|
In 'Lotus of the Heart' teachings, openness, spaciousness, receptivity, passive Presence, Contemplation ... refer to one reality. These are different words pointing to Presence, and our natural, graceful way of being in Communion with Presence and one another, with and in Grace. We each have known moments when this openness happened, we could feel it in the body. We, likewise, know the sense of contraction, the closing down of this natural receptivity. In this closing down, like the closing of shudders over a window, we feel the loss of the inflow of Light energies. One could summarize the entire spiritual Path as an opening again and again and again ..., until one is aligned with this natural openness, for this is the nature of our shared Self ~ we knew this, unconsciously, before we were adapted to the prejudices of our social groups. We return to this innocent openness, later, but now conscious of the openness. So, any form of teaching or practice that encourages us not to be open fully to Life, including the joy of being here with others like and unlike us, is to be avoided, a denial of our natural Being. This includes the groups of racial, religious, cultural, and nationalistic superiority that partition themselves off from others, taught in a fear and deprecation of those who are different. All religious teachings of "us" against "them," and a God who will eternally judge "them," is of this stripe of close-mindedness, close-heartedness. Openness leads to a fearless embrace, even a celebration of that unlike me, unlike my group; openness moves to see the oneness in the disguises of diversity, both of other human beings and other life forms. So, openness is purely openness, meaning, not selective in whom or what it receives as part of the Good, the True, the Beautiful. Yet, this openness is not a moral position, openness is the spontaneous welcome of Life to Life. God is pure Welcome.
* * *
to live openness to openness
is to live openness, to be openness
when one realizes "I" is Being being-openness
he or she does not strategize on a how, or plan to be this
certain spiritual practices,
environmental nurturing and natural predisposition
can aid in openness coming forth
but, when openness shines forth, openness simply happens
for openness, in time, already is
before the realization of this openness we are
moments, passing, will arise of openness
this happens when causes and conditions arise
allowing the veils to part
an example, a person has a time of joyous opening
first seeing the newborn in the arms of his beloved wife
many persons have moments of openness in nature
others when in religious worship or meditation practice
this is like a door opening, apparently of its own
yet a wind suddenly blowing was the energy to move the door
persons, then, tasting this natural state of receptivity of Life
mistake this as a form of pleasure
while pleasure is of the body and openness
opens to joy that is not of the body
from this misunderstanding, this longing
one runs from pleasure to pleasure, only momentarily content
mistaking joy as manifesting from before the sense of pleasure
and as deriving from an object attained - be it bodily or mental
when Joyfulness, as well as all Qualities, arise
not from an object, but from openness Itself
* * *
to recount ~ often, when an object is attained, a brief time of
undiluted bliss arises, then dissolves
trying to prolong this blissfulness, as though it is an object, is futile
only adding to the frustration and futility of the pursuit
the pursuit is grounded in the inarticulate knowing
joy, indeed all the Qualities, or native to Self in Love
the brief passages of blissfulness tell us
of what is always present, only hidden
also, this tells us that joy is never in the objects giving rise to joy
but in the openness that allows Presence to shine forth
when the husband sees the baby in the mother's embrace
the joy is sensed after the seeing that parts the veils
this same person can experience the return of the veils
and recall this moment with fondness the rest of his earthly life
why? not merely for the baby in the mother's arms,
the grace of the newly born
but the grace provided a moment of freedom and gladness of Life
where did the joy go? where can Life go?
nowhere... that is why it can appear to return so quickly
* * *
Presence, then, of joy, seeks interaction with objects
objects become means of Presence celebrating Itself ~ Life
the joy that arises as a manifestation of celebration is
one with the joy that is the nature of Presence Itself
openness, then, is open to "within" and "without"
being the means beyond the veils that distract from Life
one, over time, learns discernment of that which encourages openness
until actualizing, as experienced-knowing, one is openness
then, objects are not pursued for temporary moments of joy
the world is engaged as a celebration of Life-as-Joy,
which is a celebration of oneself-with-Life
the bliss, then, of seeing a newborn or
celebrating an esteemed accomplishment
this is the same gladness, through the same openness ~
only degrees of intensity, from subtle to gross, differ
* * *
as one is engaged in openness, openness stabilizes,
he or she, then, grows into the knowing of a quiet, subtle bliss
this joy manifests as a lack of need for the more gross forms of happiness
one, in this process, grows drawn to quiet, stillness, withdrawal,
inner contentment over outward excitations
one will notice pronounced forms of joyful excitation will still arise,
but not as often as before,
and quickly dissolve back into subtle bliss
(the body, over-stimulated in modern cultures,
needs time to adjust to this more subtle grace,
at first the loss of the pronounced joy, as well as
mere emotive states of pleasure, may feel like a loss,
like something is wrong, something needs to be regained)
* * *
all I have intimated here is possible, for ~
one is openness, the expression of One,
being the openness of One being open
this is our natural Being
moving object to object, experience to experience
openness to openness
so, "The Son of Man has no where to lay his head down"
and "Come, follow me"
*(C) Copyright 2018. Brian K. Wilcox. Photography by Brian K. Wilcox. Move cursor over photos for more details. Quotations "The Son of Man..." and "Come, follow ..." are from the Gospels of the Holy Bible, the latter words of Jesus to his disciples, when calling them to follow him.
|
