On Thurs 7 Aug 08 @9PM I had a deeply moving and spiritual experience when I lit candles and deeyas for Tibet. This was in unison with everyone in my time zone and done globally. I'd like to explore this and share my experiences with you and hear yours as we participate in universal collective prayer events together. I hope to work together with all the universe's beings as we move toward the ideal of Universal Collective Prayer.
Come join me in Universal Collective Prayer!
May God Bless Us All!
UCP-Universal Collective Prayer is produced by Meady's Musings Production . Copyright 2006-2011
Today is sometimes called Palm Sunday and it heralds the start of the Holy Week during the Lenten season. UCP has remarked on this in the past under these headings:
But this year the UCP desk and the entire Meady's Musings Production House as a whole are a bit dull as we have lost our dear friend and supporter of the Production House Bro. Tim Douglas!
Here are some of the things we and other friends to the Production House have had to say on his transition into the light:
"Here was a man who had reached almost to the point where you only saw in him his true being...love and light...indeed! :) And love and light you will always be...indeed! Farewell Bro Tim into the light you go! :)"
"I guess you all heard about the passing of our dear Bro Tim...may he be one with the eternal love and light! :)"
"My message notifying the Salvation Army* as to what to do with my donation...Please donate the money to your International Emergency Services in Iraq-Canadian hearts glowing in Iraq. In loving memory of the love and light on planet earth that was Tim Douglas!" *Bro Tim's family suggests that in his memory you donate to the local chapter of your Salvation Army.
As dedicated by Philip Zeuner: "For Tim: Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped away to the next room. I am I and you are you. Whatever we were to each other, That, we still are.
Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way which you always used. Put no difference into your tone. Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow.
Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me. Pray for me. Let my name be ever the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effect. Without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant. It is the same that it ever was. There is absolute unbroken continuity. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?
I am but waiting for you. For an interval. Somewhere. Very near. Just around the corner.
All is well.
Henry Scott Holland"
As stated by Bro Greg Kirk:
"Just learned of the transition of dear friend Tim Douglas to Eternal life. May the Angels welcome him home and may his family feel God all around them."
As stated by Garima Singh:
"Prayers and love for Tim Douglas and his family and friends. Dear Tim I know you are still watching us all, sending us your love and smiles. All of it back at ya and more!"
Ed Croucher aka our Grandpa Ed:
"Here was a man who glimpsed Heaven and shone that Light to us all. Thank you, Tim, you cheered us all the way and now you are blessed. We'll meet again."
Into the light you go Bro Tim...into the light you go!
And knowing that you engaged in UCP just like us while on the earthly plane we salute you with your own words: "LIGHT, LAUGHTER and LOVE!!! NAMASTE!!!"
And play for you these forty verses (chalisa) in song written in praise of Hanuman Baba on this occasion of Hanuman Jayanti 2011. May he be your guide on this flight as he is the son of the wind and has a heart filled with light as in the sky he flies! :) And may you enter on your new journey into the light with the same steadfastness and courage as Jesus did when on Palm Sunday he entered Jerusalem! :)
Happy Easter Sunday to All! As Mary Magdalene leads the pack as the first to see The Christ resurrect...what joy...and what good enough acting for a TV special level, from Debra Messing of Grace Adler fame!:) Oh those doubting Thomases!:)
As the Holy Virgin Mary continues to display her leadership skills as she shows her patience as she waits...waits like us for the resurrection...we here at UCP can't find much words and will instead only show this video now instead of another word put out!
Good Friday is usually too sad for us to post many words here on UCP in fact last year we said nothing but put up two potent segments from the movie "The Passion of the Christ". But this year we will painfully try...
From our Hindu centric eyes we see it as "The Ultimate Surrender" and this year around we still can't see it any other which way...for us when Jesus says:
"Father, into your hands...I commend...my spirit."
Really we see it that he has reached the point of Ultimate Surrender onto the Universe and thus merges and becomes one with it...i.e. Bodhisattva is he! However we've been reading that Christians see this in a different way tough but we can't even explain it...it's like looking at one of those images that has two pictures in them but we only see the one picture...so for us here on UCP, Jesus the Christ is a Bodhisattva...an enlightened one...and so really it means from the eastern perspective he is God so don't we then all agree? It is just that we believe that others can follow to become Bodhisattva too a lone Bodhisattva is not he! But on such a sad day why argue? Of course it is not entirely sad in that a Bodhisattva is born and this is usually a very rare occurrence...but as one such enlightened being is born so many others revel in sin...and that is just sad...very sad when you recollect on this day the sinful things that were done...sad!
So it is why we normally try not to speak much but mark silence on such a day so we've said enough really but will talk on only because our dharam or duty calls and we had promised to explore the leadership role of women here too...And really to be a mother is to be a leader...you are the ultimate leader then as you mold a child...but like all leaders know there comes a time when you must let go...however in Christianity the Holy Virgin Mary had to let go big time...as she let her son go to the wider community...and then to the Universe by the time he was in his thirties...and she never abandoned his side despite all of this...And before Jesus the Christ made the Ultimate Surrender he made one last act perhaps this last act was required to fulfill all his karam and dharma on the material plane...and this was it as he said:
". . . Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." John 19:26b-27, KJV
And in doing so he gave his material plane mother someone to call son and to to be called mother by and treated as such while she remained on the material plane and he moved on...
So now we will put up the videos again but not ourselves watch them...as just too sad...sad! And profound!
All images in this blog post re-published from this site.
We've arrived to Holy Thursday and so stand on the threshold of the three day period of Easter in the Holy Week. It's a nervy kinda day for true devotees of Jesus the Christ...I guess in Hinduism they would be called Christ Bhakts! :) Here on the island Catholic churches all over are holding Mass in his honour. Me, I've bought my traditional 'hot cross buns' as really there is no church for a UCPer like me...however perhaps one day in the future who knows there will be! But for sure usually most Easters ever since I was in my early teens I've wondered about what was done to Jesus the Christ over the period that is celebrated as Easter! What a thing really! As I've perhaps written in my 2009 Easter blogs...I recall at 14 getting so wrapped up into the thing that I almost felt the pain or loss of Jesus as if he was an actual living relative or something...can't say that I experienced the pain of the crucifixion though as that was something else! Especially after seeing that 'The Passion of Christ'...YIKES!
So tonight is the night that the famous 'Last Supper' occurs according to modern day recollection of the events that happened (based on the gospels that were put together by Christ Bhakts post his crucifixion and in summary are called the New Testament part of the Holy Bible) The Christian site where I got the photos from says this about the events that happened on Holy Thursday night:
"On Thursday afternoon, Jesus and his disciples walked out of Bethany together, and over the Mount of Olives, and into the city. Only Jesus, who could read the thoughts of men, knew that one of these disciples, Judas, had made a promise to the chief priests to lead them and their servants to Jesus, when the hour should come to seize him: and Judas was watching for the best time to do this dreadful deed. They came into the house, and went upstairs to the large room, where they found the supper all ready. The meal was spread upon a table; and around the table were couches for the company, where' each one lay down with his head toward the table, so near that he could help himself to the food, while' his feet were at the foot of the couch, toward the wall of the room. Their feet were bare, for they had all taken off their sandals as they came in.
Jesus was leaning at the head of the table, and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was lying next to him. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and gave thanks. Then he broke it, and passed a piece to each one of the twelve, saying, "Take, and eat; this is my body which is broken for you; do this and remember me." Afterward, he took the cup of wine, and passed it to each one, with the words, "This cup is my blood, shed for you, and for many, that their sins may be taken away; as often as you drink this, remember me." Jesus then rose, and tied a towel around his waist in preparation to wash His disciples' feet.
Jesus was with the twelve in the upper room of the house in Bethany in what we now refer call the Last Supper. After dinner, while they were still leaning on the couches around the table, Jesus rose up, and took off his outer robe, and then tied around his waist a long towel. He poured water into a basin, and while all the disciples were wondering, he carried the water to the feet of one of the disciples, and began to wash them, just as though he himself were a servant. Then he washed the feet of another disciple, and then of still another. When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"
Jesus said to him, "What I do, you cannot understand now; but you will understand it after a time."
"Lord, thou shall never wash my feet," said Peter. "If I do not wash you," said Jesus, "then you are none of mine." Then Peter said, "O Lord, wash not only my feet, but my hands and my head too!"
But Jesus said to him, "No, Peter; one who has already bathed needs only to wash his feet, and then he is clean. And you are clean, but not all of you."
For he knew that among those whose feet he was washing was one, the traitor, who would soon give him up to his enemies. After he had washed their feet, he put on his garments again, and leaned once more on his couch, and looked around, and said, "Do you know what I have done to you? "You call me 'Master' and 'Lord,' and you speak rightly, for so I am. If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash each other's feet; for I have given you an example that you should do to each other as I have done to you." By this Jesus meant that all who follow him should help and serve each other, instead of seeking great things for themselves.
Jesus saw that his disciples were full of sorrow at his words, and he said, "Let not your hearts be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many houses; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going to make ready a place for you. And when it is ready, I will come again, and take you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also."
Then Jesus talked with the disciples a long time, and prayed for them. And about midnight they left the upper-room together, and came to the Mount of Olives."
To be honest after reading this excerpt all I can say is..."Isn't it lovely how Jesus washed their feet?!" :) I guess this in Hinduism is what would be called seva...service to fellow man...and I cringe a bit...as tonight I recall the ultimate seva that Jesus is about to undertake...
Before we continue with today's posting, we here at UCP would like to apologize for the abrupt end to the Divine Mother Leadership Series. However at the end of the Hindu festival of Nav Raatri we felt it best to leave off on the series since we decided we would cover the Catholic Divine Mother Leadership roles during the Catholic Holy Week instead. Also truth be told is we got pulled into a wormhole over on our Meady’s Musings blog and was in some parallel world since last week Wednesday night! Check that blog for more details of what really happened there!
But now on to our Grand Opening of the Catholic Holy Week here on UCP! And as this is UCP-Universal Collective Prayer we begin with yes…a prayer by Deacon Greg Kirk: "Brother Jesus, as you enter Jerusalem, I lift my palm branch high. I recognize in you, a heart of love, one of peace. In you, I see who we are called to become. How fleeting is recognition and praise - in a few days, the ones who line the avenue with me will not stand with you, at the cross. I wonder if I will stand there? Can I dare to drink in the horror of the suffering - and somehow continue to believe in the mercy, compassion, love and goodness of the One God who is One? This is a question that can't be anwered in a few days or even a week. It is a question that will have to be lived out over the course of a lifetime. I only know this - in this day, in this moment, I trust in you, to show me who I am, who I can become - if I dare to trust, if I can find it within me to share and to love. Love, it never fades, never dies. Love is eternal. May this Love always live itself out in me, and may I always live myself out in love. Love. Eternal Love. You in me. Me in you. Amen"
Now to my understanding Palm Sunday marks the kick off of the Catholic Holy Week as it is the day that Jesus would have come into Jerusalem riding on the back of a donkey some say. Now I mean no disrespect here on the prayers when I say this but for me all the time long since I’ve been preparing this blog I’ve been wondering what of this donkey? You see this isn’t a blog of any particular religion it is UCP-Universal Collective Prayer and here on the prayers we want to look at things from a new perspective…break down old boundaries…so tonight I want to look at this Palm Sunday entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem through a different lens…through my lens…it is UCP in itself as I’ve often said on this blog I am Hindu centric in my views as I was born and raised Hindu and continue to be but UCP isn’t a Hindu blog. Here I explore my journey into Universal Collective Prayer and as I’ve said in the past, what I try to do is show others how I explore this…the commonalities, the differences and how they can come together or take out what can’t be reconciled and so forth. As I often say too…“This is my journey… this is my prayer!” But then I also say and offer to all my readers and onlookers… “Welcome! And please come join me in this dance I call Universal Collective Prayer!”
So now as a Hindu it must be quite normal for me to ask… “What of the donkey?” To me as a Hindu all through the stories I hear of Jesus the Christ’s life I wonder about the animals that surround him…to me these stories are filled with animals from cradle to crave! I mean there were camels, sheep, cows and donkeys at his birth, fishing expeditions, snakes (I think?) as he made his way in life and now here he was about to be crucified and he is riding in to it on a donkey. And as a Hindu looking on at this I can’t help wondering about the connection to the animals and how they feel about all of this. You see from my Hindu perspective I see it that all the animals are also with soul and part of the Universal spirit…so to me I keep thinking of how they would have felt to be surrounded by such an enlightened spirit that was embodied in the flesh of Jesus the Christ while he was on planet earth. However I’m sure Christians must see it differently and so it must be noted this is just my point of view being shared with…no malice…no spite…and certainly no disrespect but just plain enquiry from where I stand in the journey!
So for the intent of my story I shall proceed to name this donkey upon which Jesus rides into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I shall name him Sam…don’t ask me why but it is just what pops into my head as I keep seeing him before me…I don't perceive him as a talking donkey a la 'Donkey' from 'Shrek' but more that his spirit can communicate on a more subtle level with the spirit of Jesus...So as Sam walks into Jerusalem's gate with Jesus on his back he feels it...he knows this is the week it will all end...but at the same time his donkey hairs stand on end to know that is part of something bigger than him...something on a grand scale Universally!:)
In terms of Jesus' interaction with the donkey, Sam as they had travelled to Jerusalem I feel it would have been a very loving one...he would have been gently stroking him and stopping frequently on the journey for Sam to rest, drink and eat...he would have recalled too how another donkey took his mother, the Holy Virgin Mary to the manger for him to be born some more than thirty years before...and at that moment he would have perhaps recalled how he was about to go beyond his earthly maternal ties and make a sacrifice on a bigger Universal scale...although it would no doubt hurt his mother on the material plane very much!
And now as he sat upon Sam the donkey at the gates of Jerusalem he again touched the animal's mane lovingly and in that moment connecting with the animals spirit feeling both his fear and awe...He would have alighted from the donkey Sam and come before his face...caressing his snout in both his arms and explaining to him through divine connection that...Sam, the donkey should fear not for he would one day be liberated from the earthly plane and he would a greater spirit be for accompanying him on this journey!:)
As I continue to share in Universal Collective Prayer with my friends of the Christian faith this week especially those of Catholic background I again re-publish a post by my dear Brother in sharing the metaphorical Eucharist that is the Christ-Greg Kirk. I'm excited when I read his post to hear of my other friends being mentioned in it...like another adopted online mother in Mary Lynn, my dear Eze from Mexico, Yogi Rajesh (Sharma), Vashi Ram Chandi...and touched to hear of his interaction with Avi a young Israeli soldier although I haven't interacted with him so far on Intent...and note this junction for him in the dance that is this life with regard to his mother in law...I also think of my dear Sharms who always supports my Universal Collective Prayer and wonder about the other member of the Fab Four and how her trip is going! :)
So here it is this late night and wee hours of the Good Friday morning here in Trinidad...the experience my dear Brother had last night at Holy Thursday mass...
Holy Thursday, Mass of the Lord's Supper - Vedanta I squeeze the CD player volume knob and bring Bryan Adams to a conclusion as I pull into the parish parking lot. Entering the back door to the church sacristy, I can't suppress a smile - I'm early and alone, another adventure in awareness. In the dark sanctuary, I slowly bring up the altar spotlights. The altar is the symbol of the Self. As the lights slowly and softly bring this mystical surface to life, I rest in the awareness that Self-realization is a "process," I remember to be gentle and patient with myself and with others. I gaze at the bare wood of the altar and recall that it should be dressed in cloth tonight. I unfurl dazzling, brocaded white linen and roll it over the wood. The pure white and rich texture of the vestments reminds me of the purity of Self - in my essence, in your essence, purity abounds. The task of life is to remember this. The altar is dressed and my attention moves to vigil candles - a chance to wrest a few quiet moments of prayer. As wicks begin to flicker with light, people are lovingly remembered and light is called down on them - my family, especially my dying mother in law Linda who will be moving in with us shortly. A young couple, Jen and Jesse and their archangel Mary lynn. A young Israeli soldier named Avi, alone in the West Bank who has asked for prayer. I lose my awareness of thought and simply breath for a few moments. Coming back to awareness, I think of Rajesh and smile.
Father John and the servers arrive. The servers are nervous. I assure them that "we" will remember everything and that there is nothing to "sweat." I encourage them to relax and to enjoy themselves. Three fourteen year old boys, filled with innocence sigh with relief. I'm almost reduced to tears, mindful of the others their age who suffered so tragically from clergy abuse. I vow to myself, never again.
The mass has begun. Father John and I process up the stairs and reverence the altar with a kiss. He recites the opening prayer. Speaking the penitential rite falls to me - I skip the one in the book and speak my own, ending with a reference to the One beyond name and form, the One the Svetasvatara Upanishad pointed to: "I know that Great Person of the brightness of the Sun beyond the darkness. Only by knowing him one goes beyond death. There is no other way to go."
Readings from Scripture unfold, ending with the Gospel of John. John, the evangelist I most love, John the Gnostic poet (I think of Sharmishtha and smile) sharing an account of Jesus washing his followers' feet during his last supper with them. The feet washing was a lesson in loving service, in humility, in transcending one's self identity. Twelve chairs are next set up facing the congregation and twelve individuals who I was asked to invite come forward to have their feet washed. This group is representative of the parish - from the eighty four year old man who nearly died from a stroke this past winter to six year old Simon. Father John and I remove our stoles and drop to our knees, with pitchers of water, basins, and towels and begin washing feet. As I finish washing little Simon's feet, I reach up to shake hands with him, to wish him peace and to say thank you. Beyond his smile, curls and innocence, I sense another innocent spirit, the spirit of a shaman candyman ("candybaby") in Mexico named Ezequiel. The washing is finished, the chairs put away. I hand the incensor to Father John and he incenses the altar. He hands the incensor back to me, we bow to one another and I incense him. Next I move to the front of the altar and bow to the congregation and incense them - "Namaste" - "the divine within me acknowledges the divine within you" vibrates through my being like a mantra. Are the very walls tonight crying out "Self-realization?" As incense smoke rises, a symbol of the devotion known as "bhakti," I think of my friend Vashi in Hong Kong and smile. The Eucharist is offered on the altar and then shared with the community - we are to humbly become food for others. I think of my sister in Universal Collective Prayer, Babita, in Trinidad and smile again.
The mass concludes. Father John shrouds the Eucharist within his cope and we process to a place of quiet where the sacrament will be reposed for this evening. The procession represents the arrest of Jesus in the garden, on this night. An innocent man, betrayed, arrested, beaten and taken to trial - a trial without witnesses or a defense - because he dared to love, because he dared to express "Namaste" with his words and actions, to everyone, but especially to the vulnerable, to the marginalized, to the outcasts. He was executed the following day in a horrific, gruesome death, one not deserved - one in which he became one with the One. He realized Self. Nothing will ever be the same. This is my task, it is his teaching and path I follow. I am mindful of the challenge and I recommit myself again this evening - to go beyond dogma, to go beyond the confine of Religion, to grow beyond cultural conditioning, " to let go" (Rajesh again!), to let go of what is comfortable and easy - to strive to accept, support, love, everyone I encounter - especially the vulnerable, the ones our religious and political domination systems would ignore, judge and condemn today. In making this commitment, I feel the presence of a friend named Tamasin. I rest, grateful for her example - her determination to love and support everyone.
I remember words from the Gospel of Eve, a gospel that didn't make it to the canon of Scripture: "I stood on a high mountain and saw a Mighty Man and with him a dwarf and heard as it were a voice of thunder, and drew closer to hear it: and it spoke to me and said: 'I am you and you are me; wherever you are I am there, and I am scattered in all things, from wherever you want to you gather Me, and gathering Me you gather yourself."
The lights are dimmed. My vestments put away. Votive candles will continue to flicker with love for those experiencing challenge. The people have returned home. As I reach for my jacket, a voice behind me, a voice in the dark startles me - "love you dad." Love and light continue to shine beyond the darkness. With our twelve year old son Tony's arm around me, I walk toward the car, toward continuing to realize Self. Tomorrow, death is remembered. The death of one who became one with the One. Realizing Self always involves some death. But Realizing Self means that Resurrection is just around the corner. I know what my intent tomorrow will be - "I intend to love." This was the intent of the Third Jesus. This will be my intent everyday, for all of my days. I turn on the ignition and then the CD player - "Got to get you into my life" sizzles. And I sizzle, growing in oneness with the One, the One of love, the One in all, the One who shines beyond the darkness.
In the true nature of Universal Collective Prayer as I celebrated the Hindu festival dedicated to the nine nights celebration of the Divine Mother-Nav Ratri I began to contemplate on the Divine Mother as celebrated in Catholicism and I expressed it in this post. It took me on a pilgrimage...it wasn't planned but like outlined in the video about the Virgin Mary in that previous post...I was up on the Mount St. Benedict church on the first Sat of the month. I had gone with the thinking to take part in my first mass ever and perhaps even share in the communion...but I didn't realise that the special masses that were being done every 30 minutes for Lent were not on anymore as it was the Saturday before Palm Sunday and so instead busy preparations were being made for the start of the Holy Week! :)
So I was up there visiting the statue of the Divine Mother inside the church (out of reverence I did not take any photos inside the church and I'm not clear if it is allowed or not officially anyway). So in a way I was worshipping her on the first Saturday of the month of April so I've since decided like in the video to go up to the Mount for the five consecutive first Saturdays...assuming I'm on the island through out that period. I intend to carry out the meditation in my own Hinducentric way however...here is how I feel about the Divine Mother as I expressed when having to comment to a fellow Intent member who is of a Protestant background and from Sweden who I loving refer to as The Fairy Godmother Sara! :)These we my comments to her when she shared her views about the said post I did previous to this one on the Divine Mother.
Fairy Godmother Sara: Hi, Babita. I watched two of these videos so far. The first one I stopped after a while because it made me smile a bit with all the violence but the second one I really appreciated. Thank you for sharing this beautiful inspiring and fantastically performed artwork. There is so much RICHNESS in hindu art and icons.
The clip with mother Mary was also inspiring. I have never come that close to catholic worship, living in a sekularised protestant country with agnostic parents. Not that I'm complaining. I'm grateful for the freedom it has given me. Now I feel I understand better why some catholics are so intense about defending their faith, which means alot to me. I love understanding, thank you :)
Repairing her heart... beautiful. The Holy Mother, indeed....However the thought strikes me that if they want to repair her heart maybe they shouldn't keep depicting it with swords and arrows in it and keep reminding themselves about her suffering. It seems they repeat the cycle every sunday? Poor spirit of motherhood...
Love to you, Babsy! I hope you are doing well. Sara
Me: Hey Sara....Fairy Godmother...Maa Durga she is a strong form of Shakti in Hinduism...pretty independent and yep can appear fierce at times...notice her chariot is usually a tiger or a lion...and they alone can do real damage...she is known to kill many a demon a.k.a. raksha in Hinduism and so yep can come across as violent or fierce...but it is just the eternal battle between good and evil...a turmoil within...it is just the iconography of it my dear Godmother...
About the Mary one ...dunno I don't see it like you...in feeling the pain of her and Jesus...I don't know for me it is deeply spiritual...you have to go deep within and feel it then come back out of it...the reason it is repeated I believe is cause we need to continually go in and feel deeply until we become enlightened...upon enlightenment we can feel the pain but be inwardly disidentified to it...or detached...in Hinduism it is said to be loving but detached...different from just ignoring it or not going into it...which is the mistake many make...
You have to feel pain before you can transcend it and that does not come easily...in my understanding of Jesus he never became detached to it but what he did...you see he was the greatest Bhakti yogi....so after he felt and took the whole pain and sufferring of the entire human race on him...he said to the father...the lord of the Universe ...or the Universe...God...to take it from him...he then made the ultimate surrender...he offerred it all up to the Lord or the Universe...and it is in that moment he became one with it...enlightened...due to his Ultimate Surrender...but it is the process of going into the pain...feeling the pain of others...so much compassion...that made him capable of this ultimate surrender...it showed him the way...the love and the light...so in reflecting on the pain of him and his mother the Holy Virgin Mary...I think we learn from them...and become ourselves closer one day to the Ultimate Surrender...
So...my dear friends in this dance that is Universal Collective Prayer I intend to go about the rest of the Holy Week in this vein and in my five consecutive first Saturday visits to the Mount.
However being up on the Mount and seeing all the preps for the Holy Week...It made me all excited...I wished I could be a part of the celebs but my full time job and my energy levels simply don't permit...perhaps one day Universal Collective Prayer however will be able to get more immersed into the celebs and take footage of the events and bring them to you on here. However for now I instead asked my dear brother in sharing (metaphorically) the Eucharist that is the Christ-Deacon Greg Kirk to share his thoughts on the past Lent season and his thoughts for the Holy Week. I will re-post what he wrote for me here now, along with the thoughts of my other Mexican Brother Ezequiel Rodriguez and to honour him I will publish it in the original Spanish it was written and then the English translation done by my soul sister Adriana Ochoa whose thoughts on how she will spend the Easter holidays with her family will also be shared.
Also you will see some of the beautiful sights up at the Mount one of my favs being those two priests looking at the church...it looks so Merlinish somehow to me...they seem so ancient and wise like Wizards really! :) And I mean that in full respect as I see Wizards in my Universal Collective Prayer as good, wise and showing us the light...if some feel disrespect by that analogy...the prayers apologises as the prayers intent here is really not to be antagonistic to the religious beliefs of others but instead as much as possible to join well in Universal Collective Prayer! Also I believe in taking action after we dance, meditate and reflect in Universal Collective Prayer and you can see I'm proud to be Petrotrin as my company is a major sponsor of the Drug Rehabilitation Centre being built up there at the Mount. The place is truly a thing of beauty, prayer and peace! :) Brother Greg's Post: For Babita: Lent, Holy Week and a woman caught in the act of adultery Babita: I have attempted to answer your request for a blog about my experience of Lent and this coming Holy Week. As you know, the season of Lent is that liturgical season from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday in which Christians are asked to identify and turn away from the darkness of sin. During Holy Week and especially during the Easter Tridiuum, Christians remember the final events Jesus experienced in this life, prior to Easter and Resurrection. If you had asked me to blog about Lent and Holy Week several years ago, my response would have been tremendously different than the one I offer now. For several years, I strove to fulfill the obligations of sacrifice and penance that Lent calls for including days of fasting and reflection on the suffering of Jesus. My celebration is much different now. I can only explain the change with the following story.
Journeying with the Third Jesus has convinced me that mortification and the glorification of suffering and pain are not helpful on the path to transformation. Moving from town to town, watching Jesus reach out to the marginalized – the lonely, the sick, the suffering - touching them with peace and healing has convinced me that suffering will come to us on its own accord. Our task is to bring light and love to those around us. Joy, peace, wholeness, these are the virtues one should embrace and give birth to in this world. What we place our attention on grows stronger.
For me, everything changed with the woman caught in the act of adultery. It is the event that set the stage for the Passion of Jesus, making the cross inevitable. In a way, it propelled the Christian world to the events remembered during Holy Week.
On a bright sunny morning, I followed the Third Jesus out from the Temple to the portico where a group of eager people had assembled and waited for him, obviously hungering for his message. When Jesus sat down, I knew it was to teach. He had just began his familiar discourse on love, beauty and truth when several “religious men” burst across the portico and threw a naked woman at his feet. “Good teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.” “In the law of Moses, such women are to be stoned.” “What do you have to say about her case?” Jesus looked these men in the eye with a sad knowing. He rose and asked me for my prayer shawl. I took it from my shoulders and handed it to him. He lowered himself to his knees and helped the woman to stand, shielding her from the stares of onlookers with his body while he wrapped the shawl around her. He sat her on his seat. Next he lowered himself to the sandy courtyard and began tracing with his finger in the sand. At first I thought he was doodling or drawing. I moved closer and looked over his shoulder. He had written the following words in the sand “Malachi’s sins.” Under this heading, several sins were listed including the words “lust” and “adultery.” I was horrified. Malachi was the leader of these assembled religious men. It was his voice that confronted Jesus with the question about stoning. Malachi then walked over and read the words of Jesus. At first, his hands gripped the rock he was holding so hard that the flesh on it turned white. His face was a contortion of blood red and anger. Jesus slowly rose from the ground, looked Malachi in the eye and said “let the one among you without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” The older men let loose of their stones first Babita, Malachi held his until the end, finally throwing it down hard at the feet of Jesus. As they withdrew, one by one, I overheard Malachi hiss “this means the death of him, the authorities will not accept this total lack of regard for the law.” When they had left, Jesus touched the woman’s arm gently and with obvious love said “sister, where have they gone?” “Has no once accused or condemned you?” She responded “no one sir.” Jesus responded “neither do I condemn you, you are free, reflect on where on you have placed your attention and what you intend for the future.” His kissed her forehead and we walked out of the portico. After a long silence I asked him what it was all about. Jesus shared with me that the entire incident was a “set up.” He shared that in his culture, there had to be two adult witnesses to adultery other than the accused. He sadly informed me that the “religious men” had formed a conspiracy in order to trap and embarrass him, they were willing to kill a human being in order to enshrine their orthodoxy. He then announced that this is the dark side of Religion, the need to worship the law and follow it to the letter. He smiled and said “follow the spirit of the law, follow love to the letter.” “Always remember little brother, it is people the Divine loves.” “There is something about love that can be so very threatening.” “Afraid of its demands, some would rather extinguish the light of its possibility.” “Always remember, love makes all things possible.”
Lent has been a time of recommitting myself to the path of love again – of saying yes to loving God by loving others Babita. Holy Week will be a time to reflect on the teaching of the Third Jesus and moving closer to the cross and resurrection, to the surrender of the self to Self. Holy Week will find me washing the feet of several parish members on Thursday night in order to remember the teaching of Jesus on selfless love and service to others. Good Friday will find me preaching at two services, encouraging people to make peace with the ego as part of the process of surrendering self to to the Divine. For the person who chooses to love, new possibilities and new life always emerge. This will be celebrated on Easter. It is simply a matter of trust. This coming week is about trusting in the Divine and the new light and love this trust always brings. On the matter of that woman who Jesus freed Babita, I think she went on to discover a new type of love, a love that included healthy love for herself, a love that made everything new. Could the following song be her song? It is a song about transformation. It is the possiblity of this transformation that I will celebrate this week.
Love, Greg
Eze's Thoughts: LA DIVINA TRINIDAD Anoche, de nuevo, tuve la grandísima fortuna de tener un encuentro cercano del tercer tipo con la D I V I N I D A D!!! En esta ocasión el Gran Maestro Jesús no me habló. TUVE EL MUY ESPECIAL HONOR DE PODER "MORAR" en su inmenso y muy amoroso corazón! Lo que sentí fue increíblemente único y muy bello. Lo que puedo lograr a traducir a nivelhttp://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=4920299974971333050 lógico y objetivo fue lo siguiente:
Vamos muy bien. Si le ponemos número y porcentaje solo he podido comunicarles tan solo un trece por ciento de todo lo que el mundo material y espiritual tiene que ofrecernos. Es por eso que requiero de una mayor participación de parte de todos ustedes, ya que nuestro proyecto logrará ayudar a muchísimas personas en toda la faz de la tierra. Sentí que los que hora me acompañan en este sendero, sendero lleno de LUZ, VIDA Y AMOR DIVINOS para muchos de ellos este será solo un camino temporal. De todas maneras sean bienvenidos, mientras tanto a transitar por este particular sendero. Habrá otros que me acompañarán SIEMPRE! Ya que anteriormente ya hemos estado juntos y hemos trabajado juntos para la Gloria d Dios, nuestro Creador y Señor. A ustedes les digo BIENVENIDOS sean hermanos y hermanas en este glorioso sendero. Lo anterior "solo" fue un pequeño mensaje de Cristo-Jesús. Nuestro hermano mayor y salvador. Aún hay mucho más que compartir, espero hacerlo tan pronto reciba mi nueva computadora. Muchísimas Gracias. Reciban un fuerte abrazo de uno de los muchos mensajeros del Amor del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. AMORIFER-ALDEN
Divine Trinity Last night I had the privilege of having a; close encounter of the third kind with divinity. In this occasion Jesus did not speak. I had the special honor to bask in his immense and loving heart! What I felt was incredibly unique and beautiful. What I can translate in a logical and objective way is as follows:
We are going through the right path. If I can put numbers and percentages I have only communicated 13% of what the spiritual and material realm have to offer. That is why I require a more eager participation of you, because our Project can help more people on Earth. I feel that the ones that are walking with me in this path, a path filled of LIGHT, LIFE and DIVINE LOVE they will go by my side for a time. Any way be more than welcome, to walk this specific path.
There will be others that will be with me forever. Because we have been together before working for the Glory of God our Creator . I welcome you dears Sisters and Brothers in this glorious path.
This was a small message of Christ-Jesus our elder brother and savior. There is much more to share, I will as soon as I get my new computer. Thank you very much.
Receive a big embrace of one of the many messengers of love from the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit.
Adriana's Plans:
Dear ones: Now I am catching Pedro over there. He is very excited, because last time we could not make it and stayed in Hemosa Beach, which by the way was fabulous. We are spending the Holy Week over there. Since I was little I enjoyed this week so much, because I always knew that at the end Jesus's rebirth was the culmination. Infinity is real, love is real.
I loved to watch Jesus Christ Super Star, and the Zeffirelli's movies although I cried and cried with pain. I want to make it special for Pedro, and get a retreat of love with God consciousness. A week of loving lent.
George and Rodrigo are going to a retreat near Mexico city which is beautiful, silence reclaims its own place.
I wish you all to have the most aware Holy Week ever.
With all my love Adriana Also on Intent- Me, Adriana, Greg and Ezequiel are seen as the Tea Gang and at one point we were being called the Rat Pack...but then I always listen to the Beatles and so does my Eucharist sharing friend Bro Greg so one thing lead to another and well...check out this lovely thing Adri created! :)
Posts
