august
Thomas Merton - from New Seeds of Contemplation
Thomas Merton (31 January 1915 – 10 December 1968) was one of the most influential Catholic writers of the 20th century. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, in the state of Kentucky, Merton was the author of numerous acclaimed works of spirituality, a prolific poet, social activist and student of comparative religion. He wrote more than 60 books, scores of essays and reviews, and is the subject of several biographies. Merton was a keen proponent of inter-religious understanding, engaging in spiritual dialogues with the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and D. T. Suzuki. His life and career were suddenly cut short at the age of 53, when he was electrocuted stepping out of his bath.
THE GENERAL DANCE
The Lord made His world not in order to judge it, not in order merely to dominate it, to make it obey the dictates of an inscrutable and all-powerful will, not in order to find pleasure or displeasure in the way it worked: such was not the reason for creation either of the world or of man.
The Lord made the world and made man in order that He Himself might descend into the world, that He Himself might become Man. When He regarded the world He was about to make He saw His wisdom, as a man-child, "playing in the world, playing before Him at all times." And He reflected, "my delights are to be with the children of men."
The world was not made as a prison for fallen spirits who were rejected by God: this is the gnostic error. The world was made as a temple, a paradise, into which God Himself would descend to dwell familiarly with the spirits He had placed there to tend it for Him.
The early chapters of Genesis (far from being a pseudoscientific account of the way the world was supposed to have come into being) are precisely a poetic and symbolic revelation, a completely true, though not literal, revelation of God's view of the universe and of His intentions for man. The point of these beautiful chapters is that God made the world as a garden in which He himself took delight. He made man and gave to man the task of sharing in His own divine care for created things. He made man in His own image and likeness, as an artist, a worker, homofaber, as the gardener of paradise. He let man decide for himself how created things were to be interpreted, understood and used: for Adam gave the animals their names (God gave them no names at all) and what names Adam gave them, that they were. Thus in his intelligence man, by the act of knowing, imitated something of the creative love of God for creatures. While the love of God, looking upon things, brought them into being, the love of man, looking upon things, reproduced the divine idea, the divine truth, in man's own spirit.
As God creates things by seeing them in His own Logos, man brings truth to life in his mind by the marriage of the divine light, in the being of the object, with the divine light in his own reason. The meeting of these two lights in one mind is truth.
But there is a higher light still, not the light by which man "gives names" and forms concepts, with the aid of the active intelligence, but the dark light in which no names are given, in which God confronts man not through the medium of things, but in His own simplicity. The union of the simple light of God with the simple light of man's spirit, in love, is contemplation. The two simplicities are one. They form, as it were, an emptiness in which there is no addition but rather the taking away of names, of forms, of content, of subject matter, of identities. In this meeting there is not so much a fusion of identities as a disappearance of identities. The Bible speaks of this very simply: "In the breeze after noon God came to walk with Adam in paradise." It is after noon, in the declining light of created day. In the free emptiness of the breeze that blows from where it pleases and goes where no one can estimate, God and man are together, not speaking in words, or syllables or forms. And that was the meaning of creation and of Paradise. But there was more.
The Word of God Himself was the "firstborn of every creature." He "in Whom all things consist" was not only to walk with man in the breeze after noon, but would also become Man, and dwell with man as a brother.
The Lord would not only love His creation as a Father, but He would enter into His creation, emptying Himself, hiding Himself, as if He were not God but a creature. Why should He do this? Because He loved His creatures, and because He could not bear that His creatures should merely adore Him as distant, remote, transcendent and all powerful. This was not the glory that He sought, for if He were merely adored as great, His creatures would in their turn make themselves great and lord it over one another. For where there is a great God, then there are also god-like men, who make themselves kings and masters. And if God were merely a great artist who took pride in His creation, then men too would build cities and palaces and exploit other men for their own glory.
This is the meaning of the myth of Babel, and of the tower builders who would be "as Gods" with their hanging gardens, and with the heads of their enemies hanging in the gardens. For they would point to God and say: "He too is a great builder, and has destroyed all His enemies."
(God said: I do not laugh at my enemies, because I wish to make it impossible for anyone to be my enemy. Therefore I identify myself with my enemy's own secret self.)
So God became man. He took on the weakness and ordinariness of man, and He hid Himself, becoming an anonymous and unimportant man in a very unimportant place. And He refused at any time to Lord it over men, or to be a King, or to be a Leader, or to be a Reformer, or to be in any way Superior to His own creatures. He would be nothing else but their brother, and their counsellor, and their servant, and their friend. He was in no accepted human sense an important person, though since that time we have made Him The Most Important Person. That is another matter: for though it is quite true that He is the King and Lord of all, the conqueror of death, the judge of the living and of the dead, the Pantokrator, yet He is also still the Son of Man, the hidden one, unknown, unremarkable, vulnerable. He can be killed. And when the Son of Man was put to death, He rose again from the dead, and was again with us, for He said: "Kill me, it does not matter."
Having died, He dies no more in His own Person. But because He became man and united man's nature to Himself, and died for man, and rose as man from the dead, He brought it about that the sufferings of all men became His own sufferings; their weakness and defenselessness became His weakness and defenselessness; their insignificance became His. But at the same time His own power, immortality, glory and happiness were given to them and could become theirs. So if the God-Man is still great, it is rather for our sakes than for His own that He wishes to be great and strong. For to Him, strength and weakness, life and death are dualities with which He is not concerned, being above them in His transcendent unity. Yet He would raise us also above these dualities by making us one with Him. For though evil and death can touch the evanescent, outer self in which we dwell estranged from Him, in which we are alienated and exiled in unreality, it can never touch the real inner self in which we have been made one with Him. For in becoming man, God became not only Jesus Christ but also potentially every man and woman that ever existed. In Christ, God became not only "this" man, but also, in a broader and more mystical sense, yet no less truly, "every man."
The presence of God in His world as its Creator depends on no one but Him. His presence in the world as Man depends, in some measure, upon men. Not that we can do anything to change the mystery of the Incarnation in itself. but we are able to decide whether we ourselves, and that portion of the world which is ours, shall become aware of His presence, consecrated by it, and transfigured in its light.
We have the choice of two identities: the external mask which seems to be real and which lives by a shadowy autonomy for the brief moment of earthly existence, and the hidden, inner person who seems to us to be nothing, but who can give himself eternally to the truth in whom he subsists. It is this inner self that is taken up into the mystery of Christ, by His love, by the Holy Spirit, so that in secret we live "in Christ."
Yet we must not deal in too negative a fashion even with the "external self." This self is not by nature evil, and the fact that it is unsubstantial is not to be imputed to it as some kind of crime. It is afflicted with metaphysical poverty: but all that is poor deserves mercy. So too our outward self, as long as it does not isolate itself in a lie, it is blessed by the mercy and the love of Christ. Appearances are to be accepted for what they are. The accidents of a poor and transient existence have, nevertheless, an ineffable value. They can be transparent media in which we apprehend the presence of God in the world. It is possible to speak of the exterior self as a mask: to do so is not necessarily to reprove it. The mask that each man wears may well be a disguise not only for that man's inner self but for God, wandering as a pilgrim and exile in His own creation.
And indeed, if Christ became Man, it is because He wanted to be any man and every man. If we believe in the Incarnation of the Son of God, there should be no one on earth in whom we are not prepared to see, in mystery, the presence of Christ.
What is serious to men is often very trivial in the sight of God. What in God might appear to us as "play" is perhaps what He Himself takes most seriously. At any rate the Lord plays and diverts Himself in the garden of His creation, and if we could let go of our own obsession with what we think is the meaning of it all, we might be able to hear His call and follow Him in His mysterious, cosmic dance. We do not have to go very far to catch echoes of that game, and of that dancing. When we are alone on a starlit night; when by chance we see the migrating birds in autumn descending on a grove ofjunipers to rest and eat; when we see children in a moment when they are really children; when we know love in our own hearts; or when, like the Japanese poet Basho we hear an old frog land in a quiet pond with a solitary splash - at such times the awakening, the turning inside out of all values, the "newness," the emptiness and the purity of vision that make themselves evident, provide a glimpse of the cosmic dance.
For the world and time are the dance of the Lord in emptiness. The silence of the spheres is the music of a wedding feast. The more we persist in misunderstanding the phenomena of life, the more we analyze them out into strange finalities and complex purposes of our own, the more we involve ourselves in sadness, absurdity and despair. But it does not matter much, because no despair of ours can alter the reality of things, or stain the joy of the cosmic dance which is always there. Indeed, we are in the midst of it, and it is in the midst of us, for it beats in our very blood, whether we want it to or not.
Yet the fact remains that we are invited to forget ourselves on purpose, cast our awful solemnity to the winds and join in the general dance.
from Thomas Merton: Spiritual Master, The Essential Writings, edited by Lawrence S. Cunningham, Paulist Press, © 1992
july
Faith
One day a friend called to ask if we could meet for tea. Knowing that I was writing a book on faith from the Buddhist perspective, she was confused and wanted to talk. "How can you possibly be writing a book on faith without focusing on God?" she demanded. "Isn't that the whole point?" Her concern spoke to the common understanding we have of faith - that it is synonymous with religious adherence. But the tendency to equate faith with doctrine, and then argue about terminology and concepts, distracts us from what faith is actually about. In my understanding, whether faith is connected to a deity or not, its essence lies in trusting ourselves to discover the deepest truths on which we can rely.
For some this will be a very different approach to faith. Many link faith to narrow-minded belief systems, lack of intelligent examination, or pain at having one's questions silenced. Faith might evoke images of submission to an external authority. Historically, the idea of faith has been used to slice cleanly between those who belong to a select group and those who do not. To fuel their own embittered agendas, fanatics harness what they call faith to hatred.
I want to invite a new use of the word faith, one that is not associated with a dogmatic religious interpretation or divisiveness. I want to encourage delight in the word, to help reclaim faith as fresh, vibrant, intelligent, and liberating. This is a faith that emphasizes a foundation of love and respect for ourselves. It is a faith that uncovers our connection to others, rather than designating anyone as separate and apart.
Faith does not require a belief system, and is not necessarily connected to a deity or God, though it doesn't deny one. This faith is not a commodity we either have or don't have - it is an inner quality that unfolds as we learn to trust our own deepest experience.
The Buddha said, "Faith is the beginning of all good things." No matter what we encounter in life, it is faith that enables us to try again, to trust again, to love again. Even in times of immense suffering, it is faith that enables us to relate to the present moment in such a way that we can go on, we can move forward, instead of becoming lost in resignation or despair. Faith links our present-day experience, whether wonderful or terrible, to the underlying pulse of life itself.
A capacity for this type of faith is inherent in every human being. We might not recognize it or know how to nurture it, but we can learn to do both. This book is the story of my own journey of faith. May it serve to support and enhance your own.
from: Faith: trusting your own deepest experience, © 2002, Sharon Salzberg
june
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
I have said that the soul is not more than the body,
And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,
And nothing, not God is greater to one than one's-self is,
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral dressed in his shroud,
And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick of the earth,
And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod confounds the learning of all times,
And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero,
And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheeled universe,
And any man or woman shall stand cool and supercilious before a million universes.And I call to mankind, Be not curious about God,
For I who am curious about each am not curious about God,
No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death.I hear and behold God in every object, yet I understand God not in the least,
Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.Why should I wish to see God better than this day?
I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then,
In the faces of men and women I see God and in my own face in the glass;
I find letters from God dropped in the street, and every one is signed by God's name,
And I leave them where they are, for I know that others will punctually come, forever and ever...
I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,
If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.
(1855)
from Myths to Live By, by Joseph Campbell, 1972
may
hans hofmann
his personal artistic creed:
It is the drama of the colors
that makes a painting -
that gives it form and life.Pictorial insinuation challenges
predominance and subordination:that it may live to be devoured
that it may prevail to submit
that it be sacrificed to serve
the passion of its functionto make the smallest
still a king -
a pearl -
a diamond in the crown of glory
that is life.1962
~~~~~~~~~
SunsetGlorious as you are -
but you also must set and pass away
and the glory of the magnitude
in which you die
is as little perceived by the ignorant and
the indifferent
as the enthusiasm
as the eternal youth
I carry in me
with which
to enflame a morbid and materialistic
world -
humble I bow before you -
symbol of my destiny.VII 19. 44 HH
~~~~~~~~~
Silence -Space is Silence
- - absolute Silence
with no beginning
and no end - -
throughout Eternity - -
This is the background
of Life
with death in its reversed
direction
to close the Cycle of
Being
back into Silence - -
the great phenomenon
that is Silence
- eternal Silence.HH 7/18 55.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~from Hans Hofmann: Poems & Paintings on Paper
catalog: Ameringer Yohe Gallery, New York City, April 2008
april
authentic art
what makes a work of art authentic? enabling it to possess our deepest feelings - even though at first, and maybe for a long time, we were only curious about it and unable to make a true connection - perhaps caught up in our conditioned, busy thoughts about it and how it fit into the art scene and what it meant - but at some point we may have caught sight of it as a presence and our experience changed radically - from interest on a mental level to being gripped by its mysterious power - the power to connect us to the center of our being, our consciousness, to a universal communion with our fellow beings and the world -
it's impossible to translate the source of this presence into words - what components of the artwork combine to create it? does the artist have to be a genius, with a huge talent, intellect, schooling, a master of the medium? too often the artist may have all these qualities and be considered a genius by the public but is unable to produce works of presence - in fact if the artist becomes proud of being a genius the mysterious connection that allows presence to enter the art may be lost - it requires a grateful spirit of humility and a commitment to service to attain this connection - in these moments of enlightenment the artist is a channel for forces that create on a higher level than otherwise possible - and this enlightenment shines out of the work as presence or quality - producing in us a state of enlightenment, if only for a moment, and freeing our obsessive identification with the story in our heads we believe is reality - this is why authentic art is of such value to the world - not because of aesthetics or history or being radically different, but because of its power to transform us -
inauthentic art has the opposite effect - re-enforcing our identification with our false ideas of who we are - all the thoughts that our ego thrives on - that swell our self-importance and celebrate our specialness and separation from others - this pseudo-art prides itself on how clever it is - how 'cutting edge' -and on its 'brand name' that provides an identity-enhancer for those who buy it - to do this it must be expensive so others can't afford it, and therefore is 'exclusive' - a product of our materialistic age and our new academy of the shallow - that have dictated that presence and quality are now unacceptable words for contemporary art - this is because authentic art exposes pseudo-art as a pretentious sham - enlightenment dissolves the false self like water did the wicked witch -
to achieve authenticity the creative process must be conducted within the realm of spirit and without recourse to control - when 'in the zone' the artist (in any field, including sports, etc) must avoid distractions or attempts to force the result toward any desired result - the artist must avoid making judgments and accept unconditionally what is produced - even after the work is finished the artist must remain a humble 'bystander' seeking to understand what has been produced - this understanding may take a long time and requires continuance of humility until a breakthrough arrives - impatience results in the artist becoming judgmental, interfering with the creation and degrading it - authentic creations may be so 'far out', even to their creator, that patience is necessary - for the creator as well as the viewer - avoid consideration of how the work fits into one's previous output - authentic art has no marketing strategy involved in its creation -
ted knerr
april 2008
march
Courtesy
George Washington knew the importance of showing courtesy. This helped him unite and lead a raw country that had little in the way of good manners.
"A set of precepts that meant much to Washington and that has drawn the attention of historians, though perhaps not enough, was one that he had copied out by hand at sixteen, 'The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and in Conversation' -- one hundred and ten in all -- which were based on a set composed by French Jesuits in 1595. ...
"The focus of the set was established in the very first rule. 'Every action done in company ought to be done with some sign of respect to those that are present.' The 'Rules of Civility' are 'virtues of humanity' -- guidelines for dealing with others, based on attending to their situations and sensibilities. ... 'When you see a crime punished, you may be inwardly pleased; but show pity to the offending sufferer' (rule #23). '... treat artificers and persons of low degree with affability and courtesy, without arrogance' (rule #36). 'When a man does all he can, though it succeed not well, blame not him that did it' (rule #44). ... Washington also bought books of politeness as an adult, and instances of his courtesy, or comments on it, are legion. ...
"[Today] we worry about our authenticity -- about whether our presentation reflects who we 'really' are. Eighteenth-century Americans attended more to the outside story and were less avid to drive putty knives between the outer and inner man. 'Character' ... was a role one played until one became it. ...
"Courtesy and reputation -- the medium and stimulus of Washington's morality -- operate on and through other people. Courtesy is how you treat them, reputation is what they think of you. ... Courtesy and reputation made it possible for Washington to say to his countrymen, we, and to command a response."
Richard Brookhiser, Founding Father, Free Press, Copyright 1996 by Richard Brookhiser, pp. 127-132, 136.
february
A spirited mind never stops within itself;
it is always aspiring and going beyond its strength;
it has impulses beyond its powers of achievement.
If it does not advance and press forward
and stand at bay and clash, it is only half alive.
Its pursuits are boundless and without form;
its food is wonder, the chase, ambiguity.
-- Montaigne
contributed by bill hollis - an old friend
visit his website
~~~
Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue...as the unintended side-effect of one's personal dedication to a course greater than oneself.
-- Viktor Frankl
january 2008
Tao Te Ching - chapter thirty-eight
The highest kind of man or woman has innate goodness,
And that is what he or she rules with.
The lesser person brags about how good they are
And isn't much good, I can tell you.
A Man or Woman of Te rules by wu-wei
Doing nothing for themself or of themself.
The lesser person acts from their ego
And what they want is gratification.
A person who rules with compassion
Acts through it - and no one even realizes.
A legal person acts judiciously
But they are still serving their own ends.
And the rigid person uses laws
And if people don't like it, force.
If the true Tao is lost
then morality takes its place.
If that fails, we have 'conscience'.
When that fades, we get 'justice'.
When that disappears, we have the status quo.
Confusion reigns.
No one knows what's going on.
Forecasts and prophecies abound -
and they are merely a gloss on the Tao,
they are the root of all twisted guidance.
So the sage only looks at what is really real.
He or she doesn't just look at the surface -
But blows away the dust and drinks the water ...
They don't just go for the flower
But also for the roots and the fruit.
Blow away the dust, now:
Come to the living water.
note: converted to gender-neutral words for yin/yang balance
december 2007
I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.
Charles Dickens
Unless we make Christmas an occasion to share our blessings, all the snow in Alaska won't make it "white".Bing Crosby
A good conscience is a continual Christmas.Benjamin Franklin
Every time we love, every time we give, it's Christmas.Dale Evans
T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.Clement Clarke Moore
november
Compassion and the Individual
Tenzin Gyatso; The Fourteenth Dalai Lama
The purpose of life
ONE GREAT QUESTION underlies our experience, whether we think about it consciously or not: What is the purpose of life? I have considered this question and would like to share my thoughts in the hope that they may be of direct, practical benefit to those who read them.
I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affect this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don’t know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.How to achieve happiness
For a start, it is possible to divide every kind of happiness and suffering into two main categories: mental and physical. Of the two, it is the mind that exerts the greatest influence on most of us. Unless we are either gravely ill or deprived of basic necessities, our physical condition plays a secondary role in life. If the body is content, we virtually ignore it. The mind, however, registers every event, no matter how small. Hence we should devote our most serious efforts to bringing about mental peace.
From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion.
The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater our own sense of well-being becomes. Cultivating a close, warm-hearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. This helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the ultimate source of success in life.
As long as we live in this world we are bound to encounter problems. If, at such times, we lose hope and become discouraged, we diminish our ability to face difficulties. If, on the other hand, we remember that it is not just ourselves but every one who has to undergo suffering, this more realistic perspective will increase our determination and capacity to overcome troubles. Indeed, with this attitude, each new obstacle can be seen as yet another valuable opportunity to improve our mind!
Thus we can strive gradually to become more compassionate, that is we can develop both genuine sympathy for others’ suffering and the will to help remove their pain. As a result, our own serenity and inner strength will increase.
Our need for love
Ultimately, the reason why love and compassion bring the greatest happiness is simply that our nature cherishes them above all else. The need for love lies at the very foundation of human existence. It results from the profound interdependence we all share with one another. However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone, he or she will not survive. However vigorous and independent one may feel during the most prosperous periods of life, when one is sick or very young or very old, one must depend on the support of others.
Inter-dependence, of course, is a fundamental law of nature. Not only higher forms of life but also many of the smallest insects are social beings who, without any religion, law or education, survive by mutual cooperation based on an innate recognition of their interconnectedness. The most subtle level of material phenomena is also governed by interdependence. All phenomena from the planet we inhabit to the oceans, clouds, forests and flowers that surround us, arise in dependence upon subtle patterns of energy. Without their proper interaction, they dissolve and decay.
It is because our own human existence is so dependent on the help of others that our need for love lies at the very foundation of our existence. Therefore we need a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.
We have to consider what we human beings really are. We are not like machine-made objects. If we are merely mechanical entities, then machines themselves could alleviate all of our sufferings and fulfill our needs.continue the message here
october
EGO: the current state of humanity
When you don't cover up the world with words and labels, a sense of the miraculous returns to your life that was lost a long time ago when humanity, instead of using thought, became possessed by it. Then a depth returns to your life and things regain their newness, their freshness. And the greatest miracle is the experiencing of your essential self as prior to any words, thoughts, mental labels, and images. For this to happen, you need to disentangle your sense of I, of Beingness, from all the things it has become mixed up with, that is to say, identified with. That disentanglement is what this book is about.
The quicker you are in attaching verbal or mental labels to things, people, or situations, the more shallow and lifeless your reality becomes, and the more deadened you become to reality, the miracle of life that continuously unfolds within and around you. In this way, cleverness may be gained, but wisdom is lost, and so are joy, love, creativity, and aliveness. They are concealed in the still gap between the perception and the interpretation. Of course we have to use words and thoughts. They have their own beauty but do we need to become imprisoned in them?
The word "I" embodies the greatest error and the deepest truth, depending on how it is used. It is the most frequently used word (and) the most misleading. "I" embodies a primordial error, an illusory sense of identity – the ego. This is what Albert Einstein, who had deep insights not only into the reality of space and time but also into human nature, referred to as "an optical illusion of consciousness." That illusory self becomes the basis for all further misinterpretations of your life which becomes a reflection of the original illusion.
The good news is: If you can recognize illusion as illusion, it dissolves. The recognition of illusion is also its ending. Its survival depends on your mistaking it for reality. In the seeing of who you are not, the reality of who you are emerges by itself. What is the nature of this illusory self?
What you usually refer to when you say "I" is not who you are. The infinite depth of who you are is confused with a sound produced by the vocal cords or the thought of "I" in your mind.
When a child learns that a sound is his or her name, the child begins to equate a word, which in the mind becomes a thought of who he or she is. Soon they learn the magic word "I" and equate it with their name. Then other thoughts merge with the I-thought – me and mine to designate things that are somehow part of "I." This is identification with objects, which means investing things with a sense of self, thereby deriving an identity from them. When "my" toy breaks intense suffering arises. Not because of its value – the child will soon lose interest in it, and it will be replaced – but because of the thought of "mine." It became part of the child's sense of self.
And as the child grows, the original I-thought attracts other thoughts to itself. Thoughts of its gender, possessions, body, nationality, race, religion, etc. Also roles like mother, accumulated knowledge or opinions, likes and dislikes, things that happened to "me" in the past, that further define my sense of self as "me and my story"... ultimately no more than thoughts... invested with a sense of self. This mental construct is what you normally refer to when you say "I." To be more precise: usually it is not you who speaks when you think “I” but some aspect of the mental construct, the ego.
Most people are completely identified with the incessant stream of mind, of compulsive thinking, most of it repetitive and pointless. There is no ”I” apart from their thought processes and emotions. This is the meaning of being spiritually unconscious. When told that there is a voice in their head that never stops speaking, they say, “What voice?” or angrily deny it, which of course is the voice, the unobserved mind. It could be looked upon as an entity that has possessed them.
excerpted from ‘a new earth’, pp. 26-30, ©2005 by eckhart tolle -
september
Fault-Finders and Appreciators
There are two kinds of seeing in the world, two modes of looking at everything. The first is the fault-finding mode. When we’re in this mode, all we look for are the flaws, sins and imperfections of people, situations and the world. Our eyes are tuned to the “what’s-wrong frequency.” The second is appreciation mode. In this mode we see flaws and imperfections but we’re not obsessed with them; we’re looking for something to appreciate and keeping our eyes tuned to the “what’s-good frequency.”
I’ve had friends of both persuasions and I can tell you the appreciators are a lot easier to be around than the fault-finders. Fault-finders are generally not too happy — self-satisfied, often, but seldom truly happy. And joy doesn’t exactly follow them around either.
Appreciators, on the other hand, are generally happy — they feed on appreciation, after all — and joy follows them around like the scent of lilacs.
We’ve all met both kind of seers in the world. We deal with them every day in countless different roles. Think about your experience with these two kinds of people for a minute and ask yourself this question: what kind of friend do you want to be to yourself?
We know that fault-finding is toxic to the people who do it and those to whom it’s done. We know, just as well, that appreciation is nourishing to both the people who practice it and the people it’s directed at. So if we practice either one of these within ourselves, we get a double dose of the fruit. If we choose fault-finding, we make ourselves sick by being a fault-finder and being a victim of a fault-finder.
If we choose appreciation, we heal ourselves by its practice and by virtue of being appreciated. To appreciate is simply to be aware of, to value and be thankful for. Not that difficult, really. Practicing it, however, is a choice and habit. Make the choice and follow it through and the habit will follow.
Here’s what I’ve found as I’ve tried to practice this: If I’m in a funk, depressed, angry, wallowing, it’s a red flag telling me I’ve shifted to fault-finding mode. These are always connected just as appreciation and contentment are connected. Indeed, appreciation is key to contentment, to well-being.
Deciding how we want to look at ourselves — as appreciators or fault-finders — is the same as deciding to be well or ill. We need to be a friend to ourselves, and a good friend, not one who’s constantly pointing out flaws we already know about. It’s something I’ve been striving to accomplish for years and still struggle with daily. I guess I’m making progress though, because now, instead of pointing out to myself daily that I still haven’t mastered it, I get up most days with an appreciation for my effort and tenacity, if nothing else. I’m still here and so are you. That’s worth appreciating.
© 2007 by Troy Chapman
http://sacredmatters.blogspot.com
august
Ancient Wisdom
If you want to know God, look inside your heart.
You can keep giving because there is no end to your wealth.
You act without expectation,
Succeed without taking credit,
And know that you’re equal to everyone else.
Nothing in the world
Is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
Nothing can surpass it.
The soft overcomes the hard,
The gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
But few can put it into practice.
So remain serene in the midst of sorrow,
And keep your heart always filled
With the loving kindness of God.
july
Generosity
Renouncingany religiosity,
dancing on the grave
of my sour hostility,
Questing for treasure
at the roots of the tree,
gratefully praising
the passion within me.
Is an openness to my
new serenity,
and a connection
beckoning to me
that all I truly feel at last
is generosity.
© 2007 by scott bush
june
A depolarizing view -
What I Think About Evolution
By Sam Brownback, Op-Ed contributor, New York Times 5/31/07
In our sound-bite political culture, it is unrealistic to expect that every complicated issue will be addressed with the nuance or subtlety it deserves. So I suppose I should not have been surprised earlier this month when, during the first Republican presidential debate, the candidates on stage were asked to raise their hands if they did not “believe” in evolution. As one of those who raised his hand, I think it would be helpful to discuss the issue in a bit more detail and with the seriousness it demands.
The premise behind the question seems to be that if one does not unhesitatingly assert belief in evolution, then one must necessarily believe that God created the world and everything in it in six 24-hour days. But limiting this question to a stark choice between evolution and creationism does a disservice to the complexity of the interaction between science, faith and reason.
The heart of the issue is that we cannot drive a wedge between faith and reason. I believe wholeheartedly that there cannot be any contradiction between the two. The scientific method, based on reason, seeks to discover truths about the nature of the created order and how it operates, whereas faith deals with spiritual truths. The truths of science and faith are complementary: they deal with very different questions, but they do not contradict each other because the spiritual order and the material order were created by the same God.
People of faith should be rational, using the gift of reason that God has given us. At the same time, reason itself cannot answer every question. Faith seeks to purify reason so that we might be able to see more clearly, not less. Faith supplements the scientific method by providing an understanding of values, meaning and purpose. More than that, faith — not science — can help us understand the breadth of human suffering or the depth of human love. Faith and science should go together, not be driven apart.
The question of evolution goes to the heart of this issue. If belief in evolution means simply assenting to microevolution, small changes over time within a species, I am happy to say, as I have in the past, that I believe it to be true. If, on the other hand, it means assenting to an exclusively materialistic, deterministic vision of the world that holds no place for a guiding intelligence, then I reject it.
There is no one single theory of evolution, as proponents of punctuated equilibrium and classical Darwinism continue to feud today. Many questions raised by evolutionary theory — like whether man has a unique place in the world or is merely the chance product of random mutations — go beyond empirical science and are better addressed in the realm of philosophy or theology.
The most passionate advocates of evolutionary theory offer a vision of man as a kind of historical accident. That being the case, many believers — myself included — reject arguments for evolution that dismiss the possibility of divine causality.
Ultimately, on the question of the origins of the universe, I am happy to let the facts speak for themselves. There are aspects of evolutionary biology that reveal a great deal about the nature of the world, like the small changes that take place within a species. Yet I believe, as do many biologists and people of faith, that the process of creation — and indeed life today — is sustained by the hand of God in a manner known fully only to him. It does not strike me as anti-science or anti-reason to question the philosophical presuppositions behind theories offered by scientists who, in excluding the possibility of design or purpose, venture far beyond their realm of empirical science.
Biologists will have their debates about man’s origins, but people of faith can also bring a great deal to the table. For this reason, I oppose the exclusion of either faith or reason from the discussion. An attempt by either to seek a monopoly on these questions would be wrong-headed. As science continues to explore the details of man’s origin, faith can do its part as well. The fundamental question for me is how these theories affect our understanding of the human person.
The unique and special place of each and every person in creation is a fundamental truth that must be safeguarded. I am wary of any theory that seeks to undermine man’s essential dignity and unique and intended place in the cosmos. I firmly believe that each human person, regardless of circumstance, was willed into being and made for a purpose.
While no stone should be left unturned in seeking to discover the nature of man’s origins, we can say with conviction that we know with certainty at least part of the outcome. Man was not an accident and reflects an image and likeness unique in the created order. Those aspects of evolutionary theory compatible with this truth are a welcome addition to human knowledge. Aspects of these theories that undermine this truth, however, should be firmly rejected as an atheistic theology posing as science.
Without hesitation, I am happy to raise my hand to that.
Sam Brownback is a Republican senator from Kansas.
may
why is the world in the shape it’s in?
Of all the questions man has asked of God, this is the one asked most often. From the beginning of time man has asked it ...
If God is all-perfect and all-loving, why would God create pestilence and famine, war and disease, earthquakes and tornados and hurricanes and all manner of natural disaster, deep personal disappointment, and worldwide calamity?
The answer to this question lies in the deeper mystery of the universe and the highest meaning of life.
I do not show My goodness by creating only what you call perfection all around you. I do not demonstrate My love by not allowing you to demonstrate yours.
... you cannot demonstrate love until you can demonstrate not loving. A thing cannot exist without its opposite, except in the world of the absolute.
The world is the way it is because it could not be any other way and still exist in the gross realm of physicality. Earthquakes and hurricanes, floods and tornados, and other of what you call natural disasters are but movements of the elements from one polarity to the other. The whole birth-death cycle is part of this movement. These are the rhythms of life, and everything in gross reality is subject to them, because life itself is a rhythm. It is a wave, a vibration, a pulsation at the very heart of the All That Is.
Illness and disease are opposites of health and wellness, and are made manifest in your reality at your behest. You cannot be ill without at some level causing yourself to be, and you can be made well again in a moment by simply deciding to be. Deep personal disappointments are responses which are chosen, and worldwide calamities are the result of worldwide consciousness.
Your question infers that I choose these events, that it is My will and desire they should occur. Yet I do not will these things into being, I merely observe you doing so. And I do nothing to stop them, because to do so would be to thwart your will. That, in turn, would deprive you of the God experience, which is the experience you and I have chosen together. [We are all One.]
Do not condemn, therefore, all that you would call bad in the world. Rather, ask yourself, what about this have you judged bad, and what, if anything, you wish to do to change it.
Inquire within, rather than without, asking: “What part of my Self do I wish to experience now in the face of this calamity? What aspect of being do I choose to call forth?” For all of life exists as a tool of your own creation, and all of its events merely present themselves as opportunites for you to decide, and be, Who You Are.
This is true for every soul, and so you see there are no victims in the universe, only creators.
from pages 29, 32 Conversations with God - book 1, © 1995 by Neale Donald Walsch
On GovernmentThere are very few governments which do not deliberately mislead their people. Deception is part of government, for few people would choose to be governed the way they are governed--few would choose to be governed at all--unless government convinced them that its decisions were for their own good.
This is a hard convincing, for most people plainly see the foolishness in government. So Government must lie to at least try to hold the people's loyalty. Government is the perfect portrayer of the accuracy of the axiom that if you lie big enough, long enough, the lie becomes the "truth".
People in power must never let the public know how they came to power--nor all that they've done to stay there.
Truth and politics do not and cannot mix because politics is the art of saying only what needs to said--and saying it in just the right way--in order to achieve a desired end.
Not all politics are bad, but the art of politics is a practical art. It recognizes with great candor the psychology of most people. It simply notices that most people operate out of self-interest. So politics is the way that people of power seek to convince you that their self-interest is your own.
Governments understand self-interest. That is why governments are very good at designing programs which give things to people.
from Conversations with God, book 2, © 1997 by Neale Donald Walsch
The Secret
A concise introduction. I hope you’ll get the book by Rhonda Byrne, 2006, and use this wonderful method. tk
Everything in your life, including the things you’re complaining about, you've attracted. You will hate to hear this and will deny it. It’s one of the hardest concepts to get, but once you've accepted it, it's life transforming.
The Law of Attraction says that Like attracts Like. If you think bad thoughts, you'll bring bad results into your life.
For instance: Many people have a very negative image of money. 'Money is the root of all evil', etc, and these thoughts will block money from coming to you. So think abundance rather than lack and it will begin to flow to you. And the same is true in other areas like health, relationships, success, aging, creativity, etc. There are no limits on these things except those you've created. So start now creating them the way you want them in your life. Give yourself a break. Change your ideas that are not serving you as well as you deserve.
The process begins with writing down all your wishes and getting them clear in your mind. This must be in a positive form such as: 'I am so grateful now that _________ '. And put in each of your wishes. There are no limits. e.g. I have perfect health. I have abundant wealth. I have a loving and devoted partner. etc., etc.
Step two is to Believe that it's already yours and act that way. Have unwavering faith. Then get on with your life. Allow the universe to do it for you. It's not your job to worry about how. If you think you have to do it you show doubt that the Universe will do it for you and thereby negate your faith in the process. Think, I Know it's on the way.
The final step is to Receive. Feel good about it now. Be happy. Intellectual belief is not enough, you have to Feel it. Your positive energy is an indispensable element in the process.
That's it. The Universe likes speed. Don't delay. Don't second guess. Don't doubt. When the opportunity is there, the impulse, the intuitive nudge from within is there, act. That’s your job, and that’s all you have to do.
Trust your instincts. It's the Universe inspiring you. You will attract everything you require. Pay attention to what you're attracted to. You’re a magnet. Like a car driving through the night, you need to see only the next 200 feet ahead, and the following 200 feet will unfold after that.
Gratitude - Absolutely the way to bring more into your life. Appreciate what you already have.
Joseph Campbell said, 'Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.'
What you do with The Secret is up to you. Whatever you choose is right. The power is all yours.
celebrating sensuality
I was walking to the hobby-craft building the other day. The day was bright and cold and the wind whipped through my thin coat. I had my eyes on the ground, hands in my pockets, and was just plodding along thinking of this distance between me and my destination as something to be endured.
Then, in a moment of grace, I asked myself a question: How many pine trees line this path — and why don't I know that? I've walked it too many times to count, yet when I've looked in the direction of these trees I've just looked through them. I lifted my eyes now and actually tried to see.
There are five in the front row along the road, young jack pines I guess. The last one in the row is unusual, a pine with two trunks like a maple. I've only ever seen (or noticed) single trunk pines. Actually seeing these trees was a treat and I felt more alive as I continued on.
We tend to think of sensuality entirely in sexual terms and also as something opposed to spirituality, or at least somehow in a different direction. But "sensual," in one sense, just means "of the senses," and it's very compatible with spirituality. It's about being in our bodies more fully and enjoying the connection we have with the world through our senses. This kind of sensuality awakens me and feeds me spiritually. I think of it as "luxuriating" — simply enjoying whatever my senses are feeding me as I go about my daily business. It's the simplest thing.
I'm lying on my bunk right now and the pressure of my body on the (admittedly hard) mattress is enjoyable. So is the hard plastic feel of the pen in my hand and the sight of blue words appearing on white paper. It feels good.
Yet most of the time I approach this kind of being as a guilty pleasure, as if I shouldn't be "wasting time" enjoying myself in these simple ways. After all, my life is lagging way behind what I wish it was, there's war, and at least one or two genocides going on, corporations are taking over the world, babies are dying, addicts are overdosing, evildoers are plotting... Whoa! There I am, back in my head again, busily turning life into ideas, memories, worries, and other intellectual property. I'm experiencing the same things but taking no joy in them.
This is pure puritanical pathology, but deeply ingrained in me and our whole society. The idea that sensuality and physicality are somehow mere vehicles to be endured so my intellect can live in this inhospitable environment — a sort of spacesuit for my ego. I say it again (because it feels good on my tongue but also because it's true): pure puritanical pathology. Another part of me is wiser. It likes being alive; it likes flirting; it likes eating olives (which I haven't had in years); it likes breathing, moving, and being in this body. Why should I apologize for that? Why should anyone?
We shouldn't. So this month I want to celebrate the blessings of our senses and the art of luxuriating in the bounty they present us every minute of our lives. Being for the sake of being — and enjoying it. Or at least not rejecting or intellectualizing it. Just experiencing it directly and without judgment.
by Troy Chapman
© The Lifeful Way 2007
it is in contempt that the root of racism lies
I was sickened to read about the killing of TyRon Mark Lewis by Officer James K. Knight in St. Petersburg (FL, 1998). As a Black man with relatives in Ft. Lauderdale, I want your readers to know what I am grateful to have learned from Eli Siegel, the great educator, historian, and founder of Aesthetic Realism: the cause of racism is contempt. He defined contempt as the “disposition in every person to think he will be for himself by making less of the outside world.”
Contempt is as ordinary as a family saying, “We are better than that family next door.” On a larger scale, contempt has people of one race or religion look down on people different from them.
“As soon as you have contempt,” Mr. Siegel stated, “as soon as you don’t want to see another person as having the fulness that you have, you can rob that person, hurt that person, kill that person.” This explains both young Lewis’s and officer Knight's actions that fall night.
In our unjust economy, young people feel they have no future and that no one cares, not even their parents who are too busy working two or three jobs. So teenagers can wrongly feel justified having contempt — such as stealing cars.
And, police officers, who want to do good, also feel they “own” a neighborhood they should be protecting.
I learned that there are two kinds of anger — one just, which makes for pride, the other unjust, which makes for shame. Anger at injustice, Aesthetic Realism teaches, opposes contempt and comes from the deepest desire in every person: to respect the world honestly. The civil rights movement arose from a just anger. I've had a proud anger at the prejudice and economic hardship which Blacks had to endure and with the murders of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and Robert Kennedy.
However, I used my anger at injustice to feel I had a right to be angry towards all people. I attended a mostly White college in upper New York State. I was angry at how I was seen and I regret that I used my anger to have contempt for White students and felt they were not good enough to befriend me. I also felt superior to Black students because I felt they were not street smart as I was. I relished my anger but, inside, I felt cold and was cruel to people. Thank God I later learned from Aesthetic Realism that it was my own contempt that made me lonely, bitter and deeply unsure of myself.
Studying Aesthetic Realism, my contempt and unjust anger are criticized and my respect for the world is encouraged. Because I see the feelings of people of all races as deep as my own, and I see that I am more like them than different, I am kinder and truly proud.
This is headline news! There will be no rest, only a hiding of volatile feelings, until contempt as the cause of racism is studied. Community leaders and police commissions can evaluate race relations until Kingdom come but, if contempt is not understood, these vicious acts will continue.
With beautiful prose, Eli Siegel stated, “It will be found that Black and White Man have the same goodnesses, the same temptations, and can be criticized in the same way. The skin may be different, but the aorta is quite the same.” When America studies this we will have safe and proud lives!
from the Miami Times, 5/5/99, by Allan Michael
see his photographs:.....click
further resources:
Martin Luther King / The King Center.....click
Anti-Prejudice Pledge / Anti-Defamation League.....click
Aesthetic Realism defeats racism..... click
Pelagus literature
more quotes ...... 2000...... 2001...... 2002...... 2003...... 2004...... 2005...... 2006
home...my art...walls gallery...quotes...philosophy...poems...books...links...art listings...contact