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Accessing the Divine

5/1/2015

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Accessing the Divine is sort of like crossing a bridge... from one side to the other... what is that bridge? It is the bridge of our chosen definitions... the more committed we are to our definitions and perceptions: to our demand that Reality conform to our faith, to our opinions, to our culture, to our gender, to our race, to our politics, to our needs, and to our fears: the more challenging the crossing... Do you feel that you are persecuted -- that your religion is persecuted -- that your opinions are unjustly and incorrectly marginalized? Ah well, welcome to the Club of Your Way...

The Club of Your Way will take you there! Whew! What a relief! (The unfortunate problem is simply that most everyone is a member of the same Club... which means that you all experience a whole lot of pushing and pulling... "This way!" "My turn!" "My way or the highway!" "Your way sucks!" "Well, your way swallows!" And pretty soon there is a free-for-all-which-you-really-didn't-have-in-mind...) This is what is known as the "human condition"... Our perceptions and opinions become our reality: which we vigorously feed everyday in any way that we can...

So to cross the bridge... from one side to the other... is to advance our steps by dropping our perceptions and opinions -- or even more exactly, dropping our need to dominate or control outcomes, especially the people in our lives. Much, if not most, of what passes for both religion and politics is about the "need" to dominate or control outcomes, especially the people in our lives and of Planet Earth... But to shift from domination and control, slowly and steadily, is to advance step-by-step: and to leave behind the "Club of Your Way" for simply "Way"... Lao-Tzu recognized the "how" of flowing water and of a child's joy and dropped his perceptions and opinions and chose instead to advance his steps, simply and harmoniously, according to "Way"... Yeshua the Poet of Nazareth, likewise dedicated long hours to the observation of nature and persons and concluded that the "Kingdom of God" was within everyone and everything and he lived and taught according to "Way"... "Beautiful are you..."

Our human needs are simple and few: we seek happiness, safety, health, and the pleasure of being wanted: accessing these is, in Reality, "Way"... Dropping the desire to dominate or to control others as the means to acquiring our "four" needs, and we discovery a vibrant abundance, known as "Way"... Dropping the desire to manipulate desired outcomes, we are free to drop "original sin" and greed both, and we discover a gentle harmony, known as "Way"... Dropping the desire to divide reality into "good and bad", "sinner and saint", "flesh and spirit", we awaken into pleasure and delight, known as "Way"... "Way" has been likened to a remembrance of the Divine Feminine and the Ancient Mother before the advent of the dominator paradigm: but what matters is our awakening into the global shift of "accessing the Divine" through "Way": "I am You, You are Me, and We are All together: One"...   
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    Robert Daniel Smith was privileged to serve the homeless and marginalized for 30 years in California. He is living now almost within shouting distance of the Twin Cities. He is a poet, artist, writer, and long-time  Companion of the Way still dreaming... 

    ​Recommended Reading:

    ​Son of Man by Andrew Harvey


    ​Be Love Now by Ram Dass

    ​Be Here Now by Ram Dass

    The Rebirthing of God by John Philip Newell

    The Hope by Andrew Harvey

    The Return of the Mother by Andrew Harvey

    ​Creation Spirituality by Matthew Fox

    Loaves and Fishes by Dorothy Day 

    Sacred Pleasure by Riane Eisler

    Occupy Spirituality by Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox

    Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

    The Self-Aware Universe by Amit Goswami, Ph.D.

    Bhagavad Gita by Eknath Easwaran

    The Wisdom Jesus by Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault

    ​Living the Eternal Way by Rev. Ellen Grace O'Brian

    Listening For The Heartbeat of God by John Philip Newell

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