This Editorial precedes Volume 23, Issue 5 of Kosmos Journal. Scroll down to access featured content
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders. – Chuang Tzu
Several months ago, a friend suggested we devote an issue of Kosmos to the theme Ageless Spirit. She was referring to wise elders still working among us like our beloved founder, Nancy Roof. A beautiful interview with Nancy is included in this issue – a true gift – as well as wisdom from some of her peers. Ageless Spirit calls us yet deeper. Like many of you, the suffering in Gaza and Israel shakes me to my core. In all, 32 countries are ‘at war’ including civil and drug wars, ethnic violence and insurgencies. What on Earth is the purpose of the human species, I sometimes wonder. What are we becoming? How am I complicit? What can I do to reduce harm?
Spiritual teachers through the ages and in many traditions have pointed to the vast consciousness within each of us, usually obscured by our everyday perceptions, opinions and feelings. Called by many names – Holy Spirit, Being, Oneness, ultimate reality, the Unmanifest – sages point to this formless essence that contains and pervades everything. Presence is being alert to it and acting from it. We sometimes experience Presence in moments of stillness, in a glorious sunset, the eyes of a child. For a few seconds, we know we are that. And then it is usually lost quite rapidly as we re-enter the mundane world of traffic, screens, stores, and wars waged in faraway places as well as within. Even so, once we touch its reality, we can never really turn back. And with practice, we experience it more frequently.
Jesus said, “the Kingdom of God is within you,” paraphrasing the Buddha, who taught, “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” There are innumerable doors to this same truth and we can enter through any one of them. Words mean little though, until we experience for ourselves the inner reality they describe.
I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God. – Jalaluddin Rumi
Know that you are your own master, and that you have the power to make yourself free at any moment. – Paramahansa Yogananda
The eye through which I see God is the same eye through which God sees me; my eye and God’s eye are one eye, one seeing, one knowing, one love. – Meister Eckhart
The phrase ‘evolution of consciousness’ can suggest a one-dimensional idea of ‘progress’. There is no guarantee that human consciousness will inevitably ‘advance’. Much remains to be seen. We don’t know yet, for example, what the effects of ecological degradation will mean for the future of our planetary home. Even so, as Life continues here or anywhere in the Universe, consciousness too must continue its spiraling journey. In Presence, we at least have this one precious opportunity to release habits of mind that add to suffering and instead reduce harm and experience reunion with Life. In Presence, no leaf falls in vain. And from Presence, we think, speak and take action free from anger or fear.
It is possible to touch Presence right now. Close your eyes and for the next few breaths listen closely for the furthest sounds you can hear. Focus not on the sounds or their meaning, but the quality of your own alertness. Notice how the ego – the grasping mind – subsides. Unchecked ego is raging out of control everywhere on Earth. In Presence, ego rests, we recognize beauty, relinquish greed and retribution and turn our hearts to service. This is how we access Ageless Spirit and pass beyond the coming storms.
You are invited to explore the ‘doorways’ that follow. If the smallest seed of joy is watered, we have served the purpose of Kosmos.
May Peace Prevail on Earth.
r.fabian
