Making Room for Grace

The eyes experience less stress when they look upon a wider horizon."  - R.D. Chin

We are at the midway point in our Journey of Awakening and as synchronicity would have it this week we are looking at the principle and practice of finding our calm centered place.

But wait, isn't this too passive during these challenging times? A part of me, and perhaps a part  of you, might object, and think, not now! There's a voice in my head that offers these contrarian arguments.

In the throes of turbulent times, when life has us bobbing and weaving, ducking and darting amidst the slings and arrows of rampant change and upheaval, it seems a bit daunting if not Pollyannaish to believe we could actually find a peaceful sanctuary inside us. Many people I know are doing their level best to keep the "wolves from the door" and eke out a livable wage, or are consumed by the care and feeding of a family or a business straining to stay afloat in the low tide of the current economy.

In the face of the daily challenges of living this human experience is it truly relevant and most helpful to instruct on the prioritization and how-tos of inner peace? Don't we need to get busy doing something to reverse or at least mitigate the situations that trouble us?  Shouldn't we be devising strategies of recovery and visioning new sources of revenue, and learning to become more efficient producers?  Who can afford the luxury of sitting around contemplating and meditating?

Perhaps you can relate to this rant.  And the world at large and western culture will offer consensus that doing something is far superior to "just being." And yes, a balanced wisdom would agree that there is work to be done, that we must put "feet to our faith" to bring human effort to the mix of solutions to our problems. But the problems are not just "out there" as isolated pathologies in our lives, they have a inner causes and consequences that must be equally addressed.  Here's the voice of a deeper truth speaking.

We must carve out time to explore the inner realm of our being with as much urgency as we pour into solving the outer challenges in life. It is only in discovering the "more" of us that our difficulties are put into perspective amidst the whole context of Life. When we begin to quiet the mind that would rather rant, we make room for Pure Presence, an ineffable sense of unfettered Life, to grow in our awareness.  Our difficulties, even the most painful, no longer occupy the whole room of consciousness as something infinitely larger is realized.

We do not seek the calm of the mind in order to escape our problems but to help us disidentify with them.  We may still see our problems from the centered mindset, but we know we are not our problems, any more than the clouds represent the sky. From this place, we are more likely to seek resolution over solution.  Life from the perspective of its vastness does not require as much for its fulfillment as the surface mind that is plagued by ceaseless desires and never ending preferences.

This is the reason for a spiritual practice that calms and centers our mind.  To make room for Grace - the sweet embrace of loving presence that fills us with a knowing that no matter what comes or goes in the outer, we are safe and secure in its Unconditional Embrace. Take a moment ...whenever you can, to sit in the vast sanctuary of pure Being. It may take a bit of time, but it will give you back much space - a space of Grace.