Methods of Contemplation

धमाधमसुखं खं मानसान न ते वभो।
न कताऽस न भोताऽस मुत एवास सवदा॥६॥

dharmādharmao sukhaṁ duḥkhaṁ mānasāni na te vibho, na kartā’si na bhoktā’si mukta evāsi sarvadā.

Virtue and vice, happiness and sorrow are all attributes of the mind, not of yourself, O all-pervading one! you are neither the ‘doer’ nor the ‘enjoyer’. Indeed, you are ever free.

—Sage Ashtāvakra

Rather than only seeking comfort from your conception of God to console you, what if you saw your suffering as God’s suffering in you? What if you sought not simply to be consoled, but to console? What if you sought not just to be held by Spirit, but rather to hold THAT in your mind and heart and speech and action. What would that look like?

What if we could get comfortable with discomfort by engaging not out of fear, but out of love?

(Taken from spiritual direction conversations)