I like to spend time each day in sacred space.  Whether it is a space that is set aside in my home, on my property or in a place of worship, I find that spending time in that space is very life-giving for me.  It helps me to live a more balanced existence between the physical and spiritual realms of life.  Oftentimes I will open sacred space no matter where I am by asking for the energy of the divine to enter into the space I’m in – the golden white light that represents the divine source, the energy and blessings that come in the breeze, the cleansing and sustaining energy that comes in the rain and snow, the divine quiet stillness that is offered in the midst of chaos, the energy of newness that is offered with each revolution of the earth, the pure love and peace of those who are with us and those who have gone before us.  I ask that all these energies settle into whatever space I am in hence creating a sacred space.
As I was opening sacred space today, I recognized that my concentration tends to be outside of my self with a focus on “the other” and what is going on around me rather than what is going on within me.  I realized that I open space outside of myself - a space that I and others can enter into rather than a space within my self that I can live out of.  I began to consider what it would look like if I created a space within my self that is considered sacred.  What would it include and where would it be?  What might it look like in my mind’s eye?  So I began to explore this possibility of creating a sacred space within.
I began by considering what energy center might best represent where I hold my divine fire – where my highest self can be found most readily.  For me, it is my heart.  I hold many things there including compassion and love, understanding and patience – those aspects that are indicative of time spent with the divine.  But it is also important for me to have a place that is free from judgment and fear, self-doubt and self-loathing, thoughts of abandonment and a lack of confidence.  I need a place where I feel loved and supported.   I quickly realized my inner sacred space needs a lot of work.  I need to spend time developing this space allowing it to grow over time into the type of space that is truly sacred.  So I began to consider how I might do that.
Just like I spend time in sacred space every day, I need to spend time in my heart space every day.  It is important for me to come to know unequivocally that my inner sacred space can be filled with all the important aspects of the sacred spaces I have created outside of my self.  I need to recognize that I have plenty of room within my self to hold such a space and also that I possess the openness required to allow that space to be filled with the energies that represent cleansing and sustenance, newness and divine quiet stillness in the midst of chaos, the golden white light of the divine, blessings that come to me in the breeze and the beautiful energies of those who are with me and those who have gone before me.  I am capable of holding all this within me and living out of this beautiful space.  Time spent in prayer and meditation is essential for this development.  Allowing my self to be guided by the Spirit is non-negotiable.  Offering my self as sacred space that can be shared with others over time - inviting others to experience that space through my words and actions - is the goal.  I know I am partway there – I do have love and compassion, patience and understanding within me so that’s a start.  Now I need to work on the rest of it – plant a beautiful garden filled with self-love and confidence, trust and hope.

Have you ever had an experience or a feeling that you just can’t put into words?  We search and search for the words that will explain our experience but no words will do.  It is beyond our human capacity to explain to someone else what we felt – what we experienced.  Consider some of these everyday experiences – a beautiful sunset, a spectacular sunrise, waves rolling or crashing on the shore, the buds of trees and flowers in the spring, a lover’s gaze, a starry night, the blue of the sky…  For many of us, these images invoke feelings that can’t be put into words.  We take pictures and videos so we can show others what we’ve witnessed because it is beyond words.  And even then we almost always say that the picture or video doesn’t “do it justice”.   Even those with a huge vocabulary struggle for the most simple expression but it’s just not possible.  No human language can express these experiences and feelings.  Why is that…?
Perhaps it is beyond our human expression because our experience was something other than human.  God’s ways are not our ways and sometimes we have the awesome opportunity to experience God’s ways.  And when we do, it is beyond our human capacity to express God’s ways.  We have had an encounter with the divine; an encounter that leaves us literally speechless.  And these encounters are not confined to just a few of our senses.  Consider the gentle touch of friend in your time of deep need or the sound of a loved one’s voice or even a fragrance that reminds you of a particular moment in time.  These sacred encounters can leave us wanting for expression.  How often have we said that “words cannot express” my gratitude, the peace I felt, my love for…  Sometimes we just have no words because words will just simply not suffice.  No human expression can truly get at the heart of the experience.  Laughter and tears come close but, again, we oftentimes don’t know why we are laughing or crying.  Our human-ness is incapable of expressing our divine - our sacred - experiences. 
I think of the story from the gospel according to Matthew when Peter, James and John witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus.  They saw him in all his divine glory with apparitions of Moses and Elijah alongside Jesus.  Peter fumbles around for something to say so he suggests putting up three tents for these three great men.   But Peter doesn’t really understand what’s going on.  And neither do James and John.  After this experience, Jesus tells his apostles not to mention it to anyone else until a more appropriate time.  What a gift this was for Peter, James and John – to know that they did not have to try to put into words what they had just experienced!  Can you imagine if Jesus had told them to go and explain their experience to everyone they knew?  I can just see them fumbling around for words – talking to each other about it and, because each had a different experience, how it wouldn’t have been very fruitful conversation.  They may have been able to put a few words to what they had seen but to give the actual experience any expression would have been nearly impossible.  Perhaps when they received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and their divinity was enlivened they were able to “speak so all could understand” but likely not before that.
Divine and sacred experiences require divine and sacred expression.  We must dig deep into our self if we are to find this expression and bring it to the fore.  We must allow the Spirit to guide us in this expression if we are to “do it justice”.  When opening ourselves to the Spirit, sometimes “words can express” our experience of the divine.  Just as the apostles were able to “speak so all could understand”, we have the same opportunity if we allow our divinity to be awakened within us through the prompting of the Spirit.  If we are patient with our self, perhaps we will, over time, be able to give human expression to some of our divine and sacred experiences.  Or we can just sit with the knowledge that we have been touched in a special way by the divine – by the sacred…

We are all, at our core, healed and whole; perfect and deeply loved.  When we experience that part of ourselves, we experience the divine…

In my previous blogs, I have written about the divine within.  I truly believe we all have divinity within us – that our very essence, the core of who we are, is divine.  We are all capable of perfect peace and perfect love.  But, how do I tap into the core – the very essence – of who I am; that place of perfect peace and perfect love?  Some find this to be easier than others.  I find it to be somewhat difficult but know that, with practice, it can become easier to do over time.  I believe it is a matter of setting aside my mind and ego, looking beyond my physical self and my physical needs and wants, and looking at what is left because what is left is all that really matters.

When I say “mind and ego”, to what am I referring?  I believe that my mind and ego are what make me who I am as an individual human being.  They hold the emotions that I experience as a human.  My ego dictates my desires to be noticed, known, loved, appreciated, forgiven…  My mind dictates feelings of happiness, frustration, love, anger, resentment, abandonment, trust, loneliness, and most other emotions.  These are all “worldly” feelings – things of my physical reality.  They oftentimes lead me away from deep peace and joy as my concentration lies in the physical realm of my existence. 

In order to set aside my mind and ego, then, I first need to honestly recognize these emotions and desires as part of my physical journey in this lifetime.  What is creating my emotions and desires?  Am I spending too much time with my mind and ego?  Is my concentration solely on my physical self and surroundings?  Not that this is all bad but I must find a balance between concentration on my physical existence and concentration on my spiritual/divine existence.  My mind and ego are attached to and developed within this world -this physical existence - and I need them in order to navigate my physical life.  They help me make decisions so it is important to develop a healthy relationship with them while not spending all of my time with them.

Once I understand that my mind and ego are based in my physical existence, I can begin to set them aside.  I do this by sitting quietly and acknowledging each of my emotions and desires as they come to the surface.  As I acknowledge each one, I ask myself if that emotion or desire is truly serving me and,if not, am I willing to let it go.  Some I will let go of completely while others I will simply set aside for a time knowing that I will engage with them again in the future even though I recognize that they do not serve any good for me.  Each time I work through this process, I strive to completely let go of an emotion or desire that is truly not life giving for me or anyone with whom I come into contact hence becoming more whole and healthy in my physical as well as my spiritual existence.

As I set aside each emotion and desire, I strive to look at what is left.  This is what truly matters because what is left is my divine self that exists perfectly well without the worries of this world.  It exists in a place of perfect peace and perfect love and I can too if I only spend a little time seeking it each day.  Just twenty minutes a day of setting aside my mind and ego results in a very different existence.  Setting aside those emotions and desires that do not serve me and basking in pure peace and pure love – then taking that experience with me throughout my day…  It does not only serve me well - it becomes a positive experience for all those with whom I come into contact.

When we eliminate the unknown, we eliminate fear.  When we eliminate fear, we eliminate violence.  When we eliminate violence, we are at peace…

This used to be my thought on living a peaceful life:
“I desire to live a peaceful life - a life free of violence and fear.  While this is desired, I tend to continue to live with conflict and frustration.  I tend to cling to the life that I know rather than open myself to work toward a life of peace.  I am not sure I know how to go about living peacefully and have the potential to struggle in this lifetime (and beyond) to find that ever-allusive state of being.” 

I no longer believe that peace is an allusive state of being any more than a violent state of being is.  It is how I view my self and the other that will dictate how I live.  When I dispel conflict and violence in my life, I will experience peace.  This is how I think it is achieved:

The root of violence is, ultimately, fear.  The root of fear is the unknown.  To eliminate the unknown, I must take the time to understand the unknown hence it becomes known.  When I come to understand that the unknown is actually a part of my self, I will no longer fear it hence eliminating the conflict it has caused within me.

Violence is often directed to one of two places.  I can be violent toward another individual or I can cause violence to be stirred up within and against myself.  When I do not view my self for my full worth – if I do not take the time to know my deepest self – I remain unknown hence creating conflict (or violence) within.  When I do not view the other for his/her full worth, the other remains unknown hence creating a fear of the other which can lead to violence toward the other. 
What is my “full worth”?  What is the “full worth” of every human being?  My “full worth” - the “full worth” of every human being - is divine essence.  Divinity is at the core of every human being which is what makes all of us the same.  I am created with the same divine essence as everyone else hence I am not separated from anyone.  Rather, I am connected to and the same as all other people.  If I can discover this divine essence first within my self then in others, I will no longer fear my self or others.  There will no longer remain an unknown factor.  Everyone can be known hence no need for fear of the other.  With no more fear there is no more violence.  With no more violence there is only peace.  When I recognize that my divinity is no different than anyone else’s, my life will be peaceful because no one will be unknown.  I will have discovered the one thing that unites all people and I will be able to live a peaceful life.

And this is the goal of all belief systems – a state of perfect peace and perfect love.  This is Moksha, Nirvana, the Garden of Eden, Jannah, the Kingdom of God, Heaven.  Whatever its name, it is the same state of being.  When I seek what unites all human beings instead of concentrating on the differences among us, I will no longer fear the other.  When I no longer fear, conflict will subside.  When I no longer experience conflict, I will be in a state of peace.
 

Next blog: “Recognizing the Divine Essence in My Self and Others”