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Welcome to OneLife Ministries. This site is designed to lead you prayerfully into a heart experience of Divine Presence, Who is Love. While it focuses on Christian teaching, I hope persons of varied faiths will find inspiration here. Indeed, "God" can be whatever image helps us trust in the Sacred, by whatever means Grace touches us each. Please share this ministry with others, and please return soon. There is a new offering daily. And to be placed on the daily OneLife email list, to request notifications of new writings or submit prayer requests, write to briankwilcox@yahoo.com .
Blessings,
Brian Kenneth Wilcox MDiv, MFT, PhD
Interspiritual Pastor-Teacher, Author, Workshop Leader,
Spiritual Counselor, and Chaplain.
Brian encourages support of the 4-Star Christian organization Compassion, which supports children worldwide; see www.compassion.com .
Scripture
3 Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
*Jeremiah 31.3 (NLT)
2Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
*Galatians 6.2
Prayer
May the aspirations You have birthed in me to be One with All, be realized within me, in Love. Grace me with friends of like soul, and give me grace to let go of any relationship, and gracefully, if that relationship has served its purpose or is no longer in my best interest in evolving spiritually. Above all, may all I do in regard to any other creature, be done in a faithfulness and goodwill for all creatures. Amen.
Key Definitions
1) Spiritual Friend - a person who is close to you spiritually and is an inspiration to you and you to him or her in your spiritual unfolding.
2) Spiritual Intimate - a person Spirit brings to you who shares with you at an intimate level the Spiritual Journal; this is a deeper, more close relationship than the first.
Song
Before proceeding to the Spiritual Teaching section, I offer you a request to paste the following address into your browser, and listen to the Hollies, “He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother.” Listen to the words, the song that pertains to our theme for today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1KtScrqtbc
Spiritual Teaching
A premise for this writing in the interdependence of all Life forms, or Being, in the One, or Divine Presence. Mystics of all great faiths have affirmed our essential Union. The Christian faith, indeed, can come close to sounding like, say the Vedantist who says “I AM That,” or the Buddhist who says, “Emptiness is Form, Form is Emptiness.”
The famed English author of The Cloud of Unknowing writes in the lesser known The Book of Privy Counsel (Ed., William Johnston): “He [God] is your being and in him, you are what you are, not only because he is the cause and being of all that exists, but because he is your cause and the deep center of your being.” He proceeds, “And thus, also, he is one in all things and all things are one in him. For I repeat: all things exist in him; he is the being of all.” And he says for the reader to look up joyfully and speak to the Divine, in words or desire:
That which I am, I offer to you,O Lord, for you are it entirely.
Therefore, we are seeking, in Spirit, to manifest Spirit, or Spirit to manifest through us, our life as a harmonious work of Art. And Art is about the relationships among, about any one element transcending itself and finding itself more whole in the complex array of other elements, all to-gether making a Whole. Spirituality is Art, the Art of Spirit, the Art of Your True Self:
As Kandinsky put it, the aim [of art] is to “proclaim the reign of Spirit … to proclaim the light from light, the flowing light of the Godhead,” all seen, not with the eye of flesh or the eye of mind, but with the eye of contemplation, and then rendered into artistic material form as a reminder of, and a call to, that extraordinary vision.
*Ken Wilber. The Marriage of Sense and Soul.
If we are to be this Art, then, we must be a proclamation of Spirit, and Its Way. We cannot do this at the level of the personal, but only transpersonal. Within the transpersonal, the aspirations of Love given us are realized in a breadth, intensity, and compassion we could not realize until we moved from the individual and group to the Universal. This is a reason all the preaching and teaching about universal Love will never lead to a realization of such in any person, however much he or she believes the truth and dignity of the aspiration.
* * *
A group of holy men were searching for the road to paradise. Over the years, all but one man died on the search. The one sage remaining kept traveling and had as his companion a stray dog. The holy man and dog shared food and water - the little they could find. They helped each other by giving encouragement during each other's discouraging times.
After several years, the sage and dog came to the gate of paradise. The porter greeted the wearied man. He invited the holy sage in. But he refused to allow the dog in. The sage looked at paradise and, then, looked at the dog. He recalled how much the two had been through together, the dangers they had faced, and the distance they had journeyed. After a brief time, he looked at the porter. He said, "Sir, paradise is not worth betraying this companion who has remained such a faithful friend."
The sage and dog began walking down the mountain, away from paradise. The dog revealed itself as the god Dharma. He thanked the sage for his friendship and loyalty. Then, the god spoke, "My friend, for your loving faithfulness, I grant you admission to paradise."
* * *
Caroline Myss, in Entering the Castle, shares on a meaning of the above story from the Hindu Mahabharata.
Dharma is ... everyday practice of spiritual values, so, in other words, the spiritual journey requires a soul companion to help you both with bliss and with difficulty. God is in this spiritual companion and on the quest with you.
Myss defines spiritual companion as more than a friend. The companion is a spiritual partner, relating to you spirit to spirit in Spirit. This person reflects back to you your highest aspirations, and you do the same for him or her. There is a mutual entrustment of soul to soul, and there you meet in Spirit, in a Sharing beyond only friendship or family – or, at least, of a different Quality. You may have one or more of these companions at any one time.
I will speak, however, of spiritual friendships, too, not just spiritual companionships, or spiritual intimates. Spiritual friends are needed and essential for us, too. While we may have one or more spiritual intimates, we need spiritual friends to share life with, to learn to love together with. These persons are not let into the inner sanctuary of our souls, but they share a courtyard of Grace with us.
* * *
The need, even necessity for, spiritual friendship and spiritual intimates is built into the Nature of the Kosmos. We are interdependent beings; to deny this is to deny our being One with All. Science is unveiling for us what the mystics of all religions have told us from eons ago:
Humans are concentrated amalgams of the entire universe. Based upon the best evolutionary science available to us, we are biologically kin with all of creation. When we wake up to this, we begin to love all creation from the inside out. We naturally participate in the repair of our planet by cherishing our kinship.
*Canadian Memorial Church & Centre for Peace. See www.canadianmemorial.org .
A person does not have to believe in evolutionary science to affirm our oneness. Physics demonstrates the same, without a person having to espouse evolution.
* * *
Not only to affirm this Oneness as belief, but to know it as Living Fact inwardly, so live it outwardly, we must experience a transpersonal level of consciousness. We may have a moment or moments of post-egoic and post-group consciousness. But to live it consistently, we must become transpersonal be-ing. We cannot live what we do not become, what we are not. We must integrate all lower levels of self development into a level of knowingness, or realization, that transcends - by enveloping into a large whole all previous wholes - the individual and group, both of which dominate most postmodern thinking and religion.
* * *
Therefore, as a person moves into transpersonal experiences and, finally, transpersonal being in Being, he or she has a like capacity for union with another being, living here in the earth dimension - close or at a distance - or elsewhere. That is, capacity correlates with being; one is what he or she has become, nothing more, nothing less.
Likewise, a person's definition of faithfulness changes in the transpersonal. What might have been considered faithfulness at a personal level, may be considered infidelity at a transpersonal level of being.
Furthermore, there are two consequences to be alert to. First, as you move into a more in-depth being in Spirit, you will sense yourself drawn to persons at a like level. Second, as you move into higher expressions of Being, you may feel yourself not attracted to some person you once were, and you may find yourself losing friends or loyalties. While like attracts like, the opposite is true, also.
So, loyalty need not be a staid matter. Sometimes, we need to let a person go out of our lives, by the other's choice, or our own. There is no need to feel guilt about this; indeed, so acting may be loving.
Likewise, we need to be wise in choosing both our spiritual friends and spiritual intimates. I have found many persons immediately attracted to me, due to my spirituality. But they cannot sustain the intensity of the experience. So, to most persons, I hide most of the intensity, experience, and thought. And I have learned to be more careful in whom I allow in my inner sanctum, or to be spiritual friends. To most friends I am friend and, to some, a Teacher. To a few spiritual friends. To almost no one more. I learned these lessons the hard way, and now am hyper-alert to discern to what degree I trust a person in spiritual matters of my Heart.
* * *
Ultimately, however, we are created, at whatever level of our consciousness, for sharing ourselves. A noble virtue is the gift to remain true to another person. The Divine is expressing Grace through you toward that person, you are the conduit of the Light into the world, to each person you remain faithful to and by each act of loving-kindness. One moment of loving Loyalty is the Face of God.
I believe in the capacity, as part of our divine Nature, to reach unforeseen levels of communion with other beings. We receive the Communion and Companionship we are prepared to receive. I believe this is a "law" of the Universe, of God.
Recently, I spoke of this capacity for us to live in peace on this planet. I got a rebuttal. Here is my first statement, followed by the rebuttal by a person who disagreed:
I: I do not agree with the false dualism between "man" and "world." If we were beings of peace, this world would be a heaven to us. Heaven is here, within the and expressed through matter that makes up the world, our universe. To have the mind of Love, Compassion, Grace - this is be-ing Heaven."
Respondent:Sir, man is certainly not a 'being of peace' and to expect him to be so is tantamount to being rather naive. To cause man to act peacefully one will have to curtail his freedom (because of which he commits violence). And since no one has the power to do so, how can this world be heaven?
Now, I offer my response to this lady, in which I clarify she has not truly heard what I wrote, and does not have the faith in the human potential I do.
I:Obviously, you speak of a different freedom than I do. 2. I did not say I expected "man" to act peacefully. Freedom is not why persons create violence. Lack of freedom is. If laws were efficient to curtail violence, then, we have utterly failed, and law, too, in that regard. Law can make slaves, but not free persons.
Oddly, I went back to visit this blog group purportedly devoted to world peace, and my original comment was removed. I noted the removal, and removed myself from the group. My rebutter's affirmation of the statement remained up. Apparently, they do not want anyone posting a belief in the divine potential of the human person.
* * *
I urge you not to hold tightly to the persons who have been disloyal to you. I know, by much personal experience, such betrayal can hurt deeply. But forgiveness is not pardoning betrayal or allowing yourself to be abused. Forgiveness is letting the disloyalty go, so you can move on in Grace and leave the other to the Grace of God. Love is freely received and honored, or there is no possibility of Love, regardless of how much you try.
So, at any time in life, we can look around and be grateful for the persons whom Spirit has brought into our lives. Each one sent to us is for a Purpose. Be conscientious of ways, large or small, you can express loyalty to each one. Create with each one a circularity of Grace, a Love transcending you both and lifting you together into the Bliss of the Light.
* * *
A final note is a caution about the arising of eros in spiritual relationships. I had a brief friendship with a woman. When we were only friends, she began pursuing me romantically. I resisted. During our friendship, I had some powerful experiences of Spirit with her. One evening I had one of the most powerful manifestations of Spirit I had ever had with anyone or alone. Yet, eventually, I let my interest in this dear person take on a romantic turn. I agreed to date her. This did not work. When I saw it would not work, I pulled away quickly from the romantic. She pursued more. Eventually, she cut off communication. I was saddened that we lost a wonderful, spiritual connection, after trying to transfer it to a romantic relationship.
Two persons who are close spiritually and attracted to each other physically need to be discerning about whether to try to transfer that intimacy to a romantic-eros expression. There will always be some level of eros when persons are spiritually intimates. Why? Spirit is sexy; Spirit is erotic. Indeed, eros can be very powerful between two persons who are close spiritually, but that energy needs to be handled with care and discernment. Erotic energy can be channeled in "non-erotic" directions.
The higher motive in spiritual friendship and spiritual intimacy is not romance or genital conjugality, but the over-all spiritual emergence of each other. Therefore, that Purpose needs to be honored with diligence. Of course, wonderful if Spirit blesses the relationship to be expressed, also, in a union of eros.
Responding
1)Look over your life. Who has been an Intimate? What did this person(s) bring to your spiritual Journey? Who has been a spiritual friend? What did this person(s) bring to your spiritual Emergence?
2)Have you lost friendships due to your spiritual becoming? Share, if you wish, what that was like for you.
3)Have you ever enjoyed spiritual friendship or spiritual intimacy with someone whom you had a romantic relationship with? What was that like for you?
4)Is there any betrayal, disloyalty, you need to release? What do you want to do about that?
5)What qualities spiritually do you have that you feel can help another person who needs spiritual encouragement?
6) Do you have the spiritual support of others that you need? If not, how might you proceed to get that?
* * *
*OneLife Ministries is a ministry of Brian Kenneth Wilcox, SW Florida. Brian lives a vowed life and with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, with friends and under a vow of simplicity. Brian is an ecumenical-interspiritual leader, who chooses not to identify with any group, and renounces all titles of sacredness that some would apply to him, but seeks to be open to how Christ manifests in the diversity of Christian denominations and varied religious-spiritual traditions. He affirms that all spiritual paths lead ultimately back to Jesus Christ. He is Senior Chaplain for the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, Punta Gorda, FL.
*Brian welcomes responses to his writings or submission of prayer requests at briankwilcox@yahoo.com . Also, Brian is on Facebook: search Brian Kenneth Wilcox.
*Contact the above email to book Brian for preaching, Spiritual Direction, retreats, workshops, animal blessing services, house blessings, or other spiritual requests. You can order his book An Ache for Union from major booksellers.
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