Beyond the Books: Interfaith Spiritual Direction

Beyond the Books: Interfaith Spiritual Direction http://interfaithspiritualdirection.blogspot.com/ If you are interested in exploring this way of connecting to the divine, please contact me via phone or email.

As a guide and spiritual companion, Cynthia Stewart offers a depth of knowledge, an affirming spirit and an intuitive understanding formed by a lifetime of finding the divine in all dimensions of life. My many years of teaching world religions and studying their sacred texts informs my understanding of the divine. As I listen to you, and as we listen together to the spirit, we will work together t

o find the language and expressions of the divine that will be helpful for you in your own spiritual journey. Whether that draws from a particular faith tradition, many traditions, or no tradition at all, we will find writings, practices and ways of expression that speak to where you are now and where you are moved to be. (615) 333-3226
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04/02/2020

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Day 4

“Every selfless act, Arjuna, is born from Brahman, the eternal, infinite Godhead. He is present in every act of service. All life turns on this law, O Arjuna. Whoever violates it, indulging his senses for his own pleasure and ignoring the needs of others, has wasted his life. But those who realize the Self are always satisfied…Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life.” (Chapter 3.15-18)

Spending a day working at a food bank. Helping your coworker when they are overwhelmed. Mowing your neighbors’ lawn when they are ill. Helping a family member move. Smiling at a stranger who looks sad. None of these actions “changes the world” – the world keeps turning in its merry, chaotic way. But each of these simple actions changes the world, bringing a little more love, a little more hope into it for one person or one small group of people. Krishna tells Arjuna that God is present in every act of service – every act, not just the vast life-transforming acts, but every act, even that small smile. In this time of social distancing and people losing jobs and anxiety and all the worries this pandemic has brought up, we are recognizing the need to reach out to our communities, and to hear from them. We are seeing how important the small kindnesses are, and giving true gratitude for the large acts of bravery and selflessness. But truly, when are these small acts ever NOT important? When is this selflessness ever NOT needed? We may live in a new reality, but let us learn from this to pay attention to a reality that has always been present.

04/01/2020

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Day 3

“You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction. Perform work in this world, Arjuna, as a man established within himself – without selfish attachments, and alike in success and defeat. For yoga is perfect evenness of mind.” (Chapter 2.47-48)

Krishna separates work and the fruit of work – actions and their results – and tells Arjuna that he needs to focus on doing the work that is to be done, not worrying about the results. He must work unselfishly, with calmness and tranquility.

In a later section Krishna will tell Arjuna that when he understands and does this correctly, he will know that it is actually God, Brahman, working through him; his real work is actually to be a conduit for the divine. That’s why he doesn’t have the right to the “fruit of work,” the results of his actions: because he can never know the bigger picture of which they are a part; he is only ware of his own small role within them. What he experiences as failure may be necessary to a larger arc of triumph or to someone else’s success. This is why he is to be “alike in success and defeat”: because as a conduit of the divine, he recognizes that however he may feel about his actions and their results, he must trust that ultimately they work to the good.

In this COVID-19 world, many of us are unsure about our own actions, and even more about the actions of others. Anxiety runs rampant and sometimes turns into lashes of fear or hate against others who do not deserve it; even more often the anxiety simply eats away at our ability to find peace of mind. And so I ask, where do you allow the divine to work through you? Can you find evenness of mind in recognizing that we never see the fullness of the biggest of big pictures?

03/27/2020

Reading the Bhagavad Gita, Day 2

“How can I ever bring myself to fight against [my kinsmen], who are worthy of reverence? Surely it would be better to spend my life begging than to kill these great and worthy souls! If I killed them, every pleasure I found would be tainted. I don’t even know which would be better, for us to conquer them or for them to conquer us. [These kinsmen] have confronted us; but why would we care to live if we killed them?

“My will is paralyzed, and I am utterly confused. What can overcome a sorrow that saps all my vitality? Even power over men and gods or the wealth of an empire seems empty…Oh Krishna, I will not fight.” (Chapter 2.4-9, adapted)

Arjuna is a warrior. He lives by a code of conduct, and he knows how to engage the world from within it: protect your allies, defeat your enemy, fight for what is good. But he has reached a crisis point: the good suddenly seems nowhere to be found as he surveys the people most precious to him arrayed on both sides of the battlefield. How can any part of this fight be good? Arjuna throws his bow down and hurls himself into the bottom of his chariot, in the depths of despair.

We have all been Arjuna, caught between rocks and hard places with seemingly no way out. We have surveyed the scene and found nothing but pain and sorrow no matter which way we turn, and we have felt helpless and lost, unable to make a decision, unable to go on. We have all thrown down our weapons and fallen down in our chariots, overcome by despair.

It’s okay to sit in the bottom of the chariot, to recognize the despair. It’s okay to allow the feelings to wash over you in waves, and to want to take a hard pass on all the options life presents you in a given moment. Sometimes all we can do is just sit with whatever is paralyzing our will, not try to push it away.

But life is going to continue. The battle will be fought whether we participate or not; the scene will change however we do or do not act. And eventually, when we can, we will arise from the depths of our chariot and pick up our bow. We know this because we’ve done it a hundred, a thousand times before.

03/26/2020

I’m going to read through the Bhagavad Gita again and make commentary as I go along. I’ll post every day or two. Care to join me?

“Arjuna, standing between the two armies, saw fathers and grandfathers, teachers, uncles, and brothers, sons and grandsons, in-laws and friends. Seeing his kinsmen established in opposition, Arjuna was overcome by sorrow.” (Chapter 1:26-27)

These lines carry a whole new meaning in this time of pandemic. Arjuna is on a battlefield, surveying those who are lined up to fight against him. We are, for the most part, huddled away in our homes, learning what it’s like to shelter in place. And yet we, too, can easily come to see those we love and those around us as “established in opposition.” A student in my class tonight told of how some older relatives were expecting a visit from their son and his family, including a couple of young children. Out of respect, the older relatives let others in their community know of the upcoming visit – and were heartbroken when they received reply after reply of “they are not welcome here.” This is not to debate the merits of visiting vs. not visiting but rather to recognize how far and fast we can move toward seeing others as Other, as threat. In this time of social distancing, how can we continue to create a space of welcome for others, even if we must isolate?

05/16/2019

“The senses are good friends when they are trained.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 25)

And when they’re not trained – WHAMMY, right between the eyes.

We get this message from pretty much all the world’s religions and spiritual teachings about how we are drawn to the bright shiny and how the bright shiny can trick us in a heartbeat. It’s not that they are bad things, just that they can distract us into from the really good things – good things like remembering who we really are, that connection to each other and the divine is what matters most, that living in the right now is better than trying to escape the right now. And that’s what the trained senses are always trying to tell us: how to be here, and be aware, in this moment.

Think about that good ol’ list of 7 deadly sin: pride, envy, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth. Every one of those is some version of the senses run amok. You may or may not think of them as “deadly sins,” but you sure as heck better recognize them as “things that will send your life spinning off into chaos.” Go whole hog on all of these and you’ll tear up your romantic, family and friend relationships; your body and health; and your psyche and mental health. Not good.

So back to the Buddha’s reminder that we want our senses trained to be in awareness, not to run off like toddlers after the bright shiny. We want our senses to help us live lives of purpose, meaning, fullness and joy. And all that starts with just being aware.

05/08/2019

“All human beings are subject to attachment and thirst for pleasure. Driven by this thirst, they run about frightened like a hunted hare, suffering more and more. Overcome this thirst and be free.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 24, adapted)

Pleasure doesn’t seem so bad, right? The sun’s touch on your face on a cool day is a pleasure; so is a good meal, laughing with friends, that first taste of cold water when you’re really hot. But look what the Buddha is saying here: it’s not pleasure that’s the culprit, it’s the THIRST for pleasure – that running after it, gotta have it feeling. That’s desire, and it seems all well and good until it gets under our skin and we start being scared that we’re not going to get it, whatever “it” is. That’s when we realize - if we’re willing to realize - that desire left unchecked is like an addiction. At first we’re enjoying whatever it is, but then slowly, without us realizing it, that enjoyment turns into a fear of not having.

Let’s take one small example. You want a new iPhone. You get a new iPhone. Cool. Now you make sure to keep your iPhone safe. Why? So that it won’t get lost or stolen. Totally reasonable – but still, what you’re doing is based in your fear of not having that new iPhone.

Stop a moment and think about how much of your time is spent making sure that you get to keep what you have. You might be surprised – but the Buddha wouldn’t. He’s telling us that this drive to keep – which is really this fear of losing – is a way we create suffering for ourselves. And that we just don’t have to do it.

04/30/2019

“An act performed carelessly, a vow not kept: these things bring little reward. If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 22)

Write a check. Go to a rally. Call your representative. Volunteer at church. Get involved with your kid’s soccer team. So many things you SAY you’ll do, right? And you mean it, really, at the time. Because it’s all important. All. ALL. And there’s SO MUCH OF IT.

We get overwhelmed with all the pain and sorrow in the world, and all the good causes trying to work on the pain and sorrow in the world, and all the stuff we need to do, and all the stuff we THINK we need to do. But look, the Buddha is reminding us that we’re not doing anyone any favors when we start faking it. So sit down with the truth and have a good conversation. Remember that you’re not a superhero or a savior. Learn that lying to yourself doesn’t work and most other people already have you pegged. Figure out your limits and remember your power. And then double down on what you really CAN do it and give it your all.

04/28/2019

“It is hard to leave the world and hard to live in it, painful to live with the worldly and painful to be a wanderer. Reach the goal; you will wander and suffer no more.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 21)

Just stating some truth that the grass isn’t greener somewhere else. We get this idea in our head that it’s so hard for us and so easy for other people – whatever “it” is: work, relationships, parenting, the spiritual path, being alive. And wow, can we waste some brain cells wanting to be like that other person who’s got it all together. But the truth is that if we peak behind the curtain no one’s got it all together. It’s hard for everyone.

Sometimes things are good, and we want them to stay like that forever; they won’t. Sometimes things are so bad that it hurts too much to breathe, and we’re scared things will stay like that forever; they won’t. We keep looking for steady and safe and secure, and trying to find it in what’s around us. The Buddha tells us that we have to go inside, find our own strength, find the truth in life, and from that find peace in being able to accept what comes. The good times will still come, and so will the hard times, but we won’t break upon their shores.

04/27/2019

“All created things are transitory; those who realize this are freed from suffering. This is the path that leads to pure wisdom.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 20)

This is the hard one, folks, the one we DON’T want to realize, the one we work as hard as we can NOT to realize. Because WE are created beings, and so are all the people we love. Which means we are transitory. Which means there will come a time when we’re not here. But everything in our culture is set up to try to deny or cover up that fact, to pretend that we’ll be young and beautiful forever and have our loved ones with us forever. But the Buddha is here to remind us that it ain’t so.

When we can truly envision our own mortality and the mortality of all the people we love, and can envision a world where we have died, or where those people we love have died, we move into a new kind of wisdom. It’s the wisdom of the real, of recognizing things for what they are. It allows us to love our people not for what they give us but for who they are; and it allows us to give with humility, without believing that the world couldn’t keep turning without us.

04/13/2019

“Do not envy others for the gifts they receive, or you will have no peace of mind by day or by night. Those who have destroyed the roots of jealousy have peace of mind always.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 18)

Envy – it’s the foundation of modern materialist society. Others have things, and I think their life is better than mine; I want those things so I’ll have a better life, too. Give me a better car, cooler clothes, the newest smartphone – then my life will be great and everyone will want what I’ve got. Because isn’t that the pinnacle of our society, as a person who is wealthy or powerful or famous – having everyone want what you’ve got? In effect, having everyone envy you?

So envy just leads to…more envy. But does any of this make us happy? Whether we envy our friends for their cool smartwatches or celebrities for their multi-million dollar homes, does that make us happy? Does it bring any sort of peace or joy, or help us be compassionate? Does it make our relationships better – including our relationships with those friends we envy?

The Buddha tells us to recognize our envy, and then to start cutting it away – the branches, the trunk, and eventually to find the roots and cut them out. When we have freed ourselves from the driving desire for what others have, and the belief that we are nothing without what we have, then our minds are clear and we are at peace.

04/08/2019

“Selfish attachment brings suffering; selfish attachment brings fear. Be detached, and you will be free from suffering and fear.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 16)

We hear Buddhists talk about non-attachment and think, “But wait – I LIKE being attached. I want to be attached to the people I love, to the things I love to do. Why wouldn’t I want those attachments?” Here we get the clearer picture: it’s SELFISH attachment that’s the real issue, the kind where it may look great on the outside but it’s all about me-me-me on the inside. The kind where we don’t love our kids or our spouse unconditionally but because they make us feel needed; the kind where we feel attachment to friends who we expect to prop up our egos, or whom we can manipulate emotionally.

These kinds of selfish attachments are actually built on fear - fear that we aren’t good enough – so we have to get something from others to keep telling ourselves that we’re okay. And fear that if we don’t get it, the whole shaky structure will come tumbling down. So detachment – it’s not being aloof from everything and everyone: it’s being able to love fully, from the center of our being, without demanding something back. It’s being able to give, without the fear.

04/07/2019

“Let us live in joy, never hating those who hate us, never falling sick like those who are sick, never attached among those who are selfishly attached, never hoarding things among those who hoard.

There is no fire like lust, no sickness like hatred, no sorrow like separateness, no joy like peace. No disease is worse than greed, no suffering worse than selfish passion. Know this, and seek nirvana as the highest joy. Health is the best gift, contentment the best wealth, trust the best kinsman, nirvana the greatest joy.” (Dhammapada, Chapter 15 [adapted])

“Live in joy” – ahh, constantly existing in a super blissed-out high, that sounds terrific. But is that what joy really is? Is that what the Buddha really means?

Suddenly we’re reading about things we fear – fire, sickness, sorrow, disease, suffering – and finding out that these things we think of as “happening to us” are really things we engage in – lust, hatred, separateness, greed, selfish passion. In every one of those it’s about “me first” or “me alone,” forgetting the “we” – connection, compassion – altogether.

So what do we do? Turn toward connection and compassion, and we’re on the road toward health, contentment, trust, nirvana. Living in joy.

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