Thanks Simon.
one of the tasks I had as a psychologist doing psychological evaluations was to interview people applying for disability compensation. I knew that the lawyers I worked for were honest, caring people, and it was clear that everyone they sent to me was honestly unable to work and often in desperate need of help (there were more times than I wish there were, when the attorney’s office would call to say Mr. J’s appointment had to be canceled; he died in the hospital the night before — one of many unable to afford healthcare in this country).
I lived in New York City most of my adult life, where religion is something one doesn’t talk about. When I was doing evaluations, I was living in South Carolina, where almost everyone talks about religion a LOT.
In New York, I might talk about mindfulness, but in the South I quickly learned to talk about “mindful” religion.
When I had an applicant in front of me, sobbing about having lost their home, their belongings, etc, I would ask them about the teachings they grew up with — such as the kingdom of heaven being within. Well, yes of course they heard about it but how does that help you when you’re so depressed you can barely get out of bed in the morning?
I remember frequently asking, “Well, you’ve learned that Christ is ever present. Where is He now?” They’d mumble something about Him being in their hearts. “So, why don’t you actually check it out? Try putting your hand over your heart, and see if you can find Him.”
I would say more than 9 times out of 10, something like the following would happen. They’d stop crying, visibly relax their whole body, start to smile, at first just a bit then broadly. And almost to a person, the next question was, “But this is so wonderful and so simple. Why didn’t our pastor tell us this when we were growing up?”
Jan (my wife) and I just heard a wonderful series of YouTube talks by our favorite nondual teacher, Swami Sarvapriyananda, the head of the Vedanta society in New York City. He started his lecture with the three-fold process of meditative reflection of traditional Vedanta:
- Sramana: Ask yourself, “Am I HEARING what is being said, am I paying attention?”
- Manana: Thinking. “Am I UNDERSTANDING?
- Niddhyasana: Deep, quiet, meditative reflection: “I have heard, I understand, but do I experience it, is it REAL?”
One wonders if people even actually hear what their pastors, or non-religious inspirational speakers, or teachers of any kind have said. And if they do hear, do they reflect long enough to truly understand. Or, as Jesus said, to they listen without hearing — that is, they listen, they understand, but it is not yet real.
Whether you are an atheist and you consider it to be a well integrated state of brain and body, the state of “flow,” or the kingdom of heaven within, or a vast unlimited Awareness within which all experience exists, when it becomes REAL, all of life is profoundly transformed.