The holiest place on earth

According to A Course in Miracles, “the holiest of all the spots on earth is where an ancient hatred has become a present love” (T26.IX.6). By that definition, the Holy Land is not very holy, since ancient hatreds prevail regardless of the rightness or wrongness of the reasons. And, by ACIM’s definition, a holy war is impossible. Holiness is love. War is hate.

Many of the readers of this newsletter are spiritual seekers, and like me, are trying to incorporate an authentic sense of spirit into their lives. I’ve received email messages recently from Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson, whose insights into spirituality have influenced millions and millions of people. Marianne urges us to pray and ask to see beyond differences; Deepak urges us to establish a presence of peace where we are.

My latest column on http://www.religionandspirituality.com/ is titled “Making love to the Beloved” (http://www.religionandspirituality.com/view.php?StoryID=20060730-113126-5109r. While its focus is on seeing your spouse as the Beloved, or the embodiment of God on earth, I often wonder what the world would be like if everyone would see everyone else as the Beloved. In truth, that’s what we all are. Mother Theresa knew that. Mother Theresa is said to have looked at sick and dying children knowing that they are “Christ in disguise.” Christ is another name for God’s Creation, which is all of us. It’s a shared Self, and is only known through sharing. One of the songs that’s sung at Shabbos services, L’Cha Dodi, translates to “I am my Beloved and my Beloved is me.”

Steve Bhaerman, a/k/a Swami Beyondananda (http://wakeuplaughing.com/news.html), in his latest Notes from the Trail, cites cell Biologist’s Bruce Lipton’s work about how fear makes people stupid. When people are in “fight or flight” mode, blood leaves the frontal lobe, the seat of higher intellectual functioning, and goes to the reptile brain, which is the seat of instinctual reactions. This makes sense for enhancing short-term survival reactions, but in the long run, it makes for irrational thinking.

Sending love and prayers to the Middle East so sanity can return may have an effect. I honestly don’t know. It doesn’t seem that prayer has worked yet. But remembering our spiritual connectedness right here and right now does work. It also means that wherever we stand is Holy Ground. To stay focused on love, without denying fear, takes tremendous discipline, and yet it’s the only way to thrive during adversity. And I breathe in love and breathe out compassion and pray that all my hatred be converted to mercy and forgiveness.
Namaste,

Sorah Datri (my new Hindu name, as bestowed on me by my guru, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati).