Outline of “Finders”

Vision and Background - Notes
[ See if it’s your cup of tea. ]

Updated: 
May 16 
9:21 am

Meditation and Going-into-the-Silence

• Extolled in all religions. In practice: neglected or shunted aside.
• “When I pray, I am talking to God. When I meditate I am listening to God” —Francis of Assisi
  We humans all like to be listened to. However, in both daily life and spiritual pursuits... it’s not much of a relationship if it’s a one-way street. —rp
• “Be still and know...” —Psalm 46:10
  Absolutely the most-violated commandment of all. IMHO.
  Simple. Exquisitely simple.
  “Hey, no problem. That’s easy.”
  [Yes — in the same way that making the Grand Canyon was easy: just let water run down one channel for a while.]
  Yet pursue it! Even partial success reaps unexpected benefits. —rp
• “Yoga means the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind.” —Indian sage Patanjali, ~300A.D.
• “The mind is the means of your bondage. And the mind is the means of your liberation.”
  [Where ‘mind’ means all your consciousness: including your heart.]

What is the Goal? Enlightenment? Kingdom? Pearl of Great Price?

• Many names and metaphors - One Ultimate.
• Where is it? “at hand” | “within you”
• “You have nothing to gain. Nothing. You already have divinity as your core. You only need to improve knowing your own soul.”
• “You are not a material being. You are a spiritual being having (for now) a material experience.” [paraphrasing Theilhard de Chardin]
• “...persons who cannot bring themselves to believe in the divinity of any man will behold at last the full divinity of their own selves.” —P.Y.

What is Raja Yoga? Should I be interested?

• Concentration & deep relaxation.
• Interiorization of one’s consciousness.
• Awakening of the spiritual centers in spine and brain.
• Knowing your own soul is the first step in knowing the All.
• We shall seek to make seemingly esoteric concepts plain. Concepts like: chakra, spiritual eye, samadhi, Cosmic Consciousness.

Over the years, students in my classes have raised issues like:

• “I heard about this cool way of awakening kundalini. Sound safe?” [And I’m building a fusion reactor in my basement to save on my heating costs. LOL. —rp]
• “My religious friends say that meditation means making the mind go blank and then the Devil can come in. Is that really true?” [“The critics of yoga have never been its practitioners” —Carl Jung]
• “My body is pretty stiff - can I still do yoga?” [For Raja Yoga? Flexibility of mind is the issue. —rp]

The depth of misunderstanding underlying such comments deserves extensive discussions, not just a few lines dashed off here. That’s what Spiritual Finders strives to provide. —rp