We are still in the sway of the full moon when the sun is at the peak of its power, lighting all corners with its radiance, and burning away all non-essentials. We are at the peak of the strong-energy yang phase of the waxing moon, the time to harvest what was planted and nurtured.
Agenda:
1. Read "Your Heart Was Made for This"
2. Spiritual growth goals
3. Full Moon queries
4. Expressing Needs in the World
1. Read "Your Heart Was Made for This":
Part One explores six core qualities, and the 6th is Wisdom, when contemplation breeds insight and we are able to slow down, to navigate with integrity and vision. Wisdom brings clear discernment, and understanding of how suffering arises and ceases. "With wisdom, we awaken to our inner life and outer reality. We see how social, economic, political, and historical conditions affect us, how they function in our hearts and how to create new possibilities for freedom."
Life includes pain, usually outside our control, but the suffering I experience is internal, and if I turn towards it I can see a glimmer of freedom. This is the path of the Four Noble Truths, the mechanism of suffering:
- There is pain beyond my control, maybe someone is saying something that insults me.
- If I cling to or resist the pain, I will suffer; trying to control or avoid the pain is what allows it to hurt me.
- When I stop resisting, suffering ceases - when I can see that what is being said has no real impact on me, it ceases to hurt me.
- Walking the path of wisdom, integrity, concentration, etc. is how I can realize the cessation of suffering.
Not all clinging or resistance leads to suffering - we hold on to our aspirations and commitments; we resist the forces of hatred and greed. "With careful attention and investigation, we can discern when holding on or resisting is connected to our integrity and wisdom and likewise when it is rooted in reactivity, ignorance, and profound suffering."
Reflection: Choose an area of my life where I am struggling, and begin to acknowledge thoughts and feelings as they come and go. Be mindful of my experiences. Observe my inner landscape with curiosity.
2. Spiritual growth goals:
“...ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I am living for, in detail, ask me what I think is keeping me from living fully for the thing I want to live for.” ~Thomas Merton
Spiritual growth is the basis for a better and more harmonious life, a life of calmness, courage, and inner strength. My goals for spiritual growth might include the fruits of the Spirit described in Galatians 5: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, and the Stoic virtues of wisdom, morality, moderation and courage, and Ben Franklin’s Virtues, and my testimonies of integrity, simplicity, mindfulness, discernment, and equanimity.
What is keeping me from living fully for Love and for the earth? What spiritual discipline might help me to find greater Light?
Journal: As I move in to the fall, and transition from balance and flow into Love and receptivity as my focus, I want to continue to grow in concentration, wisdom, curiosity, patience, and kindness.
3. Full Moon Queries:
On the Sabbath nearest the full moon I take a deeper dive into my month's theme with meditation and inquiry. My theme this month is Balance and Flow.
The center is the place where my soul lives; it touches all other areas of my life. My life flows around this solid base. I think about balance as "being in unity with the universe": The feeling that I can let go of my opinions and needs, and let God work through me, and feel calm and centered in that. Living in balance means having the stability of a grounded body and a clear mind, along with equanimity of heart. When I practice balance I am better able to let go of the bank, and dive into the flow of life.
Today I call on the Spirit of Light to guide me, bring me clarity and open my eyes. What is the Truth that is coming into focus for me now?
Queries:
Where is the flow of life taking you this week or month?
How do you stay present with each moment, and allow yourself to flow with life’s uncertainty?
How do you balance Doing and Being?
Where in your life are you stuck and how can you step away from your comfort zone into the movement that creates flow and balance?
4. Expressing Needs in the World:
On Sundays I often go through this Ongo practice to define the Needs I want to express:
1. Sit for a couple minutes and then invite in three questions, and write the answers in my journal:
- "If I knew this was the last week of my life, what is one Need or quality of life I'd like to be or express more fully?"
- "What's one quality of life I'd like to contribute more to one of my relationships?"
- "Whats one quality of life I'd like to contribute more to my community?"
2. Consider each of these Needs, one at a time, and feel the surge of this energy in my body.
3. Invite myself to take one action each day this week to express the energy of one of these Needs, or bring it alive in my relationships. Be sure it's done in the spirit of invitation, not demand, and that it is specific and doable.
4. After doing the action, be sure to take a minute to visualize the happiness or fulfillment I experience, and extend it out to all beings.
The Needs that come to me today are Contribution, Acceptance, and Authenticity. After sitting with the energy of these, I've listed some ideas for action:
- Contribution: Enrich everyone’s life with my writing and committee work
- Acceptance: Listen and suspend judgment.
- Authenticity:
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