May 22, 2020

Non-resistance is always a confusing topic.   It's not always clear what level of life or field of action that someone is referring too, because the term has been used in different contexts.

When I use the term, I am referring to the spiritual level of life.  Non-resistance then means learning to move with the flow of life,  recognizing whatever drama may be taking place within human structures ultimately is contained within the larger spiritual reality, which we do not personally, nor collectively, control.  At the same time, our consciousness, personally and collective, does have an impact to a greater or lesser degree, depending on our "alignment" with the flow.  That is not something you do through thinking, it is more subtle than thinking.  Rather, it is something you arrive at through letting go...through surrender...through non-resistance to the spiritual level of life.   Affirmative prayer (as well as other forms of prayer) does change us.

Over time, it softens us, makes us more resilient and more aware of the guide posts that are natural to life.  Also overtime, we become more aware of the beauty and goodness of life, as we find that we have been making life more complicated than it need be.  As I like to put it, "Life takes care of life." 

There is a certain quality to the human mind and spirit that "what we resist, persists."  Carl Jung added, "What you resist not only persists, but will grow in size."    He was speaking in terms of the human psyche and the way that early conditioning  and cultural rules, develop the various defense mechanisms of the mind to suppress and repress aspects of the individual.  Our conditioned response to resist aspects of who we are, rather than discover, accept and integrate those aspects, prevents us from fully individuating--becoming the whole of who and what we are.  Similarly,  within the larger spiritual field, our resistance to life events, limits our understanding of and responsiveness to the wholeness of all creation.  Still, resistance is a self-protective instinct.  The more we grow to understand that our individual well-being is interdependent with the well-being of others, the less emphasis there is on our separate sense of self-protection and the more adaptable we become.

If you spend accumulated time in silence, sustaining an inner quiet, you discover that thoughts come and go and you no longer readily latch on to them; they lose their sticking quality.

Eventually we realize that we don't have to think or mentally comment and analyze every event as we move about our day. We don't need a constant inner dialogue or monologue.  The extraordinary events of a Pandemic are going to stir up all sorts of thoughts and emotions and defense mechanisms and we are going to have those times where we bounce around from one state to another.   But life stabilizes.  Our minds and emotions when given a chance to rest, regroup.  Realize it or not,  you are in the process of healing and adapting through it all.

May 21, 2020

My grandson has recently been engaged in experiments with clear office tape.  He is building tape bridges connecting various walls and objects as well as generally investigating which objects can be hung on the walls with tape. He prefers tape to glue probably because tape needs less supervision from the adults.   Like most 3-4 year olds, he also loves "stickers" and has quite a collection.  We are besieged now with the "why" questions:  why some things stick and not others, why they are sticky to begin with, why stickers loose their stickiness when wet or dirty?  Daily discussions on stickiness leads me to think about thought and affirmative prayer.  We build our framework of belief about ourselves and our lives, through bridges of thought.  Whether we are consciously focused on it or not we are building bridges between the Pandemic of 2020 and our future.  Some thoughts adhere more than others.  While neuroscience is progressing in our understanding of thought, we really can't answer why some thoughts are stickier than others.  This becomes a particularly relevant idea when we attempt to affirm the positive and confront our own habitual disturbing thoughts that cause fear, anger and hopelessness.   (Susan Nettleton)

Emmett Fox, in his book, "Make Your Life Worthwhile", wrote about what he called "The Law of Substitution" describing how to free yourself from negative thoughts.  Although published in  1942, his ideas are quite compatible with modern psychology and cognitive, behavioral therapy used in the treatment of depression and anger management.  Here are a few of his strategies for maintaining affirmative prayer.

"The Law of Substitution:  One of the great mental laws is the Law of Substitution. This means that the only way to get rid of a certain thought is to substitute another one for it. You cannot dismiss a thought directly. You can do so only by substituting another one for it. On the physical plane this is not the case. You can drop a book or a stone by simply opening your hand and letting it go; but with thought this will not work. If you want to dismiss a negative thought, the only way to do so is to think of something positive and constructive...If I say to you, "Do not think of the Statue of Liberty," of course, you immediately think of it. If you say, "I am not going to think of the Statue of Liberty," that is thinking of it. But now, having thought of it, if you become interested in something else, say, by turning on the radio, you forget all about the Statue of Liberty - and this is a case of substitution.

It sometimes happens that negative thoughts seem to besiege you in such force that you cannot overcome them. That is what is called a fit of depression, or a fit of worry, or perhaps even a fit of anger. In such a case the best thing is to go and find someone to talk to on any subject, or to go to a good movie or play, or read an interesting book, say a good novel or biography or travel book, or something of the kind. If you sit down to fight the negative tide you will probably succeed only in amplifying it.

Turn your attention to something quite different, refusing steadfastly to think of or rehearse the difficulty, and, later on, after you have completely gotten away from it, you can come back with confidence and handle it by spiritual treatment. "I say unto you that you resist not evil. " Matthew 5.39

May 20, 2020

Affirmative prayer is one of the ways that we "feed the light."  We begin with the level of what we can--with open eyes and heart--affirm as the positive aspects of our lives right now.

Depending on the day and our feeling states, we may have to work a bit to move past our fears and frustrations with the way things have been going, to recognize and acknowledge the positive.  It strikes me as a particularly tricky path right now, because of the exceptional amount of controversy, arguments, and distortion of events that we see and hear through the media regarding the Pandemic.  A time of silent meditation creates gaps in all the noise of society. It gives our nervous system time to recover and reboot.  It allows the space for our innate intelligence to surface with calm clarity, so that we can see what is true and what is not.

I have often advised people who are worn down and depressed in times of personal illness or serious life stresses to take the time to shift their attention away from the problem to focus on what is good in their lives, to remember the parts of their bodies that are working properly and that they have relied on, to look at the positive connections and relationships that support them, to recover a more balanced perspective.  When life is really difficult, even in times of great losses or potential loss,  there are always compensating factors as well as sources of satisfaction and comfort.  Good is always knocking on the door, no matter how subtle.  So we begin there, choosing to attend to  "what is working", even while struggling to cope with what is genuinely awful.  We start with what we know to be good and in time from that recognition of good, begin to affirm a growing and unfolding positive future, as an act of prayer.  Affirmative prayer is not a quick fix.  It is a steady, conscious focus, a way of welcoming positive possibilities that spiritually arise from creative love. (Susan Nettleton)

In the words of Emmet Fox (1886-1951), the great 20th century minister,  writer, and practitioner of affirmative prayer:

"Try not to be tense or hurried. Tension and hurry delay the demonstration. You know that if you try to unlock a door hurriedly, the key is apt to stick, whereas, if you do it slowly, it seldom does. If the key sticks, the thing is to stop pressing, take your breath, and release it gently. To push hard with will power can only jam the lock completely. . .

In quietness and confidence shall be your strength." (Isaiah 30:15)

May 19, 2020

Traditional, petitionary prayer keeps the structure our humanity and our need as we turn to God (or the Source) with a sense of separation.  In petitionary prayer we recognize that God is the greater and we are dependent on Divine Grace and Love.  Prayer then is highly relational.  It is a communication and sharing of our lives with The Other, The Supreme Being.   Affirmative prayer on the other hand, begins at the point of Union with God, not separation.   It views life as the ongoing expression of God's creative activity in the world, and in particular, human consciousness as a vehicle of Divine creative manifestation.   The focus of affirmative prayer is bringing forth Divine Good in the individual's mind, body and external affairs by affirming It and accepting It in consciousness.   This begins with identification with God, in the spirit of "inseparable Oneness".  We in a sense, still recognize the Transcendent vastness of God beyond the individual, but the individual remains inseparable from the Whole.  So rather than asking in prayer, we affirm in prayer. And grow into acceptance.

Most of us pray in different ways at different times. We need and can adapt to different ways of seeing our "relationship" to the sacred and the Oneness of life. In this time of Pandemic, we especially need adaptability, even in our prayer life.   Although we know that psychologically being positive is generally more productive than an atmosphere of doom and gloom, affirmative prayer is more than just thinking positive thoughts. We need to digest all the events of the current Pandemic, our knowledge, experience and opinions of reputable experts, in order to forge a plan as we move through the remainder of the year. There is value in affirming the Good and a positive vision for our future that is rooted in Oneness. The key to Affirmative prayer is Oneness.  If we leave anyone out of our vision and our prayer, we no longer stand on spiritual ground.

For James Dillet Freeman's blending of prayer levels in the poem "I Am There", follow the link:  http://meilach.com/spiritual/Poems_Freeman/iamthere.htm

May 18, 2020

Prayer,  like other terms of spiritual practice, can be limited by inflexible mindsets and assumptions or religious rituals and rules.  While there can be tremendous  power in ritual prayer, the key of all spiritual practice is its expression of life.  That is, prayer is a living, dynamic activity.  Even if the words have not changed in thousands of years, they can be given  a newness a freshness, by the immediacy of the need and communion.   Spontaneous prayer has the words of the moment, but our words can hit against our own rigid beliefs that are not always conscious.

Prayer is one of the ways we let go, give way to a larger field of Intelligence and Care.   It is the giving way that opens us to perspectives and solutions we have not previously grasped.  As one minister put it, when despite all his prayers his intolerable situation stayed "stuck", he was forced to pray in a new way:  "God show me where my answers are wrong."  This is one way to reach the point of "giving way" or surrender.

Another way is to consider the idea expressed in a poem by Rumi and summed as the axiom: "That which your are seeking is seeking you."  When you begin to explore this idea, you discover that your longing has ultimately led to you to prayer for the very thing that is seeking you.  Prayer becomes the vehicle through which you open to receive, to welcome, to meet the gift.  The whole atmosphere of prayer changes.    The real spiritual practice is in opening to receive. 

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing

and right doing, there is a field.

I'll meet you there.

When the soul lies down in that grass

the world is too full to talk about.

What you seek, is seeking you.”  Rumi 

May 17, 2020

I have been reflecting on prayer as more than just a way of nurturing your spiritual life, or a coping strategy, but as our capacity to individually and collectively participate in healing and supporting the Good.  I look at prayer as a natural force--a way that we align ourselves with the creative movement of life, a way that enhances the possibilities of furthering life in it's wholeness.  Praying for the healing of the Pandemic and all of it's social and personal consequences can seem overwhelming--certainly too great a task for whatever you personally can manage in whatever state you find yourself.  But like most complex problems that seem a tangled mess, we start with what is closest, right in front of us and begin there and let our hearts lead. 

Essayist Annie Dillard in "Holy the Firm" (1977) wrote:  "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?  or who shall stand in his holy place?  There is no one but us.  There is no one to send, nor a clean hand, nor a pure heart on the face of the earth, nor in the earth, but only us, a generation comforting ourselves with the notion that we have come at an awkward time, that our innocent fathers are all dead--as if innocence had ever been--and our children busy and troubled, and we ourselves unfit, not yet ready, having each of us chosen wrongly, made a false start, failed, yielded to impulse and the tangled comfort of pleasures, and grown exhausted, unable to seek the thread, weak, and involved.  But there is no one but us.  There never has been."

For further inspiration, I include America's 2019 Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's "Eagle Poem".  Follow the link:  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46545/eagle-poem

May 16, 2020

Prayer is the complementary practice to meditation.  Like meditation, prayer can be a powerful shared experience or, though silent, an equally potent solitary one.  There is a simple, traditional adage that is useful to those new to spiritual practice that says, "prayer is speaking to God and meditation is listening to God."  That "speaking" to God may be the spontaneous eruption of our minds and hearts or can be a formal process of recitation. As our spiritual life deepens, there is less divide between prayer and meditation as one state can flow into the other, back and forth. This flow is an aspect of the seemingly two realities realities we live in--our "everyday worldly life", now ravaged by the Pandemic, and our spiritual life which transcends the turmoil of the world of separation, fear and conflict.  Prayer is our means of turning to the transcendent, to the larger life, to the Source for help, understanding, and solutions to the problems, suffering , and longings of daily life.  Anglo-Catholic writer/scholar Evelyn Underhill wrote that humans are capable of being amphibian creatures, equally at home in the etherial realm of spirit as well as on the solid ground of the world. But realistically, she wrote: "We mostly spend (our) lives conjugating three verbs:  to Want, to Have, and to Do...forgetting that none of these verbs have any ultimate significance, except so far as they are transcended by and included in, the fundamental verb, to Be." *

In prayers during the Pandemic, there are so many things we all want--want to have, want to do, want for other--those we know personally and those whose stories we have heard.  There is so much that we want for our future and their future, so much that we fear will be taken from us.  Some of our wants arise from the fullness of our Being and our instinctual compassion for others.  Some arise from cultural conditioning and the wants of others superimposed on us. Inner quiet, the time of "stillness" sorts the true from the false, and returns us to clarity. Try weaving moments of stillness and silence in your prayers, however you pray.  Pause to listen. (Susan Nettleton)

For more thoughts on the maturing process of prayer from the website, follow the link:

https://hillsidesource.com/maturinginprayer

*Evelyn Underhill, Christopher L. Webber (2006). “Advent with Evelyn Underhill”, p.43, Church Publishing, Inc.

May 15, 2020

Every day we are presented with new information on Covid 19 and it's impact. There is a massive world wide scientific effort at work that is rapidly discovering more and more facets of the virus. This scientific push brings with it an unparalleled attempt to explain each newly discovered aspect to the world's population, as knowledge is accumulated. Obviously, there are times when complex experimental data and discoveries (which are usually narrow in scope and have a specific focus) are misunderstood, distorted and misused. To truly understand the virus, all the pieces of scientific discovery have to be integrated throughout the whole course of the illness--which has yet to be completed. We are learning as the we go. The constantly changing situation along with contradictory "guidance" and predictions about the coming months (and sometimes longer) add to the general uncertainty and fear. Yet, we do need information and guidance. If we want to act and plan, we have to spend time and energy learning new terms and probing announcements enough to intelligently make our decisions. The "self-education" we gain in the process can be a positive experience if we don't get too overwhelmed or disheartened by it all. At the same time, we can direct our attention back to the spiritual level, feeding the Light and calming the mind, relying on the deeper guidance within. And we can pray.

I am reminded of a quote by Biologist E.O. Wilson. “Still, if history and science have taught us anything, it is that passion and desire are not the same as truth. The human mind evolved to believe in the gods. It did not evolve to believe in biology. Acceptance of the supernatural conveyed a great advantage throughout prehistory when the brain was evolving. Thus it is in sharp contrast to biology, which was developed as a product of the modern age and is not underwritten by genetic algorithms. The uncomfortable truth is that the two beliefs are not factually compatible. As a result those who hunger for both intellectual and religious truth will never acquire both in full measure.”
Edward O. Wilson, "Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge"

Perhaps he is correct, but perhaps the better path and humanity's potential lies in not acquiring both in full measure, but in becoming the hybrid of both. Perhaps this is the core of 21st century spirituality: defining something that is not the dualistic "full measure" of either, but is the blended expression of both. I agree with him that we are genetically hard wired for looking beyond our narrow sense of self to a larger transcendent whole. Humanity has for centuries found profound satisfaction, comfort, and power in prayer--prayer as the turning toward something beyond ourselves for understanding and healing. Like a sunflower that automatically turns toward the sun without thought or complex formulation, human hearts automatically seek the Source of life in prayer. Certainly, that is true now.

From our website, on further thought: https://hillsidesource.com/times-of-upheaval

May 14, 2020

There is one other significant antidote for fear--creativity.  If you can accept the deep well of creativity within you and remember that you carry that with you, as an essential aspect of Life's Intelligence and your innate instincts, then you have reassurance that you can adapt to change.   Creativity expresses in infinite forms.  Often our idea of what creativity means restricts the full force of it's expression.  What could be more creative than the process of having to adapt to the immediacy of the Pandemic?  It is creativity that carries problem solving beyond the known into new possibilities, on a global scale, national scale, local community and within your own home.

Whether you are reckoning with protective measures like masks, or supplies and food shortages, or possibilities of earning income at  home, or learning to handle new software to stay in touch with others, or navigating changes in your health care, or al the other routines that have been upended, sweeping changes or minor but still important to you--the creative well lays within you.

Dive in. (Susan Nettleton)

For for thoughts on anxiety and creativity, follow the link below to Larry Morris' article

(April 29, 2003) on "Turn Anxiety into Creativity" from our website.  In 2003, the world focus was on the Middle East.  Today of course,  we face the Global Pandemic.

https://hillsidesource.com/turn-anxiety-into-creativity

May 13, 2020

There are many other "antidotes" to fear and anxiety.  A quick search of articles, brought me this sampling which I've arranged here as three basic categories of strategies for overcoming fear:  taking charge of ourselves (goals and direction, action, acquiring knowledge, saying "yes" to something new, courage, being in the now),  focusing on others (compassion, generosity, leadership), turning to the spiritual (faith, hope, grace, light).  Of course there are still many other ways to strategize managing fear!

We can distinguish fear from anxiety--fear being a primarily physical response to an actual threat and anxiety being a perception that includes  the thought and feeling that there is, or may be, a threat. The thoughts may or may or may not be accurate and realistic.  But the fear response impacts our neurocircuitry impacting our thinking and emotional response, and our thoughts and expectations further alter perception and impact our body to respond with fear.  It's not at all a simple thing to separate the two and determine what fear is realistic and what isn't, especially if you are in isolation listening to current news.  Remembering that meditation, over time, lowers the fear response and anxiety, helps you sustain your practice even in a time of fear.  Your are "taking charge" by returning again and again to a time of stillness and inner reflection.  That time inevitably will bring an inner sense of others and the questions of how you integrate others into your inner reflection and outer life.  Your begin to see the wisdom of "focusing on others".  Your meditation seen in the light of "spiritual practice" brings new awareness of both your fears and your capacity to let go and accept an underlying peace."Sheltering in Place" holds the potential not just for impacting others' health and your own, but also for the time and space to build inner strength.

In  the classic tale of Buddha's awakening, "Siddhartha", Hermann Hesse relates the story of Siddhartha's decision to return to the material world.  After years in the forest living in a community of wandering ascetic monks,  he returns to the city seeking work.  During his employment interview, he has asked what he has learned from those years of renunciation and spiritual practice, what has he to give to the business.  Siddhartha responds, "I can think, I can wait.  I can fast."  His potential employer probes a little further, asking him if he can write and testing him by asking him to write something out then and there.  Siddhartha takes the pen and writes,  "Writing is good, thinking is better. Being smart is good, being patient is better."

Siddhartha is hired.

"Sheltering in Place" holds the potential not just for impacting others' health and your own, but also for the time and space to build inner strength for the time of return. (Susan Nettleton)

May 12, 2020

Yesterday I wrote about the fear that the Pandemic has brought and I quoted the scripture from I John 4:18--"There is no fear in love; but perfect love castes out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love."  I encountered this verse very early in my spiritual journey.  I was young and wanted to understand love.  I also felt the fears of a young woman trying to make her way through through the world of jobs, education, and relationships. I was immediately intrigued by the verse, but frankly could not really see the connection between fear (in it's instinctual intensity) and love (and all it's variety of meanings and emotions).  I wasn't satisfied with a superficial glossing of the idea of conquering fear by forcing myself to love the unlovable. Through my training in Psychiatry, I accepted the idea of "becoming perfect" in love or anything else as wishful, distorted thinking that actually undermines mental health and resiliency. Yet there was something in the verse that held me and overtime, many, many years, it returned again and again as a kind of mantra.   I came to just accept that "love" was an antidote for fear and meant different things at different times.  After 45 years of meditation practice, I can say, "There is no fear in love."  But this love is not the emotion we commonly mean when we use the word.  So "love" is an inadequate expression for the delight and awe of life in its infinite forms --an awareness or state--sometimes only momentary--where fear is not possible.  Those collected moments generate fortitude.  (Susan Nettleton)

May 11, 2020

Yesterday, I was reading a recent article in Atlantic Monthly that was addressing the problems facing America as states begin to reopen the economy.  The article is a call to increase testing, which is a subject beyond our spiritual focus in this post.  However, there was one sentence that leaped out at me, "Survey data show that the economic turmoil is driven not primarily by government shelter-in-place policies but by Americans' fear that going outside will result in illness.  Fear. 

Shelter-in-Place, when looked at spiritually, involves more than fear.  We can remind ourselves that beyond our inborn instincts for self protection, in this global danger, self protection cannot be separated from the charge to protect others--it is a mutual and reciprocal protection.  Fear for the well-being of those that we are attached to, our personal unit of relationships is also instinctual.  But life is far more than our limited personal hub of connections.  The wholeness and oneness of life, the All,  is at the core of our spiritual focus through the Pandemic.   Realistically, as human beings we are limited in our capacity to grasp that Allness.  And as individual human beings, we are limited in are ability to care for everyone, everything, at all times, and especially in a time of universal  upheaval.  When we ourselves are seriously ill, all our energy is channelled into caring for our health and then moves outward as we begin to regain strength.  In the same way when some aspect of our relationship unit is threatened, our care and actions are directed there.  But the Pandemic has given us an extraordinary influence on the well-being of thousands, on a real physical level, by participating in public health, both at home and as we leave our homes. 

Along with the physical level, we impact the whole by attending to the whole, through prayer, through acquiring understanding,  through forgiveness, and creativity in the offering of positive possibilities. 

I will take a deeper look at fear during this week, but for now I offer you these lines from the Bible,  1 John 4:18  "There is no fear in love; but perfect love castes out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love."

Fear is indeed protective.  Fear stops us so that we can protect, avoid, process, evaluate, problem solve, overcome, discover love. Fear is not final, it is a step on our way. (Susan Nettleton)

May 10, 2020

For today's Sunday post, I turn to Unity's Prayer of Protection. This prayer, by poet/ Minister, James Dillet Freeman was first written in 1940 and then, over a 3 year period, evolved into the well-known affirmation below.  Published as a pamphlet that was distributed for comfort during World War II, the final line was a specific addition for the warfront.  Depending on the situation, I often change that last line to "Wherever you are, Good is", as a remind that the Good is another word for God.  Healing is also another word for God. Wherever you are, there is Healing and Health. It is often changed to be communal, changing "you" to "us".  It carries with it the release and peace of all the minds and hearts that have repeated it again and again for the last 80 years.   I offer it this morning as a universal prayer for the Pandemic, with the gentle spirit of Mother's Day.  (Susan Nettleton)

Prayer of Protection 

The light of God surrounds you;

The love of God enfolds you;

The power of God protects you;

The presence of God watches over you;

Wherever you are, God is.

—James Dillet Freeman

May 9, 2020

It seems to me, as we turn from the "still point within" in daily meditation to each days course before us,  we need the fluidity best described in Taoism:  attuning ourselves to the movement of life (the Tao) with the softness and changeability of flowing water.  Translated into modern terms, this is a time for responses that are creative, flexible, and adaptable.  As Alan Watts put it in his book, Tao: The Watercourse Way, "[T]he art of life is more like navigation than warfare* for what is important is to understand the winds, the tides, the currents, the seasons, and the principles of growth and decay, so that one's actions may use them and not fight them.”   And,  “The human organism has the same kind of innate intelligence as the ecosystems of nature, and the wisdom of the nerves and senses must be watched with patience and respect.”   Within us, because we are of the wholeness of life, we have access to the guidance and direction needed for finding our way, for healing, relating, and living full lives while things continue to change.  We learn to follow the movement of life that is harmony with the way life is unfolding.

(*Watts uses the word "warfare"as a reference to Sun Tzu's ancient treatise, The Art of War.  Originally written as an analysis of Chinese military strategy and philosophy. It has gained great popularity in the west as a philosophy and strategy for leadership in business and success.Watts redirects us to "go along with the flow of things in an intelligent way.”  (Susan Nettleton)

#15.  The Tao Te Ching (The Way of Life, tr. Witter Bynner)

Long ago the land was ruled with a wisdom

Too fine, too deep, to be fully understood

And, since it was beyond men's full understanding,

Only some of it has come down to us, as in these sayings:

'Alert as a winter-farer on an icy stream,'

'Wary as a man in ambush,'

'Considerate as a welcome guest,'

'Selfless as melting ice,'

'Green as an uncut tree,

'Open as a valley,'

And this one also, 'Roiled as a torrent,

Why roiled as a torrent?

Because when a man is in turmoil how shall he find peace

Save by staying patient till the stream clears?

How can a man's life keep its course

If he will not let it flow?

Those who flow as life flows know

They need no other force:

They feel no wear, they feel no tear,

They need no mending, no repair.

May 8, 2020

This morning I woke up thinking of Taoism. In California, the first stirrings of movement toward opening society beyond lockdown are beginning. Californians are warned the door will be slowly cracked open, cautiously checked, and quickly shut again if/when the number of cases of Covid 19 rise. Less cautious states are lifting restrictions quickly with the pressure of growing social unrest and conflict. Over the coming weeks, we will be faced with new personal decisions and a collective responsibility for our choices as local areas try to reconstruct the economy and culture.

The I Ching, (The Book of Changes, tr. Richard Wilhelm), describes the Taoist concept of the time "Before Completion"as a time of caution that seems particularly relevant for the days ahead:

"The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order. But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions. At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice. The caution of a fox walking over ice is proverbial in China. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice, as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots. A young fox who as yet has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly, and it may happen that he falls in and gets his tail wet when he is almost across the water. Then of course his effort has been all in vain. Accordingly, in times "before completion," deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success."

Deliberation and caution are not just the result of conscious thinking and logical planning. They arise out of our inborn protective intelligence. The time spent in stillness with a deepening spiritual awareness and acceptance of life's interweaving, cultivates the intuitive wisdom needed to navigate our way. (Susan Nettleton)

May 7, 2020

Today I offer you a short parable from Jack Correu's blog on our website (hillsidesource.com), 

Here is another reminder through all the difficulties and shadows of life, momentary guideposts, appear, supportive memories surface, unexpected beauty inspires.  Our path lightens when we catch hold and savor them.   (Susan Nettleton)

Follow the link to "Little Shack of Shadows":

https://hillsidesource.com/musings/2020/1/29/little-shack-of-shadows

May 6, 2020

How do you "feed the Light", especially as one of my friends in Mumbai put it, "in these dark times"?   With the news and the emotional intensity of watching the escalating number of confirmed cases of the virus and the death tolls, the heavy shadow of sorrow as well as fear will naturally fall over you.  And it isn't just your personal sadness, but a collective grief.   

Yet, I am urging you to feed the Light.  How do you feed anything in life?   You first give it your attention...you attend. I can offer many techniques, and I will touch on some of them over the posts, but the primary thing here is giving the "Light" your attention.  Sometimes you have to look for it, sometimes it comes to you, but the key is giving it your full attention and even your open heart.

I had an unexpected encounter with light and shadow once after a very difficult time of meditation.  I finally just stopped the meditation because my emptiness was just too much.

When I stood up and turned to the Eastern wall behind me, I met a vision of a cathedral window, with a brilliant flaming rose colored light and a spattering of fractured prisms.  I was stunned.  The whole wall was radiant. A deep peace fell over me. My mind though was still sorting out the experience. Then I realized that what I was looking at was the shadow of the arched window, 90 degrees to my left.  That northern window faced the street and a glass mobile dangled from it's top. The sun was just beginning to set in the west sending rays of light at just the unlikely angle to cast the shadow of the window casings and enlarge the splay of reflections from the mobile.

I thought of centuries of ancient architectural wonders, like Aztec temples and Lord Shiva's Temple in Bangalore, precisely constructed to allow direct sunlight to illuminate the inner sanctuary once a year--the power of light to invoke the sacred. 

I let my window's shadow do the same to me as I watched it expand, glow and fade with the setting sun.  This time, the Light fed me. (Susan Nettleton)

May 5, 2020

During the lockdown, my daughter has been experimenting with  homemade sourdough starter, since we have been unable to find yeast in the local stores or online.    The starter is created by mixing flour and water, and then letting the microorganisms that live in the flour and air multiply.  There's something magical about the creative process of the microorganisms, unique to the particular air of this kitchen as they mix with those organisms that are unique to this particular bag of flour, and thrive and bubble with life's energy.  A neighbor, who has more experience with homemade yeast, told us that it helps the process if you give your starter a name.  So my preschooler grandson named it Ab.  He and his mom feed Ab flour and water once or twice a day, Ab has rewarded them with exquisite artisan loaves of bread and outstanding homemade pizza crust! 

Whenever I hear my daughter announce, "It's time to feed Ab," I  am reminded of a spiritual adage I learned from my friend Sidd:  "Feed the Light."  He sometimes adds his observation that in life, the Dark will take care of itself; it will grow on it's own.  The Light expands as we feed it.

As a minister I was trained in New Thought, which aims to rise beyond the world of duality and the battle of Good vs. Evil.  New Thought turns it's attention to the Oneness of Life and stays there.  New Thought offers the analogy of stumbling into a dark room, bumping into things.

To avoid fear, frustration or injury, you don't argue or fight with the dark. You find the light switch and turn it on.  The dark disappears.  A similar analogy is to imagine camping at night by a fire in the woods.  Gradually you become aware that there are wolves encroaching on the campsite. Again, you don't do battle with the wolves.  You build a blazing bonfire from that little campfire and the wolves will withdraw on their own.  Whether we are speaking of your own inner state, or the outer times and events of the last months (and today), the spiritual focus is the same.  Feed the Light.  The "still point" within you is Its Source. (Susan Nettleton)

For poetic inspiration on feeding the Light, consider the poem "Light" by Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore(1861-1941). 

Follow the link for the poem "Light".

https://www.best-poems.net/rabindranath_tagore/light.html

Note:  Tagore won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 for his poetry compilation Gitanjali, published in 1912 that included "Light."  During the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic which killed 18 million people in India, Tagore was running a gurukula  school for boys in West Bengal.  Because there was an extreme doctor shortage and he had studied Ayurvedic medicine, he attended to the sick throughout those years.

May 4, 2020

Art is another portal to the Transcendent.   The infinite creative force of Life gives rise to the creative impulse in all of us, but is most visibly expressed in the artist.  Your own spiritual practice throughout the lockdown and the entire pandemic holds the potential for new creative movement within you.   It is one way to begin to envision the direction you would like to take beyond this crisis as we again face uncertainty and change. Perhaps we can come to further comprehend our personal and collective experience of the Pandemic of 2020 through its emerging art. (Susan Nettleton)

From our website section on the "Creative Well", my further thoughts on art:

"The history of world art is replete with extraordinary, powerful depictions of myth, scripture, mystical encounters-- all pointing to humanity’s relationship to the Divine in sacred as well as irreverent language, tone and image.

Sometimes expression is dramatically bold and direct, perhaps even disturbing.  More often art speaks through metaphor, symbols, subtle impressions, and even fragments, struggling to give voice to those aspects of life which as yet have no words but which we must discover and digest beyond definition.  Painting, sculpture, literature, poetry, music, theater, dance, photography, and film--all hold the potential to reveal the unknown and unrealized aspects of life.  And we, as witnesses and participants, are suddenly struck with improbable recognition: “Yes, this is the way it is.”   Or the way it could be... Such work feeds our souls, our spirits, as it opens and expands our own vision, imagination and intuitive grasp of Truth.  We are changed by art."

For a glimpse into the emerging art of the pandemic from Canada, follow the link:

https://canadianart.ca/features/canadian-art-in-the-time-of-coronavirus

May 3, 2020

There is a story in Zen that when asked the essence of Zen, the monk replied, "1..2.3..."--a reference to the fundamental meditation practice of  repetitively counting the breath to 10.  The breath becomes the focal point that can be returned to over and over again as the mind starts to wander.

In this poem by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973), we are asked to be quiet for a count of 12.  While meditation deepens as we learn to stay quiet and focused over an increasing length of time for daily practice, there is certainly value in stopping throughout the day in a momentary, "mini" meditation.  We collect the moments and find our thinking clears as we move about the day more calmly.   So I add Neruda's poem,  "On Keeping Quiet, " for this Sunday post.  It has the poetic tone of prophecy for our pandemic times.  (Susan Nettleton)

Follow the link to the poem:

http://www.bu.edu/quantum/zen/readings/keepingQuietNeruda.html