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She will look at some of the different cultures that she experienced last year while travelling with her family across the globe; how these cultures impacted on them, and how each culture can enrich one’s Personal Truth, at the same time strengthening one’s core practices and beliefs. Following on from this there will be an open discussion and exchange on how we, as ordinary people, can bring the sacred into the practice of our daily lives.

1 How DO you find the sacred in daily life?
2 How do you decide WHAT is sacred to you and what is the meaning of sacred anyway?
3 If you’re struggling with daily living, how do you find the time to not only define the sacred but then make it a part of your life?

This is the Oxford Dictionary’s definition of sacred
1 connected with a deity and so deserving veneration
2 holy
3 (of a text) embodying the doctrines of a religion
4 religious rather than secular
5 Consecrated or held especially acceptable to a deity
6 Dedicated or reserved or appropriated to some person or purpose
7 Made holy by religious association

Sacred for most people means connected with religion, and with a God, deity or a person. As well as this the God or person deserving veneration is assumed to be outside of oneself rather than an internal process. Things or actions outside of the person rather than feelings, emotions or sensitivities within the person.

MY DEFINITION OF SACRED

Recognition of something or someone where one or more of the following is experienced 1 awe,
2 wonder,
3 beauty,
4 creation,
5 inspiration
6 love
7 inner truth
and
that is beyond words
that can only be truly understood through feeling and emotion rather than logic, science and intellectualisation, and
where the ego and the physical body are neither dominant nor controlling
the great Ah Ha!

Sacred - Religious - Spiritual

I think that before looking further at finding the sacred it is really important to distinguish between religious and spiritual in this context, as I’m veering away from religion and towards spiritual for this evening.

One assumes that sacred means that whatever it is has a religious significance and is also perhaps very old books, texts, pictures, relics. People revere the object or thing or deity. There is usually a set of rules about the hierarchical value of the item. And also what constitutes sacred and religious or heretical.

I believe that religion tends to narrow and confine ones ideas into an adhered to set of beliefs. One can be limited by a religion because if you go beyond the boundaries of the religious practices or thinking you can be persecuted or excluded.

One can be a truly spiritual person and never have crossed the threshold of a church or mosque or synagogue. However many religions have daily spiritual practices. Whereas a Hopi Indian from North America for example can have a daily spiritual practice that is not religious, but that might well be considered heretical or satanic by some religions.

Here are some dictionary definitions of religion and spiritual

Religion

1 the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods 2 a particular system of faith and worship 3 a pursuit or interest followed with devotion

Spiritual

1 relating to or affecting the human spirit as opposed to material or physical things 2 relating to religion or religious belief. 3 Of spirit as opposed to matter; 4 of the soul as acted on by God 5 of or proceeding from God, holy, divine, inspired 6 having the higher qualities of the mind; 7 concerned with or based on the spirit

Spiritus - Latin - a breathing, breath; also - “the breath of life’ or ‘breath of a god’
Uno divino spiritu contineri - by a divine inspiration

I find it fascinating that Maori in their practice of Hongi - sharing of the breath - fulfils the definition of spiritus to a ‘t’ particularly when looked at from the point of view that God is found within not without.

So much that passes for ordinary life is, when seen through different eyes is not ordinary at all, but full of potential for spiritual learning. To practice finding the sacred in everyday life means to confront every situation as though it were a profound spiritual question.

Everyone has a very different idea of what is sacred and that is a good thing. You can’t be wrong, because it is totally personal to you. If it gives meaning to your life and helps you in your life’s journey, then it doesn’t matter if you find something sacred at the opposite end of the spectrum to your neighbour.

On Sunday afternoon Simon and I were walking on the cliffs at Long Bay. I was thinking about this evening and planning in my head some of the things I was wanting to say, one of them being when you walk along, whether it is for necessity or pleasure, where possible, don’t look down to the ground, look to the horizon. Look up - look towards the horizon. At this point I was looking down at my feet as it was very slippery thinking - easier said than done. ‘Do as I say, not as I do’.

At the same time, Simon said ‘look up’ and pointed to the sea where we saw a pod of about 15 - 20 dolphins swimming at speed through the water. It was an impressive sight because the water was very calm and looking down on them you could hear them very clearly and see their wake. The dolphins slowed down and started feeding, at the same time the sun came out, a rainbow appeared and the whole scene was just beautiful. Now for me that was a special moment, a “hit you in the guts” sacred moment. It had meaning for me personally. Now for a fisherman that sight may well be another day at the office and he might never give it a second thought.

How about the less attractive face of the world? What we perceive as ugly, unattractive or unpalatable whether it is animal, vegetable or mineral? Now judging something tells you more about the person doing the judging than what is being judged. If you are a skunk I’m sure your fellow skunks don’t think you are particularly smelly, they might even think you smell pretty good! It all depends on your personal world view.

For some people female circumcision is beautiful for many others not. For some being fat is good, for others not. Graffiti is usually a work of art and sometimes a very good work of art but usually on a particularly but not always unattractive building. Graffiti amplifies the lack of attention that has been put on the building or the area. Homeless people, rubbish on the streets, violence in our society, all reflects our lack of attention. When we have lost our sense of the sacred it reappears in a negative form.

It is much easier to find something sacred or special that has meaning for you if it is outwardly beautiful. Although beauty is subjective, there is a common ground on what most of us at least think is beautiful. But sacredness doesn’t have to be found in things.

I asked various friends about what they found sacred. Here are three answers which I am going to read to you.

Friend 1. A Maori Healer from the Hawkes Bay

What do I find sacred in daily life and how do I recognise it and work with it?

To begin with it's astonishing that we have got to a place in our existence where we are asking this question. I'm saying that I personally recognise that whenever we stand back and witness what our thoughts, words and deeds are, it is that moment, when we are looking at who we think we are. We are in, and experiencing being the sacred.

There's a saying that was/ is used when any truth is read from the Upanishads. It is "Neti neti" which means, "that was/is not it" because truth is beyond words.

Whenever I feel that calm peaceful place inside of my being, that is the sacred I'm experiencing. That is my reference point, that feeling that brings a glow to my eyes. That glow that I can see in another. It may be the shopkeeper with the smile and the glowing eyes.

When I'm out in Nature away from the hustle and bustle, it may be a lake. I can sense and feel the peace of the place but I also know that I could not know that peace inside, unless it were in fact Me.

How do I work with it? The question is not quite right. At least how I'm interpreting it it's not. (Having said that, I'd say the intuition will tell you, the feeling, the Divine in you). It doesn't have to be seen to be working, to be seen to be making ripples. To be worked. It's how land is viewed from the eyes of colonisers, if it's not SEEN as being used it's useless so we might as well take it off them. I like to simply feel the Joy, BE with the beauty of nature. It could be anywhere in fact, but the key to fulfilment, to healthy living, is claiming that feeling, our birthright. Literally overflow with the love, the Divine that is who you are. Love has no other need but to be itself.

Now if I want to work it? (outwardly) Someone may come to me who is in need. There may be very little I can do outwardly but by recognising the Divine within them through a non-judging presence, I am sharing or working with the sacred in my life. It's a very subtle thing though because we can get in the way of ourselves in ‘the wanting to help’ mode. Then we become no help at all.

It's strange to intellectualise it. It's like getting "trapped in the crap". I just had a cuppa with Jody and told her what the question is I've been answering. She said to me go and feed the ducks.

Friend 2. A 62 year old Scot, who is anti-church and religion.

“Now that’s a poser that one. No one has ever asked me that before. A loving touch from my wife as she walks past me in the house or garden; a smile of delight from a friend when you ask how they are (because you genuinely want to know how they are feeling). Being in nature. Feeling sad for the trees and plants when they are cut down for building. It feels like there is no respect for the land and no recognition for the time it took for them to grow. The land is sacred to me, the natural beauty in nature. There is something so special in that, that is beyond words. It is a feeling that I can’t describe or put into words.”

It is a feeling that I can’t describe or put into words. It is a ‘knowing’

Friend 3. a middle aged man who dislikes much of what the church has to offer, as it shows God as vengeful and unloving, and because the church uses fear to keep control over its flock not love despite what it purports to offer.

Community, the connection with people and places through intimate relationships, time spent in close company so that when you leave and return you are welcomed back as part of a wider family rather than just a specific one. To be loved for who you are, not what you could have been; for what you have achieved rather than the failures; for what you still have to offer. For the people to people connection rather than the monetary one.

The slides are divided into two halves; the first being religion, religious structures, people or art, the second being sacred (from my point of view). The sacred slides are the things that impacted on me at an internal level where words were often not enough to be able to describe the things that I found that affected me.

SLIDE SHOW

Having looked over my choice of ‘sacred’ pictures I realised that they were definitely divided into three areas -beauty of animals, the patterns and forms found in nature (more artistic) and the people I met. Of course the pictures of people don’t show the relationships or heart connections that were made.

These pictures reflected the ultimate beauty in nature as seen in the birds and animals - e.g exquisite plumage in birds, design or form of the animals such as the caterpillar, the depth of humanness when looking into the eyes of an orang utan, the ‘artistic’ design of landscapes some man made - like rice terracing, some natural - mountains, and then lastly the people connection. Even when we couldn’t speak a common language, the body language, smiles, handshakes, the glow in the eyes, the gratefulness of helping someone who has less these transcend the barriers. People are so similar all around the world, we all want the same things, a bed, food on the table, shelter for the night, security. Matt’s comment - about this.

The positive impact of culture on the spirit of the family when travelling

I’m going to look at three instances where the different cultures have had a lasting impact for me.

Throughout Asia and more particularly Nepal, the most common daily practice is ‘Namaste’ or ‘namaskar’ when meeting friends or strangers - bowing with hands held in the prayer position. Namaste means “the God in me sees the God in you”. Namaskar is the polite/respectful form of namaste. In Nepal where we spent 2 ½ months, (and my husband nearly 5 altogether) we said Namaste many times a day. In the morning when we first got up, walking down the street passing strangers, to my class students. It is used as a hello and good bye as well as goodnight. At first I felt uncomfortable using it because it seemed so alien and it felt like I was pretending. But I grew with it, it became ‘normal’ but I never felt it was mechanical or automatic because it actually came to mean something to me. It didn’t wear off I had moved beyond my limitations of language to something deeper.

When in Turkey we visited the Blue Mosque in the centre of Istanbul. It is the most magnificent building, with beautiful decoration. It is also a mosque that is much more tolerant of tourists and their occasionally poor behaviour because it is a major tourist attraction. They also have very good guides who help you understand the history as well as the religion of Islam. We stayed behind for lunch time prayers one day which lasted about 15 minutes. It was a wonderful experience. It is a HUGE mosque, and yet the total silence during the prayers was incredible. You could have heard a pin drop even though the floor was covered in the most beautiful carpet. The whole movement and swish of clothes and bodies as the men got up and down was really special. There was real community, commitment and unison in their actions.

While in Arizona I spent time on Navajo and Hopi reservations and taking part in some of their spiritual and sacred rituals. As well as this we went to various houses. One of the things that struck me the most was that every part of everyday had a sacred element to it. It didn’t matter whether it was getting up in the morning and singing to the sun to welcome it, or planting corn, cooking a meal or weaving a mat for the floor or having a celebration such as their autumn festival. Everything was done with deliberation and thoughtfulness. The dancing we saw at one of the festivals was undertaken with serious faces even by children as young as 5 or 6, because the dances were prayers.

Even the weaving had a meditative feel to the process, partly because of the repetitive nature of the work but also the story and history in the designs which the weaver contemplated while weaving. Quite a large number of the families were split up from the reservation, where members are working away not only from the local towns but over the borders into other states so that they earn enough money for the families so that the families can concentrate on working with the land from a sacred/spiritual point of view. Prayers of gratitude, thankfulness, for balance of the land, for rain, cleanliness.

The Navajo and Hopi have sweat lodges for their members who are returning from US military operations. These lodges take place outside of the reservation and the members are not allowed on the reservation until they have had a day of decontamination which includes sweating out the ‘bad’ parts, prayers said for the people they have harmed, killed, hurt in anyway, prayers for forgiveness as well as prayers for the spirits that have guided them.

The Navajo and Hopi, like many others recognise the total connection of themselves to the land and the elements and how, unlike the white, Western approach of ownership, domination and control they are a small part of a greater whole and are guardians of where they live rather than owners.

Finding the Sacred

For many of us, if we go to a church or temple, it is a once a week affair and what happens the rest of the week may not have a particularly spiritual or sacred connection or significance.

Finding something sacred and the spiritual practice that results from that is something that we DO initially. Finding the sacred is a Spiritual Practice. It is an activity that changes us inside, that reverberates the soul.

Spiritual practices such as Catholics crossing themselves, Jews keeping Kosher, Muslims fasting at Ramadan and Hindus lighting incense sticks are embedded in daily life and are easier to describe than define, they are easy to see. These practices are part of their religious identities. Others may feel alienated by the practices because they seem hollow and mechanical.

The true intent of finding the sacred through a spiritual practice is, not about mechanically obeying the rules but, developing awareness of the sacred.

In your spiritual life you are self employed - set aside that you work for someone else - the knowledge is within you. The world is full of spiritual opportunity to connect with the sacred - the trick is to be alert enough to notice it.

Regardless of how outwardly successful we are, our spiritual life determines the kind of person we really are

Finding the sacred in daily life is difficult for most of us because we are surrounded by the worries and issues of a job, feeding the family, paying the bills and lack of time - usually quality time. Many of us feel pressured to perform to societal norms and expectations and find it hard to step outside the boundaries of those norms which can be constricting.

When we look at the difference between finding the sacred in a religious setting and doing so in daily life, being in a monastery seems rather cushy!

Lets compare the differences.

Monastic Life	V. ‘Real World’
security	survivcal issues - daily bread
certainty	lack of routine
regularity	religion on a specific day of week
determined	uncertainty of future
normally in peaceful surroundings	noise, turmoil, disruption
coherent community	lack of community and support

The workplace and the spiritual world are at extreme ends of the spectrum. The workplace values competition, technology, efficiency and profit. The spiritual world is about meaning, wholeness, connection and co-operation. But the jobs are performed by people each of whom beneath the veneer of rank, title and status share the same fundamental desire for purpose, meaning and a life that contributes something of value to the world.

Characteristics of Work - universal contemporary belief system
1 travel
2 perform a task for financial reward
3 interact with people in an environment where power is unequally shared
4 job performance is measured in some way
5 you compete with others for rewards
6 quit your job
7 lose your job
8 life outside your job

Contrast this with

Life of the Spirit - working with the Sacred in daily life
1 We’re not in competition with anyone else for spiritual rewards.
2 How well or badly we do is beside the point
3 We honour and appreciate all people including ourselves for their intrinsic humanity
4 We care for others
5 We share and are generous
6 We forgive
7 The world of spirit is not a matter of bonuses, promotions or awards
8 Advancement in the job is not the point
9 We’re already whole and complete just as we are

You may find it difficult to find anything innately sacred or spiritual in the work you do. This is not because it is lacking, but because it is concealed.

How are we going to make this connection?

I suggest that the first thing we need to do is to raise our awareness of our surroundings, of everything about us.

We can do this by observing, listening and feeling. We literally need to watch, listen to and feel our actions and our thoughts. Sometimes we also have to see things from a different point of view, changing our thinking about the things, people or events that we come across.

In my sacred slides the dominant features are people and nature and they are very positive aspects of them - happy smiling faces, beautiful places. What about the fact that it can be very difficult to find the good and sacred in someone you can’t stand at work?

Looking at an average working day, the opportunities to find sacredness or even positive points at time can seem very limited when for example you are sitting in a traffic jam, you have a difficult boss or colleague to work with, the computer system has crashed, the school ‘phones to say little Johnny is sick, and the work that you were promised hasn’t arrived.

When all this is happening how on earth can we find something that is shining above the rest?

Some examples.

You are walking through a derelict run down city area that has rubbish, broken bottles, weeds, graffiti smashed windows - you might not feel very safe and the whole place looks unpleasant. The thoughts go through your mind, why does someone do something about this? Why isn’t the council doing its job? How can I find the sacred in this sort of place? And then you look down and again you see the weeds. But this time you see them in a new light. They are flowering, the light is on them, you see the bright colours of the petals and the perfection of their shape even though it is ‘only’ a weed. That weed is bringing beauty in its own way to the surroundings.

Take food for example. Do you grab a sandwich at lunchtime and eat on the run, or eat sitting at your desk surrounded by paperwork and phones? Do you eat the food without thinking about the taste or quality? Have you just finished the sandwich and not really noticed that you eaten or even enjoyed it. Drinking a cup of coffee or tea, finishing it and then putting your hand out for another mouthful to find the cup is empty and you hadn’t realised nor had you had the enjoyment of the refreshment. This is living in a vacuum.

OR do you take yourself away from your work environment so that you can eat your lunch in peace, enjoy the taste of the food, appreciate the time you have given yourself, maybe sit outside in the sun in a local park or at least away from the office. Thinking about each mouthful, being grateful that you have the food, for the people who laboured over making it or who grew it. Seeing the beauty and colour in a piece of fruit, feeling the texture, the smell, the juices, acknowledging the good it will do for your body.

Sitting in a traffic jam, what can I do when I’m surrounded by fumes, I’m late, I’m going nowhere fast? How can this time be put to good use so that I benefit from actually being stationary on Highway 1?

What about some breathing techniques, meditation techniques, affirmations to start with. Is this finding the sacred - to some maybe not, but it might well help to keep you from losing your rag later. If you sit in a traffic jam everyday at a similar spot make good use of it. 5 minutes awareness breathing on a daily basis has a long lasting positive effect. Better than an hour once a fortnight. Remember spiritual practice in finding the sacred is all about practise. Listening to some soothing music and finding the beauty in that after a few minutes awareness breathing can also create a space in your mind that allows more positive thoughts to come in.

There is a difficult person at the office either a boss or a colleague. They might make your job hard to perform, they might put you down as a person, may be they are angry or dominant or controlling. Finding something sacred in them can be difficult even on the best day of the week. How can you find something sacred in them or that situation?

This person whose actions and behaviours upset or irritate you can be used as a learning tool. Look at them from the point of view that they mirror your own weaknesses, fears, beliefs or worries. They are the parts of you that you dislike. Their behaviour can help you to re-examine your own. This point of awareness can be a sacred moment, a moment of inner truth. The great ah ha!

Being aware raises all sorts of issues, but it also helps you to grow as a person. A sacred moment doesn’t have to be purely a point of enjoyment of a beautiful artefact it can be a tool for learning.

Even when everything seems against you, you feel that you have nothing special in your life as a person or to offer other people there is always an element of the positive, the sacred, the special. Sometimes you just have to look for it. And the more he looked, the more it wasn’t there.

You can’t do that? OK so work is awful, you have debts, you are struggling in your relationships and you wake up feeling that it is impossible to find anything at all. Start looking at what you DO have - well in my case I have two ears and two eyes that work. I can walk about. Many people don’t have one or more of these abilities often through no fault of their own. Now is the time to start feeling gratitude.

Yes, I have my health, I can speak and hear and walk. I have the choice to start over this very minute even if I have nothing else I can start over. Yes I’m lucky - this is a sacred moment, a moment of awareness and Truth and understanding at the most basic level. Is it religious? No. Is it spiritual? YES. Is it sacred? YES. It is a moment of Inner Truth that has meaning for my personal life. I can choose to start again from this very moment.

Why is it that Kiwis are so nostalgic about their summer holidays at the bach? Is it because the simple life, without the trappings and worries of day to day give rest to the soul, and spirit? The old baches contained limited equipment and few amenities where the family were living at a much more basic level of life. Chopping wood for the fire, heating the water on the old wood burning stove, maybe no electricity, spending hours at the beach or in the bush totally in touch with a more natural order of things.

We can find ourselves in such simple and forgotten things because when we disallow the soul to the simple things around we lost that important source of soul for ourselves.

Jung said - why not go into the forests for a time, literally, sometimes a tree tells you more than can be read in books.

Sacredness means it has a connection with your own Soul, your Inner Truth, your Higher Self. It is something that has an impact on you at the most basic as well as the most profound level.

The sacred doesn’t have to be found in a thing it can be an action. A loving touch, a smile, unasked for help or a gift, some spontaneous help that is given willingly and without any repayment, either monetarily or in kind, attached.

Whether it is given or received by you is irrelevant but the actions and the manner by which it is performed can make something ordinary and turn it to something extraordinary.

The finding, acknowledgement of the sacred provides you with a point of ‘momentary seizure’ where you feel the soul and that feeding invites a form of inner contemplation.