Breathe in, breath out

Author, Robert Corin Morris recalled a man in his 30’s complaining to him about the results of growing up in a “classy suburb with too much freedom and too few limits.” The young man said that he yearned “for a life with constraints…” He yearned to be “fenced in” by voluntarily choosing to practice disciplines of self-restraint. He hoped to find freedom thereby from the powerful rule of his desires - a freedom in stark contrast to that which his culture celebrates.

Morris goes on to say that this young man is the embodiment of a paradox rampant in the materially “developed” nations: that more can turn out to be less, that certain kinds of freedom can become prisons of the soul, and that abundance can create its own kind of poverty. As a child of the culture of superabundance, he was promised that freedom and self-fulfillment go hand in hand. Only by following one’s heart into the widest range of life-experiences could essential self-knowledge be gained. The promised fruit would be delicious and make one wise. The young man continued, “The promise of that kind of freedom has failed. Self-knowledge is not simply a matter of doing what you want. It’s not that I don’t value freedom,” he said, “I do. But I sense there is a different kind of freedom to be discovered in restraining some of my hungers.”

When I read this I immediately resonated with its message as I’ve recently been meeting a number of people of all ages who share this same sentiment. The culture we live in is wide-open - with few restraints.  The cliche, “Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should,” fits for more and more who have found that when they’ve lived the life they thought they wanted, not only find themselves no better for it but struggling to find meaning for their lives.  

In my travels this year with a variety of different kinds of communities I engaged a secular culture that is leaning into rituals of self-restraint, in forms of spirituality that do not press in on them in the way traditional religion has done, but has freed them through the learning of self-imposed discipline. What they, and we, are seeking are boundaries, structures to contain us and hold us in a comfortable place. Constraints have been freely chosen and are very subtle. For example, people are very keen to develop rituals or practices that combine body and spirit and a time set apart.  Attending weekly worship at a church used to be one such practice. It still is for the community gathered here today; but because churches are generally tied to their own particular doctrines and have rules of exclusion, the worshipping practice has been greatly abandoned and we are now very much in the minority.  Unfortunately this has had the effect of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Some faith communities, including the Episcopal Church, have grown beyond the walls of exclusion and have the spiritual breath and depth to genuinely welcome all to share in every part of community life. But that is not well-known of course and there are many other options available. In fact, there is a tsunami of other options, and they come in many shapes and forms, some are very subtle, but all have to do with the connection of the body to the spirit by way of self-imposed disciple. Discipline around food and the ethics of food,  meditation and prayer, art and symbols, breathing and the movement of energy,  asanas and kriyas,  mudras, mantras and chanting, breath-work and movements of the body that connect one to the inner life. Each of these things are pathways to God. 

What I have witnessed this year, all around me, is an epidemic of spiritual awakening - a deep yearning to move away from institutionally imposed discipline toward self-discipline. Whole communities are forming around themes of spiritual practices - movement, breathing, eating and praying. Having a mediation practice and connecting to a community that does that together fills the need to nurture a life of discipline. Having a yoga practice that is rooted in the traditional roots, that is, to seek unity with God, and connecting to a community that does that practice together effectively provides a spiritual foundation for life. 

Yesterday, while I was practicing with my new-found Kundalini yoga community in Corning I was struck by how this works, its subtle, but very effective. I did not know anyone in the class and yet as we sat with our arms extended high into the air chanting “Har” for several minutes, until the arms were far beyond fatigued and the eyes were beginning to water, there was a sense of holding each other up, so that all of us would endure to the end and all would receive the full benefit of our collective work. Competition has no place in the spiritual life, fun and games aside.

I also have a community I enjoy in the Ithaca area and regularly go up for dinner with friends on Friday nights. This is a community that has self-imposed disciplines around food; a different kind of realized abundance. Last Friday night, while I was washing what seemed like 100 plates, no two being the same, I remarked to the host that he must be used to losing a lot of plates. Yes, he said, over the last twenty years there’s been a lot of breakage. He said the continual loss has helped them to let go of their attachments. The important thing for the hosting couple is their gift of sacred food and the love of the community that gathers on Friday nights; all the rest has fallen away.

Jesus’ teachings are meant to help us put things in proper perspective and prioritizing the important from the unimportant. It can be amazingly difficult work. But it is important work for spiritual communities to engage in. Today the lesson is about reconciliation. It is healing work, therefore spiritual work, and it extends far beyond the confines of our physical location. The goodwill we generate affects the whole community. We might think our dispute is private, but by the time we’re done telling everyone about it and not engaging in conversation with the one person we need to talk to we’ve done extensive damage to the fabric of the whole community. The way forward will result in growth for all, one way or another, but there are more helpful ways that promote health, bypassing unnecessary suffering, and respect the dignity of all involved. These are the finer points of healing work but there is a broader perspective we might hold today in light of the unprecedented number of natural disasters occurring simultaneously at this moment. 

To that end, the healing work being done by us in our respective spiritual communities is vital to the well-being of the entire world - especially for those who are suffering. The western mindset focuses on doing and fixing in times of crisis - and that certainly is of great importance. When there is a crisis first responders need to be there to do their life-saving work. Likewise, the wave of mission and aid workers who will descend on all the areas of devastation around the world, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia and other southern states, Oregon, Montana, Mexico, Cuba, all the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Bangladesh, and all other places that have been devastated in recent weeks, will do the essential work of rescue, medical and pastoral care, repair and restoration. But more is needed. It is time now for we in the West to learn from our Eastern brothers and sisters on doing the ancient work of healing, reconciliation and restoration with our minds.   

So if you are in this moment feeling helpless as Irma makes her way up the Florida peninsula while we are gathered for worship, and are wondering, What can I do? There are two things that you can do: First, take concrete action: Make a donation for hurricane relief. And then develop a meditation practice, beginning today. I cannot stress to you enough how important and urgent the need is for this simple practice. 

Breathe in, breath out. 

Sit quietly with your eyes closed and concentrate as hard as you can on sending to those who are fearful a sense of calm;

Breathe in, breath out. 

To those who are grieving great losses, peace and strength to meet the days to come; 

Breathe in, breath out. 

to those who are injured, healing; 

Breathe in, breath out. 

To all those without hope, call upon the angels to lift them out of their despair; 

Breathe in, breath out. 

And to those who have died, extend blessings for eternal life.  

Breathe in, breath out. 

Then sit in silence and think of nothing. 

Breathe in, breath out. 

That nothingness and the calm in brings to you connects you with the force that creates worlds. That nothingness is the most healing balm you can offer a suffering world.

In the coming days and months, as life on this planet continues to evolve, we are going to realize that we are moving into a different place. Increasingly, we will no longer tolerate the world of irresponsible consumerism and mindless materialism. We will need to leave that behind us. We will have no choice; at the end of the day nothing of the material world will survive. We are moving to a time of self-realization - not narcissistic but rather holistic. We are coming into a time of realizing that the pain of the one who suffers across the globe whom I do not know is causing me pain in my own time and place because that one and I are the same. At some point, very soon now, we will not be able to turn the TV off and simply feel that we are somehow blessed that its not us that is affected. At some point very soon we will not be able to go back to this life to which we have become accustomed. We will need the spiritual tools to deal with that kind of life. The world around us is preparing for that time. Jesus’ teachings have been preparing us all along; his wisdom is enduring. One day, very soon we will need a community that has within its ethos this wisdom and a deep sense of mystery that helps each of us connect to something far greater. At some point, sooner rather than later, we will need to reconcile to the fact that we are dependent on each other for our mutual survival. 

For millions today, that day has come. Jesus’ lesson on reconciliation points us in that direction. It isn’t just for the sake of having a well-intentioned community, it is for our continuation as a species. It was never about just getting along. It was always about something far bigger. Perhaps today we can see that in light of the scope of loss and devastation in so many parts of our nation and in the world. For millions, this day is the first day of their new life in a new paradigm - where all the old things that used to matter are now unimportant and only the very, very important things remain. Today the person you are arguing about over the color of toilet paper, the person who sets your teeth on edge, might just be the person who pulls you out of your car on a flooded street or gives you food when you have none, or is the one whose dog you have rescued. The point of the lesson on reconciliation is for the development of deeper spiritual values that creates in us a sense of responsibility for one another; an acknowledgment of our interconnectedness. 

When its all said and done, God will have God’s church; it is up to us if we want to be a part of it.