Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,
In the name of the One Most Compassionate,
Most Merciful,
Most Kind.
This is Mark Silver with Heart of Business.
Welcome to the Monday Remembrance.
One of the things to remember about spiritual practice and the remembrance is that it is a place for everything.
The Sufis think of the Divine as the friend.
Al Khalil is one of the names for the Divine.
And the remembrance is like showing up with a friend who can be with you however you are.
It's incredibly important when we come to spiritual practice,
When you come to spiritual practice,
To not think that you have to tamp down how you're feeling.
To suddenly become all nice and peaceful and calm.
Every emotion we feel and every way of being that we carry is an expression of who we are and thus is an expression of Divine Presence.
And there are ways that we can get caught in cycles,
Get caught in reactions where we are less connected,
Less aware of our Divine connection.
That doesn't mean that we use our ego to shut down our emotions.
And so I invite you to this remembrance with space for everything,
Exactly how you're feeling.
And so you may feel like taking a nice gentle breath or you might be breathing rapidly and hard.
You might be full of laughter,
You might be full of anger,
You might be full of joy and ecstasy or you might be full of sadness and grief.
Whatever you're feeling,
Let yourself fully inhabit that.
And it is also important to not let how you're feeling lead you.
You don't want your emotions to be what's in control,
To be what you're following.
It is a subtle,
Subtle discernment to have space for exactly what's true and to remember the Divine and to have an awareness that there is more than that available.
And so as you bring your attention to your heart,
As you begin to call to the Divine through the open doorway of your heart,
Maybe you're kicking the door open with your foot,
Maybe you're shouting rocklessly and joyously through the door and you are still listening.
You are still aware that there is more available than just you,
Than just your emotions.
Anh,
Anh,
Anh,
Anh,
Anh.
We can be so caught in our desire for the external circumstances to reinforce what it is that we're wanting from life,
From ourselves internally.
And it is so important that as we remember the divine that we ask to witness the divine in the world around us.
Living in a city where earlier today,
A block away,
They were drilling in the street,
Loudly,
Because you don't drill into pavement quietly.
Where I'm often passed by cars with stereos going loudly.
That life is such a different experience when we become aware of the divine that everything is an expression of the divine.
That the drilling can be an interruption or it can be a sign that there is so much work happening to care for me and to care for us all around us without me having to track or coordinate it.
That there are so many people moving through life with music in their hearts and joy overflowing from their being that I can receive whether or not it's my favorite music or not.
There's so much around us.
And when we become aware,
When we remember the divine presence,
We begin to experience the world differently.
We begin to witness what is available for us in ways that perhaps we had not imagined.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
When we embrace our business and embrace the heart of our business and we ask to see the divine in the presence of our business and in the marketplace around our business,
We can either fight what is shown to us or we can open our hearts and ask to see the truth of what is here.
Ask to be shown signs of the divine presence in what arises around us and what responds to our business and what our business is shown to respond to.
Either all of this comes from the divine or it doesn't.
It doesn't come from the divine sometimes and other times not.
So how do we allow our hearts and our minds to surrender without squashing how we're feeling and yet with still allowing the eyes of our heart,
The ears of our heart to receive everything that is being given to us.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
Allowing yourself to surrender even more.
Letting go of our ideas and understandings even more.
Asking to be shown,
Willing to be surprised even more.
Letting our heart be filled with the presence of the divine as revealed to us in the world around us,
In our business,
In the marketplace.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
And seem like such a hard task and yet it is the easiest thing in the world when we stop fighting to embrace all of who we are,
Including all of our humanity,
To embrace all of our business,
Including all of the ways that it is functioning in this moment,
And to embrace the divine,
To surrender to the divine.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
Unh,
Unh,
Unh.
When you really surrender and embrace,
What is it that your heart notices?
And taking a nice gentle breath,
Noticing any authentic gratitude or appreciation and letting yourself express it to the divine.
Holding the remembrance in your heart,
Letting yourself return.
Amen.
Amen.
