Love

What if---- we woke up in the morning and decided to Love All no matter what --- for a day, a week, a year, for the rest of our lives?

"Like a river, love comes forth from its source as a small trickle that then becomes a stream that is then added to other streams until, as it falls from the heights, it becomes a Great River of Love that spreads across the world eventually mixing and merging with all of the waters.

A source is a point of origin. Love as a power flows into the universe from its source, through each of us. Through each one of us, love is added to the Great River of Love.

Love flows like a river from its source into the world and as a great power, love blesses everyone and so the world is changed.

Power is a force exerted. Love is a power only when expressed. The power of love is potentially transformative and when expressed is kinetic; transformation occurs because of love's movement; through the power of love, the universe is both effected and perfected.

Love is infinitely available and infinitely created. Love flows from the Spirit of God when we access the pure desire to love.

We may connect to the Source of Love and feel its power. Love emanates from the Source as a gentle force that when expressed causes a response.

All things vibrate to the Power of Love.

Love permeates all, unobtrusively.

Things do not love. Only we can love.

Love is a movement of nurturing energy, unseen, but felt and known.

Love is uplifting and inspiring; love is healing; love is caring and concerned for the well-being of others.

Love is gentle. Love is kind. Love brings peace and joy."

http://www.gnostic.org/tree_1/09_love/09_love_1.htm

Cane Hill, Missouri

I am in rural Missouri. It is 5 am and I am awake; not that I have to be, I just am. I have not done any formal meditation here, like I usually do in the city. I checked and I feel as though I have already meditated. Anything I do will serve.
Yesterday--St. Patrick's Day--was my mother-in-law's birthday. My wife and I made corned beef and cabbage and a delicious chocolate cake. We celebrated my birthday, too, because it comes up later this month when we will be back in Portland.
We spent a long time just sitting and lying out in the yard before supper. It was such a beautiful day and we wanted to see all the signs of Spring and listen to the birds sing. Later, Karen and I walked down to the spring to pick watercress while Mom took a nap. When we returned to the house, Alex, Mom's dog, was rarin' to go for a walk, so I let him off the leash and we walked up the road all the way to the highway while Karen stayed behind just to sit and feel the evening come.
Earlier in the morning I had taught Mom how to scroll through a photo album on my computer of pictures I took here on the farm last December. She kept asking me where particular views were taken and was really interested. Since her strokes she has been confined to a wheelchair and cannot get down the gravel road. In the evening, I took her through several albums of Oregon wilderness taken on backpacking trips the last couple summers. She has never been there and never seen such powerful falls or majestic trees but she could see in the faces of portraits what an exhilarating experience it was.

Gnostic?

Why Gnostic Round Table? It's the only word I could come up with that adequately describes what we have in common. I don't intend for it to mean that this blog is sponsored by a particular group (such as the Gnostic Order of Christ). I personally heard Father Paul say that he was a "gnostic", and I took that to mean that he based his spiritual knowledge on what he had experienced, not what he had read. I think that that's what makes us different from so many "spiritual" types, and it's what prompted me to start this blog. So, I hope the term "gnostic" doesn't put anyone off. 

Why "round table"? No hierarchy here. No head, no feet. Hopefully, only heart.

I sure hope many of you can find the time to contribute your experiences here. Doesn't have to be long  -  or world shaking. Just true.

This is your blog

This is a "group blog". It's the same as if you had created it yourself. You are the author. Whereas most blogs have just one author, this blog can have as many as one hundred authors. All you need to become a part of it is to respond to the invitation. 

Blogs are personal. This is what makes them different from an online soapbox. People read blogs to learn more about the author and, in the process, more about themselves. The more candid a blog is, the more compelling, and therefor more valuable. 

We have all experienced spiritual initiation. This is our forum. Our conversation here is unique, because it's not just how we are using the Teachings, but how we are incorporating the experience of initiation in our lives. By sharing, we can energize these experiences both in ourselves and in others.

One can find all manner of instruction and advice elsewhere on the Web, but this blog is not about that. Here we want to share with each other what's going on in our inner life, how we are coping, and what we are experiencing. Rather than discuss our opinions about the Teachings (which is fine in other venues) we want to tell our story  -  our insights, our challenges, our victories, our defeats. I believe that such sharing could be enormously valuable for each one of us. I know it will be for me.

Here are some prompts. You will probably have some of your own, but these are merely suggestions to help get the ball rolling:

• What is my experience of Self?
• How am I using the Law?
• Am I being compassionate?
• What's going on for me on the Other Side?
• What sustains me now?
• Where am I heading?

I hope this blog develops into something potent, something we can all contribute to. If you don't want to post a separate topic, please do comment on what someone else has posted by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of the post. 

These stressful times

Hi, Everyone,

Lately, I've been noticing, given all there is to worry about these days, that I'm doing a lot of projecting out onto the world, seeing trouble where there is none or seeing more of it than there actually is. Then, when I go within for guidance, I tend to drag all those projections in with me. I start seeing everything through the filter of my own worry, and my inner guidance gets all confused. It's about that time that I look at the Universe "stretched in smiling repose", and I want to tell her to get up off her lazy ass and do something about this mess!  :)

I don't know about you, but I'm finding that I have to let go of my worries more and more often during these stressful times just to stay somewhat sane. I can remember a few times when coming out of meditation where I did not know who I was, where I was, whether it was day or night, or how much time had elapsed. (That happened once while I was on break at work - very weird experience!) I have always wanted to tie my meditations into what is going on in my life, so much so that I tend to forget that meditation is its own reward and that my "life" benefits greatly from it  -  but usually indirectly. 

So meditation is really important for me right now, as well as saying no to all of my concerns while in meditation. 

How about you?

Words of Wisdom

Here are some sayings of Jesus as recorded in the book by Marvin Meyer The Unknown Sayings of Jesus. These are taken from various gospels. "He said, 'I have come to make what is below like what is above and what is outside like what is inside, and to unite them in that place" (Gospel of Thomas). "Be filled with the spirit, for this reason I say to you, be filled and leave no space within you empty. For heaven's kingdom is like a head of grain that sprouted in a field. And when it was ripe, it scattered its seed, and again it filled the field with heads of grain for another year. So also with you, be eager to harvest for yourselves a head of the grain of life, that you may be filled with the kingdom" (Secret Book of James). "Do not let heaven's kingdom become a desert within you. Do not be proud because of the light that enlightens" (...James). "I say to you, if I had been sent [only] to those who would listen to me and had spoken with them, I would never have [needed to] come down to earth." (Secret Book of James).

Letting go can be an act of service

This morning my teacher reminded me that in these uncertain times, while everyone around the world is reassessing his or her values, letting go is more important than ever. 

It's hard for me to stay conscious while at work, because after all these years it's easy to run on autopilot. But when problems arise, I try to use the opportunity to let go - to relax and submit to the process, instead of getting frustrated.

I install window treatments. The other day, while installing shutters on a living room window, a little voice inside me said, "This is going to be one of your most challenging installations." And sure enough, every problem that could come up did. I had to use every trick in the book to get the shutters to swing freely and not bind up. But instead of freaking out, I just kept trying different approaches, and eventually it all worked out. I took the challenge and trusted my ability. And by relaxing into the problem, I let God work through me, whereas getting angry would have blocked the movement of Spirit. 

Letting go felt so much better than succumbing to frustration and anger. The customers felt better, too. Had I gotten irritated, I'm sure they would have felt it, and my presence in their home would have had a negative influence. But as it turned out, I may have made it easier for them to relax into their life problems as well. 

So, letting go was my act of service for the day.

Michael Maciel