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Masterpieces of Love

As we continue this week, looking at the texts from the Christian tradition, for ways in which we can find inspiration for our spiritual journeys, we come across a passage from Paul of Tarsus' Letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 2:4-10), in which we are referred to as "masterpieces of God" or "God's work of art". Unfortunately, as less educated translators began to interpret the earliest texts, and incorporate them into the codices we now know as the Bible, the Greek word "poiema" becomes diluted to "handiwork". So your version of the text might say that we are the "handiwork of God", but for the sake of understanding the essence of this passage, we are going to use the originally intended meaning, which is "artwork" or "masterpiece".

And I realise that if you wake up looking anything like I do, it's probably a bit of a stretch to look in the mirror and be mindful of the fact that you are a work of art, rather than simply a "piece of work"! But stay with me a moment!

Of course, there are many of us, like myself, who do not entertain such fanciful notions and superstitions as belief in imaginary personal gods and the like. We understand that the whole god-concept is a metaphor for the spiritual principle science calls "matter" and the mystics call "Love". In fact, even the Christian texts remind us that what we call or imagine as "God" is actually love (1 John 4:8). But just because we possess a more mature understanding of the spiritual meaning of the scriptures, and are able to dispense with the nonsense that causes millions of parents, sisters, brothers and grandparents to panic, when they discover their children don't subscribe to the same fear-based, superstitious beliefs they were raised with, doesn't mean we cannot find the message -- the truth -- woven into even the most primitive of texts.

As we look at this passage, we can interchange the word "God" for "Love", and realise that Paul -- who was learned in the Mystery School teachings -- wants the community at Ephesus to know that we are "masterpieces of love".

Suddenly, when we look at one of the last lines from another passage, read on the beginning of this Fourth Week in Lent (John 3:14-21), in which Jesus tells his companion Nicodemus, "Whoever lives in the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in Love," we recognise the importance of living the Dharma in a way that is unapologetic, unhidden, and celebrated. We truly are masterpieces of love... expressions of life that are unique.

What does your daily life say to others about the path you are on? We shouldn't need to tell someone we're on a spiritual path, the way that fundamentalists do. Fundamentalists and their fear-based, superstitious theology need to "interrupt" and "disrupt" life, in order to garner the attention so many of them are starved for. Because they don't understand the nature of suffering, and because they are fixated on imaginary, external sources for relief of suffering, they are compelled to constantly whine, "Look at me! Listen to what I know," whenever they can. Their behaviour is much like the two year-old, who wants the whole world to stop and look at them, as they show us how cleverly they can jump on one foot, or get their finger all the way up their little noses. And they are just as annoying. But like the immature child, the spiritually immature need our gentle compassion and tolerance too. That doesn't mean allowing their inappropriate behaviours, but it also doesn't mean telling them to "fuck off", no matter how much you'd like to. (Trust me!!)

Some will interpret the story in John's Gospel as being a commandment to get baptised, but what the Great Teacher really encouraged Nicodemus to do was to become a Bodhisattva -- a person who offers himself or herself to all beings, as Jesus did, through the practice of compassion and genuine concern (bodhicitta) for others... living unselfishly and mindful of our true nature as masterpieces of love. The whole message behind the mythical tales of the New Testament are intended to serve as an illustration of the potential for Love (or God as the primitives imagined) to become incarnate, in the person of Jesus, to whom the scriptures in Aramaic refer as "the Truly Realised One" (i.e., "only begotten Son"). And Jesus' message for us is that we should all lay claim to that same birthright. That is the idea behind ritual baptism.  

Baptism is not a magic act that wipes away imaginary "original sin". It is a celebration of the graces that flow to us and through us by virtue of recognising our true natures and living mindfully aware of our being out-picturings or masterpieces of the timeless and beginningless, groundlessness we call Love.

So let us take that away with us this week, and focus our attention on living lives more reflective of the qualities of a masterpiece.

It's been said that when you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Let us now live our lives in such a manner that when we die, the world cries & we rejoice...

And please remember in your thoughts and prayers our urgent intentions to prevent eviction. Pass along the word to those you know, who might be able to contribute $10, $20, $50 or more, as every bit helps: http://dharmacharya.chipin.com/mypages/view/id/b7dc4438db6bffe3

Namasté!

-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda

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Copyright ©2008, Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato). All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission.

Copyright ©2008, Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato). All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission.

Dharma Reflection – Third Sunday in Lent

Today, we continue our look at the stories from the Christian tradition, and explore some of the hidden Dharma teachings that can be found during this period of Lenten reflection.

Within the oldest institutional sect of Christians, in the Catholic tradition, the principal scriptural reading for the Third Sunday of Lent is taken from the gospel attributed to John (Jn. 2.13-25).

It's a story I really enjoy, because it quickly dispels the absurd idea of Jesus as some kind of perfect supernatural being, who was above human emotions. In this narrative, Jesus enters Jerusalem with his disciples for the start of the Passover celebration.

The centre of activity for the Passover would have been the Great Temple, and every Jew would be required to pay their Temple Tax upon entering. Because many Jews would have been travelling from Alexandria, Rome and Persia, they would not be carrying the currency of the Palestinian region -- the shekel. So there were money changers -- the equivalent of today's bankers -- on-hand at the entrance to the Temple.

Now the Temple Tax was half a shekel, or roughly the equivalent of two-days' wages... so it wasn't cheap; but to make matters worse, the money changers would charge unthinkable amounts to convert the currency. There was no need for a bail-out in Jesus' time, because the money changers and tax collectors were largely a band of sanctioned crooks.

Upon witnessing these money changers and vendors taking advantage of those coming to the Temple, Jesus becomes enraged. The story says that he overturns the money changers' tables, throwing them out, "My Father's house should be a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of thieves!"

If we recall the earlier story of Jesus' baptism in the River Jordan, we find the first words (according to the Gospel of John) Jesus speaks in that text. Two disciples of John the Baptist come up to Jesus and ask him, "Rabbi, where to you dwell?" And Jesus replies, "Come, and you will see."

And so through the rest of the narrative Jesus is showing them "where he dwells" -- not in the physical, geographical sense -- but in the way that most matters. Jesus shows them that he dwells in love. He explains, as his beloved disciple would later elucidate, that the concept the ancients called "god" was actually Love, and that one who dwells in love, dwells in god, and god in them. In other words, the sacred path is the path of love... and love is the Eternal Dwelling Place.

Love sometimes requires us to be raw with our emotions, and that includes taking a stand against injustice. In the mythical stories about Jesus, we have the story of the money changers, but one can easily imagine that if Jesus were here today, he would confront domestic violence, child abuse, hunger, homelessness, homophobia, religious intolerance, wars and the illicit occupation of places such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Tibet and Darfur. He would speak out angrily against the abuses of big corporations, against the bail-out of banks and automakers, against fundamentalism, sexism, elder abuse, drug abuse and commercialism. And none of that would make him a "bad guy", because his actions would remain rooted in his dwelling place -- Love.

During Lent, we are challenged to think of the people in our lives whom we may have harmed, hurt or marginalised, and to make amends for those offenses. Beyond the somewhat ridiculous practice of "giving up" something for Lent, like sweets, beer, porn or what have you... none of which have any spiritual merit whatsoever... perhaps we might consider giving up those grudges, those fears, those hostilities that keep us from forgiving ourselves and others. Perhaps we can reach out to someone we might otherwise ignore. Perhaps we can take a stand against injustice, instead of justifying our lack of involvement in such things.

There are crises going on all around us today... in Tibet... in Iraq... in Palestine and Israel... in Darfur... in the United States... in Mexico... in the Eastern Europe... In the Buddhist Jatakamala, we are admonished: "Throw away your pitiful apathy and act boldly in this crisis! A wise person shows energy and resolve; success is in her power, no matter what." (Jatakamala 14.11)

And so our challenge, this Third Week in Lent, regardless of our personal spiritual or religious traditions, is to wake-up! To recognise the crises and social injustices before us... and to take action.

When we commit ourselves to alleviating the suffering of others, our own suffering naturally diminishes, and love flows where it was previously obstructed.

Namasté!

-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda

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Copyright ©2008, Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato). All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission.

Bad Times? Good Times?

Emerson suggested that bad times posses a scientific value. From a Buddhist perspective, strictly speaking, we know that such labels as "bad" or "good" are themselves the cause of suffering. However, recognising that unpleasant things do occur, it is more useful to develop the skills to deal with them, and with the labels we consign to them. At the same time, we know, as Nagarjuna points out that "Since unpleasant does not exist, how can aversion exist?"

Emerson's point was that what we perceive as bad can be used as a learning experience, "grist for the mill," as Ram Das puts it. As an example, last month, we were $800 short of our necessary funds for bills. I was able to borrow the $800, with the promise of paying back $200/month for the next four months. The day I deposited the borrowed funds, a cheque for $600, written to us by someone who borrowed that money a month earlier for his own rent, bounced, and in so doing, triggered $225 in additional bounced cheque charges. At the end of that day, the account was $125 overdrawn, and the entire $800 I borrowed to pay these bills was eaten by the irresponsibility of that individual.

For the past two weeks, we've gone without any food in the house. Our sole source of sustenance has been a protein shake every other day, which has created medical issues for both of us. It's difficult taking medications on an empty stomach, but it's not impossible.

My point is not to illicit pity at all, because through it all, we are not suffering. Our discomfort, aggravation, frustration and concern over covering the bills continues to be present, but we do not allow it to cause suffering. Instead, we've chosen to see it as a learning experience. We look at the irresponsibility of the young man, who intentionally wrote a cheque on a closed account, as a reflection of the times we might try to get out of our own responsibilities: maybe sleeping in, when others are counting on us... or saying we cannot help a friend, just because we're "not in the mood for their drama". We look at the situation as evidence of the fact that when you help those in need, sometimes you get burned, and that cannot cause you to regret helping them, or prevent you from helping someone else again.

Some have emailed me and suggested that I look at their "get rich quick" deals, or MLM programs. They know in their hearts that the simple idea that anyone would logically spend hundreds of dollars to join a program, and commit to spending $100-$300/month thereafter (for overpriced products I don't really want anyway) is irresponsible; and to further suggest that one will get rich by doing something so stupid is insulting. Oh, don't get me wrong... I was a top income-earner in the field of network marketing for close to 29 years... there are one or two companies out there, which offer legitimate opportunities to get started for nearly nothing, and operate a real business. But most of these deals are patently absurd.

Am I hungry? Yes. Was that a bad experience. No. The past two weeks have been an amazing opportunity for me to begin the observance of the Great Lent with a more acute awareness of the way the homeless, poor and hungry feel every single day... for decades at a time! Might we end up homeless? Absolutely. The landlord is probably going to evict us, and is right for doing so, therefore, how is that situation bad? It's all simply cause and effect.

I will continue to meet my obligation to pay that $800 back... $200/month. And by meeting my obligation, I will accumulate the merit for knowing that this too shall pass.

If the Dharma is truly about awakening, then at times of apparent crisis, we need to wake up! If I apply myself to the current situation, and do all I can, then what need have I for feeling bad? "Throw away your pitiful apathy," we read in the Jatakamala (14.11), "and act boldly in this crisis! A wise person shows energy and resolve; success is in one's power, no matter what."

This is not a time for useless emotions and thoughts, such as the delusion of hope. In fact, it is a time when we can learn to become friends with hopelessness or groundlessness, and learn the key to non-judgment of circumstances, events, people... phenomena. In the face of hopelessness, most people become fearful and paralysed. The Dharma tells us that we must act... and then let go.

I'm doing all I can to resolve my circumstances. How about you? What circumstances are challenging you right now? What are you doing about them? Have you allowed fear or frustration to immobilise you? If so, it's OK... just decide right NOW to choose action.

In the Epistle of James, in the Christian scriptures, we are reminded to "(D)raw near the Sacred, and the sacred will draw near you." In other words, by aligning oneself with compassion and truth, we realise our oneness with compassion and truth. Or as Dr. Ernest Holmes writes, in The Science of Mind, "New thoughts create new conditions."

Whatever you might now be facing... choose wisely. Act with resolve. And then let go of the idea of labelling such experiences as "good" or "bad"... they're all lessons... and they're all neutral. We simply have to let them be so.

Namasté!

-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda

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Copyright ©2008, Dharmacharya Gurudas Sunyatananda (Dr. F. Gianmichael Salvato). All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced, blogged, quoted or distributed, provided the entire blog, including by-lines, contact information and this copyright remain intact. It may NOT be altered in any way, without express written permission. Photograph copyright SmallRaffaela - http://www.flickr.com/photos/smallraffaela/

Becoming instruments of compassion

The purpose of our spiritual practice is to return again and again to the moment, realising that all phenomena are impermanent. In my experience, when we return to the moment, we begin to taste sacred awareness... the mindfulness, compassion, and calm abiding that arise from beginning to see that moment more clearly. There is no struggle to be perfect, because all we have to work with is this moment... not the past... not the future. This moment. As we taste that sacred awareness of the moment, we experience a more complete joy than we've ever experienced before. And we can then begin to bring that joy with us, transforming the lives of those we touch.

The Dharma compels us toward a mindfulness that nothing is ever gained in our conflicts with others. The ego may be fooled into believing that we gain esteem and recognition by “being right” or “winning the battle”, but the path of conflict is one strewn with the effects of fear: anxiety, unbalance, hostility and pain.

When one becomes mindful of the call for compassion, loving-kindness, non-violence and respect for all beings, then the desire for peace outweighs the need to be “right”. Seeing our interactions with others as an opportunity to gain insight into the perspective of another manifestation of the Beloved allows the healing energy of love to replace those spaces in which fear crept. And when we encounter someone who is caught up in the ego-drama of needing to be right themselves, we can gently walk away from the conflict. A fire without oxygen soon flickers-out. So too does the desire for conflict without opposition.

The Missionary Sisters of Charity begin each day by reciting the well-known “Prayer of St. Francis”, written by an anonymous Franciscan friar in 1912. I close today’s reflection by offering a translation of the prayer, as found in “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions”, a book published by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA Services), in Chapter 11 of that book:

(M)ake me a channel of thy peace;
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;
that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

(G)rant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.

For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.

I once read something that Aung San Suu Kyi -- the leader of the Burmese democracy movement -- said upon winning the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize:

“You know, I am a Buddhist. As a Buddhist the answer is very simple and clear. That is compassion and mercy is the real panacea. I am sure that, when we have compassion and mercy in our hearts, we can overcome not only terrorism, but many other evil things that are plaguing the world.”

May we start this new day mindful of that wonderful admonishment. And may we be instruments of compassion.

Namasté!
-- dharmacharya gurudas sunyatananda

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