There was a time I would reject those
who were not of my faith.
who were not of my faith.
But now, my heart has grown capable
of taking on all forms.
It is a pasture for gazelles,
An abbey for monks.
A table for the Torah,
Kaaba for the pilgrim.
My religion is love.
Whichever the route love’s caravan shall take,
That shall be the path of my faith.
"There Was a Time," by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi, from The Interpreter of Longings (Turjumdn al-Ashwdq). Published here as presented at this link. The source might have been an edition edited and translated from the Arabic by R. A. Nicholson. © Dar Sadar, 1348/1929.
of taking on all forms.
It is a pasture for gazelles,
An abbey for monks.
A table for the Torah,
Kaaba for the pilgrim.
My religion is love.
Whichever the route love’s caravan shall take,
That shall be the path of my faith.
Live Session Summary, April 3, 2022: The theme of the Live session this Sunday was ‘Three Gifts of Spiritual Practice.’ The three gifts I highlighted were: 1) The heart/mind can be trained: through practice in cultivating skillful qualities—such as compassion, loving-kindness, mindfulness, equanimity, gratitude, and others—and abandoning harmful states, such as greed, cruelty, hatred, blame, we can free our hearts and live with freedom and joy. The Buddha said, nothing can do you more harm than an untrained mind, not even your worst enemy; nothing can do you more good than a trained mind, not even your mother and father. It is very helpful to find a wise and compassionate path of practice—a path with heart—that others have followed to train the heart/mind. But we need to walk the path ourselves…
2) The second gift is understanding that the deepest peace and freedom must come from our own efforts. No one can bestow on us understanding and peace that can free us—at best, they can point the way. Our freedom has to come from our own seeing of the truth and letting go of clinging that leads to suffering. In the Kalama Sutta, the Buddha taught that we should place trust in teachings not on the basis of logic, convention, texts, reasoning, what we like, or out of respect for a teacher, but on the basis of our own experience. Does this mind state or behavior lead to welfare and happiness? If so, you should follow it. If a mind state or behavior leads to harm and suffering, it should be avoided. Ehipassiko (in Pali language)—'see for yourself.’
3) The third gift of spiritual practice is to understand that the journey to letting go, peace, and the deepest freedom must begin with awareness of our experience here and now. Bringing mindfulness—a kind and non-judging awareness, compassionate curiosity—to our experience here and now is the gateway to the deepest freedom. The Buddha taught that mindfulness is the direct path to freedom—whatever we are experiencing in this moment that we meet with awareness is a doorway to the deepest happiness and peace. No matter where we are, what we are experiencing, however painful or challenging it may be, this moment, this breath, this feeling or emotion is the doorway to seeing clearly and freeing our heart.
I shared a quote from Viktor Frankl: ‘Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.’ Also William Blake: ‘He who binds to himself a joy // Does the winged life destroy. // But he who kisses the joy as it flies // Lives in eternity’s sunrise.’ And Rumi’s ‘The Guest House’; lines from Dorothy Hunt’s ‘Peace’ (‘Peace is this moment without judgment // This moment in the heart-space where everything that is is welcome.’); and Muhyiddin Ibn Al-‘Arabi’s ‘There was a time I would reject those…’
Wishing everyone a good and safe week ahead. Warmly, Hugh 🙏🏻 🌻
