Namaste

As an ordained interfaith minister I believe that there is one truth and that truth is that we are never separate from Spirit – or separate from each other. The truth that I believe is that our nature is DIVINE and that we are more than this body – more than this time and space –that we are one with All that Is! – I believe that I am a spiritual being having a human experience.

Coming home refers to a knowing of who I really am – that which is connected to the One Source.  In knowing this truth – I also recognize that we are all connected to one another.  When we say Namaste we are saying that the Divine in me recognizes and honors the Divine in you.  The Cherokee Morning Song, Wen day Aho, affirms “I am of the Great Spirit.” If I really believe that I am of the Great Spirit and so are you– then in serving and loving you I am serving and loving the Divine in myself. It is a transformative concept.  The alchemy of love and service is really what this life –this lifetime is all about.  It’s actually why we’ve come to this earth.  It’s our mission – to love – to serve and remember who we really are.  I recognize that there is this APPARENT reality – here on earth – this “life” - our Practical Reality -our day to day existence –and then ……..there is ABSOLUTE REALITY. That which is DIVINE. 

This Absolute Reality is known by so many names. Hindus call it Brahman, In Judaism it is known as the Shechinah (Divine Presence). It is called the Tao in Taoism and Muslims recognize that there is only one Absolute Reality. Jesus spoke of this Absolute reality when he said "My kingdom is not of this world,” and when asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with a visible display – It can’t be seen by the human eye –the Kingdom of Heaven is within you!"

But how do I live or should I live in this PRACTICAL REALITY?  I know that my nature is DIVINE but my body and my mind are still human and I get caught up in all that is visible. So how can I get more connected to ABSOLUTE REALITY? How do I get more in touch with the Kingdom of Heaven within me? How do I access it?  

Recently I was  watching a show on the sci-fi channel about the static on a radio which is actually reverberations from the “big bang”. Isn’t that amazing?  That made me think about the process of accessing a particular radio station in order to hear music and how we have to “tune in” to a particular frequency otherwise we will get static.  On a spiritual level I believe that we are being called to tune in and access Absolute Reality.

In order to get the right spiritual frequency and connection to the Absolute Reality I have to turn the dial. I know that Divine Grace helps me get there – but I have to make the decision to access it. You know when you're flowing in that connection with the Divine – there’s no static!  And interestingly – it’s all Divine!  Even the “static!" When we are acting according to our true nature – which is spiritual - we access Divine Grace and we move and breathe and have our being in Absolute Reality.

When we are thinking, speaking and acting according to our Divine nature, when we are pure of heart – we are on the right frequency!  

At the Sermon on the Mount – in the Beatitudes – Jesus said “Blessed are the Pure of heart for they shall see God.”  Divine Grace can penetrate when we are thinking speaking and acting with a pure heart – manifested in our thoughts, words and deeds. Hindus describe a Satwic nature as acting with a pure heart to be good and do good – at all times! 

In purifying our thoughts, words and deeds we become clear channels for Divine Grace and then we are propelled to a Higher Frequency. 

So how do I live this Satwic way of being? I think it starts with the word.  The words that we are thinking, the words that we are hearing, and the words that we are speaking.  We don’t even realize how much we are exposed to negative impressions and negative vibrations on a daily basis – from the words we hear in our head – to the words that we hear from others.  Over and over again words – which have energy – are filled with vibrations that fill our minds and send us powerful messages about how we think about ourselves and others. If these words hold positive vibrations we will manifest that which is good. And the opposite of this is so dangerous because if the words hold vibrations that are negative – that will be what manifests as well.  And there you have the STATIC.  Limited to no connection – limited to no access to Absolute Reality.  It starts with our words. “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God” (Johns gospel). In Don Miguel Ruiz’s four agreements we are reminded of the importance of being impeccable with our word.  That our word is the power we have to create – the gift that comes from God and is God. 

In the Buddhist eight fold path the precept of “right speech” is a path to enlightenment. It consists of refusing to lie, refusing to talk meanly, refusing to gossip, refusing to command everyone’s attention – yes - interrupting people.  Right speech should be wise, kind and minimal.  Buddhists believe that you should talk only when necessary. The Shinto believe that the origin of all trouble lies within a single word spoken in haste. 

And the Sufi Gates remind us that our words should first pass the criteria of; is it true? is it kind? and is it necessary?  Mindful speech as blessings rather than curses – words that are heartful rather than hurtful - allow us access to a higher frequency of ABSOLUTE REALITY and that Satwic nature provides a clear channel to Divine Grace.  So let our words be our prayers and our deep listening serve as our meditation.  In this moment by moment awareness of the sacred – regardless of what we are doing, we can be vessels and instruments in the hands of the Divine. 

We can remain in a state of surrender to God – in the spirit of gratitude – recognizing that Spirit is flowing through us in our thoughts, in our words and in our actions.  Then Divine Grace is able to operate at our highest frequency – because we are accessing ABSOLUTE REALITY! 

 Author: Rev. Dr. Grace Telesco

Rev. Dr. Grace A. Telesco, Ph.D., B.C.E.T.S., is an ordained Interfaith Minister and on the faculty of the International Seminary for Interfaith Studies (ISIS). Rev. Grace is an Associate Minister at Interfaith Community International in New York and The Oneness Temple in Hallandale, Florida and serves as a regular Guest Minister at The Shepherd's Bridge in Davie, Florida and the Metaphysical Chapel in Wilton Manors.

Rev. Dr. Grace Telesco is also a Professor of Sociology, Social Work and Criminal Justice in South Florida and a graduate of The New Seminary for Interfaith Studies in New York. She has also been initiated in the Sanyassi Order in the lineage of her Guru, H.H. Sri Swami Jyotirmayanda in Miami, Florida.

To contact Rev. Grace for information on ceremonies/rituals (weddings - including same-sex weddings, unions, funerals, memorials, pet crossings/transitioning rituals, pet memorials), speaking engagements, or spiritual counseling and direction sessions please call 917-579-3750 -or- DrTelesco@gmail.com

Sssshhh

December 2012, the month predicted by seers and soothsayers, present and past, to herald a cataclysmic change, perhaps even...the end of the world?  Sssshhh. 

 

To the credit of certain prophets, humanity witnessed such great violence in the past millennium, a dire prediction seems in order.  During the 20^th Century we experienced the most devastating wars in history. World wars, cold wars, a sharp rise in civilian casualties and weapons never before imagined shook the core of our most basic securities. Yet, it was also the century of great peace movements. Mahatma Gandhi won a war against the British Empire using only ahimsa, non-violence, and satya, truth. Dr. Martin Luther King defied the Jim Crow laws with Christian love and non-violent actions. Solidarity in Poland and freedom fighters in Czechoslovakia helped bring down the Soviet Union with non-violence. When the Nazi occupiers asked Demark to prepare Jews for transport to concentration camps, the Danish government instead transported them to neutral Sweden saving the lives of many Danish Jews and Jewish refugees from Germany. 

How did they do it? They each said “sssshhh” to the forces that seemed, at the time, to be overbearing. The power they possessed and used far outreached the force of those regimes. Their foundations reached far deeper into a solid sense of Self. They were grounded in their true identity, their true essence.  

Traditions throughout the world implement sssshhh in their scriptures, albeit in different languages. In the “Yoga Sutras of Patanjali,” the major text for Classical Yoga, ethical precepts are predicated on ahimsa. It is mentioned first in the list of ethics delineated in the text and it is followed by satya and the rest. I heard Swami Satchidananda, instrumental in the founding of the interfaith movement, say “It all goes through ahimsa.” I took this to mean that ahimsa is the ground of Patanjali’s ethics. We practice truth without harm. We even say sssshhh to the call for factual truth to allow heart-truth to blossom.

There is a Vedic proclamation often used by Gandhi, “Ahimsa Paramo Dharmha.” American Hindu community leader, Anju Bhargave, explains that this powerful statement means, “Non-violence is the foremost duty to the extent that it supersedes all other duties.”[i]

In the last decade a great deal has been written and said about Islam, much of it demeaning. Islam means “surrender,’ but according to Huston Smith embedded in the word is the root s-l-m, “which means primarily ‘peace’ but in a secondary sense ‘surrender.’” ‎ Smith goes on to write; “Peace comes when one’s life is surrendered to God.”[ii] So, Islam has a sssshhh inside its very name.

In March 2006, World War II veteran, Desmond Doss, of Piedmont, Alabama, died at age 87. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Pacific theater as a combat medic. Many people received the Medal of Honor in that war but what made Doss' honor so special is that he was a conscientious objector. Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist, was opposed to killing. He was not Mahatma Gandhi or Dr. Martin Luther King, nor did he lead a great peace movement. It is doubtful anyone will write a biography of him, but what he did was exemplary. He merely followed his principles of non-violence while serving in a horrific engagement. In Okinawa he saved over fifty wounded soldiers stranded on top of a 400-foot-high ridge while in the line of fire.[iii] Despite what other soldiers said to deride his beliefs, Doss’ actions answered clearly, “sssshhh,” as he followed his principles.

Yoga is an ancient spiritual and physical discipline, and many of the techniques go back thousands of years and were used to train young men as soldiers, hence the name "warrior" in several basic postures.  In my experience practicing Hatha Yoga, the Warrior postures begin to take shape when I am firmly grounded; my feet solidly planted with inner ankles lifting. This is the first action before I move into the openness of the posture. In Warriors One and Two the front part of my body, my most vulnerable area, is wide open. In Warrior Three I stand only on one well-grounded foot, leaning forward and stretching back the other leg. Here again I am vulnerable. My mind negotiates these small movements to create each posture and it also squabbles over certain aches and wobbles as I enter this strengthening posture. This is a good thing, because the mind is where Yoga really happens. I can resist and grit my teeth saying, “Oh, my damn calf muscle!” But I would no longer be in the posture, even if on the outside I look like the posture depicted in the book. I enter the posture truly when I tell the mind “sssshhh” so I can be true to my experience and ground myself in my authentic being. 

Another of our sacred Yoga texts, The Bhagavad Gita, tells the story of a great battle. Our protagonist, Arjuna, has his charioteer, Krishna, drive into the center of the battlefield to assess the situation before the conflict begins.  Looking across the field Arjuna sees his family members, teachers and dear friends and he falls despondent, dropping his bow. The entire text is a conversation between Krishna and Arjuna in which Arjuna is told to fight. This battle is a representation of an inner conflict, a metaphor for the internal battlefield. 

Now, in the midst of our holiday season, we are reminded of the routine battles we are accustomed to fighting. Across the festively laden dining table we witness in the faces of relatives and old friends the relationship dynamics which became our conditioning. This is where the rubber hits the road in our spiritual practice. Are we able to put our lessons into practice,  internally saying “sssshhh” to those dynamics, connecting to presence and consciousness?  This is our way to fight, but instead of fighting people, we are fighting our individual worn-out patterns, telling them to  "sssshhh."  Along these same lines, the apostle Paul wrote in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6 verse 12, that our wars are not against flesh and blood, but instead are spiritual in nature.  When we quiet our inner demons, we defy negative predictions--the ones made about us by others and the ones we make about ourselves.  Aunt Betty doesn't have to fly off the handle when the Scotch comes out, like we think she will, or she thinks she will.  Maybe there doesn't really need to be a holiday apocalypse this year?

The word for “peace” in Sanskrit is “Shanti,” often spoken or chanted not only to wish peace in the world but to elicit it internally. Many Yogis chant Om Shanti before meditating. Shanti is possibly related to the Hebrew word “shalom, the Arabic “salaam,” the Maltese, Sliem, and Syriac šlama. They all are related to the sound “sssshhh,” a cooing sound we make when we want to quiet a baby; a sound both soothing and directive. It is a way to shush the mind which does it beautiful work of thinking. Thinking leaves the mind to over-plan, over-analyze, over-litigate, over-judge, parse and market. Nothing we can do about the mind thinking, but if we live solely in the realm of thought we live solely in the calculating part of ourselves losing our ability to perceive and sense the world around us as it is. Ram Dass and Paul Goman in their work, “How Can I Help,” describe it well. “There is more to the mind than reason alone. There is awareness itself and what we sometimes think of as the deeper qualities of mind.”[iv]  Sssshhh does not stifle thinking but allows us to open to the vastness of consciousness. 

When we say “sssshhh,” we are planting the seeds of non-violence in our consciousness. Om Shanti, Shalom, salaam, slama, silence, shhhhh.

 Author: John Hawkins

  

John Hawkins, a 2^nd year student in ISIS, is a Yoga teacher and co-owner of The Metta Center in Bellingham, Washington.

 TheMetta Center - http://www.themettacenter.org/

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[i] http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/anju_bhargava/2010/09/invoking_ahimsa_non-violence_and_shanti_peace_globally.html

[ii]  (Smith, Huston; “The World’s Religions” Harper Collins 1991, p. 222)

[iii] http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/25/national/25doss.html?_r=0

[iv] Dass, Ram; Gorman, Paul (2011-12-21). How Can I Help? (p. 94). Random House, Inc. Kindle Edition.