April Theme Surrender

3-27-08
Holy Mystery
As we join together this morning in the light of your presence,
we are reminded that we are all one in the divine heart.
May this longing for oneness transform our world.
May our hearts be opened, in the very depths where we find you, God,
May our hearts be open to the glorious expression of your love found in all our religions and spiritual traditions.
You speak to us, Holy Mystery, in this diversity, and we are enriched and humbled by the breadth and depth of your Words.
May our gathering together this morning signify our hopes for the harmony of our planet, the alleviation of suffering, food for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, and respect for the poor. May this flame be a testimony of our willingness to struggle together toward the peace of inclusiveness, loving all and embracing all in the family of creation.
Amen.




The mystical path is … psychologically integrative: it unties the unconscious, the conscious, and the superconscious. It also integrates the memory, will, imagination, and emotions with the body and the spirit. Within them, it establishes the harmony of love, compassion, mercy, and kindness – the quieting of emotions. All this surrenders to something much higher and more ultimate than the human. This surrender and the integration that follows, puts order in the chaotic domain of the unconscious and allows it to work with the other faculties in a person’s spiritual life.
Wayne Teasdale


God shows his love by Kissing the finite.
Man shows his live by kissing the infinite.
Tagore


Once Sita gave Hanuman a necklace of pearls. After a while, the residents of the city observed him breaking the necklace and inspecting each pearl minutely. Intrigued they asked him the reason. "I am looking for Rama and Sita," replied Hanuman. Laughing at his apparent naivety the spectators pointed out to him that the royal couple was at the moment seated on the imperial throne. "But Rama and Sita are everywhere, including my heart" wondered aloud the true bhakta. Not understanding the depth of his devotion, they further teased him: "So Rama and Sita live in your heart, can you show them to us?" Unhesitatingly, Hanuman stood up and with his sharp talons tore open his chest. There, within his throbbing heart, the astonished audience were taken aback to find enshrined an image of Rama and Sita. Never again did anyone make fun of Hanuman's devotion.

Hanuman's name too illustrates his self-effacing character, being made up of 'hanan' (annihilation) and 'man' (mind), thus indicating one who has conquered his ego.


Letting go and letting be are indispensable contemplative habits. These seemingly simple practices have to be learned – they are the fruit of years of spiritual practice through the day to day labor of meditation. Attaining inner quiet. Seeking stillness of mind and senses, requires enormous discipline. If we can learn to withdraw our attention from its attachment to sensory experience, to stop relying solely on the senses for satisfaction and joy, then we are in a position to become aware of God.
Wayne Teasdale




It pleased you to make me endless.

You empty this frail vessel over and over
Then fill it with fresh life again.
You carry me like a hollow reed over hill and dale
Eternally breathing new melodies though me.
As the immortal touch of your hand
My little heart looses itself in joy.

Still you pour into me, and still there is room
to fill.
Tagore



Words cling to death like dust.
Silence washes their souls.
Tagore




Breathe in me the way to love You,
That I may learn to faultlessly love You.
Pour into me the wisdom-wine
By which I become intoxicated with You.
Whisper into my ears of silence
The way to be with You always.
Speak to my wandering senses
And lead them back to your Sanctuary within.
Call the marauding mind and counsel it
How to retrace its steps to your home.
With all your silent eyes, just look at me,
And I will know where to find You.

You may hide behind the ocean,
You may hide behind delusion,
You may hide behind life,
You may hide behind dualities,
You may hide behind theological conundrums,
You may hide behind unanswered prayers.
But you cannot hide behind my love.
For in the mirroring light of my love
You are revealed.
Paramahansa Yogananda






Light comes through a gap in the curtains:
the promise of morning.
Light comes through the flaws in our lives:
the promise of love
Modern Prayer from Berlin Germany