TRIUNE OF LIGHT

Monthly Meditation Theme

At the beginning of every month, TRIUNE members receive an electronic newsletter which also includes a seed thought for meditation. If they choose, members are encouraged to incorporate these thoughts into their own daily meditation routines. Meditation themes are usually seasonal and/or address a specific topic or situation needing immediate attention. Please feel free to join us in meditative focus.

March 2012

March feels like an "in-between" time of year. The weather isn't harsh like winter anymore, but the days can't be counted on to be consistently spring-like, either. The hustle and excitement of working on new projects begun in January and February is waning, but we haven't yet succumbed to that laid-back attitude towards work that we all seem to develop in the summer months. While still "cocooned" safely indoors, many people are mentally planning vacation days on sunny, warm beaches or breezy mountaintops. The expectation of again seeing colorful flowers and leaves on the trees, or going outside without hat and gloves leaves us day-dreaming and finding it difficult to concentrate – "spring fever," it's been called. We are "in our heads" half the time…fully engaged neither here nor there.

All seems in a state of flux in March and so, perhaps, it is a good month to revisit the topic of concentration. It isn't so difficult for us to concentrate when we pick up our favorite spiritual book or enter our meditation sanctuary at our usual meditation time. But what about the rest of the day? How easy or difficult do we personally find it to respond to the ups and downs of daily living, all the while maintaining a "spiritual" frame of mind? Does "being in the moment" come naturally during difficult and stressful times? Does it require a concerted effort? Or does it seem to fly out the window in the face of daily adversities, leaving us feeling scattered and out of control?

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection was a beautiful Soul and lay brother of a Carmelite monastery in Paris in the 1600's. He was very poor and, throughout his stay in the monastery, he always seemed to be relegated to the jobs no one else felt like doing. He is quoted as saying the following about his situation:

The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in a great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.

Often referred to as the "kitchen saint," Brother Lawrence, though not a saint in the "official" sense of the word, is greatly revered by Christians for the ability he possessed to find the spiritual in the simplest tasks and to give those tasks as much of his whole-hearted attention, devotion and joy as he gave to his time of meditation and prayer. How wonderful and fulfilling is this ability to maintain our connection with our Higher Selves at all times and amidst all types of circumstances, like Brother Lawrence was able to do. We can try to emulate Brother Lawrence: to maintain at all times, particularly during our busy work days, our connections with our Higher Selves -- to "stay in the moment," performing every action, no matter how mundane, with a sense of divinity and joy, our spiritual gift to the world.

February 2012

Here in the United States, February is the month when the Valentine's Day holiday is celebrated -- February 14. It is a day when people remember those they love. While Valentine's Day centers around the traditional view of personalized, sentimental and romantic love, we in TRIUNE are concerned with the more far-reaching, more universal type of love -- the sacred, Divine, all-encompassing love that far surpasses the idea of love in the mundane sense. It is unconditional, unselfish love for all that exists in the universe, a powerful and healing energy, recognizable by a magnanimous warmth of the heart, untainted by personal motives.

We attempt to work with this Divine energy, which Helena Roerich called "Love, the Unifier."

As an ashram of synthesis, one of our tasks is to try to heal the wounds of division that the human race currently experiences from a lack of unification. The energy of Divine Love is the tool for this job. In both our mundane, physical lives and also during our meditations, we seek to contact this Divine energy, "bathe" in it, and then touch others with it...a soothing balm for all humanity's ills and sorrows. We have many, many opportunities every day to do this with everyone with whom we come in contact, either physically or at a distance. By the manipulation of the magnetic energies of Divine Love we can heal suffering, increase Light and bring real change to the planet.

In a letter to one of her students in 1936, Helena Roerich said the following:

Let all those who seek Light and who are overburdened by grief find response in your heart; and let all those who have gathered under your guidance feel that heartfelt sympathy which warms one. . . One should learn to penetrate into the consciousnesses, the hearts and moods of all those who surround and come to us. It is necessary to feel the fundamental undertone upon which one can be united with them and unite them with others.

When we work from the heart, much can be accomplished. As Helena said:

If the great magnet of love lies in the heart, everything will be made easier, since the sincerity of this feeling can conquer the most hardened hearts.

JANUARY 2012

There is much discussion among people right now about the possible scenarios which will play out in this spiritually important -- and some say "volatile" -- year of 2012. Emotions are running the gamut from fear to elation, and ideas about the year's outcome range from global catastrophe and destruction to worldwide spiritual enlightenment. With so many voices clamoring for our attention, it's difficult to know where to focus. In this month's periods of meditation, let's try to gather as much information and understanding as we can from the higher spiritual planes and our guides and teachers -- the blessed Beings who watch over the progress of humanity -- and, of course, from our own Higher Selves. And let's try to do this with as much calm, clarity, reason, stability and neutrality as we can muster.

We are an Ashram of Synthesis, practicing inclusiveness and respect for all traditions. Therefore, as a seed thought for meditations in January, we have chosen a quote from a booklet of daily devotional readings published by a fundamentalist Christian, Amish/Mennonite organization. The following excerpt (ignoring the gender-exclusive language), from an entry entitled "God's Answer for Discouragement," is really rather beautiful in its simplicity and humility and a helpful starting point for a new year:

It is good to spend time every morning reading God's Word and asking Him to be with us throughout the day. Then let us be spiritually minded as we go about our daily work, remembering to always seek God and His righteousness. Our thoughts develop our character, so we must be careful what we think. Philippians 4:6-7 tells us not to worry about anything, but to make our requests known to God. He wants to help us and encourage us if we come to Him with open hearts.