Long Term Commitments Can Be Dangerous

"Our faith must be alive; it cannot just be a set of rigid beliefs and notions."
--Thich Nhat Hanh

Hanh writes, "In the beginning we might have embarked upon the path of Buddhism thanks to a belief in re-incarnation." However, he continues by noting that as the world in its impermanence moves, so must we. Continuing our practice and touching reality as it is, we may find that our beliefs change. Perhaps they are more defined, more refined; perhaps the change is more radical.

Yet we need not fear change because as we find our way through practice, through experience with the reality of the world flowing ourselves to that acceptance, realizing the Amida Buddha more and more deeply, we find a confidence and security that we may have not known before.

Our ideas are more solid, reflecting our core senses. When we form our ideas and beliefs in response to our own experience, more so than the experiences of others, we may for the first time, perhaps, find our voice, our way, our joy. In this state, no one can easily remove our belief from us.

"Making a long term commitment [can be] dangerous." If years and time pass without our continued practice, a continued commitment to living the results of our experiences, one day we may come to discover that we cannot believe as we once did. A great revelation, an epiphany may come over us informing us that our usual beliefs, our usual way is no way. We are plunged into fear, panic, darkness.

"Faith must be alive; it cannot just be a set of rigid beliefs and notions." Open to change, to experience, we open ourselves to the fruit of all--peace, joy, a spacious freedom and love. Sometimes we may think that "faith" is only thinking, only notions. Yet it is more. In our prayers, our meditation, we must put our whole self into action; we must live those actions. Merely thinking, sitting meditation is not enough.

Our actions may be modeled after those of the Buddha, a guiding example. Deeply thinking, deeply seeing the world as it is, the goodness of change will lead to us to our share in creating a more harmonious, peaceful world.

Sufism

"Whoever has no Master, has Satan as his Master."

Sufism has been part of the corporeal body of Islam for most of its history. The term sufi is known from at least the eighth century C.E.; it is from the word for wool (suf), a symbol of purity by the wearer of such a garment. The suf indicated also that there was an obvious degree of spiritual proximity to God. It is a representation of the ideal mode of worship towards God, with the whole of the heart, mind and body. Sufism is practiced throughout Islamic history as a way to access the divine love, wisdom and knowledge of the Creator which are the basis of mysticism. Sufism then has nothing to do with what authors of the book, Sufism: Love and Wisdom by Jean-Louis Michon, Roger Gaetani call, "the sectarian movements which mostly in the Western world, have used its name, fame, and even some psycho-spiritual practices to attract a naive clientele with the promise of quick spiritual advances."

"The Doctrine of Unity," writes the authors is central to Islamic revelation; 'unity is expressed by the testimony of Faith." Also accompanying the Doctrine of Unity are the concepts of the Universal Man, Mohammad the Prophet and Envoy. All who strive to imitate his virtues, and perfect intellect, pray so as to recover ones' own "pristine nature." Then there is the "Way of Recollection" without consideration or acknowledgment of human free will, places man in a garden, "naturally submitting to the Creator, and thus celebrating His praise..." What is generally known as "The Book of God," the Quran guides the believer to the paths of salvation through the sacred traditions bestowed upon every human community in history.

Finally the Sufis say,"whoever has no Master, has Satan as his Master..." Those who dare to travel to God by their own means are doomed to fail in the Islamic mind. Islam teaches that the "rebellion against God takes place on the level of the psyche, not on that of the body. The flesh is only an instrument for the tendencies originating within the psyche." So then it is the mind and spirit which must be lifted up and trained so as to go the way of truth. These are a few of the topics considered in this book of essays by various authors.

The Origin of Satan

"All converts understood that baptism washes away sins and expels evil spirits[from the body], and conveys to the recipient the spirit of God." The Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels

In her book, published in 1995, The Origin of Satan, famed historian and author Elaine Pagels, perhaps best known for her work on The Gnostic Gospels, writes of a history in the West, of the developing idea of the 'Evil One,' the Satan. Exploring the solidifying development of the spirit, Satan, and his ways, Pagels delves into the Roman and Greek era and traces their thought to the more modern, current. Of Satan, she writes in the chapter, The Enemy Within, that for nearly two thousand years, most Christians have taken Saint Irenaeus at his word..." Saint Irenaeus is best remembered for his exhortations against the mockeries of the Devil, Satan.

Pagels examines in this chapter a text called, the Testimony of Truth which direct believers to asceticism. They are according to the Testimony to renounce all worldliness. "No one knows the God of Truth, except the one alone who renounces all the things of the world." She writes early Christians like Saint Justin Martyr was one who shared this view of self mastery; he wholeheartedly admired those who renounced the world and practiced celibacy. Today this tradition most clearly survives in monasticism.

Another text examined by Pagels here is called, Reality of the Rulers,"In this universe... there is no devil, and no need for one, for the 'Lord,' the God of the Jews and most Christians alike, himself acts a chief of the fallen angels who seduce and enslave human beings." According to this interpretation of the 'Truth,' written in the Testimony and the Reality of the Rulers the "human condition involving work, marriage, and procreation do not reflect divine blessing, but demonstrate enslavement to cosmic forces that want to blind human beings to their capacity for spiritual enlightenment... most Christians have fallen prey to the rulers of darkness and so, like most Jews and Pagans, remain entangled in social, sexual and economic bondage." It is through understanding that truth belongs not to the darker powers but to wisdom and the Father of the whole; the spirit of the truth resides within them. They remain free to devote themselves to the dominions of the Holy Spirit.

These texts and others discovered at Nag Hamadi, as known in the ancient world by the majority of Jewish-Christians who responded to these texts with the term 'heretic.' Heretic, Pagel points out means to make a choice. The ancient, Tertullian wrote that it was actually a matter of pride to be heretical for some; they regarded their own, deeper insight as a 'spiritual gift.' He further observed that Heretics would object to any creed, saying that Jesus himself encouraged questioning, saying, "Ask, and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened to you." For Tertullian the question and the answer resided in one simple, clear place: upon the cross of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christ. Looking further was no longer necessary.

It was Satan, after all who invented all sorts of arts of spiritual warfare; the devil of course, is attached to the wiles that distort the truth, wrote Tertullian. In the last word on the subject of this chapter, Pagels returns to the thoughts of Saint Irenaeus with whom she started: "the structure that has sustained orthodox Christianity ever since, claims access to the apostles, the manifestation of the Church throughout the world and the body of the Christ, with the succession of bishops together forms a very complete system of doctrine." Finally she writes of her own thought that in writing this book, she hopes that the modern struggle against otherness as evil and the group as solid, secure and good, will more clearly come to light. This she does do in a most complex way.

C.S. Lewis, Apostle to the Skeptics

"By the very act of arguing, you awake the patient's reason; once awake, who can foresee the result?" C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Chad Walsh writing in his delightful 1949 apology, first serialized in the Atlantic Monthly magazine, later published in book form has much to say about the genius of the Irish author, Lewis whom he likens to Saint Paul. No "Christian apologist in the English speaking world today is as much talked about and argued about as C.S. Lewis." So it remains today, 50 years later.
At Oxford university, England the young Lewis studied the Classics. While there he seemed "a gifted student with a bit more imagination than average," writes Walsh. A favorite author of the young Lewis was G. K. Chesterton. At age 30 he joined the Anglican Church of England. In 1933 Lewis published Regress, a volume which brought him notice.

And now we rejoin him at the Screwtape Letters' apology by Chad Walsh. With the publication of the "Screwtape Letters starting in 1941, Lewis was a surprise to everyone." Walsh describes the book as a "neat turning the tables on everyone... the writing from the viewpoint of Hell--put the shoe on the other foot; he [Lewis] charged the secularists with intellectual fuzziness. And the secularists-- those who had a sense of humor--read the book for a good natured laugh."

In the course of 31 letters, His Infernal Excellency finds "numerous occasions to warn Wormwood that Reason and Thought are menaces to the purposes of Hell. 'The trouble about argument is that it moves the whole struggle onto the Enemy's ground." Wormwood as Lewis conceives, is not to clarify or reason with one, but to confuse, to befuddle. Some have called this the 'divine lie.' In another passage in the book, Hell is mentioned as having made Wormwood's job all the easier by encouraging 'evolutionary' European thought . This, says Screwtape gives the 'invisible agents' of Hell an excellent opportunity to whisper suggestions to them "while their minds rattle around an intellectual vacuum."

Later he writes that "no one except specialists read old books... In this way, the present period of history is cut off from other periods, and there is little danger that the characteristic truths of the past will correct the typical errors of the present." Ultimately, Lewis, in the voice of Screwtape, has much to say about Faith. Despite his view of Faith, Lewis does not see that, for the most part, Faith is set apart from Reason, unlike most scholars of his time. Lewis insists that Reason is the key to every enduring Faith.

The Sign of the Cross

"The sign of the cross is a Christian practice and is associated with the catholic side of the church --Roman, Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran and some United Methodists and Presbyterians. There is nothing in United Methodism that either forbids or encourages the practice.

Since The United Methodist Church is, generally speaking, a product of the Protestant Reformation, it has a piety that tends to be iconoclastic--that is rejecting statues, icons, and many of the catholic practices. Again, this is a church cultural thing and not something that is in print.

All of that being said, I strongly favor making the sign of the cross and do so regularly in my private prayers and when receiving communion (just before taking the elements and just after) and, as a pastor, I made the sign of the cross toward the congregation when blessing them at the end of the service. In order to do that, I had to do some teaching about what it meant and why I chose to do it.

The sign of the cross will, I predict, come to be more accepted in places where we recover a sense of our having been united with Christ in his death and resurrection in baptism. It is a sign often made on the forehead at baptism, when praying for healing and when a person is dying. I encourage you to use the sign as a remembrance and claiming of your baptism and as a sign of encouragement to follow Christ as one of his own. If people are uncomfortable with it and you notice their attention and puzzlement, be a teacher and share with them why you do it. Invite them to feel free to make the sign too.

I believe we need to be free to raise our hands in praise in worship and to not do so. Why not be equally free to make the sign of the cross, kneel, touch water in the font to our foreheads. Worship is about bodies and movement, not just words and thinking!"

The above text is in keeping with the Protestant churchman, John Wesleyan, founder  of the United Methodist Church.Taken from the Book of Discipline

Copts in Egypt

"When Israel was a child then I loved him, and I called him out of Egypt." --Hosiah 11:1

There are two thousand years of Coptic history. Otto Meinardus writes about this fascinating story in his book of the same title, Two Thousand Years of Coptic Christianity. "The history begins with the traditions of the visit of the holy family to Egypt... to fulfill the Old Testament prophecy" regarding the coming of the One, The Christ. "Undoubtedly Egyptians filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit... returned to their homes along the Nile Valley, and established there the first Christian communities," so records the Bible verse, Acts 2:10. Regarding Saint Mark the Evangelist as the founder of their church, Coptics, as did Saint Mark, suffered much persecution for their faith.

Yet today few realize "that Egypt once was a great Christian nation." Following its initial establishment in Egypt in the earliest of the common years, the Coptics became a firm part of Egyptian life from the second century onward. In Alexandria, with Constantine's rule in 313C.E. the Church emerged to face numerous conflicts with their neighbors. By the sixth century there is recorded to have been 600 hundred monasteries in and around Alexandria. Saint Cyril is by tradition said to have constructed the first Egyptian cathedral. However the Copts split from the Byzantine church in 451 C.E. The most famous Coptic Theologian of the early period is Origen, who settled in Alexandria and founded a school there which had great influence over the Coptics.

Also in the early church there arose a disagreement regarding the understanding of the "body of Christ." Further developments led to schisms and emerged with four groups, including the Nestorians claiming ascendancy. With these divisions in place, the Coptic Church was further weakened by the arrival of the Muslim invaders, under which many more adopted the beliefs of Mohammed, the Prophet.

Currently, writes Meinardus, the Coptics have been revitalized and are increasing. The "Africa Project," whereby the Church of Alexandria joins forces with the ancient churches of Africa has yielded a harvest for both groups, strengthening them and enriching their ancient traditions. Today the style of worship remains in the ancient Coptic language and her song remains equally vibrant fulled with ancient rhythms.

A Light in the Cage

"...there is no man who is not shaken for an instant by the eternal." --I Asked for Wonder by Abraham Joshua Heschel

Writing in his book of short essays, theologian Abraham J. Heschel writes for the interest of the lay reader about many topics in Judaism that are close to his heart. Using these essays as a springboard into the mind of this giant in Jewish thought, one clearly derives a sense of his deep compassion and understanding.
He says, "The world we live in is a vast cage within a maze, high as our mind, wide as our power of will, long as our life span. Those who have never reached the rails or seen what is beyond the cage know of no freedom to dream of and are willing to rise and fight for civilizations that come and go, and sink into an abyss of oblivion, an abyss which they never fill."
He writes that in our technical age, man does not often clearly conceive of the world as fit for anything more than his own fulfillment. He remains under the sway of a former Age of Reason, considering himself rather the master of destiny, able to breed himself, breeding races of men as he chooses; he adopts a transient philosophy according to his needs and creates a religion at will. 
This Man postulates an existence of a Power "that would serve as a guarantee of his self-fulfillment," as if G-d were a partner catering to mens' whims and goals of gaining the utmost of life in self-development.
Yet, "even those who knocked their heads against the rails of life, discovered that life is involved with conflicts which they cannot solve." There is the drive of possessiveness, a substitute life for what they lack in other realms. Even religion or spiritual quest can become an exercise of possessiveness, seekers who want to acquire merits, knowledge in the mind, and medals placed upon the heart. 
This questing is muffled by the irony of time; "we are starved by self destructiveness--some even prefer to exist upon a dainty diet" within the cage than than search out the exit in order to obtain the possibility of hope in freedom."But there is no man who is not shaken for an instant by the Eternal. And if we claim we have no heart to feel, no soul to hear, let us then pray for tears, or a feeling of shame."

Mani and His Ideas, Heretics and Empresses

While many think that Mani and his followers were concentrated largely in the West, others encountered his teachings in the East, just as well. It is often surprising in the history of ideas to learn those which were concurrently in force. Most readers are familiar with the term Manichean as having to do with heresy, but who was Mani? What were his ideas? How were they transmitted from East to West? And Buddhism--what's with that?

Of all places, this interesting discussion came up in a book about the history of vegetarianism. Colin Spencer writes in A Heretic's Feast that Mani is thought to have been Persian and that his ideas spread via the ancient Silk Road. Here enters the story of the Empress Wu, who admitted one Manichean devotee to her court in about the late seventh century C.E. The man, Mihr-Ormuzd, presented the Empress with a book titled, Sutra of the Two Principles.

Along the trade route, the ideas of Mani flourished in many places; it was much influenced by Buddhism and took on some of its features. Today certain Buddhist sects are thought to trace at least  some of their practices back to these earlier ideas.  As for the Empress, she was much impressed that within the Manichean realm she could take a central role, unlike Confucianism which sidelined women. Mani taught about "the four attributes," a reference to purity, light, power and wisdom.

Under successive regimes, the Mani went underground, as it were, in reaction to oppressive regimes which distrusted foreign ideas. Their followers took on local customs and came to be regarded as sorcerers and exorcists. Many took up residence in Taoist held lands. Under Mongolian rule, they fared better and were more open in their practice. They were identified at that time as "Nestorian Christians" and referred popularly as, the Religion of Light.

In the West, more famously, they attached themselves to the major faiths; over time, their teachings were successively denounced. Manicheans were proclaimed heretics by Christians, Muslims and Jews, yet they persist most curiously within the faith systems of major religions, even today.

Divine Pathos

"The human mind is the meeting point of mind and mystery, of reason and trascendence." --Between God and Man by A.J Heschel and F.A,. Rothchild

It has been written of the Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel that he is 'anti-rational' and 'mystical' owing to his origins as a child of Jewish Hasidism. He is indeed often 'guilty' of both. To the mind of Heshel the beauty and awe of the world is both dependent and the result of the unknowable, the mysterious reality that the Torah names as G-d. To biblical Man, the world appears not as an intellectual abstraction, a thought but as a total happening. It is the reality of the Jewish world that the Lord who creates the heaven and the earth and all contained within should also lend to his creation a sense of both historical and ultimate reality. This he does and also imparts free will to his creations. Thus the struggle between the Creator and creation is set.

Between G-d and Man, writes Heshel, is not a simple presumption of G-d's existence but a "going beyond self-consciousness and questioning of the self and all its congitive pretensions... the ultimate [dimension] comes first, and our reasoning about Him second... Just as there is no thinking about the world without the premise of  the reality of the world, there can be no thinking about G-d with out the premise of  the realness of G-d..."

In the conception of authors Heschel and Rothchild there is in fact a 'Divine Pathos' in the relation between G-d and man. The book, Between G-d and Man, discusses the west, in religion and through cultures, that it is assumed  man is simply a subject and G-d is the object; that our spiritual search for Him, He Who Is, constitutes a means and an end. For Heshel, it is simply the opposite: it is G-d who seeks his Beloved, his own creation, who seeks to engage them in the work of creation. He covenants with them and calls them to the task. The pathos of G-d then in this way of thinking, is that He seeks, exhorts and cultivates holiness in the day to day lives of mankind. G-d cares ultimately.

This pathos does not arise out of nothingness. It is a reaction to the behavior of man which leads him fields away from the holiness of G-d, the ultimate unity, the one of all, which he intends. The divine intends action conceived in free will for the freedom of creation; from the slavery of self-centeredness and growth of the awareness that man while ineluctably placed within the view of of the divine, from which sight is inescapable. Creation  is also the object of unmeasured care and concern for its well being. Man may then experience a possibility of objective reality that is expressed in the unending joy of a co-creator. There creates the 'mystical union.'

Self-Forgiveness: Crossing Boundaries

"Self-forgiveness is a stance of hope, of freedom." Forgiving Yourself by Beverly Flannigan

Continuing consideration of the value and practice of self-forgiveness, author Beverly Flannigan writes about a topic few even think about, understand or practice. It is an important topic in most all spiritual traditions, certainly those who engage in actions for salvation, such as in Buddhism. She writes that "mistakes are harmful, rash, impulsive, foolish acts... a mistake is morally neutral... mistakes are errors." However she distinguishes mistakes or errors from transgressions, crossing boundaries as quite different. Unlike mistakes in which no harmful intention is made, transgressions often include malicious intent and are then not neutral. Most would think of those actions to be just wrong.

Transgressions typically cross over a number of boundaries such as moral, legal, interpersonal, or social. They are not morally neutral because the intent is to deprive, to harm, to impair or injure, usually for a self-centered reason on the part of the perpetrator. Many communities observe specific prohibitions regarding transgressions; these prohibitions may be called different things, such as precepts, commandments, rules, values, but their intent is similar or the same: to observe and regard commitments, and the resulting responsibilities made by groups and individuals to one another.
They may also observe the consequences.  For example, a legal transgression may be stealing, assault, battery or throwing your junk out on an isolated country road. Communities set forth moral rules regulating the conduct of persons for the benefit of the common good, and the good of individuals; we expect to abide by them, even if we don't agree with their premise.

On the other hand, perhaps the most common boundary crossed besides legal boundaries are moral. Moral transgressions "between people are special kinds of wrong doings; they are special because when two [or more] persons form a relationship [or community], their separate ideas of right and wrong combine to form a new construct of right and wrong, unique to those two people." All manner of constructs may be forged; the net result is a working blueprint of the social relationship between the individuals. For this reason, breaking or violating these agreements typically results in a strong sense of grief for the other party[parties]."When people transgress moral agreements with friends, spouses, beloveds, they cross the barriers of their own ideas about right and wrong by lying, withholding, taking resources, so as to typically deprive the other[s] of truth, or other goods and benefits." Violations are often ultimately of a spiritual nature.

"The pain of non-forgiveness is rooted in your mistakes, transgressions, evil intentions, your own shortcomings and limitations." To forgive yourself and others is a stance of hope; it is a newness of self which results from the freedom to start again.

Self-Forgiveness: Confronting Yourself

"It is not possible to forgive yourself when you do not know what you are attempting to forgive." Forgiving Yourself by Beverly Flannigan

Because self-forgiveness is "a small form of peacemaking, it is as in any war, wise to understand the enemy. When you understand the enemy, it is easier to engage in negotiations towards ending hostilities," writes Beverly Flannigan in her book, Forgiving Yourself.
Beginning to forgive yourself by gaining a better self-understanding is critical. Forgiveness in any form is not possible when you do not know what it is that is to be forgiven.
When we seek to obscure our self from our self, often we act angry or forgetful as if this would hide the transgression, or so we think. But only from our eyes is it hidden."Our own flaws and accountability will be lost" in the anger, in the forgetting. "Delays in forgiving oneself can cause a lifetime of unnecessary self-delusion, cover-ups and pain."
Falsely identifying our need to forgive our self can also delay or stall the peace and freedom of self-forgiveness for a very long time. At times we can lapse into many types of dysfunctional behavior in response to the fear that our wrong-doing, or our faults will drown us in painful emotion. Some may become chronically depressed or even suicidal.

In taking the road necessary to peace through self-forgiveness several steps must be undertaken, writes Flannigan. First, name "any false limitations or wrong doings that you may have labored under, so that a determination for forgiveness may be made." Identify the actual sources of mistakenness; come to understand the fundamentals about yourself that have been impaired and need restoration; recognize and observe the feelings that you have about the situation(s) which remain unforgiven; identify the obstacles to seeing clearly those flaws, those limits which prevent a realistic view of yourself. "To forgive, the bright lights of self-discovery and self-understanding must shine upon the one who is to be forgiven, whether yourself or some one else."

False limits and wrongs are defined as "harmful by others and not merely felt emotionally or recognized" by the perpetrator of the presumed injury. For example, some would manipulate others into a position of vulnerability so as to gain compliance with their own agendas, or would perhaps cause one to feel that they, themselves, have violated their moral contracts agreed to previously with others, but in reality one party may have had no part in the negotiating of the agreement; instead they may have complied with the implicit contract out of fear of punishment or shame by the other party. In other words, simply, 'I know something you don't and I'm not telling you, come what may!'
One party may use falsehoods and deception or omission so as to gain an advantage of the other, or to control another. Flannigan writes at length to assist a reader in determining if they do indeed have a grievance either with themselves or others. She lays out concrete questions and steps for her readers.

"Forgiving yourself starts with a process of elimination. Know your limits. No one wants to confront fundamental, personal flaws, but injuries arise from meanness, actions that are against previously held moral agreements or personal limits." Having a "good character" for many people is thought of as one of honesty, generosity, loyalty, kindness and compassion. These are often described as virtues; falling short of these ideals or displaying them in excess may be the cause of the type of blindness that injures the sense of self and harms others.

Bassui Seeing One's Nature, Supernatural Powers

"When you understand the nature of your own mind, it will thoroughly light up the cave of ignorance." by Zen Master, Bassui

Zen Master Bassui writes in an essay, The six supernatural Powers are Seeing One's Nature, contained in the book, Mud and Water, that indeed, "seeing into one's inherent nature is possession of the six supernatural powers. "How can that be so? To the questioner, Master Bassui answers, "Buddha nature is from the outset master of the six sense organs. To keep the master pure and not stained by the six dust producing organs is called the supernatural powers."

How can one attain the supernatural powers such as described, the ability of clairvoyance, clear hearing (clairaudience), mind reading, knowledge of past lives, flying, and the power to stop deluded thinking? Bassui answers, "This infinite light shines of its own accord and watches over all. It is nothingness; it is a wonder. It is silent: it illumines."

"Though forms can be seen, one is not deluded by them. This is Clairvoyance. When sounds are heard through the ears, the echo of vibrations are deeply discerned, and yet there is no dependence on discriminating thoughts. This is called Clairaudience. When you realize your own mind, you will realize the oneness of the minds of the buddhas of the three worlds, the ancestors, the ordinary people and the heavenly beings of other worlds. This is the power of Mind Reading. Clear and independent, the mind will not attach itself to the changing phenomena of life and death, of past and future, but will remain constant without any obstructing doubts. This is the power of Knowing Past Lives."

"When you understand the nature of your own mind, it will thoroughly light up the cave of ignorance, and original, natural beauty will be manifest. In an instant, you will pass through the ten directions without stopping in the blue sky. This is your inherent nature's Power to Fly through the air." When you understand the nature of your own mind, delusions turn into wisdom, writes Bassui. "Because Bodhi is your original, inherent nature... you won't be stained by various phenomena. This is the Power to Stop Deluded Thoughts."

Further the Master notes, "Wise men consider physical manifestations of supernatural powers a karmic hindrance; the ignorant, thinking them desirable, seek after them.... We are all originally in possession of this supernatural power. You will begin to realize it when you look inward, penetrate your own nature. All are equipped with this original nature, and each one is perfect."

Whether We Like It, Or Not

The Simple Mind returns

"All I can experience and work with is what my life is right now. That's all I can do." Joko Beck

In her book, Waking up to What You Do, Abbess Diane Rizzetto, explores the question that is posed by Joko Beck, who simply asks, "What prevents you from living the way you want to live your life?" The wealth and happiness of our own lives, it seems, is intricately tied into the wealth and happiness of others. Rizzetto notes that "true intimacy means standing openly with ourselves and others.

Misusing intimacy, especially sexual intimacy, relates to the ways we may separate ourselves from others, thus avoiding being absolutely present." We can then, in any moment avoid being absolutely present. This notion of separation forms a barrier, even in those moments of physical or emotional contact. Feelings or perceptions of disconnect or disunion may support notions of loneliness or isolation, they may even contribute to illness states.

While present moment may be a best, beautiful moment, fears and anxieties often intrude, and whether we like it or not, working to see them clearly to address the precepts so as to answer the question about 'what prevents us from living' is something that matters in the day to day business of living. "The key is to take an honest look at what is going on."

Related to this precept of not mis-using self or others is the thought that Ezra Bayda presents his reader in his book, At Home in the Muddy Water. He muses on several topics. One is about trust. Trust, says Bayda is "one of the trickier issues we meet in practice... When we feel betrayed by someone or something... [we] withdraw in anger... our sense of "self" has been shaken... Losing trust in someone [may set] sets off the fear of being abandoned or the fear of being overwhelmed."

What formerly held view can we then no longer support? What notion in our mind is disrupted? Often there is a strong impulse to view a person as a solid, a form if you will, to disregard the possibilities of impermanence. Observing others through our own lens, we judge them as "self." Projecting our intentions and our own motives, we think we see them. What we do see, over time, is that they are not our projections. We think that we don't then know them at all. Yet we do. Their character and unique self over time comes clearer into consciousness. "To see them with fewer filters, we feel betrayed. [And] when they don't meet our expectations... we can't trust them. In terms of their meeting our expectations, we can't."

As part of working through the most unique, personal and intimate experiences of our lives, to begin to view trust in real terms, to remain still with what arises is the willingness to just be, life as it is. Whether life conforms to our desires or not isn't the point. Life is as it is. That is the point, even if we don't like that point of life.

Translated and Interpreted

The Simple Mind is away from the computer


To the engaged student, it may be noted that when any given text originates in a language not one's own, a translation will then necessarily be read. The student who inquires in-depth will, at some point, likely come to find that there are several translations of many important texts; sometimes there are hundreds. Which one to read, which one to choose?

If you speak the language in question, then read any which suits you; for most of us who speak one or perhaps two languages, this is a challenge at times. For Americans this language challenge presents a special difficulty. The majority of Americans are not fluent in any other language beyond English.
Ancient texts are written in Chinese, Sanskrit, Persian, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Pali to name several. Choosing the text to be studied is reliant on the skill and sensitivity of the translator. Some would choose on-line translations today; many do not suffice. They are not fine or nuanced enough, reflecting the degree of skill of the translator.

Others may learn a bit about the education and background of a translator before spending time and effort with that particular translation. And others will require that study materials be directly translated from the original language text, rather than an English translation which for example, was first translated into German as so many East Asian texts have been. Christian materials not derived from the original Greek and Latin manuscripts have long contained discrepancies one translation to another. Those not competent in Sanskrit may find Buddhist and Hindu texts can be accessed only from translations.

As the Simple Mind is like so many others, linguistically limited, there are reliable ways to choose texts for study. Study up on the author, editor, translator and the publisher of such texts before choosing. Read the introduction and forward or translator's notes in any given volume first of all.

The well known text, Tao Te Ching, has been translated many times into many languages; the text itself is ancient, more than a thousand years and more than one author is responsible for the original. Consider two such translations here:

Tao Te Ching Chapter 2, translated by Stephen A. Mitchell:

People see some things as beautiful,

other things ugly.

People see some things as good;

other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.

Difficult and easy support each other.

Long and short define each other.

High and low depend on each other.

Before and after follow each other.

Therefore the Master 

acts without doing anything

teaches without saying anything.

Things arise. Let them come;

things disappear. Let them go.

Have but not possess;

act but not expect.

When work is done, forget it; 

that is why it lasts forever.

Another translation of Tao Te Ching Chapter 2 by the linguists Man-Ho Kwok,  Martin Palmer and Jay Ramsay:

Beauty and mercy are only recognized by people
Because they know the opposite, which is ugly and mean.

If the people think they know goodness
Then all they really know is what evil is like!


Nothing, and Heaven
                                     share the same root--
Difficulty and ease are a part of all work.


The long and short are in your hands,
Above and below exist because they each do,
What you want and what you say should be the same...
Neither furture nor past can exist alone.


The sage has no attachment to anything,
and he therefore does what is right without speaking
simply by being
                          in the Tao.
Life, all life
                      began without words.
Life is made -- and no one owns it.


The Tao is neither selfish nor proud.


The Tao is generous and graceful in what it does
Without ever claiming any merit


And the sage's greatness lies
in taking no credit.

Saint John of the Cross

The Simple Mind is away from the computer

Saint John of the Cross is as modern a mystic as any. Born in Castile, Spain in 1542, the product of a 'love match' between his prosperous father and his mother, a former serving woman. The families of the lovers were most displeased at this unlikely match. Yet theirs was a home which knew of a deep, enduring love; in this home the future saint was born.

The Way of Self-Denial,

by Saint John of the Cross

That you may have pleasure in everything

Seek your own pleasure in nothing.

That you may know everything

Seek to know nothing.

That you may possess all things

Seek to possess nothing.

That you may be everything

Seek to be nothing.

In detachment the spirit finds peace and rest because it covets nothing. Nothing wearies it by elation, nothing oppresses it by dejection. It stands in the center of its own humility.

Desire to be empty and poor for the Christ's sake. This state must be embraced with a full heart, and you must really desire it. If your heart is truly engaged, in these efforts, you shall speedily attain great joy and consolation.

Be continuously careful and earnest in imitating the Christ in everything, make your life conform to his.

From Daily Reading with St. John of the Cross, edited by Ruth Burrows and Sister Elizabeth Ruth, ODC, England

Fools For the Christ

The Simple Mind is away from the computer.

"Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you, and utter every kind of slander against you because of me." Bible, St. Matthew 5:11

When in the park land of the world, in the gardens or the towns, wherever, turn the other cheek, commands the Christ. It does seems a fool thing; however perhaps it is the most appropriate thing for a disciple to do when faced with unwarranted aggression and basic disrespect from others. Most often when there is the impulse to retaliate, the aggressor is responding to a past, perceived slight or insult. They may be emotionally hurt, or they may be quite imaginary in their thinking. In the first incident, recalls Anthony Gittins in his book, Come Follow Me, "these words of the Christ assumes that the recipient of the blow is an innocent party... the recipient of the blow being completely taken aback by the unprovoked aggression." Anyone so deeply committed as a disciple is likely to antagonize the less responsible, the less committed members of any given community.

As the former Saul, now Saint Paul knew, discipleship entails risk. The bible book, 1 Corinthians 4:10 records, 'we are fools on the Christ's account. Ah, but in Christ you are wise! We [the people of Corinth] are the weak ones, you are the strong! They honor you while they sneer at us.' Considering the aftermath or consequences of such exchanges is possibility. The possibility that courage may enter into the equation, that the way to justice may become clearer, that growth of discipleship may lead to faith, to peace.

The possibility that the world may be unified as one in the Lord, that nations may beat swords into plowshares is part and parcel of the radical directives of the Christ. In preaching and teaching, Jesus challenged the status quo of first century C.E. Palestine, a world where "honor was accrued or defended through fighting or contesting. If someone was looking for a fight, he is anticipating being the winner, either by causing his opponent to withdraw and thereby being shamed, or making a loser out of him, and shaming him. If the would-be opponent retaliates... the drama proceeds until winner and loser are determined. So, what if the opponent fails to either retaliate or withdraw?" Instead, he turns the other cheek, then dominance can only be realized by bullying, or by an unfair fight.

This does not however, honor an aggressor; rather it shames him. Without a fair fight, the would-be aggressor is forced into a potentially uncomfortable position; he may even be required to apologize to restore the community. Jesus rejected the entire 'honor system' of the ancient world in which he lived. He exposes a world built on honor and shame as false; he teaches for the good. He unmasks the  world built upon the poverty of an 'eye for an eye,' the moral rule widely in force during his time.

Jesus, the Subversive, the Radical

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Today, this holy day in Christianity, Holy Thursday, is the day that tradition tells of Lord, the Christ Jesus, started his walk on the long road leading to crucifixion. His crime, among others explains Anthony Gittens in his book, Come Follow Me, is that the Christ advocated 'turning the other cheek' in an ancient world where 'an eye for an eye' ruled supreme.The G-d of the Jews, of the Greeks and Romans was a just God meting out both reward and punishment in measure. Their God was merciful, but he was unlike the G-d advocated for by the Christ. The entrance of this God into the world astounded; it defied. Citizens felt compelled to act.

"Turn the other cheek," Saint Matthew writes (Matthew 5:39). "Jesus seems to be saying something like this: even if a person has so little respect for you and so much aggression toward you as to add injury to insult by viciously striking you in the face, not only should you not retaliate, you should respond by assuming a stance of vulnerability... On the face of it, this act is indeed foolish... Unquestionably, there is risk involved, since we can never precisely predict another's behavior... It is all rather difficult to understand.

"Jesus, writes Gittens, 'surely knows that discipleship entails risk. But it is also intended to renew families, relationship and communities... Jesus' demand goes far beyond every specific situation. It is general..." He calls the disciple to a higher standard so that others may see and believe. His method is counter-culture. For example, by not seeking retribution for wrong doing or legal recourse, members of the community are called instead to reconcilliation."   To the Christ the notion of the 'zero sum game' was without relevance. His Father in Heaven, whom he called upon, was without prejudice. There is no competition. Winners and losers are totally unacceptable to the Christ. God's grace is not a limited good.

And so writes Gittens, "the Jesus movement was in his time, and thereafter breaking up households. Parents frustrated with their offspring, totally unable to dissuade their children away from this new, radical life built on love, unable to shame them out of their new commitment, often struck them on the cheek." The bold, radical love of the Christ advised the proffering, then, of the other cheek. "And the world turned on its head."

Nature as Written

"More servants wait on man than he'll take notice of." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many over the eons have conceived of, and written of a conception of nature, herself. however in 1848 the american thinker, Ralph Waldo Emerson, engaged himself in the "Free Soilers" movement with other contemporaries such as the future president, Abraham Lincoln and emerged with a notion of Nature. He writes of it in his book, Nature, in 1936. Nature expressed Emerson's theories that the imagination of man is shaped by nature herself, most plainly and most clearly.

Quickly he emerged as a central figure in the nascent American transcendentalist movement.Emerson wrote of Nature that:

"To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches...The stars awaken a certain reverence, because though always present, they are inaccessible; but all natural objects make a kindred impression, when the mind is open to their influence. Nature never wears a mean appearance. Neither does the wisest man extort her secret, and lose his curiosity by finding out all her perfection. Nature never became a toy to a wise spirit. The flowers, the animals, the mountains, reflected the wisdom of his best hour, as much as they had delighted the simplicity of his childhood... The greatest delight which the fields and woods minister, is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me, and I to them. The waving of the boughs in the storm, is new to me and old. It takes me by surprise, and yet is not unknown. Its effect is like that of a higher thought or a better emotion coming over me, when I deemed I was thinking justly or doing right."

Sunyata

"All the world's religious traditions have potential to help us become better human beings." -- The 14th Dalai Lama, writing a forward in the book, The Mystic Heart by Wayne Teasdale.

People, notes the 14th Dalai Lama, "eat rice because it grows best where they live, not because it is either better or worse than bread." Likewise he notes, "the world's religions share the same essential purpose. We must maintain respect and harmony among them... Religion, for most of us depends on our family background-- where we were born and grew up. I think it is usually better not to change that." In the book, The Mystic Heart by author Wayne Teasdale, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama writes an introductory forward to the volume which follows.

Teasdale starts this work with the notion of moral duty. This may be tough one for some to swallow in a world where every man is his own individual, corporate entity. "Consider that domination, cruelty, greed, violence, and all our other ills arise from a sense of insufficient and insecure being. I need more... but it's never enough... All these others threaten us, intimidate us, make us anxious. We can't control them... Our actions [may] turn to openness, trust, inclusion, nurturance and communion... Raising our hidden knowledge of unity, rearranging our dynamism, is something we can practice."

The Mystic Heart takes up the idea of the inter-relatedness of not only religions, but also of persons. Teasdale writes at length, establishing common ground between the world faiths, those of thousand years standing and those emerging. He writes of the commonality of the monastic experience, and he writes about the Buddhist notion of sunyata. Sunyata is often translated from the Sanskrit to mean void or emptiness, but this is the clumsiness of words.
It is also described variously; here a phrase hits home, 'sunyata or how to untie what has never been tied.' This may be closer to its truer meaning and sense of emptying, unloading, freedom. Sunyata is a central tenet of Buddhist thought. Sunyata is a positive thought, to be empty, to be free to receive.

 Emptiness not only empties everything else, but also empties itself. There is the passage  in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, also called The Heart Sutra which states:

   Listen, Shariputra, Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, form does not differ from emptiness, emptiness does not differ from form. The same is true for feelings, mental formations and consciousness.  version from: The Heart of Understanding by Thich Nhat Hanh

Sunyata then, contains characteristics of wisdom and compassion. Wisdom in  recognizing the light of   suchness, everything in its own nature. All things are equally recognized by their suchness. The wisdom  of  sunyata is inseparable from the compassion aspect of sunyata. Sunyata is compassion-- light, realization, an awakening of the creative, essential nature of all -- and then nothing. Sunyata is comprised of all things, all judgments, all moral, and all ill in the ultimate world.

Emptying ourselves of  the false self or the unconscious identity of mere self-interest, is in the way to a larger identity of the divinity. A similar result happens within the process of  Sunyata. Awakening to the Buddha mind universal, develops compassion.  And yet Sunyata calls for a universal mind, free of all constraints so as to heed the great intelligence-mind of the Dharmakaya.

It is rain that falls so totally into the river. What then is the water, what then, the rain?

Found in Innocence

This article appeared here previously on July 2, 2009

"Innocence is a mystery greater than evil." James Hillman

Innocence in the soul suggests a state in which one exists unwounded by the every day challenges and trials of the world. Recovering innocence is to refrain from self cruelty or the equally prevalent cruelty inflicted upon others, to work and live in such a way as to gain in the strength needed to live a creative life. Spirit moves in innocence.

Innocence in adult life amounts to a renewal, a return to the essential elements necessary to the life of a Creator. It is more than unknowing; in this sense, innocence is not the least opposed to sophistication, or to its opposite, a childlike state of openness that finds itself needed in a maturity which is agile, and graceful continuity. If this is not in evidence, then the perceived maturity is not. Rather, it is simply a form of avoidance of without inherent value. Innocence is the vital element of all forms of play. Experience is key as the buddha taught. Children learn largely by experience.

Innocence is an often overlooked element of deep forgiveness as part of the restorative quality in the soul. Life's injuries are nearly unavoidable. However in deep forgiveness, over time, the wounds may be exchanged for the delights and joys of innocence discovered in shared experiences. Maturity need not mark or weigh us down with its cares or disappointments.

Another fertile area of life in which innocence makes its appearance is in love. In mythic terms, love and marriage are markedly different experiences for men and women. The god Eros gains in stature, in strength upon his marriage; yet in doing so writes Robert Johnson in his book She, "each woman in marriage must terminate her innocence and childlike naivety," a difficult, but essential experience for the mature feminine psyche. In the evolving process of maturity, a woman while not directly corresponding to her mate, influences and spurs his own development.

At different points in their parallel lives together, woman who most often bears the light in a man's life, finds that she has nothing to give to him--he simply just isn't looking, or able to look into the light she presents to him. While tangled with him, she may fear as a consequence, what she has then to lose. "There is something in the unconscious of a man that wishes to make an agreement" that she will not look too closely or too carefully at him; yet in maturity she does, and she must. Like the biblical garden of Eden, the pair in love find one another in innocence; their love experience is powerful. And it must be so to propel them into the experiences that comprise their shared lives. Yet as time unfolds, disappointment and disillusionment inevitably arise.

Ultimately it is only in forgiveness, in innocence, that the otherwise harsh judgements of one towards the other may be set aside for a return to the Beloved, to the innocence of the earlier garden of Eden, a paradise she may have feared lost.