Will God Reach Us, In Time?

There is an inherent risk of creating a blind spot when one believes they have found a particular “way forward” in spiritual realization. So, this post I suppose is a bit of a cautionary tale born of my own recent recognition that my approach to awakening has become a singular focus. That is, in devoting attention to seeing through the illusions of a separate self I have inadvertently excluded recognition to any other force for good working simultaneously for the realization of the truth.

In my personal journey towards nonduality, I have given emphasis to practices like self-inquiry, meditation, and experiential inquiry, all aimed to eliminate the false sense of separation and lead to a direct realization of oneness. These practices, of course, are highly prescribed in the teachings as one is encouraged to delve into the nature of thoughts, emotions, and perceptions so one can gradually uncover the inherent unity of everything and thus realize true happiness and well-being.

The premise for such penetrating approaches is based upon the absolute truth that is ever-present vis-à-vis our limited perception that veils this here-and-now reality. In support of this awakening strategy, there is a plethora of admonitions and aphorisms such as Rumi’s oft-quoted guidance, “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” The teachings emphasize letting go of attachments, seeing through false identifications, and dismantling a personal self-image as a prelude to recognizing one’s true spiritual identity. The Christian mystic, Meister Eckhart echoes this approach with the assertion, "The spiritual life has much more to do with subtraction than with addition." A Course in Miracles contains similar guidance, in fact, all 80 lessons of Part I of the workbook are aimed at “undoing the ego thought system.”

While these approaches are absolutely sound and indeed essential to coming to realize our true nature they can, as they have for me, become sterile and bereft of genuine inspiration. Most recently, I have started to feel overwhelmed by what feels like a herculean task; that I must somehow single-mindedly reverse decades of conditioning if I am to ever enjoy lasting peace in this lifetime. I realized that I have been laboring under the belief that “if it is to be, it is up to me!” Such a heavy and burdensome conclusion only discourages and puts another nail in the coffin of separation. Once again, I yielded to the impulse to assume control and essentially “edge God out.” I had to ask myself, where is the higher power in this approach? Do I not believe that the Absolute Reality, Truth, God is simultaneously revealing and extending itself equal to my own sincere efforts in its direction? By my singular approach, apparently not. But then I stumbled upon this quote by the Sufi mystic, Bastami, and it opened my eyes and my heart to see differently. 'For thirty years I sought God. But when I looked carefully, I found that in reality God was the seeker and I the sought.' It hit me. All along I was waiting for some confirmation that God was active in my spiritual journey but never could sense it because I was too ensconced in my own separation bubble.

Even my favorite parable of Jesus, the prodigal son, was tainted by my overlooking a small but powerful detail. I had thought God, like the Father in the story, was waiting patiently for the son to finally come to himself after not finding satisfaction in the external world and choosing to return home. In that view, God was stationary, and all the activity leading to healing and restoration rested upon the son. But I missed one important point. The text also says, while the son was still a long way off, the father ran out to meet him! Here Jesus is making it clear that God is seeking us and will meet us at the point of our intention to return to him. Elsewhere in scripture, Jesus says, “It is the Father’s good pleasure to have given you the Kingdom.” This has been a revelation and completely enlivening to my spiritual practice. And now I see that my longing for homecoming is not borne of separation and lack but evidence of my connection with God. If we are one with Truth, then when we act and feel separate, we will naturally create a longing for Truth. Thus, the longing in our hearts is not evidence of what’s missing, but rather what is true yet being overlooked. It is not a longing rooted in lack, but rather the Truth calling us home. I can trust this, surrender to it, knowing that as I see through all the illusions of self, I can give these over to the Truth whose pleasure it is to assist in the dismantling process and welcome me home.

I will surely have more to say about this path of dedication and devotion in future posts. For now, I leave you with this lovely prayer:

Father, to Thee I raise my whole being,

a vessel emptied of self. Accept Lord,

this my emptiness, and so fill me with

Thyself - Thy Light, Thy Love, Thy

Life - that these, Thy precious Gifts

may radiate through me and overflow

the chalice of my heart into

the hearts of all with whom I

come in contact this day,

revealing unto them

the beauty of

Thy Joy

and

Wholeness

and

the

serenity

of Thy Peace

which nothing can destroy

Namaste,

Rev. Larry