Spiritual Care Companion | Nan Schwappach

The Real, True & Eternal

Mon, 08 Mar 2021 13:36:33 -0800

[Inspired by William Dietrich, Rose Mary Dougherty & Pedro Arrupe]

Anchor your Self in the Real,

in the Divine,

that which is none other than your highest Self.

Trust in Love,

grounding your Self in the peace-filled presence,

and letting go of all which is not love.

If you wander or stumble,

resist impatience or doubt

that fuel the enemy of your best Self,

resulting in unwelcome distractions.

Let Eternal Love transform you,

renouncing all that is unreal

and holding fast to the experience of eternal Grace.

A steady determination to

seek love, fall in love & stay in love

will take care of everything.

Divinity is Ever Present

Wed, 27 Jan 2021 15:31:46 -0800

Be still

Listen intently

Using breath, focus ever more deeply inward,

Slowing the cadence.

Invite your mind to drop into your heart

Lay your thoughts to rest there,

In the seat of your soul.

As the Thinker falls away,

The eloquence of silence emerges

Intimacy awaits

In the peace that reigns.

FEAR is optional

Thu, 15 Oct 2020 15:52:04 -0700

Invite your FEAR to pull up a seat facing you.

Look it square in the face and ask who it is,

where it comes from and why.

Listen for what comes to the fore.

Is its voice borne of an “other” seemingly outside of you?

Who is that “other”? Is it the mind?

Seek its source. Do the experiment.

Rest assured the search leads to a worthy payoff.

FEAR is merely unwanted thought,

causing our small self to suffer,

simply because our mind is too weak to avoid it.

Strengthen your mind with concentrative practices,

avoid the temptation of your unwanted thoughts.

Behind such unwanted thoughts,

is a thought-free space of divine joy

that is yours, for the choosing.

The only real option,

the Ground of Your Being awaits.

The World Has Our ATtention, Now the World Needs Our INtention

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 12:56:08 -0700

The Universe has our ATtention

in very direct, unmistakable and impactful ways these days.

It has brought the world to its knees

as evidence of climate change continues revealing itself,

the pandemic proceeds to ensue and pursue without regard,

and racial inequities are no longer hidden or quelled.

Helplessness and vulnerability visit more often,

uncertainty and volatility have become the new norm,

and numbness to the number of lives lost takes a dangerous toll on our psyches.

No one can even pretend to have the answers,

many cannot even be convinced of the new reality,

yet no life goes untouched.

As despair seemingly gains

there is a way each of us can contribute.

It entails using a gift that we

always already have,

even in moments of perceived absence of light,

to utilize the divine spark that lies deep within each of us.

As each of us comes to know or ATtend to what lies within us,

we can offer the light of our inner divinity as a catalyst for change in the outer world.

Our creativity demands that we feel the change first from within.

Thereafter, we can INtend the spark to kindle and grow

until it shines out and embraces

As we sit in silence during these unsettling times,

trying with all our might

to still our restless minds,

we can re-member

slowing the breath,

slows the mind.

A generous in-breath through the nasal passage,

pause...

a prolonged out-breath to empty the belly.

Note how the repetition of conscious breathing

invites a calmer,

more peace-filled state of mind.

As the mind busily persists with distractions, ask

Whose mind?

Who Am I?

To whom do these thoughts and desires belong?

Resuming awareness of your breath, turn inward.

Turn all your inquiries inward to

investigate the origin of your thoughts and desires.

Concentrating on the "I",

are you your body, your intellect,

or the awareness of these?

Witness your self breathing in the sacred,

and breathing out the profane,

allow an investigation of the underlying substratum of your deepest self,

your transcendent nature.

Concentrate your efforts on that which never changes and is eternal,

that which some call Spirit, God*, Allah, Buddha nature,

and which...Read More

The Purpose of Our Existence

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 12:56:27 -0700

The Purpose of Our Existence

Each of us has an inner law of being.

Implicit in our choice to embody a soul,

is the search for a way of being

that aligns with our true nature.

Its progression relies on our capacity

to observe, find and ultimately follow

this unique law within each of us.

Once found, old habits and patterns

are revealed, recognized and revisited time and again.

With recognition comes choice,

and the option to offer up predispositions

to the master of our existence,

our higher, nobler Self.

With each renunciation of motives unaligned with our truer nature,

egoism, willfulness and desire begin to fall away.

We become free to live and act

from the advanced spirit of our own inner being

in service to the world,

divine wisdom,

and the good of all.

Only then can we fulfill the purpose of our existence,

an inner movement that is realizable by all.

My Absence from this blog

Tue, 02 Jun 2020 12:33:28 -0700

Asking your forgiveness...
Please accept my apologies for taking some time off from blogging on this site. My mother passed away and I took time off to manage her estate matters. I appreciate your understanding.

Always & Already Available

Tue, 30 Oct 2018 10:04:28 -0700

To touch the deepest part of our being is a gift that is always & already available to us. It is our very birthright, a privilege that no one and no thing can deny us. We have only to turn our attention inward, investigate, and remember to trust this inner authority.

Our deepest Self can be found by turning our attention inward. It takes practice, but there are many ways "in" and the ancient wisdom traditions point to the various pathways. Following your breath can be a good place to start. Begin by inhaling a deep breath through your nose, hold the breath at the top for three counts, then exhale slowly. As you are pushing the air from your lungs through your nasal passage, use your throat ( mouth remains closed) to assist in pushing all the air out. Counting occurs mentally as you breath out, and continue with the repetition of the next breath until you reach the count of ten. Your objective is to focus your mind solely on your breath throughout the exercise. When you notice your mind has become distracted and is no longer focused on the breath, as happens, simply start counting over again.

This exercise may not be as easy as it sounds. Our minds are restless by nature and have a tendency to jump around once they think they've got something down or they are predisposed with an idea or thought. The challenge is in keeping your mind focused on the breath by putting off all other distracting thoughts long enough to realize you are not your thoughts, that thoughts will pass on by unless you give our attention to them. This practice allows the space to inquire who you are when you are not identifying yourself with your thoughts. It also enhances concentration and serves as a reminder of how the breath can be used to settle the mind and relax the body. The breath is available to you always so this exercise can virtually be done anywhere.