Poverty, Chastity, and Obedience

“The vow of poverty is the practice of inner emptiness… so that the soul is capable of receiving from above the revelation of the word, the life, and the light.”?

Valentin Tomberg

This weekend I took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

I was attending a retreat unlike any I’d ever experienced. As I sat bathed in uninterrupted loving silence, I entered a mystical exchange with Spirit. I felt completely supplied, totally held, and perfectly loved. I reached a state where I could have stayed for hours had no one broken that beautiful stillness.

I heard a tinkling bell calling us back into session. I realized I had lost awareness of where my body was oriented. Were my hands touching? Was I sitting or floating? Where were my eyes gazing? Were there people around me or was I completely alone? Even my ears had tuned out any surrounding noises. When our guide spoke again, I resisted re-entry. I don’t want to leave your presence, I thought.

Slowly, my eyes fluttered open. I was primed to receive what was mine to hear.

“Poverty is humility of mind. It is recognizing that what you don’t know is infinitely larger than what you do. This will open you up to so much more,” Isha Das said. YES, YES! my soul resounded. I am a lifelong learner, always willing to sit at the feet of the guru and absorb their wisdom.?

He challenged us to let go of our attachment to “rightness.” I want to move through life unburdened. Unencumbered. I don’t want to be so attached to my own way that I think I can do without God. “Make your plans,” he said, “and surrender the outcome.”

This is the vow of poverty that we can all take – the vow of poverty of mind.

“Obedience,” he continued, “is putting our egoic will aside so we may listen. When we have no barriers to what God might want FROM us then we have no barriers to what God might want FOR us.” This one hit hard. How many times do we ask God for this or that, but we don’t leave room for God to give us what is in our HIGHEST and BEST interest??

Obedience is simply recognizing that yes, God does know what is best for us. And we as humans often disconnect from this because we are just that – human. We are truly steeped in an ocean of divine goodness. But we’re covered in a milky film that disconnects us from our awareness of complete union with God.?

This is the state of humanity. Totally divinized, yet forgetful. And God wants so much FOR us. YES, again. This vow is mine to take, I nodded.

Finally, Isha Das concluded, “Chastity is not a repression; it is taking everything we have and orienting it toward the Divine. It is having a love affair with the divine, and everything follows behind.”

A love affair with the divine. My heart effervesced at the thought of this. That’s what I felt in my meditation. A total love affair. I didn’t want anything other than to sit with that beautiful presence. This, too, is a vow I gladly take.

So I took my vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Not in the traditional sense, but in personal devotion. I danced with Love, communed with Spirit, and heard whispers from the Divine. Then I stood up, drove home, and took Bobby for a walk. Had my neighbors peered out their windows as we passed, I think they may have seen glimmers of light floating in my wake.

Watch the latest episode of Passionate Pursuits, "Divine Sparks," on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@QuernsCoachingLLC?si=LDJ7CKlIND4-1zQG

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