Tag: peace

THE ORIGIN AND GOAL OF LOVE

The End of all things – the Omega Point of Love

is the centering principle of the whole universe

integrates it all – draws all things to itself

and is present in the Beginning/Big Bang/Alpha Point of Love –

and the Union of all things with God –

the Omega Point of Love –

is the goal of all evolution

 

Love is an interdependent life force

all the way from quarks to God

Love is the origin and goal of meaning

 

every star/cell/flower/bird/animal/human

longs for wholeness/completeness

so it can rest in peace –

not die, but rest peacefully

 

just as, after the Big Bang, God rested –

God seeks repose

our souls seek repose –

repose is the Law of Pleasure

for all creatures

 

but even in repose God is at work

another religious paradox –

God’s Providence is at work

even if God lets us be miserable

and deprived of all light and love –

since the longing of holy people for God

increases in such situations

and this longing is God’s work too

 

God is being/resting/working/

becoming/evolving/loving

all the way from Alpha to Omega.

 

 

 

THE BROAD AND NARROW GATES

 In our scientific age “More than knowledge

that comes from research, we need wisdom

that comes from prayer” – William Johnston, SJ

 

“To know your origins is to know your True Self”

– Lao Tzu

 

“hell” is “perpetual alienation from the True Self” –

it is constantly living in the False Self

so that your whole life is false

 

the True Self is hidden in God

so that most of us don’t discover our origins

until we die –

“Broad is the gate that leads to destruction

and many enter through it;

narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life”

– Jesus in Matthew 7:13-14

 

to enter by the narrow gate/find eternal life

we must understand Teresa of Avila’s

first four mansions in her Interior Castle

which can be summarized by reference to the will:

First Mansion: will marked by self-indulgence

Second Mansion: will marked by spiritual growth

but not steadfastness

Third Mansion: will marked by beginning of resolution

Fourth Mansion: will marked by steadfast union

with the Divine Will in prayer

 

every day every one out of ignorance and fear

mentally or physically strikes out at “the enemy”

and so the pain in the world goes on –

before the broad gate of aggression we could rather ask

“Do I want war or peace in my inner and outer worlds?”

 

fear always fears

that what it loves will be taken away

regret always regrets

that what it loved was taken away

but nothing God loves

can be taken away from God –

so that if you are in God

there is nothing to fear or regret.

 

PEACE THRU INTEGRATION

Science is going thru a major paradigm shift

from seeing nature as mechanical and inanimate/dead

to seeing it as organic and alive

 

The physical sciences noted

the dissolution of energy in entropy

but ignored increasing complexity/consciousness

which is building energy up and up – it is this increase

that gives the whole cosmos its purpose and direction

 

Believers claim the resurrection of Christ integrates

the whole cosmos and all people into God

which is God’s purpose/direction/flow for everything:

union and transformation in God

 

It is good to include all religions and thus integrate everything

in a new way not the old way –

Buddhism can be part of cosmic integration

since it will not block the flow of God’s plan –

doing no harm to ourselves or others

is basic Buddhist teaching on nonaggression

which includes not killing/stealing/lying and the Christian commandments

of not doing harm in our heart/thoughts/speech/actions

 

However, Rosemary Radford Ruether, a great feminist theologian

pointed out that in traditional Judeo-Christianity there exists

a sacralised assumption of a divinely ordered patriarchy/hierarchy

from God to angels to men to women to animals –

this Great Chain of Being invented by men –

was the primary metaphysics for all cultures East and West

before science – and it placed women somewhere

between men and animals

 

No matter how we integrate everything – whether thru science

or religion or science and religion working together –

what people want most of all is to live in peace

 

Peace is all around us – in the world/nature/ourselves

when we live in the present moment – when mindfulness

whether Buddhist or Christian – is in us

the Holy Spirit and peace are in us –

this is not a matter of faith but of practice

and others will sense it and be transformed –

world peace begins in everyone’s heart.

THE SHADOW AND THE INNER RIVER

Jesus said “Blessed are the peacemakers”

however, to work for and sustain peace

you have to be at peace in your own heart

not angry and hateful of the “wrongdoers” –

if you fight evil with your own evil

you will simply replace one evil with another.

 

You cannot deal effectively with the

hurt/anger/shadow/jealousy/deceit in others

until you have dealt with these things in yourself –

then there is no judgement/condescension toward others.

 

A fruitful way of discovering your shadow

is to identify with one scripture figure:

Mary or Martha/the prodigal son or his older brother –

the one you don’t identify with is your shadow

and can teach you inner transformation.

 

According to Paul Tillich in The Courage to Be

there are three forms of inner transformation:

the courage to be vs not be

(to choose life not death)

the courage of faith vs meaninglessness

(to trust that it all somehow makes sense)

the courage to accept God’s acceptance of you

vs condemnation (to trust that God

is merciful/forgiving/your unconditional lover).

 

Teresa of Avila’s entire mystical theology

is about finding God’s Inner Flow/River of God within you

and stop wasting your time digging for water on your own –

let the Spirit do the work of transformation

and stop striving for perfection.

 

Silence and solitude are the heart of prayer –

they allow us to: go within and listen to God

let God shine light into our shadow

stop being driven by our noisome world

which incessantly clamors for our attention.

 

Without silence and solitude

the Spirit has no room to make its home in us

and is forced to vacate the premises

of our soul.

 

WAR AND PEACE

In the Torah, Koran, and Aztec records

God was interpreted as being on our side

and therefore, when we go to war

it is a holy war and God’s will.

 

In the Trojan (Greek) and Mahabharata (East Indian) wars

God is on both sides, but you are called upon to do

your marital duty to free or reclaim a stolen spouse.

 

Humans always come up with some excuse

to make things better by killing other humans

therefore, we are always in a state of perpetual warfare.

 

Achieving justice and peace within major institutions

and religions cannot be achieved by individuals

it requires rigorous networking with others.

If not achieved that way, eventually there will be

serious revolt/storming of the barricades that protect power.

 

In spite of constant warfare and injustice

our lives are a process in which God

transforms us into holiness in ordinary ways –

holiness is God’s work

but requires our constant prayerful attention.

 

The two Saint Catherines: Genoa and Siena

made it clear that severe penance does not delight God

but rather unflagging reliance on God’s mercy.

 

The greatest gift of mercy to someone suffering

is your presence – full presence comes from either

Buddhist mindfulness or the Holy Spirit.

Mindfulness is like the Holy Spirit

in that both allow us to touch Ultimate Reality:

Trinity in Christianity and Nirvana in Buddhism.

 

Christ on the Tree of Redemption

and Buddha under the Bo Tree

are archetypal counterparts of the World Savior.

Whereas scientific truths are communicable

religious truths are not – they must be experienced

in silence and solitude. The solution to perpetual war

is to quietly promote the nonviolence of the Buddha

and the Prince of Peace.

UNITY OF COSMOS AND RELIGIONS IN CHRIST

We recognize now that Descartes’ “I think therefore I am”

reduces self and God to concepts

making it impossible to experience

the full mystery of God or self.

 

Beyond Descartes, the social and cultural living conditions

of modern humans have changed so much

through natural/human/social sciences/technology

we now literally live in a new age/new era of human history.

 

Quantum principle: concepts like ‘God’ and ‘divinity’

are human constructs used sparingly in quantum theology

because they may limit, not enhance, our understanding

of life’s ultimate source and meaning.

 

 

 

The Cosmic Christ was alive well before Jesus –

for indigenous cultures much of their myth and ritual

comes from the experiences of shamans

tuned in to the Universal/Great Spirit.

Having a psychic crisis is part of the training of shamans –

wounded healers can heal others undergoing a similar crisis –

the work of shamans foreshadows the Cross and Resurrection.

 

The purpose of the universe up to the time of Christ:

to produce Christ, the most excellent of all beings

incarnating the divinity of the universe.

The purpose of the universe since Christ:

for everyone to become/put on the mind of Christ.

The purpose of the universe is Christ and Christs.

 

A cosmos without Christ is a body without a head –

it cannot function nor hold itself together.

Christ is the head/exemplar of the universe’s purpose :

union and transformation in God.

 

 John Paul II in noting the commonality of religions

clearly saw the Cosmic Christ everywhere

and followed the concern of the Second Vatican Council

with world peace/world unity

because there can be no global peace

without peace between religions –

a peace that science and technology cannot give.

 

UNPOSSESSIVENESS

There is the historical Buddha, Guatama

and there is the living Buddha within us all

who, like the Image of God/Cosmic Christ within

transcends all space/time/concepts

and is constantly Present.

 

Saint Pope John Paul II wrote that Buddhism

is “negative atheism” but the Second Vatican Council

saw that “Buddhism recognizes the radical insufficiency

of this shifting world, and teaches a Way

to absolute freedom and supreme enlightenment

through our own efforts and higher assistance” –

presumably help from Bodhisattvas.

 

Buddhists practice detachment

but Meister Eckhart taught liberation

thru “unpossessiveness” –

detachment involves rejecting the world

but unpossessiveness makes us lighthearted

and free to follow God.

 

Even in our daily sufferings/frustration/pain

we can experience God’s action transforming us

if we are faithful to the Inner Calling

of the living Buddha/Image of God/Cosmic Christ.

 

Canadian poet/singer Leonard Cohen:

“There is a crack in everything –

that’s how the light gets in.”

Canadian folk legend/activist Bruce Cockburn:

“You have to kick at the darkness

till it bleeds daylight.”

You must fight to create the cracks

that let in the light.

 

But the 81 stanzas

of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

suggest the Way of Peace and Surrender

is always superior to the Way of Force.

A PROPER VIEW OF GOD PROMOTES MENTAL AND SOCIAL PEACE

  The mistaken interpretation of the wrath of God in the Bible, the foundational book of western culture for most of its history, has caused many to live their lives in fear and guilt, moral rigidity, narrowmindedness, and a feverish need to proselytize (force their beliefs on others). In fact, some have used it as a justification for violence – if God is violent, violence against others must be acceptable in God’s sight.

    Is it possible to undo all this harm without simply throwing the baby (the scriptures) out with the bath water (the wrath of God)? An intelligent approach to biblical wrath of God would be a major way to promote mental health and social peace.

    Although many believe the Bible is inspired by God, it is important to understand it did not drop out of heaven. It came to us through human beings who were influenced by their culture, and so there were often two steps forward and one back in understanding what God is like, until we arrive at Jesus, who many believe gives us the best means of understanding God and the Bible.

    Humans have often lived in ego-based, divisive, reward and punishment cultures. There is a movement in the Bible from a vengeful God, which is what the ego wants, to the merciful God of Jesus, which is what the soul hopes for, a God who is gracious, overlooks human foibles, and responds to wrongs not by punishment but by love.

    Much of the wrath of God in the Bible was due to human authors failing to separate God and nature. Floods or poisonous snakes killing people must be from God, the authors believed, since they had no other explanation except that everything that happens must be from God. This mentality is still with us today when insurance companies refer to floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes as “acts of God.”

    However, God and nature are not the same. These so-called acts of God are not God’s will, but rather nature obeying natural laws about water, wind, and tectonic plates. The biblical writers knew nothing about science and the laws of nature.

    Despite occasional verses about the wrath of God, there are many biblical examples of God’s desire for restoration not punishment. In Ezekiel 33:11 God says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” And the prophet Micah declares “Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity? You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18). Isaiah 53:5-6 prophesied that God would restore us to love, peace, and justice through a Messiah.

    What then do we do with the “hard sayings” of Jesus that seemingly speak of God’s wrath? He says, for example, that it is better to cut off your hand if it causes you to sin, than to end up in hell (Matthew 5: 29-30) and the sheep (who took care of the poor) go to heaven and the goats (who didn’t care for the poor) go to hell (Matthew 25: 31-46).

    Context is important here. Jesus was speaking to Jews, Romans, and Greeks who were masters of rhetoric – the art of dramatic speech to make a point. Jesus knew it was not the hand but the heart that caused sin. He didn’t expect people to actually cut off their hand, as if that would solve anything. He is speaking dramatically here to make the point that sin and not taking care of the poor are extremely serious. They destroy human community and create hell on Earth. He knew people do not change easily, so he had to speak dramatically to make his point.

    Jesus also said other hard, countercultural things such as love your enemies, which is the essence of restorative justice: God conquers his enemies by loving them and making them his friends, not destroying them. This is the essence of wisdom not wrath.

    In conclusion, the proper interpretation of scripture leads us to a God of pure love, not a false god who is a mixture of love, punishment, and wrath. Approaching the Bible this way will eliminate a major source of fear, guilt, and violence and so be a great boon for mental health and social peace.

 

Bruce Tallman is a spiritual director and religious educator of adults. brucetallman.com btallman@rogers.com

HOW RELIGIONS CAN LIVE IN PEACE

If we want world peace, it is becoming increasingly crucial that Christianity and Islam get along. However, how can any religions get along? Religion, by its very nature, tends to take things to the limit, to globalize its beliefs and absolutize its truths. If my truth is absolutely true, your different truth must not be true.

    This attitude generates conflict not only between religions, but also within religions. For example, Sunnis and Shiites have a long history of conflict in Islam, as do Protestants and Catholics in Christianity.

     One attempt to solve this dilemma is the annual World Day of Prayer wherein the major Christian denominations try to pray together. Another effort is World Religion Day, usually in mid-January, in which the major religions get together and speak their truth about peace.

    However, these approaches, while salutary, do not address the basic problem of how to handle conflicting truth claims. On the one hand, the Koran tells us that Islam is the true faith, Buddhism maintains the Buddha taught the true path, Christianity claims the absolute truth is Jesus Christ is Lord, and Hinduism asserts that Lord Krishna was divine.

    On the other hand, every world religion also teaches wisdom, compassion, prayer, fasting, taking care of the needy, and avoiding evil. Given this, no one can say that every major religion is all wrong or all evil. All of them have at least some truth or goodness in them. So, how do we reconcile all this? There are four basic approaches to truth.

    The first approach is that all religions are equally true and valid. However, this choice has to be rejected when you compare say rabbinic Judaism to Aztec religion with its human sacrifices in order to keep the sun-god rising, or when you compare say Voodoo cults with the sublime theology of Thomas Aquinas.

    The second approach is that no religions are true. This is the stance of the atheist or the person who cannot reconcile all the competing assertions of absolute truth, and therefore decides that all religion must be nonsense.

    However, this choice is not very satisfying either. Religion expresses the deepest insights of the human heart. To say there is no truth in any religion is to leave humanity in a truly hopeless situation.

    The third approach is black and white religious truth. This is the attitude of “we are saints, you are sinners,” “we have all the answers, you don’t have any,” “only Catholics will be in heaven” or conversely “all Catholics are going to hell.”

    This approach, when taken to its limit can result in self-righteousness and endless division, hatred, and war between religions and within them. Truth as black and white eventually disintegrates when you start to notice the shortcomings and sin in your own community and the virtue in others.

    The fourth approach is degrees of truth. This choice has as its basic premise that there is truth in all the major religions, but some religions are truer than others.

    This choice forces you to really study and weigh where you can honestly find the most truth, rather than just accepting or rejecting everything wholesale. This approach also allows you to be completely committed to your own tradition while at the same time being open to whatever degree of truth you find in other traditions. In fact, everyone could enrich their own tradition with the truths they found in other traditions.

    Catholics could learn a lot about humble service and justice from the Salvation Army, peacemaking and community from Mennonites, preaching and Bible study from Baptists, and joyous worship from Pentecostals. Protestants could learn from Catholics about the riches of the sacraments, contemplative prayer, the saints, and church history.

    Christians in general could learn from non-Christians: love of God’s law from Jews, detachment from Buddhists, a spirit of poverty from Hindus, and zeal for God from Muslims. These traditions could similarly learn a lot about forgiveness from Christians.

    An objection from evangelical Christians might be “If we admit there is truth in all the major religions, why reach out to them with the good news of Jesus Christ?” The answer is simply that, if you believe Christianity to be truer than other religions, you will want to reach out to them with your greater truth. In the process you might learn why they believe they have the greater truth, and so understand each other better. This can only be good.

     In a degrees of truth approach, every person is given the human right of freedom of religion and is free to believe that their religious tradition is truer than other traditions without absolutizing their tradition as the one and only truth.

    “All religions are true” has great tolerance, but no commitment; “no religions are true” has no religious commitment or tolerance; “black and white religious truth” has commitment but no tolerance; only the  “degrees of truth” approach has both the religious commitment and religious tolerance which together can lead to world peace.  

  

Bruce Tallman is a spiritual director and religious educator of adults. btallman@rogers.com

 

PEACE/VIOLENCE/MERCY

Prayer is not about changing God’s mind about us

it is about changing our minds so that

infinite mystery and forgiveness can abound in us.

 

The Christian journey travels through the self

to find the treasure hidden in the field within –

you sell everything to get this treasure

the queendom/kingdom/kindom within –

material things mean nothing by comparison.

 

God is already within us

we don’t need to attain God’s Presence

we are already in it – the only task

is to wake from our massive cultural trance –

Jesus and Buddha constantly urged their followers to

“WAKE UP!”

 

But we have both good and evil within us

God and the devil always whisper in our ears

exhorting us to peace or violence.

Gandhi’s whole doctrine of non-violence

summed up: “The way of peace is the way of Truth,

the way of violence is the way of Lies.”

Truth sees that violence is never necessary

but the Father of Lies, the Bad Wolf, also lurks within

and so we easily fall into violence.

 

But the Lord shines thru goodness and truth all around us:

“One day you’re waiting for the sky to fall

the next day you’re dazzled by the beauty of it all.”

– Bruce Cockburn

 

Taoism as much as Buddhism and Christianity

teaches the way of peace. Violence comes from fear

but Lao Tzu says “Because I am merciful, I can be brave

for Heaven protects the merciful”

and the Universal Christ says “Blessed are the merciful”

and thru the Apostle John: “Perfect love casts out fear.”

 

Jesus is the Perfect Lover and “Our True Mother –

Jesus carries us within him as he carries his cross

gives birth to us thru the birth-pangs of crucifixion

and then suckles us at his breast with the Eucharist.”

– Julian of Norwich