Contemplation: the Root of Action

Contemplation and Action, or rather, the living union of the two in a single human life is a vital necessity if this precious blue Planet is going to be saved as home for humanity with a regenerative bio-diversity. Without the commitment of individuals to grow into a union of C & A, how can we expect for communities to do so?

​A sincere spiritual practitioner will not be content with "empty form", but rather, she will hunger for a genuine spiritual intimacy that holds the promise of transformation. Dorothy Day had a steady diet of the Psalms, and as she liked to add, of coffee as well. The Psalms can be a core spiritual practice, as contemplatives Abraham Heschel, Thomas Merton, and Bede Griffiths affirmed.  Through the psalms they were able to surrender their "thinking minds" for the vast, naked, spiritual field of pure contemplative grace... For both the activist and the contemplative, in the Christian tradition, hunger and surrender are the "royal road" leading to identification with the Universal or Cosmic Christ...

Another intimate practice for the contemplative activist is the "root" meditation on the Beatitudes of Yeshua. Nowhere else does the Poetry of the Master become so vital. The studies and versions by Neil Douglas-Klotz in his books Prayers of the Cosmos and Blessings of the Cosmos should be, as a matter of course, a "main dish" in the contemplative "diet". Another contemplative activist, Paramahansa Yogananda taught the "vibrational essence" of the Universe. As modern quantum physics points out, all of that which we perceive as "matter" is "hinged" upon the vibrations of atoms, which are themselves "hinged" upon the "nothingness" of the "consciousness of Light"... In other words, through and through, everything which is, is penetrated by the, what shall I say? the Divine Bliss of Energy?

Every single human being is fallible. We all have an abundance of limitations. Not one of us ever really approaches "perfection"... And when it comes to the limitations of language and translations from "this" to "that", the so-called original intent by the speaker or writer, perhaps from hundreds if not thousands of years ago, is quite difficult to be sure of -- especially without the annihilation of contemplative practice and experience. But all of the mystics of the world religions agree that the height, depth, and breadth, of Divine Revelation is encompassed by the challenge of "Love the Holy One with the Desire of your every Breath and love your neighbor as your Sacred Other"... The 21st century mystic-activist must center his daily life in the yearning for intimate union with the Beloved, and from that yearning, serve others in solidarity: such is the path that will lead to the transformation of this precious Blue Planet... and a meaningful life besides! 

---