In Yoke

Faults and virtues arise from our companions. – Sanskrit proverb According to this ancient saying, what is good in us and what is bad, our strong points and our weak points alike, develop because of constant association. When we associate with calm people, we become calm; when we associate with agitated people, we become agitated. When we frequent the company of people who are wise, we become wiser; when our company is otherwise, we become otherwise too. We’ve all experienced this. When we have spent an evening with someone who is overwrought, we come home so agitated ourselves that we can’t get to sleep. But there is a positive side of the power of association: we absorb good qualities too, by spending time with people who embody them. Whenever we associate with people, we participate in their mental states. I know this to be true, especially because I seem to be calmer and more centered when I am regualrly meeting with a spiritual formation group. As it being with those who ag...

Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliancy than justice.   – Miguel de Cervantes In Kerala, a state in South India where Easwaran grew up, along the roadside there are stone parapets the height of a person’s head. When people need to rest from carrying heavy loads of rice or fruit on their heads, they stand next to the parapet and shift their load onto it. The Lord  who dwells in the hearts of all is the perennial parapet, standing at exactly the right height for each one of us. For those who are very selfish, he stands very tall to support an awesome load; for those who are average in selfishness, he stands about six feet high; and for the selfless, the parapet can hardly be seen because the burden is so light that almost no support is needed. Through the practice of meditation and contemplative prayer, we can gradually learn to shift our load into the Lord’s mighty arms. We like to think that we make big decisions and...

Remember that you ought to behave in life as you would at a banquet. As something is being passed around, it comes to you. When it comes to you, stretch out your hand gently, take a portion of it politely, but pass it on. Or, it has not come to you yet. Do not project your desire to meet it. So act always in life.   – Epictetus from Sri Easwaran -"This is the nature of desire: it jumps out from the present to the future. When you have a very pleasant event planned, the desire has jumped out already to meet it. Even though this particular event will take place on Saturday, and today is Monday, half of you is already living in Saturday. And next Monday morning, you will be at your desk, remembering the great day you had Saturday. Epictetus says, don’t ever let your desire jump out to the future, and don’t let your mind wander to the past, because you will never be present in the here and now. If, for example, you are going to the theater to see Anthony and Cleopatra, it i...

Romans 8:25-30 (ESV) - But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. My devotional life really does dynamically move into deep contemplation as I read and reread the words of Richard Rohr* , one of my favorite authors. “The contemplative or non-dual mind, which for me is the essential self, is a tree of life , and brings about continual fruitfulness for the soul. Rohr reminds me of this in the discussion of how we usually make judgments based on our binary, or “either/or” false self/or/ego”. “A binary system of either/or choices is good and necessary in the lofty worlds of logic, mechanics, math and science…and in the everyday worlds of getting from po...

In order to progress along “the path of spiritual progress”, or “spiritual formation”, Jim Marion, author of Putting on the Mind of Christ, shares this step by step pathway. This is not unlike the “eightfold path” taught by meditation masters of Buddhism or Hinduism, however, my tradition is to be an ever growing Christ follower. That is my path, my leading…but the wisdom of other masters, other than Christ, can be helpful. 1. First and foremost, in a humble, prayerful attitude, honestly and truthfully, I must allow the Holy Spirit to assist me in assessing where I am. “ Where I am” today is perfect for the lessons that the Holy Spirit wants me to learn. The Spirit is providing “mirrors”, that is, other people who reflect back to us our level of consciousness. What is it that I fear? What are my strengths? What are the areas of my own life where I am weak? What are my aptitudes? What is the practice I am applying to growing my strengths and allowing the Spirit to decrease or...

In these final days of 2011, I am faced with a liminal space in life. There are decisions and doors that I must cross through and it is difficult to know what are my own individual, ego driven decisions and what things I am to simply listen to the voice of the Spirit and obey. I know that I am not able to abide by and follow the direction of “the world”—which is the guidance provided by those who own the stock and the little tech company I have sold, yet I am bound to it because of the payout that awaits me…if I can assist the company in achieving the modicum of stability that it has maintained for the past 5 years. That is dependent on so many factors, and so much future goodwill of our clients. It can create anxiety, if I but allow the anxiety to exist. I have faced such a point several times before—where I stood on the precipice of the future with darkness and change ahead. In fact, I have and you most likely have- faced a future where it is dark and the way of God’s will was n...

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. –2nd Letter of Paul to the Corinthians, Ch. 10:v. 5 When thoughts arise, then do all things arise. When thoughts vanish, then do all things vanish.   – Huang Po Sri Easwaran approaches the topic of thought control from the perspective of taking time off and simply stopping the thought process. He elaborates: “When meditation deepens, and the thinking process slows down, we will find that we don’t have to think all the time. It sounds simple, even scary, but it is a mighty achievement that yields unimaginable peace. Thoughts are no longer compulsive.“ Paul comes at it in subjecting our thinking to the “mind of Christ”. These two perspectives are similar and lend credence to one other. In my understanding, they are quite the same—in that one must allow the Spirit within to control the thoughts that we “employ”. It is the ...