Infinite Wisdom is Within You | Rev. John Riley

Good morning. And welcome. As I begin my talk today, I’d like to take a moment to honor the passing of an enlightened spiritual teacher, a dear spiritual teacher and modern way-shower, Thich Nhat Hanh, who made his transition yesterday.

I’d like to read a statement that was put out by Plum Village Community of Engaged Buddhism yesterday. “With a deep mindful breath, we announce the passing of our beloved teacher Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh January 22nd at the age of 95. We invite our global spiritual family to take a few moments to be still, come back to mindful breathing, as we together fold Thich in our hearts in peace and loving gratitude for all he has offered to the world.”

Let’s do that now. Let’s take a moment to return to our breath. I’ll invite you to close your eyes, if that feels comfortable, or simply soften your gaze as we return our attention in this moment to our breath. Mindfully breathing in, feeling the air come into our lungs, holding it for a moment and mindfully exhaling, feeling it release and let go, and hold for a moment. Let us focus on our breath as we move into a moment of stillness.

And in this moment, we surround our beloved teacher, this way-shower, with our love as this individual and brightly shining and powerful wave returns to the ocean from which it came. And with that love in our hearts, we bless the world, we bless each other. And so it is.

The Infinite Source of Love, Life, and Wisdom

This is an interesting time as last week we were talking about the allness and you, the allness being that infinite source of love, life, and wisdom, the allness of God by whatever name you choose to give it, and knowing that it is everywhere present. And as it is everywhere present in the universe, it’s in every cell of your body, it’s the allness of you of which you are an eachness of the allness being expressed in this present moment.

And so, knowing that, knowing that allness is within us and all around us, that we are never separated from God, that we’re always in a state of oneness if only we could awaken to it and remember that. And so, with each of that — that idea, that idea that infinite wisdom, that infinite supply of divine love, the harmonizing energy of the universe, the infinite supply of life and wisdom is always available and within us at every moment of the day.

And so now we’re looking at how we can open up more to it. And one of the next principles that we need to apply and understand in order to give ourselves a full chance of opening up to this idea, and that’s the idea of the heart and the head, the head and the heart.

Divine Mind

We’re going to begin with the head, the idea of mind. And, of course, in Unity we teach another word for God is Divine Mind, the allness of wisdom, the allness of knowledge, out of which Divine Mind comes ideas that we grasp onto. And then we take these ideas and shrink them down a little, but we give them shape and form and we take substance and we create. That’s how we create this paper, that’s how we create this flower arrangement. That’s how we create our life is by grabbing ahold of these ideas and then giving them shape and substance.

And one of the most powerful ways in which we do that is through our thoughts. Now, you’ve heard me say it before, thoughts held in mind produce after their kind, that idea that this wisdom is always available to us. And as we latch onto the wisdom and start to apply them in our lives, they become real for us and we start to express it. This is, I think, the awakening that Thich Nhat Hanh was talking about when he said, “We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness”, to awaken from the illusion of our separateness.

Now, the challenge is, most of us are into reactive thinking, most of the time. Most people think just reactively, they react to what’s happening in their lives, they react to activities or what they hear on the news. We’re not really doing much conscious, mindful thinking. A lot of what we’re doing is simply reacting to the world. So, that’s going to impede our ability to really mindfully create our lives the way we want them to be created, to mindfully go after the goals and dreams that we have for ourselves.

Mindful Awareness

And so, our goal here is to shift away from the idea of the reactive mode and to get into more of a mindful awareness of what’s actually happening within us. So often, we wish that we were more happy. Have you ever had that feeling? We all go through these emotions, right? We all go through ups and downs. That’s just part of life. We all go through experiences that get us excited and make us, that bring us down into a sad state. I almost said, “make us sad”. They don’t actually make us sad. Rather, it’s our reaction to it. But that’s how quickly and how instantly we can get back into that idea that things out there cause it for us.

We are conditioned by media, we are conditioned by the religion that we grew up with, we are conditioned by our teachers, by our parents, by society, by our friends. We’re conditioned to think in a certain way, to think in a way that’s dualistic, that the things out there created this in here. Really, the opposite is true, for it’s our mind and our thoughts that have the creative constructive power in our lives. And it’s our ability to express from that mindfully that we have the ability to mindfully and actively change our lives, that we have the ability to grow, to spiritually become more enriched. And what it takes is that wanting, that needing, and that remembering that you have everything that you need within you. All the power you need is right there within you. And all you need to do is to reach out a little bit more, to be in tune with it really, to be in tune with that infinite wisdom, that divine mind so that we can more fully express that at any given time.

Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Every thought you produce, anything you say, and any action you do bears your signature”. Every thought that you think, there’s your signature. It’s not caused by people out there, because we have choice. We have the ability to choose what we think and the meaning that we’re giving life.

Unconscious Beliefs

Now, part of the problem is that something happens and we feel something. There’s an initial feeling and it might be sadness, it might be grief, it might be happy, it might be exciting, whatever that feeling is, then we layer on top of that feeling some stories, and we start crafting our beliefs around that story. And those beliefs may be unconscious. They may be automatic but those are the things that are actually running our lives.

And so, when we’re focused so much on being unhappy – we may want to be happy more, want to experience more of that joy – but we’re so focused on the unhappiness that we’re busy creating more unhappiness. And so, we’re creating and sowing more unhappiness in the world.

So, those beliefs that we hold onto and even those intentions that we hold when we wake up in the morning and do our prayers, our mindfulness meditation, we do our intention for the day, that’s great but what happens to the other 24 hours or 23 hours of the day? Now, we’re back into the routine, the automatic behavior, and so the whole of our consciousness is not focused on that higher self. It’s not focused on that joy that’s within us, that infinite flow of love, life, and wisdom, that ocean that’s within the waves. We forget that that ocean is there and we think we’re just the wave.

And so, our task is to mindfully come back to that awareness, to be the observer when we start to go off in another direction, and then mindfully bring ourselves back so that we can be living in that present moment. And when we’re living in that present moment, that’s when we’re able to change the world because when we’re living in that present moment and recognizing “This is just a thought. The thought isn’t who I am. I’m just thinking a thought.” And when we look at it from that perspective, we can easily decide, is this a good thought for me or not. Is this a thought that’s going to empower me, that’s going to create a greater sense of happiness and wholeness, a greater sense of wellbeing within me, a greater sense of peace within me or not?

Peace in the World Starts with Peace in Ourselves

Thich Nhat Hanh continued by saying “Peace in the world starts with peace in ourselves. If everyone lived mindfully, everyone will be more healthy, feel more fulfilled in their daily lives, and there will be more peace.” There will be more peace. Infinite intelligence is always available. You just need to tune into it and recognize that we have a choice in what we believe and what we’re holding. And when we find ourselves ruminating on a story, that’s the opportunity for us to let go.

Science has proved over and over again, studies have proved over and over again that the observer, the witness, their account of what happened — later on in life, perhaps in a courtroom, perhaps in recounting the story — is never 100% accurate. It always changes, it’s always from their perspective, it’s always through their lens. And so, think about this from your perspective when you’re at work and you’re in that meeting and somebody says something that really kind of feels like it’s cutting you down or you feel lost in a meeting, you feel frustrated. The thoughts that you’re choosing here are “Am I right or am I wrong? How can I show them that I know what I’m doing right? How can I put myself ahead of that person? How can I prove that I’m right?”

And that’s the problem is that we start to look for all of the evidence to support our false belief, that belief that has been filtered through our lens, through our lens of frustration, through our lens of disconnection. All of a sudden, we look for all of the ways that we are disconnected and say “Well, I can’t keep on like this.” That’s the fight, flight, or freeze mode. Are you fleeing away because you can’t find the connection because you’re so wrapped up in your own thoughts about it, your own belief system? Or are you choosing to see that and become aware of it and say “Oh, okay. I’m not seeing connection right now. Where can I find connection in my life? Where can I look for that connection and bring it to the forefront?” I have that choice, you have that choice.

And it starts with mindfulness. It starts from the recognition that “Oh, I’m thinking that. There’s that thought.” When we take that mindful breath, and Tich Nhat Hanh said that it just takes two minutes of mindful breathing to bring us back into attunement, to bring us back tuned into the universe, tuned into that infinite flow within us. And when we tune in, then we can become the observer again of those thoughts and say “Okay. Do I believe this? Do I want to hold onto this or not? And how do I know what it is that I want to hold onto?”

Practicing Mindfulness

There’s a fun practice that you can try. It’s the idea of making your bed every morning. Make you bed every morning mindfully. Now, if you have a partner and it’s their turn to make the bed, you can take turns or maybe you can do the dishes or something, but do it mindfully and do it creatively, not just folding up the sheets and putting the blanket on there but “Am I going to do hospital corners today? Am I going to shift the blanket around a little bit? What thoughts can I bring to mind that are affirming in this situation as I’m cleaning that leftover meal from last night or the week before or from this morning?” I’m taking the time to create a clean and healthy space. Can you look at it from a different perspective?

Now, the big question that people have often, they say “Okay, we have this access to all this wisdom, and we get to it through the practice of prayer and meditation” — in Unity, you’ll often hear me talk about the practice of meditation and affirmative prayer and that’s one of our core practices, core principles. The practice of mindfulness is a great way to still the mind, to still all those thoughts so that we can recognize what comes from ego and what comes from a sense of me versus them, the dualistic thinking of victim/victor consciousness. We can move into that vessel consciousness from there. That’s still duality. “There’s me and then there’s that which is within me breathing me and speaking through me, but it’s not me.” That’s still dualistic versus the verity consciousness of knowing that you are an eachness of the allness speaking.

Now, what you’re creating is unique and can be beautiful. And, of course, there can be the opposite, so the question is “Well, how do I know if it’s good or not?” Well, I think we’ve come back to the heart, the heart of us, and the heart of us is really that center of divine love, that harmonizing energy that flows through us. So, we might be tuned into divine intelligence, filtered through our consciousness, we also are tuned into that divine love, that harmonizing energy. And so, what I’m thinking is, “Is that a beneficial presence to me? Does it lift me up to my highest good? Does it move me along the path in the right direction or am I taking five steps back?”

Coming from the heart we can see what I’m thinking and what I’m doing, thinking, saying, and expressing in the world, those things that have my signature on it, are they a beneficial presence to the world or are they the opposite? Are they destructive words, thoughts, and actions? Are they stagnant words, thoughts, and actions? Are they disappearing, evaporating, because I’m fleeing? Flight, fight, or freeze. How am I expressing that and am I coming from that sense of fear? By mindfully looking at our thoughts and our ability to choose our thoughts, we can just as easily throw one of those beliefs away that we took on. Depending on how embedded it is, we may have to practice that over and over again. But when we return to the heart, the heart without the chatter of the mind, in the stillness, we’re able to feel and know and be in the presence of the allness. And so we’ll know, is what I’m thinking and saying and doing kind? Is it compassionate? Is it helpful? Or is it hurtful?

Calming the Monkey Mind

Now, the ideal in Unity is what we teach is the practice of affirmative prayer. And meditation brings us into that stillness where we can calm the chatter, the monkey mind, so that we can hear more clearly that voice within that is pure. It’s still coming through some consciousness because we’re translating it into words, so it’s coming into our filters. We’re narrowing that which is infinite into something tangible and we’re doing it from the heart. We’re doing it from that aspect of divine love, that harmonizing energy.

What is Faith?

People ask me about the idea of faith, and they say “Well, faith is just the belief” but I tell you there are so many beliefs that we have that are contradictory to each other. At the beginning, I talked about that one belief, that intention that we’re setting, how I’m going to live my life. Maybe it’s your white stone word or your spiritual value or some principle that you’re holding dear and you establish that every morning. And then you go into your life and you start to slip into another belief. “I’m not that. I’m not the allness. I’m not the eachness. I’m just, you know, a human being. I’m just a small consciousness. It’s not me, it’s that consciousness flowing through me. It’s not me, it’s those guys that are doing it to me.” We slip back down into dualistic thinking. We slip back down into victim/victor consciousness.

Faith, on the other hand, is the sum total of our consciousness. So, while we have these competing beliefs in there, faith is the sum total of that in consciousness. And by your faith, those miracles are done. So, it’s important for us to exercise our choice in our thoughts, ideas, words, and actions that we express and an eachness of the allness.

This is what I believe was meant in the gospel according to John when the apostle John says, “Out of the believer’s heart shall flow the rivers of living water.” The Book of John was a very spiritual and metaphysical and symbolic story. But if we look at this metaphysically, out of your heart, when we’re centered, when we are in harmony with the universe, then all of the thoughts, ideas, and actions begin to align with that. We begin to live in the flow of life, love, and wisdom. We begin to express it more fully.

Thich Nhat Hanh says, “With mindfulness you can establish yourself in the presence in order to touch the wonders of life that are available in this moment.” Imagine if you came to that, if you came to life from that experience, combining the head and the heart, knowing that you have choice of what you’re going to believe and mindfully choosing your thoughts, your words, and your actions, guided by the wisdom of your heart, guided by that divine love, that harmonizing energy. Imagine what life would be like if you walked outside today and looked at the world in the present moment from that space. What would you see? What would light up for you? Imagine if you went into your meetings to review your budget or to review your strategic plan or to review your tasks for the week, to review your goals for the week.

From that perspective, how different would it be? I’ve heard some people tell me, “Well, you know, I didn’t take it. They gave me a quota. That’s not really mine. I didn’t choose it but that’s what they’re telling me I have to do.” Well, you’re accepting a check, so you’re choosing to do it. You’re taking over the responsibility. Stop pushing the responsibility on someone else. You’re saying yes. What would happen in life if you approached it from that perspective of “Here’s what I’m saying yes to, and how can I harmonize with it? How can I bring forth the best ideas that get me towards that goal? How can I keep myself from distracting myself?” with whatever methods we distract ourselves with. “How can I have the discipline to keep moving forward and to be in it, not shrink from it, not hide from it, not attack it, not freeze in the middle of it?” but just simply know that you’re here to express your eachness in that situation.

“To meditate means to go home to yourself. Then you know how to take care of the things that are happening inside of you and you know how to take care of the things that are happening around you.” Because you’ve accepted that choice within you of your thoughts, of your words, and of your actions, you’ve made a choice about which belief you’re going to hold onto and what you’re going to discard, knowing that all of those little beliefs that we hold are really just from the lens of our consciousness. So can I be open to change my beliefs?

One of the most powerful things that I’ve experienced is just simply being open to “I could be wrong”. That has a negative connotation maybe, or maybe it’s “There could be another aspect of this that I’m unaware of”. That’s a little bit easier to take on. “I’m making this decision based on the best knowledge that I have” then “What other knowledge can I obtain from the universe? Can I soak in, can I tune into that frequency?” As we begin to express life from this perspective, actually living life from this perspective, that’s when we come into this idea of enlightenment.
Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it’s the ocean.”