Prostrate to the Higher Mind

poems, quotes, comments, and a song with cuss words

This week, the only thing I wrote is a little poem, besides the “gratitude” lists I send my friend Whitney every day saying thank you for the things I hate. Today, the list said: “I am grateful Hermy, the majestic giant hermit crab from the grand wild, died in our care - that we killed him and I did not demand he be returned to the ocean even though that is what I believed right” and also, “I am grateful we now have three new hermit crabs from Petsmart,” and, “I am grateful I only practiced piano once this week and it was hard.”

Sometimes, the list includes things I am genuinely thankful for: “I am grateful I greeted at least four cats, two turtles, and one armadillo on my morning walk!” - “I am grateful thunder is rolling in” - “I am grateful we skipped homeschool field day for crab hunting and digging at the beach.”

Besides seven of these lists, four brief journal entries, two pages of client notes, and meeting notes for two wisdom circles, all I wrote this week is a poem.

Enlightenment

I have a future memory of myself.

I wake up, sweeping away the sheet and placing my feet on the floor to watch the show.

I am empty, free completely of all outcomes while utterly faith-filled in my expectation of God’s goodness, manifesting in the shape of my body.

Total inner abandonment, radiating as sheer joy.

I wonder, what absolutely outrageously beautiful thing will happen today?

I assume without trying that everyone I encounter is the Face of God. I am awed and reverent as if it were so.

Immediately, I ask the barista’s name, raptured by their very existence, starving for another endearment for the Love that founded the cosmos.

Immediately next, I ask about their pain. Can I bear it with you, for you, as you?

☼

There are a few lines from Jeanne de Salzmann’s book The Reality of Being (the book I am studying with my wisdom circles) which are directing my life and inner work right now:

The movement of knowing is a movement of abandon. It is necessary to open one’s hands.

And also:

So, the only reality for me today is my effort to be present to myself… We can call the Self whatever we wish—the seat of consciousness, even God… I have to learn to concentrate my attention toward this center and stay here.

For me, these teachings culminate a long journey of growing to understand the paradox of effort and surrender on the spiritual path. The only effort necessary is the one we make to be utterly abandoned, empty and free of every preconceived notion.

There is a place in her book The Fourth Way and Esoteric Christianity where Rebecca Nottingham writes, “The Holy Spirit enters you, and only to the extent you have a place that is receptive within.”

This too is the meaning of “nothingness” for spiritual writers and teachers. “Poor” in Jesus terms. A blessed state of relief from the delusion that we know.

Speaking of my friend Whitney, she sent me this meme recently and it nails the message from another angle:

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Lastly, I’d like to remind you to celebrate your own transformation today. If you read this newsletter, then you aren’t new to inner work. Surely you can see the ways you’ve changed since embarking on The Path, whatever path you’ve chosen. This past week in my wisdom circle, we started a new practice. Instead of coming to circle and reporting on all the ways we self-observed our spiritual sleep, we are now required to share at least one way we witnessed our wakefulness - one way we responded with more freedom or love than we would have before; one way we withheld judgement; one way we exercised mercy when we used to cast blame. One way we saw the face of God in the other.

I encourage you to do the same. Instead of fixating on falling short, fixate on how far you’ve come. This honors God.

☼

I leave you now with two pieces of art, which have no overt relation to each other or the message I’ve just delivered. Draw your own conclusions. Or don’t. Either way, enjoy. Delight! Revel! Be brought to your knees for the hard, sweet reality of our humanity.

by Saint Mary Oliver

I almost never smoke weed and I have surprisingly few opinions about covid or politics, but this has been my favorite song since I discovered it many moons ago. Something about Craigie’s irreverence really enlivens the diehard rebel in me! Don’t play it in the car with your kids 🙃

MAY WE BE GRATEFUL FOR THE THINGS WE HATE. MAY WE WRITE POEMS FOR OUR ENLIGHTENMENT. MAY WE OPEN OUR HANDS AND EMPTY OUR KNOWING, PROSTRATE IN HUMILITY, FIXATE ON WAKEFULNESS, FORGIVE OUR SLEEP, FORFEIT JUDGEMENT, AND SOMETIMES, OCCASIONALLY, NOW AND THEN, MAYBE SMOKE JUST A LITTLE WEED? THIS HONORS GOD. AMEN.

Please join us next Sunday for a light movement practice and exploration of the theme “Cycles of Co-Creation.” I’m sharing an image from my own inner life which has guided my understanding of what it means to co-labor with Christ, and braiding this wisdom together with the Easter mystery and Spring Equinox to inspire, clarify, and midwife God’s dream through us. Cost is $22.