 Interspiritual Meditation - Christian Meditation
Week 4/7 Nada te turbe, nada te espante todo se pasa, Dios no se muda, la paciencia todo lo alcanza, quien a Dios tiene nada le falta solo Dios basta. Let nothing disturb you, Let nothing frighten you, All things pass away: God never changes. Patience obtains all things. He who has God Finds he lacks nothing; God alone suffices. -St. Teresa of Ávila
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 Interspiritual Meditation - Taoist Meditation
Week 3/7 Some say that my teaching is nonsense. Others call it lofty but impractical. But to those who have looked inside themselves, this nonsense makes perfect sense. And to those who put it into practice, this loftiness has roots that go deep. I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world. -Tao Te Ching, tr. Stephen Mitchell, chapter 67 (Image courtesy of Wikipedia.org) The Second in a Series of Interspiritual Meditations Buddhist Meditation Buddha continued: “Subhuti, if anyone gave to the Buddha an immeasurable quantity of the seven treasures sufficient to fill the whole universe; and if another person, whether a man or woman, in seeking to attain complete Enlightenment were to earnestly and faithfully observe and study even a single section of this Sutra and explain it to others, the accumulated blessing and merit of that latter person would be far greater.” “Subhuti, how can one explain this Sutra to others without holding in mind any arbitrary conception of forms or phenomena or spiritual truths? It can only be done, Subhuti, by keeping the mind in perfect tranquility and free from any attachment to appearances.” “So I say to you – This is how to contemplate our conditioned existence in this fleeting world:” “Like a tiny drop of dew, or a bubble floating in a stream; Like a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, Or a flickering lamp, an illusion, a phantom, or a dream.” “So is all conditioned existence to be seen.” Thus spoke Buddha. -Diamond Sutra: Chapter 32  The first in a series of interspiritual meditation experiences. Enjoy! Day 1/7 We recently returned from a beautiful experience at the Spiritual Directors International Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. The final plenary session involved interspiritual readings from seven religious/spiritual traditions. A bell was rung, a practitioner of the tradition read the excerpt, and the bell was rung again. We want to share the experience with you during the next week – daily we will post one of the sacred readings. You may want to practice passage meditation, lectio divina, or slow readings of the texts. You may want to have a bell or chime beside you as you read. (As much as possible, we have tried to stay true to the translations read, and we may have taken liberties when the exact source was unknown.)  Sufi Meditation 1. O doves that haunt the arák and bán trees, have pity! Do not double my woes by your lamentation! 2. Have pity! Do not reveal, by wailing and weeping, my hidden desires and my secret sorrows! 3. I respond to her, at eve and morn, with the plaintive cry of a longing man and the moan of an impassioned lover. 4. The spirits faced one another in the thicket of ghaḍá trees and bent their branches towards me, and it (the bending) annihilated me; 5. And they brought me divers sorts of tormenting desire and passion and untried affliction. 6. Who will give me sure promise of Jam‘ and al-Muḥaṣṣab of Miná? Who of Dhát al-Athl? Who of Na‘mán? 7. They encompass my heart moment after moment, for the sake of love and anguish, and kiss my pillars, 8. Even as the best of humankind encompassed the Ka‘ba, which the evidence of Reason proclaims to be imperfect, 9. And kissed stones therein, although he was a Náṭiq (prophet). And what is the rank of the Temple in comparison with the dignity of Humanity? 10. How often did they vow and swear that they would not change, but one dyed with henna does not keep oaths. 11. And one of the most wonderful things is a veiled gazelle, who points with red finger-tip and winks with eyelids, 12. A gazelle whose pasture is between the breast-bones and the bowels. O marvel! a garden amidst fires! 13. My heart has become capable of every form: it is a pasture for gazelles and a convent for Christian monks, 14. And a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Ka‘ba and the tables of the Tora and the book of the Koran. 15. I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love's camels take, that is my religion and my faith. -The Tarjuman al-Ashwaq, by Ibn al-Arabi, tr. Reynold A. Nicholson This essay by SGTI co-founder Jan Lundy is currently being featured on the Spiritual Directors International blog. Our spiritual health is intrinsically tied to the well-being of others. It’s true, isn’t it? We feel the best (body, mind, heart and soul) when we know that those we love are doing well. When our dear ones are having difficulties, naturally their plight weighs upon us. If we are spiritually healthy and well adjusted, we’ll hope that they will be free of struggle. We hold this hope because we are self-aware, mindful, and in touch with just how difficult it is to be a human being. Bringing others into our experience of prayer or meditation is a powerful practice. When we first embark on the spiritual path... (Read more)  Companioning Myself by Jeanette Banashak, PhD, EdD  Is there an experience that you have had that you haven’t explored as a spiritual guide for yourself? What are some of the questions you could ask yourself as you explore the depths of your inner world? How might they help you create meaning? I recently spent some time in South Africa, and as is the case with nearly anything I do, I witnessed the land and her people with the lens of an interreligious and interspiritual companion. As a spiritual guide, I am writing this reflection to re-live some beautiful moments in South Africa. As I journeyed across the land, I was not always aware of the interior land that was unexplored without reflective-reflexive expression. In other words, I want to be a spiritual companion for myself. At the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg (originally named Egoli or Gauteng, meaning the place of gold, by the first Africans), I read a quote in one of the exhibits from Nelson Mandela. He said, "The cell is an ideal place to know yourself. People tend to measure themselves by external accomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones, such as honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, generosity, and an absence of variety. You learn to look into yourself.” Though I cannot fully comprehend Mandela’s 27 years in prison, it is with his pursuit of goodness that I write this piece. My reflective expression (I chose one experience for the purposes of this blog): What did I feel as I biked through sewage, surrounded by tin "houses" in Soweto? What did I notice in my body as I learned that there are vacant apartments (for the past 8 years!) since Jacob Zuma changed Mandela's vision of offering free housing? What was my response to the children's memorial site that explained how, in 1976, 11-18 year old students stood up to their oppressors? Who am I in relation to the mothers and sons, the sisters and grandfathers? And, to quote spiritual director, Kaye Twining, who do I now know myself to be after such an experience? Throughout the bike tour in Soweto, I felt deep grief, sadness, fear, surprise, amazement, respect. My sadness and grief were felt in my stomach; I felt surprise and amazement in my heart. I got choked up at the memorial site with the famous picture of Hector Petersen after he was shot. And yet, what were the other names of those peaceful protestors who also were shot or injured? At times, I had a difficult time feeling connected to the people of Soweto. I tried to notice when I wavered between pity and compassion, when I felt sorry for them or practiced loving kindness. As I ponder the experience and look back on photographs, I can embrace our common humanity while honoring their historical and cultural context. This is not easy! But, it is my way forward if I am going to have a reflexive expression fueled by compassionate action.  Here at SGTI, we've just completed the second Residential Institute for our 18 mos. certificate program for interfaith/interspiritual guidance. Key to our learning about how to hold presence for and engage in sacred listening with people of any and all religious, spiritual and secular philosophies is interfaith immersion. We maintain that it is not enough to engage in "book learning" about traditions other than our own to keep our hearts open and our listening skills fluid. It is not enough to have speakers come to talk about various traditions either. In order to build and maintain interfaith and interspiritual understanding, we need hands-on experience--immersion. While in Chicago this week, we had two interfaith immersion experiences: at the Bahai House of Worship of North America in Wilmette, IL, and IMAN—the InnerCity Muslim Action Network located on the south side of the city. At each site, we had the unique opportunity to participate in religious services and to speak one on one with members of each tradition. At IMAN we also shared a meal which is always one of our hopes with any immersion experience. Our students were especially touched by their experience at IMAN. They rated it as perhaps their favorite experience so far. This is likely because our students are deeply caring individuals whose hearts are social justice oriented. We learned about IMAN's community outreach efforts: a low cost/free family health clinic, the Beloved Community Ceramics Studio, behavioral health counseling services and "Green Re-Entry." "Through Green ReEntry, IMAN provides transitional housing, life skills education, and sustainable construction training for formerly incarcerated citizens in Chicago." When we connect this way--heart to heart—interfaith merges with interspiritual and we learn just how similar we all are, especially within the context of spiritual values. Our practices and rituals may sometimes feel different, yet, we are able to connect on a deeper level by cultivating appreciative knowledge, one of the other core principles of our unique SGTI curriculum.
At IMAN, there was the call to prayer in Arabic, a "sermon/message" on gratefulness, and a felt sense of sitting on holy ground with one another, Muslim and non-Muslim, to experience the Sacred. The women students of SGTI were warmly greeted and spent time after the Friday prayer service with the physician's assistant of their health clinic. Her joy of service was evident and contagious. And inspiring! Why interfaith immersion? Because by engaging in this way, we become deeply aware of how much alike we are. We all want to be happy, to feel safe and free, to do meaningful work, and to worship in our own way. And because, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opponents into friends. It is this type of understanding and goodwill that will transform the deep gloom of the old age into the exuberant gladness of the new age." (Source: imancentral.org)  If you are wanting to cultivate presence and compassion in your life, here are 6 apps (out of the 1300+ that are out there these days) that promote mindfulness. According to wildmind.org, mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience. Amy Saltzman writes that mindfulness is paying attention here and now, with kindness and curiosity, so that we can choose our behavior. Jon Kabat-Zinn explains that mindfulness is paying attention on purpose, in the present moment and without judgment. Mindfulness cultivates calm, peace, and relaxation, all of which help us to lead happy lives.
1) Stop, Breathe, Think - https://www.stopbreathethink.com/ - offers 5 minute meditations that support mindful breathing and broadening the mind. They give 10% of their profits to Tools for Peace, a non-profit that helps at-risk youth. 2) Insight Timer - https://insighttimer.com/ - offers more than 8000 free guided meditations and provides meditations in 25 languages. 3) Simple Habit - https://www.simplehabit.com/ - an app for busy people that offers over 1000 meditations that last 5 minutes. 4) Calm App - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/calm/id571800810?mt=8 - provides guided meditations between 3 – 25 minutes in length. In addition, it features * Daily Calm: a new 10-minute program added daily to help ease you into the day or unwind with before bed * 60+ Sleep Stories: adult bedtime stories guaranteed to lull you to sleep * 7 day and 21 programs for both beginner and advanced users * Breathing exercises to relax * Exclusive music engineered to help you focus, relax or sleep * Unguided timed meditation * Open-ended meditation * 30+ soothing nature sounds and scenes to use during meditation, yoga or to help you sleep 5) Take a Break! - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/take-a-break-meditations-for-stress-relief/id453857236?mt=8 - provides you with step-by-step voice instructions. You can choose a work break relaxation (7 mins.) or a stress relief meditation (13 mins.) and listen with or without music or nature sounds. 6) Mindfulness Daily - http://www.mindfulnessdailyapp.com/ - is an app for busy people that helps you nourish a practice lasting a few minutes. Whether you use an app or not, we hope that you find mindfulness practices that bring you relaxation, rest, and peace at any time of day, in any context. Jeanette Banashak, PhD, EdD  In our module on Islam, one of our students, Peter Marnocha, shared a reflective expression that integrated his own tradition and offering companionship to people of different religious/spiritual/ethical traditions. You will see how he incorporates the major practices of Islam with questions that a spiritual guide might ask a seeker. If you are a seeker, you may be asked these questions by your spiritual guide. If you are a spiritual companion, these are great questions that really get to the heart of the matter. Questions for seekers in the spirit of the Five Pillars of Islam:
Testament of Faith: The proclamation that there is no god but God. How do you affirm this in your own belief system? How do you describe the entity or energy that is much greater than the human species. Prayer: Prayer is formal worship. In what ways do you pray? How are you 'constant in prayer' and what does this mean to you? Charity: In what ways do you give of yourself and resources in a humble and sincere way? How do you accomplish this selfless service without looking for praise or reward? Fasting: What are the practices that you take time for to observe moments or days that are sacred to you? How do you practice compassion and generosity? Assuming that you are willing to practice non-attachment, how is this expressed in your life? To what extent are you willing to endure the process of self-transformation? Pilgrimage: Pilgrimage is a journey of shared experiences and unity. How might you travel alone or with others to experience the oneness of all things and Nature?"  We live in challenging times, divisive times. How do we keep faith and hope alive? How do we continue to believe in the power of good? In the love and reconciliation of which each person is capable?
SGTI co-founder, Jan Lundy, believes it is "important it is that we help one another reorient toward the good, the higher emotion, the life-affirming virtues that we carry within us, especially during challenging times." Read her essay originally published by Spiritual Directors International here: http://www.sdiworld.org/blog/light-candle-dispel-darkness |
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