Love Under All Conditions

There are people who wish to enjoy God

and his highest manifestation, Love, 

but often only in one way and not in another.

They only wish to possess God or Love through

one sense of devotion but not another.

Whoever wants to receive God or Love

must receive them equally in all ways,

under all conditions, in tears as in joy.

Always and Everywhere. 

To presume otherwise would be for the creature

to dictate to the creator, the source of all things 

higher and lower.

Our roles are to the bring the Creator

and the Creature together and to everyone

who introduces his mother to his future mother in law.

The enormous difficulty of this must be obvious.

C influence works on us from within and evokes the Soul.

People work on us from without and evoke mechanics.

Mervyn Brady - Undated

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The Moments...

 

AI Image

"The moments of real suffering are very short, 

but we do sometimes have a sudden vision 

of what we are really like 

and that is great suffering, 

but there is a curious thing about it: 

it can turn to a kind of BLISS…

after the suffering you have bliss. 

There are not so many moments, 

but they are precious and they stand out." 

~Maurice Nicoll

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Being Metamorphosis

Gemini Ai Generated

Recently, I had an experience where I saw

a familiar scenario unfolding, and then

suddenly it was as if I used the "stop" exercise,

and everything rearranged itself into a

different view, a new meaning.

And I could make the choice to act in a

different way, responding to a better level

of understanding. And in a few words,

I was able to diffuse a possible argument

I might have had, and give a deeper more

compassionate response, which went in a

very productive direction.

An example, perhaps, of new being?

Born of long observation, perhaps?

All of a sudden the pieces of the kaleidoscope

fell into a lovely pattern of understanding,

and the possible struggle was released into a

new realm of action through this new understanding.

Maurice Nicoll would say that the new

understanding (metanoia) gave birth to

being (metamorphosis.)

~J

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EXTERNAL CONSIDERING

“EXTERNAL CONSIDERING" I have taken it

as a phrase for so long but actually became 

so excited to see it really happening in real 

present time! 

I am remembering something that happened 

the other day with someone in life and 

it was a lovely photograph. As I opened 

to this person that was complaining bitterly 

about a few things, my personality became 

invisible, and a sense of BEING, my truer self, 

surrounded me like an invisible circle and 

then I felt it go towards that person and 

include them in it.

It really felt as if just this gift of presence 

was releasing them and freeing them from 

their I'S and allowing a flow of 'inclusivity" 

of warmness. 

As often is the case, I didn’t see it then in the moment. 

I did feel it though. It was later as I reflected 

on this situation that the realization occurred 

by being silent within, maybe smiling or nodding, 

not looking or seeming like I’m "intriguing or different". 

I am allowing and giving space for that person to 

"ADJUST" THEMSELVES.

~C

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For Me...

 

For me, 

the body is the aspect of myself 

that only comes slowly into focus, 

unless I am making conscious efforts. 

I tend to pay attention to my body 

only when it calls out to me in pain, 

or tiredness, or hunger. 

I focus first of all on my mind, 

my plans, my wishes for the day. 

Then I begin to see the beauty around me, 

and my emotional connections to those I love. 

This is so beautiful. 

But often it stops there. 

The body gets left behind, I am incomplete. 

Now I see t

hat I need to change the order of my attentions, 

switch the triad. 

~J

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Let Nothing Disturb Thee...

 

Mervyn Brady & Dhyan Pavitra Carilú Navarro 

Let Nothing disturb thee;

Let Nothing dismay thee;

All things pass;

God never changes.

Patience attains all that it 

strives for.

He who has God finds he

lacks nothing:

God alone suffices.

~ St. Teresa of Avila

https://youtu.be/ek2Tg5hN52Y

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Emptying our Cup

Image Source: PixaBay - Artist: educadormarcossv

At a recent meeting a student made a lovely 

invitation to empty our cup using our own words, 

reducing the need for quotes. At first, perhaps, 

our words might not resonate as deep and beautiful 

as quotes written by conscious Beings and 

edited each time a new book was published. 

But it will provide a venue for our souls to empty 

their cup. Hence, here is my attempt at 

emptying my cup in my own words:

Oh Lord, how can I reach Thee?

As it feels like all the psalms have already been written and 

all the prayers have already been spoken,

What can I contribute to Thee?

Can I share that the willow grows in my backyard,

and that a moment of sunset was shared 

between a hawk, my dog, and I?

Or tell you that at times I lose myself trying to find you

in the immense garden of your teachings?

and yet you respond, empty your cup,

share an observation in a prayer, 

empty your cup to find me, 

I live and rest within you

~T

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I Have To See...

 

AI generated image

“I have to see that the thought “I” 

is the greatest obstacle 

to consciousness of myself. 

Everything I know through my senses has a name. 

I am encumbered by names, 

which become more important 

than the things themselves. 

I name myself “I,” 

and in doing it as if I knew myself, 

I am accepting a thought 

that keeps me in ignorance. 

If I learn to separate myself from names, 

from thoughts, 

little by little I will come to know 

the nature of the mind 

and lift the veil it casts over me.”

~ Jeanne De Salzmann, The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff

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As I Awake...

 

Rene Magritte

 As I awake to my precious day 

how do I connect? 

Bring meaning?

Often it begins 

with a separating from lower functions, 

just observing without judgement. 

I feed the cat, get coffee, 

stretch and feel my physical body. 

Today I sat for a moment in the garden, 

and I see the sun rising in the East. 

I remember the feeling of going to bed last night 

and looking at the stars and the moon, 

the coolness of the air now replaced by gradual heat. 

Then, if those efforts go on, 

my emotional center develops a picture 

and a greater connection, 

I can go above myself 

and see that I am part of a whole. 

My soul is in a field each day digging, 

planting, pulling up weeds, 

connecting and realizing I am not alone in this field - 

my body my life is totally dependent 

on all that is connected, all impressions, 

all forces acting on me, 

on every center in my being.

I see the faces of students 

bobbing up amongst flowers and grasses, 

and emotionally this helps me to know 

that there is a cultivation happening, 

an aim to work together and be like "Accumulators" 

or special forces for one another. 

This picture helps my emotional center 

to open further to presence 

and a quieter state of acceptance of "What just is" 

in this day in my life. 

When I have an "Aim" 

to be more emotional and connect, 

I notice the small "I's" disappear.

~C

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Germinating and Blooming!

 

Pixabay Image modified using Gemini AI

One of the central things Mervyn taught,

and still teaches us, is the importance of

taking in impressions in a conscious way—

staying with them long enough to invite the

experience of higher worlds. ~J

“I see now that my childhood was magical 

and beautiful. When I was sitting in the 

park, in St. Stephen's Green, God was with me. 

Sitting on the grass, looking at the 

Divine arrangement of flowers and the 

diverse assortment of people in all their 

craziness, I was observing a replica of the 

universe. The smells and fragrances 

represented molecular matter. I imagined 

that they had been like me, blossoming, 

coming into being, in darkness. Like the roses, 

unaware of my possibilities, I only saw darkness. 

But I had actually been germinating, 

preparing to spring forward into life.

How could a rose bush possibly expect 

the arrival of a rose? Yet one day, it blooms, 

an explosion of life and color bursting from 

its dark twig interior. The stem must be staggered 

by its own beauty. Then an unimaginable, 

glorious scent emerges - the Soul. Its molecular 

form rises towards heaven, leaving the 

earthbound shrub staring agape at its own 

incomprehensible beauty."

Mervyn Brady - Smelling the Roses

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It Seems...

 

Louis Janmot

It seems that since Mervyn has transcended 

that the magnitude and frequency 

of higher states has diminished. 

What keeps me fed is to remember 

to feed my center of gravity in presence. 

My moving centered machine 

is satiated by activities related to it, 

not so much with intellectual ones. 

So when a huge higher state is not possible, 

I keep chipping away 

by feeding my machine what it likes, 

and in turn the soul feeds on the hydrogens.

~N

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I Had A Dream...

 

AI Image

I had a dream the night Pope Francis died. 

There was a man who appeared to me 

who had a small bird following him. 

The bird disappeared, 

but I was able to find it. 

It lingered and attached to me. 

But it was fragile, 

and I had to be careful not to hurt it. 

It metamorphosed into an insect, 

I think a dragonfly, 

then back to its bird form. 

B woke and was reading on his phone 

that the Pope had passed. 

We talked about how such a moment 

must carry with it a huge energy field. 

The bird, perhaps the spirit -- 

the insect, perhaps symbol of transformation.

 The energy field in this dream was so strong, 

lingered for me, still does. 

A gift from a great man.

~J

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Mirrors of Love, Mirrors of Ourselves

AI Gemini Generated Image

I was in a restaurant with somebody who

I particularly liked. They were very spiritual, too.

We were speaking about philosophy. 

And, there was also, you know, attraction 

and stuff like that, and the energy 

just kept building. And suddenly, I couldn’t 

believe my eyes, she turned into me. 

And in that moment, I understood what love is. 

It’s a force that sends us in search of ourselves.

And it begins by seeing ourselves or 

mirrors of ourself in another person.

Mervyn Brady

6 Mysteries of Love Lecture, April 15th 2005

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I Once Had A Dream...

 

I once had a dream 

which was a poem unfolding. 

The imagery in dreams can be so strong, 

so rich, 

giving us glimpses of our true essence, 

our soul. 

There is a tradition in Sufism 

of doing dreamwork, 

creating dreams circles, 

and delving into dreams 

which have deeper symbolism. 

When I read Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee’s book

 “Catching the Thread: 

Sufism, Dreamwork, and Jungian Psychology,” 

I found I remembered my dreams more, 

and started to see messages 

in their imagery and symbolism. 

I have often thought 

this might be a lovely practice, 

a dream circle.

~J

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Withdraw From The Noise...

 

AI image

“Withdraw from the noise of the world, 

and you will hear the truth within.”

~Blessed Julia of Certaldo

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Beginner's Mind

 AI - Gemini generated image

“In the beginner's mind there are many 

possibilities, but in the expert's mind 

there are few” Suzuki

The quote warns that seeing oneself as an expert 

breeds vanity and rigidity because one already knows, 

or thinks they know and understand, and believes 

they have the being, closing the mind and heart to 

new possibilities.

We each know and have experienced that 

the only moment is this one—right here, right now—

which, by the time we finish reading this post, 

is already gone. 

Then, we come into the new moment, right 

here and now. Each moment is a new beginning and 

can be approached with fresh eyes.

~J

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I Think...

 

Jean-Honoré Fragonard

I think that this transition 

in the conversation from bad impressions to love

is a photograph to us all. 

We really need each other. 

We are surrounded by life

and sleep, on a global scale. 

If, by being in contact online 

or even in person at

the Academy meetings, we can be present, 

then these are the finest impressions

that we can take in - 

the birth of the soul of a fellow student. 

And yes, this is surrounded by love 

in its truest form; 

that of one soul to another.

In Snow White, 

we have the example of the prince 

waking Snow White from her deep sleep. 

He wakes her with ‘love’s first kiss’, 

a moment when one soul can awaken another. 

In history this is known as the Immaculate Conception,

a miracle, 

and yet the ‘miracle’ is happening 

throughout the world 

due to the efforts of Mervyn and ourselves. 

We are becoming love.

~O

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