Horizonless Intimacy
I captured this image as I took an early morning walk along the beach in Bray, Ireland (County Wicklow) this past Monday morning (7/28/08). I was looking across the Irish Sea as the sun made its way up through the clouds. If I would have been able to see beyond the horizon where the sea and the sky appear to meet, I would have found northern Wales on the other shore. In fact, on the previous afternoon while walking along another stretch of beach just south of Bray near Newcastle I ran upon a granite marker tucked among the boulders of the seawall protecting the railroad that passed nearby. On the opposite side of the the railway from the nearly hidden marker was an abandoned and decaying building. The marker indicated that it was from this site and this tiny station that underwater telegraph cables were first laid beginning in the late 1880's, connecting Ireland and Wales. These connections were in use through the early 1930's. What happened then? I suppose technology changed what was possible. Horizons for communication were extended and expanded. If my view across the Irish Sea could have extend even further that morning, beyond the Welch border, I would have encountered the midlands of England where I had just spent the previous two weeks teaching and walking on the moors of Derbyshire. Further still and the English Channel would have come into view and then the Netherlands, France, and the whole European continent. Where would it have ended? With a higher or more complete view, when obstructions or limitations are released, when horizons vanish, what can be seen? Apparently there is no end to the great view of a liberated mind, which I am only imagining, even while my particular human senses are, of course, quite limited. These past three weeks have been very concentrated for me - many days of teaching and very deep encounters. I worked with a number of wonderful people who were wholeheartedly offering themselves to a process of assisted self-discovery in mindfulness. They were curious about what they could see and what horizons they might explore as their self-identifications relaxed into the more diffuse awareness and warmth of intimacy. In my reading this morning, I ran across this brilliant statement by the late Irish poet John O'Donohue: "In the human face infinity becomes personal." As I turned my attention to the vastness of the morning sky, into the cold wind, and toward the glistening sea last Monday, my awareness expanded and opened, inviting the unbound possibilities of my heart and mind to know themselves more fully. In the very next moment, in the reflected light of that same morning sun as I turned and looked into the eye of my friend Donna with whom I was walking, that vastness became personal, close, and alive. This is also what I saw in the faces of the participants in the retreats over these past three weeks. In the reflected presence they offered to each other, they began to see their own brilliance and fullness, flaws and limitations, all perfect because they were whole. This is the same infinitely transformative potential I see in the faces of each person who brings themselves forward in our Inquiry Groups, who come to practice discussion, and who sit in the zendo every day. We offer ourselves to each other so we can remember our vulnerable humanness and, in the bargain, get a glimpse of the divine. "In the human face infinity becomes personal." What are the limits of this liberating intimacy? Our spiritual ancestors suggest that it is boundless. Let's turn to face each other again and again, and in that reflected presence, discover this truth to be our own. From time to time this will be a place where you may find short articles I have written or copies of talks I have given. I am often asked for copies of these written or oral presentations, so this can be a resource for links to the pieces or the original material themselves. Essentially I am a perpetual student, interested in more things than I could ever really master, and always eager to learn more. I actually think this is fun. I have always been most interested in how things become what they are – how they grow and develop – from the primal origins of this planet, to the evolution and development of living organisms, to the amazing emergence of the human mind and consciousness. I have also responded throughout my life to an internal yearning for spirit, or that which goes beyond this ordinary, relative world. I’ve loved nature and sought to learn as much as I could from long, quiet walks in the woods and later from more formal scientific training in the classroom and the laboratory. I’ve also continued to be fascinated by not only the everyday psychology of human development and change but by the farthest reaches of transpersonal experience encountered in contemplative practice. I will continue to seek the most interesting teachers, teachings, and learning opportunities I can find and pass on what I discover. My hope is that you find something here that you not only enjoy, but could encourage you in your own development. April 2008: Hawaii Retreat Daily Entries “Discovery” - By Flint Sparks Dundee, Scotland - July 2007 “HOPE IS CRUEL”
by Flint Sparks From the Spring 2007 edition of “Just This,” the journal of the Austin Zen Center. Last year I was able to participate in a solo retreat in Dallas with the support of Ruben Habito and his associated teachers at the Maria Kannon Zen Center. I was asked to write something about that time in deep practice, focusing on koan study. The result of that request can be found as part of the Zen Journal of MKZC. April 2006 Hawaii Retreat - Daily Entries SOUL OF THE GARDEN is a special series produced by KLRU-TV Producer and Host Tom Spencer. In this series, Spencer explores spirituality from a very personal perspective. In this series Spencer introduces viewers to ideas and individuals who have helped shape his own spiritual practices. Flint Sparks and the Austin Zen Center appear alongside several other wise, local spiritual leaders, in exploring the sense of wonder and solace so many of us feel when we encounter the beauty of the natural world. "Mystery" deals with the tensions between
our longing for certainty and the profound mysteries that surround
us. "Paying Attention" was inspired by the Mary
Oliver poem "The Summer Day," which explores what is perhaps
the most important spiritual practice - bringing attention and "mindfulness"
into our day-to-day experiences. "Communion" explores the shared nature of
the spiritual journey. "The Path of Practice" which calls viewers
to live the spiritual life they profess. "Gratitude" examines gratitude as the destination
of the spiritual journey. “Buddha’s Nature” Not One - Not Two: Global Spirituality from an Interfaith
Perspective. What Do You Really Want. The Shock Of Vulnerability . Calling The Mind Home. Retreat from Ordinary Thoughts, first from the
Austin American-Statesman. Devotion in Zen Practice, first from the Austin
Zen Center newsletter. Our Undisturbed Way, first from the Austin Zen Center
newsletter. An article entitled "Buddha's Nature" appearing in the Winter 2005 edition of Just This, from the Austin Zen Center
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