Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Flowing vs. forcing: why religion strips my screw

A few days ago, after much procrastinating, I finally put up a new towel rack in our upstairs bathroom. The screws were going into wood, not drywall. The pilot hole I drilled was a tad too small. Once I screwed the screw halfway, I felt a lot of resistance. I’ve stripped enough screw heads in my day to have learned a lesson: don’t force the situation. Yes, it may seem like it’d save time to try to muscle the screw the rest of the way in. But once you’ve screwed up a screw, it usually is a lot more work…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation Taoism/Tai Chi

Being a blockhead has its pluses

I’ve been thinking about becoming more of a blockhead. Now, the fact that I’m doing this, thinking, shows that I have a ways to go before achieving Blockhead Extraordinaire status. That honor, of course, belongs to Charlie Brown. Thanks to Lucy he’s been a blockhead ever since June 1958. I was nine at the time. I probably was a blockhead in training even back then, but I didn’t have a Lucy to tell me so. Forty-nine years later I’ve learned that life is my Lucy. It’s pulled the football away from me enough times to make me realize that whatever…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Watch out! The Discourager of Hesitancy is behind you

Thanks to Edward, a regular Church of the Churchless commenter, I learned about the Discourager of Hesitancy today. He’s a fearsome dude. I can feel him standing behind me right now, razor sharp weapon at the ready. He doesn’t like excessive deliberation. I feel the pressure to type what I want to say without undue cogitation. I’ve gotten more than a little attached to having my head and body, well, attached. “The Discourager of Hesitancy” is a short story by Frank Stockton, he of “The Lady and the Tiger” fame. If you went to high school in the United States,…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Humility is being in touch with reality

I don’t trust displays of humility. This folding of the hands with a bowed head, this uttering of “God (or guru) is everything; I am nothing,” this confession of sins, failings, and weaknesses—it’s all too contrived, too artificial, too calculated. This morning I re-read the chapter “On Humility” in Hubert Benoit’s The Supreme Doctrine: Psychological Studies in Zen Thought As noted in my “The Supreme Doctrine, thirty-six years overdue” post, this is the only library book that I’ve kept permanently. When I first read it back in college, I couldn’t bear to let it out of my hands. Where it…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Unlearning ventriloquism

I’m trying to learn how not to be a ventriloquist. As should we all. Isn’t one of “Me” (or “You”) enough? Why are there, like Edgar Bergen and his wooden sidekick Charlie McCarthy, two people performing on the mental stage where we play out our lives? Maybe more. I’m still trying to figure how many of me there are (or is) inside of my cranium. Seems like there should be only one, given that I go by the singular name of Brian. Yet that other guy, who I’ll call “Charlie” in honor of my ventriloquismistic Ed Sullivan show memories, sure…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Spiritual practice/meditation

Loud siren is a wake-up call

God, it’s said, works in mysterious ways. So I’m willing to believe that the siren on the side of our house that blared for ten minutes across our neighborhood yesterday evening was a divine message directed to me. My wife, too. And all of us, really. The message is universal: Be aware. Look. See. We were running late, per usual, for our weekly Tango class. There was going to be a guest instructor so I wanted us to be on time. I was ready a few minutes before Laurel, per usual. “We should leave the dog in,” she said, hurrying…
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Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Religion as poetic expression

Before I jump into today’s subject, looking upon the practice of religion as an art, I’ve got to comment on Church of the Churchless comments to my posts. These offerings by other people are wonderful. Frequently I read them and think, “God, these are so much wiser and more meaningful than what I wrote.” Also, better written. I deeply appreciate these (almost) always thoughtful sharings. If you’re not reading the comments, you’re missing out on a big part of this blog. Flowing into this notion of religion as art, via these comments I love to see, or at least get…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Open presence meditation

The story in “On Buddhist meditation practice” about meditators not being startled by a tree trunk crashing or heavy hail falling reminded me of a chapter in Matthieu Ricard’s “Happiness.” Ricard is a long-time Buddhist. He’s participated in scientific studies concerning the neurological correlates of meditation. I suspect that the subject he’s talking about is himself. He says that the startle response is one of the body’s most primitive reflexes. It responds to activity in the brain stem and is usually not subject to voluntary control. “The stronger a person’s flinch, the more he is inclined to experience negative emotions.”…
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Posted inReality Spiritual practice/meditation

The best one-sentence metaphysics ever written

Here it is. My absolute favorite sentence. It’s wise. It’s profound. It’s deep. It’s practical. It’s spiritual. Best of all, it’s true. Drum roll, please. Pregnant pause for dramatic effect… A little longer…(don’t peek! don’t look below!) OK. I can’t stand the waiting, even though I know what I’m about to say. From Philip K. Dick’s “How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later” (1978), ninth paragraph: Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away. Here’s the entire paragraph: It was always my hope, in writing novels and stories which asked…
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Posted inMystics Spiritual practice/meditation Wu Project

Adyashanti bursts my orgasmic bubble

Just as I predicted, I’ve been enjoying Adyashanti’s “Emptiness Dancing.” But I was disappointed when I read this morning that enlightenment isn’t going to be something like an infinitely extended orgasm. Well, to be more precise Adyashanti left open at least a slight possibility that this could be the case. So I won’t let my hopes die entirely. He did say, though, that orgasmic enlightenment wasn’t his experience. And since his breakthrough occurred after 15 years of Zen meditation, I’ll take him at his word. However, my experience of enlightenment was simply the demolition of everything that I thought it…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Yes, there are agnostics in dentist’s chairs

Most everyone has heard the expression, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” This assertion has been challenged by the Atheists in Foxholes organization, which points out that many in the armed forces identify themselves as “no religion.” This morning I proved a related assertion: there are agnostics in dentist’s chairs. Now, I’ll admit that having some crown/bridge work redone isn’t quite as dramatic as being in a Vietnam firefight, as this atheist in a foxhole was. Nonetheless, when the drilling starts and you don’t know how much pain there will be, you’re looking for support from somewhere. During my devotional…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Wings of love fly in two directions

This afternoon I rolled out of my nap bed, glanced at the pile of overly devotional books that I’ve culled from my bookcase, and decided to pick up the topmost title: “On Wings of Love,” by Madeleine. It was published in 1972 by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) in South Africa. I’ve got the first (and likely only) edition, which constituted 1,000 numbered copies. Mine is #919. For that reason alone, this previously unread book is now a keeper. For another reason also: Madeleine, whose last name isn’t revealed, is a poetess of blunt words and intense passion. A foreword…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Turn on, tune in, or drop out?

I came of age in the 60’s, so “turn on, tune in, drop out” resonates with me. But now I’m more interested in exploring the spiritual, rather than psychedelic, implications of these words. It’s always dangerous to reduce complexities to dualities. But I’m always ready and eager to try. It seems to me that most spiritual seekers are either turn-on’ers or tune-in’ers. I belong to the latter camp, so if my description of these options seems to favor tuning, that’s the reason. Tune-in’ers are trying, obviously, to tune in to something. God. Spirit. Cosmic truth. Ultimate reality. Buddha nature. Tao.…
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Posted inMystics Spiritual practice/meditation Wu Project

The glory of being spiritually lost

If you feel like you’re spiritually lost, be thankful. Smile. Laugh. Dance. Your lucky star is shining brightly on you. You’re way closer to the mystery we call “God” than those who believe that they’re on a well-marked path to the divine. There’s no such thing. I’m not confident of much when it comes to religion and spirituality. But I’m quite sure that the road to God doesn’t have any white lines down the middle of it. You can’t see, feel, hear, smell, or touch it. The surest way to know if you’re off the track is to say, “Ah,…
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Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Spiritual nomads

Over at the wonderfully named Ambivablog, amba is “Calling all spiritual nomads.” Her piece is well-written and thoughtful, as befits a blogger with an impressive literary resume. (I’d love to be able to say about myself, “wrote a lot of reviews for The New York Times Book Review.”) I was pleased to note that amba says that Church of the Churchless is a new favorite blog of hers. Same back at you, my churchless sister. I thoroughly enjoyed your spiritual nomad piece. Especially the musical chair analogy. Say “Religion” in this strange new world of ours, and I see a…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation Wu Project

Let go. Then let go of letting go.

I’m attracted to simple spirituality. That’s probably because my mind is complex, like most people’s minds are. I need to balance myself out. Yin and yang. So when I come across a believable one-sentence summation of spirituality, it catches my eye. And my heart. This is from Thomas Keating’s wonderful “Open Mind, Open Heart,” one of my favorite books. I think it can be said that the essential point of all the great spiritual disciplines that the world religions have evolved is the letting go of thoughts. Yes. On this Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Taoism can agree. (I’m not…
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Posted inChristianity/Jesus Spiritual practice/meditation

“Be Still and Know that I am God” DVD—not still enough for me

I surprised myself, walking out of Hollywood Video with a rental DVD about Christian contemplative prayer. “Be Still and Know That I am God” appealed to me because I’m a big fan of The Cloud of Unknowing, a medieval text that inspired the modern Christian centering prayer movement. The DVD disappointed me, though. My suspicions were aroused when I read the back cover and didn’t see any mention of leaders of the centering prayer movement that I was familiar with, like Thomas Keating or M. Basil Pennington. When I watched the film I understood why. “Be Still” doesn’t preach the…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Mantra meditation: wax on or wax off?

In the movie, “The Karate Kid,” Mr. Miyagi begins to teach karate to young Daniel by having him do chores requiring simple repetitive movements. Who can forget the memorable Zen wisdom of “Wax on wax off”? Repeating a mantra is a spiritual equivalent of Mr. Miyagi’s training method. This has been the core of my meditative practice since I started studying yoga thirty-seven years ago. If I had gotten a dollar for every time I’ve said a mantra in or out of meditation, I’d be rolling in riches. Since that didn’t happen, the question is: have I benefited spiritually from…
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Posted inSpiritual practice/meditation

Freeing ourselves from religious fantasy

Fantasies can be fun. Angelina Jolie and I have had some great times together. Only in my imagination, unfortunately. I would have had a lot more fun if she and I had met in reality. In this instance I know the difference between fantasy and reality. When it comes to religion, however, the line dividing fiction and truth can be devilishly difficult to discern. In fact, there’s good reason to say that religiosity is nothing but belief in something that hasn’t yet been experienced. Heaven. God. Jesus. Enlightenment. Nirvana. Allah. Tao. Buddha-nature. These are just words. Like Santa Claus, Easter…
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Posted inReligions Spiritual practice/meditation

Wave relaxing into ocean. Ahhhh….

I’ve spent a lot of time looking at Maui waves the past nine days. Hopefully I’m starting to get their spiritual message. “Dude, we’re the same as the ocean. Just like you are the same as God, Buddha nature, Tao, whatever you want to call it. Relax, brutha. Hang loose. Trust us, we know: when you’re not the wave, you’re the ocean.” The thing is, waves are a lot more interesting than the flat ocean. When I sit on the beach and gaze out to sea, mostly I focus on the waves. (Which, sadly, have been calm the whole time…
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