You Don't Have to Sit Still

I just got back from meditation in downtown Zurich. This is a 2-hour Modern Day Meditation that's open to the public. Not all Miracle of Love meditations are open to the public, but they are on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month. We have a lot of guests at this meditation because, frankly, it's a kick-ass meditation. People like it.

Ways that the Modern Day Meditation is different than most other meditations:

• You get to meditate to music that rocks

• During the first part, you can dance, cry, scream, pace, or sit still

• You don't have to sit still

• You don't have to try to get rid of all your thoughts

• You learn to do what is called meditative thinking

This is the book about the Modern Day Meditation that Jim St. James wrote. It includes a CD of a guided meditation so you can teach yourself. You can buy the book on line at the Miracle of Love Bookstore. Or join us for meditations in Zurich.

Good night, sleep well.

Growing Potatoes

Just a short note tonight about starting a potato garden. At this time of year potatoes like to grow and all they need is someone to plant them.

I am not a gardener. But I think that everyone should know something about gardening. It's embarrassing to be so removed from the natural flow of things that you don't know how to do basic gardening things. Like shoveling mulch into a sack, dumping it on your garden plot and spreading it around.

It's good to know that potatoes are simple vegetables. You just have to dig a trench and drop them in one by one about 6 - 8 inches apart and then cover up the trench with a mound of soil. You don't even have to cut up the potatoes or buy seeds or anything fancy. A potato is a humble and friendly vegetable.

So even if people make fun of you because you're growing potatoes -- this happened to me -- it is good to do it anyway. So what if potatoes are boring? One must make the first step to being a gardener.

So also in life. We take the first humble steps as we set out on a new course. We endure ridicule if it comes and hold our heads high. Because without those first steps, there is no new course.

I wish you many first steps and that many potatoes growing in your garden.

Getting There

Good evening from the Black Forest, also known in these parts as Schwartzwald. My husband and I had a rousing discussion today in the sauna (we're on vacation) about how one gets "there." "There" meaning reaching the goal of a spiritual path. I know some people say that there is no "There" in the spiritual pursuit, but I don't buy it. Even if There is the most natural place in the world inside of you all the time, it is still "there" as opposed to "here." Sorry, but it is a goal. No matter what one says when one is being spiritually correct.

So in the discussion my husband and I had about how to get "There" we came up with these three things:

1. Feel your own desire ever more strongly

2. Follow the teachings of a master (you simply can't do it alone)

3. Listen to your own inner voice and take heed

Without any one of these three things, you just can't make it to where any self-respecting spiritual seeker wants to get. For me personally the place I want to get is to "Christ consciousness." As in "the Christ," not necessarily Jesus.

There are a lot of "quotations" in this post. I can feel myself making the quote sign in the air each time I write the quotes. So much of spirituality exists within the quote marks. The main reason for that is that spirituality, by its very nature, is not expressible in words. All that we really have are weird words and phrases that maybe remind you of church when you were a kid or of some science fiction movie. At best the words would bring to mind scenes from The Matrix. Red pill or blue pill?

Anyway, you can imagine that the conversation of my husband and I in the sauna, was full of quote-worthy words. We were doing our best in our argumentative, contemplative way to make sense of something that is beyond sense.

So now, I will say what I am after without any quote marks and without using the phrase Christ consciousness: What got me hooked on the spiritual endeavor is the belief that it will get me out of here. I want to transcend this mundane world where I've never felt at home. I like what's happening to me as I'm letting go of my attachment to who I think I am. Letting go actually makes it more pleasing to be alive and makes me more available to other people and, more importantly, more available to God. That statement about God is a very conceptual one and I apologize. Normally I would use quote marks somewhere in there.

But I am not really that clear about my spiritual goal. Do I want to be a great spiritual master? Heavens, no. Too difficult. Do I want to be in this world, but not of this world like Jesus said? Yes, definitely. Do I want to get freer every day? Yes, for sure.

Since I started in earnest on a spiritual path, my life has gotten much more interesting and I can honestly say that my life feels like a life worth living. This is a good sign. But my goal is hazy. It's not like in corporate meetings that I've facilitated. You can come up with a goal in dollars and cents or in what you want to accomplish this year, etc. But spiritual freedom is not quite like that. How do you measure "doing God's will" or "living as God would have it" or the like? Maybe you can't measure it. But that doesn't mean you can't get "there."

I know, the quote marks are back.

If you are on a defined spiritual path, then you know what I mean. If you are on an undefined spiritual path, you know what I mean. This is not the easiest way to live life, but it is one of the most satisfying.

Kalindi says that with God, everything gets better. However getting better is not the goal but a side effect. This is a clue to what the true goal of spiritual work is. Gourasana said, "You must give up how you want it to be and live life as God wants it to be."

What do you think?

Warm regards to you and goodnight.