In Yoke

“Each of us sees the Unseen in proportion to the clarity of our heart, and that depends upon how much we have polished it. Whoever has polished it more sees more - more Unseen forms become manifest.” -Jalaluddin Rumi Easwaran muses: *As your practice of meditation deepens, and the practice of utilizing your impartial observer within is more a known utility, there will still be occasions when you get upset, but you will be able to watch what goes on in the lab of your mind. It's like getting into a glass-bottomed boat, where you venture out onto the ocean and watch all the deep-sea creatures lurking beneath the surface: resentment sharks, stingrays of greed, scurrying schools of fear. You slowly gain a certain amount of detachment from your mind, so you can observe what is going on, collect data, and then set things right. Some of the chronic problems that millions of people suffer from today might be solved by gaining a little detachment from their minds and emotions, so t...

Theology. This is something that folks who live and work in seminary setting - focus on more than the general population. Indeed, it is the study of God, and things concerning God. Abba Evagrius Ponticus said: ‘If you are a theologian, you will pray truly, and if you pray truly, you are a theologian. ’ This statement has largely been ignored. Many people in my home church are employed by the university nearby, which includes a seminary. I have been involved in several conversations recently about what we believe as a body of believers, or church, which seems to devolve into a focus on dogma, or doctrine. The focus on the minds and in the words of many of my church brethren seem to revolve around what we believe ‘about’ Christianity, membership in the church, baptism standards, church polity, by-laws, and how we do things. These discussions  tend to become positioning about principles, or Baptist/Christian distinctives. This “head knowledge”/ theological focus of many wit...

“A time is coming when people will go mad, and when they meet someone who is not mad, they will turn to him and say, “You are out of your mind”, just because he is not like them.” ~Abba Anthony In our churches and in our little mini cosmos that is Central Texas, this insight seems to be ever true. It is quite profound how what appears in the “world’s” eyes to be madness is actually eternal truth. The prophet Jeremiah states: "For my people are foolish ;they know me not;they are stupid children;they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not." May I be anchored in the truth of the Good News, and be ever migrating towards the One who holds all truth and all life in his power.

As pure water poured into pure water becomes the very same, so does the Self of the illumined man or woman verily become one with the Godhead.  ~Katha Upanishad Easwaran notes that for some reason, it is very difficult for us to accept our divine nature. “This has always puzzled me. We pay money for books about how destructive we are. We stand in line to see movies that emphasize our capacity for making trouble.” Then, when Jesus comes to tell us that the kingdom of heaven is within us, we say, "There must be some mistake." It is to convince us that our real Self is always pure and eternal that men and women of God keep arising among us. More than anything, we need to hear their good news that the source of all joy and security is right within. In the Hindu scriptures there is a precise term for our real nature: the Atman. All it means is "the Self" - not the little self, the changing personality with which most of us identify, but the higher Self, our re...

According to Helminski and Sufi tradition(also Christian spirituality), there are three things that are essential for the beginning and the sustaining of our journey, or pilgrimage to obtain the ultimate Meaning and Purpose for our lives. This is necessary to answer the question, “Why am I here?” The understanding and experience of repentance, faith and grace are crucial as we seek to embark on the journey to true meaning and purpose. Repentance , a word used frequently by Christ in the Gospels, as Helminski teaches in “Living Presence”, means to turn, or re-orient oneself, in a whole new direction, toward a new focus or center . In the Gospels it has come to mean to “live along another “axis of being”, i.e. the vertical dimension, oriented towards the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’. Once we have been turned inwardly towards that new form of human existence, in order to begin the journey, we need to appropriate Faith . Faith is much more than mere belief. It can be defined as a fundamental...

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?”—Jesus the Christ   This is a valid question. Why don’t I simply take what he commands me to do, without hesitation? What are some things I randomly disobey? One example is my ongoing neglect of the needs of others, specifically the poor, and also I do not vigilantly attend to the condition of my own heart before God. Jesus chided the Pharisees about this in Luke 11:38-44. They were criticizing him for not meticulously washing before dinner…looking for a way to put him down, like most all self righteous, super-religious folks do. “Turn both your pockets and your hearts inside out and give generously to the poor; then your lives will be clean, not just your dishes and your hands.” ( The Message, Luke 11:41) Am I truly concerned about the needs of those who are poor all about me? How often do I really turn my heart inside out? How often do I face the facts about the thoughts and intentions ...

“In order to come to pleasure you have not, you must go by a way that you will enjoy not. To come to the knowledge that you have not, you must go by a way that you know not. To come to a possession that you have not, you must go by a way in which you possess not. To come to be what you are not, you must go by a way that you are not.”~ St. John of the Cross In the flesh, we want to BE somebody. Our small self longs for recognition—as a great singer, a great writer, a great athlete. The obscure spiritual seeker, Mary Mrozovski, spoke of “letting go”, as a spiritual practice. Her little mantra goes like this: “I let go of my need for esteem and affection”, “I let go of my need for security and survival”, “I let go of my need for power and control.” In the final analysis, realizing that I cannot find wholeness in knowing God within, if I hold on to anything other than Christ within me. I must let go of myself, so I can focus on life in Jesus.