I offer a weekly zoom meditation on Wednesday evening from 8 – 8:30 p.m. (Central Time). The aim of these meditations is to awaken to “our eternal loving source/spiritual family,” the image used throughout my book, Innocent Perception: A New Lens for Healing. Another image for this is to awaken to “inner radiance.”
Back in 1996, the Dalai Lama with his entourage visited the Abbey of Gethsemani where I was a monk. A five day meeting of monks and nuns and other spiritual practitioners gathered to focus on “the spiritual life in the Buddhist and Christian monastic traditions.” When giving us a talk, the Dalai Lama mentioned that in Buddhism the essence of a human being is “inner radiance” and that everything else proceeds from this.
A profound insight in the Buddhist tradition is that when we are ignorant of inner radiance within us, we fall prey to “grasping/greed” and “aversion/hatred” in the subtle and gross ways in which they can manifest through us. In Buddhist teaching what we always need to be aware of is that we can take refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. What this means is to take refuge in the Enlightened Mind/Heart, the sacred teachings of the Enlightened Mind/Heart, and the loving communion of all who are devoted to the Enlightened Mind/Heart. This same teaching would resonate with the basic insight of the other higher spiritual traditions – Hinduism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
In the weekly zoom meditation, I will guide those who participate in a short meditation in which we awaken to communion with our fellow beings of every time and place who awoke to the universal call from Spirit given to humanity. This is our spiritual family and includes all on earth who are devoted to the call from Spirit. I believe a group energy in such a focused meditation can touch us in profound ways.
The greatest blessing that can come to you in these zoom meditations is experiencing in some way the core of divine radiance within you that is “one” in all of us. Also included in opening to inner radiance is the body meditation in which we meditate on the inner radiance of Spirit radiating to every body system. This has the effect of bringing harmony to both our mind and body, which prepares us for a 15 minute period of silent meditation.
In this group meditation you can call upon eternal loving source/spiritual family in whatever way your heart draws you. I always include in the meditation, bringing forth all you have experienced throughout your life to the present moment. What is crucial here is trusting that Spirit always yearns to free us so that we can respond to our own unique call.
Once we sense that we are in communion with our eternal loving source/spiritual family, we can find our way to access guidance from the core of inner radiance so that the spiritual qualities of selflessness and harmlessness manifest through us. Why this is so crucial is that the divine core within us is free from the impact that distortion, pain, grief, or any ills have had upon us and can open to us the blessing, healing, and illumination we all yearn for.
Having a zoom meditation weekly, or several times in a month, can be a way to bring harmony and balance into your life. You can register for weekly zoom meditations on my website. There is no charge for this. Donations are appreciated