Awakening Series: Bubbles & Bricks: How Can You Open Your Eyes? by Rev. Michael McGee

Bubbles & Bricks: How Can You Open Your Eyes? by Rev. Michael McGee, May 3, 2009

         Are you awake yet? I hope so since this is the ninth and last awakening sermon of the year. It's your last chance to wake up, so don't miss the boat. During this year we have urged you to awaken to your wholeness, your deeper self, truth, peace, suffering, happiness, goodness, and your sense of purpose.

         The two hundred or so people involved in covenant groups have had the opportunity to be in conversation about all of these topics. You can tell who they are because their eyes are about twice the size of everyone else's, and they have a beatific smile on their faces. I would like to recognize all of the facilitators of covenant groups as well as the covenant group steering team for their spiritual leadership this year; could you all please stand? And could all of you who have been in covenant groups this year please stand?

I'm sorry to say that I'm not handing out certificates today that say, “This person is an awakened, enlightened, and transformed human being.” If you've learned anything this year it's that becoming a more conscious and aware person is a lifelong practice – unless you are a Buddha of course. But it even took the Buddha many difficult years.

         This morning we celebrate Wesak, the Buddha's birthdate, as a way of opening ourselves to the deeper truths of Buddhism.

         When Siddhartha opened his eyes it had been as if his entire life was an unclear dream, and now, finally, he had awakened to the real world. Suddenly, he could see through all the shapes and forms to the unified essence of life itself. Finally, he could understand the causes of suffering and how to overcome the pain of living. And he could feel a compassion that knew no bounds.

The Buddha’s answer to the question of why we suffer is that suffering comes from attachment. If that's true, then our western society is filled with pain because our dominant religion is not Christianity but consumerism. We have all been taught that the more we have, the happier we'll be. As Oscar Wilde said, “In this world there are only two tragedies, one of not getting what you want, and the other of getting what you want.”

         The Buddha's teaching about attachments has been the hardest teaching for me to understand. I like being attached to the people I love and to this church and this life and even my Iphone. But what I hear the Buddha saying is that we need to avoid attaching ourselves in a way that feeds our ego while diminishing our consciousness.

         It helps me to think of bricks. Each brick represents an attachment in our lives, something that grows our ego and that takes us out of the present. We can stuff them in our pockets or purses or carry them on our heads or drag them behind us in big sacks, but it's exhausting.

         Some of the biggest bricks we carry are not possessions but regrets for the past and fears of the future. Far too much of our brief, precious lives are spent in the past or the future. Reflect on all the time you spend feeling guilty about things you've done, or angry at the way you've been treated, or sad about what you have lost, or regretful about what could have been. All those bricks we carry around, dragging us down, trapping us in the past.

I actually feel sorry for that guy who was responsible for the fly-over last weekend in New York City that scared people out of their wits, because he will have a brickyard of regrets to deal with the rest of his life. Our regrets will hopefully not be that big, but most of us are carrying around some pretty heavy bricks from mistakes we've made and wish we hadn't.

         Or reflect on all the time you spend anxious about the future, fearful of what might happen, nervous about losing what you have, worried about what could go wrong. Will I lose my job, will I get old, will I get swine flu, will I die, will my kids be dumb? More bricks weighing us down, slowing us down, keeping us down. Susan Jeffers writes, “The prime cause of our suffering is our wanting things to be different than they are!” That sums it up pretty well.

         When so much of our time is spent in the past and the future, the present ends up getting squeezed out of our lives, leaving us no place to be at home. So, how do we get the present back? I like to think of the present as a bubble. Sometimes, when I get too attached to the past and future that bubble becomes very tiny, and I'm scrunched up and uncomfortable. I imagine myself pushing out on the walls of the bubble, stretching the present by simply being aware of it, by opening my consciousness to what is going on right here right now. The more I'm aware the bigger my bubble becomes.

        Bricks don't fit into bubbles, so I leave them behind by simply being aware of them. I don't have to throw them away or wish them away; I only need to observe them, as if they're floating in down stream. I do this best when I meditate. In meditation I am quiet so I can observe my attachments and then let them go one by one.

         When we're fully in the present, we experience what is around us and inside of us without attaching ourselves to anything.

Imagine Velcro: it has two sticky sides, right? All objects and feelings and thoughts have a sticky side, and our ego has a sticky side, which is a bad combination because when they get together we get attached or possibly even addicted.

         But without an ego, the stickiness of our attachments have no place to stick, and they simply slip, slide away.

For instance, if I'm with another person I can easily get attached by feeling guilty about something I've done or angry about something that person did to me or worried about whether I will impress or fearful of what that person may do to me.

         It's like stacking up a wall of bricks between us. But if I let go of all of those bricks from the past and future, I'm then free to simply be who I am right here right now, listening carefully to what is being said, speaking from my heart, opening my eyes to who the other really is, allowing myself to see the wounds beneath the surface, and taking in the beauty of that person's soul.

         Do you see the difference? If we let go of our need to be needy, our need to be possessive, our need to be regretful about the past and worried about the future, then we can let go of those bricks one at a time, experiencing little by little the joy of living in the present. Even right here in this church, as long as we're carrying around all of those bricks of regrets and fears, we can't fully experience this moment and these people around us and the beauty of the music and the meaning of the words.

         If you're sitting here loaded down with bags of bricks from the past and future, I could preach the most profound truth ever spoken and you would have no idea what I said. But if you've dropped your bricks at the door and you're in that bubble of the present, your eyes and mind and heart will be wide open, and no matter what I say – it could be total nonsense – you will open yourself to revelation, inspiration, and transformation. Wouldn't that be great!

         Now don't go and feel guilty about feeling guilty or regretful about being regretful or worried about being worried. That's not helpful folks. Drop those bricks and step back! Unfortunately you can't just say, “OK, I'll live in the moment from now on.” It's not that easy. That's like saying from now on I'll be Buddha. It takes a lifetime of practice to be fully mindful, but our task is to take it a day at a time, a moment at a time. For now, just be present here and now. Everyone with me? Remember when our teachers took attendance, and you'd say “present.” Keep saying that to yourself and then practice being present.

         A spiritual practice suggested by Eckhart Tolle is to be aware of all the things you do during the day that give you pleasure. I've been doing that for the past couple of weeks, and I got to tell you that it's great fun, and I highly recommend it. Usually we're thinking of what dissatisfies us, our regrets and worries and pain. But if you are mindful of everything you do during the day that makes you feel good about yourself and the world, I bet you a bucket of bricks that your list will be longer than your arm. Think about it: just gazing at the dogwoods and azaleas and other spring blossoms would be enough, but then add to that talking to friends, gardening, taking a walk, working, reading a book, listening to music, eating a good meal, going to church, being quiet, breathing. Life is overflowing with such enjoyable if not ecstatic moments, but if we're not conscious of them then it's as if they never happened.

         We miss it all.

         When we focus on the present, when we are conscious and aware of who we are and what we're doing and the world around us, then and only then can we truly enjoy life, then and only then can we genuinely be grateful for the wonder of our world, then and only then can we be fully compassionate for the suffering of others, and then and only then can we practice “awakened doing.”

         Awakened doing,” writes Eckhart Tolle, “is the alignment of your outer purpose – what you do – with your inner purpose – awakening and staying awake. Through awakened doing, you become one with the outgoing purpose of the universe. Consciousness flows through you into this world. It flows into your thoughts and inspires them. It flows into what you do and guides and empowers it.”

         Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Forgiveness is a part of awakened doing because when you let go of your resentments and expectations and accept another for who they are in the moment, and accept yourself for who you are, then forgiveness comes naturally and unbidden. When you let go of the ego, you stop judging others, and you stop judging yourself.

         Justice flows from awakened doing. When our ego is out of the way compassion is a natural response to those around us. When we can not only practice compassion but be compassion we become activists, seeking peace and justice as a way to heal the pain of others.

         There's a story about a bandit who once threatened the Buddha with death. “Then be good enough to fulfill my dying wish,” said the Buddha. “Cut off the branch of that tree.” And that’s what the bandit did. One slash of the sword, and it was done. “What now?” asked the bandit. Said the Buddha, “Put the branch back.” At this, the bandit laughed. “You must be crazy to think that anyone can do that.” “On the contrary,” said the Buddha, “it is you who are crazy to think that you are mighty because you can wound and destroy. That is the task of children. But to create and to heal-that is the task of the mighty.”

         So, let us be mighty creators and healers who live and love in the moment, who drop our bricks of regret and fear as we go through life, and as we do, let us open our minds and hearts to transformation.

I Believe Statement

Our Relationships are 'Covenantal,' by Sarah Munson

Covenant Group Questions

• Can you talk about a moment when you've been fully in the present?

• What bricks are you carrying around?

• Write down all the pleasant experiences you had in a day and share them with the group.

• Do you have a spiritual practice that helps you to be in the moment and to let go of your attachments?

• How awake are you?

• How has listening to the awakening sermons and participating in your covenant group helped you to be awake?

• How do you practice “awakened doing”?

• "Awakening the Buddha Within" by Lama Surya Das

• "Comfortable With Uncertainty" by Pema Chodron

• "The Happiness Hypothesis" by Jonathan Haidt

• "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle

•"The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle

•"The Wise Heart" by Jack Kornfield