Reaching God?Today I am going to try to link what I have talked a lot about, over the years to something that I have mentioned hardly at all. It is the relationship between what is called the spiritual path and the actual experience of talking with that which we call God, what ever this is thought to be. In our first reading we heard Richard Wilkins say, "...The path she had found was the path that she had made herself..." In our second reading we heard Oriah Mountain Dreamer tell us that, "... There is nowhere to go. What you are looking for is right here." What we are looking for? Are we looking for anything? It obviously isn't a path that we can, or ought to follow. What is it that we actually want? .What is it that we actually need? What is it that we are short of? What is it that is so life changing? Now, I cannot answer these questions for you sitting here listening to me because I suspect that each of us would come up with a different answer, or even set of answers. I also think that our own answer today might be different tomorrow and all tomorrows as we would have been matched to our own spiritual experiences. Such conclusions, or responses, or 'knowing', seem to fit an ever changing individual and personal developmental need. Why? It is because if we are on a 'spiritual journey' at all then our perceived need would have to change as we ourselves made change. Of course, the whole concept of a journey might not be really tenable at all if Oriah Mountain Dreamer is correct when she says that "all we need is right here". So what is it that is 'right here'? What does this 'right here' mean? Well, I can only say what 'right here' means for me. Though this is a very personal response it seems that many others have said repeatedly in their writings and spoken answers words like 'right here'. This has been going on across the world and across millennia. So in this context what does 'right here' mean and why is this 'right here' seen to be so important? As I see it, based on my own spiritual experiences, the journey is a personal one and within each one of us. In a nutshell most of us seem to have to do a number of things very specific for each of us. I suppose this is going to sound a bit like a shopping list really though there are individual differences. In brief, we have to reach a valid understanding of who we have been and recognize what we have done in the past. Here we must take full ownership and responsibility for all that we have done to others, ourselves and our environment, anything negative impacting on our selves and others. Some spiritual authors say that we should also ask for forgiveness, where it is appropriate, though to me this is what acceptance is. Certainly we should and must forgive ourselves and then move on. Most of us need to recognize who we really are now. It is at this point that we have the ability to make changes in how we live and what we do. The present moment, of course, is the only point at which change can be made. We certainly can't change the past and the future is only changed, for most of us, in the coming present… in the Now. Here we can choose to exhibit more of the 'fruits of the spirit' that Paul talks of… being loving, experiencing joy, being kind, good, faithful, gentle and having patience and self control. Remembering, thinking, doing and experiencing is what changes us, especially when these have become a 'none thinking' and repetitive habit. To achieve this, it is often useful to allow more space in our lives to fill with spiritual or 'god activities,' like sitting quietly, praying even, and being more at peace with ourselves, rather than being focused totally on the demands of our physical world with all its attractions like money, possessions and status.
At this stage the development of the ability to calm or turn off the 'chattering' mind, ours, I mean, is often seen as a crucial step. All this has the effect of beginning to bring calm and stability into our lives. More importantly, I believe, these things will have had the effect of moving us into the 'Kingdom of Heaven on Earth' that Jesus talked to his disciples so much about. For example in Saying number 113 in the Gospel of Thomas it says:
They asked him: "When is the Kingdom coming?" Everyone can achieve this but many don't and most seem not to want to. 'Haven't I done enough?' I hear it said. Yes, to get this far you will have done tremendously and wonderfully well. You could congratulate yourself if such didn't make you feel uncomfortable to do so. It may seem a difficult thing to do, but it can be the easiest task if you really have allowed yourself to become free of the negative stuff. Then we can begin the really important task! So what is that? I hear you ask. Well, to say it is really simple doesn't mean that it is easy. In a nutshell, it is to actually converse with this entity that we call God. Not just to talk to God, because everyone can do that and 'answers' do appear in our physical world, don't they? Many here in this church, to my knowledge, have had such experiences like the rise of an inner smile; the appearance of a rainbow just at the 'right' time; the resolution of a problem or difficulty; or the recognition that it just wasn't a difficulty after all; or that something that is desperately needed comes into our life. All these and more are not rare within this congregation. It seems to me that this is a clear indication that such people already live within the 'Kingdom on Earth'. Or, perhaps, having periods of going backwards and forwards, in and out, across the 'border' of the 'Kingdom'. That is, in the Kingdom one moment, and then not in the Kingdom the next, as we do, act or think the 'right' things and then the 'wrong' things. So what about conversing with god as the mystics are said to do? But I am getting ahead of myself..... I am not sure that we really know what god is..... and that includes me as well... so what hints are there out there in the world or in here in the heart that might help with this nutty problem. One thing that I am certain of is that God isn't a 'being' nor a white man or woman sitting on a cloud dispensing justice. Surely this is just an understanding which reflects a less advanced society. It is the acting out of an authoritarian father or mother figure. As for the concept of 'judgment' followed by hell and eternal damnation, I just cannot accept this as anything except an earthly church with a 'priest' structure manipulating the minds of its members into conforming to the point of view a particular church or priest so that their power is retained. This smacks of indoctrination on the basis of, 'you do what I say or else!' I don't think that God would say or do this. This is the God of the old testament. Do what I say or suffer. I am not sure that I can accept that as being right, never mind true. It does not fit my limited 'understanding' of what God is. However, I have to admit that there may be some mileage in the idea of personal self judgment of the Tibetan Buddhists, particularly if the recycling of our 'essence' takes place from life to life until we improve ourselves. This could be a workable hypothesis which allows us to make mistakes and then try, try and try again. Most things in our physical reality seem to have recycling going on..... so why not us as well. So what do I think, from my limited God experience of 2008, God is like? On reflection, I recognize that in our three short conversations, God was offering me support. Without going over the top I now see that there was an element of kindness and acceptance of who and what I was. Because God gave me specific instructions about what was important for me to do next, this showed concern. The voice I 'heard' was supporting, accepting, even kind, but a not over-the-top kindness. On reflection it showed patience and a 'knowing' that I would get there sometime - if not this time then another. By the voice that I heard I would say that God was male but I accept that the gentle voice was really neither dramatically male nor female and though my male brain chose male this may be due to my physical male orientation. The God of my experience quite clearly expected me to progress towards 'itself'. Oddly I was to become as God, to 'become' God. I received the impression that I was on the return journey that had started with God and would end with God. The one thing that was strikingly clear was that I had to do it! There was no choice. This is what it was all about. There was an inbuilt expectation for the future and the acceptance of what I had done, knowingly and seemingly unknowingly. My experience of or with God suggests that at some level I am God or connected to God in some way. I have felt for some years that this body, that stands before you is not me. I also have felt that the then 'chattering mind', no matter how useful it was, was not me. Somehow, behind or within or around all that was the real me and beyond or within or around the real me was something we, in this culture call God. As an aside it seems that before 'creation' there was nothing but God. As God is said to have made everything then everything must have been made of God stuff. This means that everything, at some level is God or God stuff if you like. We are from god, we are made of God and will return to God. There is therefore a permanent God contact. This we seem to ignore most or all of the time. "The path she had found was the path that she had made herself." We have to do it but it isn't a path! "There is nowhere to go. What you are looking for is right here." So where is it then, this 'right here'? Many spiritual texts say that you should go within to reach God. Jesus said (Mathew ch6 v6) "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." We can do it anywhere but we have to do it. Surely Jesus' take on this was just a way of saying get away from the hustle and bustle of our daily life. Go somewhere quiet so that we can become quiet in ourselves. If we can really quiet ourselves enough, that is 'get ourselves out of the way', then we really will become aware of God in a very personal way. Many call this process meditation and God can be reached through doing this. This is what is beyond the 'Kingdom on Earth' .......... God. If I can have this experience, then so can you. Amen
Joe Potter 30/05/2010 |