Spiritual math class

October 28, 2022

   Rise and shine!  Time to wake up! 

If you are to awaken, will that involve learning new material, practices and knowledge that you’ve yet to uncover?  Or rather, will that entail removing obstacles from your perception?

In spiritual work, or within our spiritual journey, do we utilize addition or subtraction?  Do we add knowledge and know-how in order to effectively take away what hinders us?  Do we spend an inordinate amount of time asking questions?  Well, that last one is easy to answer..

I’ve spent a good amount of time on this planet plowing through as much spiritual material as I can.  That includes books, movies, mantras, audio lectures, interviews, kirtans, meditations, pod-casts, and questioning other beings about their experience.  Was this all for nothing?  Is this all necessary?  Keeping with the paradox, I suppose I’d answer ‘no’ to both of those questions.  Huh? 

While I certainly wandered in further on some of these practices than others, it helps me to think of them all as rungs on the ladder I’m climbing.  Maybe that ladder eventually ends where it began, but that’s a different rabbit-hole.  I’m overly curious by nature.  That trait can be tricky if it’s left unchecked given all the trappings of this world, but it can also be useful.  I remember listening to a friend talking enthusiastically about a certain spiritual work he’d read.  My mind kicked in– the answers must be in there!  At last, the cheat sheet for this crooked game!  I then tracked down the text and motored through it like I was prepping for an exam the next day.  The result was usually similar– some of the book resonated, some of it didn’t, and most of it was eventually forgotten as I was busy  pursuing the next item of interest.  Rinse and repeat, if you will.  Not that that there’s anything ‘wrong’ with that.  Ultimately, I love spending time with different spiritual concepts and the chance to look behind the curtain many folks ignore.  Obsessed?  Strong word, but probably not too far off.  Someone infatuated with football will always watch or attend football games, regardless of who’s playing.  Same idea….kinda 🙂  I’ve never had ‘enough’ of spiritual material. 

So here’s the pivot:  Meister Eckhart once said that spirituality has much more to do with subtraction than it does with addition.  Hmm.  I’ve heard the concept of a mopping up process that commences once the Self is realized.  The term used was that ‘this marks the beginning of the end’.  What end?  Perhaps it’s awakening, when you realize you don’t need anything that we think of as real in this world.  As concepts and identities within the mind are removed, isn’t there more room for God to sit with you?  If we empty out the thoughts rattling around our head all day, what remains?  Less obstruction reveals more…..what?  Is a voracious spiritual appetite a precursor to awakening? 

Play with this image in your head:  You discover an old, large portrait in the back of your barn, clearly from another era.  As you periodically visit the picture, you realize most of it is actually obscured by mold.  What little portion of it you’re able to actually see looks beautiful and interesting.  Each time you trek out to the barn to visit the portrait, you bring another tool with you.  First you bring a little light to see by, then a scrub brush, then a bucket of soapy water.  By utilizing these tools, you start scrubbing the mold and thereby revealing more of this captivating picture.  The beauty emerging is incredible,  overwhelming, and somewhat addictive.  The more you see, the more you want to see.  You realize you’re revealing what was there all along, hidden in plain sight… the added tools were essential in subtracting the mold initially obscuring the picture.  Maybe these same tools that reveal the portrait are akin to the books, songs and experiences we happen upon during our journey.  Experiencing the journey through another’s perspective via their work reminds us that others are paddling across the same abyss we are.  What did they find?  What’s over there?  What’s under here?  More nothing?  Yes please! 

What’s your take?  How do you balance what you add with what you remove? 

Peace & Love To All Beings,

Jesse Kells