Brother Wayne on Circles

One of the major emphases of ISDnA is the nurturing of circles and the nurturing of the intersection of circles in their collective energy. As noted in a recent issue of Infinite Sensitivity, Bro. Wayne, in The Mystic Heart, spoke constantly of dialogue. There is hardly a chapter in his signature book which does not involve matters of interrelationship and dialogue. He saw it, among others things, as the “democratization of spirituality” (MH, p. 248). In his Chapter Nine “The Promised Land of the Spiritual Journey”, Bro. Wayne recounted the longstanding tangible value and result that had come from the sittings he and other contemplatives had had over the years at the Snowmass conferences. In that chapter Bro. Wayne included eight guidelines that has arisen from the circle of friends. Of the members of that group, he said “each is committed to an interspiritual approach. That means they are passionately interested in spiritual practices, insights, intuitions, and essential formulations of all schools of spirituality. These people have become close friends over the years…and they have shared the spiritual resources and treasures of their different approaches and have found much common ground” (MH p. 212).

Not surprisingly, Brother Wayne linked the dialogue of circles to serving action in the world, emphasizing: “If transformation is only a matter of consciousness, then there is always the risk that the change many never touch the deeply hidden intentions of the heart. If the will is not involved in the radical change the spiritual process initiates, then the resultant “enlightenment” is only partial. … Clearly, if the mystical process is to be complete, it must include a profound transformation in the will. Achieving the ultimate awareness of the way things are is simply not enough.” [MH, p. 89].

In one example of many places in The Mystic Heart where Bro. Wayne summarized the implicit relationship of shared inner intention and serving action in the world, he said that circles are “precious occasions for growth and breakthroughs” which “can explode into other states of awareness, insights, intuitions and realizations” [MH: p. 86] and “then join together in collaborative efforts to reverse the negatives habits that produced the ecological crisis, countless wars, and the many forms of injustice, oppression, and inequity”. [MH, p. 249]. Shared intention and collaborative action are perhaps the most central message of Bro. Wayne’s work.