Aldea Spiritual Community

For the second part of our ZOE series, we explored the idea of a "full" life through the perspectives of presence, "unhurriedness", and the reclaiming of one's attention.
 
Quotes: 
 
Zen Proverb:
"When walking, walk. When eating, eat.” 
 
Ralph Waldo Emerson:
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
 
Lao Tzu:
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
 
Carl Honoré:
“The central tenet of the Slow philosophy is taking the time to do things properly, and thereby enjoy them more.”
 
Eckhart Tolle:
“You are never fully here because you are always busy trying to get elsewhere.”
 
Kabir:
“Wherever you are is the entry point.”
 
Allen Lokos:
“Our life is the sum total of where we place our attention.”
 
Dr. Joe Dispenza:
“The more you focus on the good, the more good will come into your life. Where you place your attention is where you place your energy.”
 
 

On Sunday, we began our new series ZOE (greek for "spiritual life") by exploring the idea that life is about "giving birth to oneself".
 
Quotes:
 
Søren Kierkegaard:
"The function of the ‘bios’ is to be the condition for the ‘zoe’.”
 
John 10:10:
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
 
John 3:3-8:
"Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it’s not possible to see what I’m pointing to—to God’s kingdom.” “How can anyone,” said Nicodemus, “be born who has already been born and grown up? You can’t re-enter your mother’s womb and be born again. What are you saying with this ‘born-from-above’ talk?” Jesus said ....When you look at a baby, it’s just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can’t see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.”
 
Erich Fromm:
"The whole life of the individual is nothing but the process of giving birth to (oneself); indeed, we should be fully born when we die — although it is the tragic fate of most individuals to die before they are born.”
 
Parker J. Palmer:
“Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am.”
 
Carl Jung:
“The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are.”
 
Rumi:
“You were born with wings, why prefer to crawl through life?”

Devin Wright is the Lead Pastor of Missiongathering Bellevue, a progressive and inclusive church in the Seattle area. In this interview, Jake and Devin talk about their friendship, Devin's faith journey, and the idea that everything in the universe is in process.

On Sunday, September 8th, Arlene shared an insightful and inspiring message about the difference between hearing and listening, the spirituality of silence, and how to listen to various aspects of ourselves, including our mind, body, and emotions. 
 
Quotes: 
 
Rumi:
“There is my body, in it an ocean formed of his glory. All the creation. All the universes. All the galaxies are lost in it”
 
Ernest Holmes: 
“Never limit your view of life  by any past experience.”
 
Steve Jobs:
“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
 
Frederick Buechner: 
 “Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay closet attention. They are not only telling you the secret of who you are, but the (divine) may be speaking to you through them  of the mystery of where you come from and is summoning you to where you should go next”
 
Thomas Merton: 
“In a world of noise, confusion and conflict, it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love can blossom."
 

On Sunday September 1st, we reflected on the importance of mantras, including how they function in our lives, and why they have the ability to cross cultural boundaries.
Quotes:
 
Mooji:
"You don’t need to read books to understand God. You just need to look within."
 
Gabrielle Bernstein:
"A mantra is a mental instrument that fine-tunes your inner vibration.”
 
Matthew 7:12:
"This is what our Scriptures come to teach: in everything, in every circumstance, do to others as you would have them do to you."
 
Forrest Gump (Film):
"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get"
 
Wayne Gretzky:
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take"
 
Paramahansa Yogananda:
“Mantras are the creative expression of the voice of silence.”
 
Julian of Norwich:
"All shall be well. All shall be well. All manner of things shall be well."
 
Fernando Sabino:
“If it’s not okay it’s not the end”
 
J.R.R. Tolkien:
"Not all who wander are lost"
 
Om Mani Padme Hum: "The jewel in the lotus"
 
Epictetus: “Don’t explain your philosophy. Embody it”

On Sunday 8/25, Sylvia Skinner shared a timely message about the importance of women supporting and empowering other women. 

On Sunday 8/18, Kathleen hosted a panel of Aldea community members asking the question: "What does "God" mean to you?" 
 
 

As we close out our series "Reality Check", we look at how words like "should" and "supposed to" are beliefs that keep us trapped in how we want things to be. What would it be like to come to terms with - and even embrace - the way things are? 
 
Quotes: 
 
Lao Tzu:
"Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow.”
 
Byron Katie
“When you argue with reality, you lose, but only 100% of the time.”
“I am a lover of what is, not because I'm a spiritual person, but because it hurts when I argue with reality.”
“When we stop opposing reality, action becomes simple, fluid, kind, and fearless.”
 
Genesis 32:24-30:
"but Jacob stayed behind, left alone in his distress and doubt. In the twilight of his anguish, an
unknown man wrestled with him until daybreak.* When the man saw he was not winning the battle with Jacob, he
struck him on the hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was thrown out of joint as he continued to wrestle with him. Man:
Let me go; the dawn is breaking. Jacob: I will not let you go unless you bless me. Man: What’s your name? Jacob:Jacob. Man: You will no longer go by the name Jacob. From now on, your name will be Israel because you have wrestled with God and humanity, and you have prevailed.
 
Eckhart Tolle:
"Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment."
 
Peter Crone:
“What happened, happened and couldn’t have happened in any other way… because it didn’t.”
 
Thich Nhat Hanh:
"Jesus Christ knew that to truly embrace reality, one must accept both the suffering and the joy. His life was a testament to saying 'yes' to the fullness of existence.”
 
Matthew Fox:
"Christ's message is about embracing the whole of creation, saying yes to life in all its forms, and finding the divine spark within each moment."
 
Ram Dass: 
"Everywhere you are attached, you will find a hook to pull you into suffering. Whatever you are attached to, that is where you will be asked to let go. Wherever you are stuck, that is where you are not free.”

For Part 3 of our Reality Check series, we examined the power - and limitations - of words. 
 
Quotes:
 
Hermann Hesse:
"Words do not convey the beauty of the Tao; they merely point to it. The true nature of the universe is beyond description.”
 
Søren Kierkegaard:
"Once you label me, you negate me.”
 
Alan Watts:
"Trying to define yourself is like trying to bite your own teeth."
"The more a thing tends to be permanent, the more it tends to be lifeless. To define something is to limit it.”
 
Rumi:
"Words are a barrier between the heart and the soul; the heart's language is beyond words.”
 
Thomas Merton: 
"Silence is God’s first language; everything else is a poor translation."
 
Philippians 4:7: 
“…the peace of God, which transcends all understanding”
 

For the second part of "Reality Check", we recognized that life is not so black and white, but is actually a spectrum of nuance and complexity. This affects our faith, our connection to one another, and our understanding of the world at large! 
 
Quotes:
 
Lao Tzu:
"The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth. The wise man sees all in the spectrum, not in black and white.”
 
Ed Yong: 
“There is a wonderful word for this sensory bubble—Umwelt… Umwelt comes from the German word for“environment”…an Umwelt is specifically the part of those surroundings that an animal can sense and experience—its perceptual world…a multitude of creatures could be standing in the same physical space and have completely different Umwelten….” 
“It tells us that all is not as it seems and that everything we experience is but a filtered version of everything that we could experience.”
 
Eckhart Tolle:
"The whole is made up of both the dark and the light.”
 
Samsara (Film): https://www.barakasamsara.com/