TO ALL
Dear friends,
Recently I received a letter from Europe, a portion of which, with permission, I have copied out for you all. The Letter came as a response to a letter from myself concerning the usual questions about motive and intention. I very much liked what was written, and thus I have asked Barbara to translate this, and then it will be sent on to you all.
« What does being in the Work mean for me ? »
…that I want to learn.
…to remember the breath in its finest form.
…to remember that breath is life.
…to study together and to know the value of this gift.
…to share what we have learnt - not being afraid of passing it on.
…to accept you as a teacher and follow the guidelines you give –no fear of making mistakes.
…to accept and remember that there is Only One Absolute Being.
…to know I am loved.
…the wish and courage to know myself, so become able to know my Lord.
…to have the yearning and the strength to move on.
…to be of service.
…to follow the path of love, compassion and service.
…to come to our gatherings, if possible.
…to write a diary.
…to do the exercises you have given, on a daily basis.
…to remember the beginning.
…to be humble.
…to be open for the essence of the teachings you give.
…to work together.
…
The list is not finished. What can I say ? I want to go on, remembering and living what is written above.
Once you said : Make no compromise. I think there is no compromise. It is not possible to stay in the circle in a « lukewarm condition » - and I was in such a condition. Now, not looking for a new form, but giving space to a new view, to a deeper listening. The yearning is still there. »
___________________________________
There is little that I, personally, can add to these words. I feel they can be looked at, studied and absorbed by us all, and particularly at this time when Chalice is in great need of a deep, mutual understanding of the next steps that might be taken by everyone. Surely that is the purpose of the Meeting in October, an event that I sincerely hope as many of you as possible will attend.
However, there is one point I would like to make, and that is, although our yearning always needs to be strong each and every day, and we need to be reminded of what the Work really does mean for each of us individually, there is also a very necessary task that needs to be worked on, and that is what is, in English, called Mindfulness. The origin of this practise originally came from Buddhism, but now the subject is both discussed and practised in many schools of inner work, and even in certain clinics where it is used to help people to come off addiction, of all types and so those include the many different types of addiction we have within our own egos, personality cults, and emotional identification. And there are so may more ! Here, in England, we hear this word Mindfulness mentioned very often, and there are many books recently written on the subject.
So what IS Mindfulness ? Because of language difficulties I am asking you all to see what you can find out about the subject, whether in books or on websites. It is best if you undertake this task for yourselves, rather than myself giving you various exercises and instructions. Certainly I can say that the practise of Mindfulness will help you in your daily lives, in your level of awareness and compassion, but practised regularly will help to « ground » all the subjects which you have studied. It will help to make sense of things. And it will surely increase your level of real compassion in a very remarkable way. In this practise, for example, we learn to observe, be aware but without any judgement at all. Thus false opinions disappear through the window, and we are more able to face life as it actually is, not as perhaps we think it is, or how we want it to be. Real change can come about rather than the apparency of change when history, and our own peronsal habits and identifications, keep on repeating themselves.
Does this practise mean that we discard all that we have learnt in the past? Does it mean that we start to ignore our studies of Rumi, Ibn’Arabi and others? Certainly not! No, as I have already said, this part of our inner work can only increase in us the possibility of understanding the purpose of Life on earth in a deeper way, and help us come to know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we are all connected, one with the other, in this great Unity.
All the great teachers an Masters have, in one way or another, worked with this practice. As a typical example, in this past cycle we can, of course, include Gurdjieff, P.D. Ouspensky, J.G. Bennett, Pierre Elliot, and so many others the list would be too long to put in this leter to you all.
I pray that this letter will help you, and I wish you all love and encouragement in your endeavours.
Reshad Feild. September 2010