Today is Dec. 21, 2011, and it is the longest night of the year. Its technical term is, the Winter Solstice, and in meteorological parlance it marks the beginning of Winter. The Winter Solstice, along with the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, and the Autumnal Equinox are related to our Earth's 365 day, course around the Sun, and the affected, play of light and dark as it relates to earth's 23.6 degree inclination. This cosmic phenomena equates also to our four seasons, and to the four quadrants of earth, North, East, South, West. Through out antiquity humans have recognized the cyclical movement of the four quadrants, and have aligned its movement to their lives. For instance, the American Indians believed that each quadrant was associated with unique powers: the North, with endurance and strength, the East, with renewal and growth, the South, with potency and flourishing, the West, with harvesting and completion. When the tribe or band would embark on new initiatives or personal endeavors they would first invoke the blessing of the four quadrants. They stand facing to the North entreating its blessing, then to the East entreating its blessing, then to the South, entreating its blessing, then to the West entreating its blessing.
Many of us believe the above rituals and similar, are based on superstition rather than solid, scientific facts. After this calculation we have a nice niche to fit all similar rituals on, superstition. Listen to what William Wordsworth says about our lack of awareness to the workings of Nature:
"The world is too much with us, late an soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers:
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
The Sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not"...
More accurately, I believe, the cause for our unawareness is ignorance and fear, that a deeper look into Nature would disturb our self imposed order. It is a sickness of soul-a soul left derelict while experience, feelings, things are neatly colored, fit and formed together; a safe grid were everything is fixed.
Nature points with crawl, with bleat, with eccentricity, to the essence of things. In Her the whole of life is reflected. Therefore, jump into the River of Nature; join it as you would your mother and father; lay back and enjoy the ride home.
My wish is that you have a wonderful holiday and that the new light of the Winter Solstice brings you good fortune.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
the city and the cross
One day, while driving to downtown Minneapolis, heading east on Interstate 394, I reached the point where the full skyline of western downtown loomed up before my eyes. I have witnessed this sight many times, and each time have marveled at the grandeur of the city, and thought about the mastery we humans have over our material world. There in the city stand huge and complicated buildings, intricately designed and shaped, differing landscapes, transportation systems, and cultural elements all blended into one specific space. This compact space allows a relatively smooth flow of thousands of people in and out of the city to do their business, participate in the arts, or be entertained. The city is a spectacular testament to the creative mind and physical capability, of humans beings.
On this particular day not only did I see the familiar city's western sky line, but also in the southern foreground, I saw a church with a dome and on top of that dome was a cross. What a striking contrast I thought. Here amid a forest of lofty buildings was a church, a dome, and a cross. It did not reach into the sky as high as the city's skyscrapers, but to my mind, it appeared as grand a sight as the skyscrapers. Given the great number of views I have had, I wondered why I had missed seeing the church?
As I pondered that question, the answer clearly came to mind. When we see something that attracts us, we centralize our vision around that which attracts us; especially objects of towering size, odd shapes, or colors. Thus when I first saw the Western Minneapolis Skyline, I was awe struck by its enormity. Its community of skyscrapers, captured my attention to the exclusion of all else within the landscape. Its major attraction for me was its towering size, but with each succeeding view, it became more expected, more normalized. This normalization of view allowed me to decentralize and expand my vision to include the church, the dome, and the cross.
I have learned that there is a basic fallacy built into sense perception, and that fallacy is, not to take appearance for "true" reality. For example, determining the character of a new acquaintance by the kinds of cloths he or she wears, seeing a coiled hose and believing to be a snake, seeing a fallen leaf on the ground and believing to be a squirrel or bird etc. In this regard there is a saying I have heard, it goes, 'Believe none of what you've heard secondhand, and believe half of what see.' I succumbed to the fallacy of sense perception when I first saw the Western Skyline of Minneapolis, believing that its essential reality was in its great physical size, design, and shape. My myopic view stayed until my view was extended to include the domed church with the cross on top. This extended view has taught me to always look beyond appearances to the more universal realities beneath the surface realities.
Although the skyline and the domed church produced a dramatic, visual contrast, I did not feel they were in opposition. Here at once, was a community of skyscrapers, grand complexes of human ingenuity and domination over earth's elements, and here also was a church and a simple cross pointing to the heavens expressing a meaning beyond the physical, and both were created by the mind of human beings. Each creation, an expression of our comprehensive essence in relationship to the realities in which we live our lives. The skyscrapers are an expression of our connection and relationship to our physical/visible realities, and the church and cross are an expression of our connection and relationship to our spiritual/invisible realities. Both connections and relationships are real, but the spiritual connection and relationship is more real, owing to its more universal and immutable characteristic; more simply, it endures longer. It is for this reason we should allow our spiritual aspects to direct and control our mundane aspects, thus building our lives upon an ever-enduring spiritual rock rather than a relatively transient physical foundation. All the masters who have walked upon Earth have recommended this kind of spiritual leadership. It is the way of wisdom.
How do we acquire this inner spiritual leadership? It is acquired by seeing from the eye of your heart, and in order to achieve that you must turn your mind inward. By turning your mind inward you begin to observe the streams of your mind and the patterns of your thoughts and actions. This vision from the eye of your heart arises continuously, yet, at first it may be obstructed by the rigidity of your thoughts. As you continue to cultivate your inner vision, a safe and effective crossing place is created where you may step over a habit of rigid thought that may be causing resistance. Thus, this kind of "multiple vision" of viewing the streams of thought in your mind refines the process of thought and action patterns, making clearer their causal effects and providing an insightful path on which to move towards right action.
There is within all human beings this great capacity of mind that stretches and penetrates every aspect, from the mundane to the cosmic. Yet because our intent lies within the mundane we live behind a mind veil that prevents and limits us from the opportunity to recognize the light of true reality that lies beyond the veil. When Gautama the Buddha walked the earth, curious people would ask him what he was, "Are you a devil, an angle, a god?" The Buddha would answer, "I am awakened." In this simple answer the Buddha exposed a great insight into the make up of human beings, and extended a hand of hope for the lifting of the veil covering our mind. As an awakened human being, the Buddha shows us that we have an innate connection to the spiritual realms, and that the great abilities he had developed are within the scope of human possibilities. Therefore, in order to fulfill our destiny as human beings we must awaken from our deep, sleep of ignorance. We must lift the veil of mere appearances in order to see and follow the light of true reality that leads us to our true destiny.
On this particular day not only did I see the familiar city's western sky line, but also in the southern foreground, I saw a church with a dome and on top of that dome was a cross. What a striking contrast I thought. Here amid a forest of lofty buildings was a church, a dome, and a cross. It did not reach into the sky as high as the city's skyscrapers, but to my mind, it appeared as grand a sight as the skyscrapers. Given the great number of views I have had, I wondered why I had missed seeing the church?
As I pondered that question, the answer clearly came to mind. When we see something that attracts us, we centralize our vision around that which attracts us; especially objects of towering size, odd shapes, or colors. Thus when I first saw the Western Minneapolis Skyline, I was awe struck by its enormity. Its community of skyscrapers, captured my attention to the exclusion of all else within the landscape. Its major attraction for me was its towering size, but with each succeeding view, it became more expected, more normalized. This normalization of view allowed me to decentralize and expand my vision to include the church, the dome, and the cross.
I have learned that there is a basic fallacy built into sense perception, and that fallacy is, not to take appearance for "true" reality. For example, determining the character of a new acquaintance by the kinds of cloths he or she wears, seeing a coiled hose and believing to be a snake, seeing a fallen leaf on the ground and believing to be a squirrel or bird etc. In this regard there is a saying I have heard, it goes, 'Believe none of what you've heard secondhand, and believe half of what see.' I succumbed to the fallacy of sense perception when I first saw the Western Skyline of Minneapolis, believing that its essential reality was in its great physical size, design, and shape. My myopic view stayed until my view was extended to include the domed church with the cross on top. This extended view has taught me to always look beyond appearances to the more universal realities beneath the surface realities.
Although the skyline and the domed church produced a dramatic, visual contrast, I did not feel they were in opposition. Here at once, was a community of skyscrapers, grand complexes of human ingenuity and domination over earth's elements, and here also was a church and a simple cross pointing to the heavens expressing a meaning beyond the physical, and both were created by the mind of human beings. Each creation, an expression of our comprehensive essence in relationship to the realities in which we live our lives. The skyscrapers are an expression of our connection and relationship to our physical/visible realities, and the church and cross are an expression of our connection and relationship to our spiritual/invisible realities. Both connections and relationships are real, but the spiritual connection and relationship is more real, owing to its more universal and immutable characteristic; more simply, it endures longer. It is for this reason we should allow our spiritual aspects to direct and control our mundane aspects, thus building our lives upon an ever-enduring spiritual rock rather than a relatively transient physical foundation. All the masters who have walked upon Earth have recommended this kind of spiritual leadership. It is the way of wisdom.
How do we acquire this inner spiritual leadership? It is acquired by seeing from the eye of your heart, and in order to achieve that you must turn your mind inward. By turning your mind inward you begin to observe the streams of your mind and the patterns of your thoughts and actions. This vision from the eye of your heart arises continuously, yet, at first it may be obstructed by the rigidity of your thoughts. As you continue to cultivate your inner vision, a safe and effective crossing place is created where you may step over a habit of rigid thought that may be causing resistance. Thus, this kind of "multiple vision" of viewing the streams of thought in your mind refines the process of thought and action patterns, making clearer their causal effects and providing an insightful path on which to move towards right action.
There is within all human beings this great capacity of mind that stretches and penetrates every aspect, from the mundane to the cosmic. Yet because our intent lies within the mundane we live behind a mind veil that prevents and limits us from the opportunity to recognize the light of true reality that lies beyond the veil. When Gautama the Buddha walked the earth, curious people would ask him what he was, "Are you a devil, an angle, a god?" The Buddha would answer, "I am awakened." In this simple answer the Buddha exposed a great insight into the make up of human beings, and extended a hand of hope for the lifting of the veil covering our mind. As an awakened human being, the Buddha shows us that we have an innate connection to the spiritual realms, and that the great abilities he had developed are within the scope of human possibilities. Therefore, in order to fulfill our destiny as human beings we must awaken from our deep, sleep of ignorance. We must lift the veil of mere appearances in order to see and follow the light of true reality that leads us to our true destiny.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
the path of the mystic worrior
In my last blog, I used the term "mystic warrior." The term is used in connection with our awareness of the duality of our human nature, and the discovery that a battle is waging between our higher self and our lower self. As we turn our will towards entering the battle we symbolically become a mystic warrior. I first head that term while I was listening to Ed McGaa, the narrator of a tape on Black Elk's power-vision. For those of you who have never heard of Black Elk, there is a famous book written by John G. Neihardt, called "Black Elk Speaks" dictated from the Ogalala Indian's narrative of his life. Black Elk was the forth generation Holy Man of his band.
In his power-vision, he describes a place, ..."where three streams make one big one-a source of mighty waters-and something terrible was there. Flames were rising from the waters and in the flames a blue man lived. The dust was floating all about him in the air, the grass was short and withered, the trees were wilting, two legged and four legged beings lay there thin and panting, and wings were too weak to fly."
This part of Black Elk's vision expresses a universal, mythological theme rooted in the essential composition and collective experience of all human beings. The theme represented is the duality of our human composition; our shadow side/material side in opposition to our light side/spiritual side. We have seen this theme repeated over and over through out all human cultures: in the bible, by the allegory of Cain and Able; in India's epic, The Mahabharata; in European Literature, with King Arthur and the search for the Holy Grail; in the U.S.A., Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter.
The blue man symbolizes our shadow side with its negative expressions of selfishness, greed, deceit, untruth, corruption. Black Elk symbolizes (not the physical Black Elk, but spirit Black Elk which the Grandfather named Eagle Wing Stretches) our spiritual side.
In Black Elk's vision, the blue man is defeated. ..."Then the black horse riders shouted, "Hoka Hey!" and charged down upon the blue man, but were driven back. And the white troop shouted charging and was beaten; then the red troop and yellow. And when each had failed, they all cried together, "Eagle Wing Stretches! Hurry!" And the world was filled with voices of all kinds that cheered me, so I charged. I had a cup of water in one hand and in the other a bow (gifts given to Eagle Wing Stretches by the West Power) that turned into a spear as the bay (the horse Eagle Wing Stretches was riding) and I swooped down, and on the spear's head was sharp lightening. It stabbed the blue man's heart, and as it struck I could hear the thunder rolling and many voices that cried "Un-hee!" meaning I had killed. The flames died"... "then the four troops of horsemen charged down and struck the dead body of the blue man, counting coup, (the act of striking an enemy, dead or alive, with a stick conferring distinction) and suddenly it was only a harmless turtle."
Eagle Wings Stretches, successfully defeats the blue man, not by using brute force, but by using the spear of knowledge. The troops of horsemen that first attacked the blue man relied on their physical might and their material weapons, and were quickly beaten and driven back. The gift of the cup of water and the bow given by the West Power represented, respectively, the power to make live and and to destroy.
Taking the symbolism of this part of Black Elk's vision and applying it correspondingly to the actual history of Black Elk, it is clear that his spear of knowledge is his book, "Black Elk Speaks." That book is the light of knowledge which has, and continues to attack and defeat the ignorance of our ego side. The moment we decide to enter upon the path of spiritual actualization, we are enlisting in the great war of knowing thy self. Of all wars, this is the most fearsome and terrible. It has great men like Goethe to say, "Know thy self? If I knew myself, I'd run away" or C.G. Jung to say, "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." What is so terrifying is that we do battle with kindred aspects of ourselves-the light side and the dark side; and conflict not only comes from outside sources, but also from habits of mind, laden with deep and powerful emotions, caused by experiences from both this life and past lives. All these aggregate, kindred aspects of ourselves confront and vie for conscious domination in rapid and continuous succession.
As warriors of the mystic realm, we are granted access to the symbols of the power of the Soul: the sword of power, the spear of will, the helmet of knowledge, and a coat of mail, the links of which are made of all of our past experiences. These symbols provide us with a crystal clear vision of the means of which we are to do battle.
The many spirit voices are calling you, saying, "Hurry!" You reply, "Hoka-Hay!" and charge until final liberation. Fair well, my brothers, my sisters.
In his power-vision, he describes a place, ..."where three streams make one big one-a source of mighty waters-and something terrible was there. Flames were rising from the waters and in the flames a blue man lived. The dust was floating all about him in the air, the grass was short and withered, the trees were wilting, two legged and four legged beings lay there thin and panting, and wings were too weak to fly."
This part of Black Elk's vision expresses a universal, mythological theme rooted in the essential composition and collective experience of all human beings. The theme represented is the duality of our human composition; our shadow side/material side in opposition to our light side/spiritual side. We have seen this theme repeated over and over through out all human cultures: in the bible, by the allegory of Cain and Able; in India's epic, The Mahabharata; in European Literature, with King Arthur and the search for the Holy Grail; in the U.S.A., Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Harry Potter.
The blue man symbolizes our shadow side with its negative expressions of selfishness, greed, deceit, untruth, corruption. Black Elk symbolizes (not the physical Black Elk, but spirit Black Elk which the Grandfather named Eagle Wing Stretches) our spiritual side.
In Black Elk's vision, the blue man is defeated. ..."Then the black horse riders shouted, "Hoka Hey!" and charged down upon the blue man, but were driven back. And the white troop shouted charging and was beaten; then the red troop and yellow. And when each had failed, they all cried together, "Eagle Wing Stretches! Hurry!" And the world was filled with voices of all kinds that cheered me, so I charged. I had a cup of water in one hand and in the other a bow (gifts given to Eagle Wing Stretches by the West Power) that turned into a spear as the bay (the horse Eagle Wing Stretches was riding) and I swooped down, and on the spear's head was sharp lightening. It stabbed the blue man's heart, and as it struck I could hear the thunder rolling and many voices that cried "Un-hee!" meaning I had killed. The flames died"... "then the four troops of horsemen charged down and struck the dead body of the blue man, counting coup, (the act of striking an enemy, dead or alive, with a stick conferring distinction) and suddenly it was only a harmless turtle."
Eagle Wings Stretches, successfully defeats the blue man, not by using brute force, but by using the spear of knowledge. The troops of horsemen that first attacked the blue man relied on their physical might and their material weapons, and were quickly beaten and driven back. The gift of the cup of water and the bow given by the West Power represented, respectively, the power to make live and and to destroy.
Taking the symbolism of this part of Black Elk's vision and applying it correspondingly to the actual history of Black Elk, it is clear that his spear of knowledge is his book, "Black Elk Speaks." That book is the light of knowledge which has, and continues to attack and defeat the ignorance of our ego side. The moment we decide to enter upon the path of spiritual actualization, we are enlisting in the great war of knowing thy self. Of all wars, this is the most fearsome and terrible. It has great men like Goethe to say, "Know thy self? If I knew myself, I'd run away" or C.G. Jung to say, "The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely." What is so terrifying is that we do battle with kindred aspects of ourselves-the light side and the dark side; and conflict not only comes from outside sources, but also from habits of mind, laden with deep and powerful emotions, caused by experiences from both this life and past lives. All these aggregate, kindred aspects of ourselves confront and vie for conscious domination in rapid and continuous succession.
As warriors of the mystic realm, we are granted access to the symbols of the power of the Soul: the sword of power, the spear of will, the helmet of knowledge, and a coat of mail, the links of which are made of all of our past experiences. These symbols provide us with a crystal clear vision of the means of which we are to do battle.
The many spirit voices are calling you, saying, "Hurry!" You reply, "Hoka-Hay!" and charge until final liberation. Fair well, my brothers, my sisters.
Monday, August 8, 2011
spirituality
The idea of spirituality has inundated all aspects of our society, from the religious to the most mundane. It has raised its head in a period of time well suited for its growth, and gives testimony to the old axiom, 'when an idea whose time is ripe appears, nothing under the Sun can interrupt its full expression.'
Nowadays, it has become very common to hear someone speak about a particular experience he or she might have had, in terms of its spiritual connotations. For example, if someone experiences certain phenomena of Nature, hears a certain musical melody, or participates in an event, he or she is likely to describe their experience from the point of view of spirituality. Yet, despite our cultural readiness for spirituality, it comes with certain unsettling expressions. There are false lights that can come from psychic experiences accompanying over zealous spiritual activities, not only those coming from traditional religious sources, but also from non-traditional sources. For instance, the violent conduct demonstrated by some of the "right-to lifers" of the conservative Christian wing or the swindling for money by "new age" practitioners using psychic ploys, such as, trance channeling, past life regression, psychic healing, forecasting the future, etc.
Because of the great appetite for spiritual knowledge and experience and the rapture generated by its use, there is also a great danger of distortion of spiritual vision, (spiritual self-deception), and a kind of spiritual gluttony.
Regardless of its possible negative consequences, the idea of spirituality has interfaced with our collective cultural consciousness and has begun an assimilation process interacting with all other elements of our society. As we digest the idea of spirituality, we begin to break down old, traditional understandings and to transform them into more evolved understandings. As we discover the illusory elements in our spiritual quest , we will hopefully learn to employ only those spiritual elements that foster greater common good and balance.
What is spirituality? Where does it come from? Why is so important?
Spirituality is the core principle of the total constitution of, not only human beings, but also of all manifest things. Its source, as with all things, is divine. At an original point of manifestation of "mankind" and all things, a "thought spark" emanated from Divine Consciousness, a principle around which "mankind" and all things began the Great Drama of Evolution. The first principle or god-spark or Divine Emanation, is infinite and could never be blackened by some kind of finite cosmic sin. We are not thrown, haphazardly into the eternal expanse, damned by a perpetual, Original Sin, and there to dwell as worthless specks until physical death takes us. Because of our god-spark we are a living analogy of Divine Consciousness. The same forces and qualities that uphold the universe, uphold us; we in it and it in us. We can but look onto our own reflections and inner consciousness to find that which will convince us that we are more than what we appear to be.
The intuitive reader might be some what confused, and ask the question, " What is the distinction between spiritual and religious?" Most people, because of their religious training, associate spiritual expression exclusively with religion. However, spiritual expressions are often completely separate from religion. Its like the old question, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" Spiritual expression originates from human's god-spark, their essential core, and although religion can initiate a spiritual response, religion is not the source of spirituality. Thus, any human who is not affiliated with a religion, can be highly spiritual.
Nowadays, spirituality has become important because traditional religions have lost their spiritual relationship, by either becoming spiritually defunct or by too much attention to the "eye" of religion rather than its "heart." Religion is the outcome of human's spiritual core. Human beings aware of their god-spark manifest that awareness in terms of doctrines, ceremonies, and rituals, that in turn recognize, celebrate, and educate that awareness through out their particular communities. When a religion is born out of a human being's spiritual core it vibrates in tune with its spiritual impulse, and manifests itself within the current mind-set of its associate culture. Since the spiritual core of human beings has not as yet been perfectly evolved, human's religious expression, at any one point in time, is also imperfect; representing as it does, the currently evolutionary capacity of human's spiritual expression. Over time, religion will lose its initial spiritual radience, and gradually turn towards vibrations of a more mundane kind, spiritually exhausting its doctrines, ceremonies, and rituals. In this inevitable cycle of religious decline, human beings are again urged by their spiritual core to explore, from within, outward for refinement, clarification, and reformation of their religious expression. This process has an appearance of spiritual chaos, but is actually the natural operation of our collective spiritual consciousnesss, exploring itself in an effort to transmute tired religious forms of expression into higher, more evolved forms. Essentually we are spiritual beings, and although we can allow our senses to mislead our minds into believing that our physicl nature is the most essential element, we can never addicate our spiritual essence.
Nowadays, it has become very common to hear someone speak about a particular experience he or she might have had, in terms of its spiritual connotations. For example, if someone experiences certain phenomena of Nature, hears a certain musical melody, or participates in an event, he or she is likely to describe their experience from the point of view of spirituality. Yet, despite our cultural readiness for spirituality, it comes with certain unsettling expressions. There are false lights that can come from psychic experiences accompanying over zealous spiritual activities, not only those coming from traditional religious sources, but also from non-traditional sources. For instance, the violent conduct demonstrated by some of the "right-to lifers" of the conservative Christian wing or the swindling for money by "new age" practitioners using psychic ploys, such as, trance channeling, past life regression, psychic healing, forecasting the future, etc.
Because of the great appetite for spiritual knowledge and experience and the rapture generated by its use, there is also a great danger of distortion of spiritual vision, (spiritual self-deception), and a kind of spiritual gluttony.
Regardless of its possible negative consequences, the idea of spirituality has interfaced with our collective cultural consciousness and has begun an assimilation process interacting with all other elements of our society. As we digest the idea of spirituality, we begin to break down old, traditional understandings and to transform them into more evolved understandings. As we discover the illusory elements in our spiritual quest , we will hopefully learn to employ only those spiritual elements that foster greater common good and balance.
What is spirituality? Where does it come from? Why is so important?
Spirituality is the core principle of the total constitution of, not only human beings, but also of all manifest things. Its source, as with all things, is divine. At an original point of manifestation of "mankind" and all things, a "thought spark" emanated from Divine Consciousness, a principle around which "mankind" and all things began the Great Drama of Evolution. The first principle or god-spark or Divine Emanation, is infinite and could never be blackened by some kind of finite cosmic sin. We are not thrown, haphazardly into the eternal expanse, damned by a perpetual, Original Sin, and there to dwell as worthless specks until physical death takes us. Because of our god-spark we are a living analogy of Divine Consciousness. The same forces and qualities that uphold the universe, uphold us; we in it and it in us. We can but look onto our own reflections and inner consciousness to find that which will convince us that we are more than what we appear to be.
The intuitive reader might be some what confused, and ask the question, " What is the distinction between spiritual and religious?" Most people, because of their religious training, associate spiritual expression exclusively with religion. However, spiritual expressions are often completely separate from religion. Its like the old question, "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" Spiritual expression originates from human's god-spark, their essential core, and although religion can initiate a spiritual response, religion is not the source of spirituality. Thus, any human who is not affiliated with a religion, can be highly spiritual.
Nowadays, spirituality has become important because traditional religions have lost their spiritual relationship, by either becoming spiritually defunct or by too much attention to the "eye" of religion rather than its "heart." Religion is the outcome of human's spiritual core. Human beings aware of their god-spark manifest that awareness in terms of doctrines, ceremonies, and rituals, that in turn recognize, celebrate, and educate that awareness through out their particular communities. When a religion is born out of a human being's spiritual core it vibrates in tune with its spiritual impulse, and manifests itself within the current mind-set of its associate culture. Since the spiritual core of human beings has not as yet been perfectly evolved, human's religious expression, at any one point in time, is also imperfect; representing as it does, the currently evolutionary capacity of human's spiritual expression. Over time, religion will lose its initial spiritual radience, and gradually turn towards vibrations of a more mundane kind, spiritually exhausting its doctrines, ceremonies, and rituals. In this inevitable cycle of religious decline, human beings are again urged by their spiritual core to explore, from within, outward for refinement, clarification, and reformation of their religious expression. This process has an appearance of spiritual chaos, but is actually the natural operation of our collective spiritual consciousnesss, exploring itself in an effort to transmute tired religious forms of expression into higher, more evolved forms. Essentually we are spiritual beings, and although we can allow our senses to mislead our minds into believing that our physicl nature is the most essential element, we can never addicate our spiritual essence.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
suffering
Losing our balance in a world of constant change is the way we live. There is no escape from this condition. Our constant effort to regain equilibrium is the cause for our suffering. Without realization of this condition we tend to perceive our suffering as trouble dispensed by some vengeful god or purblind doomster of Nature. That old lament continually resounds, "Why me?" How many times have you hear someone speak of the unfair circumstances that has fallen upon them? It would seem to many that the world has less good than ill and that ill follows them around like a shadow. A.E. Houseman, in his poem, "Terrance This is Stupid Stuff," confirms the idea of the pervasiveness of ill over good:
"Therefore, since the world has still
Much good, but much less good than ill.
And while the sun and moon endure
Luck a chance, but trouble sure"
Houseman takes his perception, of ill over good one step further, and prescribes a practice to aid us in this world of much less good than ill:
..."I'd face it as a wise man would
and train for ill and not for good"...
Another poet, Thomas Hardy, in his poem, "Hap" also confirms the idea of of much less good then ill. He cannot however, come to understand how this over balance of ill comes about. He is confused, angry, and thus despairs:
"If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: "Thou suffering thing
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my heart profiting!"
Then I would bear it, Clench myself and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.
But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
-Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan...
These purblind Doomsters had as readily
Strown Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain."
Is there, in truth, an overbalance of the ill or negative side of our world, against the good or positive side? I puzzled over this question some time ago, and here is how I understand it. At first glance, the question seemed to be a self-evident answer in the affirmative. My direct daily experiences and the opinion of people I respected, seem to confirm and support an affirmative answer. Yet, I felt something was lacking. I thought of the words from Alexander Pope's poem, "From an Essay on Man":
"Hope humbly then, with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher Death, and God adore.
What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,
But gives that hope to be thy blessing now;
Hope springs eternal in the human breast-
Man never is, but always to be blessed."
Frankly, I wasn't satisfied with the prospect of living in hope and dying in despair.
I decided to watch my life very closely, examining it for evidence that would solve my puzzlement. I watched my life process for a long time. Watched its expectation. Watched its secret desires and fantasies. Watched its encounters. Then one Fall morning, I followed
a river, watching it as it flowed downstream over rugged rocks, bubbling white with agitation to undisturbed calm. I watched the wild fall flowers pass from the icy sting of the morning's frost to the restoring warmth of the afternoon sun. Suddenly, all my watching and accompanying mixed thoughts become one thought, and I realized that I am part of a continuous rhythm of extremes, surging then ebbing away only to surge again, and that I can emphasize one or the other extreme. Thus in so doing, I can color in a perspective of either positive or negative. Therefore, it isn't that the world contains much less good than ill, but that we humans judge our experiences to be more negative then positive. The world is absolutely passive without a predetermined disposition. However, the T.V. flashes audio-visual negative accounts every hour on the hour. The newspapers and magazines run negative stories, in-depth, twice daily, weekly, bimonthly, monthly, etc.. Our conscious mind is continually being influenced by the negative side. This kind of intensive influence produce deep negative mind-groves.
Although my search brought forth a satisfying answer, my curiosity was still piqued. I wanted to know what was it about the negative side that attaches and holds my attention? I wondered, if the river and the fall flowers had human awareness, how would they describe their daily encounters. The river would probably recount its movement through rugged rocks with more excitement and detail then its movement into calm; likewise with the fall flowers. It would seem that experiences involving an extension of our existence over the risk of injury, failure or possible death, creates an abiding, emotional attachment. A something extra, added to the event, a feeling of danger, high anxiety, great fear, or all these sensation wrapped into one. These kind of experiences, then linger on longer and stronger because of the greater intensiveness of feelings. The positive side is a purer encounter, without the added excitement or risk, and thus burns off its experience much more cleanly.
After the river's encounter with the rocks, it recovers in the calm waters, and likewise, after their encounter with the frost, the fall flowers recover in the warmth of the sun. The river and fall flowers, in their true essences, accept the rocks and the frost with the same attitude as they accept the calm and the sun. Their perspective comes from the knowledge and acceptance of the continuously circulating extremes. Their emphasis is on adjustment and recovery.
Suffering is the way we live. We should work at pulling out what is positive from our negative experiences, just as we pull out the weeds to give nourishment to the plant. In this manner, by pulling out positive results from negative encounters, we enrich our lives, and we grow.
Jesus the Christ modeled for us the ultimate attitude towards suffering. By totally accepting his agony, and by offering it up as a sacrifice for the good of mankind, Christ transcended his suffering into a pure act of love.
There is no escape from suffering. We cannot live with true peace in our hearts unless we realize how to accept our own suffering.
"Therefore, since the world has still
Much good, but much less good than ill.
And while the sun and moon endure
Luck a chance, but trouble sure"
Houseman takes his perception, of ill over good one step further, and prescribes a practice to aid us in this world of much less good than ill:
..."I'd face it as a wise man would
and train for ill and not for good"...
Another poet, Thomas Hardy, in his poem, "Hap" also confirms the idea of of much less good then ill. He cannot however, come to understand how this over balance of ill comes about. He is confused, angry, and thus despairs:
"If but some vengeful god would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh: "Thou suffering thing
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my heart profiting!"
Then I would bear it, Clench myself and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.
But not so. How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
-Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan...
These purblind Doomsters had as readily
Strown Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain."
Is there, in truth, an overbalance of the ill or negative side of our world, against the good or positive side? I puzzled over this question some time ago, and here is how I understand it. At first glance, the question seemed to be a self-evident answer in the affirmative. My direct daily experiences and the opinion of people I respected, seem to confirm and support an affirmative answer. Yet, I felt something was lacking. I thought of the words from Alexander Pope's poem, "From an Essay on Man":
"Hope humbly then, with trembling pinions soar;
Wait the great teacher Death, and God adore.
What future bliss, he gives not thee to know,
But gives that hope to be thy blessing now;
Hope springs eternal in the human breast-
Man never is, but always to be blessed."
Frankly, I wasn't satisfied with the prospect of living in hope and dying in despair.
I decided to watch my life very closely, examining it for evidence that would solve my puzzlement. I watched my life process for a long time. Watched its expectation. Watched its secret desires and fantasies. Watched its encounters. Then one Fall morning, I followed
a river, watching it as it flowed downstream over rugged rocks, bubbling white with agitation to undisturbed calm. I watched the wild fall flowers pass from the icy sting of the morning's frost to the restoring warmth of the afternoon sun. Suddenly, all my watching and accompanying mixed thoughts become one thought, and I realized that I am part of a continuous rhythm of extremes, surging then ebbing away only to surge again, and that I can emphasize one or the other extreme. Thus in so doing, I can color in a perspective of either positive or negative. Therefore, it isn't that the world contains much less good than ill, but that we humans judge our experiences to be more negative then positive. The world is absolutely passive without a predetermined disposition. However, the T.V. flashes audio-visual negative accounts every hour on the hour. The newspapers and magazines run negative stories, in-depth, twice daily, weekly, bimonthly, monthly, etc.. Our conscious mind is continually being influenced by the negative side. This kind of intensive influence produce deep negative mind-groves.
Although my search brought forth a satisfying answer, my curiosity was still piqued. I wanted to know what was it about the negative side that attaches and holds my attention? I wondered, if the river and the fall flowers had human awareness, how would they describe their daily encounters. The river would probably recount its movement through rugged rocks with more excitement and detail then its movement into calm; likewise with the fall flowers. It would seem that experiences involving an extension of our existence over the risk of injury, failure or possible death, creates an abiding, emotional attachment. A something extra, added to the event, a feeling of danger, high anxiety, great fear, or all these sensation wrapped into one. These kind of experiences, then linger on longer and stronger because of the greater intensiveness of feelings. The positive side is a purer encounter, without the added excitement or risk, and thus burns off its experience much more cleanly.
After the river's encounter with the rocks, it recovers in the calm waters, and likewise, after their encounter with the frost, the fall flowers recover in the warmth of the sun. The river and fall flowers, in their true essences, accept the rocks and the frost with the same attitude as they accept the calm and the sun. Their perspective comes from the knowledge and acceptance of the continuously circulating extremes. Their emphasis is on adjustment and recovery.
Suffering is the way we live. We should work at pulling out what is positive from our negative experiences, just as we pull out the weeds to give nourishment to the plant. In this manner, by pulling out positive results from negative encounters, we enrich our lives, and we grow.
Jesus the Christ modeled for us the ultimate attitude towards suffering. By totally accepting his agony, and by offering it up as a sacrifice for the good of mankind, Christ transcended his suffering into a pure act of love.
There is no escape from suffering. We cannot live with true peace in our hearts unless we realize how to accept our own suffering.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
man does not live by bread alone
"Man does not live by bread alone," is what might be called a biblical cliche. What I mean by that is, it is quoted with such frequency that it becomes trait. No one can tell you who's by-line it comes from, or what chapter and verse. Its contextual meaning, because of its colloquial quality, is assumed. If any of you readers have knowledge of the, by-line, chapter, and verse, of ..."man does no live by bread alone," please send me the information via the comment section of this blog. I am curious about its original context. Also I should point out that its not only men that do not live by bread alone, but also women.
Richard Cory, is a character from Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem, "Richard Cory." Richard Cory was "empirically slim," "always human when he talked," "admirably schooled in every grace," he even "glittered when he walked;" yet, "one calm summer night went home and put a bullet through his head."
Richard Cory's suicide seems incongruous when thought about in terms of his worldly accomplishments and material possessions. He was seemingly such a refined and highly developed human being that simple people, "wished they were in his place." Of all his accomplishments and material possessions, none brought him true satisfaction or joy.
What has all this Richard Cory stuff to do with needing more than bread for sustaining human life? Your worldly identity is derived primarily from your relationship with your immediate environment. You are able to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste your environment each and every moment. Your perceptions about yourself are therefore based on your personal interpretation of the events occurring within your contacted environment. When you say "I," it equates to a single, separate, human form, identifiable by perceptions taken from your immediate environment: name, age, race, nationally, occupation, etc., etc., operating within a given space-time frame, causal forces, and relationships. You can pin-point yourself as to time, location, behavior, and emotional content, every moment. Yet, as objective and certain as this kind of identification seems, there is a fatal flaw.
Worldly identification is but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of human consciousness. The abode of the "I" is the physical world, and since the physical world is relatively illusory compared to the spiritual world of the "thou," the "I" is relatively detached and isolated, without a true abiding place. That is the reason there is such relatively emptiness and unsustainable joy in worldly accomplishments. Worldly identification represents a very narrow and temporary kind of perception about the human condition. It completely neglects the vast, eternal realm of the spiritual. Spiritual identification is far superior, and hits the mark dead center as to the "real" content of human beings. Gautama the Buddha describes human worldly desires:
"Human desires are endless. It is like the thirst of a man who drinks salt water; he gets no satisfaction and his thirst is only increased. So it is with a man who seeks to gratify his desires; he only gains increased dissatisfaction and his woes are multiplied."
The "stuff" you are made of is intimately tangent and interrelated throughout the breath of the Cosmos. You are the embodiment of the Cosmos: you in it and it in you. The very same principles that infuse and enliven the Cosmos, are infused and enlivened in you. Your physical body and accompanying environment are in one respect mere temporary vehicles for your indwelling spirit, and in another respect mere illusions when compared to your infinite spiritual essence. To identify yourself solely and exclusively with the physical world is a grave mistake. Richard Cory made that mistake, and in his profound despair took his precious life.
A more dramatic, yet parallel condition of worldly despair can be found in Shakespeare's "Macbeth;" listen to Macbeth's fatalistic attitude:
"And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, Out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing"...
Don't you become caught in worldly despair. Remember your spirit, and that biblical cliche, "A man or woman does not live by bread alone."
Least You Should Forget
Least you should forget, you are spirit besides flesh.
Flesh conspires, needles desires,
then masks, and acts them out
in the Illusion Theatre of the I.
All you where, are, will be, is
given by the Breath of the First
Thought. Only your intent is let
to direct your path.
Therefore, cultivate your own Spirit.
Synchronize with your intuition.
Keep a vigilant mind, less you be
carried away, and at all costs keep
yourself whole.
Richard Cory, is a character from Edwin Arlington Robinson's poem, "Richard Cory." Richard Cory was "empirically slim," "always human when he talked," "admirably schooled in every grace," he even "glittered when he walked;" yet, "one calm summer night went home and put a bullet through his head."
Richard Cory's suicide seems incongruous when thought about in terms of his worldly accomplishments and material possessions. He was seemingly such a refined and highly developed human being that simple people, "wished they were in his place." Of all his accomplishments and material possessions, none brought him true satisfaction or joy.
What has all this Richard Cory stuff to do with needing more than bread for sustaining human life? Your worldly identity is derived primarily from your relationship with your immediate environment. You are able to see, hear, smell, touch, and taste your environment each and every moment. Your perceptions about yourself are therefore based on your personal interpretation of the events occurring within your contacted environment. When you say "I," it equates to a single, separate, human form, identifiable by perceptions taken from your immediate environment: name, age, race, nationally, occupation, etc., etc., operating within a given space-time frame, causal forces, and relationships. You can pin-point yourself as to time, location, behavior, and emotional content, every moment. Yet, as objective and certain as this kind of identification seems, there is a fatal flaw.
Worldly identification is but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of human consciousness. The abode of the "I" is the physical world, and since the physical world is relatively illusory compared to the spiritual world of the "thou," the "I" is relatively detached and isolated, without a true abiding place. That is the reason there is such relatively emptiness and unsustainable joy in worldly accomplishments. Worldly identification represents a very narrow and temporary kind of perception about the human condition. It completely neglects the vast, eternal realm of the spiritual. Spiritual identification is far superior, and hits the mark dead center as to the "real" content of human beings. Gautama the Buddha describes human worldly desires:
"Human desires are endless. It is like the thirst of a man who drinks salt water; he gets no satisfaction and his thirst is only increased. So it is with a man who seeks to gratify his desires; he only gains increased dissatisfaction and his woes are multiplied."
The "stuff" you are made of is intimately tangent and interrelated throughout the breath of the Cosmos. You are the embodiment of the Cosmos: you in it and it in you. The very same principles that infuse and enliven the Cosmos, are infused and enlivened in you. Your physical body and accompanying environment are in one respect mere temporary vehicles for your indwelling spirit, and in another respect mere illusions when compared to your infinite spiritual essence. To identify yourself solely and exclusively with the physical world is a grave mistake. Richard Cory made that mistake, and in his profound despair took his precious life.
A more dramatic, yet parallel condition of worldly despair can be found in Shakespeare's "Macbeth;" listen to Macbeth's fatalistic attitude:
"And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, Out brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing"...
Don't you become caught in worldly despair. Remember your spirit, and that biblical cliche, "A man or woman does not live by bread alone."
Least You Should Forget
Least you should forget, you are spirit besides flesh.
Flesh conspires, needles desires,
then masks, and acts them out
in the Illusion Theatre of the I.
All you where, are, will be, is
given by the Breath of the First
Thought. Only your intent is let
to direct your path.
Therefore, cultivate your own Spirit.
Synchronize with your intuition.
Keep a vigilant mind, less you be
carried away, and at all costs keep
yourself whole.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
unconditional aid
A rare occurrence in our multi-tasking, high speed society is viewing or experiencing a pure act, one not dipped in some kind self-return. We have developed an expectation of falsehood, like that of the American Indians encounters with the White Man: "White Man speaks with forked tongue." We experience far more acts done with conditions attached.
"Sir! Let me help you with that." The help is given, but it requires financial reimbursement.
"Here is Seven Million for this social need. Oh and yes! The building will be in my name."
Viewing or experiencing an act, done for the sake of the act, unconditionally, is so out of the ordinary it stuns us.
The case of an unconditional act done to the writer.
Both my arms were full: a box of books and papers in one hand, a brief case in the other. I was giving a class in a school new to me. I was at a juncture in a large hallway and didn't know which direction to turn, left or right. A maintenance man suddenly appeared into my space. I asked, "Which way to room 348?" He pointed left, and without hesitation took the box of books and papers from me. My first reaction was feeling the relief from the weight of the books and papers. My second reaction was surprise, by the unexpected aid.
He said not a word but went straight to room 348, with me following. At the door to the room, he placed the box of books and papers on the floor, pulled out a set of keys from his belt, and unlocked the door.
After the door was opened, I heartfeltly thanked him and bent down to pick up the box of books and papers, but his aid wasn't finished. He had picked up the box before I did, walked into the class room and waited for my directions as to were to put the box. I pointed to the top of the desk and he placed the box down, and with a twist of his head out the door he went. I followed him to the door thanking him with every step I took.
His aid had finished, and he didn't need, thanks, reimbursement, or ego stroking. Later, as I contemplated his actions, I was struck by the simplicity and power of his pure intention and stunned by this unconditional aid-so rare in our society.
"Sir! Let me help you with that." The help is given, but it requires financial reimbursement.
"Here is Seven Million for this social need. Oh and yes! The building will be in my name."
Viewing or experiencing an act, done for the sake of the act, unconditionally, is so out of the ordinary it stuns us.
The case of an unconditional act done to the writer.
Both my arms were full: a box of books and papers in one hand, a brief case in the other. I was giving a class in a school new to me. I was at a juncture in a large hallway and didn't know which direction to turn, left or right. A maintenance man suddenly appeared into my space. I asked, "Which way to room 348?" He pointed left, and without hesitation took the box of books and papers from me. My first reaction was feeling the relief from the weight of the books and papers. My second reaction was surprise, by the unexpected aid.
He said not a word but went straight to room 348, with me following. At the door to the room, he placed the box of books and papers on the floor, pulled out a set of keys from his belt, and unlocked the door.
After the door was opened, I heartfeltly thanked him and bent down to pick up the box of books and papers, but his aid wasn't finished. He had picked up the box before I did, walked into the class room and waited for my directions as to were to put the box. I pointed to the top of the desk and he placed the box down, and with a twist of his head out the door he went. I followed him to the door thanking him with every step I took.
His aid had finished, and he didn't need, thanks, reimbursement, or ego stroking. Later, as I contemplated his actions, I was struck by the simplicity and power of his pure intention and stunned by this unconditional aid-so rare in our society.
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