A Practice of Peace (Tova Averbuch)

[Glory Ressler]

Dear Meg, Eric, and all!
This list is like a great jewel in my heart.
I am fascinated that there are at least three Canadians on this list
(add me!) that have been deeply touched by the work of Neil Douglas Klotz.
I had the great pleasure of participating in a Dances of Universal Peace
retreat led by Neil and others from the Sufi community around ten years
ago. We spent an entire, several hour long, session intoning the mantra
of the Aramaic trans.. of The Lord's Prayer', whilst repeating and, also
co-creating, sacred mudra. We also recreated the Beatitudes and the last
days of Jesus' life in a similar way.
It is very difficult for me to express the impact and significance of
this experience on my life. I engaged with time, space, and place in a
transformed. I was also aware of the individuals, perfectly flawed, that
were bumping into one another, including myself.  I can still draw up
from my body the qualities of openness, flow, compassion (with each
other passionately) and deep peace that attended the gathering. In fact,
it is this recent thread and the specific posts below that have prompted
me to reflect...
I see how that experience was one of the first moments when I felt the
limits of my own openness. The ability to hold space was (is) critical.
And I experienced my personal limitations. This was troubling, as it
definitely didn't fit my idealized self-concept. The essential tension
was activated and I am still (Do you think me terribly slow?) moving
through a resonant iteration of this theme. Trust - the actual living of
it. The more I change, the more I stay the same, it seems  :-)
I also had an experience when,
During a dance where we circled rotating partners within a larger
whirling circle, and sang, 'Come, come, whoever you are. Even though
you've broken your vows ten thousand times before, come, come again.', I
came around to a new partner and was startled to catch a glimpse of ten
thousand souls in her eyes. I was literally jolted into the awareness of
what I saw... it was so shockingly beautiful that I burst into tears. Of
course, as soon as this registered, the view was gone. On another
occasion, my voice altered entirely and I found myself adding strange
harmony to the mantra being sung. My entire body tingles at the
remembrance of these experiences. During a less honourably pursued
altered state, I felt as if I were a cell in the dancing body of the
universe.
A long, long time ago and in what seems a faraway land, I was a
DeadHead. So I'm not unfamiliar with various altered states of reality
:-) Until those moments with Neil, however, I WAS unfamiliar with the
path of moving meditation as a means of accessing them.
I would be interested in hearing of any similar/different, yet related,
experiences of others. Particularly ones concerning
diversity/unity/peace - on or off list, as you see fit.
In a recent email exchange, a friend shared that she 'seeks the
consequences of peace' rather than the state itself. Peace as a verb, a
process. Perhaps if we share our experiences of the sort I mention
above, we can develop our understanding of the 'consequences of ....
(unity/diversity, peace, etc...)'?
Just some thoughts... hoping that I'll get some support for my odd
experiences and be able to connect with others on this level - which for
me currently is a solitary place.
Many blessing and much love,
glory

Eric Lilius wrote:

>I, too, have been reminded of the translations from the Aramaic that Neil
>Douglas Klotz has published. I have had at least two copies of Prayers of the
>Cosmos, both of which I have given away to priests.
>
>
>
>Meg Salter wrote:
>
>>Jeff, Peg and others ...
>>on the unity/diversity topic...
>>I've come across a couple of marvelous books by Neil Douglas-Klotz , "The
>>Hidden Gospel" , and "Prayers of the Cosmos", who translates Jesus' works
>>from the original Aramaic....
>>"Alaha... refers to the Divine... and means variously sacred unity, the
>>ultimate power/potential/ the One with no opposite.. God is based on a
>>German root work meaning good. Goodness may be one aspect of the divine, but
>>is not the same as unity. Goodness does not, by definition, include
>>everything....
>>..wherever we turn... the same message..!
>>
>>Meg Salter
>>
>>MegaSpace Consulting
>>416/486-6660
>>meg.salter at sympatico.ca
>>www.megaspaceconsulting.com
>>

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