Paying Attention to Reality

We all participate in realities that are invisible to us unless we are paying attention. The most important of those realities are spiritual.




When we begin to awaken to reality within and around ourselves,
   one of the first things we realize is summarized
        in a song by the Police:

     "We are spirits in the material world..."

     ... are spirits in the material world ...

When we think of spirit and spirituality,
  it is especially important to start with definition and meaning.

The spirit is first and foremost the breath.

In the mythology of the Creation, God "breathed" the breath of life into the first human beings,
  and they became living souls.

The breath of life is the spirit,
  and from ancient times, a human being was considered alive as long as he or she was breathing,
    as long as there was spirit - or breath - in the body.

Of course, the term spirituality is used to refer to many things quite apart from breath
  or the act of breathing,

    but it can often be very helpful to look at the root meaning of a concept.

The connection between spirituality and life
   as between breath and life

     gives us the perspective of the importance of the spiritual aspect of things
       that we live with every day
          whether we are aware of them or not.

Contemporary studies in particle physics give us an interesting perspective
   since many of the theories we are hearing lately
      are so esoteric

        that they seem downright spiritual!

I don't think that is an accident or illusion.

In any natural process there is always much more going on
  than what we can observe on the surface.

We are delving more and more deeply into the underlying relationships
  of matter and energy
    and very small and very large scales,

  and we are finding some really fascinating and wonderful things.

In the first place,
  the relationship of matter and energy is now understood
    in terms of a kind of interchangeability

          that would have seemed truly bizarre
        even in the most learned minds of people
          only a few centuries in the past.

Yet the new understandings are essential
  if we are to grasp the meaning of all kinds of phenomena
    that are part of life in the modern world.

Nuclear physics is no longer a matter of theoretical speculation,
  nor has it been so since the 1940's.

Both warfare and the electrical power our modern world runs on
   have been transformed in ways that tell us we cannot go back
      to the way things used to be.

Likewise our understanding is being transformed
 regarding who and what we are
  and where we have come from
    and what our lives truly mean 

    in ways we can only begin to grasp
      in our day to day lives.

There has never been a time in which good education has been more important
   for every human being living in the world,

     and yet there has never been greater threat
       to the quality of education children can receive.

This is a deeply spiritual question.

Education involves the formation of human consciousness
   through information
      based on the best studies and theories

        that help us understand humanity
          and the world around us.

Far too many people who are involved in spiritual work
  are threatening the dissemination of good information
     as a result of some sort of deep misunderstanding.

I think of the Taliban in central Asia,
    whose name ironically comes from the Arabic word for student or scholar.

They do not want anyone to be well educated in anything
  except recitation of the Qur'an.

They do not want women or girls to receive even that,
   since the Qur'an itself specifically commands
     the education of women and girls in the Muslim community.

Likewise conservative religionists threaten good education in many places,
   including the United States,
       because of a particular interpretation of their scriptures.

If we can all begin to understand spirituality as synonymous with life itself,
  as the Spirit is the breath,
    maybe, just maybe we can begin to take a different view
       of the ways our spirituality informs our daily lives.

At the very least,
  human spirituality teaches us to take a clear look at what is.

There are many illusions in the world around us.

First and foremost,
  a helpful spirituality will help us to look past those illusions
      into realities that are less than obvious.

When spirituality begins to cloud our thinking with illusions of its own,
    we need to take a hard look at our own understanding
      of what is real.

Religious doctrine is often not conducive to real spritual development.

For example,
  to say the least,
    the doctrine or concept of God is not essential to spirituality.

One of the best and most ancient forms of human spirituality is Buddhism.

Many forms of Buddhism do include concepts of God, gods and goddesses,
    even demons and angels and other spiritual beings,
       but those concepts are by no means essential
          to the practice of Buddhist spirituality.

This may be one reason for the attraction of Buddhism
  for many people in the West today.

No doctrine is necessary for beneficial spiritual practices
      like meditation and the increase of awareness in life generally.

At the same time,
  religion can be helpful in providing a foundation
     for people to know where they stand
       on many of the questions that arise in life.

The quality of relationships, it seems to me,
   is always a key in examining the value of any practice
       of religion and spirituality.

To quote the words of Rabbi Jesus,
     "By their fruits you shall know them."

Please take note that nowhere did He say,
    "By the correctness of their doctrine you shall know them."

Even the use of a particular kind of spiritual practice
   is not a sign of the quality of spiritual life
       for any particular person.

This is one of the values of Unitarian Universalism in our time.

We offer tools for personal spiritual development

 and education in various religious traditions

    so that all kinds of people can develop their own spiritual life
      in healthy and helpful ways.

We may come to different conclusions about many things,
    but we can share our spirituality in beloved communities
       all over the world.

As we look at the phenomena of our time,
     we use our reason to understand what science is telling us
          and we use our developing spiritual acuity
            to help us understand the meaning

   of many things in our own lives and the lives of people around us.

For example, the most serious questions facing all human beings
   revolve around questions of life and death.

The proliferation of many of the technologies upon which modern life depends
   is starting to threaten the continued existence of many lives.

Global climate change is bringing huge changes to every part of the planet,
   whether we like it or believe it or not.

Some things are true whether you believe it or not,
   to quote the movie, _City of Angels_.

These days, species are going extinct at a rate that is approaching planet-wide extinctions
    of the distant past.

Taking a clear look at these realities
  and working toward ethical ways of dealing with them
    are a responsibility of spiritual development.

Finally, the question of individual survival of consciousness
   beyond physical death
       is the most basic question our spirituality can address.

You will notice that I said, "address" - - -  not "answer".

If a particular form of spirituality could ANSWER the question
       of life after death

         it would be a most marketable commodity.

In fact, I think it's worthy of note
    that many religious teachings about life after death are just that:
        good marketing and advertising.

Believe in our doctrines and go to heaven.

Believe in those other doctrines and go to hell.

What a way to convince people to come to YOUR church instead of other churches,
  even to get people to work very hard to convert others!

The truth is that no one has final answers on the subject of life and death.

All our spirituality can do is help us take a clear eyed look at what is,
   and what we invariably find is deep and fascinating and enduring mystery.

There is a lot of mythology around our understanding of life and death,
   and our spiritual practice does well if it helps us find meaning
     in many of the mythologies that surround the subject.

Heaven and Hell are obviously mythological,
  and there may be meaning in the myths,
     even beyond the marketing.

The idea of Hell refers to suffering and pain, isolation and separation.

There is so much of that in the world we already know: 

   There is no need to consign it to the afterlife.

Working now to alleviate suffering
  and to help people to understand and experience their essential unity
    are the work of any healthy and helpful spiritual experience.

If we meditate on - or contemplate - the deep sharing that is possible in human life,
    we are doing Heaven's work in the here and now.

The meaning behind the myths of Heaven
  can be boiled down to the continuing of relationships.

The deep sharing we can know now
  is not ended by the experience of physical death.

Beyond that, it is not possible to say much about the real meaning of the myth of Heaven.

And yet...

 just speaking about continuing relationships beyond death

  can be enough said

   to bring deep comfort and hope
     in the face of much that appears empty and hopeless at first glance.

Let me say for myself
  that I do believe in some kind of life after death.

I'm not sure exactly what form it is in,
   and I'm not convinced that there is now - or likely ever will be -
     evidence for life after death

        that could be verified in a laboratory.

That may be intended - just part of the reality of things -
  and if we think about it, it makes perfect sense.

We cannot base what we think, say or do
  on what we believe is coming next.

We CAN live in hope.

There is plenty of evidence in terms of what we can know in our hearts,
   but very little that is clearly acceptable to our reason.

The life of the body is the spirit, the breath.

When the spirit or the breath leaves the body, the body dies.

Where does the spirit go?

I don't know.

Each of us will have to come to our own conclusions about that
   without trying to force others to think as we do.

The best our spirituality can do for us here and now
  is help us look clearly at what we see
      and help us understand that there is more going on
         all the time and everywhere
            than we can fully grasp in our limited perceptions and understanding.

Just knowing that there is more going on than meets the eye
  can bring us comfort and hope
    into our lives every day.

And so we can find comfort and hope
  as we look beyond ourselves
    into the greatest mysteries and adventures of all:

             what lies within us and beyond what we can see of our own lives.

Amen.

So mote it be.

Blessed be.




some notes and resources:

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/context/key-free-will-may-be-stripping-reality-naked

Meditation and Mantras (sound):

Om

Be still and know that I am God.

    -or-

Be still and know that I am the Universe in conscious form.

    - living within us -



Relax... Nothing is under control!


To experience miracles we need only begin to recognize the miracles in our lives every day.


Love means casting out fear. (A Course in Miracles)


"The strength of one's spirituality is determined by one's treatment of other people and other animals." ~ A.D. Williams


Meditation and the study of consciousness will lead us to remember that we are all one.

Opening Words: Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light-years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual... The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.

- Carl Sagan


Closing words: Stop looking outside for scraps of pleasure or fulfillment, for validation, security or love -  you have a treasure within that is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

- Eckhart Tolle

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