If the root-of-the-root-of-the-root of that which is Real is an Infinite Consciousness of Being (or better, of "Becoming"), then it necessarily follows that I (we) need to shift from an egoic-ness (ego-mess) into a radical identification with soul or spirit. It is quite impossible, regardless of our every effort, to reconcile soul or spirit with any form of cruelty or advantage over others... indeed, as the mystics have always taught, "There are no others"... The spoken language of Jesus, Aramaic, is an open door to a depth and complexity of mind that cannot be rendered, "word-for-word", into English. Reading and studying the Aramaic words of Jesus as rendered by a modern mystic, Neil Douglas-Klotz, should simply be required reading for everyone pursuing a deepening of one's "spiritual life"... So too, familiarity with the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, the Song of Songs, the Tao Te Ching, the poetry of Rumi, and the words of folks like St. Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and St. Francis of Assisi should likewise be very familiar to our minds and our hands... Love one another as you love yourself is the seminal essence of Jesus' teachings. Love one another: not like yourself, and not as much as yourself: but love others as your "other self"... This is precisely why Sister Thea said that she had no desire to "reconcile" with anything destructive... and yet, "destructive" is the unrestrained egoism that is everywhere in our so-called "modern world"... Ego always relates to everyone and everything from the perspective of "advantage". On the other hand, there is the humble practice of "tossing glitter" into one's mind... Oh, I'm not pulling your leg or any other body part with something either silly or trite. This "glitter tossing" is serious business: it's unlearning nearly everything one has either been taught or dumping all of the interpretations that we have given to the troubling events of our lives... and then, re-learning the really important things: like how to cook a pot of soup, how to walk a couple of miles every day, how to experience a deep satisfaction with living, how to sit, how to stand, how to happily get dirt under your fingernails, how to walk barefoot, how to dash about in the rain, oh and how to kiss as if your life depended upon it... All of this is "glitter tossing" for your mind... Because we have acquired "religion" instead of having learned the "art of living" we're about as fucked up as fucked up can be. Stupid is contagious (even more so than any pandemic). Justifications for every system of privilege, profit, and power undergird nations, corporations, religions, and individual persons... Needless to say, but there is a better way... there are alternatives! I can change my mind and create a brand-new way of life! I can practice the deep things of the ancient ones and so re-discover the well-springs of both grace and beauty! I can open and open further to the loving that is always in the steady-state of becoming... This is simply the Natural Way we have forgotten... but, it's not too late to enter upon the Path of Remembrance: which is always forward looking and rising... Stand at the crossroads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. -- Jeremiah 6: 16 There is only one way in which the tide flows: the way of ever-increasing unification... -- Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
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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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