So what do you do when you're scientifically minded, deeply skeptical about religiosity, and mistrustful of holy books, gurus, and other pretenders who unbelievably claim to know all about ultimate divine truth, yet are open to the possibility that reality may consist of more than is evident to our everyday perceptions?
Well, here's what I do. Works for me. Your results may differ.
Before I meditate every morning, I utter my unsacred mantra.
I'm open to:
Whatever...
Whoever...
Wherever...
Whenever...
However....
It's my can't-miss meditation system. I've got all the options covered. No matter what ultimate reality consists of, I've opened the door to it.
Come on in! Or I'll come to it. Whatever...
Which is the first of my open door invitations.
My unsacred mantra is so profound, so deep, so all-encompassing, there's no way I can describe its marvelous nature in a brief blog post. All I can do is scratch the surface of the five unsacred ___ever's through some brief descriptions.
Whatever... Ultimate reality could be a "what." A thing. Like a superstring. Or who knows what? Taoism and like-minded philosophies see the ultimate as impersonal. Could be. That's why I open myself to whatever.
Whoever... Ultimate reality could be a "who." A being. Like god. Or who knows who? Christianity, along with other theistic religions, views the ultimate in personal terms. Could be. That's why I open myself to whoever.
Wherever... Ultimate reality could be anywhere. Right here. Far away. Some place inbetween. Or nowhere. I don't know. Some mystics want to journey to an ethereal spiritual realm. Others find the ultimate in a cup of coffee. Unsure, I open myself to wherever.
Whenever... Ultimate reality could be revealed at any time. After death. In the next moment. Never. There's tales of distant Second Comings and the Power of Now. Me, I enjoy the uncertainty of whenever.
However... Ultimate reality could manifest in various ways. By effort/hard work. By grace/letting go. By some other "how" entirely. Looking within might reveal it. Or looking without. Or not doing anything at all. Being clueless, I embrace however.
Now, I readily admit that my meditation approach lacks any sort of structure.
It's so loosey-goosey, there's no way I'll be able to write a best-selling book about it, go on speaking tours, be admired as a spiritual sage. Which is OK by me.
I'd rather have a 360 degree perspective on ultimate reality walking up to me and saying "hello," or me encountering it, than do what I did for so many years: focus on ultimate reality being a certain way, while ignoring all the other possibilities.
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