Tag: Christ

THE DAWNING INTERSPIRITUAL AGE

Doing theology has become a lot more challenging

because we live in a universe 13.7 billion years old –

science stretches us in mind-boggling ways.

 

But we are discovering the new/old Universal Christ:

Bonaventure’s integral relationship

between Creation and Incarnation

is a key to Cosmic Christology

in an evolving universe.

 

Thru Duns Scotus Teilhard discovered

the primacy of Christ when he realized

Christ is not patterned on Creation

but rather Creation is patterned on Christ –

the Universal Christ provides the blueprint

of the universe.

 

This is why the InterSpiritual Age that is dawning

depends on whether people can make

their theological/doctrinal issues secondary

to the love/service/ethics

underpinning all religions.

 

In Asia and across the world

people want the mysticism of Christ

not Greco-Roman-European theology

with its rationalism and legalism

that supports the institutional Church.

 

Scholars now compare Meister Eckhart to Buddhism

because he integrates the eternal and temporal:

mystical life should impact everyday life –

one’s morals/values/lifestyle.

 

We are starting to realize that despite

the immensity of the universe

the Universal Christ

is not “somewhere out there”

but in the thick of every religion

and in the thick of everyone’s daily life –

the Universal Christ is the blueprint of your life.

 

BECOMING A “CHRISTIC BEING”

Scripture confirms our personal experience of life:

that our private thoughts tend towards

anger/jealousy/disharmony

with God/others/self.

 

As humans we are a mixture

of good/evil/darkness/light

capable of the greatest good of any saint

and the worst evil of any sinner.

Integrating the shadow is essential to spiritual growth

and involves a lifetime of work.

 

We experience transcendence of shadow

in our conscience which moves us

beyond our self and its limitations

towards our authentic self and its high ideals.

 

Spiritual intuition is the foundation of the moral life:

as I intuit Spirit in myself, I intuit it in others

and want to manifest Spirit in the world

as I, We, and even It – the creations of our hands

are full of Spirit.

 

Four great guides: Teilhard/Panikkar/Merton/Griffiths

agree that Christology involves

not just reflecting on Christ, but “doing Christ”

that is, allowing the mystery of Christ

to transform our lives.

The further evolution of Planet Earth

depends on everyone becoming a “Christic being.”

 

But we always have a choice:

if we accept God’s call

our life on Earth will be blessed.

But if we refuse God’s call

and choose our secure, egocentric lives over God

God becomes our enemy

and human life on the planet is doomed.

INTEGRATING MATTER/SHADOW/LOVE

The Second Axial Period

(after the First: from 800 to 200 BCE)

developed from the Protestant Reformation to now

(the shift from religion to science)

and is gradually becoming global/communal/ecological/cosmic

and challenging religions to integrate

matter/spirit/secular energy/sacred energy

into one complete human energy.

Wilber’s Four Quadrants accomplish this by including

– self and consciousness (“I:” upper left quadrant)

– brain and neocortex (“It:” upper right)

– culture and worldview (“We:” lower left)

– social systems and environment (“Its:” lower right).

Wilber later concluded even this was incomplete

and the dark side of things needed to be included

so he added “shadow” –

shadow only seems bad because it contains

all the parts of me that society does not accept –

but shadow is in fact a treasure buried in a field

because it also paradoxically contains everything

that can make us whole/holy.

Therefore, if someone asks

“What kind of Christian are you?”

the most honest answer is “A bad one but

I am on a pilgrimage with God

as my guide and destination.”

One of the manifestations of shadow is loneliness

which is essential to human experience –

papered over with busyness/success/money

but never eliminated because

nothing earthly can satisfy the longing of the heart

not even married love because

loneliness is ultimately longing for God.

Authentic married love overcomes loneliness

if caught up into Divine Love

and governed and enriched

by Christ’s redeeming power.

Authentic joining of self/spouse/world/God

unites spirit/matter/secular/sacred.

LIFE IS A GOOD TEACHER

Life is a good teacher and a good friend

because it is always in transition

and therefore open-ended and non-aggressive.

The astronomer’s telescope, through Copernicus

pushed over God’s throne –

the stable center of planet Earth.

Religion was not ready for this shift

from Earth as Center of All

to the Universe as Center.

If each star in the Milky Way Galaxy was a grain of sand

you would need a colossal dump truck

to contain the two hundred billion stars.

Western religion has been challenged

by science and other world religions

particularly the power of Islam.

Certain themes run through the Qur’an

and create strong motives of desire and fear:

the power and glory of God/the terrors of the Fire/

the joys of Paradise.

In Buddhism and Christianity, the sutras and gospels

are not the living teachings of Buddha and Christ –

the living teaching can only be had

by living/practicing/acting upon what was taught –

then you do not just believe the teachings

you know them to be true.

Then living unlimited love/

meaningful human work/interreligious dialogue

help all things evolve to the fullness

of the Universal Christ

as the Lamb or the G.O.A.T. –

the Greatest Of All Time –

the Center of the Universe.

THE INTER-SPIRITUAL GOLD STANDARD

Inter-spirituality – religions getting along

and learning from each other – is an ideal

like the ethical gold standards:

economic egalitarianism

abandonment of militant nationalism

nuclear disarmament

which are promoted by globalism

and multiculturalism.

Conservative spirituality needs to loosen up

its fixation on ethnocentric myth

and learn how the Spirit expresses itself

in worldcentric reason

and postconventional love.

The Church is both human

since it exists within time

and is subject to forces of history and culture

and it is also divine

because it resolutely presses towards

the final Kingdom/Queendom/Kindom of God.

“Christians must resolutely strive towards

justice in the real, ambiguous world

where grace and sin abound.”

– Reinhold Niebuhr

The idea of God/Christ/religion evolving

rests on the notion that humans evolve –

in fact, technology has become so pervasive

we have evolved into a new species –

techno-sapiens.

At the microlevel of subatomic particles

there is an unceasing flow of energy

too vast for our minds to comprehend.

The Universal Christ is this energy incarnate

in every church/religion/all humans/the universe –

the Universal Christ is the inter-spiritual

gold standard.

OUR MISERY/GOD’S MERCY

There is an awesome and unconquerable

will to life

that underlies all cosmic and planetary evolution.

But we must recognize

in the spirit of all great religious teachers

that every culture

is in a massive life-denying hypnotic trance –

that’s why Jesus and Buddha

constantly say “wake up!”

The trance is to think God is gone –

“We cannot attain the presence of God

because we are already in God’s presence.

What is needed is awareness not attainment.”

– Richard Rohr

“It is by being aware of and confessing

our own miserable state

and acknowledging your mercy towards us

that we open our hearts to you

so that you may free us wholly.

Then we shall no longer be wretched in ourselves

but find true happiness in you.”

–  Augustine

Blessings surround our misery

if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

The theology of blessing

and the theology of wisdom

are key themes for Israel

and basic to creation-centered spirituality.

But blessings and wisdom are impossible

if we deny the transcendence of God

and the finitude of human existence.

This is the essence of sin.

People with dualistic minds

cannot get to God’s unconditional love

through scripture

because they focus on the regressive texts

which reinforce violence and fear.

The only true measure of spirituality

is God’s own infinite compassion –

God does not love us because we are good –

God loves us because God is good.

We are made in the image and likeness of God

but although the image is intact

we have lost the likeness.

Carl Jung’s view: the future of Christianity

lies in the realization of Christ within each person

not making us into God

but rather helping us consciously encounter

the True Self within – the Christ within.

Some philosophies teach

the more you encounter your Higher Self

the less you worry about injustices of the world.

But Ken Wilber, Thomas Merton and others say

when you connect with your Higher Self

and therefore with God

you engage the world and all its miseries

as you follow the God of Compassion.

The Cosmic Christ is the Father/Creator

of all religions and all major religious figures –

Moses, Buddha, Mohammed

therefore the gospels symbolize

a more universal narrative of faith and meaning

than mere Christianity.

The Cosmic Christ is bigger than the Church

and tries to alleviate the miseries of all people

within the Church and beyond it

in so-called secular movements

of justice and human rights.

We need a bigger Jesus

than one bound by the Church

if God’s mercy is to heal all peoples’ miseries.

INTEGRAL SALVATION

Our True Self was traditionally called the ‘Soul’

the place where the immortal God

and the mortal human met.

Your Soul/True Self/God-in-you

is spacious awareness-itself, not judgment-itself.

It refuses to get involved in all

the comparisons and judgments

that constitute most of life.

The human soul rebels against death

because she contains within her

the eternal seed of intuition

and longing for, a higher life

which cannot be satisfied

by reducing humans to mere matter

as scientific materialism does.

The absolutization of science created

dissociation of the three main spheres:

science/culture/religion.

But science failed miserably to fulfill

the spiritual longing for ultimate answers.

Science conquered the world

but cannot fulfill it

the way an adult faith can.

Buddha preached an adult faith to Buddhists:

“Look deeply into the nature of suffering

and you will find the causes and a way out.”

Buddha did everyone the ironic favor

of pointing out that whether you are

a saint/sinner/winner/loser

suffering is everyone’s ordinary experience –

life is hard for everyone.

To live more easily and peacefully

sin must be eliminated

but shadow must be reconciled.

“The unconscious is not just the source of evil

it is also the source of the highest good

not just bestial and demonic

but spiritual and divine.” – Carl Jung

There is a dark shadow and a gold shadow

within each one of us.

To live with integrity is to integrate the shadow

not to be perfect in every way

but to have an integral self-image –

you know both your strengths and weaknesses

and where you need to grow.

Despite integral individuals within it

Christianity went down the wrong path

when it became all about the truth or falsity

of doctrines, rather than following a Person –

when it became about faith in ideas

rather than trust that God was in Christ

and cares for us.

In the late nineteenth century and still today

Christians react negatively to attempts

by people like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda

to reduce Jesus to just one of many incarnations of God.

To Christians, Christ is unique –

“For in him the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily.”

– Colossians 2:9

The basic principle of the Spiritual Exercises

of Saint Ignatius of Loyola

is that humans are created to

praise/reverence/serve

God in Christ

individually and communally

and thus save not only their True Self

but also their Collective Soul.

EMBRACING SHADOW AND FALLING UPWARD

Religion involves beliefs

and organization/institution/hierarchy.

Spirituality involves inner experience

of transformative guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit may show up as the ageless guardians

that manifest themselves on the Hero’s Journey

reassuring the hero that the Paradise

they knew in the womb

will be there at the end.

Alpha and Omega are real.

The Buddha’s disciples were upset

his life was ending, but Buddha said

“My physical body being with you

is not important – if you have my teaching

the Dharma, I am always with you.”

And Christ is always with us through the Gospels.

Institutional religion has given us three misconceptions

about shadow: that shadow is evil/

focussing on your shadow is navel-gazing/

and if I get in touch with my shadow

it will dictate my life.

However, the opposite is true:

greater awareness of shadow means

the more you integrate it into

your ethics/values/freedom.

Acting negatively comes from unconsciousness.

The “fall” took humans upwards

into higher/broader/more complex

states of consciousness –

the emergence of free will

and therefore of evil

is in the fossil records

of a more complex neocortex.

But fossil science eventually stripped humanity

of a God who is personal and intervenes

that is, a God who takes action in the world.

The god who was left was at best

a soulless/mechanistic/Newtonian god of the law:

obey and be blessed

sin and be condemned.

But you transcend Newton

when you live out of your soul, your True Self

which is bigger than every-day-you –

you know you belong to God and the universe

and all claims of exclusivity and superiority fall away.

You no longer need to work to be important –

you are intrinsically important

and it all has been ‘done unto you’ as with Mary.

Faith is not about believing unbelievable things

or renouncing rationality. It allows you to suspend

your dualistic mind so you see

holistically/inclusively/intuitively.

But if you do not return to reason

you become a mystifier, not a true mystic.

True mystics are political as well as mystical

and learn to use the great tool of constructive argument

that allows educational/political/religious communities

to passionately yet rationally discuss significant ideas.

When your heart is open you want to be fully human

and take care of others – then you discover that

beyond pleasant and unpleasant/

good or bad/hope or fear/disgrace or fame

there is an immense sense of unconditional well-being.

Self-worth is not created, it is discovered –

you are already worthy

and ‘erotic,’ that is, ‘related in love’ –

everyone is born related in love:

eroticism is broader than sexuality –

we are all naturally erotic.

Christ was fully erotic

that is, totally related in love to all people

to the point of dying for all

and the Holy Spirit, in ways unknown

makes the erotic passion of Christ

the Paschal Mystery

accessible to all, so that through Christ

all are saved.

The ultimate vocation/calling/destiny

of all humans

is to be divine and one.

THE LIMITS OF REASON

In religion, only non-dual seers are the experts

the only ones who can hold contrary/opposites together.

One non-dual seer was Augustine

who perceived that God is

merciful yet just

ancient yet new

hidden yet present.

There is an ambiance of

light/peace/wisdom

around great sages –

even when they are not present

their life and words show us the way.

Similar to Augustine

the author of the Cloud of Unknowing

was not anti-intellectual

but believed reason is limited:

God cannot be known by thought –

only by love.

Reason by itself alone would give us

God as a loveless clock-maker

who winds up the universe like a toy

and lets it run on its own till it runs out

in which case all revelation/ scripture/prophecy

are irrelevant.

The ‘dialectic of progress’ is ongoing

gains and losses – one era sees and solves

the problems of the previous era

but then has its own problems

but there is a net gain

and therefore a direction to evolution.

God is the direction.

If rational people equate holiness

with perfection – for this is what reason dictates –

these ‘perfect people’ would not see

their shadow, and project it onto others.

The more shadow is repressed

the more it grows, becomes autonomous

and dangerous.

If you haven’t worked through

your personal complexes then repressed conflict

between say, sex and religion, prevents you

from getting to the transcendental level.

We need to feel the fear

and make it our companion, not our enemy.

Beyond the shadow

Vedanta Hinduism warns:

If you think your Higher Self is God

and you are not your body

you won’t get out of the way

of a charging elephant –

you will be crushed.

It is important to know your place.

In Islam, beneath Allah

are three created intelligences:

angels made of light

jinn (spirits) made of fire

humans made of dust.

Many jinn have accepted the True Faith

and are good. The bad jinn

work with the fallen angels

particularly Iblis, chief of the fallen angels.

In countering the chief of the fallen angels, Satan

Jesus tried to move everyone to the good

to wake us up

out of our hypnotic cultural trance/collective sleepwalking

by countercultural actions/teachings/parables –

tools for turning the status quo upside down.

Jesus was often abrasive with hypocrites –

his crucifixion was not without cause

nor was it just personal –

it holds global/cosmic implications

which we usually overlook

just as we overlook our present global/cosmic disaster.

The crucifixion of Christ and of the planet

always need serious theological reflection:

the mission of Christianity and all religions now must be

to save the world

from climate change.

GOD DRAWS US THROUGH PRAYER

 

 

The way to God that appeals today

is the way of the mystics

the way of love, not metaphysics.

 

Western theologians resisting Asian theology

marginalize themselves

from strong mystical currents

energizing Asia and the world –

many people turning East

to Hinduism/Buddhism/Taoism

for Enlightenment.

 

In Confucian philosophy

the Way of Man is in order

when in harmony with the Way of Heaven –

and out of order when not in harmony –

but humans never achieve total harmony.

The great Protestant theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr

castigated secular and Christian liberals

for not recognizing the power

of original/cultural sin to destroy

their utopian visions of human progress.

The best we can hope for, said Niebuhr

is proximate, not total, justice.

 

Good and evil are mixed

in everything – even the best we do –

permeating our very being

morally and spiritually

creating anxiety/guilt/shame

threatening loss of our destiny.

 

Being self-critical is a great threat

to those who rule by might and right –

it prevents destroying their ideological enemies.

Humorlessness is the real enemy –

the inability to not take oneself seriously.

Humorlessness is projected onto God –

most humans would never torture others

but some Christians proclaim God does –

this bad news counters the good news

causing agnosticism and atheism

among highly ethical people.

 

To sort this confusion:

“Use your single prayer-word to beat on

the cloud of darkness above you

and consign all distractions to

the cloud of forgetting below you.”

– The Cloud of Unknowing

 

“Prayer is not primarily saying words – it is a stance

of living in Presence

of being aware of Presence

of delighting in Presence.”

– Richard Rohr

 

God does not move since God is everywhere present –

the foolish think God is distant –

humans move closer to or further from God –

God always stands at our door

no matter our faults/shortcomings/sins

hoping we will let the Universal Christ in.

 

“We start the spiritual life thinking

we are pulling heaven toward us –

later we realize heaven is pulling us toward it –

and the brilliant diamond of our True self

is cut into multi-facets

by God not us.”

– Dionysius the Areopagite

 

It is this pulling that fully converts us.

For Bernard Lonergan full conversion involves

intellectual, moral and religious conversion –

intellectual conversion goes beyond the sensory universe

and sees as the mystics see.

 

Faith is a mystical resurrection –

a belief in and obedience to the Author of Life

who commands us:

“Choose Life!”

 

It is choosing life that leads us

not to utopia

but proximate justice.

Faith begins the journey

towards the full love and justice of God.