THE INTEGRATION OF ALL THINGS

Most Christians think dualistically:

human vs God/nature vs grace/male vs female

spirit vs matter/body vs soul/East vs West

science vs religion –

these are not the same but they are all One

with the crown chakra or 4th stage of moral development

the integrated person becomes a paradoxical union of

masculine/feminine; autonomy/relationship;

rights/responsibilities; agency/communion;

wisdom/compassion;justice/mercy –

just like God

spiritual people need to reclaim not only compassion –

pleasure in righting relationships

but also passion –

pleasure in eros and the sharing of it –

both are God’s work:

“Any idea that spirituality means neglect of the body

is profoundly mistaken” – Albert Nolan

after Vatican II many Catholic thinkers

inspired by the Trappist and Benedictine monks –

Thomas Merton and Bede Griffiths –

started integrating Zen and yoga/

vipassana and transcendental meditation

into Christianity

Merton was Catholic because he believed the Church

gave him the greatest spiritual freedom

for it integrated Law and Spirit –

he would not be Catholic if he believed the Church

was just an institution with rules and laws

that demanded external conformity –

he believed the laws of the Church are necessary

but subordinate to the Holy Spirit and Love

and it is in Christ that true freedom is found

and the Church is Christ’s Body/Bride/living by Christ’s Spirit

for the Church to aid an emerging Interspiritual Age

spiritual/religious discussion cannot be separated

from secular/nonreligious discussion

from academic/historical/developmental discussion

from discussion about the new scientifically based cosmology

which integrates everything.

 

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Bruce Tallman

Since 2002 I have been a full-time spiritual director in private practice in London Ontario. I have published two books on spiritual direction for spiritual directors. One of them, "Finding Seekers," is a best seller in the field. I have also published two books on spirituality for the general public. The latest one is called "God's Ecstatic Love: Transform Your Life with a Spiritual Masterpiece." It is a 21st century update of Francis de Sales' classic "Treatise on the Love of God." See Amazon.com The London Free Press has published hundreds of my articles on spirituality, theology and ethics and I have facilitated marriage preparation with over 3500 couples since 1988. For more information see www.brucetallman.com

2 thoughts on “THE INTEGRATION OF ALL THINGS”

  1. I appreciate your point about Merton’s reason for needing the church. I also believe this demonstrates a difficulty for the church, and other rigorous religious institutions, in the future. In addition to the conceptual challenges you outline, far fewer people feel they need ‘rules and laws’ today than did so eighty years ago and many teachers are telling them, and, I believe, demonstrating, that they can find their way without rigorous structure. Can the church find a more relaxed posture? People like Merton and Bede Griffiths have demonstrated it should be capable of doing so.

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