 What is beauty? What is justice? What is kindness?
Is beauty a red ballon -- or is beauty the one who holds it? Is beauty, justice, and kindness evidence of a child-mind? With the lurking specter of atomic war on the Korean Peninsula what does it matter? So, looking at the above photo, one sees "cute kids", probably they are poor kids, and probably too, given the realities of the world they appear to be growing up in, both will quite likely be raped a few years down the road. Maybe one or both will be pregnant at a very young age... and probably they will live and die without leaving much of a mark upon this precious blue Planet... and probably, within a short time of their passing, no one will remember that they walked this earth and breathed the same air as us... Neither red balloons nor atomic war offer a shift from our continuing crisis of heart... Meanwhile, the cultural critiques offered by the poets and sages presents us with an entirely different view of reality: in their critique, red balloons and the peace of human wholeness are that which truly matters. Consider the rEvolutionary words of Yeshua the Poet: "Blessed are you poor" and "Woe to you rich": right here, right in the Christian Gospel we are presented with a radical summary of our human condition, along with a vitalized call to live beautifully in justice and kindness (a concept completely foreign to the male addiction to violence, privilege, and profits). Yeshua presents us with the possibility of freedom from all of our pathologies and a corresponding entrance into spiritual wholeness, free of both oppression and repression. This sublime wholeness, only hinted at in the wisdom teachings of the world, is meant for our personal exploration: the hippies of my younger years were, at least for awhile, serious about cultivating an integral vision with practical applications: war, sexism, racism, and environmental degradation were evidence of the cultural killing machine, so "dropping out" for communal lives, artistic creativity, organic gardening, meditation, playfulness, and sexual / sacred pleasure was only too obvious as a viable means to living "lives with meaning"... As Dostoevsky wrote, "The world will be saved by beauty", so too, we are called to write those exact same words through the building of our lives in a deeply rooted spiritual harmony: listen! There is a cosmic harmonic convergence that is evident in the songs of rivers, birds, and crickets: and in our own minds and hearts: perhaps, like me, you might need years of work in a Soup Kitchen for your heart to break open -- so you can leak out all over the place: that "leaking" is of great importance: emptied of our pathologies, we can be filled with all sorts of good stuff! Perhaps you might need monastic discipline or the humiliation of marriage and divorce... Many are the roads we might walk in life: but we can, at least, be tending towards that same "harmonic convergence" that lurks in our hearts, just on the other side of our fears... What is beauty? Beauty is the activated will to the good, the kind, and the just... beauty is the adoration of free food for the hungry and the silent emptiness of prayer in the night... beauty is the freedom of dreadlocks trailing down one's back and the sweat poured out upon the ground in cultivating the earth... beauty is the demonstration in the street for a new culture of nonviolence and justice for all and beauty is the the early morning rising to ready oneself for another day of work... Beauty is our normal human condition, available for all, with a smile, with open hands, and welcoming hearts... And more, beauty, the real beauty of harmonic convergence, is only of marginal importance in regards to the shaping of our skin: it is soul that matters, it is soul that liberates and awakens... Skin is an aspect of soul, but very temporary! Finally, both red balloons and the daily practice of a gentle kindness do, in fact, offer us a shift from crisis to re-creation...
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 There is a fact that is increasingly obvious to more and more people: this Planet is @risk. That which we call "civilization" -- which depends entirely upon its Planetary Home -- is only as strong and healthy as every human is strong and healthy. But there is another fact which derives its truth from the hidden, metaphysical, dimension: our health and strength can be secured in only 24 hours... The "secret" means to the possible and stunning creation of a living Paradise upon Earth is bubbling just under the surface of our current reality... And wouldn't you know it, but this "secret" was most clearly articulated by a tortured soul, the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, in his short story "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man". If you have not yet read it: do so! But let me tell you just a snippet about the story... There is a man who is sorely distressed by life and who determines that -- in the face of all of his and our pain and suffering -- there is only one course of action open to him: he will commit suicide. He takes a gun out of his desk drawer and prepares himself... but instead of pulling the trigger, he falls asleep in his despair... In his dream, he awakes in Paradise! Everything is perfect and beautiful -- only to discover that in time he introduces sin, suffering, injustice, cruelty, and harm into that Paradise... Even in his dream-sleep he is in despair... But then, in the simple twisting of the Dream-Mind (the Holy One) slips into and through the cracks in his despair and defenses... and the "how to" of recovering the Lost Paradise is revealed to him! He awakens absolutely stunned! And Dostoevsky (was he himself the dreamer?) writes the man's conclusion: "Suppose it never, ever comes true, and there is no paradise... well, I'll still go on preaching. And yet how simple a matter it is: in one day, in one hour it could all be brought about at once! The chief thing is to love others as oneself, that's the main thing, and that's it -- absolutely nothing more is necessary: you would immediately discover how to bring it about." And here -- right here! -- is the Recipe for a Total Radicalism that Liberates and Enlightens: 1) Every religion will -- today and evermore -- take a "sabbatical" from preaching and teaching anything other than Love-in-Action as the Root and Reason for their faith and life; 2) Every person -- believer or not -- will determine that she / he will change course and make Love-in-Verifiable-Action the one Grand Purpose of his / her life; 3) It necessarily follows that every person will then make the Grand Intention to not enter Paradise until everyone among us has found their fill of bread and roses, and entered first. This would change everything in as little as 24 hours: name your passion, name your issue: hunger and food security, climate change, healthy soil, clean water, equal rights, social justice, an end to violence, exploitation, racism, and oppression, corporate re-structuring, creating a cooperative economy: whatever the issue: putting the "other" first and taking the last place will change every single thing... "I am You, You are Me, and We are All Together: One"... |
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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