From the Center
Physics denies the existence of a privileged location, theorizing
instead that every point in space is equally the center of the universe.
This radical notion also holds true in the spirit: the center is everywhere.
To be more accurate, though, we should say that the center lies beyond
space and time, so that it touches every point in space and time. We humans
have been endowed with nervous systems whose complexity enables us to
serve as vehicles for the higher energies: consciousness, creativity,
and even love. These higher energies, in turn, confer on us the potential
for a very different relationship with the spiritual center than is possible
for other animals. Unfortunately, we remain largely out of touch with
that core, which lies hidden within us, just beyond the range of our minds
and ordinary perceptions. Spiritual practice gradually unearths and establishes
our relationship with it.
But what kind of relationship can we have with the spiritual center of
the world? Is it possible for God to see through our eyes, to love through our
hearts? In deep meditation, in the silence, we may relate to the center in at
least two ways. In one mode, we can turn toward the center, opening ourselves to
it, letting go the shackles of being centered in our outer selves to stand ever
closer to the true center, to prostrate ourselves in submission to it, with the
whole of our being to beg admission to that hallowed ground, and finally to give
it all up and let ourselves be brought empty-hearted into the Great Presence.
Still, there is another approach: to be from that center, to be
that center. In the deep silence, we allow the purposeful will emanating
from the center to move through us unobstructed. We open ourselves to
the center, letting the center see through our eyes, perceive through
our senses, be through our being. This act makes us whole. The movement
originating from the center strengthens us like a wind at our back, affirming
our steps. That movement through us reintegrates our tiny, personal, yet
important part of the universe with the center, thus expanding and amplifying
the center, the source of all.
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