Contemplation: A Catalyst for Compassion

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Reaching deep within, observing the slow unfolding of  ego's heavy and awkward garbs that cling fast to Self's inner light, I burrow deeper beneath layers of my consciousness, towards the center. Flooding my sense of awareness is the realization that there is truly no beginning or ending to God. There is no place where He is not. No heart where the spark of His light does not dwell.  He is All. God is in everything and everything is in God. Acts 17:28  "For in him we move and have our being."

Meditation creates within me an increasing empathy for both humans and non humans.  Integrating it into my spiritual disciplines has brought out the light within me that allows the deepest recesses of my consciousness to unfold like a flower, opening up in a capacity of love, compassion and awe for all that is around me that I had never experienced before. I am starting to see God in everyone and feel I am beginning to relate to these words from spiritual leader and writer Eknath Easwaran:

"Whenever you look into another person's eyes, remember that you are looking into a city where the Lord dwells- and remember always that our arms and hands were given to us for others' rescue, not for their ruin."

In some of the dialogue I've had with others there have been individuals from the Christian perspective that bring up the criticism that meditation is a selfish pursuit. That it is focused too much on dwelling on one's self, on one's own personal encounter with God while leaving the rest of the world out of the equation. The argument is that meditation keeps us from actively manifesting the will of God out to others in the world.  I can't help but view this argument as a substantial misconception towards the practice of meditation and one in which history points very clearly to the contrary.  For some of the world's greatest contributors towards peace and the service of others have also been some of the world's greatest mystics. A mystic is one who seeks to encounter God experientially through means of contemplation and meditation.

 Thomas Merton, Mother Teresa, Teresa of Avila, St. Francis of Assissi...and the list goes on and on...all emphasized charity and acts of service to compliment contemplation. In fact, as I mentioned from my personal experience,  moments in meditation often spur on the sense of interconnectedness and a deep feeling of empathy and compassion for others. This is a common experience for one who meditates. From a Christian perspective,  we are "filled with God" to overflowing so that His love, His compassion, His Kingdom, might overflow through us into the world, through acts of service and love.

St. Teresa of Avila, one of the world's greatest Christian mystics, was also an active advocate of service towards others. She sought to inspire people to spread Christ's love and compassion throughout the world. She didn't see it as an option but a calling for all of those in the body of Christ.

You Are Christ's Hands

"Christ has no body now on earth but yours,
no hands but yours,
no feet but yours,
Yours are the eyes through which is to look out
Christ's compassion to the world;
Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good;
Yours are the hands with which he is to bless men now."

St. Augustine of Hippo viewed both the spiritual discipline of meditation and service towards others as essential in the life of a Christian.  "No man has a right to lead such a life of contemplation as to forget in his own ease the service due his neighbor; nor has any man a right to be so immersed in active life as to neglect the contemplation of God."

        

If ever, in these modern times, one was to give proof of contemplation's role in being a catalyst for the involvement of  charitable pursuits and social justice, it would be through the Quakers, one of the most contemplative sects branching off from Christianity.  Quaker meetings, or services, are held in complete contemplative meditative silence. This relatively small religious organization has allowed the impressions of universal empathy and compassion that they have received deep within them through meditation to become catalysts for helping make this world a better place.

Quakers formed the backbone of the Underground Railroad during the Civil War,  risking life and limb to bring thousands of slaves to freedom. Quakers, like Susan B. Anthony, rose their voices against the oppression of women in the women's suffrage movement which lead to the confirmation of women's rights in this country. They have worked hard for prison reform and have time and time again stood as  conscientious objectors towards war, advocating peace,  realizing that violence only breeds more violence.  Far from hiding themselves from the world and being driven by a sense of narcissistic ego to dwell upon their individual selves and merely pursue states of spiritual ecstasy, Quakers have plunged boldly into some of the darkest corners of society unabashedly allowing light to blossom.

Eknath Easwaran, in his book Original Goodness, brings up the truth that we cannot bring effective change towards peace, social justice and the cessation of the suffering of others without bringing change within ourselves first. When we do begin, through the means of meditation, to lose our selfish desires and attachments towards superficial and earthly things we begin to put others first more and more, not because we feel we have to, but because we truly feel led to. And love begets love. When we experience more love within ourselves and express it outwards, others catch quite readily onto it, becoming inspired themselves. Love and positivity are contagious.

" As our desire to draw closer to the Lord within us deepens, it draws self-centered desires into it like tributaries into a great river. The power of that love swells until it becomes cataclysmic; we begin to inspire other people through the transformation we have wrought in ourselves." ~Eknath Easwaran

It is my belief that contrary to some of the criticisms towards contemplative prayer and meditation, in that they keep the believer from manifesting God's Kingdom out to the world, that these practices actually lead the believer into experiential contact with the Kingdom within, creating a reaction in which the impulses to love and perform acts of love are irresistible. Mystics from all traditions, like Gandhi and Mother Theresa have all mentioned that love and service begin at home. Easwaran furthers that in the quote above by pointing to the truth that it ultimately begins within ourselves and spreads outwards.  Meditation is a beautiful and transforming tool to help prepare and aid us in acts of charity and service.

Thoughts? I'd love to hear them! Please leave them in the Comments section. Thank you!

Prayer and Action: An Essential Combination

"When someone steals a person's clothes, we call him a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to those who need it; the shoes rotting in your closet to the one who has no shoes. The money which you hoard up belongs to the poor."

 ~ Basil of Caesarea

Many of us receive many blessings and gifts during the Christmas season from friends and family members. Why not take the time afterwards to go through some of our possessions that we have multiples of (like coats, shoes, other articles of clothings...toys belonging to our children they no longer play with, etc.) and consider giving them to those that truly need it.

I think it's great that so many of my fb friends are lifting up those that are homeless, suffering and in poverty in prayer. I can't help but feel a little conflicted when I read all the praying going around for others in need though...for the fact that I think God also calls us to act, actively, in the areas of service towards our neighbors. Sometimes it just seems what is implied is a prayer for those who are suffering...I hear little mention of anything else, nothing of extending oneself in service for those who are homeless and in poverty. Is prayer enough?...I think prayer is instrumental and essential in one's faith and is invaluable in acheiving an active relationship with God and receiving insights and truths, and can move mountains if it be God's will.

All that being said, God doesn't call us to simply be a people of prayer...he calls us to be people of action. To be children that are servants manifesting his love and giving Him glory amidst the darkness of a fallen world. He calls us to actively shine our lights into the darkness...and for people to see this light, they see it through our actions, perhaps more so than through our prayers, especially from the perspective of nonbelievers. Many people consider the saying, "talk is cheap" and are much more convinced of someone's concern for them when it is displayed through actions. We are his body-his hands, his feet, his legs...carrying His message of hope and redemption, lifting up those that have fallen, those that are in despair and those that are suffering. God expects us to actively help people...In fact, we will be held accountable for our actions, or inactions...not just our prayers..but in the way that we manifest our faith actively in this world.

Matthew 25-40

  ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

   ³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
   ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
   ⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Phillipians 2:7 tells us that Jesus humbled himself and took on the very nature of a servant. Jesus actively served others, giving up all claim to possessions, instead seeking out souls that were hungry and thirsty for salvation and healing. We are called to have the "mind of Christ" and to conform to his likeness. That would certainly mean that we, too, should be active servants like Jesus was.

I know many who read this blog are already very much aware of the need to be active servants of God. But it is always a good reminder. Sometimes in our busy and hectic lives it can be an easy thing to forget. May the Spirit, through prayer, direct us in more and more ways we can serve God in the contexts of our families, our local communities and globally.

Heavenly Father,

We thank you for all the material and spiritual blessings that you've poured out on us. Thank you for blessing us with people in our lives to love, to share memories with, to be loved by. Thank you for your son who brought to the world redemption and hope. May you draw us daily into your presence through prayer and meditation. May you help our souls be attentive to the whispers of your Spirit and may it illuminate to us ways in which we can serve others more through our actions, sometimes great and sometimes small.  Even the smallest blessing, the smallest gesture of love and grace can manifest itself into abundant fruit. May we bearers of fruit and laborers of love for the manifestation of your Kindom here on earth.

In Jesus' precious name,
Amen