Creating a Circle of Blessing
January 20, 2020
Consider creating a circle of blessing in the sphere around you that you carry with you wherever you go. I have long practiced walking around my neighborhood, for fitness and to do my practices in motion. Noticing that there was often litter along the way, I began to carry a bag to pick it up. I saw that my neighbors often put their returnables in their blue recycling boxes, and began to collect these, turn them in and offer the money to those in need. I’m still doing all these things, and now practicing offering a silent blessing to the houses and their occupants as I pass, and also to the trees. My method is to flick a stream of energetic blessing from my fingertips, which I visualize crossing the distance to envelope the home.
Samuel Lewis, also known as Murshid SAM, offered an extensive teaching entitled “The Bestowal of Blessing.” I will be sharing these insights, along with my own thoughts and offerings from other sources, in a series of posts here and on the website, www.amberlightinternational.org. Please let me know what your experiences are as we go along.
Here is a quote from Murshid SAM for your contemplation: “The ‘doing better’ of the esotericist then is not tochoose to do some acts and refrain from others; it is doing acts in accordance with heart-feeling and thinking in harmony with heart feeling, so that the heart may become alive. It is this attitude which leads to broadness of vision, to a greater horizon and purer conception of self, a conception which includes something of the not-self in it. In other words, spiritual betterment is concerned with the love aspect of life and blooms in deeds of beneficence; it is greater than morality.”
Creating an Atmosphere of Peace
Creating an Atmosphere of Peace
In the second chapter of his work on the Bestowal of Blessing, Murshid Sam Lewis explains that one may create an atmosphere of peace around oneself by calming the mind, holding thoughts of peace, controlling desires and remaining composed. Cultivating a cheerful or optimistic frame of mind is also helpful, which he describes as emerging from a divine consciousness rather than the gloom that is caused by our ego state. This can be a real challenge in times of turmoil. There are innumerable affronts to our sensitive hearts, constant stimulation of outrage and even dispair. How can we remain cheerful? It is a constant effort.
Some of us are reading and discussing Subtle Worlds, by David Spangler, which reminds us that what we think, say and do permeates our atmosphere and draws to us similar vibrations. Every time we indulge in our righteous indignation and rant about the situation that bereaves us, we are projecting these energies into our atmosphere, and into the larger social context. It’s so easy to do; we feel affronted, we know we are right, we rail against the injustice. By doing this, we accomplish little that can be considered positive or helpful, and instead we participate in the exact thing we wish to oppose! How paradoxical it is, but in the systems of energy that constitute all things, this is how it works.
So how do we manage to cultivate cheerfulness in the face of all evidence to the contrary? We resolve not to contribute to the mental pollution by keeping conscious of the light that we carry in our hearts as spiritual people. We are not just passive beings; we are working to create an atmosphere of peace in the midst of the crowd. This is real and difficult work. It requires constant vigilance and focus, introspection and self-monitoring. It means that we stop and think, moment to moment, and ask ourself, “does what I am about to think and say promote my own peace and that of others?” What am I about to produce and project into my own atmosphere, and consequently, into the atmosphere of the world? Do I really believe that my thoughts, speech and action matter?
If we do, and I hope that we do, we will focus on creating an atmosphere of peace. To do this, we must lessen our attachment to our ego, which may feel soothed and justified by our pronouncements of outrage. Of course, we must notice what is wrong in order to promote what we want to see enacted in our society and on the planet, but we must also refrain from thoughtlessly or unconsciously perpetuating what we oppose with our own energy. So today, let’s cultivate cheerfulness, bringing the light of love to each situation we encounter, and developing in our own way an atmosphere of peace.