Things Wise People Said

quotes and such that are supporting me right now

I’m reading Ken Wilbur’s latest book Finding Radical Wholeness and in describing a “dark night of the soul” he wrote: "The pain of the dark night is the pain of looking for a truly timeless and eternal reality in states that are only of temporal and finite being, no matter how glorified—as one mystic put it, ‘Fussing about in the world of time looking for the timeless.’”

Guys, wow, that really nails it for me.

Over the past several years, I’ve experienced various degrees of awakenings and studied consciousness enough to understand, intellectually, that more is possible for me and, thus, for us all. I have been graced just enough awareness, it seems, to see that my current state is not remotely true, and yet, not enough to abide in perpetual liberation from the suffering of my body or the negative manifestations of other people. It feels claustrophobic.

It’s one thing to live in a box when you think the box is all that exists; it’s another thing to be trapped in the box, fully conscious of everything that exist beyond the box.

I keep fantasizing about escaping to the mountains or desert. We’ve been in Ocean Springs consistency since January and I’ve rationalized my wish to escape as a wish to increase novelty. After life on the road, the rhythms of our little life by the sea can feel constricting. But I see now, it’s actually my inner state of consciousness I wish to leave.

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In this week’s wisdom circle reading from The Reality of Being, Madame de Sazlmann writes:

“Finally, a person comes to submission and trust in life and the Self. They give themself up to the cosmic movement of ebb and flow, understanding with their whole being that all forms are created in the void, in silence, and are reabsorbed once they have fulfilled their role. They understand that they find their self in losing their self. They become free from certain subjective limits, but realize that their Self is a responsible participant in the great life of the universe. They participate in the Whole.”

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In The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for the Age of Anxiety, Alan Watts writes:

"Belief, as I use the word here, is the insistence that the truth is what one would 'lief' or wish it to be. The believer will open his mind to the truth on condition that it fits in with his preconceived ideas or wishes. Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be. Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown. Belief clings, but faith lets go .... Most of us believe in order to feel secure, in order to make our individual lives seem valuable and meaningful. Belief has thus become an attempt to hang on to life, to grasp and keep it for one's own ... Indeed, you cannot grasp it, just as you cannot walk off with a river in a bucket. If you try to capture running water in a bucket, it is clear that you do not understand it and you will always be disappointed, for in the bucket the water does not run. To 'have' running water you must let go of it and let it run. The same is true of life and of God."

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Three weeks ago on Insights at the Edge podcast, Tami Simon interviewed Nanci Danison and they had this to say:

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Today, no matter the state you find yourself in, I remind you in order to remind myself:

✦ The Truth of Who You Are is not your situation — not your body or your feelings, not your best idea, not your future fantasy or past mistake, not the stories you tell.

✦ Neti, neti baby. (Not this, not that.)

✦ Time is a real dimension, but not the only one and certainly not the determiner of your Beingness.

✦ Awakening is intended.

In conclusion and as Cynthia Bourgeault once said:

The spiritual life is not about feeling good.

We begin to realize that depression and low points are all a part of the spiritual life. We can remain present to it in the NOW, willing to accept the circumstances of diminishment.

Stay in the NOW – one moment you can’t stand it, the next you can…

No conscious work is ever wasted; it all goes into the grace bank.

Self-judgment never works. Disarm self-judgment. We may not be able to stop it from coming, but we can let it go when we see it. The seeing is given. We don’t have to do anything about it.

We find our awakening by doing the small tasks. It is not about thinking but about acquiring the taste of our essential being.

When it “doesn’t matter,” do the better work anyway.

Amen and hallelujah.