Doin’ tha Sistine Chapel

... you can’t “do” the Sistine Chapel in one hour … time to listen to a Mahler symphony, for God’s sake? Anything of a serious nature isn’t “instant” — Leonard Bernstein. The Sistine Chapel and Mahler's symphonies are being recreated by and for us in each instant of universal unfolding. Our part in this process is in the attention we bring to these instances. True spiritual authority lies within the heart of one's own private experience and not necessarily in the institutions, rituals, nor their leadership, that claim such authority. There is no “there” there. Awakening is not a condition to be achieved. It is, rather, one’s own inherent reality.

Must we be adherents of only one school to be authentic in our practice of be-ing in the world? Or can we straddle however many traditions we find inspiring and helpful? …. At a certain point you have a toolbox full of techniques, and you pull out what you need at any given moment. Awakening is the point, not methodology. – Nina Wise.

The methodologies are tools … and not the only ones.