“The spiritual life is not a theory. We have to live it.” It is not enough to have a thorough working understanding of God or to have a daily routine of prayer and meditation or even to engage in selfless service and compassionate care to those around us. Living a spiritual life is not a sometime thing. Our goal is to be all this and more without any thought or effort, without it being a “spiritual life” at all. The true saint has no desire for sainthood.
I am like a young man in love, waiting for my girl to come around that corner, and when she does my heart expands somehow universally and I am truly alive. This is the nature of my daily spiritual condition. When my soul is right I am a lover of God: Seeing God everywhere and in everything; acknowledging that there is no power, no influence, no force in the world other than that of God; believing that the spirit of Truth, of Beauty, and of Joy emanates from the one true God. My spiritual desire is a lifelong romance, a love affair with God.
Spiritual work has two essential components. First is the development of our faith in our God through meditation,
study, and prayer; moving from concept to conviction. The second component is allowing this faith to determine our behavior; a transition from theory into practice. My religion is not in a book, not even in my mind; my religion is who I am — expressed in what I do.
My religion is dawn or evening, sun or moonlight, smiles and laughter, a help getting up, the extra pillow on the hospital bed, the absence of difference among folks; a song, a sigh, a thank-you note. My religion is the prairie, the mountain, the snow and sleet, the intense heat of the summer beach sand under my feet, the smell of spring out my back door, or ghost-breath in the November morning. My religion is you, is me, is all of us and all of our hopes and fears, loves and wishes, loaves and fishes, croissants and knishes. My religion is right here, right now. May I offer you some? I hope so.
Translators of Eastern scripture use the word “Self” in reference to the unity, the oneness, of all that exists. They also often describe the experience of this Self as becoming aware of its “suchness:” its indefinable essence; its totality; what it is. This communicates to those of us who seek to have an awareness of the divine that the finite, personal self that we think is ours – our experience of personhood – is really indistinguishable from the universe, that just by being aware of God’s world we share in it; we are within it, indistinguishable from the universal, divine reality. God is us. We are God.
“Conditions” in our thinking – the identification of all things, of ideas, all of life, by their opposite – is the cause of trouble. We say, “This is not that,” or, “This is the absence of that,” rather than “This is just what it is.” So, contrast becomes conflict. Difference and comparison become desire, and desire is so easily thwarted, so primary in our emotional balance, and it is never satisfied. Unconditioned acceptance of life is a clear sky, a smile, a melody.
Zen Buddhist tradition has it that the ultimate spiritual awareness, the true goal of our devotional study and work, is to experience a great emptiness: a condition in which we exist surrounded by nothing but what we in the Christian tradition might call “God-ness.” This is doubtless a perfect intention, but paradoxical, as if to say, “It would be better had you not begun to think” of the means to achieve salvation. Yet only by an effort of the mind can we conceive of this as a goal.
Perhaps it would be more helpful to describe the desired destination as “pure consciousness” — the goal of meditation. We might say that the idea of personal unity with God is not something we can understand or conceptualize, but only realize and experience. We can only realize God when our consciousness is not being distracted by anything else, even by the idea of God.
Truth needs no explanation. The point is to quit thinking and to simply be.
The principle blessings of the spiritual work are personal peace and contentment which we share just by being in the world. The effort we make in seeking Him has its dividends in our reactions to life and events. We come eventually to see that all of life is a gift, and that the apparent misfortunes and benefits we encounter are merely the threads in the fabric of Creation. By these tiny degrees, infinitesimal increments, do we make this world a better place.
We are living in the world. We have need of food, drink, clothing, education, medicine. We are biological creatures in a sometimes hostile environment, living lives requiring care, attention, and awareness of our surroundings. As such we can not constantly be contemplating the Truth of the Oneness of God, the blessedness of the universe, or any of these ultimate questions. We do the best we can at living by establishing a consciousness of the importance of spiritual reality that affects how we live our daily, earthly lives. We are successful when we allow ourselves, through prayer and meditation, to be guided by an inner, spiritual consciousness; when we live this world guided by a divine constitutional “compass” with our belief in our God as our personal North Star.
Exhaustive and conscientious daily examination of our thinking, our attitudes and behavior is required in order to achieve personal peace. This is not a cruel or punishing regimen; rather it is the proof of our love for ourselves; and our love for ourselves is evidence of God’s love of His creation. It is how life improves and perfects itself. It is evidence of grace.
God’s grace reconciles us with ourselves and allows us to feel forgiveness and restorative mercy. The ultimate effect of this practice is an acceptance of our self that leads to peace of mind and true humility.
Nick Hilton - Reflections 