| | | | The Creation Spirituality Lineage Calling All Social and Environmental Activists, Mystic Explorers, Justice Makers, Cosmic Thinkers, Earth Keepers Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox | | | | | | | | | | Watch for Matthew Fox's video meditation -- now appearing every Monday! Be sure to catchMatthew's newest social media channel on Instagram! | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Are We Made For TheseTimes? More Practices from Kaira Jewel 11/13/2024 | | | | | | As the results of the election ripple out, learn the deeper stakes involved. Get your copy of Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election today! Choose your format in the book block below. | | | | | | | | Are we really made for these times? Are we up to it spiritually? What does it take spiritually speaking to be up for times like ours? Can we ground ourselves in practices that work for us while not getting overly attached to any one practice as Meister Eckhart taught? Can we be curious about other ones, whether from our own or other traditions? | | We are considering some practices as laid out by Kaira Jewel Lingo from her tradition as a nun in Thich Nhat Hahn’s community in Plum Village, France, and other places around the world. Here is one: Moving throughout your day, notice the people,animals, | | | | | | | | | Kaira Jewel Lingo reflects on how compassion can be our greatest protection, during an online workshop on “Meeting Times of Crisis with Wisdom, Resilience and Balance”. London Insight Meditation | | plants, situations in your life and silently remind yourself, ‘This is me.’ On seeing a flower or a tree, ‘this is also me.’ Encountering other persons, ‘they are also me. I am also them.’ Another meditation of equanimity in times of distress is this: First, take a fewminutes to feel your breathing and your body. Allow yourself to open and settle, right here, right now…Now visualize yourself in a large, open clearing or field with grass, trees in the distance, and a big sky above. Sitting in the field, bring to mind a situation that’s causing you some distress. Invite the problem that is breaking your heart in the world come with you into the field and sit right next to you. Draw a circle that embraces you both and offer this prayer: May I open to this moment, just as itis. May my heart be at ease with conditions of my life. Repeat each phrase a few times softly. | | | | Lotus flower found in Penshurst Place & Gardens, Penshurst, United Kingdom. Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash. | Now enlarge the circle by ten yards in diameter. How does it feel to experience more space around you and yourproblem? What is happening in your body? Repeat this phrase: | | As much as I would like things to be different, Things are the way they are in this moment. Now enlarge the circle to 30 yards in diameter. How do you feel? Practice this phrase: May I open to the flow of joys and sorrows with understanding and equanimity. Now let the circle grow to encompass the entire field–lots of space. Wheredo you wish to be in the field? Go there. Where is your problem in relation to you? Repeat these phrases or not. Let them go if you prefer: May I open to this moment just as it is May my heart be at ease withconditions of my life. Now sit in the middle of the field again and let your problem be near or far away. Watch the sun as it sets over the treetops giving yourself over to the beauty of this moment. The problem is doing the same. | | You must of course maintain your strength, your clarity, your purpose to resolve the problem, but you do not need to waste your energy in frustration, fear, and anxiety about it. Breathe in the beauty, the serenity of the moment: ‘May I open to this moment, just as it is.’ Return toyour body in the present | | | | | | | | | Kaira Jewel Lingo leads a guided meditation on opening to our Buddha nature, during an online workshop on “Meeting Times of Crisis with Wisdom, Resilience and Balance”. London Insight Meditation | | moment, gently open your eyes and move your hands and feet. And recite this Plum Village song: And when I rise, let me rise Like a bird, joyfully And when I fall let me fall Like a leaf, gracefully Without regret.* | | | | | | | | * KairaJewel Lingo, We Were Made For These Times: 10 Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption, pp.93-97. See Matthew Fox, “Meister Eckhart Meets Buddhism via Thich Nhat Hanh,” in Fox, Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior for Our Times, pp. 35-56. And Fox, One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing From Global Faiths, “From Fromlessness, Nothingness”; “Meditations and Mindfulness,”, pp. 157-170,189-217. And Rev. Matthew Fox and Lama Tsomo, The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity. And Fox, A Way To God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey. AndAdam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision For a New Generation. Banner Image: No separation: meditation by the sea. Photo by processingly on Unsplash | | | | | | Responses are welcomed. To add your comment, or read other comments and enter into dialog, please click HERE to go to our website and scroll down to the Comments field. | | | | | | Queries for Contemplation | | Do these practices assist you to be more present to the crisis at hand in your life and the greater communities’ life? Do they deepen your sense of equilibrium? What other practices do that for you? | | | | | | | | Recommended Reading | | Meister Eckhart: A Mystic-Warrior For Our Time While Matthew Fox recognizes that Meister Eckhart has influenced thinkers throughout history, he also wants to introduce Eckhart to today’s activists addressing contemporary crises.Toward that end, Fox creates dialogues between Eckhart and Carl Jung, Thich Nhat Hanh, Rabbi Heschel, Black Elk, Karl Marx, Rumi, Adrienne Rich, Dorothee Soelle, David Korten, Anita Roddick, Lily Yeh, M.C. Richards, and many others. “Matthew Fox is perhaps the greatest writer on Meister Eckhart that has ever existed. (He) has successfully bridged a gap between Eckhart as a shamanistic personality and Eckhart as apost-modern mentor to the Inter-faith movement, to reveal just how cosmic Eckhart really is, and how remarkably relevant to today’s religious crisis! ” — Steven Herrmann, Author ofSpiritual Democracy: The Wisdom of Early American Visionaries for the Journey Forward | | | | | One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths Matthew Fox calls on all the world traditions for their wisdom and their inspiration in a work that is far more than a list of theological position papers buta new way to pray—to meditate in a global spiritual context on the wisdom all our traditions share. Fox chooses 18 themes that are foundational to any spirituality and demonstrates how all the world spiritual traditions offer wisdom about each.“Reading One River, Many Wells is like entering the rich silence of a masterfully directed retreat. As you read this text, you reflect, you pray, you embrace Divinity. Truly no words can fully express my respect and awe for thismagnificent contribution to contemporary spirituality.” –Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit | | | | | The Lotus & The Rose: A Conversation Between Tibetan Buddhism & Mystical Christianity How can we move away from “us vs. them” thinking as our surroundings feel more divided and polarized than ever? Co-authors Matthew Fox andLama Tsomo discuss how Tibetan Buddhism and Mystical Christianity answer this question from unique points of view, with many commonalities and practical tools to break down the barriers between us. “The Lotus and the Rose is an extraordinary example of what can happen when spiritual leaders from different traditions open up and speak from the heart.” — Paul Chaffee, The InterfaithObserver. | | | | | A Way to God: Thomas Merton’s Creation Spirituality Journey In A Way to God, Fox explores Merton’s pioneering work in interfaith, his essential teachings on mixing contemplation andaction, and how the vision of Meister Eckhart profoundly influenced Merton in what Fox calls his Creation Spirituality journey. “This wise and marvelous book will profoundly inspire all those who love Merton and want to know him more deeply.” — Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism | | | | | Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic,political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world. “Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.” ~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods | | | | | Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election Matthew Fox tells us that he had always shied away from using theterm “Anti-Christ” because it was so often used to spread control and fear. However, given today’s rise of authoritarianism and forces of democracide, ecocide, and christofascism, he turns the tables in this book employing the archetype for the cause of justice, democracy, and a renewed Earth and humanity. For immediate access to Trump& The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election, order the e-book with 10 full-color prints from Amazon HERE. To get a print-on-demand paperback copy with black & white images, order from Amazon HERE or IUniverse HERE. To receive a limited-edition, full-color paperback copy, order from MatthewFox.org HERE. Order the audiobook HERE for immediate download. | | | | | The Return of Father Sky: A Cosmic Mystery for Kids of All Ages The second book in the Father Fox’s Fantastical Fables series, The Return of Father Sky helps boys and girls to celebrate a new relationship with the masculine by way of FatherSky, whose return excites joy and wonder and possibility that enlarge the soul to welcome others and all creation. Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-like style, this full-color, beautifully illustrated book, written by world- renowned theologian Matthew Fox weaves together modern science and classic spirituality in a whimsical, entertaining format to illustrate important truths to readers aged 4 and up. With artwork curated from illustrators around the world, this book expresses the joy and wonderof all peoples and cultures, planting seeds of respect, cooperation and hope to work together for the healing of our planet. | | | | | | | | | UPCOMING EVENTS See Matthew Fox's full calendarHERE | | | | | | MONTHLY: Join Matthew Fox, Mariko Middleton, and Skylar Wilson of the Order of the Sacred Earth in a free virtual meeting for connection and networking with other mystic warriors. Last Tuesday of every month, 4:00-5:00pm PT. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88665302478 Meeting ID: 886 6530 2478 Learn more at www.orderofthesacredearth.org | | | | | | | Join Matthew Fox and Brian Swimme in a free online event hosted by The Shift Network: “Access the Creational Energy of the Universe: Explore the 4 Paths of Creation Spirituality to Revitalize Your Work, Wellbeing & Evolution” Thursday, November 14, 5:30pmPT. Register HERE. | | | | | | | | | Join Matthew Fox, Rev. Nóirín Ní Riain, and celebrated Irish performers Owen Ó Súilleabháin, and Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin in an Interfaith Advent celebration of Irish sacred music and storytelling to honor the varied Festivals of Light and explore the mysteries they reveal. Saturday,December 7, 9:00am – 11:00am PT. Register HERE. | | | | | | | Join Matthew Fox as he discusses his two children’s books, Father Fox's FantasticalFables – In the Beginning There was Joy and The Return of Father Sky in an Our Lady of the Prairie Retreat, online. December 19, 4:00pm-5:30pm PT Register HERE. | | | | | | | Creation Spirituality Conversations | | | | | | | | | Adam Bucko and Kaira Jewel Lingohost a Christian Buddhist Gathering and Talk by special guest Matthew Fox on his book Trump & the MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ: A Handbook for the 2024 Election. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | View this post, video, and more on our website | | | | | | Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox is made possible through the generosity of donors. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation. Thank you! | | | | | | Inspired by this post? Share your insights on Universeodon, Instagram or Twitter using the hashtag #RevDrMatthewFox and tag Matt with @RevDrMatthewFox FOLLOW MATTHEW FOX: | | | | | | | | Did you receive this email from afriend? You can subscribe to our daily meditations via the opt-in box on the sidebar at DailyMeditationsWithMatthewFox.org | | | | PO BOX 424533 San Francisco CA 94142 US Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options