Meditation Video: Relax Snow – Kokin Gumi – Zen Garden

How many mystics have suffered from feeling abandoned by God! In reality, God didn’t abandon them; it was they who failed to remain conscious of his presence. God never abandons us; it is within our own consciousness that these changes take place.

Of course, it is difficult to remain permanently convinced and to sense constantly that we are inhabited by the divine presence, but this is what we must work towards; we must make our entire being a temple to the supreme Being. Yes, not even a palace, but a temple. Of course, if you manage to make a palace of your inner being, it’s a start, but a palace lacks that element of
consecration found in a temple.

God will enter those who have succeeded in making themselves a temple, and he will never leave them again: the supreme Being does not leave a sanctuary that has been dedicated to himself, where he continues to be worshipped in purity and light.

– by Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (used with permission from Prosveta)

If you wish to visit Prosveta’s site to learn more about Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov and his writings, go to http://www.prosveta.com.  While there, you can subscribe to a daily quotation service that provides spiritually stimulating and profound readings for mystics.

Where does this feeling of awe come from? What is this unique creation — snow — that only appears in the winter?

First, another question. Why are all the biblical holidays crowded into the spring and summer? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to space the holidays more evenly throughout the calendar year?

The Maharal, the great 16th century philosopher, comments that the Jewish calendar can be divided into two sections. Half of the year, from Passover until Sukkot (spring through summer), has the force of spiritual Ohr (light) as its primary power, while Choshech (darkness) rules the fall and winter months.

We actualize growth during the summer and then maintain and that growth during the winter.

The implications are clear. The season for Spiritual Light is the spring/summer, and it is only then that one can actualize the greatest amount of spiritual energy. Fall/winter is a time for Spiritual Darkness and is not ideal for tremendous spiritual growth. In fact, the Maharal actually describes the winter as being “outside of the realm of time.” This is because winter does not offer growth, neither agriculturally nor spiritually, thus in a certain sense the winter cannot be acknowledged as being part of any “real existence” due to its lack of spiritual developmental value.

We can now understand the uneven arrangement of the biblical calendar. The holidays mentioned in the Torah all take place during the spring/summer months, because it is then that the potential for a real, profound, spiritual growth exists due to the power of Ohr (light). God wanted us to actualize growth during the summer and then to maintain that growth during the winter.

WISDOM: ABSORBING AND REFLECTING

Why did God create the world to live under Darkness — lack of growth — for half the year?

Because it is extremely difficult to “get high” and stay there constantly. You can’t expect a baseball team to play every single game as if it’s the World Series. It’s just too hard to remain on that high level of intensity all the time. So too, in the spiritual realm God does not expect us to be growing constantly at a high, fast pace. Every day can’t be Yom Kippur. Therefore, God set aside half the year for strong spiritual growth, and the other half for maintenance of that spiritual growth.

How were we to hold on to that growth? Did God leave us without any assistance? The answer leads us full circle to our most fascinating subject – snow, as described in the Midrash:

From where was the dry land of the earth made? From the snow that is under God’s Throne of Glory. God took it and threw it upon the water, the water then froze, and the dust of the earth was formed. As the verse states (Job 37:6) “To snow, God said: Become land!”

The Midrash implies that snow at its very essence is closely related to God’s Throne of Glory and thereby, to God Himself.

The Zohar, the chief work of Jewish mysticism, tells us a remarkable insight. It states that God actually wears Tefillin. And in the same manner in which our Tefillin must be perfectly black in color, so too God’s Tefillin must be perfectly white.

As our Tefillin must be perfectly black in color, so too God’s Tefillin must be perfectly white.

A possible explanation is based on some basic facts we know about the colors black and white. Black absorbs all other colors within light rays, while white reflects all other colors. We must wear Tefillin that are completely black because we must absorb all of God’s wisdom and direction. God “wears” Tefillin that are white because He reflects all wisdom and guidance.

We sense from the Zohar the meaning and symbolism of the color white. Snow, in being the purest form of white, also represents the idea that God, who is sending the snow from the heavens, is the “Reflector of all Wisdom.” White snow is the object which descends from God’s “wearing white Tefillin” to remind us that God created and maintains the world and we must serve him wholeheartedly.

CLIMACTIC REMINDER

The Maharal describes snow as being an illuminating force that is tantamount to Spiritual Light. This is why God made the earth from snow (as mentioned in the Midrash earlier) because people on earth need to be reminded of God’s involvement in man’s affairs. By creating the earth from snow, God has placed a spiritual force that is present at all times in the earth, enabling us to actualize spirituality. And by causing snow to fall at certain times, God sends us a reminder to actualize this spirituality.

Snow’s profound meaning helps us feel connected to God once again.

This is why God makes snow in the winter. In the winter we do not experience biblical holidays, it is our lowest point of spiritual inspiration. God, therefore, sends us snow; contemplating snow’s profound meaning helps us feel connected to Him once again. Snow descends and covers the ground as if to shout, “Remember that it is God that is constantly “covering” the ground and providing everything in our life. Draw closer to Him!”

So the next time it snows, instead of being upset that you’re going to be late for work, be reminded of the deeper truths of this world. It is wintertime, time to bask in the glory of God, as reflected in the pure, white snow.

From: http://www.aish.com/sp/k/48949736.html

A nature lover’s blog with lots of info and photos: http://crammed-with-heaven.blogspot.com/ ]]> http://www.mysticalorderwhiterose.com/god/earth-is-crammed-with-heaven/feed 0 http://www.mysticalorderwhiterose.com/prayer/todays-multi-faith-multi-media-devotional http://www.mysticalorderwhiterose.com/prayer/todays-multi-faith-multi-media-devotional#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:07:02 +0000 admin http://www.mysticalorderwhiterose.com/?p=30

Every action of our lives touches some chord that will vibrate in eternity.

- Edwin Hubbel Chapin

Song: Sure As the Wind by Libana (video)

Meditation Video: Relaxing Sounds of Wind in the Meadow

Feast Day of Brother Lawrence (Roman Catholic observance)

God does not ask much of us. But remembering Him, praising Him, asking for His grace, offering Him your troubles, or thanking Him for what He has given you will console you all the time … lift up your heart … little remembrances please Him.

– Brother Lawrence  1611-1691

Print Out Brother Lawrence’s famous letters on “The Practice of the Presence of God” free of charge

“The Practice of the Presence of God is a way of life where we engage in continual conversation with God; walk with Him in love, humility, simplicity, and faith; and think, say, and do what is most pleasing to Him; because that is God’s will for us.”

– Brother Lawrence

Enjoy the many riches of this devotional website.  In addition to “The Practice of the Presence of God,” there are are selections of religious and praise songs, the Gospels, and commentary on Brother Lawrence’s writings.

http://www.practicegodspresence.com/

When I was a child in Sunday School classes, I was taught to view God as someone very personal. We were given an image of a human-like God who personally watched over each and every one of us. That was long before the Hubble Space Telescope started to show us how incredibly huge the universe is.

In the decades since, our appreciation of the size of the
universe has increased enormously. Likewise, our view of the
size of God has increased enormously. Today, we realize that
God, as an omnipresent being, must be at least the size of the
entire universe. By current estimates, the universe contains
over a hundred billion galaxies, each one containing an
estimated two hundred billion suns. That means that there are
countless trillions of planets, each one filled with the
all-pervasive presence of that which created them. This brings
us to today’s prevalent spiritual dilemma.

With God’s presence being so far-reaching, how can there be any semblance of the personal attention that we were taught to expect from a father-like God image? Today, you are left
wondering whether God is, (a) personal, or (b) so large in
scale as to be infinitely impersonal. Surely, one idea would
exclude the other.

Or would it? A paradox is something that contains opposite
statements and yet both are true. The secret to solving
paradoxes is to start using the word ‘and’ instead of ‘or.’ The
question is not whether God is infinitely large or personal.
The question becomes, how can God be infinite in size and
personal as well?

The answer lies within the Paradox of Infinite Being. The term
Infinite Being is used here as the ultimate concept of God. The
word Infinite, as in omnipresent. The word Being, as in
omniscient awareness. Infinite Being is the perfect, unchanging
consciousness behind all of Creation.

Because Infinite Being is consciousness, and nothing but
consciousness, it is appropriate to note here that nothing in
Creation is anything but consciousness in one form or another.
Energy is simply a compressed form of consciousness set into
motion. Matter is energy. Therefore matter is a form of
consciousness. It can’t be any other way, because consciousness is the only tool with which Infinite Being has to work. We are a dream within the mind of the Creator. The universe was created within the consciousness of Infinite Being.

I remember being told in a science class at school that space
must be infinite in size because there couldn’t be anything
beyond the end of space; therefore, it had to go on for ever.
It didn’t sound right at the time, and now I know why. Space is
actually finite, because it was created within Infinite Being.
The created must be less than its creator, therefore space must be less than infinite. Beyond the envelope of space lies that which created it.

In order to create the universe, Infinite Being divided the
‘waters’ – its consciousness – into two aspects: Creator and
Preserver. In the West, we are used to thinking of the Creator
as God the Father, while the Preserver aspect is called the
Holy Spirit. In the East, the names are different but the
principles are exactly the same. For example, the Hindu name
for the Creator aspect is Brahma, while Vishnu represents the
aspect that preserves and sustains the universe. Stories of
Creation from all over the world share the common thread of two complementary aspects coming together to bring light into
existence.

The two aspects of Creator and Preserver were set into
complementary motion in order to manifest the universe. Through
the interaction of these two aspects of original consciousness,
the universe was formed and, along with it, the capability for
Infinite Being to view itself from an infinite number of
viewpoints.

The human race today represents approximately seven billion
different viewpoints of the one Source. According to the rules
of the human adventure, we were born with spiritual amnesia. We
have forgotten our inner connection. The challenge of the game
is to discover and consciously reconnect with that to which, in
reality, we are and always were connected. Self-awareness and
free will are included in the rules of the game. The illusion
of separateness from each other is created by an intense focus
upon life in an outer, physical world, as viewed by the five
senses. People are free to choose to interact with other people
in the ways that they see best.

People can even choose to believe that they are separate from
that ultimate Source to which they are connected. Atheism,
therefore, is not a lack of belief. It’s a belief in something
that isn’t so. If you have an inbuilt connection to God, yet
believe that you don’t, you are expressing a belief, not a lack
of one.

Mystics talk of experiencing a sense of oneness with the
infinite while in deep meditation. Those who can go still
deeper into the realms of consciousness report that there is
more to it than just a feeling of oneness. Deep within, you
aren’t so much an individual who is as one with Infinite Being.
You are Infinite Being!

You are Infinite Being, observing itself through the one
viewpoint that is you. You aren’t a part of Infinite Being. You
are Infinite Being, acting from one specific point of view.
Likewise, every sentient being is also Infinite Being, looking
at itself from their own unique points of view.

The solution to the Paradox of Infinite Being is that, while
we are a part of an immense universe of almost unlimited
proportions, we are also Infinite Being itself. As you
experience life through your eyes and ears and senses, you are
Infinite Being, acting through yet another viewpoint of the
infinite variety of life. Every fiber of your body is Infinite
Being, every dream that you manifest is Infinite Being in
action, every tear of joy that you shed in the finer
experiences of life is a tear shed by Infinite Being in its
form as you.

You can be closer to God than ever before when you realize
that every part of your body, mind and spirit is God. Even in
this strange world where we appear to be separate from everyone else, the conscious awareness of the presence of God is a mere thought away.
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*If you enjoyed today’s article, forward it to a friend!
They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

This article was written by Owen Waters, author of
“The Shift: The Revolution in Human Consciousness”
Available in hardcover or via immediate download at:
http://www.infinitebeing.com/theshift

- Mother Teresa