We'd like to encourage anyone who may be interested in attending our upcoming introductory weekend online retreat, July 28 - July 30. We find the most successful way to build a strong practice is to come to retreats. We would love to see you there!
This week we cover five names of the Lord as we read pages 28–34 in The Constant Companion,* including The One and The Many. How is the Lord both one and many? “This apparent paradox is the result of looking at the same reality from different points of view.”
This point is fundamental to the Thousand Names, and we see it in several of the names this week. For example, Easwaran explains that in the climax of meditation, when we discover this Self in the depths of our consciousness, “at that moment we see the Lord in every other creature as well. These are not two different discoveries, in other words; they are different aspects of the same realization. To find out who I am, then, is to find out who you are – and who everyone else is, too.”
Is there a tip in this reading that is particularly challenging for you? How will you wrestle with it this week?
As we read The Constant Companion, we are working to strengthen our practice of Spiritual Reading via reflection. This week consider how these stories are speaking to a loving relationship in your life.
For a spiritual treat this week, here is a brief video in which Easwaran draws inspiration from the great mystic poet Kabir.
* For those using electronic versions of The Constant Companion with different page numbering: this week’s reading is Easwaran’s commentary on the names The Support of All Creatures through The Many.