The Charism of Solidarity

"The Charism of Solidarity": perhaps a new theological / political / economic thought? It has been said that the sum total of human knowledge now doubles every six months -- probably much of what "passes" for knowledge, involve more efficient ways to kill people, exploit the Earth, and extract resources. And yet Mahatma Gandhi used to say that nonviolence was as old as the hills... so perhaps there is a deeper knowledge than much of that which drives privilege and power to ever more of the same...

"Charism" implies grace: a mystery of Spirit accessible through mystic-initiation: a turning of one's heart and mind towards the Great Unity that (Who) is both immanent and transcendent, within and without consciousness, life, and matter... While "solidarity" implies a similar grace: the activated compassion which sees and knows every "other" as one's own self: this "no separation" mirrors the "no separation" of the mystic quest: an interior life that is transformed into what Simone Weil intuited: "We were created by Love, for Love, to become Love." "Solidarity" is an activated compassion that extends into every area of life -- without exception...

One cannot, truly, love one person without loving all persons for love has no limits. This is the key to the rEvolution of the 21st century. Transformation, every transformation, must be total or it is not transformation at all: in other words, I cannot "love" Vandana Shiva without also loving Dick Cheney. While perhaps I will still think of Mr. Cheney as a dick, I must still will the very best for him (certainly not another electoral victory, but his own total transformation and surrender to Love-without-limits). This is neither a word game nor a vapid mental exercise: love must always show itself in action and prayer both: this points to the folly of nearly all that passes for religion today: Israeli and Palestinian must forgive and adore one another to the point of no more killing, no more injustice, no more terror, and no more borders (I am You, You are Me, and We are All Together: One). This principle of total transformation applies all across the board: there are no exclusions or exceptions...

If you want to step into a mystic-life that combines the interior journey with the social responsibilities of an activated compassion, then the charism of solidarity must become your focal point, most simply expressed as "I am You, You are Me, and We are All Together: One". Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hahn, teaches this principle as "Inter-being": through and through, we are One! Creation is an absolutely wild phenomenon! None of us, and no thing, exists in any sort of real isolation from every other life form or phenomena of matter! Our very atoms reflect this Cosmic Reality of Consciousness Unleashed: the atoms that are currently "me" have existed since the very first moment of the Big Bang: the "What If?" and the "Why Not?" beginning It's process of Self-Discovery through creation-destruction-recreation... Stars and algae, rivers and mountains, female and male, every form and formlessness: "I am You, You are Me, and We are All Together: One".

The mystic-activist must interiorize the charism of solidarity that it become for us the breath of our breath: only then will we be able to birth it in a new experience of religion, politics, economics, and culture. The tears of this world are hoping that we will seriously, devoutly, and playfully accept this challenge... It is not enough to know this precious blue Planet and the life that it sustains is in peril... it is not enough to organize demonstrations, distribute and sign petitions, commit civil disobedience, and opt out of the dominant culture in creative ways... The "enough" this world is praying and begging for is the total transformation of, as in a living body, "cells" of folks, of every faith and no faith, to commit to the charism of solidarity: "I am You, You are Me, and We are All Together: One"...