Moving through difficult experiences

I believe that we inhabit an invisible spiritual environment from which the resources for peace, transformation and healing are continuously and immeasurably available… an environment in which the perceived “self” recognises its unity with the Greater Self, and discovers that the Greater Self is an impermanent phenomenon, created out of Limitless Love.

One of the Desert Fathers, Abba Moses, once said, “If your behaviour does not match your prayers, your prayers are wasted. We should not continue to do anything we condemn in our spiritual practice.”

In Buddhism and New Thought, we often hear that we create our experiences. It’s not always easy to remain mindful of this truth; however, when we are confronted with difficult experiences or unpleasant events, we find that loving-kindness and self-responsibility have the capacity to soften the hardness and release the contraction of aversion that arises from the ego-mind.

An example of this came up this week, when we were faced with a significant financial crisis, due to the breach of contract by one of the companies with whom we had partnered. Initially, when I realised that the CEO of that company was incapable of delivering on his promises for the fourth month in a row, and that his four months of failure to deliver resulted in our being significantly short of where we needed to be financially, it was easy to become angry with him. But that anger was not useful in any way. No matter how disgusted I was at the way this guy continues to whine about how I “disappointed him” and how “unprofessional” I was to confront him and his supposed Director of Marketing for their complete ineptitude and irresponsibility, it wasn’t going to change the facts: this guy’s company is not properly funded; lacks competent management; and is all about promises, not performance.

Suddenly, when looking at the facts, and not looking at the emotions we attach to our perceptions, it was easy to simply walk away from the deal, and recognise that situation for what it is.

The moment I did that, I also opened up the part of my mind, which I call Creative Intelligence (others refer to this as Universal Mind, the Buddha Field or Christ Consciousness), and in so doing, opened the doors of creativity for the crisis to become resolved. The apparent lack of money in the monastery’s operating fund was covered within three hours, almost to the dime.

Now understand that this is not “magic”, it’s science. The Buddhist master, Yuan-Wu, taught: “Surrender everything – your body, your life, your inner self – and you will experience peace, ease, non-doing and inexpressible happiness.”

When I began my spiritual formation for the priesthood, I was originally part of a religious community founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, which has served as the intellectual/spiritual illuminati for the Roman Catholic Church for 475 years. These were a society of men who understood many of the things that I’ve written about: non-theism, impermanence, non-dualism, Gnostic philosophy, and so forth. Of course, they are also a society of men with very prominent and deliberate designs on dominating the spiritual landscape, controlling the Church (and the world, which it imagines ought to be under the rule of their church), and safeguarding the “mysteries” from the intellectually “inferior”.

I found much of that to be politically motivated, inconsistent with the Way of the Christ, and grossly institutionalised, and after two years, parted ways with them, entering the Franciscan contemplative life at the age of 18. The Franciscans had much less of a handle on what it meant for me to already be an ordained Buddhist monk than the Jesuits did, but they lived a charism closer to the Dharma path.

One thing about the Jesuits, however, for which I will always be grateful, is the surrender prayer of Ignatius Loyola. Despite its being framed within a theistic framework, I found a particular resonance with the Dharma teaching on surrender and renunciation/detachment.

In the prayer, one affirms that he or she surrenders his liberty, memory, understanding… the entire will. The adherent prays, “Give me only Love and grace… that’s enough for me.”

It can be helpful, I think, at a time when so many are facing difficulties, financial stress, violence and unrest, to remember to come back to our centre and become grounded in Love. Loving-kindness, patience, equanimity and compassion transforms our minds, reshapes our lives, and radically changes our experiences… and when our experience changes, the entire world changes.

Namasté!

 

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