But the false rabbi, the coachman, did not flinch. Instead, he furrowed his brow and looked into the sacred text before him. In truth he could not even read, but he could pretend, and after a moment, he sat up straight and shook his head. "How could you ask such a question," he said, pretending to be surprised. "This passage is so obvious, even my coachman can explain it to you."
**
In this section I'd like to share a few practices which can aid us in growing and moving into states of being which are transcendent to the conventional world. However, first it is necessary to speak a bit about the contemporary confusion between morality and spiritual growth.
To begin, it is important to say that while ethical behavior is a prerequisite for growing into higher levels of consciousness and the experience of Oneness, it is also true that there is more to spiritual awakening (and religion) than morality.
Mature ethical speech and action has for centuries been conflated with a complex code or do's and don'ts, of rules and regulations. These rigid codes easily degenerate into compulsive ritualism and mindless obligations, which feed the ego. Too often people follow rules, instead of the flow of their compassionate hearts, and focus on surface appearances, rather than deeper, positive motivations.
The ritualism of religion has been ruinous for every tradition. In each, the process of decay is the same. The spiritual founder first breaks through into a fresh, ecstatic, illuminated realization, and pours forth a white-hot torrent of transformative spiritual energy. They describe their own realizations and practices which can aid others in moving toward higher states of being.
Their followers are frequently not ready or willing to do this work. "Truth decay" occurs, and effective spiritual practices become empty rituals. Descriptions of the founder's direct experience solidify into theoretical doctrines, which then ossify into rigid dogma. Deeply heartfelt spiritual sincerity disappears. Compassion-based ethics degrade into conventional moralism, which is deadening.
In the West there is a growing recognition that living spirit has died in much of conventional religions. While churches, synagogues and mosques may offer social support and the comfort of centuries-old rituals, the authentic transformative practices that awaken people have been too often been forgotten.
However, the factor of motive is the foundation of ethics, Mohammad said that, "all actions can be judged by the motives that prompted them." The deepest motive that underlies mature ethics is kindness, which has two dimensions: to be harmless and helpful.
There is a wealth of practices which can be found among all religions and spiritual paths. Before enumerating these, I'd like to focus on two with which I am familiar, which originated in the Buddhist path - mindfulness and loving-kindness. I know these to be powerfully transformative practices. As a context for these two practices, the Buddha proposed a three-tiered spiral.
Theravada Buddhist meditation focuses on three components: sila, samadhi, and panna. Sila is ethical purification: non-killing, non-stealing, non-lying, right speech, mindfulness around sexuality and intoxicants. Samadhi is concentration or one-pointedness. And panna is deep understanding and clear thinking, as well as the wisdom connected with it and the vast openness/emptiness that resides in a place beyond both thought and behavior.
To begin, we wouldn't even embark on this inner journey without a bit of wisdom. However, when we try to practice concentration, all of our clingings to the world tend to distract us - and especially our less than ethical behavior. We finally realize that we have to clean up our act so that our meditation can get a little deeper. As our meditation gets deeper, we are quieter and are able to see more of the universe, so our wisdom gets deeper and we understand more. Panna makes it easier to let go of some of our attachments, so it makes it easier to increase the sila. And the increased sila allows the samadhi to get deeper. We begin to see the way these three processes all keep inter-weaving with one another in a beautiful balancing act.
**
Within the Southern Buddhist tradition, there are two foundational practices
1) Seeing things clearly: mindfulness
One of the most effective tools in expanding our awareness is insight (or mindfulness) meditation. Its focus is captured by the title of Ram Dass's bestselling book, Be Here Now. This is nothing other than focusing a penetrating, present-moment attention on our actions, thoughts, emotions, physical sensations, and intentions during the course of the day.
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