Childhood accustomed me to nature, solitude - a sense of God which needed no explaining. Stillness, beauty, depths of love called my heart back home where it belonged. But life grew out into the world, became possessed and lost the way.
After a few unwilling years in business, I went to South America 'To make the world a better place'. It wasn't so easy. Alone on a mountainside one day, an inner voice said, 'To make whole, be whole'. I realised that, before being able to help others, I first had to work on myself. Once back in England, I looked for and found a source of meditation, which opened up a whole new way of seeing.
How can I best help the world I love? This question led me through organic farming, much travel and many adventures to ever deeper understanding of the Work of Prayer.
I wouldn’t call myself a mystic though some say I am. I’m not sure what it means besides “Not this – not that”. Neither (in a conventional sense) am I very religious. “Mystic” conveys to me a wise unknowing of morning mist with only the promise of a day to come. It’s not an intellectual approach defined by man but trusting, waiting, quietly still before each blade of grass, each little bird (Mat.6,26-28) reminding us of higher, nobler government than ours.
This required attending to the moment “Now”, reminding me how much we live not present, here, but absent, lost in past or future - thought, desires and fear. But isn’t that reality? We need to look and see.
Books:
Wonders of Spiritual Unfoldment
Mystic Approaches
Website: spiritualunfoldment.co.uk
YouTube Channel
Transcript of this interview.
Discussion of this interview in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.
Interview recorded October 13, 2018.
YouTube Video Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction to Buddha at the Gas Pump
00:03:08 - A Wise Unknowing of Morning Mist
00:05:56 - Connecting with Nature
00:10:21 - Finding Connection in Nature
00:15:16 - The Prodigal Son and Straying Away from Nature
00:19:11 - The Power of Silence and Presence
00:22:20 - The Gateway to the Infinite
00:26:08 - Stillness and the Impediments of the Mind
00:29:56 - Transcending the Ego and Accessing the Open Sky
00:34:28 - The Dandi Swamis and Effortless Meditation
00:38:02 - Experiencing Stillness and Spaciousness
00:42:13 - The Limitations of Words and Concepts
00:46:29 - The Fullness of Spirit
00:50:28 - The Illusion of Separation
00:54:11 - The Simplicity of Stillness
00:58:06 - Accessing Stillness in the Midst of Tumult
01:01:00 - The Peace and Stillness Within
01:04:58 - The Expansion of Spiritual Life
01:09:11 - The Absorption of Human Agony and Redemption
01:13:09 - Illuminating the Darkness
01:16:46 - The Journey from Darkness to Light
01:20:25 - The Lamb of God and the Miracle of Grass
01:24:23 - The Suffering and Sacrifice of Nature
01:28:12 - Reconciling the Slaughter of a Pet Pig
01:32:36 - The Nature of Light and Dark in the Real World
01:36:07 - Love and Surrender
01:39:38 - The 23rd Psalm and Christian Teachings
01:42:55 - The Soothing Voice and ASMR
01:46:15 - The Presence of God and the Real Experience
01:49:24 - Understanding Oneness and Unity
01:52:33 - A Chat with John