Today I was thinking about the idea that, in order to solve a problem you have to "own" it first. For example, many say that in order to forgive abusive parents, we have to claim the abuse.
I'm not so sure. It is possible that claiming or owning or dwelling in the anger, abuse, frustration, resentment, or other negative emotion justifies more and more self-absorption. Ernest Holmes said it it is simply not necessary to define and resolve the source of our mistaken thinking; what is necessary is to begin to think differently. So if someone has resentment toward his or her parents, it is necessary to pour in thoughts of love and forgiveness. It is not necessary to dwell on the source of the resentment.
If a person is in lack, it is, I think, a mistake to dwell on why the lack exists. Instead, it is important to develop gratitude for all the person does have and to open the mind to the possibility -- the certainty of more. Holmes also reminds us that we don't get what we say we want, we get what we think about all the time. So thinking about the problem, in the guise of "claiming" or "owning" it just perpetuates it.
Instead, think about what you want. Focus your mind's eye on the good result you are bringing into your life. Affirm that it is yours, that you deserve it, and that it is on its way right now.
Have a positive day!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
What's Virtue Anyway?
In a recent article, Sakyong Mipham discussed courage from the standpoint of vision. Having a vision for your life that incorporates our Basic Goodness, our Inner Divinity, creates bravery of a certain kind. The bravery he refers to is the bravery that lets us engage always in virtue.
Some people think being present to life means doing whatever comes up in front of you. That is not enough. We must address whatever comes up in front of us, moment by moment, with virtue. The virtue I am speaking of is not a simple thing; it involves being clear enough to judge quickly what the situation of that moment requires and then doing it. It involves knowing ourselves well enough to be able to see through any deception we might throw onto the "screen" in an attempt to justify something less than virtuous behavior. It involves the strength to act with virtue, to do the right thing, regardless of that deception.
"Deception" is often synonymous with "justification." We justify things like overspending, gluttony, selfishness and self-centeredness all the time, without even knowing it. In fact, we often simply do not even see that we are justifying. That is what we can throw up in front of what is presented. If we act according to our justification, we often take away from ourselves and others. That is not virtue; virtue means looking at the situation with clarity and wisdom.
"Virtue" is not something we can glean from a list of terms, although such lists can help us in the beginning to identify certain virtuous actions. Virtue means being true to our inner nature -- the Divine that each of us truly is. It means acting as if we truly ARE the Presence of Spirit on earth.
While the Divine is unknowable, there are certain things we can be sure of: God/Spirit/Universal Intelligence is rooted in Life and Love; therefore any action that takes away Life from another, or from ourselves, is not Divine in nature. Any action that is unloving is not Divine in nature. This all gets complicated in situations where we have to quickly balance the consequences: for example, if we see a bus heading for an elderly person and a child, and we can only push one out of the way, which do we choose?
This kind of decision making is always an individual matter -- based upon our knowledge of our self and our Self and the clarity we gain from our spiritual practice. Any time we act from our Inner Goodness, our True Self, we will act with virtue and wisdom.
This is why spiritual practice is so important -- it is what lets us know ourselves thoroughly and be able to anticipate the justifications and deceptions we carry around with us. It is what lets us experience our Basic Goodness. And once we get a taste of that inner truth, virtue becomes our very nature.
Blessings!
Some people think being present to life means doing whatever comes up in front of you. That is not enough. We must address whatever comes up in front of us, moment by moment, with virtue. The virtue I am speaking of is not a simple thing; it involves being clear enough to judge quickly what the situation of that moment requires and then doing it. It involves knowing ourselves well enough to be able to see through any deception we might throw onto the "screen" in an attempt to justify something less than virtuous behavior. It involves the strength to act with virtue, to do the right thing, regardless of that deception.
"Deception" is often synonymous with "justification." We justify things like overspending, gluttony, selfishness and self-centeredness all the time, without even knowing it. In fact, we often simply do not even see that we are justifying. That is what we can throw up in front of what is presented. If we act according to our justification, we often take away from ourselves and others. That is not virtue; virtue means looking at the situation with clarity and wisdom.
"Virtue" is not something we can glean from a list of terms, although such lists can help us in the beginning to identify certain virtuous actions. Virtue means being true to our inner nature -- the Divine that each of us truly is. It means acting as if we truly ARE the Presence of Spirit on earth.
While the Divine is unknowable, there are certain things we can be sure of: God/Spirit/Universal Intelligence is rooted in Life and Love; therefore any action that takes away Life from another, or from ourselves, is not Divine in nature. Any action that is unloving is not Divine in nature. This all gets complicated in situations where we have to quickly balance the consequences: for example, if we see a bus heading for an elderly person and a child, and we can only push one out of the way, which do we choose?
This kind of decision making is always an individual matter -- based upon our knowledge of our self and our Self and the clarity we gain from our spiritual practice. Any time we act from our Inner Goodness, our True Self, we will act with virtue and wisdom.
This is why spiritual practice is so important -- it is what lets us know ourselves thoroughly and be able to anticipate the justifications and deceptions we carry around with us. It is what lets us experience our Basic Goodness. And once we get a taste of that inner truth, virtue becomes our very nature.
Blessings!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Remembering, remembering
I know I'm late, but I have been thinking about Memorial Day for a week now. For some people it's a day to visit the gravesites or other memorial sites for loved ones they have lost. For others it's a day to honor members of the armed forces killed in action. For some, it's a day to play golf!
I understand honoring the deceased -- I really do. I understand missing them -- and I still miss my dad, especially. And others, of course. I understand the patriotic honoring of those who have been killed in war.
What I don't understand is why it keeps happening with such regularity. Isn't it time to move beyond killing each other over anything? Isn't it time to stop sending our young people, our children, overseas to kill and be killed?
This is not an anti-military post. It is an anti-WAR post. There is a huge difference, in my mind. I hope that someday we will evolve beyond even needing a military, but first we have to evolve beyond killing each other over resources, religion, insults (real or perceived), language, customs, and all the other things we have waged war about.
It's time to remember that we are truly one, that we are truly in charge of our own evolution, and let God/Spirit/the Universe express through us as love. Love. Only love.
Be blessed!
Rev. CC
I understand honoring the deceased -- I really do. I understand missing them -- and I still miss my dad, especially. And others, of course. I understand the patriotic honoring of those who have been killed in war.
What I don't understand is why it keeps happening with such regularity. Isn't it time to move beyond killing each other over anything? Isn't it time to stop sending our young people, our children, overseas to kill and be killed?
This is not an anti-military post. It is an anti-WAR post. There is a huge difference, in my mind. I hope that someday we will evolve beyond even needing a military, but first we have to evolve beyond killing each other over resources, religion, insults (real or perceived), language, customs, and all the other things we have waged war about.
It's time to remember that we are truly one, that we are truly in charge of our own evolution, and let God/Spirit/the Universe express through us as love. Love. Only love.
Be blessed!
Rev. CC
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
God will remember it
This morning, a quote from Frithjof Schuon: "True charity [meaning giving to others] gives nothing without giving inwardly something better: the art of giving requires that to the material gift should be added a gift of the soul: this is to forget the gift after having given it, and this forgetfulness is like a fresh gift. . . . As an old proverb has it, 'Do good and throw it into the sea; if the fish swallow it and man forgets it, God will remember it.'"
This "gift of the soul" is a fresh gift to the one receiving it, but even moreso to the one doing the giving. Whenever we give with an idea of "keeping score" so we can be sure to get back as good as we gave, we tie ourselves up in knots. When we give and then forget the gift, we instantly feel ourselves expanding, like a good breath expands. We feel ourselves becoming lighter and more luminous.
In short, God remembers our gift -- meaning we instantly feel ourselves more in touch with the Divine Presence within. It is so simple -- yet often our first impulse is to note down our gift so we can be sure it really does come back to us.
When we just give and let the gift be, it comes back to us instantly as this "fresh gift." And it comes back later with interest -- because that's the universe's law. As we give (without thought of getting "equivalent value") so shall we receive (freely given by an always-giving God). Let it be so!
This "gift of the soul" is a fresh gift to the one receiving it, but even moreso to the one doing the giving. Whenever we give with an idea of "keeping score" so we can be sure to get back as good as we gave, we tie ourselves up in knots. When we give and then forget the gift, we instantly feel ourselves expanding, like a good breath expands. We feel ourselves becoming lighter and more luminous.
In short, God remembers our gift -- meaning we instantly feel ourselves more in touch with the Divine Presence within. It is so simple -- yet often our first impulse is to note down our gift so we can be sure it really does come back to us.
When we just give and let the gift be, it comes back to us instantly as this "fresh gift." And it comes back later with interest -- because that's the universe's law. As we give (without thought of getting "equivalent value") so shall we receive (freely given by an always-giving God). Let it be so!
Monday, May 9, 2011
What our friends mean to us
I just read a story about an antelope whose best friends were a woodpecker and a turtle. One day a hunter came and set a rope snare, and sure enough the antelope got snared by its back leg. Immediately, his friends sprang into action. The turtle began gnawing at the loop around the antelope's ankle, and the bird flew to the hunter's cottage to delay him from coming to kill the antelope.
The next morning, the hunter came out and immediately the bird flew into his face, flapping its wings. The hunter, thinking this was a bad omen, went inside and went back to bed. Later, he thought, "I'll go out the back door this time." The woodpecker saw him, and again flew into his face, wings flapping. The hunter ran back into his hut, thinking, this bird really doesn't want me to go! Finally, the hunter came out again and just kept walking. So the woodpecker flew very fast, back to his two friends.
The turtle had almost gnawed through the loop - but his beak had broken and he was bloody. As the hunter approached, the antelope leaped, broke the remaining rope, and bounded away. The hunter arrived to find only a beat-up turtle. He picked up the turtle and put it into his bag.
The antelope saw that the turtle had been captured and thought, I must save my friend. So he started to limp and stumble. The hunter saw him, and put the bag down on the ground and started after the antelope. The antelope led the hunter through the woods, far away from the turtle. Then he sneaked away and ran back to the turtle. He picked up the bag on the prongs of his horns and tossed it upward, flinging the turtle out.
The turtle slipped into the river, the woodpecker flew high up in a tree, and the antelope crept silently off into the woods. The hunter returned, to find only an empty bag, some blood on the ground, and a single black feather. He thought, I must hunt again and hope that next time I find prey that does not have so many friends!
The next morning, the hunter came out and immediately the bird flew into his face, flapping its wings. The hunter, thinking this was a bad omen, went inside and went back to bed. Later, he thought, "I'll go out the back door this time." The woodpecker saw him, and again flew into his face, wings flapping. The hunter ran back into his hut, thinking, this bird really doesn't want me to go! Finally, the hunter came out again and just kept walking. So the woodpecker flew very fast, back to his two friends.
The turtle had almost gnawed through the loop - but his beak had broken and he was bloody. As the hunter approached, the antelope leaped, broke the remaining rope, and bounded away. The hunter arrived to find only a beat-up turtle. He picked up the turtle and put it into his bag.
The antelope saw that the turtle had been captured and thought, I must save my friend. So he started to limp and stumble. The hunter saw him, and put the bag down on the ground and started after the antelope. The antelope led the hunter through the woods, far away from the turtle. Then he sneaked away and ran back to the turtle. He picked up the bag on the prongs of his horns and tossed it upward, flinging the turtle out.
The turtle slipped into the river, the woodpecker flew high up in a tree, and the antelope crept silently off into the woods. The hunter returned, to find only an empty bag, some blood on the ground, and a single black feather. He thought, I must hunt again and hope that next time I find prey that does not have so many friends!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Honoring ALL life
I know that some people think animals are just animals -- to be used, eaten, "managed" (a la the wolves in the western US), and farmed for profit. I think they are life forms too close to us to be treated in these ways. If we're going to eat them at least we ought to be humane to them before we do. And we ought to kill them in ways that are not savage and pain-inflicting.
So I rejoiced when I read that the annual baby seal slaughter in Canada only resulted in the "harvest" of 7% of the total number of seals sanctioned to be killed by the Canadian government. The demand for baby seal skins has been reduced, mainly because of the videos that have been taken and shown around the world -- videos of how those skins are "harvested."
The same thing is happening in other areas -- factory farming, fur production, commercial fishing. We are seeing the results of our clamor for cheap eggs, meat and milk, and "luxuries" like fur coats. When we actually see what happens, we lose our appetites for such things.
Why? Because human beings are innately good. They do not want to cause pain and suffering to other life. It is part of our makeup to honor life. Some part of us knows we share it with every other living thing. As we evolve, I believe we will find ways to act humanely in our food production and ultimately reach a balance of living on earth that honors every life, every animal, every plant. We will be more joyful, less guilt-ridden, and more physically healthy as a result.
And that will be a world that works for everyone, because as we evolve we also come to understand that our fellow humans, as well as animals and plants, are one with us -- all of them! We come to know that it is okay for others to have opinions and beliefs that are different than ours. We come to see that all these different faces, opinions, beliefs, and ways of acting are part of the Divine Panoply -- God manifesting itself in every shape and form and way of life.
So I praise every step that is taken in that direction. I am grateful that the seal hunt in Canada is coming to its natural end, forever. I am grateful that we are now seeing the results of factory farming showing up in antibiotic-resistant meat in the store coolers and egg recalls because of salmonella. What we do to them, we do to ourselves. As we learn to be more compassionate we also are more compassionate toward ourselves. As we learn to be more compassionate with ourselves, we are more compassionate with our fellow human beings. We grow more loving and peaceful. And when we do that, the whole world changes!
Blessings and joy,
Rev. CC Coltrain
So I rejoiced when I read that the annual baby seal slaughter in Canada only resulted in the "harvest" of 7% of the total number of seals sanctioned to be killed by the Canadian government. The demand for baby seal skins has been reduced, mainly because of the videos that have been taken and shown around the world -- videos of how those skins are "harvested."
The same thing is happening in other areas -- factory farming, fur production, commercial fishing. We are seeing the results of our clamor for cheap eggs, meat and milk, and "luxuries" like fur coats. When we actually see what happens, we lose our appetites for such things.
Why? Because human beings are innately good. They do not want to cause pain and suffering to other life. It is part of our makeup to honor life. Some part of us knows we share it with every other living thing. As we evolve, I believe we will find ways to act humanely in our food production and ultimately reach a balance of living on earth that honors every life, every animal, every plant. We will be more joyful, less guilt-ridden, and more physically healthy as a result.
And that will be a world that works for everyone, because as we evolve we also come to understand that our fellow humans, as well as animals and plants, are one with us -- all of them! We come to know that it is okay for others to have opinions and beliefs that are different than ours. We come to see that all these different faces, opinions, beliefs, and ways of acting are part of the Divine Panoply -- God manifesting itself in every shape and form and way of life.
So I praise every step that is taken in that direction. I am grateful that the seal hunt in Canada is coming to its natural end, forever. I am grateful that we are now seeing the results of factory farming showing up in antibiotic-resistant meat in the store coolers and egg recalls because of salmonella. What we do to them, we do to ourselves. As we learn to be more compassionate we also are more compassionate toward ourselves. As we learn to be more compassionate with ourselves, we are more compassionate with our fellow human beings. We grow more loving and peaceful. And when we do that, the whole world changes!
Blessings and joy,
Rev. CC Coltrain
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Pattern and Perfection
The title of this blog is "A World That Works." It is my intention to focus on things that help me to create a world that works for everyone, at least in my small corner of the world.
Today I was reading the May "Science of Mind" magazine and found a quote from Ernest Holmes:
"If I . . . can get back to the spiritual reality of my being, I shall be made whole, not because the spiritual reality is pleased with me or that there is a power which will do it for me. Rather, it is because the divine pattern is perfect and when we stand in its light, that which was imperfect disappears."
I love this -- it reminds me that we have the perfect divine pattern within us -- every single one of us. When I stand in its light, perfection appears. I can see it. I know it exists, like the sun still exists at night - it's just on the other side of the planet.
When I remember this, it doesn't matter that the conspiracy theorists are going wild about 9/11, Osama bin Laden, and whatever else they believe involved. It doesn't matter that some are using the death of bin Laden to argue that we should send in more troops and "wipe 'em all out." It doesn't matter that I cannot "fix" the frightened people who come to speak to me about their loved ones, their troubled souls, their fear of death.
All that matters is that, as often as possible, I look from my place in the divine light so that I can see the perfection of the pattern. Then, whatever words I bring are the right words. Whatever attitude I carry to the day is one of peace and love.
Today I invite you to stand in the light of the Divine Pattern. Look at your life from there. See how intricately and beautifully made you are. Know your thread is an essential part of It. You are the Beloved.
Blessed day,
Rev. CC Coltrain
Today I was reading the May "Science of Mind" magazine and found a quote from Ernest Holmes:
"If I . . . can get back to the spiritual reality of my being, I shall be made whole, not because the spiritual reality is pleased with me or that there is a power which will do it for me. Rather, it is because the divine pattern is perfect and when we stand in its light, that which was imperfect disappears."
I love this -- it reminds me that we have the perfect divine pattern within us -- every single one of us. When I stand in its light, perfection appears. I can see it. I know it exists, like the sun still exists at night - it's just on the other side of the planet.
When I remember this, it doesn't matter that the conspiracy theorists are going wild about 9/11, Osama bin Laden, and whatever else they believe involved. It doesn't matter that some are using the death of bin Laden to argue that we should send in more troops and "wipe 'em all out." It doesn't matter that I cannot "fix" the frightened people who come to speak to me about their loved ones, their troubled souls, their fear of death.
All that matters is that, as often as possible, I look from my place in the divine light so that I can see the perfection of the pattern. Then, whatever words I bring are the right words. Whatever attitude I carry to the day is one of peace and love.
Today I invite you to stand in the light of the Divine Pattern. Look at your life from there. See how intricately and beautifully made you are. Know your thread is an essential part of It. You are the Beloved.
Blessed day,
Rev. CC Coltrain
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