Simple Seekers

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of intention, and she was attempting to connect and merge individual human energies with those expressed on the Kabbalah Tree of Life, and also, necessarily, those expressed on the Ladder of Light. To be on one tree ..

“Not on, but within.”

“We’re moving beyond form?”

“We were always beyond form.”

“Then, what purpose does form serve?”

“As a map.”

“Where does intention fit on the map?”

“Intention isn’t on the map.”

“But, if the map is a guide .?.”

“A guideline; not a guide.”

“But the structure of the map ..”

“Or tree? or ladder?”

“Yes. “Don’t they point a way to travel?”

“No.”

“Then what purpose do they serve?”

“They represent possibilities.”

“Potential possibilities from which to choose?”

“Choose what?”

“The path, or way, we want to travel, from among the various possibilities represented on the map.”

“Yes, we choose the way we want to travel.””

“As we go?”

“Where?”

“Along our way.”

“Which way is our way?”

“The way we have chosen to travel.”

“A predetermined way?”

“Can it be considered as a predetermined way if I’m only considering the next step?”

“Yes.”

“How is that possible?”

“It’s the only way.”

“How can that be, if I see the destination that I wish to reach?”

“Wishing isn’t moving.”

“Then choosing ..?”

“Yes, if we consciously choose the destination that we wish to reach, if we can, then a map can provide us with a guideline.”

“But intention is our guide along the way?”

“Yes.”

………

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Looking at a map doesn’t move us anywhere. We can sit in a cafe and study a map, and even make plans about where we’d like to go. But we have to get up on our feet and start moving, if we intend to get anywhere.

“Yes. Looking at a map doesn’t get us anywhere, but it does help us to plan where, how, and when we intend to go.”

“But even then, we need intention to inspire us to move forward?”

“Or backward, up or down, this way or that way.”

“Please explain.”

“A map as a guideline can refer to a plan of moving forward with our life, in many more ways than one. A daily schedule is as a map of how we plan to spend our time.”

“Are you suggesting that I need such a map?”

“Do you plan your daily activities?”

“For activities of importance, yes.”

“What percentage of your daily activities are important enough for you to plan for?”

“I do prioritize. Isn’t that planning?”

“Yes.”

………..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of serving a sacred cause, alone, if necessary., but not necessarily alone.

“What cause?”

“I don’t know.”

“So, all that is missing is the cause?”

“The cause? Not a cause?”

“Could it be any cause?”

“No.”

“Then that narrows the field, somewhat.”

“You’re mocking me.”

“Yes.”

“But I do seem to need to do something with my life.”

“You have.”

“Wat have I done?”

‘You’ve lived.”

“So has everyone else.”

“Yes, but with a difference.”

“And the difference is?”

“Everyone else has lived his or her own life.”

“And I have lived mine?”

“Yes.”

“But that relates to the past.”

“Are you not living now?”

“In the present?”

Where else can you live now?”

“I want to do something in the future that I haven’t done in the past, or now.”

“What?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will you know in the future?”

“Yes, of course. But I want to plan to do something.”

“How you’ll do whatever you’ll do?”

“How can I know how to do what, when I don’t know what to do?”

“How have you done what you did in the past, and are doing now, in the present?

“I did what I seemed to need to do, as well as I could.”

“You can never do more than that.”

……..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back on my discussion with Spirit, about planning for the future, He seemed to be reminding me that we each live our life from day to day, more or less, and that it’s just not possible to know, for sure, what will be important to us in the future. But if we work to do what is important to us now, as well as we can, then we’ll be developing skills and habits which will help us adapt to whatever the future brings our way.

“Yes. Study and practice whatever you think is important for you to do, now. In the future, perhaps you’ll be interested in something else. So what? Then you can study and practice doing that something else. The skills you’re learning now, and the study habits you’re developing now, can be adapted to whatever situation and/or opportunity that presents itself in the future. You’ll be prepared.

………..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of reverse transcendence.

“How did that idea get into your mind?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps You put it there.”

“For what purpose?”

“Perhaps to inform me of the topic of today’s lesson.”

“How would you explain reverse transcendence?”

“In traditional yoga practice, the mind of the student and that of her teacher become interconnected.”

“Where does reverse transcendence fit into such a situation?”

“As the student absorbs more and more of here teacher’s understanding ..”

“Understanding? And not wisdom?”

“Are they not the same?”

“Yes. Go on.”

“Then her own wisdom, or awareness, expands as she absorbs some of his.”

“Does she transcend her own mind?”

“No. An overlap, such as in a paradigm shift, develops between the student’s mind and that of her teacher’s.”

“Duality becomes one?”

“Not totally.”

“So, she absorbs his energy without losing her own?”

“Perhaps our unique energy could never be in danger of being consumed by another.”

“It could be weakened, or strengthened. Is this the result of a student attracting and absorbing her teacher’s energy?”

“Perhaps neither happens.”

“Then what does, or might happen?”

“The student may become increasingly aware of her own vibrating energy, through a more relaxed and trusting association with his.”

“Very good. But where does the concept of reverse transcendence come in?”

“I’m still vague about it, but transcendence suggests going beyond, and if her guru’s energy is strengthening her own, then the flow of energy is from without to within. – a reverse flow from the generally accepted view of transcendence as going beyond, or from within to without.”

“Does the teacher lose anything from this transfer of energy?”

“Is there a transfer?”

“Yes.”

“Then the higher energy that the teacher transmits to his student would be replaced by an even higher infusion of energy from his source of enlightenment, as a pressure gradient system might work.”

“Is that all?”

“For now, yes. Did I do well?”

“For now, yes.”

………..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Thinking back on my discussion of transcendence with Spirit, what did I learn?”

“Perhaps you learned that transcendence is not possible without an infusion of higher energy into your mind.”

“Yes, but what triggers such an infusion of higher energy?”

“What triggers growth within your body?”

“My body may be designed to grow when nutrients are provided.”

“Yes, and yet it grows from within to without.”

“But it can only expand when nourished by outside forces.”

“Yes, and so it is with your mind.”

“Could you be considered as an outside force?”

“From the perspective of your limited mind, yes.”

………

A simple seeker was meditating on the mystery of Tarot.

“How did you manage to move your focus from The Hermit, as a solitary seeker, of enlightenment to comparing Aces?”

“The Major Arcana, which includes The Hermit, relates to general personality characteristics, while ..”

“Did I ask ..?”

“The Aces introduce each of the four suits of the Minor Arcana, and offer a sacred gift – a promise, almost.”

“How could a gift, or promise, be sacred, and still be no more than an almost?”

“It’s not a freebie.”

“Then what does it cost?”

“It’s not for sale, at least it can’t be purchased.”

“Then how does one receive a gift that isn’t free and yet can’t be purchased?”

“It’s a promise of reward if effort is made to follow one’s dream, or path, and is meant to inspire self-confidence.”

“How does Tarot differ from I Ching.”

“You’re asking me?”

“Yes.””

“From my limited understanding?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. They have little or nothing in common.”

“How so?”

“I Ching explains and supports social stability within a system of generally accepted rules of order.”

“And Tarot?”

“Tarot explains inner dimensions of personal experience; feelings, desires, needs, fears, and interests, and helps us to make sense of them, and then to learn to blend them together. And more, It encourages us to believe in our individual values, and inspires us to reach for success and happiness.”

“And I Ching does not?”

“Personal satisfaction and happiness don’t seem to be high priorities, from an I Ching perspective.”

“Then why study both?”

“We seem to need both individual and collective general rules of order. But we also need personal and emotional satisfaction.”

“Where does awareness fit into this two-sided view of the ideal society.”

“I didn’t call it ideal.”

“No. I did.”

“Then I’ll let you explain where and how awareness fits into the picture.”

“Awareness is understanding the reality that the individual and collective are as two parts of an infinite oneness, within which they share a dynamic relationship to each other.”

……..

A simple seeker was meditating on her spirit teacher’s explanation of their relationship. He didn’t need physical existence or human form, He told her.

“Why?”

“I use you as ballast, to connect to your particular world of illusion.”

“If my world is one of illusion, and I can reluctantly accept that it is, or seems to be, at times, then at least some others must also be living in a personal world of illusion. Are they each separate from each other?”

“Yes. We each seem to know that our so-called individual world is intricately connected to everyone else’s world, even though surface appearances deny this reality.

Only on the surface do our individual worlds of illusion appear to be separate. Beneath this illusion there’s a common root that holds us together; that connects us inextricably together, as one.”

………..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Re: a common root

Perhaps Spirit was helping me to accept that we live in a world of illusion if we think that we’re separate from other people, places, and things. But He and I live in different worlds.

“Worlds are as communities, and the same rules apply. The correspondences are the same. No world is totally isolated from any other. The forces, or universal laws of integration and synthesis impel us to develop personal relationships with other individuals and groups of individuals.

Perhaps, not so simple seeker, you also learned that there’s no real separation between people, places, and things. Everything and everyone is connected to everything and everyone else. The ten thousand forms of plant life each contain roots that connect them to a common ground that nourishes them all, and without which they couldn’t survive.

Collectively, we’re as a picture puzzle, with each being one piece of the whole. There is only one world, which contains all smaller worlds. There is only one humanity, which contains all races. There is only one religion, which contains all religions. We each may live in different ways and/or in different worlds, but we each live.”

……….

A simple seeker was lost in thought. What thought? She was meditating on The Fool, the Tarot’s anti-hero, or so he seems to be, at least as he begins his journey through life. He isn’t even given a number, unless Zero can be considered as such. Like herself, or as she once was, he seems to be full of high hopes and confidence. But, again, as she once was.

“How are you any different, now?”

“I don’t quite fit the picture any more, if I ever did.”

“In what way?”

“The Fool, at the beginning of his journey, has no real life experience, and is totally unaware of immediate dangers, let alone those that are waiting for him, somewhere down the line. He’s lost in thought, enjoying the perfume of the rose that he’s holding in his hand. He doesn’t see the cliff that he’s about to step off, into high altitude. Even his small four-legged companion seems unable to warn him. But, perhaps we were all innocent at some time in our past.”

“What would it look like?”

“The Fool, I guess.”

“Yes, and yet, as the Tarot’s Fool will discover through life experience, innocence is a beginning – the only possible beginning of our life’s journey, our mission to discover who and what we each are.”

“Only a beginning?”

“Yes, but an important one.”

“In the sense that we have to start somewhere?”

“Yes.”

…………

A simple seeker’s note to herself

What did I learn from Spirit’s thoughts about a beginning and innocence?

“Perhaps I was trying to help you to understand that life experiences are as lessons. We learn something from everything that we experience, or we might.”

“How can we know if we’ve learned from them?”

“We?”

“Okay, me. How can I know if I’ve learned from my life experiences?”

“Which life experiences?”

“Any of them.”

“Perhaps you need to choose which life experiences need to be reflected or meditated upon, to protect yourself from repeating them, if they were unpleasant, and to find a way to repeat them if they seemed to be pleasing.”

“To try and learn from my mistakes?”

“Yes, and to try to attract more of those experiences that seemed to have a positive outcome.”

……….

A simple seeker was deeply engrossed in reading Tera Kathryn Collin’s “The Three Sisters of Tao.”

“It’s possible to read with much less intensity.”

“Perhaps, for some, if what they’re reading is for casual entertainment.”

“Even some serious students allow themselves some distance from the text.”

“Yes, it is as a text, with an important difference.”

“And the difference is ..?”

“Personal experience.”

“How can you be sure?”

“My own personal experience supports the author’s general conception of bringing otherwise dry ancient wisdom …”

“Can ancient wisdom be dry?”

“Yes, if it’s presented in an overly intellectual manner.”

“So, ancient wisdom needs an infusion of emotion?”

“I think so.”

“And your own personal experience confirms the author’s truth?”

“What does that term mean?”

“What term?”

“The author’s truth.”

“What does it mean to you?”

“To me it means that the author is expressing her understanding of the subject she has chosen to share with her readers, an understanding she has developed from personal experience, as well as from dedicated study.”

“Is that all?”

“Is it possible for her truth to mean more?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“His truth.”

“The author is female.”

“Yes.”

……….

A simple seeker’s note to herself

Spirit didn’t seem impressed about my concern for ancient wisdom.

“Dry ancient wisdom.”

“I meant no offence.”

“What did you mean?”

“I sincerely meant that ancient wisdom was written and taught away back then, by and for people who lived a much less complicated life than most of us live, now. And most people were much less educated than they are now.”

“How would that change wisdom?”

“It wouldn’t necessarily change the essence of the wisdom, but it would require that wisdom to be taught in a language and for a people living today, if we’re meant to understand it. Also, it seemed to be taught only to a small group of men. Women were, or seemed to be, excluded.”

“Would including women change the wisdom?”

“It would certainly seem to require changing the gender-specific language.”

“Yes.”

“Does that mean that you agree with me?”

“Yes.”

………

A simple seeker was admiring, in her mind (but where else could she admire anything?), a beautiful pink rose that someone had generously shared on Twitter. But, as beautiful as the flower was, something else was going on, Envy. was slipping into the picture.

“What’s wrong with envy?”

“I want to be able to appreciate the skills of others without always wishing that I also possessed them.”

“Do you envy everyone’s skills?”

“No. Just those that I wished I also possessed.”

“Why don’t you possess the skills you admire?”

“Some people have more natural talent than do some others.”

“Some people may be unaware of what so-called natural talents they do possess.”

“It isn’t possible for me to develop all of the talents that I admire in other people.”

“Have you tried?”

“There would never be enough time for that, and ..”

“Yes. It would pull you away from what you are now doing well, or might, with a little more effort.”

“How would that protect me from envy?”

“Nothing can protect you from envy.”

“Why?”

“Envy in its most sincere form is a recognition of, and inspiration toward, excellence. We each, at least to some extent, aspire toward higher levels of personal skills. Envy is seeing in others what we want for ourselves. It can encourage us.”

“Or discourage us?””

“No. An unhealthy mind would feel resentment, not discouragement.”

“How can we know the difference?”

“Experience teaches us. We know because we experienced it, if we have.”

“And if we haven’t?”

“Then we will, sooner or later.”

………..

A simple seeker’s note to herself

If experience is as a teacher, then what did my envy of the beautiful rose teach me?

“Perhaps you learned that we can’t have it both ways. You may have wished that you could provide roses with what they need plenty of, sunshine. And yet, you seem to feel more comfortable in shade.”

“Yes, even my little garden areas are too shady for roses to survive in, let alone thrive in.”

“We need to learn to accept what is and what is not possible with what we have. But we can admire and even envy what others have, without wishing to change our life situation with theirs.”

“Yes, I very much enjoy my little shady patio, and even my small and shady garden areas. I’d like more sunlight for them, and yet the trees are so beautiful. Perhaps I need to learn to appreciate more than I do, what I have. My plants do their best to adapt to what I can offer them. Let others grow roses, and I’ll try to admire them without feeling too envious.”

“A good idea.”

………….

A simple seeker was puzzled by the seemingly contradictory and mutually exclusive (from her albeit limited understanding) terms of evolutionary and Buddhism rolled in together, in something she had been reading.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“Buddhism and evolution together?”

“Everything is together.”

“But, spirituality should be forever.”

“It is.”

“But, not necessarily as it was or might yet be?”

“Exactly.”

“Then, how can anyone …?”

“Which anyone?”

“This anyone. Me. How can I hope to ever understand something that keeps developing, when it isn’t what it once was, and , in the future, might not be what it is now. I need stability.”

“There isn’t any.”

“Then, what is there to hold onto?”

“In what way?”

“In thinking.”

“You could try holding onto the concept of endless change.”

“That would be easy if I was looking out from a high window at traffic below.”

“We are doing just that.”

……….

A simple seeker’s note to herself

I wonder what Spirit meant by saying that we’re looking down from a high window?

“Whether we’re looking down or back, it’s the same. Distance allows for a wider perspective than does a close-up view. Evolution is change and everything, including relationships and all situations, evolve.

Buddhism is not as it once was, nor as it might yet become. And yet it has been, is now, and in spite of possible future changes or adaptations, may still be Buddhism, without necessarily losing any of its original value.

We dress differently than our distant ancestors dressed, and even now we dress differently for different weather conditions or social events, and yet we still dress, more and/or less.”

“So, the lesson is to try to see beyond form?”

“Yes.”

………..

A simple seeker was meditating on the concept of emptiness.

“What would it look like?”

“It wouldn’t look like anything.”

“What do you think emptiness means to a spiritual seeker such as yourself?”

“Without form.”

“What is without form?”

“Potential.”

“What potential?”

“Any and all.”

“Where does this emptiness which is potential exist?”

“Perhaps wherever there’s no form.”

“Where is there no form?”

“You’re leading me somewhere.”

“Where might I be leading you?”

“To asking you to please explain what it’s all about.”

“Yes.”

“Please explain.”

“What?”

“Where emptiness is, and what it might look like if I could recognize it.”

“Emptiness and nothingness are never empty nor nothing. They are potential, as is everything and everyone.”

“Then we each have a never-ending potential?”

“To what?”

“To be and do.”

“To be and do what?”

“To become.”

“To become what?”

“More aware.”

“Of what?”

“Of a slippery slope of enquiry.”

“Yes.”

….

A simple seeker’s note to herself

I’m beginning to become more aware of sometimes being pulled into a discussion with Spirit, and perhaps with some others, that’s over my head.

“Of what?”

“Of everything.”

“How is that possible?”

“How might it be possible?”

“With practice.”

“Yes, and with intent.”

“Intent?”

“Yes, with intent to become more aware.”

“Aware of what?”

“Of why things seem to be the way they seem to be.”

“What things.”

“Relationships between people, places, and things.”

“Yes.”

“The problem is that it could require more mental energy than I possess.”

“Mental muscles, as do physical muscles, develop with use.”

…………..