Mitakuye Oyasin - Settling into the Space of Transfiguration


We begin with the sound of the ‘singing bowl’ – an ancient practice in the Eastern Traditions to call the community gathered to silence leading into the deeper consciousness of stillness. Its resonate sound will call us to attentiveness and wakefulness at the beginning and end of each session of Mitakuye Oyasin. It will mark the entrance of our ‘spiritual guides’, during these days so when you hear the ring of the gong please stand and then give a gentle bow as a form of welcome and acceptance before sitting. This was the pattern that was followed throughout the days which avoided the positive energy of deep stillness being broken by the usual clatter of clapping.

Mitakuye Oyasin - these two words are sacred to the Lakota First Nation Peoples as it speaks of their sense of deep inter-connection and inter-dependence with and upon all life forms. All life is intimately ‘connected spiritually’. We are indeed the community of this small planet earth one among 1000 million galaxies.

Many of you have begun this journey into Mitakuye Oyasin well over a year ago seeking visas to enter Canada as travelling abroad in our world today brings with it many unforeseen obstacles. Obstacles created by a growing culture of fear promoted by our political leaders.

You will be delighted to know our Sabbath gathering here at Rosemary Heights, Vancouver is about non-violence, abundance, trust and inter-connectedness. It is about our 2002 Congregation Chapter imperative to explore the heart of being brother and sister to our earth community. It is a time of Sabbath which implies hearts willing to be surprised by unexpected grace; hearts ready to partake of those potent moments when creation renews itself when what is finished inevitably recedes and there is an openness to the sacred forces of healing that astonish us with their unending promise of love and life. Let us live into this budding season of the Northern Hemisphere Spring over these days. Enjoy the forest-walk which surrounds this beautiful place as a gift of our sister Spring. (adapted from E L Doctorow)

When the time is ripe for certain things, these things appear in different places in the manner of violets, coming to light in the early Spring. Farkas Biolysi

As we begin this challenging 11 day faith-walk let us recall the insight of the Dalai Lama who suggested that one can only open one’s heart to another spiritual way of seeing the world if one is truly rooted in one’s own tradition and experience of the Ultimate Reality. One must be rooted in one’s spiritual tradition but not stuck. If we are stuck we cannot listen with the ears of the heart for the wisdom of our larger-God whose presence will truly be felt and attended to during these days.

We are gathered here to enrich the spiritual imagination by tending the holy within and among us. As Nostra Aetate on Inter-faith Dialogue, the shortest yet possibly the most significant document of Vatican Council II, and more recently Benedict XVI, affirm that each religion seeks the same deep Mystery called God but through diverse paths. All spiritual traditions are called by grace, mirror the Spirit alive in our world, have the seeds of the Word within them and reflect a ray of truth that enlightens all. Each speaks with authority from their tradition not for it. Speaking from allows hearts to open and listen with deep respect.

These days then are about deepening our experience of the holy in our lives right here at Rosemary Heights: It is about
1. Being attentive to the ordinary;
2. Being gentle – it is a heart quality of attuning to the other;
3. Being willing to never have your questions answered – it is about inquisitiveness, surrendering & letting go.

Perhaps grandfather Gerald Red Elk sums it up best for me. You make a place hallowed. You go into it barefooted. God is Mother Earth. Everything that moves and grows has a soul…rocks, mountains and trees…they all talk. The land is all ours. We are all Earth’s children and the Earth wants us to live as such. The people who came to far continents are special people. Earth allowed then to come. It is a land of plenty. There is plenty here for everybody, enough for balance, and it is all sacred.

Be rooted not stuck.

To open our Mitakuy Oyasin – Connecting Spiritually gathering of the Edmund Rice Movement alive in our world I invite Harriet Cook a First Nations Representative who are the traditional owners of this sacred land on which we stand to bless and welcome us.

Peter Harney – April 2007 on behalf of CRT
For more information on renewal programs see www.edmundrice.org.au/crt

Please send comments to ptrharn@aol.com