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'The Kennebec River - Bath, ME'
A group of confessing Christians, regular attenders of their church, were waiting at the gate to enter Heaven. The angel admitting persons kept ignoring them, while letting in persons they were surprised would be given admission. One chose to represent the group. He walked over to the angel, saying, "With all due respect, we've be waiting a long time, and you keep bypassing us." The angel replied, "What is it all you are waiting for?" "Of course," said the man, "to be allowed into Heaven. We're all Christians, you know." Replied the angel, "Sorry, you are not going to enter Heaven." "What do you mean?! Why?," lamented the man. Said the angel, "Tell your friends you all are not being admitted to Heaven, for you lived to get into Heaven. Those prepared for Heaven are those who do not live so to get into Heaven."
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When traveling to Delhi, the Sufi sheik (spiritual teacher), Jalaluddin Tabrizi (i.e., Rumi), passed through Kahtwal. He asked the people whether there was a mystic there. There was not, but the people told of the son of the Qazi, Fariduddin, who was generally considered mad. The young Baba Farid was always doing devotions and prayers behind the mosque. Jalaluddin wanted to meet him.
On the way, someone presented a pomegranate to the sheik. Jalaluddin took it as a present for Baba Farid. Baba Farid was fasting and did not eat it. Later, Jalaluddin found a pomegranate seed on the ground. He, too, was fasting. So, he ate it after the fast.
The seed caused a sudden spiritual illumination in the sheik. He lamented he had not kept the whole pomegranate, for it would have given him more spiritual blessings - so he thought.
Later, Jalaluddin told his spiritual guide what happened. The latter remarked, "All the spiritual blessing was in that one seed. It was destined for you and reached you. There was nothing in the rest of the fruit."
Now, the Chisti Sufis eat the entire pomegranate. This practice assures them they do not miss the seed of blessing.
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The one seed is the center around which this story moves. And what of this one seed? Why such a minimalist view?
This story reminds us of the way Grace works. Common sense would think, as did Jalaluddin, the more of the pomegranate, the more blessing. He regretted not getting more blessing by having kept the pomegranate all to himself. He did not see he might receive more blessing from one seed, less from the whole fruit. He was thinking as he had been taught to think - the Way entails unthinking how we have been taught to think.
The sheik's guide had to redirect his thought, reminding him Grace works in just the way it worked. The seed, containing the whole blessing, found its way to Jalaluddin - this has been called historically "divine providence." The Way is not a way of consumerism. Grace is not a matter of mathematics. God is not the cosmic calculator. Spirit does not offer us a spiritual supermarket, where we can invest more to get more.
USC Philosophy Professor, Christian speaker, and writer in spiritual formation, the late Dallas Willard, used a term for the institutional church's typical mentality: consumer Christianity. He wrote this is "just a matter of receiving benefits from Christ" (www.dwillard.org). In this, "Salvation is just heaven." Willard said this is the "'default' system of Christian identity in the Western world." We are in, got a diploma. Hurray!
Trungpa Rinpoche, the late Tibetan Buddhist lama, used another term for this consumeristic mentality. He popularized the term spiritual materialism. Here one has a quid pro quo idea of spirituality. One invests and expects a corresponding return.
The one seed wisdom differs from spiritual consumerism, the spiritual materialism. We are not to think of the merit we get from our practice. We walk, that is all. We do not think, for example, "I will put in so much effort and will get back what is due me." There is nothing due to you or anyone. No, we walk, step-by-step. That is enough. We are not 'doing business' with Spirit. As Shunryu Suzuki said about ways to arrive at understanding Zen, "The best way is just to sit" (Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind). The best thing is to walk the Way daily without thought of gain, and thinking more will get you more. One should be content with the plainness of the walk, not spicing it up with anything extra in a bargain to get extra. Too much spicing up is happening in the spiritual supermarket, where persons can wheel-and-deal, so they think. It will not work.
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This humbleness is exemplified in the Gospel of Luke 7.7-10 (ESV). Jesus speaks -
Will any one of you who has a servant (lit., "slave") plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, "Come at once and recline at table"? Will he not rather say to him, "Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink"? Does he thank the servant ("slave") because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, "We are unworthy servants ("slaves"); we have only done what was our duty."
While I do not recommend you using the word "unworthy" for yourself and do oppose any form of slavery, the point is direct. To walk the Way is doing what we ought to be doing. We cannot turn this into a let's-make-a-deal, a transactional relationship with Life. We do not engage the Way to be treated specially; we do so to do our rightful duty, we do so for we want to do so. We find walking, step-by-step, itself is blessing.
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Yes, blessing will come to us in fidelity to our wisdom path. Yet, while we trust in the Way, we have no idea of how blessing will arise. We trust our devotion will bring blessing to others and us too. Still, we do not hold any tit-for-tat in our minds. We trust blessing arises as we posture ourselves to receive grace. And the best way to posture our heart for fruition is to live the Way, welcoming Grace to bless in Grace's manner - not ours's -, and blessing may arise in surprising ways.
We discover, finally, there is not the Way we walk and the blessing we receive from walking. Rather, the Way is the blessing, and walking is the blessing, and blessing is the Way and the walking and all who do the walking. Way, walking, you, and blessing are one, each participating in the wholeness of Life. So, you can say, "Where I am, the Way is, and where I am and the Way is, blessing is."
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We do not find blessing, blessing finds us. The matter for us is to prepare ourselves for the blessing. The highest way of doing this is to prepare ourselves for blessing without thinking of preparing ourselves for blessing. So, whether you feel blessed or not, those feelings will not deter you. When feeling blessed or not blessed, you count fulfilling your inner summons blessing itself. In fact, not doing anything to be blessed is the direct way of blessing.
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2021
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse. The book is a collection of poems based on mystical traditions, especially Christian and Sufi, with extensive notes on the teachings and imagery in the poetry.
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