, or the breeze against your skin. You could also get a sense of the temperature that you are feeling, and become aware of how this feels to your body. If your mind wanders, gently let go of the thoughts and bring your attention back to becoming aware of your sense of touch.
Taste - Spend 2 minutes becoming aware of what your mouth is tasting. At first you might think that there is no taste, since you are not eating or drinking something, but after a while you should notice a subtle flavor in your mouth. Spend this time being aware of this flavor. If your mind wanders, gently let go of the thoughts and bring your attention back to becoming aware of your sense of taste.
Smell - Spend 2 minutes becoming aware of any odours that your nose is sensing. If you don’t notice any odours, try sniffing the grass, or a nearby flower. If your mind wanders, gently let go of the thoughts and bring your attention back to becoming aware of your sense of smell.
For further reflection:
Below are some readings from the talk and some additional readings for your reflection:
Pema Chodron:
“When we cling to thoughts and memories, we are clinging to what cannot be grasped. When we touch these phantoms and let them (thoughts and memories) go, we may discover a space, a break in the chatter, a glimpse of open sky. This is our birthright—the wisdom with which we were born, the vast unfolding display of primordial richness, primordial openness, primordial wisdom itself. All that is necessary then is to rest undistractedly in the immediate present, in this very instant in time. And if we become drawn away by thoughts, by longings, by hopes and fears, again and again we can return to this present moment.”
Richard Rohr:
“Non-dual consciousness is about being present to the Presence of God in yourself and beyond yourself too. Presence is an experience, not just an idea in the mind. In fact, the mind of itself cannot be present. The mind can only reprocess the past, judge the present, and worry about the future. Only some form of meditation will teach you how to move from an egocentric, fear-based life to a love-based life.”
Time is limited, and the abundant water is flowing away.
Drink, before you fall to pieces.
There is a famous conduit, full of the Water of Life:
draw the Water, so that you may become fruitful.
We are drinking the water of the Spirit
from the river of the speech of the saints:
Come, you who thirst!
Even if you don't see the water,
Like a blind person, bring the jug to the river and dip it in.
~ Kabir Helminski
Your longing for Home is sacred.
Your burning to play with the Beloved is holy.
Just one pause.
And behold the wild grace that is always, already here.
~ Matt Licata
Kabir Helminski:
"Presence signifies the quality of consciously being here. It is the activation of a higher level of awareness that allows all our other human functions—such as thought, feeling, and action—to be known, developed, and harmonized. Presence is the way in which we occupy space, as well as how we flow and move. Presence shapes our self-image and emotional tone. Presence decides whether we leak and scatter our energy or embody and focus it. And presence determines the degree of our alertness, openness, and warmth. ...
Presence, like all essential human faculties, is not sourced in our individual personalities, but in the ground of divine reality. It is the presence of the Divine reflected through the human being. ...
Presence is the point of intersection between the world of the senses and the world of the Spirit. May we never cease to discover its beauty and power."
Ending music:
Additional Talk: Centering Prayer and Non-dual Awareness, by Cynthia Bourgeault
I encourage you to watch this talk by Cynthia Bourgeault, given at the Science and Non-Duality (SAND) Conference, where she gives a very helpful and clear description of the method and inner work of Centering Prayer, and how this facilitates non-dual awareness.
Centering Prayer Practice
For those of you who would like further information about the Centering Prayer practice, this link will take you to a short video where Fr Thomas Keating briefly outlines the guidelines for Centering Prayer. You might like to use the following guided practise for centering prayer (20 minutes), or simply set a timer for yourself. I encourage you to try to practice this on a daily basis, as it is only when we regularly practice letting go and returning to presence and openness to God's presence that we begin to notice the effects and begin to have a shift towards a more non-dual awareness.
Ending song:
Talk 4: “The mirror of shame and our belovedness"
In this talk we will explore our dualistic tendency to self-shame and to shame one another, and how we shift to being reminded of our belovedness, made in the image of God.
Begin with listening to the following song as an opening prayer:
Length: 13 minutes
Guided prayer for resting in belovedness (10 minutes):
Music: Come to the Quiet
Lyrics
Lord, my heart is not proud
Nor are my eyes fixed on things beyond me
In the quiet, I have stilled my soul
Like a child at rest on its mother’s knee
I have stilled my soul within me
Israel, come and hope in your Lord
Do not set your eyes on things far beyond you
Just come to the quiet
Come and still your soul
Like a child at rest on its Daddy’s knee
Come and still your soul completely
Suggested practices:
1. Behold the image of God:
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On a small piece of paper write a phrase such as:
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Behold the image of God
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Behold the beloved of God
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You are my beloved child, in whom I am well pleased
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Place this note on or near a mirror.
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Spend some time gazing into this mirror each day in this next week, and allow yourself to receive the gift of these words. You could repeat them out loud, or just receive them in the silence of your heart.
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Notice your reactions – can you receive this gift? Are there any voices of shame or blame that try to over-rule this message?
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Try to gently let go of any arguments, contradictory voices or attempts to prove yourself worthy, and try to receive these words with child-like simplicity and trust.
Henri Nouwen: “Look in the mirror each day and claim your true identity. Act ahead of your feelings and trust that one day your feelings will match your convictions. Choose now and continue to choose this incredible truth. As a spiritual practice claim and reclaim your primal identity as beloved daughter or son of a personal Creator.”
2. Mirroring for others:
Another important practice is to help one another to see our belovedness, by mirroring this to each other. As you go through your daily life, ask yourself if you are adding to the shame that others feel, or if, instead, there is some way that you can hold up a mirror for them that reminds them that they are made in God's image, that who they are is very good.
Bowing to one another as the beloved of God is another way of practising this throughout the day.
For further reflection:
Spend some time slowly and prayerfully reading the following paraphrase of Psalm 132, and listen for anything that is calling you to listen more deeply. Spend some time in silence letting the Spirit speak to you through this word or phrase:
Psalm 132 (from Psalms for Praying, by Nan Merrill)
Enter into the Silence, into the Heart of Truth;
For herein lies the Great Mystery
Where life is ever unfolding;
Herein the Divine Plan is made known, the Plan all are invited to serve.
Listen for the music of the Holy Word in the resounding Silence of the universe.
May balance and harmony be your aim as you are drawn into the Heart of Love.
Those who follow the way of Love with calm and faith-filled intent,
Know that all is working toward healing and wholeness.
And may the healing power of love lift you from the limitations of fear
and ignorance into the arms of freedom.
May the peace of the Spirit bless you, and lead you on life's journey.
Be not afraid of the Silence, for Wisdom's Voice is heard there!
As you follow the Light, you become gentle and kind,
you come to live in the Light.
Children enter the world radiating the Spirit -- learn from them of innocence and simplicity;
Learn to co-operate with the unseen realms, to see beyond the veil.
Wise are those who learn through silence; learn then to listen well.
For beyond the silence and stillness within, you will come to know a profound
and dazzling Silence --
Herein lies the music of the spheres, the harmony of creation.
Enter into the Holy Temple of your soul,
converse with the Beloved in sweet communion.
Blessings of the Great Silence be with you as you help to
rebuild the heart of the world with love!
Ending music:
Lyrics
Ever so gently
Your Spirit calls to all who hear
Ever so gently
The sound of your voice
Quiet yet clear
Day and night, to the ends of the earth
The skies pour forth speech
There's no place, your voice isn't heard
Your patience astounds me
Your voice is the sweetest of sounds
It's the purest of life giving rain
Your voice is the calm in the storm
It's the whisper of love that remains
Ever so gently
I hear your voice pulling me near
Ever so gently
Your word of life stronger than fear
If I turn, away from your heart
Try to hide in my shame
You speak truth in love's patient way
Your gentleness breaks me
Your voice is the sweetest of sounds
It's the purest of life giving rain
Your voice is the calm in the storm
It's the whisper of love that remains
Ever so gently
Ever so gently
Ever so gently
Ever so gently
Day and night, to the ends of the earth
The skies pour forth speech
There's no place, your voice isn't heard
Your patience astounds me
Your voice is the sweetest of sounds
It's the purest of life giving rain
Your voice is the calm in the storm
It's the whisper of love that remains
Your voice is the sweetest of sounds
It's the purest of life giving rain
Your voice is the calm in the storm
It's the whisper of love that remains
Ever so gently
Ever so gently
Talk 5: “Who is God?"
We started this non-duality series by exploring the question "Who am I", and this begs the companion question "Who is God?"
We will explore this question in two parts over the next two months:
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Part 1: In whom we live and move and have our being
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Part 2: A wild, open-ended adventure of discovery
Part 1: In whom we live and move and have our being
As the first part of our exploration of the question "Who is God?" I will repost a talk that I shared a few years ago, which is very relevant to the theme of non-duality.
Begin with listening or singing along with the following chant as an opening prayer:
Length: 14 minutes
Length: 7 minutes 10 seconds
The following poem is from a group who simply call themselves "enfleshed". As you read the poem slowly, listen to the following piece of music at the same time:
"Come and be still," says the Holy.
Linger in Love’s presence.
Let striving cease.
Accept what is,
for what is.
All is held in Sacred embrace.
Here,
your pain is honored.
Your loss is acknowledged.
Your struggle is neither dismissed nor inflated.
It rests in the web of shared existence,
cruel and beautiful.
Eventually, love will ask more of you…
Honesty.
Change.
Commitment.
Compassion.
But in this moment,
feel the nearness of the Source of Life Itself,
tender and fierce.
Know that the Infinite embraces you
in all the ways you are essential -
and not.
Let your chest rise and fall
to the rhythm of eternity's breath:
slow.
gentle.
consistent.
Questions for reflection:
Work with these questions as honestly as you can. It might help to write your responses in your journal.
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What is your image of God, or your sense of where or who God is for you at the moment?
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How do I relate to the idea of God as the context, in whom we "live and move and have our being"?
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Can you trust God as this holding context? If not, try to express what your anxieties are. Turn your reflections into a prayer.
Ending song:
Part 2: A wild, open-ended adventure of discovery
Begin with listening or singing along with the following hymn:
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.
Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to see:
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Length: 20 minutes
The following is a guided meditation on resting in unknowing in the Secret Embrace:
Ending song:
For further reflection:
Below are some readings from the talk and some additional readings for your reflection:
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has travelled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast, that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.
James Finley:
"In faith we find a certain, yet dark inner realization of that relationship that holds the secret of our ultimate identity. In faith the weight is shifted from our own poor ego into the infinite abyss of God, in whom alone we find our ultimate self, and our consummate joy. In faith we find ourselves in darkness, but a darkness in which God clasps our hand. We hear God’s silent breathing, one with our own, and in dark luminosity feel God’s eyes penetrating to the depths of our soul."
Meister Eckhart:
"If my eye is to discern colour, it must itself be free from all colour. The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me. My eye and God’s eye is one eye, and one sight, and one knowledge, and one love."
Ilie Cioara:
"How could this small shell, which is the human mind, embrace and comprehend the immensity of the ocean of Cosmic Energy? Nevertheless, this audacious “ego” persistently affirms that he knows what God is, what is creative Love, immortality etc. More so, it states and even offers solutions to tackling and solving the great problems that challenge humankind. Yet this “ego” is not aware of one thing: that its own presence creates the whole tragedy and suffering on the entire surface of the Earth. It is the human being’s main and only enemy. Its fictitious, chaotic and misleading movement generates and maintains the human misery and suffering. But when a ray of light, emanated by Pure Consciousness, pierces the limited shell of the mind and exposes its whole fiction, this mind becomes humble and silent."
Meister Eckhart:
“Withdraw from the unrest of external activities, then flee away and hide from the turmoil of inward thoughts, for they but create discord. And so, if God is to speak His Word in the soul, she must be at rest and at peace, and then He will speak His Word, and Himself, in the soul - no image, but Himself!”
Thomas Merton:
"My God, it is to You alone that I can talk because nobody else will understand. I cannot bring anyone on this earth into the cloud where I dwell in Your light -that is, in Your darkness where I am lost and abashed. I cannot explain to anyone the anguish which is Your joy, nor the loss which is the possession of You, nor the distance from all things which is the arrival in You, nor the death which is the birth in You, because I do not know anything about it myself. All I know is that I wish it were over - I wish it were begun.”
Ending prayer:
Beloved our God, wonder and mystery beyond all our imagining,
we thank you for the gentle whisper of your presence in the stillness,
never absent, yet somehow so close that we overlook you.
You are the breath of our breath,
the gentle rhythmic movement of life through our veins,
the quiet tender embrace that sustains us, moment by moment,
and the inner stirring of our hearts.
We open our hearts and minds to you, to the beckoning of your Spirit of Truth,
We ask that you will breathe fresh insight into our sense of who You are, to beckon us with your loving Presence, as you call us to venture outside of our dutiful, stale and cramped ways into the wild, open-ended adventure of Life in You.
Amen.
Lyrics:
My soul is yearning for Your living stream
My heart is aching for You
All that I long for is found in Your heart
You are everything I need
You are the thirst
You are the stream
You are the hunger living deep inside of me
You are the food that satisfies
You are provision for the journey of our lives
You are everything You are
Talk 6: “Non-dual Love in Action"
In this final talk in the series on non-duality we will explore what it means to live this out in our lives. In other words, what does non-dual love in action mean?
Begin with listening to the following opening song:
Lyrics:
Lonely desert below
Barren soil ‘neath the sky
Only death in the wind
Every echo is dry
Hills and valleys on fire
Mere memories of life
Parched and thirsty by day
No relief in the night
Hunger cries in the heart
Groanings reach up, touching heaven
Buried hopes start to tremble and breathe again
Deep longing is heard
All waiting will cease
For the Heart of the heavens is love
The sky smiles on the earth
Releases living rains
Great clouds of mercy empty
One gives, one gains
And both are satisfied
The desert and the sky
For the Heart of the heavens is love
Such tears of grace pour
Streams swell into a river
Wonder of divine reflection
The needy and the Giver
And both are satisfied
The desert and the sky
For the Heart of the heavens
The God of the heavens
For the Heart of the heavens is love
Length: 14 minutes
Guided practice: Breathing God's love into the world
Reading:
Read the following paraphrase of Psalm 1, and spend some time reflecting on what is being stirred within you
Psalm 1 paraphrase
Blessed are those who recognise the habitual ways
of self-centeredness, control and greed;
And who choose instead to return to quiet simplicity and trust;
finding again the delight of open-hearted surrender to the Beloved, our God.
They are like trees planted by ever-flowing streams of water,
that naturally yield fruit that is juicy and delicious,
and whose leaves flourish.
In all that they do, they cannot help but bring life.
Without this rootedness in Love,
people are like tumbleweed, blown in the wind.
Not knowing the generosity of God's heart,
all they know is scarcity and mistrust.
They will be isolated from wisdom,
living in their self-imposed prisons of separation.
Those who are rooted deeply in God come to know the beauty of Unity,
as the illusions that are born from ignorance will perish
in the Light of the Beloved's radiant Heart.
For further reflection:
Below are some readings from the talk for your reflection:
Matthew 5:44
“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
Matthew 6:3
"When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”
Richard Rohr:
"The True Self does not teach us compassion as much as it is compassion already. And from this more spacious and grounded place, one naturally connects, empathizes, forgives, and loves just about everything. We were made in love, for love, and unto love."
Bernardo Kastrup:
"My life is bursting with meaning because it is not about me, I am an instrument."
Gregory Boyle:
“We imagine, with God, this circle of compassion. Then we imagine no one standing outside of that circle, moving ourselves closer to the margins so that the margins themselves will be erased. We stand there with those whose dignity has been denied. We locate ourselves with the poor and the powerless and the voiceless. At the edges, we join the easily despised and the readily left out. We stand with the demonized so that the demonizing will stop. We situate ourselves right next to the disposable so that the day will come when we stop throwing people away.”
Bede Griffiths:
"...we have to learn to see ourselves as part of the physical organism of the universe. We need to develop the sense of the cosmic whole and of a way of relating to the world around us as a living being which sustains and nourishes us and for which we have responsibility. This will give rise to a new understanding of our environment and will put an end to this age of the exploitation of nature".
Luke Healy:
“The heart of Christianity is the heart of love. The heart of Jesus is love. Deep down in the centre of our hearts is the radiant core of love and bliss which emanates out to the world, to our neighbours. This is the centre to which Christianity must return, and the core out of which will evolve new communities and further expressions for a changing world. ...
Let us tap deep into our roots and find the generative energy to rise into a vibrant, living spiritual tradition that offers to the world beauty, hope, meaning, and radical love.”
Ending Prayer:
Beloved our God, we pray that you, the Source of self-giving and abundant love,
will awaken us in our inner beings,
so that we may know the indwelling presence of Christ.
And we pray that as we become more deeply rooted and established in Your love,
we may have power, together with all of the people of your creation,
to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to become convinced of this love that surpasses rational knowledge—that we may be filled to overflowing with your generous, outpouring abundance.
Amen
(Adapted from Ephesians 3:17-19)
Ending music:
Lyrics
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks
To do good
Yours are the hands
With which He blesses all the world
Yours are the hands
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His body
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
Compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth
But yours
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Sharon's book that was previously called "Contemplative Living" has been republished by AnamChara Books under the title "Deeper: Finding the Depth Dimension Beneath the Surface of Life". The Kindle version is available from Amazon, and the hard copy version is available in South Africa from loot or takealot.