=kit008.txt

KIT 8 - High Key versus Low Key - Part I

There is a story which Murshid tells of a spiritual teacher and
someone who was placed before his door that told awful, untrue
stories about the teacher. Only those seekers who had eyes to see
the truth piercing through the falsehood recognized the teacher
and came in the door.

Many initiates who were living dedicated lives have now found
their way into the active life, in fact, such seems to be the
overall trend at this juncture. I believe this is the logical next
step, in line with the leitmotif of the Sufi teaching. Many
spiritual groups are criticized for encouraging a drop-out from
real life and making people unadapted to deal with their problems,
and therefore a burden on society. So we are gratified to evidence
that we have had the opposite effect.

Jobs can be challenging and prove to be very time consuming and
exacting, sometimes discouraging and depleting. The family scene
with its joys and cares has its fascination and solace. For women,
it may turn out to be a twenty-four hour chore, with its bright
spots, but very demanding. Those who went back to  school know how
competitive and tedious it can be. Some of the less compatible
couples may have their problems, leading - in the more dire cases
- to painful soul-searchings. Beautiful friendships, when genuine,
prove often to be the saving grace of a lifetime. Otherwise, the
commonplace humdrum middle class existence just falls short of
inspiring the more sensitive or idealistic people to find
fulfillment. At worst, people get burned out and an insidious
sense of frustration may surreptitiously creep into the
unconscious, making people feel that they have failed to fulfill
their highest aspirations, and that life is slipping by.

For those who have previously involved themselves in the
"spiritual process", two options present themselves. For some,
since they have become so inveigled in day-to-day commitments and
have lost touch with their erstwhile spiritual attunement, the
only solution seems to be a brief but radical break from the
active life to the contemplative life, taking leave of the
consuming responsibilities, at least for a few days. This, of
course, accounts for the increasing demand for retreats at this
juncture, by people who  otherwise, in the ordinary rhythm of
their lives, do not find any way of attending classes or doing
their practices. It is then easier to immerse oneself into the
spiritual life in the appropriate setting and with guided
instructions. Some initiates find however, that having now adapted
themselves to the ordinary run of life, they have lost the ability
to reattune themselves to the spiritual pitch. Representatives
particularly, being deeply enmeshed and committed in life, feel it
is an incredible strain to hoist themselves up sufficiently to
meet the demands of guiding others. This often proves to be at the
cost of one's effectiveness in one's job, which may require all
one's energy.

In the more extreme cases, some people are harassed by a burning,
quizzical and unsettling thought:  could it be that I was caught
up in a kind of spiritual mirage and now I am where things really
are (although admittedly, it is devastatingly sobering and low
key, and even rather disenchanting)?  The clue to this enigma is
obvious: when immersed in the commonplace middle range thinking in
which most people have been programmed, one sees things from one's
individual, focalized vantage point. You know, the way things look
from a vantage point is not the way things are, but just the way
they look from that vantage point. Consequently, one's outlook is
one-sided, short-sighted, unimaginative. It is living in a slice
of the multi-tiered universe, and failing to participate in all
the bounty offered.

Friends, we desperately need something to hoist us beyond
ourselves: a strong experience that liberates us from the
constraint of our trite self-image and our inadequate assessment
of life's events and situations. Rather, more than an experience: 
we need a breathtaking awakening into an overview, grasping the
meaningfulness of ourselves in the universe, fulfilling our own
purpose in relation to the purpose of the whole. Is it not an
exciting feature of our gift as humans that we not only partake in
our flesh of the physical nature of the fabric of the universe,
but in our psyche of that very being that is the universe, and
more so that we have access into the thinking, the programming,
the software of the universe?  This is the only thing that makes
sense in life.

           

Imagine that you are a cell within a body, and as you evolve, you
can see your function within the network of functions of the whole
body, and can enter into the mind that programs the body. Thus,
you would fulfill your purpose as a cell by over-reaching
yourself. Since it is so difficult to maintain this attunement in
life, one can well understand why people have sought to drop out
from the workday existence either in the Indian tradition of the
'sannyasin' or by the dangerous drug trip where the experience so
dearly sought is distorted by a chemical stress on the brain. But
neither of these alternatives is satisfactory, since one is
missing out on life with all its challenge, excitement,
fulfillment and attainment. Admittedly, at least in the case of
the sannyasin or dervish, one would at least be high, sovereign,
luminous, peaceful, free. The inescapable answer of our day and
age is obviously the "reconciliation of the irreconcilable", not
the middle way, tepid, undaring, holding back both ways, but to
bring more life and punch and joy, laughter, intent and insight
into life, reinforcing this by an occasional retreat - so long as
the retreat is an occasion for an overview on life - insight into
one's problems, recharging the battery of one's psychic energy and
fostering creativity in one's personality.

After a retreat, one is more able to keep up with one's practices.
One has been re-dedicated. Then, back to life with more zest than
ever!

Be vibrant, alive, aware, life-giving. There is a French motto:
"Reculer pour mieux sauter -  Back up an instant in order to
spring forward more effectively."

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