 In times such as ours, each of us needs to consider this possibility: "Perhaps I am stronger than I think." Perhaps we are strong enough to step off the sidewalk (of our lives) and walk out into the street (take a visible stand for peace, equality, social justice, the regeneration of the Planet, voting rights, democracy, etc.) Perhaps, too, our stepping into the street can be rooted in the radical act of contemplation...
How else will this precious blue Planet be saved except by contemplative-rooted-action? When someone -- perhaps you or I -- have been "seeded" with the vision of a planetary culture that is harmonized in creativity and a will to peace and justice, then it is incumbent upon us to actualize that vision by first joining with others: seeking a safe place to explore the sanctuary of our hearts and the vibrancy of "servant-mystic-action"... One might look to the Fellowship of Intentional Communities for possibilities, just as one might follow the footsteps of Thomas Merton and retreat to, or join, a contemplative community... Or, one might look to a Catholic Worker House for membership or guidance... The Findhorn community in Scotland is probably the premier example of an eco village that combines lifestyle with a contemplative foundation... Another required "advance" is the reading and study of world sacred texts through the eyes of both feminism and class. The old adage that the "victors get to write the stories" has no where been more true than in that of "religion". The decided marginalization of women, people "of color", and of the poor in the "Name of G-d" certainly gives one pause to think that it is probably only from the ancient stories of the Divine Feminine that a resurgence of wisdom might be sourced: for could the Mother marginalize any of Her children? Feminism is essential to both resistance and contemplation: for without this "grounding" in that which can actually liberate both women and men, we will only be curtsying to the Dominator Paradigm: the religion of the Unholy Trinity: Profit, Privilege, and Power... From the challenges of a traditions-bound contemplative community (the Trappists), Merton explored the hidden recesses of his own mind and heart -- while assiduously studying the world in which he lived -- and continuously offering his potent observations through his conversations, letters, articles, and books. His book, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, has long been one of my favorites: written in the mid-twentieth century, it is still very much a timely document: we are still at war, still suffering the reality of systemic racism, still marginalizing everyone not willingly serving the military-industrial-technological complex, and still raping the Planet upon which we live... It should now be clear that our monastery is the entire world, and our monastic community is now everyone and everything... How to sustain a life of "resistance and contemplation"? From my experience and from conversations with other activists-contemplatives, most folks are capable of only "provisional" commitments: six months, perhaps... For some, a year, perhaps two... For a very few, a number of years... Most often, a "real life" calls and there is the shame of not being "heroic"... Acknowledging this reality should inspire intentional communities to, on the one hand, do much better at welcoming folks, nurturing them while they are part of community, and allowing for "exits of grace": but it is also possible that the idea and practice of "provisional" monks and marriages, activists and contemplatives, should be more creatively and expansively explored: if the possible, or likely, eventuality of experiencing the pain of departure -- or of breaking -- is prohibiting folks from "stepping out" in love, hope, and faith, then concretizing the temporary nature of existence would be a potential blessing... On the other hand, intentional communities do need to be much more sexual... [I have felt the need to go back and add a few additional thoughts about "provisional" vows, intentions, or memberships: based upon my experiences -- and I choose here to emphasize my failures in community and relationships-- I now believe that community needs to be very gentle with folks: we are so incredibly fragile! We have all been formed by the wider culture to the protection and service of our egos: and it does not matter in the least that most of that which presents itself as an "I" does not really exist as a being separate from anyone / anything else. "Provisional" is not a compromise, but rather a humble awareness that we may not be really capable of more in our current condition: so we need to learn how to celebrate the temporary. Isn't that what we do at birthday parties? Might it be possible to "allow without commanding"? -- Ralph Alan Dale, The Tao Te Ching] On the chance you were beginning to doze, I thought that I would throw that in there: "sexual"... But in all seriousness -- this is something that is only too obvious now to everyone except the most repressed fundamentalist of one sort or another -- we are very sexual beings: we are not just interested in, or driven by, the desire for sexual play, union, and reproduction: but everything about human beings and of all existence is unabashedly "sexual": I mean, ee-gadz, even our atoms are not "ours alone", for they fly off constantly, inter-penetrating everyone, anyone, and everything! [Imagine that, ha!, the so-called white racist is chalk-full of atoms that passed through any number of blacks, immigrants, and Muslims!] "I am You, You are Me, and We are: Altogether One"! [Another clarifying addition: an opening awareness into the mystic-sexual nature of the Universe, every person, every creature and everything could become a prompt into next steps: again referencing Ralph Alan Dale's notes to his translation of the Tao Te Ching: "To the extent that our lives issue from material and spiritual abundance, will we be free to have without possessing and care without claiming, and because in this new condition, we can expect to give and receive love freely, our egos will no longer be starved." This "starvation" is exactly that which leads to cruelties-unlimited: witness the pedophilia crisis in Christian ministries and the blessing of the plunderful-capitalist economy and the international war machine: each rooted in the crushing of the Divine Feminine and the oppression of women. If you are interested in the healing of the genders and the dawning Age of the Beautiful Way, meditate for the rest of your life on the Song of Songs...] Get this: there is only one reason for contemplation: the desire to enter into Union with the Divine Mystery: as there is only one reason for resistance, the desire to live in the mutuality of Liberation into Oneness. To live in a "united state" with others -- with everyone, everything, and the Divine -- is the apex of human potential: this is the Total Union that doesn't bypass the many ways of the play of vagina and penis, the trillions of our atoms that mingle here and there with other atoms, or the humble hunger for interior union with the Quantum Consciousness that drives both contemplative prayer and galaxies: intentional community needs to intentionally confront repression, oppression, experimentation, and resistance and liberation as well, with "cause no harm"... But beyond "cause no harm", though, is the Divine Expectation of living in such a way that we become "living flames of love", and our intention to build community, becomes a revelation of the Beloved...
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 There are some few things, that to partake of them, is to become Divine... like making love, like walking and talking with your lover, like creating a work of art... and like taking a bit of abandoned space and building soil and planting a garden... "Resistance and Contemplation" take on new depths of meaning when falling in love with seeds and soil...
Ah! To build fertile, sacred, soil! I've done that once before, in California: taking a bit of heavy clay and for three years adding lawn clippings, leaves, and mulch to build something that could grow something other than an extraordinarily determined wild "weed"... And by the time that we left California for our new beginning in the Midwest, we had a good, four to six inches of topsoil in our garden: in that Central Coast climate, Swiss Chard, Brussel Sprouts, Kale, and other veggies could grow year-round... When we ended up in River Falls, Wisconsin, our newly constructed house was surrounded by rock and sand: a situation even more challenging than our California clay. Neighbors had already started a compost site: good! We began by turning the "soil" and mixing in sawdust, leaves, and lawn clippings we retrieved from the City composting site. We "stuck" a few plants in the "new soil" along with a bird feeder: filled with sunflower seeds. Cardinals, Goldfinches, and a few other seed eaters feasted and tossed uneaten seeds about the area. Soon, we had dozens of Sunflowers growing! A delightful garden of advancing Sunflowers became our first Wisconsin garden experience: which served our grand purpose of building the soil: Sunflowers are usually always a great lead-crop for building soil just about anywhere... We are now into our third summer of gardening here: we have nearly four inches of top soil with seasonal tulips, lilies, lilac, coneflowers, chives, mint, an apple tree, a raised bed with tomatoes, peppers, lemon grass, lavender, nasturtiums, carrots, and onions... and out back, near the small city-forest, we have a garden dedicated to the Divine Mother: statues of Kuan Yin, Mother Mary, Tara, and Our Lady of the Corn, are complimented by two more apple trees, a variety of berry bushes, squash, melons, lilies, marigolds, dappled willow bushes, native prairie grasses, iris, and a Rose of Sharon... A fire ring is surrounded by small re-purposed rocks plucked from the garden as we worked the soil... a picnic table and chairs complete this "working" and "meditation" garden... The bird feeder that stands at the edge of the garden welcomes cardinals, goldfinches, and, believe it or not, but also a wandering pair of Western Tanagers... rabbits scurry about in both the dawn and dusk hours, a woodchuck ambles about feeding on the wildflowers, and deer as well visit around our house and garden: perhaps they are the ones who have already eaten most of the apples... Even if it is just a single planter-box in a window that gets regular sunlight, or on a small porch, plant and grow something! Herbs grow well in small pots or planter boxes: chives, rosemary, cilantro: grow something! This "growing something" is a vital "root" for the regeneration of this precious blue Planet! Corporate power wants all of us dependent upon them for our food, for our water, and for the air that we breathe: an element of resistance to their abuse of power is the action of gardening: if we all grow something that we will eat, then that food will become the very flesh of our resistance! There is nothing whatsoever that is more sacred than our bodies and the bodies of our children! As we build soil, plant seeds, care for the burgeoning life in our gardens and homes, feed our children, our friends, and ourselves, we are already building a new society within the shell of the old: and that is not a little thing... |
AuthorRobert 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... Archives
May 2022
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