November
26, 2006
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Martin Luther King, Jr., in being asked to publish some of his
sermons, wrote in the preface to his book, ". . .
a sermon is directed toward the listening ear rather than
the reading eye. . . I offer these discourses in the hope
that a message may come to life for readers of the printed
words." This is my hope for you, dear reader.
--Rev. Linda
November 26, 2006
WOODLAND MUSINGS:
Stocking Up for Winter
This morning we’re finishing up with Eckhart Tolle’s
book we’ve been looking at this month, A New Earth,
and also concluding this November series and preparing
for our December theme of peace as we head into the winter
season, and so the title Woodland Musings: Stocking Up
for Winter.
I remember many years ago going out into the woods with
a pickup truck to gather up all the downed trees, logs
and various pieces of wood we could find to use in the
wood stove over the winter. It certainly was a lot of
hard work, piling it all into the back of the truck, then
unloading it and stacking it, and then, of course, having
to cut it all up, and re-stacking it into neat piles by
the back door.
The wood stove did provide us with a great source of
heat, but not particularly even or clean, neither in the
house nor in the environment. But there was something
nostalgic and comforting about the whole process—except,
of course, when we woke up on a 5-below-0 morning to a
cold stove and a cold house. But it did give us purpose
and direction to our lives. It took up a good deal of
time and effort to save whatever money we did by burning
wood—enough to convince me it wasn’t the way
of life I aspired to.
What is our purpose here anyway? Beyond keeping warm
and filling our bellies? I want to take a look today at
our purpose. Why are we here? That question reminds me
of a story I heard some time ago.
It seems that on the 1st day God created the dog. And
God said to the dog, "Sit all day by the door of
your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past.
I will give you a life span of 20 years."
But the dog said, "That's too long to be barking.
Give me 10 years, and I'll give you back the other 10."
So God agreed.
On the 2nd day God created the monkey. And God said,
"Entertain people, do monkey tricks, make them laugh.
I'll give you a 20-year life span."
But the monkey said, "How boring. Monkey tricks
for 20 years? I don't think so. Dog gave you back 10,
so that's what I'll do too, okay?"
God agreed.
On the 3rd day God created the cow. And God said, "You
will go to the field with the farmer all day long in the
sun, have calves, and give milk to support the farmer’s
family. I will give you a life span of 60 years."
But the cow said, "That's kind of a tough life you
want me to live for 60 years. Let me have 20, and I'll
give back the other 40."
So God agreed again.
On the 4th day God created man. And God said, "Eat,
sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. I'll give you
20 years."
But man said, "What? Only 20 years?! Tell you what,
I'll take my 20, and the 40 the cow gave back, and the
10 the monkey gave back, and the 10 the dog gave back
- that makes 80, okay?"
"Okay", said God, "You've got a deal."
So that’s why the first 20 years we eat, sleep,
play, and enjoy ourselves; for the next 40 years we slave
in the sun to support our family; for the next 10 years
we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren; and
for the last 10 years we sit on the front porch and bark
at everyone.
But seriously, what are we here to do? What is our purpose?
Most of us get so caught up in the everyday routines
and things we think we have to do, we often feel like
our lives have no real significance or purpose. What is
our purpose anyway? What is it we’re here to do?
I hear so many people, especially on the spiritual path,
say things like, “I know I’m supposed to be
. . . “ painting, or writing, or singing, or teaching,
or creating something, or whatever. But Eckhart Tolle
says, “. . . the true or primary purpose of your
life cannot be found on the outer level. It does not concern
what you do but what you are—that is to say, your
state of consciousness. . . . Your life has an inner purpose
and an outer purpose. Inner purpose concerns Being and
is primary. Outer purpose concerns doing and is secondary.”
(p. 258)
Well, we’ve been talking a lot this month about
that inner purpose, which is simply to awaken, which,
of course, is the purpose of the universe, emerging intelligence.
This inner purpose of awakening is really the foundation
of everything else in our lives, including our outer purpose,
which is the way the awakening shows up in the outer world.
Of course, we can do and accomplish lots of things in
this world without much awakening. But the question is,
how much joy did it bring us? How much struggle did it
have to involve? And how permanent is it? That’s
really the problem with whatever we do in the outer world—it’s
not permanent. Only the inner work is lasting. That’s
why I always tell the new Science of Mind students that
once they’ve awakened even a little, they can never
go back.
Awakening is permanent. And it can also make us feel
a little isolated, like we don’t really “fit
in” anymore the way we used to with our old ways,
or with the old friends we had, sometimes even with our
families. We see things differently. That’s why having
a spiritual community is so important.
I just love that Rickie Byars song we just heard, “Except
the Lord build the house, we labor in vain.” We struggle,
without joy, and then it all comes crashing down—either
because of conditions and circumstances or because we
just don’t find the satisfaction we wanted from it.
It feels empty. But when awakening consciousness is our
primary purpose, whatever we’re doing in any given
moment becomes our secondary purpose.
You see, our purpose, our primary purpose is always to
be in the present moment, whatever that looks like, because
that’s the only way we can truly be aware of who
we are. And when we consciously do that, then we are aligning
ourselves with the aims and intentions of the universe,
we’re at one with it’s evolution. This way we’re
connecting our outer purpose with our inner purpose. And
when we do that, a deeper meaning flows into whatever
we do.
Now one way to tell whether our outer purpose has taken
over and we’ve lost sight of our inner purpose, is
by stress. It’s like a signal to us that we’re
off track. Here’s the paradox. Tolle says, “.
. . the foundation for greatness is honoring the small
things of the present moment instead of pursuing the idea
of greatness. The present moment is always small in the
sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it
lies the greatest power.” (p. 267)
So whenever we turn from our primary purpose of awakening
and being fully in the present moment because we think
something else is more important, we are not in alignment
with our power, and we experience the weakness of stress,
anxiety and negativity. We turn away from God, from any
real experience of that Power of the universe, our Source.
And here’s another paradox. By making being a human
Being, more important than being a human Doing, Tolle
says, “it does not mean you neglect whatever needs
to be done on a practical level. In fact, the doing unfolds
not only more easily, but more powerfully when the dimension
of Being is acknowledged and so becomes primary.”
And he says, “The arising of that unifying field
of awareness between human beings is the most essential
factor in relationships of the new earth.” (p. 270)
So our success is not about what we do, but in how well
we can be in the present moment while doing it. It’s
Being that’s successful, not Doing.
Most of us want to feel like what we’re doing is
in line with our purpose, that we’re fulfilling some
kind of purpose on the outer as well as on the inner.
How do we know if we’re doing it?
Tolle writes about 3 modalities of awakened doing: acceptance,
enjoyment and enthusiasm, and each has its own vibrational
frequency of consciousness. Let’s take a look at
these 3.
The most basic modality is acceptance. In fact, Tolle
says if you can’t enjoy or accept what you’re
doing, you need to stop, because you’re not taking
responsibility for your state of consciousness. (p. 296)
Now there are always things that come up for us to do
that we don’t feel like doing or like to do. But
if we can accept them, do them willingly, in peace, that
vibration, is consciousness entering the “world through
surrendered action.”
The second modality is enjoyment. When we enjoy what
we’re doing, there’s the added sense of aliveness
in us and our actions. Tolle says, “On the new earth,
enjoyment will replace wanting as the motivating power
behind people’s actions.” (p. 297) So we’ll
be more interested in doing what we enjoy, rather than
doing something because we want to get something out of
it. I know this is true because I proved it to myself
this week.
I had something I had to do and I really didn’t
want to do it. I was in a good deal of resistance. But
because I was staying in the present moment, it was easy
to recognize what I was feeling about it. And as soon
as I recognized my resistence, I said to myself, “I’ve
given my word that I would do this, and I have a desire
to be in integrity. So I’ll do what I said I’d
do, and I’ll do it willingly, and then just let God
take over from there. I’ll be the vessel, and let
the results come from the Higher Power within.
So even though there wasn’t any joy to start with,
I did have an experience of acceptance. And then as I
got into the work at hand, I actually began to enjoy what
I was doing, and I did experience that sense of aliveness
in it. So I know this really does work. “The joy
of Being is the joy of being conscious.” (p. 300)
And the third modality is enthusiasm, which means we
not only deeply enjoy what we do, but we also have a goal
or vision about it that we’re working toward, and
it carries a high energy frequency, which resonates with
the creative power of the universe. Ralph Waldo Emerson
said, “Nothing great has ever been achieved without
enthusiasm.”
When we’re fully focused on our primary purpose
of awakening, right now, in this moment, all things are
possible. The ego has disappeared. We’ve surrendered
to what’s before us, and we’re experiencing
the peace and joy of it. And if it’s part of our
goal, then we’re filled with enthusiasm which carries
us through the process with ease and grace, with no stress
or sense of struggle or inflated self-image. The Spirit
is working through us. We don’t even feel like we’re
doing it, so when people praise the work, we’re not
attached to the praise, not sucked in by it, because it
was really coming from something inner—something
bigger than we ourselves, not our manipulation of the
outer.
The goal is never about being famous or becoming rich,
but always about enriching or inspiring others, because
these things are permanent. It’s not about wanting
anything because we only want what we think we don’t
have, and we can only manifest what we already have.
So what is it we really need to be stocking up on for
the winter? Consciousness. The biblical prophet wrote,
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” (Rev.
21:1) It’s a new way of thinking, awakened consciousness.
I close with Eckhart Tolle’s final words, “A
new species is arising on the planet. It is arising now,
and you are it!”
