We met last Friday to discuss Chapter 7, which is about finding out who we truly are. It is a continuation of Eckhart’s main message about finding our true selves so that we can bring a new consciousness into this world, or at least our small portion of it. He directs our attention to the inner spirit, and to start with a fundamental question asking Who am I?
The interesting point of this question is that we should strip away all the materialistic labels we would normally use to describe ourselves. The labels are just mental concepts, made up by the ego and thus transient and temporary. When we strip these away then what we would be left with is our eternal spirit selves. In his interview with Oprah, Eckhart says to just ask the question and leave it at that, without searching for an answer because any answer would again be only a mental label. We went around the table asking each of us this question, and I think everyone felt they knew the right answer. But somehow it is not satisfying, or complete enough, to say that “we are spirits” or “we are part of God” or anything like that, which implies to me that we value the labels and our external identity. It is certainly very unsatisfying for me to believe that I’m nothing but a spirit, which somehow negates everything I’ve done in my life, or owned, or enjoyed, or even suffered. And that’s where the larger message makes more sense, that my body and my current life is a gift I’ve been given by God. Or, to put another way, that my soul has chosen to manifest itself in a material form so that I may experience earthly life.
This explanation seems more satisfying. Problems in our lives arise when we forget our inner selves and identify completely with our material form only, and it then feeds our ego and causes pain-body, as Eckhart would say. And in this chapter he clearly explains that we are made up of both the form and the formless, the thing and the no-thing. Since our formless self is more important then it is our task to make sure that we recognize it and pay attention to it.
We also had another group member join us in person. It was really nice to have Salmah's sister, Jabeen, who's visiting Chicago and has been a member of our group in spirit from the beginning. Jabeen is a practicing Reiki master and she demonstrated how it works and what it can do for us. Reiki is an ancient Japanese stress reduction technique, and it harnesses the energy that the Chinese call Chi. Chi in turn is related to Indian Yoga, and all of this refers to the eternal life energy. Jabeen showed how the chakras, or energy circles, in us can move an external object, and it was fascinating to watch that. Something about energy being channeled from the ground through the body and interacting with the chakras ... amazing to physically see the life energy that we all intuitively know is there.
Brian also joined us this time and he reminded us again that it's the collective consciousness we raise in our gathering which is really the point of creating A New Earth. The more people gather and reflect on this topic the stronger our consciousness emerges and benefits the larger world,
Another thing about Chapter 7 that I like is the idea about abundance, and the lack of it that some people perceive. Eckhart says that we already have so much abundance, that our formless self does not lack for anything. It is the dysfunction in our material self caused by mental distortions that creates a feeling of lack, or wanting or craving, and thus causes misery and unhappiness. Being spiritually awakened means to recognize the abundance that we already have, and to feel good as a result. Sounds good to me ... :)
Please fill in any gaps I may have missed. Looking forward to our next meeting
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