Simple Peace

When our awareness is clouded with the business of life or pulled in different directions by life’s details, God seems very far away. When our awareness is pulled down with worries or jumpy with excitement and wishes, the peace of God can be far away. But when our awareness is clear, empty, gentle with little or no thoughts, God is like water, natural, everywhere. This is why meditation, silence, and consciousness is so valuable. Natural awareness extends forever, running as water forever, soft in simplicity, understanding, compassion. This simple awareness is lightful, free. Instead of searching it is full in being. God in these experiences is as normal as sunlight during the day and darkness at night. Awareness is simply itself, joining itself in others, nature, in the presence of silent awareness everywhere. To be in simple awareness is to be in the abundance of everything good, grace, love….ie. God

Sitting in the silence in the beginning we see all the distractions that keep our  awareness busy.  It seems the mind can not just be in the soft light of silence but needs something to hold onto.  So our thoughts turn to worries or desires.  Our mind stays separate from the gentleness resting deep in the silence of the heart.  Details of life turn around and around in our awareness until we let go and be, just be in the silence.  This seemingly endless merry go round of our thoughts circling circling the openness, the hole in the silence continues until our awareness settles or rather sinks into the peace within us.  The mind lets go to the reality of the heart, the seat of our awareness, the home of a greater reality.

In these moments the mirror in the silence begins disappearing and we are in the sea of lightness which is the silence itself, all around us and forever in our hearts.  In this sea, our personality, identity sits as a small island.  Each of us have an island of identity but it is only an island in the great sea of gentle lightness of love.   The mirror disappears as our awareness spreads.  Our identity, this small island of personality in the great sea is seemigly committed to grasp for attention, for affirmation of its existence, for self  importance.   But our everyday identity is just a blip in the silent sea no matter how substantial it makes us or others feel.  Ultimately, it disappears.  Our awareness spreads and absorbs its true nature, this gentleness, this fluffy light, love which carries all…..

Silence is our best friend if we want to become free of the mirror, watching our thoughts and feelings act and react, stand out, briefly disappear only to return in another crusade of thoughts.  The silence frees the mind to the great reality of our hearts.  This is heartfulness, offering everything within and receiving the depths of being found in the simple silence…This is not  contest to try to stop the mind.  This is a journey becoming free of the mental filter which limits our experience of the true reality, the presence of great love…This is the beauty of meditation to witness the disappearing of our small self and the emergence of something far greater we all are part of….

We are on a journey down a river of silence.  No matter how much activity is on the shores around us, no matter how busy we are and how noisy our thoughts and the thoughts of others appear to be, we are all on a journey down a river of silence.  Our hearts are like a lantern in the center of our boat.  Deep in our hearts is a burning light.  This light is our soul.

As we flow down this river of silence, the light in our hearts keeps us warm, secure.  It lights our way.  We may think our daily lives are controlled by the news, the weather, the challenges and joys which come our way.  But it is all a dream.  The dream is happening all around us and in us.   Meanwhile we are traveling down this river of silence.  The more we become aware of our hearts, the lantern lighting our way, the more we trust, live, and be in the great silence as it is.  Silent.

There is a great peace.  There is a very great peace.  There is this endless peace…

The river is black.  Everything is black.  Only silence.  I don’t know if I am moving or not.  There is only silent darkness, black.   The only light is the lantern in my heart.  Everything is dark, nothing, black.  The lantern of my heart is strong.  The soft light  invites my awareness.  This light is my home, my way, my all.  There is nothing else but the lantern of my heart.  As I draw closer to the lantern, the lantern lightens my awareness, my body.  This light is supremely loving, clear, peaceful.  The lantern of my heart is the only light.  It is true.  Everything outside my heart is dark, silent.  I sit with my lantern in my heart in completeness, wholeness, security.  I know this light is God.  God is my center, my all, my only, lighting my heart.  This is my source, my blessing.

Endless darkness…endless silence…and the lantern of my heart.   This light quiets every question, gives everything good, is now  eternity’s presence…

Stopping the inner dialogue and coming into presence is what brings spirituality out of the realm of belief into direct experience.  The mind stays busy out of habit.  Prayer and meditation slow down the mind and between thoughts we find space.  As our awareness goes into this space a beautiful openness unfolds, a pure experience awaits us.

The practice is to be within and explore our hearts.  Here mental realms recede and direct experience of peace and simple being grow.  As most people expect changes in their daily life to calm and satisfy their restless minds, spirituality invites us into the depths of our heart to find the calm and satisfaction which is beyond words.  A oneness is just beneath the busy filter of our minds.  A vast experience if light is just under our seemingly unending thoughts. 

The path in our hearts is offering our thoughts and letting our awareness rest in our heart, to receive the depths of our hearts moment to moment.  Here the inner dialogue stops and the spiritual life begins.  As our mind quiets, our true radiance and life’s brilliance is present.  This light washes our thoughts putting our awareness into a realm which includes a unity and at the same time expansive awareness of everyone, the earth, planets and stars all sharing the same presence, in the same presence of God.

Spirituality of The Heart

Spirituality of the heart is a path to come to the great love inside which is God. Touching the heart in anyplace is to touch God within us. Love, compassion, peace, forgiveness,surrender, devotion, prayer, meditation, service, enjoying beauty, play, gratitude…there are many places in the heart to renew, restore, and rejuvenate. We are building a life of great heart. Anyone of these practices and/or all of them free us from mental realms which have crowded  and hardened our hearts.  This includes letting go of our judgements, not holding so tight our attachments, loosening our everyday identity by lightening our fears and softening our desires. A heart practice for example of sending our love and light to loved ones and friends and then to all beings is like a waterfall  for our awareness, washing away our doubts and negativity. Our heart practice brings us to a special place in the heart. Actually it brings us to the heart inside our heart. 

The heart inside our heart is a gentle, soft opening in our heart which when approached becomes more and more  brilliant, light, very bright, solid white. There is a fullness of love which is beyond words, beyond our normal experience, yet familiar.  This heart is our true home with all the acceptance, love, and security a true home would have.  As we go further into our inner heart, this light, into this space, it opens to more and more space, a vastness inside of us.  One one hand this vastness is like a great emptiness where all our mental structures, normal identity dissolves.  And on the other  hand this emptiness is like a vast sky with all the stars and planets.   When our awareness is in this inner light full vastness all questions are answered. All prayers are answered before they are asked. Everything is present. There is no need, no progress, no regression, no separation. There is only completeness. Everything is more real then real. A love that is endless, full, holds our awareness totally, surrounding us like being in a love filled garden. There is no time. Movement forward or backward is hard to describe yet there is movement. The realm is so completely different from our normal reality. Yet, this heart inside our heart is inside each of us. Being in this realm everything is accomplished, whole, done. There is no getting to one place from another. No healing because everything is already whole, true. From this realm it is clear, why teachers say our spiritual progress is made in the normal world. In the heart inside our heart which is also the other side it is very difficult to make any advancement for the soul. This heart inside the heart and the other side are the same. Now and eternity are in the same awareness. The light is so brilliant just moments can change our entire perspective of life, our purpose, what we want, and what is important. 

Our true joy is to keep our awareness in the heart inside the heart. Our practice and daily life are challenged by all the mental activity and demands upon us. But no matter how challenged we are, our heart inside our heart is greater, stronger, ultimately cannot be hurt or destroyed. Our awareness can separate from this place a thousand times, for days or years but it is still here. The truth is that we are this heart no matter how far we find ourselves from this gentleness within.  We all are born in this well of peace. In little children you can feel their original heart as a reservoir of innocence. As we grow older slowly this innocence, our original heart separate from our awareness. We have brief experiences of this joy. Our inner life becomes harder, more fixed, and less liquid and golden. It is our heart practice which brings us back to this inner child, this heart of our true essence. The heart inside our heart is our shelter, security, source, inspiration, potentiality, true wholeness and forever well being.

Most people live in stress and think this is normal.  We can measure the stress by how busy, thought full are our minds.   Many people think a busy, constantly active mind is normal.  No!  A busy mind comes from a busy heart.  The over flow from a complicated heart is a constantly active mind.  To be thinking all the time is not normal just routine in western culture.  True normal is a quiet mind.  We move our arms when we have something to move them for.  Similar we move the muscle of our mind when there is something to think about.  Normal is silent, clear, open mind.  There is no reason our thoughts should be moving all the time.

Our busy minds coming from our complicated hearts is from losing touch with the softness of our heart.  As we join the softness in our hearts, our awareness slows down, thoughts decrease.  We are more and think less.  The soft place in our heart lowers our mental temperature.   If we know the softness of our heart, we do not let our mental temperature get out of control in fits of anger or headaches and other symptoms of great stress.  As a culture we need to lower our mental temperature.

In the softness of our hearts our awareness connects to our spiritual being.  Here is our journey…

When we leave this world we leave our body.  This is like leaving the car which gets us around.  When we leave this world we also leave our personality.  This is like leaving the interior of the car.  After getting out of the car, leaving the car behind what is left?  Who is leaving?

Most of us spend our lives busy with our bodies and our physical world.  Others are busy managing and trying to change their personalities including their intellect and emotions.  The car’s exterior and interior can occupy our entire lives and we have little idea what else there is.

Through meditation on God (love) which is found in the softest part of our hearts, our awareness reunites with our essential being, our original innocence, the body of our soul.  This is our home, eternity.

Franciscan joy, or perfect  joy is to find this source of joy within.  Some days everyone loves us and some days no one cares at all.  This place of joy is beyond the ups and downs of daily life.  It is to find this source within our hearts, our well of being, our original heart!  Our spiritual practice is to embrace this place.  We offer all the noise, distractions which keep us busy.  Then in the quiet of our heart is this vast space.  Our spiritual journey is giving our awareness to this vastness within.  Slowly, slowly we discover perfect joy!

Spirituality brings us to our ground of being, our truth.  While the personality is looking outside itself for something substantial, success, answers, our soul calls us to our source.  Since the path to this source seems unclear, the personality persists looking for different paths or temporary satisfactions.  Many doors are knocked upon with usually some temporary or partial success.  Something real, our true ground is sought in new work, projects, relationships seeming everywhere but where it truly is.  True ground happens in our journey inside, letting go into the depths of our heart.

Inside the heart is a vast space, an emptiness.  We find this space in our meditation between our thoughts.  We find this space in our hearts in our essential nakedness.  The practice is offering everything in our hearts.  Then we can go further inside our hearts and receive.  This brings  our mental worlds to an end.  We experience the vastness in our hearts.  We find this endless space inviting our awareness.  Here is our unlimited being.  As we explore the vastness within, we discover it is empty.  This emptiness tells us about all the pursuits our personality tries for meaning.  This emptiness tells us about our life in the world while inviting us into more and more of the vastness of the heart.  This vastness is our journey of coming home.  This is the true spiritual journey.

Emptiness is our true ground of being.  Worldly success, projects, relationships, life’s accomplishments are temporary, always changing.  This vastness within us is true, always true, ultimately true.   Emptiness is not an idea, a philosophy or religion.  It is our direct experience when we explore the depths of our heart.  Emptiness dissolves our fixed structures in our mind including our judgements, memories, ideas what is true.  Emptiness dissolves the structures in our daily life not necessary literally but enough so we don’t hold anything too seriously.   Everything is empty.  This awareness keeps us opening more and more into the space in our hearts.  Awareness of more  emptiness gives us more dissolution which in turn gives us more space within.  This space is soft, peaceful, at times brilliant light, at times very dark.   The journey is the exploration of this space.  As we learn to receive more of the love in this presence in our hearts, we are coming more to our true ground, the ground of eternity, the oneness in each of us.  This is our practice, our journey together.

Life is a great sacred journey inside  and in the world we naturally feel called to more service to everyone around us.  This service comes not from what we should do, following some rules or expectation.  It comes naturally from the patience, simplicity, love in the vastness itself.  We are coming home.  Our bliss is simple peace, moment to moment.  Now is such a special opportunity.  The ground of being is found only now.  As the feet of our awareness learn to stand firm on this ground, the present becomes our source of strength, security, trust, love.  Our ground of being is our golden essence feeding us, carrying us, absorbing our awareness into its truth.

Frequently in our pursuit of our higher self, we lose track of the needs of our normal self.
We try to ignore our worries and desires unless they conform with what we and others expect from our “spiritual” way of being. This leads us to inner conflict, illness and the feeling as if we are split showing parts of ourselves to some people and other parts only to ourselves. Instead of finding simplicity and inner peace, our lives can become complicated, confused with  peak moments only to be brought down by the ever present physical and emotional needs that persist in our desire to be “spiritual”. Instead of becoming free of conflict, the spiritual path itself can be a set up for conflict unless we find a way to listen to our human self, nurture, and heal ourselves, our entire self.

Many of our conflicts are just energy tied into knots from the stress of daily life. Without meditation and prayer, our normal mental worlds of worry and desire have nowhere to go but back and forth endlessly in our minds, leaving stress in our bodies. One worry can be taken care of, only for a new one to arrive. One desire is satisfied, only for another to call our attention. The personality is never satisfied because ultimately it is not true. It is only mental worlds looking for peace which this does not exist in our personality. This peace is only found in the depths of our heart, the home of true spirituality.

Our awareness is like a sponge. It is full of lightness of being and also the memories, judgements, difficult feelings and conflicts of our lives. Our spiritual practice frees and cleans the sponge of our awareness. Spiritual practice includes being gentle and caring with our awareness everywhere it is. To trust, listen, and be more, letting the love in our hearts and in the silence hold and carry our awareness to more joy…Slowly, our moments of impatience, anger, need, difficulty move into a broader awareness of compassion, understanding, and truth for ourselves and others.  We are less concerned with the form of our spiritual journey and more awake to the substance, the oneness.