Patterns

Friends,

Our lives are held together by patterns of behavior, reinforced by patterns of thought and intention. This is not a bad thing. What is not helpful is that our patterns are too often unconscious, and held together by the cement of unconscious values, beliefs, and motivations. The purpose of a contemplative/meditative spiritual discipline is to "wake up." We begin by cultivating our attention, turning the light of awareness on all we do. This is no small task since every human being I know has made a great study of living life unconsciously, on a kind of autopilot. And the ego-mind, or control panel of this life has great investment in keeping these patterns hidden and untampered with, the way they are. After all, the voice of the ego-mind says: "We've gone this far, right? It may not be a great life, but it's survival." This is the ego-self and its motivations for private personal survival, albeit based on some very flawed information and premises.

The Heart has its own desire, that our humanity live out, bring forth what is deepest and truest in us, LIFE with a capital L. We can call it God, Buddha nature, Christ, or XY Zen. It is the ISNESS that IS, the I AM that is the burning bush in each of us, LIFE that is both intensely intimate and personal, and oceanic, transcending a privatized self. Hence the agenda of the ego-mind and our heart's desire are continually in tension. That tension is only resolved when the mind, when all our human faculties are brought into utter alignment and harmony with the One Desire of the Heart. This desire is the Great Way of all beings. We are only truly happy in this life when we are fully given to the Great Way. The ten Ox-herding pictures of the Zen tradition illustrate this process beautifully.

To give our human energies to the Great Way we must have a disciplined life, because the patterns of the ego-mind are so entrenched, and so desirous to remain unconscious, and the ego-self, a creation of ego-mind is so fearful of the freedom and spaciousness of LIFE fully given, fully lived. Bring this all together and you have the makings of the spiritual journey, in whatever tradition, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Native, or whatever.

Therefore to have a serious retreat for this year, or for whatever length of time, the idea is not to create a "special experience." Rather it is to find a new way to live the Unifed life, human life fully given to the divine LIFE that emanates from within and without each of us. There are names for creating these new patterns: Vows of Practice, A Daily Rule of Life. Whatever name you give it the process of transformation involves a relinquishment of old patterns and a commitment to new patterns where the center of our life is the Center. There is no longer any room for diversions, inattention, every behavior and every thought, every emotions is the grist for the mill of an awakened Attention, and a consecrated Intention. This is how we create the space and the awareness that nurtures and sustains our participation in the Great Way.

Blessings to all,
Bill Ryan
cmpnwtr@earthlink.net