OPENING WELCOME!
WELCOME to one and all to Open Dharma’s face book page. This is page is OPEN to everyone, as written in the first feed; whoever or whatever you are, whether you’re an artist, a lawyer, a gardener, saddhu, a traveler, regardless if you live within urban or natural scapes, are a monk or a millionaire, dark or light, female or male, or perhaps a mixture of both!
Dharma means that which ‘supports’ life; the truth force of the dharma plants us all on equal ground, challenges appearances and plunges us into the naked human heart. Here, there is room for everyone.
Thinking of the dharma I see vital roots of trees in Varanasi, bursting through seemingly solid walls to flower over neighbouring rooftops. Relentless. Breaking through constraints. Full of life force.
If technology, one of mankind’s greatest experiments, can provide a vehicle for this kind of uprising, allowing us to hear from each other around the world, opening networks for a discourse which can perhaps shoot greenery through concrete, offering a sweet smell; then let us engage!
I hope the Friday personal reflections on this Fan page, offered from different members of the Open Dharma sangha, each unique individual deeply committed to their sahdana, providing direct links to talks and meditations, will offer nourishment to one and all, giving food to help us keep going, and encouraging us to embody the dharma, our ‘depth,’ in our own way.
I know in times of solitude, living in remote shacks, a few words from a fellow seeker were like clear water to drink. Aldous Huxley was one of these people who spoke to me. I want to begin this Open Dharma face book with a few of this man's unifying words. Blinding and close to death, he gave a lecture to students at a university. The audience were expecting him to come out with a lucid stream of thought clarifying the mystic’s inner trajectory, or at least some bright epiphany about our relationship to ‘God.’
Humbly, he softly said; ‘Perhaps it is time for us all to be a little kinder to each other.’
One of Huxley’s great tasks was to find the common underlying thread between all religions, in order to bring us all in to closer understand of our human predicament. He came up with four basic points;
1: We are part of and interwoven in something much larger than ourselves; we would not be here without this ‘creative depth.’ This depth is given different names in the varying religious traditions. I.e., The unborn. The undying. The indestructible principle. The unity of Allah. The kingdom of heaven within. Brahman. . . . . . .
2: It is possible to know this depth, this inner divinity, through direct intuition rather than discursive reasoning. As Mohammed said, ‘A philosopher who has not realized his metaphysics is just an ass bearing a load of books. . . .’
3: We have a keen resistant to this depth, and cling and grip on to our ‘separateness,’ fearing our own vastness. However inside each of us is this divine spark, which connects us to the ‘creative depth.’ It is our task to open the channel, like finding a clear telephone line, to the depth inside us. Different religions offer different practices for this ‘climb inwards.’
4: It is the sole human task to realize this, to discover what is possible for us as human beings; to come home in a very profound way. To ground ourselves in this depth.
And finally, to bring this depth forth into life, into community, into culture. And the way each of us do this, the way each of us will embody our depth, the language or silences we will use, will be entirely unique.
Stay tuned for next week’s reflections and links to Open Dharma’s meditation's and talks!