The Power of Silent Thoughts
In meditation communities people often say, Namaste, to one another. The word implies, The divinity in me recognizes the divinity in you. I’ve been practicing saying this in my mind whenever I encounter someone. Similar to silently offering people Love, Laughter, Happiness and Joy, it transforms my immediate attitude towards others. More importantly, it is a reminder that there is an embryo of god/universe/spirit in me and there is an embryo of god/universe/spirit in each person, place or thing. It is a reminder that we are all connected and all one when our egos are not putting up barriers.
I think there are two types of people in the world: Those with hearts initially open to all others and those with hearts initially closed to all others. My heart tends to be closed to others for various fear related (i.e., ego based) reasons. This puts barriers between me and others thus cutting me off from the true richness and wonder of life. Practicing Namaste breaks down those barriers and has allowed me to have wonderful moments that otherwise would have been missed. It is sort of sad to think of how much I’ve missed out on because of my fear, but better to be awakened to it now and to be changing.
posted by David Treanor @ 10:18 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Hello, David.
I stumbled upon your blog just last week and have liked what I've been reading. Thanks for writing.
My teen-aged daughter and I were discussing the words spirituality, theology, and religion a couple of weeks ago. During that discussion, she dreamed up the basics of the following metaphor. I've been playing with the metaphor and thought I'd share it with you and your readers.
Picture a beautifully wrapped present or gift someone has given you for some celebration. The gift consists of three different things working together to create the total effect: the thing being given to you, the box that contains the thing, and the wrapping paper which decorates the box. All three parts work together to create the total effect.
Now, transfer this image to discussions about spirituality, theology, and religion.
To me, spirituality is my relationship with God (whatever label you may wish to use for it). It is my experiencing that relationship that is the gift, the thing being given to me, the thing of central importance.
Stepping one step away from experiencing my relationship with God, I sometimes think about that relationship, or I think about God, or I think about how to communicate ideas about my experience. Thinking about the relationship (as opposed to actually experiencing it) is what I call theology, and that relates to the box that contains and gives shape to the gift in our metaphor.
One more step away from my experience are those things I do to remind myself of my relationship with God. I sometimes forget I'm in relationship with God; that relationship is not always upper-most in my mind (life does, at times, get in the way), but there are things that immediately remind me of my relationship with God. Those things that remind me of my relationship are what I call religion, and religion corresponds to the wrapping paper decorating my gift.
Spirituality : my relationship with God : the gift.
Theology : thinking about my relationship with God : the box.
Religion : reminding myself of my relationship with God : the wrapping paper.
This post is simply food for thought and sharing something that I've had fun playing with.
Hello, Ann - I really enjoyed reading your comment. Thank you for such a great contribution.
David-Thanks for the blog. Thanks, Ann, for your comments. We all need to organize these concepts into something that makes sense and works for each of us. I was impressed that Ann was discussing such concepts with her teenaged daughter and that her daughter came up with the metaphor. It sounds like the two of you have a great relationship!
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