A beggar had been sitting by the side of the road for over 30 years. One day a stranger walked by.
"Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his cap.
"I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked, "What's that you're sitting on?"
"Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I’ve been sitting on it for as long as I can remember."
"Ever looked inside?" asked the stranger.
"No," said the beggar. "What's the point? There's nothing in there."
"Have a look inside," insisted the stranger.
The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold… - Eckhart Tolle
In my previous post I said that I would next address what tools one might use to detect "spirit." After all, if I am going to ask people to reconsider whether there might be a "ghost in the machine" (see my previous two posts), I ought to provide the means by which people can verify this for themselves - or not. In other words, if we’re going to look inside the box, we need a way to pry open the lid.
Before doing this it is important to make one fundamental point. For this I draw on the work of a modern day Sufi teacher, Kabir Helminski. Regarding spirit, Helminski says that it…
"is such a fine and subtle energy that it can be obscured by coarser energies of our existence, the energies of thought, desire, instinct, and sensation. These are the veils over the essential Self..." ("Living Presence")
In other words, the egoic self that we use to engage the world in our everyday lives is so course and energetic that it obscures the awareness of our true nature. If we are going to discover our true nature then, that is, if we are going to find the gold inside the box, we need a means to get beneath the egoic self. Only in this way will we discover the fine and subtle energy that is our true nature; "spirit." It can be done. Mystics across every tradition have been doing it for thousands of years. In Kabir's words, we can find a "channel" to spirit. "This channel is created through the presence of finer energies in us, and these energies are the result of a certain work." The "certain work" of which Kabir speaks is the application of the tools that are available to us to help us detect spirit. What are these tools? These tools are certain spiritual practices that mystics have developed through millennia of effort: various forms of meditation, prayer and yoga, etc.
Through these practices we can find a channel to the spirit within us. In specific terms, these and other spiritual practices are designed to help one manage one's egoic structure; to bring its course energy under control and greatly reduce, if not even eliminate it. For it is by means of the reduction of the course energy of the egoic structure that the presence of spirit arises into one's awareness.
Think of it this way. Imagine that you are in a room with a loud fan, but, as often happens, you have become acclimated to the sound of the fan and don't really notice the "white noise" it creates. That is, you don't notice it until someone turns it off. Suddenly, you realize that unbeknownst to you it had captivated your attention the entire time. We've all had this experience… But not only do you notice this, you also notice other sounds that were in the room with you, but which had been drowned out by the white noise of the fan. Once that white noise ceases, these other sounds arise into your awareness. Perhaps you notice the faint sound of children playing in the neighbor’s yard next door, or music wafting through the house from the radio you left playing softly in another room. Or, sometimes the silence that is revealed becomes quite palpable itself! The point is that there are realities at work of which we remain unaware until certain internal dynamics shift. This is the effect that the spiritual practices developed by mystics over the millennia have upon us. They allow certain realities at work within us to arise into our awareness as these practices shift our internal dynamics.
It sounds easy, but it isn't. For the vast majority of people a long-term commitment is required before the fruits of this labor are realized. Yet, one would think that the discovery of the gold within the box would be enough to motivate one to stay on task until the treasure is discovered. The fact is, however, that most people don't stay on task. In my next post I'm going to address why so many people commit themselves to spiritual practice only to abandon it in short order.
Namaste,
Alex
"Spare some change?" mumbled the beggar, mechanically holding out his cap.
"I have nothing to give you," said the stranger. Then he asked, "What's that you're sitting on?"
"Nothing," replied the beggar. "Just an old box. I’ve been sitting on it for as long as I can remember."
"Ever looked inside?" asked the stranger.
"No," said the beggar. "What's the point? There's nothing in there."
"Have a look inside," insisted the stranger.
The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold… - Eckhart Tolle
In my previous post I said that I would next address what tools one might use to detect "spirit." After all, if I am going to ask people to reconsider whether there might be a "ghost in the machine" (see my previous two posts), I ought to provide the means by which people can verify this for themselves - or not. In other words, if we’re going to look inside the box, we need a way to pry open the lid.
Before doing this it is important to make one fundamental point. For this I draw on the work of a modern day Sufi teacher, Kabir Helminski. Regarding spirit, Helminski says that it…
"is such a fine and subtle energy that it can be obscured by coarser energies of our existence, the energies of thought, desire, instinct, and sensation. These are the veils over the essential Self..." ("Living Presence")
In other words, the egoic self that we use to engage the world in our everyday lives is so course and energetic that it obscures the awareness of our true nature. If we are going to discover our true nature then, that is, if we are going to find the gold inside the box, we need a means to get beneath the egoic self. Only in this way will we discover the fine and subtle energy that is our true nature; "spirit." It can be done. Mystics across every tradition have been doing it for thousands of years. In Kabir's words, we can find a "channel" to spirit. "This channel is created through the presence of finer energies in us, and these energies are the result of a certain work." The "certain work" of which Kabir speaks is the application of the tools that are available to us to help us detect spirit. What are these tools? These tools are certain spiritual practices that mystics have developed through millennia of effort: various forms of meditation, prayer and yoga, etc.
Through these practices we can find a channel to the spirit within us. In specific terms, these and other spiritual practices are designed to help one manage one's egoic structure; to bring its course energy under control and greatly reduce, if not even eliminate it. For it is by means of the reduction of the course energy of the egoic structure that the presence of spirit arises into one's awareness.
Think of it this way. Imagine that you are in a room with a loud fan, but, as often happens, you have become acclimated to the sound of the fan and don't really notice the "white noise" it creates. That is, you don't notice it until someone turns it off. Suddenly, you realize that unbeknownst to you it had captivated your attention the entire time. We've all had this experience… But not only do you notice this, you also notice other sounds that were in the room with you, but which had been drowned out by the white noise of the fan. Once that white noise ceases, these other sounds arise into your awareness. Perhaps you notice the faint sound of children playing in the neighbor’s yard next door, or music wafting through the house from the radio you left playing softly in another room. Or, sometimes the silence that is revealed becomes quite palpable itself! The point is that there are realities at work of which we remain unaware until certain internal dynamics shift. This is the effect that the spiritual practices developed by mystics over the millennia have upon us. They allow certain realities at work within us to arise into our awareness as these practices shift our internal dynamics.
It sounds easy, but it isn't. For the vast majority of people a long-term commitment is required before the fruits of this labor are realized. Yet, one would think that the discovery of the gold within the box would be enough to motivate one to stay on task until the treasure is discovered. The fact is, however, that most people don't stay on task. In my next post I'm going to address why so many people commit themselves to spiritual practice only to abandon it in short order.
Namaste,
Alex
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