How does Grace move in?
January 22, 2015
Hosted by Gilles Asselin
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Episode Description
Ring the bells that still can ring Forget your perfect offering There is a crack, a crack in everything That's how [Grace] gets in. Leonard Cohen – Anthem In Episode 3, I would like to share a few more words about the concept of the “core wound” and reflect on how we can, through our spiritual work, render this wound “sacred.” I would also like to keep connecting the dots between our ‘disastrous or life-shattering experiences,’ the “dark night of our souls,” and what comes out of them, what constitutes our penetrating Light. I am talking about Grace here and would like to explore the conditions or attitudes necessary for It to ‘move in.’ Finally, I would like to discuss one more notion: that of loving ourselves. Is there a phenomenon at play within these ‘disastrous, earth-shattering experiences’ that sets up the stage for true self-love? For instance, is Spirit involved? Maybe there isn’t any…
Nurturing the Spiritual Spelunker in All of Us
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There is a reason why every human is born in this world; and as many reasons as there are human beings thriving on the planet. These reasons for BEING are there to be explored, nurtured, owned, and harvested, in the depth of our unique beingness.
There are a number of religious people, gurus or masters who claim to know and teach THE truth. Yet, once we reach a certain level of mature curiosity, we realize that we can’t be told where to look for it. It is entirely up to us, and us only.
In the end, it is our responsibility to acknowledge and listen to the little voice that calls from within and forge on the path of “spiritual spelunking.” It takes courage and confidence not only to start, but to assiduously continue on the journey, knowing the most beautiful inner vistas are ours to savor once we reach deeper levels of awareness.
It is my privilege to invite you to walk the journey within. It will be my pleasure to be your host and companion on the path.
Gilles Asselin
From a childhood in Western Europe to a few years of working in Africa, my life journey has taken me across several belief systems. Searching for a new educational frontier, I crossed the Atlantic and ended up studying psychology in Wisconsin. My curiosity for people led me to work in the field of intercultural relations. For 20 years, I trained people in cultural self-awareness and understanding.
My spiritual path has taken me through various routes. At the end of 2007, I decided to leave the religious organization I had been practicing with for a number of years. I was confused as to why it happened so abruptly. I later had a profound realization while reading a quote from Anne Hillman’s book, Awakening the Energies of Love.
“It wasn’t until my mid-forties that I mentioned my dilemma with the church to a colleague who’d once been a Dominican priest. He told me the story of a beautiful tree in the center of a garden, surrounded by a high stone wall. He likened the tree to a person searching for the sacred and the wall to the boundaries defined by her religion.”
“The tree needs to grow out of the garden. Its branches need room to expand and spread wide. They need to reach far outside the garden’s walls for they cannot be contained by the wall’s limits. But the tree always remains rooted in the garden.”
I am committed to spreading the branches of my tree and providing guidance and companionship to those willing to explore their inner lives.
