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Coming soon to this site are the following unique invitations to a life of wonder 7 Ways to a Wonderful Life
Follow your hearts dream and discover more 1 Purpose 2 Passion 3 Presence 4 Patience 5 Positivity 6 Practice 7 Prosperity --------------------------- The Way of Wonder -stories for all your life
Follow the journey of the hero beyond your wildest imagination
and so many other tales to take you into the world of unlimited creative potential --------------------------- The Way of Desiderata "go placidly amidst the noise and haste and remember what peace there may be in silence"
Want to find peace amidst the hurry?
Read full poem by clicking on graphic above --------------------------- The Way of the Beatitudes "let your light so shine"
Attitudes of being the beauty you are
and so much more......
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The Radiance of Stillness
In this world of form we are anything but still. Rather we are deeply restless. In the journey into peace one is bound to meet with those disparate parts of oneself that are anything but peaceful. Sometimes these aspects of ourselves are very much at odds with who we think we are. This can be most disconcerting for those of us who might be thinking that finally we are getting somewhere. Then all of a sudden, metaphorically speaking, all hell breaks loose. This happens. Do not be discouraged. Off late this has happened to myself. Off late I have been experiencing extreme irritability. I shout at the animals, I am less than sympathetic to my partner, I am less forgiving, less loving and none of this particularly makes much sense. In my dreams it is the same. I meet with my father who tells me that I am the one who is hiding the clenched fist behind my back. This comes as a big surprise to one who thinks they are fairly spiritually minded. Then I remember that I am practicing a most powerful instruction that I am really in love with. It has been one that I have been drawn too down the years. I have, however, down the years tried to avoid it’s calling me. This is because I gave it the label Christian. Given my baggage around this word I refused to look at the gold within some of its teachings. Now as I grow older and have returned to Ireland I have opened my mind and heart to the deeper teachings of the Christian tradition. I do not claim, however, to be a Christian. I claim only to be one wishing to abiding in Sacred Unity that is at the heart of all religious teachings. This instruction is one that I feel I am deepening into. It is the powerful instruction, “Be still and know I am God.” There are instructions within the Bible but there are very few instructions as specific and direct as this one. A great man called Joseph S. Benner wrote a whole book on this instruction alone. This book is entitled The Impersonal Life. It was made famous in part because it was the book Elvis Presley was reading at the time he died so tragically. So I have made a commitment to this instruction. It can be seen as an instruction to be meditative. It can be seen as an instruction to be silently prayerful. It is an instruction to be still. This means still in body. It means to be still in mind. It means no thought, no nothing but it does mean no thing. It is not a stillness about anything. It cannot be grasped. It is the most valuable no thing that in this world of form is becoming more and more difficult to attain. The level of noise in the outer world is the sign of the lack of stillness in the average and collective human mind. This is why I think all hell breaks out when you commit to the knowing that at the centre of who you are is that I AM. This is why aspects of ‘little me’ start to act out and have temper tantrums. It is because ‘little me’ does not want to be replaced by the knowing of the All One. In
practicing this instruction I find my mind is anything but
still. Yet when I
invoke this instruction it helps tremendously to quiet the
mind. In the
beginning this may not be so but I have preserved with this
instruction because at a level previously unknown to me I can
feel its depth. At
the heart of this instruction is the deep peace that is
referred to in the Celtic Blessing, Deep peace of the
infinite peace to you. I find that using this instruction prior to going to sleep will do one of two things and often invite a mixture of two things. You will find that your mind quietens or that your ‘little me’ will begin to find something to be annoyed about. This annoyance will continue into your dream life. When you awake in the morning you will, if you are like me, feel annoyed at feeling annoyed. You will as an identified spiritual person sense that you have had your peace of mind disturbed. Only it is not my peace of mind. Peace of mind is the knowing of I AM. Without this knowing there is no real peace. So a battle rages. This is what in Islam is called Jihad. This is the real Jihad. It is not the jihad that authorises the horror we see on our televisions screens. It is not the jihad that dishonours Islam as the religion of beauty and surrender it is. This destroying the bodies of others is the jihad of the illusion of separateness. It is the core illusion of identification with the body as being who you are. This battle is a spiritual battle. Ultimately there are no winners or losers because reality is always One and can never be divided against itself. The battle is metaphorically won but not won when one realises that in the stillness of knowing I AM God that I AM and you are not apart and never have been apart. However, most of us do feel apart. We feel separate and alone and at times lonely. This is true even of those who are graced the glimpse of knowing the I AM experience. There is the longing to go home, the longing to abide in the fullness and glory of the Love that you are. This is a longing for liberation in Buddhist terms and for salvation in Christian terms. In Islamic parlance it is the longing for Paradise. All these words point to the experience of Scared Unity that is the deepest longing of the human heart. When I am battling my own sense of separateness I go to the bathroom each morning and I take further instruction. This is from Rumi the Sufi mystic poet when he reminds me. This
being human is a guesthouse. Every
morning a new arrival. A
joy, a depression, a meanness, Some
momentary awareness comes As
an unexpected visitor. Welcome
and entertain them all Even
if they’re a crowd of sorrows Who
violently sweep your house Empty
of its furniture Still
treat each guest honourably – He
may be clearing you out for some new delight The
dark thought, the shame, the malice, Meet
them at the door laughing and invite them in. Be
grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent As
a guide from beyond. Rumi Following this instruction I brew some tea and do some spiritual reading. After a time I feel ready for a new day of loving. This does not mean I will not feel irritated. Yet it does mean I am always responsible for how I deal with such irritation. I know I am of the One Mind - the I AM. I am connected to all my brothers and sisters in this Oneness of Mind. It is my responsibility not to poison the atmosphere and so I continue to remind myself, “Be still - and Know- I AM - God.” This is the only knowing anyone ever needs. This is the peace that passeth all understanding. There is no requirement to understand it. It is not discursive. But it must be known beyond the boundary of a sense of separateness for it to make you feel whole and make you feel the peace that you can truly be and are. Let
me quote a relevant passage from The Impersonal Life The best and surest was to know Me is when Selfless Love fills your heart and there is a strong, compelling urge to help some one, to heal their ills, to relieve their suffering, to bring them happiness, to point out the True Way. That is the actual feel of Me within you, pushing the personality aside, using your mind and body for the purpose I created them, as avenues for the expression of My Real Nature, which is Perfect Love, the Christ of God, the one, vitalising, quickening, life giving, strengthening, healing, all-supplying, all-informing Power in the Universe. This
power is felt within you.
It does not push aside the personality unless the
personality is willing. This
is the spiritual requirement of surrender.
This is the true meaning and practice of Islam, which
translates as surrender.
When you step aside as identified with your separate
sense of self then love enters.
When you know who you are then there is nothing more
required. Once you are this knowing of I AM then the Blessing is here and you are it. ©
Tony Cuckson 2007
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Let me rest in Your will and be silent. Then the light of Your joy will warm my life. Its fire will burn in my heart and shine for Your glory. This is what I live for. Amen, amen.
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Be
still and know that I am God.
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RADIANT ART
Stillness
Art, like prayer, is always the expression of longing," Sister Wendy Beckett -------------------
RADIANT REFLECTION
John O'Donohue: Speaking The Subtle Language Of The Soul
If any growth is going to happen in the spiritual area," says John O'Donohue, "you need a bit of stillness, a bit of silence; then there can be a return, and a retrieval, and a reawakening."
He reminds us that we don't have to journey far to find wisdom: "If you are true to yourself and if you let yourself alone, you will receive all that you need."
To learn more click the button below
RADIANT POETRY
And
when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
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A
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