In Yoke

Maurice Nicoll (1884-1953) was a 20th Century teacher and sage and the leading interpreter of the 4th Way--or "The Work" fo self observation, and transformation.  He is best known for his  Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky , a multi-volume collection of talks he gave to his study groups. Much of his teaching focuses on many positive and creative aspects of self observation and personal transformation. He was a teacher of the Enneagram, and of the extensive "Work" of becoming all we can become in Christ. His comment regarding the Kingdom of God/Heaven has special meaning for me. Christ in the Gospels said: "The Kingdom of God comes not with observation: neither shall they say: "Lo! Here it is!", or "Lo, there it is!", for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you." The Gospel is not something from outside, like a civic club, that if you would only join you would be liberated. When it is said that the ...

Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul's resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.-William James Eswaran proposes: "We think we are very limited creatures, very small, good for maybe only fifteen minutes of love or patience before we   have to crack. Instead of identifying with our deepest Self, we are identifying with some biochemical-mental organism. But when you calm the mind in meditation every morning, you will see how far you can stretch your patience and your love   during the day. You will see for yourself how comfortable you feel with everybody, how secure you feel wherever you   go. You will find that you have a quiet sense of being equal to difficult situations.   These discoveries give a hin...

For the past weeks, I have been pondering the meaning of courage . Let me explain the process of my thinking. As an introduction to the topic I found a most meaningful quote in a script from a well known movie regarding this elusive but needed quality. “ Courage! What makes a king out of a slave? Courage! What makes the flag on the mast to wave? Courage! What makes the elephant charge his tusk in the misty mist, or the dusky dusk? What makes the muskrat guard his musk? Courage! What makes the sphinx the seventh wonder? Courage! What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! What makes the Hottentot so hot? What puts the "ape" in apricot? What have they got that I ain't got? Courage! ” (Thanks to the Cowardly Lion...) ....so, what is it? ----1 st the dictionary definition--- cour·age –n: the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear ; bravery.; to have the courage of one's convictions, to act in acco...

"Thoughts of themselves have no substance; let them arise and pass away unheeded.Thoughts will not take form of themselves, unless they are grasped by the attention; if they are ignored, there will be no appearing and no disappearing." -Ashvaghosha Eswaran uses an analogy of actors on a stage to explain how our thoughts can be managed using the direction of our attention: "Life is a kind of play in which we are called upon to play our part with skill. But in meditation we are sometimes more like the audience, while our thoughts are the actors. If we could go backstage, we could see all the actor-thoughts getting made up. Anger is there putting on his long fangs. Fear is rattling his chains. Jealousy is admiring herself in the mirror and smearing on green mascara. Now, these thought-actors are like actors and actresses everywhere: they thrive on a responsive audience. When Jealousy comes out on stage and we sit forward on our seats, she really puts on a show. But...

One cannot collect all the beautiful shells on the beach. One can collect only a few, and they are more beautiful if they are few. -Anne Morrow Lindbergh If you are determined to stick to what is really important in life, then from day to day you will see that the unimportant pastimes, the distractions that lead you away from your purpose, will gradually weaken their hold. On the list of priorities, first and foremost is your daily prayer time[quiet time, silence, practice of presence,meditation]. This focus has the capability to reveal your True Self, the Sacred Essence within, the Holy Spirit who dwells in your heart*. The Spirit will clear your eyes and bring the detachment and discrimination that one needs in order to make wise choices. So right at the top of your list should be the resolution to Practice the Presence of Christ, aka Christian Meditation, and not to let anything come in the way. Not even the greatest of worldly achievements will satisfy us completely. Nothing fin...

My experience of God is too big for one religion. My experience of people is too broad for one tribe. I love my roots, but refuse to be a religious bonsai. My love of God and my commitment to godliness fuel a desire to learn from, and work and pray with peoples of different faiths and cultures. Interspirituality is the world music of religion; borrowing, fusing, blending and bouncing rhythms and riffs off one another not to create a homogenized spirituality, but to birth a radical new sound embedded in the ancient and timeless silence. This doesn't impact or deepen my life—it is my life. ---------------------------------------------------(Rabbi Rami Shapiro) ________________________________________________________________ This forward thinking, radical rabbi has it right. Oh, but could we as Baptist Christians find this truth and indelibly print it on our collective belief systems, eradicating all religious intolerance. Why must we be so defensive about the Lord Jesus? Can't ...

Manifest plainness, Embrace simplicity, Reduce selfishness, Have few desires. -Lao Tzu Detachment from likes and dislikes, habits and opinions, is not a sign of weakness. It is an enormously strong and positive quality. Nor does freedom from likes and dislikes mean that life is insipid for us, but rather that we are not driven compulsively by rigid ways of thinking. Even if we don't get what we want - or if we do get what we don't want - we can still function cheerfully and efficiently. Detachment from habits does not mean that we have no habits.Good habits can be very useful to cultivate in life. But we should be able to change our habits gracefully, or drop them altogether when necessary, especially if we learn that they are harmful to us or are not exactly endearing us to those around us. If we are used to a cup of coffee every morning with our breakfast and one morning we discover that we are out of coffee, we don't say, "I can't function without my coffee,...