Category: spirituality

MYSTICISM CURES RELIGION

Unhealthy and dysfunctional institutions

breed codependency in people –

the need to have others give us a sense

of identity and self-worth

 

as Christians reduced faith to belief –

assent to a list of ideas/doctrines

about God/Jesus/Church –

some extended it to belief

about women/science/politics

and we lost sight more and more

of “love your enemies”

and so became oppressive hypocrites

 

religion is only healthy

when it is about ego-transformation

not group superiority –

“my religion is better than your religion” –

or having correct doctrines

or being morally worthy enough to enter an afterlife

 

most people (80%) think civilization should move

toward a global vision

and in that regard

mysticism is the comprehensive “theory of everything”

people long for – something that makes sense

out of reality for everyone

just as Christianity used to do

 

the basic Christian understanding is that

you find your true self/true identity

by surrendering all your individual autonomy

to Christ

who makes you right with God

thru his Love and Penance

on the Cross for your sins

 

in God and God’s Love –

not in the Church and the Church’s love –

we and everything

become stabilized and eternalized –

if not established in God

we, and all things,

including the Church

perish.

SPIRIT UNDERLIES AND CONNECTS ALL

When the Spirit of God – always feminine in the Bible

breathed life into human beings in Genesis

She breathed life into all human beings

not just Jews or Christians – these two world religions

have no exclusive claim to the Holy Spirit

so it is not surprising a Buddhist like Thich Nhat Hanh

claims the Holy Spirit as the Source of his life and all life

the Holy Spirit connects everything –

Rupert Sheldrake postulated that repetitive behaviour

creates “morphogenetic fields” – gene-transforming spiritual fields –

that influence the behaviour of all members of a species –

this explains how generation after generation 

of birds and butterflies know what pathways to take 

when they fly south guided by the Spirit

therefore, contrary to the great atheist Richard Dawkins

we are more than our selfish genes –

our Spirit-fueled behaviours/relationships/souls guide us

the desire for God is behind all our motivations and all our sins –

pride wants what is lofty, but nothing is loftier than God

so pride wants to be God – to replace God with ego

ambition seeks honor and glory

but God alone is worthy of honor and glory

cruelty wants to arouse fear

but the only thing we ought to fear is God –

the Lord Almighty/Creator of Heaven and Earth –

but Jesus said “Do not fear God for God loves you

and even numbers all the hairs on your head” (Luke 12:7)

sloth is a desire for a quiet life

but God alone gives true rest

the problem with the Bible is it’s true teachings

always become subverted by counter-teachings –

the radical assertions of Jesus are subverted 

by putting rhetorically violent words in his mouth –

the sheep go to eternal bliss, the goats to eternal torture (Matthew 25) –

on the other hand, Jesus was always authentically himself 

and expressed what he truly felt: even anger and grief

he lived what he preached – 

walked his talk no matter the cost – 

expressing all aspects of love: self-revelation/

understanding/empowering/celebrating/

uniting all things.

SPIRITUAL ESSENTIALS

Myth is “deep truth” not “falsehood”

and it is the secret door

through which the inexhaustible energies of the cosmos

pour into human life – religion/philosophy/the arts

have all boiled up

from within the magic ring of myth

 and myth stems from the innate desire of humans

to find meaning

in a simultaneously overwhelming/frightening/confusing/

amazing/glorious universe –

humans are the universe’s meaning-makers

and therefore myth-makers

 

out of myth comes religion and contemplation

and the key to contemplation

is to realize that the love of God

pours into life

seeking us in every situation

and particularly in hard situations

the love of God seeks our good/awakening

 

myth begets religion begets contemplation

and after contemplative prayer

the second essential of the devout life

is spiritual friendship –

joining with two or three others

for mutual support

 

spiritual friends vivify and grow each other

and, according to Ruth Barrows

“God is not glorified by half-persons”

but rather, according to Irenaeus

“The glory of God is human persons fully alive”

 

when we affirm ourselves and others

we participate in the infinite spiritual love

with which God contemplates God’s own Self

 

and what God finds in God’s own Self

is Grace –

 and Grace is not something God does

it is who God is

and Grace makes up for

all the deficiencies and suffering in the universe.

 

DEATH AND REBIRTH OF RELIGION

The emphasis on love as due to genes or neurochemical reactions

detracts from love as Omega – the final purpose and meaning

of life and the universe

 

Judy Cannato, author of Radical Amazement: Contemplative Lessons

from Black Holes/Supernovas/and Other Wonders of the Universe

found as she got to know the new sciences

of quantum mechanics and cosmology

they resonated more and more with her experience

of the Holy One –

she believes God’s vision/desire is unity

and this is what the new sciences tell us –

all things are already united –

and this needs to be the root of our own spirituality

 

in Fall/Redemption theology suffering and death

are the wages of sin

but in Creation Spirituality suffering

is due to the birth pangs of a constantly evolving universe

and death is a natural event –

a prelude to recycling and rebirth

 

traditionally, the Institutional Church made heaven and hell

into geographic locations – places in the universe

instead of what is within us and around us

but even someone as conservative as Pope John Paul II

believed heaven and hell

are primordially “states of consciousness” –

similarly, according to Simone Weil:

“God graciously invites all the damned into paradise

but for them paradise is hell”

 

since true religion is about consciousness

and the source of ultimate inner freedom

totalitarian systems feel obligated to attack it

but ironically they attack it with the same values

that religion holds such as communal/brotherly/sisterly love

which religion professed but failed at

 

but religion fails and is born again everywhere

– numerous Japanese Zen teachers criticize corrupt Buddhists

and thus invite non-Buddhists, Catholics in particular

(thanks to Thomas Merton, author of Zen and the Birds of Appetite)

to practice Zen – they felt Zen had a greater future in Catholicism

since it was dying in Japan.

THE VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

Humans are so deep

that it is easier to count the hairs on one’s head

than the emotions and passions of our hearts

 

and we constantly expand –

Brother Teasdale always saw the big picture

the “meta-level”

beyond the present surface chaos

and rejoiced that today

many forms of interspirituality

replaced monasteries

 

in fact, the Wilber-Combs Lattice*

developed by Ken Wilber and Allan Combs

explains 28 types of religious/spiritual experiences

by combining 7 stages of consciousness

throughout human history:

archaic/magic/mythic/rational/pluralistic/integral/super-integral

with 4 states of consciousness:

gross (nature mysticism)/

subtle (deity mysticism)/

causal (formless mysticism)/

nondual (unitive mysticism)

 

when Jesus spent the whole night in mystical-unitive prayer

he listened to God call him all night long

“Beloved”

the One Word that

totally unites us to God

 

accepting God’s gracious Word

awakens our conscience/illuminates our intellect/

brings us into a new relationship with God the Father/

helps us put on the mind of God the Son/

makes us sensitive to the promptings of God the Holy Spirit/

and divinizes us

 

Julian of Norwich wrote that we have a duty

to delight God

and one of the things that pleases Christ the most

is when we comfort ourselves

with our laughter

and our sense of humour.

 * https://integrallife.com/glossary/wilber-combs-lattice/

THE REFUGE OF DIVINE LOVE

In Eastern Christianity they dwell on the cosmic significance of Christ

but in the West we focused too much on his saving work –

Augustine and Anselm claimed that Jesus came

only because we were ill – no illness, no Jesus

but contemporary theology believes Jesus came

to show us how to live/our true self – divine love –

repeat after me – “I am divine love”

 

the tremendous energy of love by which the universe

converges on itself passes through human sexuality –

the Christ comes to us through sex –

that is why Jesus performed his first miracle

at the wedding at Cana – Jesus saying symbolically:

“Before marriage/union/sex your life was water

now it is wine!”

 

but our sexuality is often dysfunctional

our wisdom is forever mixed up

with our craziness/neurosis/delusion/confusion

we need to wake up and accept this more and more –

this is better than constantly trying to change/perfect ourselves

peace lies in humble acceptance of our brokenness

and our need of God to put us back together

 

“The deadliest sin is to swim on the surface

for grace is found in the depths and death –

in falling/failing/not being in control/going down/not up”

– Richard Rohr in Falling Upward

 

too much security or insecurity leads to death

we need a healthy balance so we don’t become

either stagnant or overwhelmed by change

so we are not killed by the “future shock” –

the culture of constant change we live in

 

a prayer in Buddhism that is as common

as the “Our Father” in Christianity:

“I take refuge in the Buddha

I take refuge in the Dharma (the teaching)

I take refuge in the Sangha (the community)”

translated into Christianese:

“I take refuge in the Christ

I take refuge in the Beatitudes

I take refuge in the Church.”

SACRIFICE/LIBERATION/SALVATION

Contemporary theologians would do well

to free themselves from the “Hellenic complex” –

the integration of Greek categories of thought

into Christian theology – starting with Thomas Aquinas

and his merging of Aristotle into Judeo-Christian beliefs –

Popes John Paul II and Benedict thought Catholicism

should no longer be dominated by Aquinas

but they embraced no one else

 

they could have embraced Gustavo Gutierrez

who realized the new European theology he learned

could not deal with the structural injustices

of his South American continent

so he began interpreting the gospel in light of the poor

but “Saint Pope J.P. II” condemned this as Marxism

and so destroyed liberation theology

 

in spite of “Saint Pope J.P. II” liberation theology

became the key to black theology in North America –

the theology of liberation contained in the Bible –

the liberation of the Jewish slaves from Egypt –

parallels the liberation of black slaves in America –

Lincoln was Moses to the sharecroppers –

because the very essence of Jesus is freedom

Jesus became the model of liberation for blacks

 

understanding is the most powerful tool for “liberation”

which in Buddhism is “salvation from suffering”

so Buddhists talk about salvation by understanding

and the seed of understanding in everyone –

so similar in Christian or Buddhist terms –

is God/Jesus/Christ-Consciousness/Buddha-Mind –

Buddhist meditation involves deep insight

and creates understanding/love/salvation

 

love is both dependent and free at the same time –

it depends on objective values and creates new values:

joy/gratitude/self-sacrifice –

the bodhisattvas sacrificed entering into nirvana/heaven

until all sentient beings were liberated

 

similarly, Muslims sacrifice sex during the Great Fast/Ramadan:

“Do not lie with your wives during the day but cleave to the mosque –

(but during the night you can go into your wives and lie with them)” –

some sacrifice (but not too much) there. 😊

THE EVOLUTION OF BELIEF

In 139 C.E. (Common Era), Ptolemy, a Greek astronomer,

developed a system of circles within circles

which became the primary astronomical model

for 1500 years!

 

for 15 centuries everyone believed

this was how the universe operated

but the accretion of more and more untested beliefs

along with increasingly sophisticated science/history/psychology

caused some Christians, desperately trying to keep up

to assert increasingly unbelievable things

like the existence of hell – a place of eternal torture –

what could anyone do in their brief lifespan to warrant that? –

this belief was the projection of our worst fear onto God

made God into an Absolute Demon/Monster

and created scepticism/atheism

 hell exists, but it is a God-forsaking mental state not a place

7 centuries before Teilhard de Chardin

St. Angela of Foligno saw the whole evolving creation as

a divine milieu – a universe pregnant with God – a heaven

 

in Fall/Redemption traditional spirituality

the quest is for perfection

and the goal is to keep the soul clean

but in Quantum Theology/Spirituality no perfection exists –

imperfection is integral to all nature –

and holiness is cosmic hospitality – welcoming all things –

and the goal is to keep the soul green/

evergreen/ever-growing

 

7 centuries before, and surprisingly like, Quantum Theology

Meister Eckhart’s writings on the soul

answered the fundamental philosophical/theological questions:

“who are we?/why do we exist?”

which supply the basic purpose/direction of our lives

 

no one but Meister Eckhart

according to Matthew Fox

so thoroughly integrated

biblical theology/spirituality/

prophecy/mysticism/

faith/reason/

art/life.

 

BELOVING OUR MOTHER – EARTH

The transition from “faith-as-experience” to “belief as opinion”

came from poor New Testament translations of the Greek:

in Greek “to believe” is a verb meaning “to trust” or “to belove”

in English it is a noun “My belief is that….”

 

Belief as “beloving” involves sexuality

and this involves the Third Buddhist Ethical Precept:

“Aware of the suffering caused by sexual misconduct

I vow to protect individuals/couples/families/society

by not engaging in sexual relations without love

and a long-term commitment”

 

in order to be more beloving, Brother Teasdale renounced sex

and adopted the lifestyle of a Hindu sannyasin (renunciate)

but one engaged in the world –

his book A Monk in the World

explains how he became a “Warrior-Monk”

which is what the world needs right now:

Prophet-Mystics in our midst right here/right now

 

we cannot hope to have a revival

of meaningful sacramental fundamentals

without a re-education about the necessity

in everyone’s life of the importance of myth/symbol/ritual

that crystallizes our purpose on planet Earth

 

the first Earth-rise above a lunar landscape

broke all the old mythology to pieces as we realized:

Earth and heaven are no longer separate:

Earth is floating in the heavens

Earth is a heavenly body

Earth is no longer the center of the universe –

cosmological centers are now everywhere!

 

Therefore, we can surrender

all our anxieties and ambitions

to the God who is everywhere –

God is no longer “Our Father who art in heaven”

but right here/right now

and therefore will provide what we need

right here/right now

to be happy and holy and loving

of this pale blue dot

this goddess, “Our Mother Earth.”

 

LOVE KNOWS NO HIERARCHY

In Japan, the traditional sects:

Pure Land/Nichiren/Zen Buddhism dwindle

and new ones faithful to Buddhist teachings

try to humanize Japanese culture

alienated by technology and debilitating wealth

 

in Japan, like many countries and religions

hierarchy dominates and is a dirty word for many

but both oppressive/dominator/political

and growth/actualization/psychological hierarchies

exist – and the latter serve us

by showing us the road to human development

 

in ancient Greece, even love had (age-related) hierarchies:

philia – the bond of family and friends when you are young

eros – the bond of lovers when you are adult

storge – the bond of empathy when you are broken by life

agape – the bond of God-love when you finally surrender

 

the supreme love – the love of God

was preceded for Augustine by the “love of wisdom” –

“philo-sophia” or “philosophy” which he discovered

thru the Roman philosopher Cicero’s book Hortentius –

love of wisdom turned Augustine away from his sinful life

and toward God

 

philia is love expressed in family and community –

brotherly/sisterly/communal love –

eros is love longing to be one with the other

storge is love feeling what the other feels

agape is love repaying evil with good

agape loves those broken/rejected/marginalized

 

but according to Carl Jung agape begins with self-knowledge –

a religious undertaking because it involves

getting to know your shadow – all the rejected/lost parts of your soul –

embracing your shadow is the main path to healing

and to the unconditional love of God – how can you believe

God unconditionally loves you

if you don’t unconditionally love yourself?

 

Spinoza, a philosopher, agrees with Erich Fromm, a psychologist:

proper love of the soul/self-love/self-affirmation/courage

and proper love of others and God are all interdependent

and so all loves are part of each other – all loves are one.