Spiritual Tide

Looking out my bedroom window I see corn and tomatoes in a garden, Norfolk Southern railroad tracks, the Conejohela Flats (a protected series of islands and sand flats attracting migratory shorebirds), and across the river on the York County side Long Level Marina.

I’ve taken a couple of bike rides, misjudged the heat of the day and the steep climbing and about passed out. Lots of long squeaky freight trains run during the night and the whistle blows when they are directly below my house. With whistles at 1 or 3 or 5am, I haven’t slept through an entire night yet. To not hear a train whistle is starting to seem strange.

I’ve traded forests for cornfields. There is some forest by the river; everywhere else is corn, corn, corn, and cows. The house is immaculate and a perfect location for me. The neighbors seem friendly enough, but I’m uninterested in socializing. I’m here for my family, the river and the eagles.

Glowing sunsets on the Susquehanna make it all worthwhile (see Susquehanna tab). My first bald eagle sighting came Aug 21, in the Conejohela Flats. The eagle stood motionless on a sand flat, only the white head cocked from time to time. Everyday I stare longingly at the river. Today I go to look at kayaks.

I close my eyes, yet I still see. In the blaze of intuitive perception, I feel myself in all things, in the One Life behind all manifestations. I am not the body, not the mind. I am the consciousness that sustains these.

Underneath my little wave of consciousness, I’m supported by the vast Divine Mind and Energy — it permeates my being. When I feel this vastness beyond myself and within, I know I’ve touched my real Self.

My individual life is only as important as my ability to express the One consciousness.

When I joined Self-Realization Fellowship twenty years ago, I received a metaphysical lesson in the mail every week. The lessons were divided into six steps, spread over four years. For the past three years I’ve been reading a lesson daily. I read through the six steps and then start over again, and every time I do a subtle change occurs in my consciousness.

I just finished step four this morning and this is how my guru summarizes this step:

When you are in attunement with your Infinite Source, you know yourself to be made in His image and in possession of His qualities. You know yourself as a creator, possessing unlimited power, and you realize your responsibility to the Father’s plan. The laws of the Cosmos are the laws of your being. God’s work is your work.

The real devotee consciously accepts God’s will as his own, as the will of all good, so he forgets his little self in the greater Self and finds progress in obeying that will. In having consciously accepted his heritage, he is now aware of a more rapid expansion of consciousness and a preparation for the light that until now would have been too great for him to bear.

This is basically what I’ve been feeling and trying to express, though not as eloquently as my guru. I am receiving more and more light and a feeling of expansion. When I’m able to drop the little self and act as a channel, I feel an attunement with divine will and cosmic law, and every action and thought conform to God’s plan.

The hidden truths of the soul are what I seek. What I’m talking about is the resurrection of the soul from the prison of body and mind. My real self expands beyond the body, cannot be circumcised by the body. This consciousness of the soul is infinite.

Eagle medicine is not only about grasping material opportunities, but also spiritual opportunities. Can I expand my spiritual vision and grasp the opportunities as they arise during meditation? It depends on my determination, my vision, and the wisdom to know which opportunities to grasp. Opportunities come by alignment with divine will and cosmic law — they are self-created. Wisdom also comes by alignment. Wisdom is God’s will working through us for the highest benefit of body, mind, and soul, and in turn the prosperity of others.

And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not….

Soul wisdom is the light of the world; but the world in darkness under the delusion of body consciousness cannot comprehend the light of the soul which shines undiminished within all. We can’t comprehend the light until by self effort our spiritual perception expands. At last through God’s grace and our steady effort, we grasp the sun and resurrect the long buried soul.

To have Me you must commit one hundred percent. If you make this commitment I will lift you into the sphere of infinite light, love, and peace. Surrender your will, and I will take care of the rest.

I’ve never, ever, committed one hundred percent. I’ve always held back a little piece of myself, always nursed a little doubt. But this is not the way to realize God’s presence or feel God’s love, and I want more than anything to feel that love again.

It is no coincidence that I’m moving to eagle territory, the Lower Susquehanna Valley. Daily, I’m reminded to keep my feet grounded, and at the same time let my Spirit soar. Eagle represents the unlimited power of spiritual perception — the all-seeing, ever-expanding, all-inclusive consciousness within. The Real Self, the soul, knows itself to be above the body and the mind, yet fully able to grasp all opportunities using the instruments of body and mind.

I understand now. God has given us free will; it’s up to us to use it wisely. When we don’t use it wisely we suffer. We over-indulge body and mind and neglect the soul. The soul doesn’t want material gain and sensual appeasement, the soul seeks union with it’s divine source — the lost love we all seek.

Earthly life is a test, and we keep coming back until we pass. We pass by turning our will over to God, by faith. When God guides our will we can enjoy all earthly delights without attachment, without suffering.

Soaring above the senses, unattached to the fruits, the eagle gradually gains liberation. I am learning to see as the eagle, grasp as the eagle, and soar beyond sight. Illumination by wisdom, by true knowledge of self, is a disappearing act.