Constant Mindfulness of Spirit

[Michael Hawkins]

Hello Fellow Contemplatives,

For all who remember me -- I'm still alive and kickin'.  To everyone else -- blessings to you along your journey Home.

Today it somehow occurred to me to write a blog post, and I thought I'd share it with you, since it purports to equate jhana/samadhi with the Holy Spirit.  Here's a link:

https://enlightenmentorsalvation.wordpress.com/2015/03/24/constant-mindfulness-of-spirit/

Thanks to Jeffrey for continuing to host this amazing community....

Much love,
Michael

[Jhanananda]

Hello, Michael.  It is great to receive a message from you, and especially a link to one of your thought provoking essays.  I am in full agreement that the experience of the holy spirit in an Abrahammic context is the same as the experience of jhana/samadhi in an Indic context; except Both concepts are not treated consistently in the same way throughout the literary history of either religious movement.  Thus, I have had to focus upon certain literature, while ignoring other literature in the respective religions.

[Michael Hawkins]

Good to be here, Jeffrey.

I agree that anyone interested in the "how to" and "what it's like" around the ecstatic must read the literature of the mystics, as most of the Abrahamic canonical material has either been stripped of the juicy stuff or never had it to begin with.  For me, the Bible is enticing because the Mystery is cloaked but implied -- so, if one has had the experience of the "baptism in the Spirit," one can catch the clues as they arise.  For actual instruction, though, I go to the Nikayas, the Yoga Sutras and the writings of various mystics from different traditions.

Speaking of the juicy stuff being stripped -- a study of pseudepigrapha and other deuterocanonical material reveals much more of the mystical than what's been allowed into today's version of the Bible.  There's usually a lot of apocryphal material to wade through, but the mystical element has a resonance with those who've given rise to ecstatic phenomena.

[Jhanananda]

Hello, Michael, I agree there is much to support the mystic in the various religious works of the world, but it is often "in between the lines," or mistranslated, and requires the insight that many of us here (such as yourself) have acquired through consistent deep meditation practice.

[Michel]

Good to see that you're still alive and kicking, Michael. I was wondering what had happened to you, I missed reading your great posts.

Could you tell us what form your prayers take? I have always wondered if prayer was a fruitful practice. Can you develop a relationship through prayer with the Holy Spirit?

[Michael Hawkins]

Thank you for the warm welcome, Michel, and for your kind words.

I've been thinking about an answer to your question about the form that my prayer takes, and it seems I can't find a satisfactory characterization.

I will say, though, that this extended Dark Night of mine seemed to bottom-out a couple years ago (not to say it's been all roses since then!), at which time I could not see the point of going on in life.  In that place, I decided that if life made no sense to me, I'd try one last gasp effort before blowing the whistle on this game we call life.  (This is how I felt at the time -- can't say I would really have gone through with it -- although I was having those thoughts way too frequently for comfort....)

I wrote a letter to God that day.  It occurred to me to start it out with an expression of thanksgiving -- "Thank you for a good night's sleep and a pleasant, peaceful morning.  Thanks for chirping birds and acrobatic squirrels outside my window.  Thank you for the wonderful meditation I just had."  Etc., etc.  Then I just talked about whatever was there at the time, handing it over, washing my hands of it as best I could -- and where I couldn't get it off my hands, I asked for help, patience, surrender....  Then I would ask for Divine guidance as I read from scripture, ask for a good day with lots of help along the way, then I'd sign off.

That was two years ago and I've been starting (and ending, usually) each day this way ever since -- opening up LibreOffice Writer, dating it, hitting the keys.  I do attribute my continued presence among the living to this practice, as it's been the only thing that's allowed me access to vibrations that are higher than anger, fear, resentment, self-hatred or whatever else I've been mired in.  There's something about expressing thanks and appreciation that opens a person up, even when they are stuck in the darkest places -- and if it's done enough, one gets to layers that contain love.

If life is one long, humiliating assault on entrenched ego personality, I do recommend a practice like this.  Jhana/samadhi may be blissful in its arising and saturation... but holy shit, it has no mercy when it comes to removing any and every blockage along the path Home.

[bodhimind]

There's something about expressing thanks and appreciation that opens a person up, even when they are stuck in the darkest places -- and if it's done enough, one gets to layers that contain love.

This really struck me, because I feel the same way. I'm not as cultivated in jhana, but I do feel from my limited experience that when I got started, what I did do was to firstly feel as deeply contented as possible, which was aided by feeling grateful for everything. It makes me lose clinging onto form and being attached to worldly affairs.

[Jhanananda]

If life is one long, humiliating assault on entrenched ego personality, I do recommend a practice like this.  Jhana/samadhi may be blissful in its arising and saturation... but holy shit, it has no mercy when it comes to removing any and every blockage along the path Home.

It is excellent to have you on here again, Michael.  What I see you doing, is what I found I needed to do about 40 years ago, and it is what I call, Enriching the Religious Experience. 

What I found was, if I keep thinking of the non-sensory phenomena that is associated with deep meditation as just some collection of odd sensations, then the experience of deep meditation never gets enriched.  It remains just odd and curious.

Whereas, if I remind myself that this odd collection of sensations is the holy spirit itself indwelling within me, and transforming me into a superior vessel for it, then I have successfully enriched the experience, and the result is feeling blessed, even when my life circumstances are quite miserable.

[Michel]

I will say, though, that this extended Dark Night of mine seemed to bottom-out a couple years ago (not to say it's been all roses since then!), at which time I could not see the point of going on in life.  In that place, I decided that if life made no sense to me, I'd try one last gasp effort before blowing the whistle on this game we call life.  (This is how I felt at the time -- can't say I would really have gone through with it -- although I was having those thoughts way too frequently for comfort....)

I hope that you write at even more length than you already have on your experiences of the DN. We all have to go through it. I look way up to you for guidance, Michael.

I wrote a letter to God that day.  It occurred to me to start it out with an expression of thanksgiving -- "Thank you for a good night's sleep and a pleasant, peaceful morning.  Thanks for chirping birds and acrobatic squirrels outside my window.  Thank you for the wonderful meditation I just had."  Etc., etc.  Then I just talked about whatever was there at the time, handing it over, washing my hands of it as best I could -- and where I couldn't get it off my hands, I asked for help, patience, surrender....  Then I would ask for Divine guidance as I read from scripture, ask for a good day with lots of help along the way, then I'd sign off.

That was two years ago and I've been starting (and ending, usually) each day this way ever since -- opening up LibreOffice Writer, dating it, hitting the keys.  I do attribute my continued presence among the living to this practice, as it's been the only thing that's allowed me access to vibrations that are higher than anger, fear, resentment, self-hatred or whatever else I've been mired in.  There's something about expressing thanks and appreciation that opens a person up, even when they are stuck in the darkest places -- and if it's done enough, one gets to layers that contain love.

If life is one long, humiliating assault on entrenched ego personality, I do recommend a practice like this.  Jhana/samadhi may be blissful in its arising and saturation... but holy shit, it has no mercy when it comes to removing any and every blockage along the path Home.

Thank-you for posting this. I think  prayer might work out for me too. Something of my own design. I am happy that you have decided on a "continued presence among the living." haha (I like the way you put it) You are needed and appreciated here. 

[Michel]

What I found was, if I keep thinking of the non-sensory phenomena that is associated with deep meditation as just some collection of odd sensations, then the experience of deep meditation never gets enriched.  It remains just odd and curious.

Whereas, if I remind myself that this odd collection of sensations is the holy spirit itself indwelling within me, and transforming me into a superior vessel for it, then I have successfully enriched the experience, and the result is feeling blessed, even when my life circumstances are quite miserable.

I guess you have to somehow personify the Holy Spirit in some sense. Thus you can commune with it that way.

[Jhanananda]

I guess you have to somehow personify the Holy Spirit in some sense. Thus you can commune with it that way.

When we feel those charisms, then we are in direct communion with the Holy Spirit.  It communicates with the charisms in a multi-sensory communication stream.  The insights that we gain when our mind is still, and we are saturated in the charisms, is direct transmissions from the Holy Spirit.  However, I would not say that I "personify the Holy Spirit."  It is beyond personification.

[Michael Hawkins]

I will say, though, that this extended Dark Night of mine seemed to bottom-out a couple years ago (not to say it's been all roses since then!), at which time I could not see the point of going on in life.  In that place, I decided that if life made no sense to me, I'd try one last gasp effort before blowing the whistle on this game we call life.  (This is how I felt at the time -- can't say I would really have gone through with it -- although I was having those thoughts way too frequently for comfort....)

I hope that you write at even more length than you already have on your experiences of the DN. We all have to go through it. I look way up to you for guidance, Michael.

I never know what I'm going to write until the keys start clicking, Michael...

I wrote a letter to God that day.  It occurred to me to start it out with an expression of thanksgiving -- "Thank you for a good night's sleep and a pleasant, peaceful morning.  Thanks for chirping birds and acrobatic squirrels outside my window.  Thank you for the wonderful meditation I just had."  Etc., etc.  Then I just talked about whatever was there at the time, handing it over, washing my hands of it as best I could -- and where I couldn't get it off my hands, I asked for help, patience, surrender....  Then I would ask for Divine guidance as I read from scripture, ask for a good day with lots of help along the way, then I'd sign off.

That was two years ago and I've been starting (and ending, usually) each day this way ever since -- opening up LibreOffice Writer, dating it, hitting the keys.  I do attribute my continued presence among the living to this practice, as it's been the only thing that's allowed me access to vibrations that are higher than anger, fear, resentment, self-hatred or whatever else I've been mired in.  There's something about expressing thanks and appreciation that opens a person up, even when they are stuck in the darkest places -- and if it's done enough, one gets to layers that contain love.

If life is one long, humiliating assault on entrenched ego personality, I do recommend a practice like this.  Jhana/samadhi may be blissful in its arising and saturation... but holy shit, it has no mercy when it comes to removing any and every blockage along the path Home.

Thank-you for posting this. I think  prayer might work out for me too. Something of my own design. I am happy that you have decided on a "continued presence among the living." haha (I like the way you put it) You are needed and appreciated here. 

It wasn't my time, Michel.  It'll be interesting to find out what the universe has in mind....

[Michael Hawkins]

I guess you have to somehow personify the Holy Spirit in some sense. Thus you can commune with it that way.

When we feel those charisms, then we are in direct communion with the Holy Spirit.  It communicates with the charisms in a multi-sensory communication stream.  The insights that we gain when our mind is still, and we are saturated in the charisms, is direct transmissions from the Holy Spirit.  However, I would not say that I "personify the Holy Spirit."  It is beyond personification.

John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

This statement has always stuck with me.  Even back in the days when I was forced to attend church three times a week, I knew that God was not a white-haired, white-robed bearded man on top of a mountain.  When I finally came across Carl Jung in the early 90's -- with his concept of the collective unconscious -- and then read all the Hindu material saying that Consciousness is all there is... it has made sense that "God is spirit," and when I pray, it is into the collective soup that I'm projecting my individual thought-imprints -- and through some Mystery, there is a profound effect over time.  That the charisms appeared sometime in 1994 or so, and that I've been walking around saturated in the stuff ever since, suggests that the Holy Spirit is set to "ON" in my being, and it seems like the least I can do is acknowledge its presence on a regular basis.

[Michael Hawkins]

There's something about expressing thanks and appreciation that opens a person up, even when they are stuck in the darkest places -- and if it's done enough, one gets to layers that contain love.

This really struck me, because I feel the same way. I'm not as cultivated in jhana, but I do feel from my limited experience that when I got started, what I did do was to firstly feel as deeply contented as possible, which was aided by feeling grateful for everything. It makes me lose clinging onto form and being attached to worldly affairs.

As far as being cultivated in jhana, bodhimind -- I'm finding that a regular meditation practice that dips into the charisms sets up an automatic transformational process that unfolds over time.  We just keep dipping in until it becomes apparent that we are changed beings, at which point we are walking, talking jhana bunnies.  Everything else is just talk....

[Zack]

Thanks again for a great post Michael. I am struggling to find any reason to continue with this, so once again a post of yours drops like a positive antidote against the hatred, loathing, and futile anger that continually envelope me.