God/Goddess/Buddha Nature is everywhere, all the time

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The divine is everywhere, all the time, if we slow down enough to notice.

When I gaze in a baby’s eyes, or look at flowers growing out of a stone wall or take time to notice the little cues that hint at the lives and history of people on the underground in the rush hour; or wonder at the beauty of swan, or a large moon in a night sky, I have a sense that life is sacred.

For me, this mainly happens when I slow down enough to appreciate what is around me, and in me. When my intellect is racing away – the mind disconnected from my body – spirituality can only be thoughts and theology.

When I slow down and experience my senses: what I see, what I hear and the feelings in my body, then I feel more in touch with the wonder of the great mystery of existence.

Why bother? A survey of the scientific literature[1],[2],[3] shows that spirituality:

  • increases well-being
  • increases resilience in the face of suffering
  • reduces onset of physical and mental illness
  • reduces mortality (the likelihood of dying sooner rather than later)
  • increases the likelihood of recovery from physical or mental illness

 

The American mystic James Finley, student of Thomas Merton suggests this experience of the divine can happen in many ways:

  1. Nature
  2. Human Intimacy
  3. Solitude
  4. Art
  5. Meditation and Contemplation
  6. Prayer
  7. Spontaneous moments of awakening
  8. Suffering
  9. Healing Process
  10. Philosophical reflection
  11. Scientific Enquiry

 

When have you had experiences in your life that might be described as sacred, holy or of a transcendent reality?

  1. Nature
    Have you had moments in nature, or having been in mountains or by the sea at the end of a long holiday, of being connected to something greater than your own life?
  2. Human Intimacy
    Has there ever been a moment of love, or in lovemaking, when the feeling of opening or union has transcended the mundanity of everyday living?
  3. Solitude
    Have you ever found great peace in solitude on a retreat or in nature?
  4. Art
    Have you ever had a transcendent experience in making art of observing art?
  5. Meditation and Contemplation
    Have you ever meditated and found a great sense of joy or peace?
  6. Prayer
    Has your calling out in prayer, either the great longing toward the divine, or the feeling of being listened to, given you a deep experience of being connected to something greater than yourself?
  7. Spontaneous moments of awakening
    Have you ever had a heightened experience of joy, bliss or being one with life?
  8. Suffering
    Have you ever had such a great suffering that you knew you could not change this on your own, and felt the urge to put yourself and your life in the hands of a transcendent power?
  9. Healing Process
    Have you ever experienced a healing process when you felt some spontaneous grace, or divine gift was at work in the healing process?
  10. Philosophical reflection
    Did you ever have a break-through asking intellectual questions, such has the philosopher Heideger’s questions:
    ‘Why is there anything at all?’
    ‘Why is there something rather than nothing?’
    ‘Why are there beings at all, instead of Nothing?’
  11. Scientific enquiry
    When you think scientifically about nature and the universe, do you ever get a sense of awe or wonder?

 

Buddha nature is our true nature.

It is the pure, luminous awareness

that is always present,

guiding us on our path.

Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

In every particle of creation,

in every aspect of life,

we can witness the presence of God.

His divine energy flows

through everything, connecting all beings.

  Eckhart Tolle

God is the everpresent,

eternal force that sustains the universe.

His love and grace surround us constantly,

guiding us on our journey.

John O’Donohue

You can read more about the spiritual in the second blog in this series: A new dating app for Gods, Goddesses, Teachers, and Saints?

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[1] George, L., Larson, D., Koenig, H. and McCullough, M. (2000). Spirituality and Health: What We Know, What We Need to Know. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19(1), pp.102-116.

[2] Seybold, K. and Hill, P. (2001). The Role of Religion and Spirituality in Mental and Physical Health. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10(1), pp.21-24.

[3] Carmody, J., Reed, G., Kristeller, J. and Merriam, P. (2008). Mindfulness, spirituality, and health-related symptoms. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 64(4), pp.393-403.