Sunday Contemplation # 36 Everyday Words For Infinite Possibilities

How To Speak In A World That Seems Deaf To The Possibilities

This image of an Aussie Galah comes from Bob Neville. I hope you will have a look at Bob’s substack site for more pictures and a broad array of articles and insights.

• This Week’s Quote

• A G’day

• This Sunday’s Contemplation

• A Guided Meditation

• Grateful For

• This Week’s Community Chat

• Upcoming Activities

This Week’s Quote

Only to the extent we expose ourselves over and over to annihilation can that which is indestructible be found in us.

Pema Chödrön. (American Buddhist Nun)

A G’day

Hello Everyone. I wish you the very best in this coming week.

I, like many of you I think, have been facing the struggle of what seem very uncertain times in our world. I am looking for that middle way, or stable centre, where I can maintain a measured hope internally, remain loving and open in my relationships, and contribute authentically in the work I offer the world and the relationships important in doing so. All while not turning away from the uncertainty.

My introverted self calls out for a cave to live in… please! My socially responsible self looks for a way I can make a difference for good. They are not always good roommates.

What I am working on personally is to dig deep enough internally that my hope and resilience is not paper thin and built on what I wish it could be. I am pushed to open inner doors that are sometimes harder to face, but where the roots of a life well lived can take a deeper hold. David Whyte calls it “start close in”. Those experiences have helped me reach a place where I can take part in each day with some equanimity, not by ignoring the tides of uncertainty, but by recognising that which is most fundamental about myself and others is not defined by or washed away by the uncertainty.

In these times we can be hard to see what to do to make a difference. It is often unclear, but who we front up as in our lives each day determines how we will act, not just on a given day, but when we come to the day we are face to face with the action calling us to make a difference.

My commitments to be a good human, good husband, good dad, authentic friend and business partner and supporter in my community, are important to me. We each know those things that matter to us most. They can remain so, no matter the tides. The tides may of course impact they way I live and express my values. They need not impact my essential values themselves.

I too know the feeling of despair that sucks away at our power to front up as we want to be. The Afsluitdijk and the other dikes of the Netherlands recognise the threats at play, deals with them, and allows citizens to get on and live their lives. Amazing engineering. Our inner work is the engineering required to protect our capacity to keep going.

Today’s Sunday contemplation is connected to this search for a language to explain this inner work. I offer it to you for your consideration.

I wish you the peace that is your birthright.

Thank you,

This Sunday’s Contemplation

Everyday Words For Infinite Possibilities. How To Speak In A World That Seems Deaf To The Possibilities

My experience leads me to the view that we, and all things that exist, arise from One Consciousness. Our dualistic world is a time and space manifestation of that Non Dual Consciousness. The nature of that Consciousness is, inter alia, infinite and eternal peace, love and wisdom. We are an inseparable part of that Consciousness and therefore share that fundamental nature. That nature is our essential centre. Our evolutionary destiny is peace.

That is my one paragraph summary of what it took me several decades of fumbling and missteps to arrive at. Plus or minus some centuries of evolution.

I worded that paragraph in terms that I think you, dear reader and subscribers, could relate to. You and I know a lot of people, who, if you were to share that paragraph would say…what???*&#

Here is my problem.

I think something this important should be the subject of everyday life and the moment by moment interactions of our lives. One of the problems that contributes to such a central idea not penetrating the experience of day to day life is we don’t seem to have enough accessible language to allow the experience entre into how we interact in what we call the “ordinary” activities of our lives, like work. I am not saying you must agree with my language, or even my conclusions or assertions. I am saying that we so often encase these fundamental concepts in unreachable or even elitist language.

I can hear you now…it is hard to find everyday words for something that cannot be captured by logic or words. I get it! Even God has this problem! “I Am that I Am” said God to Moses… What?

The other barrier to an accessible language is the dominant materialistic viewpoint of our culture. We are struggling to find words to describe a Consciousness that is primary to all that is, in a cultural context that says matter is primary and consciousness is the “hard problem” that somehow arises from the brains of humans.

Where to on this problem?

Please relax, I am not going to come up with list of what I think are the most appropriate words. But… I am going to share an approach to this problem that I hope might be helpful.

Please understand that my thoughts are based on the following biases:

* That the survival of our species depends on our recognition that we arise from consciousness and not matter. It is not just our happiness that is at stake here.

* That therefore it is worth speaking to others about our experience in ways that can move them to consider this perspective carefully.

*There is risk involved in showing who you really are. Perfection is not required, just authenticity.

* Recognising the divine origins of all humans lies at the foundation of our values and actions.

So here are my thoughts on an approach to the use of accessible words:

• Actions speak loudest. Whatever words you want to use, none of them will have much value if those you speak to don’t feel safe with you, or can’t find a way to trust you. Therefore act in ways that are trustworthy and safe. I am not preaching at you here. I am stating the obvious, that platform, from whose most lofty of heights I have fallen on a regular basis.

• Run your own self jargon test. If we are talking football…go for it with the jargon🙂. If we are talking about things transcendent, avoid jargon at all costs. The focus of the words is to reach the hearer. They will switch off at the first piece of jargon. Extreme example. I rarely start a business meeting with…”let us proceed down the pathless path to the field of understanding”. But I might say…”let’s take a moment to recognise each person here, and our shared effort to find the best way forward”. You might say to me…I can’t even imagine saying the second one of those in a work situation. At the right time, when you are respected by the group, risk it.

• Listen. People will only hear what you have to say about things that are important to you, if they are first “listened out” speaking to you about what is important to them. Listen, and then what words you use will be much less important than the heart with which you have spoken them, by listening first. This is not a one conversation thing. My experience, in a workplace, it might take years.

• Find the moments to be your most authentic self. I am assuming if you have read this far we likely share a lot in common regarding the importance of a spiritual perspective. (If you are not one of those I really commend you for your openness and endurance). My experience is that most people, even in work environments, eventually, when they feel safe enough, want to share with you what is important to them. What is important to ALL humans, even if their path to expressing it to you is really circuitous, is love, meaning, family and community. If you are ready to listen long enough, and your heart is focused on their happiness, they will speak to you about these things.

• The point is not conversion. The point here is not to find the words to convince anyone of your point of view as the “right” path. Believe me I have been there. It is much much simpler than that. There are many many many paths to awakening to the essence of what it is to be human. If I am correct in my perspective that the essential nature of each human is aligned with the essential nature of the Consciousness from which we all arise, then at some point in our lives, we will be primed to experience that. Your love for those you speak with, and the words that come out of you from that place of love, may just be that moment for that person. Or not.

• A language in common. Religions have prospered often because they create a common language of worship, and experience that give people a sense of safety and common understanding. There is a growing trend away from embracing institutionalised religion, towards a discovery of an authentic inner experience of consciousness. I am not here to criticise the communities of the religious…I see great authenticity and beauty in many of those communities. But I am here to say that there is a growing number of people who are not ready to accept the language of institutions, but genuinely seek the awareness of which we speak here. Our words in sharing our experience of what is central to our lives are important.

We are faced with profound uncertainty and suffering in our world. There appears to be widespread and existential blindness to the sacred, and deafness to the voices of love, kindness and divinity.

Luckily I think those inspired ones, the Bee Gees (Australians I might add 😜) were not quite right when they wrote:

You think that I don't even mean
A single word I say
It's only words and words are all I have
To take your heart away

In fact we have more than just words. We have the essential nature of love. From that place we are called to choose our words to reach the hearts and minds of others. It is therefore important to choose wisely, but more important to keep returning to love before we speak.

Thank you for reading this. See you next week I hope.

I wish you peace.

A Guided Meditation

I have received quite a bit of feedback that a guided meditation connected to the topic of these contemplations has been appreciated. When appropriate I will provide one each week. This week’s guided meditation is called The Words Of Love. I will post it in. a few days. (You can catch some other meditations here if you like).

Grateful For

I include this section because I found that when I read or hear about what others are grateful for, I tend to think more about what I am grateful for. Feel free to share what you are grateful for in the comments. I think it is a beautiful service to others.

At the end of our road are a beautiful couple who have been farming their land for more than 70 years. He is 90, she 85. They are still working their land today. I stopped to have a chat recently, standing at their front gate. At that moment a couple of brothers very well known in the district for talking and talking and talking, also pulled up. My first impulse was to escape. I did not. The brothers were true to form, and a half hour later only ended the conversation because their cattle were acting up. After they left I commented that those brothers are “hard work sometimes”. My neighbour’s response touched me deeply. He said…”yes they are often a pain, and you wish you could escape. But…if you ever really need help, they will be the first ones to come to your aid. A few boring conversations are a small price”. I am grateful for the heart of one wiser than I.

This Week’s Community Chat

The theme in the chat this week is:

What is your experience of finding the right words to describe your most important inner discoveries. Do you find “ears to hear”?

Or, as always, feel free to share what is in your heart.

Thank you.

Upcoming Activities

Please stay tuned.

Should you want to message me directly, please feel free to do so.