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In the last Lotus offering, I wrote, "One could inquire, 'Yet, how can one live with joy and not feel this joy arising at all times? Where is the joy when I do not feel joyful?'" I, also, referred to the "How?" of preparing the ground for the fruit of the Spirit, or the Qualities. I will touch upon both of these matters, today, hopefully as inspiration for your engagement in spiritual growth and relationship with the Source, however you refer to that Truth.
* * *
A black hole that was so powerful, so strong.
It still visits, perhaps as a reminder to make
the choice to turn toward the light, toward the marvelous
hues of healing, goodness, peace, and joy.
I've seen them, felt them, though they often dance along a
boundary long ago defined by things I cannot control.
A gray, viscous boundary being challenged by the
ebbing and flowing of my searching soul, my wondering spirit.
*Sarah Carlson. "Inner Prism." The Radiance of Change.
* * *
observe these two
"joy arising" and "feel joyful"
joy arising means
joy is present or could not arise
we say, "The Sun came out from behind the clouds"
the Sun was present, the clouds were present
clouds moved, not the Sun
the Sun does not go anywhere to move from behind
the Sun cannot be absent ~
even at night, the Sun appears reflected by the Moon
so, with Joy, being impersonal and not emotive
in the absence of the experience of Joy, Joy is present
this pertains to "feel joyful"
Joy is not merely a feeling , but before feeling
the Sun coming out from behind the clouds is
witness to the Sun being present regardless of being
hidden by clouds ~ "hidden" does not mean absent
each moment one feels Joy
that is affirming Joy may have been hidden, but not absent
this is true of all spiritual Qualities
so, let us take Love as example
if you love someone, you do not always have
a conscious feeling of this love
so, someone you love from long ago you meet by surprise
you feel this love for resurface, for you never lost that love, it never left
that love was as fully present in the lack of feeling as with feeling
the love being before the sense of and conscious awareness of it
the reason Love seems to come and go is
Love does not go anywhere, at all
the "come and go" is a natural experience with Love
we are not designed to feel love, be aware of love, without interruption
the Contemplative way is to connect with the Source of Qualities
Qualities being always-present, for the nature of Grace (i.e. the Source)
over time, engaging an intentional spiritual path
one is invited to learn to sense a relationship with the Source
one is drawn more into the Qualities
through Grace drawing into Grace
one is sensitized to ever-more
subtle sense of the Qualities
and this sensitization allows a sense of Qualities being known
even in the absence of feelings of the Qualities
indeed, the First Taste of a Quality
is prior to any arising of the Quality in bodily sensation
the sagacious way is, then,
a way of non-dependence on changing feeling states
when not dependent on, so identifying with, love as a bodily-felt state
one is taught the nature of Love Itself
if one inquires, "How?"
"How?" logically implies something to do ~
whether one calls this a means, a practice, religious or spiritual
as a generalization, one engages a wisdom path
the obstacles blocking sensitivity to the present Qualities
undergoing transformation, not negation
Buddhists, for example, refer to subtle, imprinted residues (samskaras)
in the mind-body, emotive blockages to the Qualities
hence, a wisdom path is not about getting anything
but subtracting what obscures the expression of Presence
returning to Joy, as one is drawn into the Source, so Joy
one may live with Joy, yet have moments where Joy is blocked
this blocking of Joy expressing occurs
in a context that calls forth a residual obscuration
most persons know of being aware of Love for someone
then, he or she doing something that brings up a past hurt ~
that hurt is an obscuration, the Love appears
to be lost, to go into hiding
one can work with the obscuration best when knowing it does not entail
a loss; such as, losing love, losing joy, losing peace ...
I am not, however, merely speaking of a psychological phenomenon
only of Qualities prior to affect,
and negative affect can block the experience of a Quality
over time, one becomes more aware of when he or she feels
a "loss" of Quality, accepts it nonjudgmentally,
and, thereby, this lessens the power of the obscuration
Qualities, as arising, then, are related to spirituality
as including healing at an emotional level of being
we do not need healing spiritually
for the spiritual Aspect cannot be less than already whole, complete
this spiritual Aspect, before and beyond body and mind
is the medium of Qualities coming from the Source into bodily awareness ~
spirit is the 'bridge' of Spirit
likewise, one is wise to know that a spiritual path
will expose samskaras at increasing subtle levels
this is like saying, by walking toward the Light
one will see more and more clearly the darkness
the principle here is to embrace lovingly these meetings with darkness
by loving darkness, darkness is transformed
essential to preparing a context for the Qualities
is compassion for the fallibility inherent to humanness
so, for today, taking joy, when feeling joyless
accept that as an expression of humanness, brokenness ~
we are all, to some extent, humanly broken
we are whole spirits
dressed in un-whole bodies and minds
therefore, in nonjudgmental receptivity to the felt-absence of a Quality
healing occurs ~
for in Light, all is transformed into Light
*(C) Copyright 2018. Brian K. Wilcox. Photography by Brian K. Wilcox. Move cursor over photos for more details.
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