tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74905420193671264632024-03-05T10:27:32.549-08:00ecumenicusecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.comBlogger162125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-58085547703803939902017-09-05T07:03:00.000-07:002017-09-05T07:30:33.169-07:00Labor Day 2017 - The Graced Labor of Presence<div class="MsoNormal">
1 Corinthians 3: 7-9,
16</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxAZXFygeEYiWvJPOjzrFppvoPor6JMaI1enZODpqswgSFsWyFtwqSpmxwt4SUG6_4Xd4tsZwYoqr6Z2mgTXZOlJGE3DOZle4QgeauElDL6m2-92Hv92tem68Y6XpFtLEurVMXkXx61U/s1600/field+of+souls+mary+ann+wakeley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="583" data-original-width="736" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxAZXFygeEYiWvJPOjzrFppvoPor6JMaI1enZODpqswgSFsWyFtwqSpmxwt4SUG6_4Xd4tsZwYoqr6Z2mgTXZOlJGE3DOZle4QgeauElDL6m2-92Hv92tem68Y6XpFtLEurVMXkXx61U/s320/field+of+souls+mary+ann+wakeley.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Field of Soul, Mary Ann Wakeley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b><sup>7 </sup></b>So neither the one who plants nor
the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. <b><sup>8 </sup></b>The
one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be
rewarded according to their own labor. <b><sup>9 </sup></b>For we are
co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><sup>16 </sup></b>Don’t you know that you yourselves
are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Today I labored, but it was not work. Today I labored, but
nothing tangible can be seen. Today I labored, but in love. I labored to be a
vessel of the Divine expression of love and peace in this world. It was not
work. It was graced. It felt like a well of gratitude into which the felt
presence of others invited the Spirit to flow from the depths of my “Yes” back out
to their hearts. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This morning I was honored to join a friends family, as
Chaplain, for the committal of their beloved father and husband. We shared the
Spirit of Ervin under the bright morning sun on a quiet hill, with Ervin’s
breath all around us, whispering assurance on the breeze and singing alleluias
with birdsong. This was not work. It was grace in action. It was all the receivers
open and receiving the blessing and magnitude of Life: chaos and order, sorrow
and joy, all present in the moment of Ervin.<br />
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Do you know that one meaning for the latin, “labore” is to
plow? This morning we showed up. We let the silence of nature and the penetrating
ritual of the flag folding remind us of all that was planted and watered
through Ervin’s being. And as we opened our hearts to God’s grace, the rain
filled our deep wells of gratitude and we shared Life and Love.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyoUCAtstnf0dIY31ICR09mRNBJTiCWlM_J9_pklSGGn5OXHKzCrVpWMRgrnjDlTBRn_ArrMnZkxtLxboI1Iu6Sul1_KV5OH_yIAL3OkOL3rXTjtN7S8JBIp5f0oE19vP6-5xcPkEU50/s1600/field+of+love+mary+ann+wakeley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="731" data-original-width="564" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyoUCAtstnf0dIY31ICR09mRNBJTiCWlM_J9_pklSGGn5OXHKzCrVpWMRgrnjDlTBRn_ArrMnZkxtLxboI1Iu6Sul1_KV5OH_yIAL3OkOL3rXTjtN7S8JBIp5f0oE19vP6-5xcPkEU50/s320/field+of+love+mary+ann+wakeley.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Field of Love, Mary Ann Wakeley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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This afternoon I lead meditation. It was quiet time to relax
and attune the mind to the body, to open us to peace and invite the Spirit to
sculpt us in ways yet to be realized. It’s not work. Its surrender. It’s more
receptive than active. It’s the waiting part of the planting and watering. It’s
the art of becoming present to the process of grace and gratitude; learning to access
to the underground spring from which blessing flows. It’s the way we invoke
grace, even if we use clinical language like, integrating the mind-body. Make
no mistake, meditation is the age-old method of offering up our labor, our
planting and watering, to communion with the Holy. The body and the blood, in
such posture of consent, remember they are the temple.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This day is Labor
Day. It’s set aside for us to celebrate the fruits of our faithfulness to
something. Some are faithful to projects and processes, others to leading, still
others to loved ones. Most of us put our faith in many things. But none that are not wondrously overshadowed by our faithfulness to this day: the rising sun, the turning
earth, blowing winds and flowing tides. Before we even put a foot on the floor,
we labor without work. We plow the field of Divine communion within, by
acknowledging the wonder of Life. In this way, we can consciously invoke the
grace that grows all our daily expressions into plowshares of gratitude,
openness to the needs of others, and generous care. These behind the scenes
labors of love, “the eucharists of the ordinary” create each sacred day.<br />
<br />
No one says this better than Irish poet, John O’Donohue: The Inner History of a
Day<o:p></o:p></div>
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No one knew
the name of this day;<o:p></o:p></div>
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Born quietly
from deepest night,<o:p></o:p></div>
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It hid its
face in light,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Demanded
nothing for itself,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Opened out
to offer each of us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
A field of
brightness that traveled ahead,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Providing in
time, ground to hold our footsteps<o:p></o:p></div>
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And the
light of thought to show the way.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJuYzwv-Pa-QRfqdCySbdCH4l8GAJdttbgilXzflvkZOYS7xf68SZFfOvB46_U_a-ll79b8B1FG4egWPD6qpXDdennJRIsvsUfni1WpfuTm5qNVS35epdEwf-rKo_rYCBRZs-1ZdGt74/s1600/communion+of+a+day+mary+ann+wakeley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJuYzwv-Pa-QRfqdCySbdCH4l8GAJdttbgilXzflvkZOYS7xf68SZFfOvB46_U_a-ll79b8B1FG4egWPD6qpXDdennJRIsvsUfni1WpfuTm5qNVS35epdEwf-rKo_rYCBRZs-1ZdGt74/s320/communion+of+a+day+mary+ann+wakeley.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mary Ann Wakeley</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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The mind of
the day draws no attention;<o:p></o:p></div>
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It dwells
within the silence with elegance<o:p></o:p></div>
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To create a
space for all our words,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Drawing us
to listen inward and outward.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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We seldom
notice how each day is a holy place</div>
Where the
eucharist of the ordinary happens,<o:p></o:p><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Transforming
our broken fragments<o:p></o:p></div>
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Into an
eternal continuity that keeps us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Somewhere in
us a dignity presides<o:p></o:p></div>
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That is more
gracious than the smallness<o:p></o:p></div>
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That fuels
us with fear and force,<o:p></o:p></div>
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A dignity
that trusts the form a day takes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So at the
end of this day, we give thanks<o:p></o:p></div>
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For being
betrothed to the unknown<o:p></o:p></div>
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And for the
secret work<o:p></o:p></div>
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Through
which the mind of the day<o:p></o:p></div>
And wisdom
of the soul become one.<br />
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<br />
As you labor through this sacred life, may you remember to plow the field of your soul, early and often. And water frequently with self-care, that workless labor of love that invokes the Divine mystery of who you are, and wonderously grows you into a loving being of peace and compassion, whose fragrance drifts over the day inviting all souls to communion.<br />
<br />
Peace, Peggy<br />
<a href="http://www.%20facebook.com/ecumenicus">Ecumenicus Facebook</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">Website</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-55777648472633111482017-05-26T07:15:00.000-07:002019-03-21T15:05:28.834-07:00But We Have the Mind of Christ<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFz9XYI3pjxEU3eUmuL6xU6HacjVnl5MFhG1UAEwVSwr_t5to7WgEMT8bh2TjgVUXCOfQu0BW8NEk2z5o73X0-_jPc_vZGbgJXRUsWpor4iMl_6gEdUpcPSdRMFo3wynTGAdkhA3bkIA/s1600/christmind_JenniferBaird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="600" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFz9XYI3pjxEU3eUmuL6xU6HacjVnl5MFhG1UAEwVSwr_t5to7WgEMT8bh2TjgVUXCOfQu0BW8NEk2z5o73X0-_jPc_vZGbgJXRUsWpor4iMl_6gEdUpcPSdRMFo3wynTGAdkhA3bkIA/s320/christmind_JenniferBaird.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Artwork by Jennifer Baird</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The Christ we seek is within us,<o:p></o:p></div>
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In our inmost self,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Is our inmost self,<o:p></o:p></div>
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And yet infinitely transcends ourselves.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Christ himself is in us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
as unknown and unseen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
We follow Him,<o:p></o:p></div>
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We find Him,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And then He must vanish,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
And we must go along without Him at our side.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Why?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Because He is<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
even closer than that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
He is ourself.<br />
<br />
~ Fr Thomas Merton, Trappist Monk<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In the Christian tradition,
illumination (also called enlightenment or awareness) is named, “being made in the Image of Christ.” The Apostle Paul called this having the Mind of Christ.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span lang="EN"> The title Christ is derived from the
Greek term Khristós meaning "the anointed one." The symbolism of anointing
in this sense is recognition of something spiritual, sacred and Godly. <i>Khristós</i> is also related to <i>Keres</i>, associated with anointing to purify
or heal the body or rid the self of negative influence. Thus, as is the case in
Paul’s writings, anointing can be understood as a state of mind (and body) in
which both negative influences are dispelled and sacred Godliness is assumed;
or in the context of re-ligare or reconnecting (the origin of the word, "religion"), to perceive with an
illuminated or enlightened awareness. The notion of awakened mind or anointed
perception was understood across sacred traditions preceding the first century.
Thus, the Christ-mind may be called </span>Buddha-nature (“buddha” literally
means, “awakened one”) or bodhi in Yogic Sanskrit. Enlightenment
is the threshold of nondual awareness, a singular or ongoing perception of
unified thought, in which subject and object are not opposites, but one and the
same. Enlightened, nondual awareness reconciles opposites and is a benefit of
contemplation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
This enlightened/aware/Christ mind
is one that thinks conceptually, intuits and feels with appropriate balance
between the three. Richard of St Victor
(12<sup>th</sup> century mystic) wrote that humanity was given three
sets of eyes: the eye of the flesh (for seeing without), the eye of reason (for
thinking and judging) and the eye of true understanding (for creating wisdom by
using seeing, thinking and intuiting simultaneously).<a href="file:///C:/Users/pebea/Documents/Documents/C/CBTS/Research%20I/Capstone/CAPSTONE%20WRITEUP%20FINAL_.5.1.14.doc#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The
third eye as enlightened consciousness is an ancient concept predating
Christianity.<a href="file:///C:/Users/pebea/Documents/Documents/C/CBTS/Research%20I/Capstone/CAPSTONE%20WRITEUP%20FINAL_.5.1.14.doc#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> The New
Testament authors use this language all the time, Let he who has eyes see. Let
she who has ears hear. (Matthew 13:9-16; Mark 8:18, Revelation 7, 11, 17, 29, for
example) Everyone has all three eyes, but we don’t all use them to their
capacity. Contemplative practice (meditation) can cultivate the use of these in balance. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
for, "Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct
him?" But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:16<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
May you quiet your thinking long enough to realize the amazing openness
and expansiveness that lives within you; so that you may “see” with your third
eye and that you may express yourself as an authentic “Imitation of Christ.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Peggy<br />
<a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">www.new.ecumenicus.org</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus">www.facebook.com/ecumenicus</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div>
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<!--[endif]-->
<br />
<div id="ftn1">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/pebea/Documents/Documents/C/CBTS/Research%20I/Capstone/CAPSTONE%20WRITEUP%20FINAL_.5.1.14.doc#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> David
Berreby, <i>Us and Them: The Science of
Identity</i> (<st1:city w:st="on">Chicago</st1:city>: <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Chicago</st1:placename></st1:place>
Press, 2005). <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
<div class="MsoFootnoteText">
<a href="file:///C:/Users/pebea/Documents/Documents/C/CBTS/Research%20I/Capstone/CAPSTONE%20WRITEUP%20FINAL_.5.1.14.doc#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.0pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <span lang="EN">Richard Cavendish, <i>Man, Myth and
Magic – Volume 19</i>. (New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish, 1994), 2606.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-89859658719230642272017-02-17T09:29:00.001-08:002017-02-17T09:29:28.216-08:00This Rose Called Love<div class="MsoNormal">
123.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQNDmfleKFjKqVjcCokcTPXPwVXmeabdreDwWM-lqNbNfDv2PJrcB-ZiIB3vpvT9r8tD373pWoiTQBr0PINAkFljW7RECYEPH3MOyIjV0ZEM_QUspp93oI_VHNYWyicH3iYpk5WnZ6Hk/s1600/pink-rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhQNDmfleKFjKqVjcCokcTPXPwVXmeabdreDwWM-lqNbNfDv2PJrcB-ZiIB3vpvT9r8tD373pWoiTQBr0PINAkFljW7RECYEPH3MOyIjV0ZEM_QUspp93oI_VHNYWyicH3iYpk5WnZ6Hk/s320/pink-rose.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A droplet of the dew on the face of this rose<o:p></o:p></div>
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called Love<o:p></o:p></div>
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fell on that dust which was, in the beginning,<o:p></o:p></div>
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to bring forth this clay doll we call our body.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Love-tempered blade of existence tore<o:p></o:p></div>
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into the spirit,<o:p></o:p></div>
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bleeding a drop of light, which we call our heart,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Suns blazed,<o:p></o:p></div>
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worlds sang,<o:p></o:p></div>
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the grandest feat of creation was achieved.<o:p></o:p></div>
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~Nobody, Son of Nobody, Poems of Shaikh Abu-Saeed Abil-Kheir<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUbkClI_jWZsY4oYw1Sv-WWjhKl1yUEast7ruTxOrhjgoepQtkjptYM7bgKHbjDlzLFgVfFyVog2dDY0MiYw4nntrA8Q0rZ2C7jQUUZQyyznuQwE1SFddkZgqruklFUWqOT2au9vs7H4/s1600/face.gaye+abbott.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUbkClI_jWZsY4oYw1Sv-WWjhKl1yUEast7ruTxOrhjgoepQtkjptYM7bgKHbjDlzLFgVfFyVog2dDY0MiYw4nntrA8Q0rZ2C7jQUUZQyyznuQwE1SFddkZgqruklFUWqOT2au9vs7H4/s320/face.gaye+abbott.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gaye Abbott</td></tr>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-38864773390634039832016-12-28T06:33:00.000-08:002016-12-28T06:46:27.046-08:00Listening.... Brings the Balance (Obedience and Justice)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeB5O3cSo3J-advb_tedbU0t0wtsGcx9OHQ4WMlzMoZ3EFPNDrnLaOHKxEywOjDmHeTDRZzdSxDgnHxQVvRX3YI2yNgCFLGNKA1bOADWVqvIDR4lIquUZ2JgEm2T5K52uuDjXxoM5fZXM/s1600/listening+girl+with+bird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeB5O3cSo3J-advb_tedbU0t0wtsGcx9OHQ4WMlzMoZ3EFPNDrnLaOHKxEywOjDmHeTDRZzdSxDgnHxQVvRX3YI2yNgCFLGNKA1bOADWVqvIDR4lIquUZ2JgEm2T5K52uuDjXxoM5fZXM/s320/listening+girl+with+bird.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In his wonderful book, The Music of Silence, Br David Steindl-Rast explains the word and its action, "obedience." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">"Obedience is 'intensive listening' (to the word of God which comes to us
every moment - our inner voice- if you will), the opposite is absurdity, which
means being deaf to life's challenges and meaning." -also inside of us... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Steindl-Rast suggests that the next time we say "This is absurd," we
ask ourselves, "To what am I deaf here?"<br />
<br />The etymology of the word, obedience is this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />
from Latin oboedientia (nominative oboediens), present participle of Latin
oboedire 'to listen.' late 13c., from O.Fr. obeir, from L. oboedire "obey,
pay attention to, give ear," lit. "listen to," from ob
"to" + audire "listen, hear."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps we can interpret all words, which are actually symbols, in an active or passive sense. For it seems to me that our commonly held notion of obedience is that of actively following a rule and rules are created, as law, to provide justice. And justice is about order in equity, balance, which is why the image of justice holds a balanced scales. So in a more passive sense, justice is more about finding the balance than it is, right and wrong. It is about right and right. It is about reconciliation, which is to return to the balance. Of course, this can take action...Law and Order! ;-)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjcMYfl9verbwFK7Uj_nQInPm61OVnySFY3bhD0qT97m6xPXZIL2NmFIwY1kZdm3MwTjxAOl9ml8fhW8cNp_oWJ0nNBF0xF0XEphoS8-_Gvbsmu6NGL-jTlbpYBS5QRKubmOHY6GmBZE/s1600/justice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjcMYfl9verbwFK7Uj_nQInPm61OVnySFY3bhD0qT97m6xPXZIL2NmFIwY1kZdm3MwTjxAOl9ml8fhW8cNp_oWJ0nNBF0xF0XEphoS8-_Gvbsmu6NGL-jTlbpYBS5QRKubmOHY6GmBZE/s1600/justice.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">So with obedience, if we are listening to God's voice, we will bring the balance of justice, inner first, and then outer action. How? Because we are made in the Image of the God of Life. Within each of us is the enlightened Mind of Christ, the Logos, what the Stoics called the ordering principle of the universe, and what scientists call [the Holiness of] Natural Order. And this Sacred and wonderful Natural Order always seeks the balance, always finds the balance, is always listening.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">May you find within yourself the deep stillness from which obedience expresses justice. May that inner quietude allow the voice of God, the Logos to keep your heart and mind aligned with the universal balance of the Natural Order, its justice and its peace. In the end, Peace through Natural Order prevails. Be the peace. Bring the Peace.<br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Love and Peace,<br />_/\_Peggy @ <a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">Ecumenicus</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus">Ecumenicus Facebook</a><br />
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<!--[endif]--></span>ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-5715254395823998362016-11-28T05:39:00.000-08:002016-11-30T06:04:31.404-08:00Happiness and Meaning<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ybeBh0FsEJXfXUNjNM0R1KTJTZqz6bzFmMo0v-AwIWq8zueFIxK6Sc9fwS4356FSmlsmL5y1-liKxjlabHKK3si6zXHqnA0H4WS2cj3jq-fJSGi9AtUuMr5684THLRloiJ2DPkD5uCM/s1600/Buddha+smiling+by+Claudia+Tremblay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_ybeBh0FsEJXfXUNjNM0R1KTJTZqz6bzFmMo0v-AwIWq8zueFIxK6Sc9fwS4356FSmlsmL5y1-liKxjlabHKK3si6zXHqnA0H4WS2cj3jq-fJSGi9AtUuMr5684THLRloiJ2DPkD5uCM/s320/Buddha+smiling+by+Claudia+Tremblay.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Claudia Tremblay</td></tr>
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“Happiness is “human
flourishing,” which is a translation of the Greek word <i>eudaimonia</i>.
The usual translation is “genuine happiness,” but “flourishing” is more
accurate. Like the Buddhist notion of <i>sukkha</i>, and <i>ananda</i>—bliss,
joy in the Hindu tradition—flourishing is a sense of happiness that’s beyond
the momentary vicissitudes of our emotional state. </div>
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And what brings this about? A meaningful life.”</div>
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~Alan Watts in <a href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/what-true-happiness/?utm_source=Tricycle&utm_campaign=0b3183d52d-Daily_Dharma_11_26_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1641abe55e-0b3183d52d-307315921">Tricycle</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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How do we find meaning? It is
not found through strict sensing, logic, or rational intelligence. Meaning is
imparted through whole body experience. Whole body experience incorporates
intuition, and often empathic, awareness into what is sensed and rationalized, leading to a greater "presence" of being.
It is common for those with intuitive or mystical bias to do this automatically
and frequently. One of the hallmarks of an intuitively biased person is that
they often subliminally query their circumstances with, “What does that mean?”
The first bullet under “Intuitive perception” on the Myers-Briggs web page is this: </div>
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I remember events by what I read "between the lines" about their
meaning. </div>
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This becomes significant when we ask how to cultivate happiness through finding meaning. The answer is to be more present with our circumstances and to be more aware of how we relate to them experientially with our whole being. We accomplish this through meditation and other contemplative practices. Meditative and reflective practices deepen our intuitive
and empathic capabilities. With a deeper appreciation of our circumstances, we
also find ourselves more content. And to be content with self and circumstances
is to flourish.<br />
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"...See how the flowers of the
field grow. They do not labor or spin. Matthew 6:25-34<o:p></o:p></div>
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Joy is to behold the Divine in everything. ~Julian of Norwich, 14th century Christian Mystic<br />
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_/\_Peggy<br />
<a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">Ecumenicus Web</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-53961685059830607772016-11-24T08:48:00.001-08:002016-11-25T11:13:12.509-08:00Eucharist, Giving Thanks for the Good Gift<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxopkCyoVtVebHDpaWRkJeeTj86IohXpQwB-ZVXIWV1pz02aPeAwFO5xTpq9EtM5Al6HJnbhaPFd-SmNamrVQV5rDHydZ3Ig-pmSBSTQ7zxfgyt6Tl0WBqgRi87TonCEymgR8ca5bht0A/s1600/Eucharist.AlexanderCoosemans.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxopkCyoVtVebHDpaWRkJeeTj86IohXpQwB-ZVXIWV1pz02aPeAwFO5xTpq9EtM5Al6HJnbhaPFd-SmNamrVQV5rDHydZ3Ig-pmSBSTQ7zxfgyt6Tl0WBqgRi87TonCEymgR8ca5bht0A/s320/Eucharist.AlexanderCoosemans.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alexander Coosemans</td></tr>
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The word, <i>eucharist</i> is derived from the Greek eu-meaning
“well” or “good” and charisomai, meaning “to grant or give.” Eucharist
literally means, “good gift.” In the Christian tradition, the eucharist celebrates
our intimacy with Jesus, as we symbolically assume his person, his character in
body and in blood. The potential to be Jesus-like or Christ-like is God’s good
gift to the world.<br />
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The ceremony of
eucharist or thanksgiving long preceded Christianity. The Hebrew verb “<i>barak</i>” is used to express thanksgiving
to God for being held in God’s provision and grace. When the ancient Israelite warriors
and providers returned from long absences from home, a community dinner,
complete with sacrificial lamb, was prepared to celebrate their safe return. <i>Barak</i> was offered as a blessing before the
meal. This became the tradition of the Jewish Passover meal; the meal that
commemorated freedom from hardship and safe keeping in community. This was the meal that Jesus shared with his disciples the night that he was arrested, at which he offered <i>barak/thanksgiving</i>
and radically, assumed the role of the sacrifice – the good gift.</div>
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Gratitude is the ascending reflection of descending grace."~
Beverly Novak<br />
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Assuming a thankful state of mind and heart creates within us, a space, like a cornucopia
or a chalice, to be filled with the goodness of Life, the grace of God. Often, to create ourselves as a receptacle of grace requires the "sacrifice" of our personal time, money, need and/or certainty of thought. Gratitude is a receptive posture, a mindful way of opening to our place in a
larger story and feeling blessed just to be alive where we are. One comes into full
Presence in gratefulness, with all the best of who she is eclipsing defenses,
resentments and fears that can keep her from being her true, loving self.<br />
<br />
May you be ever open to the glory of your most expansive being. May the
cornucopia of your heart stand ready to be filled with the good graces of the
universe, the fruits of the spirit. May worries and old defenses give way to
love and forgiveness as you offer <i>barak</i>, “a blessing” for the <i>eucharist</i>, the “good
gift,” of this perfect day.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Thanksgiving Blessings!</div>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">Ecumenicus</a></div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-43108717231833446822016-11-08T05:39:00.002-08:002016-11-08T05:39:46.391-08:00Hagia Sophia by Thomas MertonThe Expression of the Divine Feminine.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PizC3NPWZ18wqD7nfg2mCSuSHPGRU4bREpkUOq1Dj5T5UkKTMgOG28O1-Ep1vSR2DVJi7SkwfrfXz34XfnT_a2N3ED_vGlPN38G8RULaouMloCh2ITXwTvOtswfwEJFDzAPSCYplQd4/s1600/Hagia+Sophia+%2528Holy+Wisdom%2529+of+God.Mary.johnthebaptist+and+angels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-PizC3NPWZ18wqD7nfg2mCSuSHPGRU4bREpkUOq1Dj5T5UkKTMgOG28O1-Ep1vSR2DVJi7SkwfrfXz34XfnT_a2N3ED_vGlPN38G8RULaouMloCh2ITXwTvOtswfwEJFDzAPSCYplQd4/s320/Hagia+Sophia+%2528Holy+Wisdom%2529+of+God.Mary.johnthebaptist+and+angels.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>I. Dawn. The Hour of Lauds.</b></span></em><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There is in all visible things an invisible fecundity, a dimmed light, a meek namelessness, a hidden whole-ness. This mysterious Unity and Integrity is Wisdom,the Mother of all,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Natura naturans</em>. There is in all things an inexhaustible sweetness and purity, a silence that is a fount of action and joy. It rises up in word-less gentleness and flows out to me from the unseen roots of all created being, welcoming me tenderly, saluting me with indescribable humility. This is at once my own being, my own nature, and the Gift of my Creator's Thought and Art within me, speaking as Hagia Sophia, speaking as my sister, Wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I am awakened, I am born again at the voice of this,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />my Sister, sent to me from the depths of the divine<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />fecundity.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Let us suppose I am a man lying asleep in a hospital.<br />I am indeed this man lying asleep. It is July the second,<br />the Feast of Our Lady's Visitation. A Feast of Wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">At five-thirty in the morning I am dreaming in a very<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />quiet room when a soft voice awakens me from my<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />dream. I am like all mankind awakening from all the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />dreams that ever were dreamed in all the nights of the<br />world. It is like the One Christ awakening in all the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />separate selves that ever were separate and isolated<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />and alone in all the lands of the earth. It is like all minds<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />coming back together into awareness from all distractions,<br />cross-purposes and confusions, into unity of love. It is like<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the first morning of the world (when Adam, at the sweet voice<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />of Wisdom awoke from nonentity and knew her), and like the Last<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Morning of the world when all the fragments of Adam will return from<br />death at the voice of Hagia Sophia, and will know where they stand.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Such is the awakening of one man, one morning, at<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the voice of a nurse in the hospital. Awakening out<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />of languor and darkness, out of helplessness, out of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />sleep, newly confronting reality and finding it to be<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />gentleness.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It is like being awakened by Eve. It is like being<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />awakened by the Blessed Virgin. It is like coming<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />forth from primordial nothingness and standing in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />clarity, in <st1:place w:st="on">Paradise</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In the cool hand of the nurse there is the touch of all<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />life, the touch of Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Thus Wisdom cries out to all who will hear (<em>Sapientia</em><i><br /><em>clamitat in plateis</em></i>) and she cries out particularly<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />to the little, to the ignorant and the helpless.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Who is more little, who is more poor than the helpless<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />man who lies asleep in his bed without awareness and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />without defense? Who is more trusting than<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />he who must entrust himself each night to sleep?<br />What is the reward of his trust? Gentleness comes to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />him when he is most helpless and awakens him,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />refreshed, beginning to be made whole. Love takes him<br />by the hand, and opens to him the doors of another<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />life, another day.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(But he who has defended himself, fought for himself<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />in sickness, planned for himself, guarded himself, loved<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />himself alone and watched over his own life all night, is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />killed at last by exhaustion. For him there is no newness.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Everything is stale and old.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">When the helpless one awakens strong as the voice of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />mercy, it is as if Life his Sister, as if the Blessed Virgin,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />(his own flesh, his own sister), as if Nature made wise<br />by God's Art and Incarnation were to stand over him and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />invite him with unutterable sweetness to be awake and to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />live. This is what it means to recognize Hagia Sophia.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>II. Early Morning. The Hour of Prime.</b></span></em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">O blessed, silent one, who speaks everywhere!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We do not hear the soft voice, the gentle voice, the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />merciful and feminine.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We do not hear mercy, or yielding love, or non-resistance,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />or non-reprisal. In her there are no reasons and no answers.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Yet she is the candor of God's light, the expression of His<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />simplicity.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We do not hear the uncomplaining pardon that bows<br />down the innocent visages of flowers to the dewy<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />earth. We do not see the Child who is prisoner in all<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the people, and who says nothing. She smiles, for<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />though they have bound her, she cannot be a prisoner.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Not that she is strong, or clever, but simply that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />she does not understand imprisonment.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The helpless one, abandoned to sweet sleep, him the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />gentle one will awake: Sophia.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">All that is sweet in her tenderness will speak to him<br />on all sides in everything, without ceasing, and he<br />will never be the same again. He will have awakened<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />not to conquest and dark pleasure but to the impeccable<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />pure simplicity of One consciousness in all and through all:<br />one Wisdom, one Child, one Meaning, one Sister.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The stars rejoice in their setting, and in the rising of<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the Sun. The heavenly lights rejoice in the going<br />forth of one man to make a new world in the morning,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />because he has come out of the confused primordial dark<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />night into consciousness. He has expressed the clear silence<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />of Sophia in his own heart. He has become eternal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b>III. High Morning. The Hour of Tierce.</b></span></em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The Sun burns in the sky like the Face of God, but<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />we do not know his countenance as terrible. His light<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />is diffused in the air and the light of God is diffused<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />by Hagia Sophia.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">We do not see the Blinding One in black emptiness.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />He speaks to us gently in ten thousand things, in<br />which His light is one fullness and one Wisdom.<br />Thus He shines not on them but from within them.<br />Such is the loving-kindness of Wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">All the perfections of created things are also in God;<br />and therefore He is at once Father and Mother. As<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Father He stands in solitary might surrounded by<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />darkness. As Mother His shining is diffused, embracing<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />all His creatures with merciful tenderness and light.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />The Diffuse Shining of God is Hagia Sophia.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />We call her His "glory." In Sophia His power is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />experienced only as mercy and as love.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">(When the recluses of fourteenth-century <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">England</st1:place></st1:country-region><br />heard their Church Bells and looked out upon the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />wolds and fens under a kind sky, they spoke in their<br />hearts to "Jesus our Mother." It was Sophia that had<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />awakened in their childlike hearts.)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Perhaps in a certain very primitive aspect Sophia is<br />the unknown, the dark, the nameless Ousia. Perhaps<br />she is even the Divine Nature, One in Father, Son, and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Holy Ghost. And perhaps she is in infinite light unmanifest,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />not even waiting to be known as Light. This I do not know.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Out of the silence Light is spoken. We do not hear it or see<br />it until it is spoken.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In the Nameless Beginning, without Beginning, was<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the Light. We have not seen this Beginning. I do not know<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />where she is, in this Beginning. I do not speak of her as a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Beginning, but as a manifestation.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now the Wisdom of God, Sophia, comes forth, reaching<br />from "end to end mightily." She wills to be also<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the unseen pivot of all nature, the center and significance<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />of all the light that is in all and for all. That which is poorest<br />and humblest, that which is most hidden in all things is<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />nevertheless most obvious in them, and quite manifest, for it<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />is their own self that stands before us, naked and without care.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sophia, the feminine child, is playing in the world,<br />obvious and unseen, playing at all times before the Creator.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Her delights are to be with the children of men. She is their sister.<br />The core of life that exists in all things is tenderness, mercy, virginity<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />the Light, the Life considered as passive, as received, as given, as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />taken, as inexhaustibly renewed by the Gift of God. Sophia is<br />Gift, is Spirit,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Donum Dei</em>. She is God-given and God<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Himself as Gift. God as all, and God reduced to Nothing:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />inexhaustible nothingness.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Exinanivit semetipsum</em>. Humility as<br />the source of unfailing light.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Hagia Sophia in all things is the Divine Light reflected in them,<br />considered as a spontaneous participation, as their invitation<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />to the Wedding Feast.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sophia is God's sharing of Himself with creatures. His outporing,<br />and the Love by which He is given, and known, held and loved.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">She is in all things like the air receiving the sunlight. In her<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />they prosper. In her they glorigy God. In her they rejoice to reflect<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Him. In her they are united with him. She is the union between them.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />She is the Love that unites them. She is life as communion, life as<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />thanksgiving, life as praise, life as festival, life as glory.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Because she receives perfectly there is in her no stain.<br />She is love without blemish, and gratitude without<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />self-complacency. All things praise her by being themselves<br />and by sharing in the Wedding Feast. She is the Bride and the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Feast and the Wedding.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The feminine principle in the world is the inexhaustible source<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />of creative realizations of the Father's glory. She is His<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />manifestation in radiant splendor! But she remains unseen,<br />glimpsed only by a few. Sometimes there are none who<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />know her at all.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Sophia is the mercy of God in us. She is the tenderness<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />with which the infinitely mysterious power of pardon<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />turns the darkness of our sins into the light of grace.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />She is the inexhaustible fountain of kindness, and would<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />almost seem to be, in herself, all mercy. So she does in us<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />a greater work than that of Creation: the work of new being<br />in grace, the work of pardon, the work of transformation from<br />brightness to brightness<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>tamquam a Domini Spiritu</em>. She<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />is in us the yielding and tender counterpart of the power, justice<br />and creative dynamism of the Father.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">IV. Sunset. The Hour of</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></i></span></b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><b><i>Compline.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Salve <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Regina</st1:place></st1:city>.</i></b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><em><br /></em></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now the Blessed Virgin Mary is the one created being<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />who enacts and shows forth in her life all that is hidden in Sophia.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Because of this she can be said to be a personal manifestation<br />of Sophia, Who in God is Ousia rather than Person.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></em><em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Natura</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">in Mary becomes pure Mother. In her,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Natura</em><br />is as she was from the origin from her divine birth. In Mary<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Natura</em><br />is all wise and is manifested as an all-prudent, all-loving, all-pure person:<br />not a Creator, and not a Redeemer, but perfect Creature, perfectly<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />Redeemed, the fruit of all God's great power, the perfect expression<br />of wisdom in mercy.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It is she, it is Mary, Sophia, who in sadness and joy, with the full awareness<br />of what she is doing, sets upon the Second Person, the Logos, a crown<br />which is His Human Nature. Thus her consent opens the door of created<br />nature, of time, of history, to the Word of God.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">God enters into His creation. Through her wise answer, through her obedient<br />understanding, through the sweet yielding consent of Sophia, God enters<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />without publicity into the city of rapacious men.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">She crowns Him not with what is glorious, but with<br />what is greater than glory: the one thing greater than<br />glory is weakness, nothingness, poverty.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">She sends the infinitely Rich and Powerful One forth<br />as poor and helpless, in His mission of inexpressible<br />mercy, to die for us on the Cross.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The shadows fall. The stars appear. The birds begin to sleep.<br />Night embraces the silent half of the earth. A vagrant, a destitute<br />wanderer with dusty feet, finds his way down a new road. A<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />homeless God, lost in the night, without papers, without<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />identifications, without even a number, a frail expendable exile<br />lies down in desolation under the sweet stars of the world and<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><br />entrusts Himself to sleep.<br /><br />Amen! and Amen! _/\_Peggy <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-9662991008638272682016-09-18T09:27:00.000-07:002016-09-18T09:47:41.319-07:00Myers Briggs Types and Religious Preferences<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My passion is personality and spirituality. I did a short research project once to determine if there was a correlation between Mystical Spirituality and Myers Briggs intuitor types. There is. All mystics are either NF or NT types, which explains why, when you peruse the psychology of religion literature on key word, "mysticism" you quickly run into "mystical intuition." Intuition brings the inner perspective. Its a sort of built in memory for patterns and large picture explanations. And if you add Feeling to that, the individual's experience of reality is further enhanced by the body's emotional memory.<br />
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For a mystic, everything is sacred, God, Allah, Brahman are without and within all that can be perceived and beyond that. All reality is holy creation. Everything that can be objectified by outer sensing and thinking is only a fraction of its true reality. This is because the spiritual or essential or energetic is as real to the mystic as the material/conceptual; maybe even more real, because it precedes everything of concept. Even physicists agree that all matter is energy, all form is formless.<br />
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Everything we read in ancient scriptures was thought of and written by a human mind, translated by another human mind and is read by all kinds of human minds, each with their unique styles of perceiving and judging. And this makes all the difference as to how those texts can be interpreted. The final interpreter is you, through the lens of your own perception and decision-making mechanisms; psychological preferences you inherited and cultivated through your cultural and social experiences in this life and in the lives of your ancestors.<br />
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Myers Briggs Personality Typing simplifies our psychological biases down to 16 types, which can be further simplified to 4 essential perceiving-judging styles. The perceiving styles (or functions) are sensing and intuiting, the judging styles are thinking and feeling. Sensing and thinking deal with objectifiable concepts like matter and analysis. Intuiting and feeling deal with memory (insight) and emotion. Sensor-biased folk prefer outward perception and are often detail oriented; they are good at reductionist perceiving. People with an intuitor-bias are inwardly sensitive and see "beyond" details to patterns and large picture ideas. People with thinking - bias make decisions (judge) by concept and analysis. People with feeler bias prioritize decisions based on relationship. Remember that this is broad stroke categorizing and that we ALL use all these functions on occasion. Myers Briggs types simply tell us which we prefer to use.<br />
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For this post, I want to share a humorous article I found by Stephen De Grasse on Personality Cafe. Its not meant to be serious, yet it does contain some elements of truth. It's certainly accurate for me! Enjoy!<br />
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<b>Religion and Type - An MBTI Perspective</b><br />
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<i>by Stephen DeGrace</i><br />
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<b>Introduction</b><br />
<br />
In the decades since its inception, <a href="http://personalitypage.com/" target="_blank">Myers Briggs personality typing</a> has revolutionised
many areas of our lives due to its ability to comprehensively explain
human behaviour and interaction. Today, the <a href="http://keirsey.com/" target="_blank">Myers Briggs-savvy</a> amongst us are using the <a href="http://capt.org/" target="_blank">MBTI</a> to pick the perfect career for
them, and the perfect mate. The <a href="http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm" target="_blank">applications
of Myers Briggs typing</a> are truly far-reaching and transformative.<br />
<br />
This has naturally been a smashing success. You might think that with all this
progress we have tapped out the MBTI for new applications. You would be wrong.
Not only can the MBTI pick the perfect job and the perfect mate for you,
scientifically performing vital tasks that used to be a matter of brute trial
and error, it can offer critical guidance in other areas of your life as well.
One such area which has not been sufficiently explored until now is the matter
of choosing the right religion for you. In the past, people used to
select their faith based on unscientific criteria such as their parents'
religion, or if you're an NF which cult all your hippie friends thought was
"groovy" that week. This has obvious drawbacks.<br />
<br />
Not all religions are suitable for all people. In fact, just as with careers,
particular types are best suited to particular religions. And particular
religions are best suited to certain types. The result of the present state of
affairs is that millions languish in religions that don't suit them, like
square pegs in round holes. Similarly, churches are filled with dozens of
people who don't fit in and just make trouble.<br />
<br />
As a Myers Briggs type expert I am here to fill in this important void and
publish a guide that will revolutionise society and contribute to
human happiness by helping people avoid wasting years of their lives in
religions that aren't right for them. The final draft is not ready yet, but as
a service to society I am publishing a quick summary.<br />
<br />
<b>Religions by Type</b><br />
<br />
<b>Artisans (SP)</b><br />
<br />
Artisans all have ADHD, and so should select religions which are dramatic,
colourful and fun. Something a bit kooky and extreme would be a bonus. Es
should select something that they can throw their energy and flair into without
having to engage in any discipline and study. Charismatic Protestantism is an
excellent example. I's can select something more involved.<br />
<br />
ISTP: Select something hardcore, preferably where you get to smite the enemies
of God. Extremist Fundamentalist Islam is currently a popular choice.<br />
<br />
ISFP: Select a religion based on whether its art or music appeals to you. High
Episcopalianism or Catholocism are good for theatre and classical music. Avoid
anything tacky.<br />
<br />
ESFP: Pentacostalism.<br />
<br />
ESTP: You are hellbound anyway, so don't bother. Just sleep in.<br />
<br />
<b>Guardians (SJ)</b><br />
<br />
Guardians want to live dry, regimented lives. Guardians should select
regimented, controlling religions with lots of rules that they seek to impose
on others. The ideal choice would be a religion that is illogical and inconsistent
yet impossible to argue down due to the sheer energy and stubbornness
of their proponents. In selecting a religion, Guardians should temper the ideal
choice for their type by the fact that for Guardians, Mom and Dad's religion <i>is</i> ideal,
provided it is a good Guardian religion.<br />
<br />
ISTJ: Methodism, or some other form of Protestant Christianity, as long as it
is dry.<br />
<br />
ISFJ: Judaism, Conservative or Orthodox<br />
<br />
ESFJ: Catholocism<br />
<br />
ESTJ: Islam, mainstream<br />
<br />
<b>Rationals (NT)</b><br />
<br />
These types are basically Godless and evil. Their choice of "faith"
should reflect that.<br />
<br />
INTP: INTPs are always right, therefore they should skip right to atheism, with
an option on immortality as a simulation in a computer of unimaginable
complexity at the end of time as proven by the laws of physics.<br />
<br />
INTJ: Objectivism. Ayn Rand is your gal.<br />
<br />
ENTP: You are also always right, yet like all EPs lack an attention span.
Try agnosticism, and try not thinking about it too much.<br />
<br />
ENTJ: Religion has its uses. Money, power and easy access to willing sex
partners leap immediately to mind. Try starting your own cult. The exact
type of cult should be determined by your background and aesthetic tastes, and
by the exploitable pre-existing inclinations of the pathetic sheep-people who
surround you.<br />
<br />
<b>Idealists (NF)</b><br />
<br />
The correct religions for NFs are flakey "spiritual" ones, such as
Wicca or Zen. If you are an NF, you should select the proper religion for you
from the list below. If for some reason the correct choice for your type is not
practical for you, try and compromise by wearing funky clothes, eschewing
deodorant, and keeping lots of magic shit around your appartment, like Tarot
cards. Smoking lots of weed is a nice touch as well.<br />
<br />
INFP: Wicca, especially Celtic paganism. Also possibly Druidism, but not
Asatru.<br />
<br />
INFJ: Zen Buddhism.<br />
<br />
ENFP: "Ecclectic paganism." No one expects you to have an attention
span, so just go with the "smoking weed and buying magic crystals"
option.<br />
<br />
ENFJ: Hare Krishna<br />
<br />
May you find meaningful joy and peace in your day, according to your very own style!</div>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">Ecumenicus</a> and <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus FB </a><br />
<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-3016369645983921042016-07-20T05:35:00.004-07:002016-07-20T07:22:13.847-07:00Meditation and Renunciation - The Art of Mind-Body Integration - The Mystical Perspective<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdEa_E_StS2mkNdZVz8sFJzJl2sLb-JTec9xz-PcD3PTTT9V743VwvFD87VLYvGcyj5AuNXrvGOS-05KGTlq4aZbSy_z09TSHpvcUIXokLOBpl4ih1i24suewhaj9gGevCXus7Zd4vck/s1600/jesus_gethsemane-qi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizdEa_E_StS2mkNdZVz8sFJzJl2sLb-JTec9xz-PcD3PTTT9V743VwvFD87VLYvGcyj5AuNXrvGOS-05KGTlq4aZbSy_z09TSHpvcUIXokLOBpl4ih1i24suewhaj9gGevCXus7Zd4vck/s320/jesus_gethsemane-qi.jpg" width="305" /></a><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">These are instructions for you,
instructions in opening a “spiritual” door….you will notice they are basically
the same, even though they come from men who spoke quite different languages,
lived centuries apart, and went their own way. The instructions can be summed
up simply” practice renunciation and meditation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Fundamentally renunciation can
be understood as relating to a change in attitude. It is a shift from doing to
allowing, from grasping the world to allowing the world to enter us. It is the
meditative attitude carried into everyday life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">“Therefore if you desire to
discover your soul, withdraw your thoughts from outward and material things,
forgetting if possible your own body and its five senses…St John calls for the
banishment of memory:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">‘Of all these forms and manners
of knowledge the soul must strip and void itself, and it must strive to lose
the imaginary apprehension of them, so that there may be left in it no kind of
impression of knowledge, nor trace of aught so-ever, but rather the soul must remain
barren and bare, as if these forms had never passed through it and is total
oblivion and suspension. And this cannot happen unless the memory be
annihilated as to all its form, if it is to be united with God.’ (St John of
the Cross)”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">~Walter Hilton, The Scale of
Perfection<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">To have renunciation is to be
beyond various forms and colors. We have full appreciation of forms and colors
but they are bound to disappear and we should not be caught by that. We do not
give them up but accept that they go away; that is renunciation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">~Shunryu Suzuki, Wind Bell 1968<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">~From Arthur Deikman, Personal
Freedom and in Symposium on Consciousness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">Art: He Qi</span><span style="background-color: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">To discover the mystical, the
inner viewpoint, one must leave outer viewpoints aside. The process of
meditation or contemplative prayer, is inherently designed toward subjective
experience and away from objective ideation. Objectification, even of the self,
is imperative for a mind acting in the world. In Western culture we are taught
and affirmed through the use of the objective, outwardly directed mind. But
below the radar of thinking and outward sensing, we bring to our worldly
experience, insight, memory, feeling, intuition, all inward sensing mechanisms
that influence our thoughts and behavior, yet usually go unrecognized and invalidated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YG4RszqLiGfE01J0chQjbPOgrkb4j8AbYOoEgTUpxylpZ8UHv4aPZMO14hHicBmDt3LxDfTEaBJvv1RWuS5GF-JWUyRHoykQZOcY9YzKiiSbHSE0n4AH0SoBWq4k17UWzD-_eW00cN8/s1600/hydrogen+atom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-YG4RszqLiGfE01J0chQjbPOgrkb4j8AbYOoEgTUpxylpZ8UHv4aPZMO14hHicBmDt3LxDfTEaBJvv1RWuS5GF-JWUyRHoykQZOcY9YzKiiSbHSE0n4AH0SoBWq4k17UWzD-_eW00cN8/s1600/hydrogen+atom.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hydrogen atom through quantum microscope</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">In physics, the diagram of an
atom is an imaginary objectification of particles and space that assists the
scientist in working with energy, which cannot be seen. In the consciousness of
human minds, form takes shape out of formlessness, matter out of energy. We can
work with what we can objectify, i.e. (thought and) matter.
But we forget that these are mental concepts and impart an assumption of
longevity and intense value to material reality.
So which is the longer lived? Energy, of course. All matter, all form
is fleeting, including thoughts and concepts which create form.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Meditation is the practice of
BEING. It is the practice of the simultaneous PRESENCE of objectivity and
subjectivity, of form and formlessness, the body and the mind, the storehouse
of subjective experience and the administrator of the body in the physical
world. To achieve the convergence of, the integration of, a perception of body
experience with mental awareness, one must allow that which is formed - even the concept of time - to yield to
formlessness, one must allow active mind to give way to receptive mind.
Renunciation is this yielding: of doing for being, of thought for no thought,
of outward sensing for inward sensing, of objectivity for subjectivity, of some
thing for no thing. This is the creation of a vessel (form) into which the
spirit (formless) may be expressed, the womb in which new life is birthed. It
is simply the wisdom we carry within us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Peace and well-being are yours
already. You can access them anytime you wish…to be still and know.<br /><br />_/\_ Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/?ref=bookmarks">Ecumenicus</a></span><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Web site: <a href="http://www.newecumenicus.org/">www.newecumenicus.org</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-34414058546265060652016-05-26T06:02:00.001-07:002016-05-27T06:55:59.380-07:00Pray Continually, Give Thanks Always, Be Joyful!<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPXKIUB6SPf07vq6I39GgCZF3d4KtOJDkmGq7Z9yyT8hLISfpeV8m9HqScWaN2ndJk_m7dQhB3anw4WM5-QCHTZklzDu7CFDxUertY9epmlqNo2oAfNpf94wiTGxJEiEB64JTSd5ML3Q/s1600/lotus+jesus+buddha+lotus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYPXKIUB6SPf07vq6I39GgCZF3d4KtOJDkmGq7Z9yyT8hLISfpeV8m9HqScWaN2ndJk_m7dQhB3anw4WM5-QCHTZklzDu7CFDxUertY9epmlqNo2oAfNpf94wiTGxJEiEB64JTSd5ML3Q/s320/lotus+jesus+buddha+lotus.jpg" width="218" /></a>Ātmā (Universal Consciousness) is the ruler of the entire universe pervading all the
beings. Since Atma's constitution is ‘SAT(Existence)– CHIT(Consciousness)–ĀNANDA’ (Bliss/Joy), the motivating force of
all beings is the urge to exist, to know and express and also to derive joy.
Due to the veil of ignorance put up by Guṇa(s) of Prakṛti (desire and
attachment to material nature), beings do not recognize the Ātmā within (Gīta 7.13).
They see themselves as mere physical beings and strive to ensure existence,
expression and joy for their physical entity.</div>
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The finest point of the knowledge one gains is the
realization that one has no existence without the existence of the whole and
therefore he has to strive primarily for the existence, expression and joy of
the whole. This is what is called Dharma; the meaning of Dharma is ‘that which
ensures existence (of the universe collectively)’ or in other words, that which
conforms to the principle of SAT–CHIT–ĀNANDA. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The ultimate aim of beings is to merge with this principle,
that is, Ātmā, shedding all the physical bondage, because the trinity of
Existence-Consciousness-Bliss is the driving force in all beings and we
invariably see in them a desire for perpetual existence, unbridled expression
and eternal bliss. This is within every one of us all the time; but we don’t
recognize it since we are oriented outwardly due to improper knowledge level
(Gīta 7.27).<o:p></o:p></div>
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Freud’s ‘Ego’ is a product of the efforts to uphold
‘Dharma’; ‘Id’ indicates total absence of knowledge except the basic urge to
exist which acts involuntarily for obtaining what is necessary to satisfy that
urge. His ‘Super Ego’ is the eternal principle of ‘Dharma’ which acts in every
person as a reflection of Ātmā.<o:p></o:p></div>
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S. Karthikeyan @ <a href="http://www.indiadivine.org/mind-thought-consciousness-upanishadic-hypothesis/">India Divine</a> Excellent full article!<br />
<br />
Below is my favorite scripture. I have always felt that it sums up my participation in Life through Christ, who is my enlightened thought and Jesus, whose hands and feet of flesh I wear. I see these tasks more circular than linear, like Life, itself. When we open our consciousness to Divine grace, trusting that "all will be well," when we cultivate our being in this existence as prayer, receptive to many possibilities and attached to none, joy becomes the beautiful byproduct and also the impetus to remain in a prayerful existence of thanksgiving.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Rejoice always (be ananda/joy/wonder/awe), pray continually (make contemplative practice [mindfulness] your sat/existence), give
thanks (remain in a receptive, open, nonjudgmental state of chit/consciousness) in all circumstances; for this is God’s (Atma) will for
you in Christ Jesus (the possibility within you). <o:p></o:p></div>
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~1 Thess 5:16-18<o:p></o:p><br />
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Follow your bliss with an open heart and no "should bes!"<br />
<br />
_/\_Peggy @ <a href="http://www.new.ecumenicus.org/">Ecumenicus</a><br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus">Ecumenicus on Facebook</a><br />
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-27711626346693072072016-05-03T07:05:00.000-07:002016-05-03T07:05:01.366-07:00Welcome the R.A.I.N.<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1LDHmxRSK45sN8i-KFdutCBrEPYK2zgK2G_sruAQ7PWU6BrLcgFvTeSmC7j2H-3BzN8kfmvsRwY0tnMgAUsMPwffQOpLhn4n_fCWKfefqkvgO8AB4STcWoQprQZiiGXb7YV1r5Yu9DU/s1600/rain+happy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL1LDHmxRSK45sN8i-KFdutCBrEPYK2zgK2G_sruAQ7PWU6BrLcgFvTeSmC7j2H-3BzN8kfmvsRwY0tnMgAUsMPwffQOpLhn4n_fCWKfefqkvgO8AB4STcWoQprQZiiGXb7YV1r5Yu9DU/s320/rain+happy.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
~Bringing the fruits of contemplative practice (mindfulness meditation/prayer)
to our busy day.</div>
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Taking these four steps in a moment of annoyance, anxiety or
fear will help release the body from autonomic (flight, fright, freeze) systems
that generate the negative feelings and a reactive mind. [This is really an
abbreviated, in the moment, version of your sitting practice. In Christianity,
Welcoming prayer achieves the same outcome.]</div>
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<b>R.A.I.N.</b> is an acronym developed by Michelle McDonald, a
senior mindfulness teacher, to summarize a powerful way to expand
self-awareness and bring the self to presence in the moment.</div>
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<b>R = Recognize:</b> Notice that you are experiencing something,
such as irritation at the tone of voice used by your partner, child, or
co-worker. Step back into observation rather than reaction. Without getting
into story, simply name what is present, such as “annoyance,” “thoughts of
being mistreated,” “body firing up,” “hurt,” “wanting to cry.”</div>
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<b>A = Accept (Allow):</b> Acknowledge that your experience is what
it is, even if it’s unpleasant. Be with it without attempting to change it. Try
to have self-compassion instead of self-criticism. Don’t add to the difficulty
by being hard on yourself.</div>
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<b>I = Investigate (Inquire):</b> Try to find an attitude of
interest, curiosity, and openness. Not detached intellectual analysis but a
gently engaged exploration, often with a sense of tenderness or friendliness
toward what it finds. Open to other aspects of the experience, such as softer
feelings of hurt under the brittle armor of anger. It’s OK for your inquiry to
be guided by a bit of insight into your own history and personality, but try to
stay close to the raw experience and out of psychoanalyzing yourself.</div>
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<b>N = Not-identify (Not-self):</b> Have a feeling/thought/etc.,
instead of being it. Disentangle yourself from the various parts of the
experience, knowing that they are small, fleeting aspects of the totality you
are. See the streaming nature of sights, sounds, thoughts, and other contents
of mind, arising and passing away due mainly to causes that have nothing to do
with you, that are impersonal. Feel the contraction, stress, and pain that
comes from claiming any part of this stream as “I,” or “me,” or “mine” – and
sense the spaciousness and peace that comes when experiences simply flow.</div>
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~RAIN explanation by Rick Hanson, PhD</div>
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If you like a more explicitly spiritual context for your practice, below is the Welcoming Prayer method as described by Contemplative Outreach, the premier organization for the fostering of transformation in Christ through the practice of Centering Prayer.</div>
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<b>The Welcoming Prayer Method </b></div>
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<b>Focus, feel </b>and sink into what you are experiencing this
moment in your body. </div>
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<b>“Welcome”</b> what you are experiencing this moment in your body
as an opportunity to consent to the Divine Indwelling. </div>
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<b>Let go</b> by repeating the following sentences: “I let go of
the desire for security, affection, control.” “I let go of the desire to change
what I am experiencing.<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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With a prayer, a pause of peace and serenity, for you,</div>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">ECUMENICUS</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-77518143621638299782016-04-23T06:17:00.002-07:002016-04-24T05:28:06.938-07:00Looking Inward: Jung, Perception and What is it?<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuU704H4lipzBvjM9MJEB5S6wP-aiv85zLW2VS2IXrRSZPQEIfBgp4rfovH2DqMf1pp0lHeMVVizt-3M7z9skd5BosDHMRgpkKKCi3j_zEyrXO7v8nlMjv0LEL-vq1QZAxBNeFOXz7-mQ/s1600/inner+world2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuU704H4lipzBvjM9MJEB5S6wP-aiv85zLW2VS2IXrRSZPQEIfBgp4rfovH2DqMf1pp0lHeMVVizt-3M7z9skd5BosDHMRgpkKKCi3j_zEyrXO7v8nlMjv0LEL-vq1QZAxBNeFOXz7-mQ/s320/inner+world2.jpg" width="320" /></a>A recent article on <a href="http://themindunleashed.org/2015/12/five-ways-carl-jung-led-us-to-the-inner-life.html">The Mind Unleashed by Gary Bobroff </a>offered 5 ways Carl Jung's psychology </div>
leads us to our inner life. They are: dreams, personality types, archetypes, synchronicity and the "realness" of the unconscious. The essay develops a short explanation of all five and concludes with this statement about the reality of what lies beyond our conscious awareness:<br />
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<i>"...there is more to the psyche than just the conscious mind.
With this in mind, engagement with the inner voice is pursued not as a form of
inner housekeeping, but rather in the humble service of the development of a
relationship with an intelligence present within us but greater than our own.
Committing to that service means relating more deeply to our inner nature; its
only end-goal is the whole-bodied, whole-hearted, full blossoming of who we
really are."</i></div>
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I have done quite a bit of research on the mystical or wisdom tradition and its correlation with personality type. My conclusions, completely supported in psychology of religion literature, is that wisdom and mysticism involve the integrated awareness of both the outer, sensing thinking and the inner, intuiting feeling mind; the latter being an absolute necessity for a balanced appreciation of subjective reality. Mystics are always intuitive perceivers (NF or NT on a Myers-Briggs).</div>
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<o:p>Mr Bobroff goes on to describe Jung's idea of synchronous awareness, prompting my thoughts of the vast realm of subjective reality and our, often limiting and delusional, attempts to objectify what simply cannot be fully defined. That which is beyond objectification and for which words and ideologies must allow accessibility to more expansive interpretation than dogmatic precision seeks to impose.</o:p></div>
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<i>"Jung’s psychology is only really understood when it is
a lived experience, and nothing exemplifies this more than the mystery of
synchronicity. Jung coined the term synchronicity to refer to extraordinary
moments when outer happenings reflect inner states. What we see in such a
coincidence of events is a MEANINGFUL INTERPLAY alive in our reality."</i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzmyEniM3K1U5GAciCdTcu5Xe2KGx_3V5VZ1Yd7zSzDu1zcAgojoIAjeyZQx_XuUygL0DNTDZ1H42NtygCmGJZFK5cr9dc_-RQQubadldWAheLAU0pXMFmgZkAzj6ub9CFOfYU07TkEE/s1600/hand+and+light.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYzmyEniM3K1U5GAciCdTcu5Xe2KGx_3V5VZ1Yd7zSzDu1zcAgojoIAjeyZQx_XuUygL0DNTDZ1H42NtygCmGJZFK5cr9dc_-RQQubadldWAheLAU0pXMFmgZkAzj6ub9CFOfYU07TkEE/s320/hand+and+light.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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In all cases of spiritual/psychological/social development,
we must understand that our identity (and this is way oversimplified I'm sure) exists in relationship with
our self, our higher power (that which is beyond the self), and others (people
and planet) outside of our self. These relationships can be objectified, as if
they are separate from our self, but they are not. What we think, see, hear,
smell, touch, taste does not the whole experience compose. There are other
perceptions and interactions at work in relational reality beyond what can be
objectified. These are interactive energies of memory, emotion, presence, and
others I don't even know how to name. These are ancient mechanisms for survival
and attunement that are complex, to say the least.</div>
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<a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-consciousness-universal/">Christof Koch</a>, a researcher of consciousness, proposes that
"Any system that possesses some nonzero amount of integrated information
experiences something. Let me repeat: any system that has even one bit of
integrated information has a very minute conscious experience."</div>
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Can you imagine how many integrated systems are operating
for you to be reading and understanding this right now?</div>
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Spirit is by definition, unseen. We are so stuck on the idea
that what is true must be see-able, or thinkable, when in reality all we see or
think defines no more than a point in space. One point, no matter how big or
small, in an unknown - unknowable eternity of "what is it?" It
"is" a point we conjure, alone or together; an object or concept
nidus to be agreed upon or argued over. Everything our sensing "sees" is relative, in many ways, not the least of which is how aware we are of our inner world.</div>
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<i>"We see only so much of the world as we have apperceptive (introspective) organs for seeing. </i><i>We see things not as they are but as we are–that is,
we see the world not as it is, but as molded by the individual peculiarities of
our minds."</i></div>
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<i>The Psychology of Prejudice, Current Literature GTW Patrick,
1890</i></div>
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There is always more. Everything I can discretely perceive
with my mind or outward sensing is but a moment manifestation of something
beyond the manifestation of "what is it?" Something life giving, as
manna to the Israelites. Something life-informing, like the room around me. But
not something that lasts forever. "If a tree falls in a forest and no one
is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCdZ9RM6bfPN53q8_lZP09quP93QBQRB8fMbp1A6EwMZdPjfgDmogANQFUy22VbZtLpMYdHvOzizvvDDys_ukVmG3b3z3ZlH7kWymYiz3mwAC7PacIUeyotAWuq-2AmDiCmG8_BTgenU/s1600/dew+web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCdZ9RM6bfPN53q8_lZP09quP93QBQRB8fMbp1A6EwMZdPjfgDmogANQFUy22VbZtLpMYdHvOzizvvDDys_ukVmG3b3z3ZlH7kWymYiz3mwAC7PacIUeyotAWuq-2AmDiCmG8_BTgenU/s320/dew+web.jpg" width="180" /></a><br />
<br />
Experience is beyond the objective. It rises and falls into
awareness on a sea of subjectivity that is eternal and undefinable.
Consciousness is perhaps the best word we have for it right now. Ultimate
reality? Absolute Truth? These are all words that are never limited by
definition. Like God. Like grace. Like possibility. These are symbols, like
every single word we use, they both inform and confound, because subjective
experience is built into them...and also beyond them.</div>
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Perhaps we should remember to ask, "What is it?"
more often. The word manna, literally means, "What is it?" In story
it seems to be the substance from which the desert wanderers made bread. It is
that which kept them alive, but spoiled in a day and had to be refreshed
with the new days supply of "what is it?" Manna, we are told, was the white
stuff that appeared like dew on the ground each morning and was gone by noon.
The "what is it?" sustained an entire people for 40 years. I
think it was more than bread makings. Much more.<br />
<br />
_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus</a><br />
<br />
Postscript: One of the hallmarks of intuitive inquiry is asking one's self, "What does this mean?" Intuition always looks beyond physicality or superficial circumstance for meaning and value. Both are subjective, remembered, experiential additions to objectified reality.<br />
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Taking pause, being quiet, allowing space between the event and the interpretation will assist in bringing intuitive wisdom to the experience. Be still.<br />
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Sending all of you joy and peace!</div>
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Mind Unleashed article at this link: <a href="http://themindunleashed.org/2015/12/five-ways-carl-jung-led-us-to-the-inner-life.html">Five Ways Carl Jung Led Us To The Inner Life</a></div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-65639000524185859262016-03-25T06:03:00.002-07:002016-03-25T06:03:56.111-07:00Good Friday<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAy6su_FTk26IvnVOdk6TTh6NkmQbZ6U37eUPF6azFe7SP6kqQjbooFLn31hcnbhtlPo4XQKSIuqVRl33bBa0vTkEI-6wgdfjjgfrceDMRuCxje_kQtbLq8utAvkdZVLLC9sRYxk1VHs/s1600/crucifixion-abstract.moraldi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyAy6su_FTk26IvnVOdk6TTh6NkmQbZ6U37eUPF6azFe7SP6kqQjbooFLn31hcnbhtlPo4XQKSIuqVRl33bBa0vTkEI-6wgdfjjgfrceDMRuCxje_kQtbLq8utAvkdZVLLC9sRYxk1VHs/s640/crucifixion-abstract.moraldi.jpg" width="482" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Moraldi</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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PASSION </div>
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Beloved, you have kissed</div>
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My eyes awake</div>
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I am consumed</div>
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In a blaze of your being</div>
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My embers fly</div>
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Freely</div>
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At a cost I did not, </div>
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cannot,</div>
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fathom.</div>
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Take me.</div>
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I yield willingly, joyfully, urgently</div>
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Fuse my essence into yours</div>
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Make us something not of this world.</div>
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Such a radiance you draw from me</div>
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desire as I have never known.</div>
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A passion visceral and potent.</div>
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Constant as the sun</div>
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Fervent to be light.</div>
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Stop! I am assaulted by senses of </div>
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such woeful orthodoxy</div>
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Beat me bloody numb with pain.</div>
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Forces of longing and judgment</div>
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Ebb and flow as</div>
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Fists of turbulence </div>
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Sculpt a deep, deep well within</div>
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The battleground of mind and flesh </div>
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In murky waters of my soul </div>
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Devastation like nuclear holocaust</div>
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Strips my peace </div>
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And feigns to turn my heart against me</div>
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All in the name of love.</div>
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Who would set a blaze so mighty</div>
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That ravages the soul in eternal battle?</div>
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Love’s enduring light is wrapped in violent opposition</div>
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Powers that resist a blessed consummation</div>
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Lest it loose a light so </div>
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Great that love is all</div>
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All is love.</div>
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Neediness be gone!</div>
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My heart cannot sustain the fight.</div>
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Open my wounds and lay them bare before the fray.</div>
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Flush them with sunlight in streams flowing with surrender</div>
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Post my longing to a pole</div>
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Stretch it wide, wide with time </div>
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and pierce me through and through </div>
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with swords of eternal light that</div>
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Rend my flesh to ash and earth</div>
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Restore my truth</div>
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My rest</div>
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My life.</div>
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I cannot live without love.</div>
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Death is more than dying flesh</div>
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Conforming suffocates life slowly.</div>
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© Peggy Beatty, September 11, 2010</div>
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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~</div>
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<b>Psalm 22. </b>My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?</div>
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Why are you so far from saving me, from the words
of my groaning?</div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><sup>2 </sup></b>O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,</div>
</b><div style="text-align: center;">
and by night, but I find no rest.</div>
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<b><sup>3 </sup></b>Yet you are holy,</div>
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enthroned on the praises of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Israel</st1:place></st1:country-region>.</div>
<b><div style="text-align: center;">
<b><sup>4 </sup></b>In you our fathers trusted;</div>
</b><div style="text-align: center;">
they trusted, and you delivered them.</div>
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<b><sup>5 </sup></b>To you they cried and were rescued;</div>
</b><div style="text-align: center;">
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieC959DucFBE4dMBfLmtsa83dq1vvZzz3Ov4-dzEBZER68JN0ws3l2jAvarDn2qwRGWoBvFqCEA39ta0d0VwXHjsgYyiR5-6ZXLsfnThYOTu-6RNg0WvDkyIBYOozM4TATgpHzuG1swA4/s1600/roadlesstraveled.alainvilleneuve.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieC959DucFBE4dMBfLmtsa83dq1vvZzz3Ov4-dzEBZER68JN0ws3l2jAvarDn2qwRGWoBvFqCEA39ta0d0VwXHjsgYyiR5-6ZXLsfnThYOTu-6RNg0WvDkyIBYOozM4TATgpHzuG1swA4/s400/roadlesstraveled.alainvilleneuve.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alain Villeneuve</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-2077821470514623662016-03-20T09:36:00.000-07:002016-03-20T11:16:22.281-07:00Palm Sunday<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcozI1q8lkPlwngPQQN307EfEUYTM1Srye5uTnBhfXxP7bfpe0uBWxiXjoK09XABkEK5ixVze0F1q_JNRDXYmDt8NnS2gtJryvupAa7OUvFuKDExhB51mIiBpfGB0qOfHRS37EaS6tA4/s1600/apples+buds+web.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglcozI1q8lkPlwngPQQN307EfEUYTM1Srye5uTnBhfXxP7bfpe0uBWxiXjoK09XABkEK5ixVze0F1q_JNRDXYmDt8NnS2gtJryvupAa7OUvFuKDExhB51mIiBpfGB0qOfHRS37EaS6tA4/s320/apples+buds+web.JPG" width="320" /></a>As I think on the symbolic events of this week: the parade,
the betrayal, the arrest and trial, the killing and the living again, all
around me earth is coming to new life. Out my window, the trees are fecund with
lime green buds and fragile flowers, dripping their sweet honey, enchantment to bees and butterflies. Daffodils and crocus have risen from brown
earth in glorious colors of </div>
Hallelujah! <br />
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Hallelujah!</div>
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Hallelujah! </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;"> They wave
and dance in the cool March breezes. </span></div>
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A late snow has come in the darkness of the night. Smooth
and sensuous, he kissed each blade of grass and tender bud with sly allure,
crooning a lullaby to sing sweet Spring back into her dream sleep. But she will
have none of it! Twirling with gusto, she laughs and opens her ruby red lips to
drink in the tune, liquid music warmed by dawn’s light.</div>
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Arrest? Trial? There will be none for this Lady. She dances on, her parade never ends. She moves through darkness and light with love
and assurance. Like a phoenix rises from ashes, she is never laid to rest for
any longer than the cycle of Holy Life permits. She does not question, when
accused. She has no need to defend herself against that which will ultimately amount
to a short term setback. She surrenders and rises again. She can do nothing
else. It is who she is.</div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></div>
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Life wins! Love wins! The sacred relationships of Life are
perpetually on parade. They march forward in one grand chorus of interdependent
harmony. And I am just a note, or perhaps a rest, on the score of such
miraculous music.</div>
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As sleep restores our bodies, so does Life go to her Winter’s
rest. This is part of the song. The darkness is an inherent characteristic of
the light, and the light, is ever and always, the essence of darkness
expressed. Spaces and notes.</div>
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Let this be my covenant: to honor the dance of the darkness
and light. As in nature, so within the temple of my heart and mind. May I
reverence who I am in this sacred Love relationship in ways that steady my
soul to extend generosity and compassion to all else. May I surrender my leaves
in Autumn and stand stoic and strong through the Winters of Life, as the trees
brace themselves against the promise of a blazing winter’s sunset. And may I
come to Life over and over again, singing Hallelujah!</div>
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Hallelujah!</div>
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Hallelujah!</div>
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as beautiful Spring insists on flowering her way to the lazy
days of Summer.</div>
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Let this be my resurrection song!!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPA9vtoNR34JuwFCugyKZ_5R4P7YIY99PvwWpc_5UZVTmBMz9L-aj4NbqHN21YHCjT9THFlBXJ4gvvGoto7aQHSyANDtx2IhvciIU_ZZPTpdTTpROCjfXne7z-nGfRSYHkVLY8aK4_rg/s1600/daffodils+web.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrPA9vtoNR34JuwFCugyKZ_5R4P7YIY99PvwWpc_5UZVTmBMz9L-aj4NbqHN21YHCjT9THFlBXJ4gvvGoto7aQHSyANDtx2IhvciIU_ZZPTpdTTpROCjfXne7z-nGfRSYHkVLY8aK4_rg/s320/daffodils+web.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sending you love and always, peace in the darkness and joy in the light!</div>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus">Ecumenicus</a> </div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-12680379087383390022016-03-01T08:31:00.002-08:002016-03-02T04:41:06.083-08:00Merton's Sophia Wisdom and Natural Contemplation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVuEasNpk_sb0zWLIdhuEjhtyx6eDHIv2CLntO3_6KkfCTaw2vm_YkBXdTn3NoWLmA7n0A3lLhKkwZelosWUOMJh_23tq_asbHYwNd3YrR-1BCCJykGC0Um-8aB9mPLya5M3K5m3cdfc/s1600/sophia.Dante+Gabriel+Rossetti1874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkVuEasNpk_sb0zWLIdhuEjhtyx6eDHIv2CLntO3_6KkfCTaw2vm_YkBXdTn3NoWLmA7n0A3lLhKkwZelosWUOMJh_23tq_asbHYwNd3YrR-1BCCJykGC0Um-8aB9mPLya5M3K5m3cdfc/s320/sophia.Dante+Gabriel+Rossetti1874.jpg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #f1f1f1; color: #888888; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874</span></td></tr>
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I am researching the idea of Sophia Wisdom in the writings
of Thomas Merton. In his later years,</div>
Merton became quite occupied with Wisdom
as an aspect of Christ. Drawing on scripture, such as the Song of Songs, and
his extensive study of the Holy Spirit in Eastern Orthodox mysticism, Merton
came to find a deep, inherent aspect of humanity that is "eros," a
notion far beyond the superficial idea of genital erotic love, and applicable
to loving relationship, spiritually expressed in unity with humanity and
nature. This is Sophia Wisdom, to know this passion for Divine unity with all
of life as "Christ-graced" transformation.<br />
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Merton says, "If we believe in the Incarnation of the
Son of God, there is no one on earth in whom we are not prepared to see, in
mystery, the presence of Christ." (New Seeds of Contemplation) This
expression is enlightened mind, the very essence of the concept of "the
mind of Christ." (Paul - 1 Cor 2:16)</div>
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In his exquisite book called "Sophia, The
Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton," Christopher Pramuk shares many great quotes by Merton from various sources, but one in particular is a collection of notes from a class Merton taught on Mysticism, <a href="https://erikbuys.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/an-introduction-to-christian-mysticism.pdf">Introduction
to Christian Mysticism</a>, at Gethsemane in the 1960s. Here, Merton has compiled a
wonderful collection of writings from the church fathers, Roman and Orthodox
mystics through the ages on mystical theology, the cosmos, the oikonomia
(cosmic household - BTW, the origin of the name of this Blog, Ecumenicus), the
Wisdom inherent in humans - "multiformis sapientia" - that which
apprehends the wisdom and glory of God:</div>
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1. in the spirit of Scripture and not in the letter;</div>
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2. in the logoi of created things, not in their materiality;</div>
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3. in our own inmost spirit and true self, rather than in
our ego;</div>
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4. in the inner meaning of history and not in its external
(history of salvation, victory of Christ);</div>
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5. in the inner sense of the divine judgments and mercies
(not in superstitious and pseudo-apocalyptic interpretation of events). (New
Seeds of Contemplation, 122 via Sophia by Christopher Pramuk, 142)</div>
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I'd like to share with you a slice from <a href="https://erikbuys.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/an-introduction-to-christian-mysticism.pdf">Introduction to Christian Mysticism</a> that speaks to the idea of natural contemplation (theoria
physike), a practice first mentioned by Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 AD),
Christian monk and ascetic, meaning understanding natural order of being from
both spiritual and material aspects. Merton holds the ability to unite these
paradoxical aspects of the human perception of reality as the essence of Sophia
Wisdom. It is in this light that humans realize both their spiritual identity in Divine
Being with God and their enfleshed, material identity, each one integrally a
part of Divine reality.</div>
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"Hence theoria physike (natural contemplation) is a
most important part of man’s cooperation in the spiritualization and
restoration of the cosmos. It is by theoria that man helps Christ to redeem the
logoi of things and restore them in Himself.</div>
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This theoria is inseparable from love and from a truly
spiritual conduct of life. Man not only must see the inner meaning of things
but he must regulate his entire life and his use of time and of created beings
according to the mysterious norms hidden in things by the Creator, or rather
uttered by the Creator Himself in the bosom of His creation.</div>
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The vision of theoria physike is essentially sophianic
(Sophia wisdom). Man by theoria is able to unite the hidden wisdom of God in
things with the hidden light of wisdom in himself. The meeting and marriage of
these two brings about a resplendent clarity within man himself, and this
clarity is the presence of Divine Wisdom fully recognized and
active in him. Thus man becomes a mirror of the divine glory, and is
resplendent with divine truth not only in his mind but in his life. He is
filled with the light of wisdom which shines forth in him, and thus God is
glorified in him. </div>
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At the same time he exercises a spiritualizing influence in
the world by the work of his hands which is in accord with the creative wisdom
of God in things and in history. Hence we can see the great importance of a
sophianic, contemplative orientation of man’s life." (Thomas Merton, An
Introduction to Christian Mysticism)</div>
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This is a mystical way of perceiving, to hold the duality of
spirit (what is unseen) and flesh (what is seen) together in the coincidence of
opposites, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heraclitus" title="Heraclitus">Heraclitus</a> (535–475 BC), the Coincidentia
oppositorum (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_of_Kues" title="Nicholas of Kues">Nicholas of Cusa</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Docta_Ignorantia" title="De Docta Ignorantia">De Docta Ignorantia</a>,1440). In
Hinduism this is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advaita_Vedanta">advaita
vedanta</a>, nondualism. In a psychological sense, this is to use
both the sensing - thinking mind and the intuiting - experiencing "body" together
to fully assess ones reality. This is more than knowledge. This is Wisdom. And
it is (attained through) "contemplative orientation."</div>
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Mertons book, I<a href="https://erikbuys.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/an-introduction-to-christian-mysticism.pdf">ntroduction
to Christian Mysticism</a> is available free at this link.<br />
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May you find within you, that silent place where Sophia whispers love and unity, a song of songs from the Beloved to the Beloved. Peace. _/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus</a><br />
<br />
I am blessed to be hosting a retreat with Madonna Sophia Compton on The Divine Feminine: Sophia Wisdom, Origins and Expressions on March 19th. More info here: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1581642935495456/">Lavender House Events</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-29976935133435615392015-12-20T13:13:00.002-08:002015-12-21T05:11:06.199-08:00Birthing the Divine<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtlhmDvDrpIb3ACdPmSwd2rzYMMQucPn-mNQVgraIeKSh0Cp9OH-MnW3IRF4npJ940XciD3APlU_U5-QL8Ws9XF1wObMpPi5RSQHBYPSCLPYupH4Df13YXcESqUKAmRge3VtrplJTCNs/s1600/JimCurtisChant_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZtlhmDvDrpIb3ACdPmSwd2rzYMMQucPn-mNQVgraIeKSh0Cp9OH-MnW3IRF4npJ940XciD3APlU_U5-QL8Ws9XF1wObMpPi5RSQHBYPSCLPYupH4Df13YXcESqUKAmRge3VtrplJTCNs/s320/JimCurtisChant_500.jpg" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jim Curtis, "Chant"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In advent we journey toward peace through hope, with love
and joy. We sink into the quiet of our hearts and minds,
as nature, in the northern hemisphere, slows her pace and earth cools in the
shortest days of sunlight. The season calls us inward, toward the
deep truth of who we are, toward the reconciling of our mind and heart.
"Be still!" declares the Holy Darkness, "and wait for the light
to come."</span></div>
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Wait. Watch. The coming of the light is inevitable. Pay
attention! this is your story.</div>
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“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your
life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.”</div>
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~ Eckhart Tolle</div>
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Pay attention now to where the birth of Jesus has taken
place. This eternal birth takes place in the soul totally in the way it takes
place in eternity, neither less nor more. Whatever perfection is to enter the
soul, be it divine, unique light or grace or happiness, all of it must come
into the soul of a necessity through this birth of divine awareness and in no
other way. Wait only for the birth of Christ within yourself, And you will
discover all blessing and all consolation, all bliss, all being, and all truth.</div>
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~ Meister Eckhart</div>
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There is a light that shines beyond all things on Earth,
beyond us all, beyond the heavens, beyond the highest, the very highest
heavens. This is the light that shines in our heart.</div>
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~ Chandogya Upanishad</div>
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Art: Jim Curtis</div>
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Be aware. You are made in the image of God. Bring that
forward. Be the Love and Beauty that you are made to be in the Image of the
Creator, to whom you are eternally connected. </div>
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May the peace of the Eternal Christ, the Word of Divine Light be born in your heart this
beautiful season.</div>
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_/\_Peggy at <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=326734894393&extragetparams=%7B%22directed_target_id%22%3A0%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">ECUMENICUS</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-75122215429799518702015-12-12T05:37:00.001-08:002016-12-15T05:57:33.881-08:00Advent by Thomas Merton<div class="MsoNormal">
Charm with your stainlessness these winter nights,</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYIcw3Sgsy6OGcloOaU3drrYXvRoIDYguGZymN4sWVrgXddQj-m_c-VailYjx5wQQ0hI4T-nil1T8-sM7996TGa5NQtVvrnRArUrr1smFpyCfMvsJE79SB1MU6bmcyNrWnLLj59KngIxg/s1600/moon.near+the+village+of+Yavterishki+north+from+Minsk+in+Belarus.++Sergei+Gapon%252C+AFP.Getty+Images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYIcw3Sgsy6OGcloOaU3drrYXvRoIDYguGZymN4sWVrgXddQj-m_c-VailYjx5wQQ0hI4T-nil1T8-sM7996TGa5NQtVvrnRArUrr1smFpyCfMvsJE79SB1MU6bmcyNrWnLLj59KngIxg/s320/moon.near+the+village+of+Yavterishki+north+from+Minsk+in+Belarus.++Sergei+Gapon%252C+AFP.Getty+Images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal">
Sergei Gapon, AFP/Getty Image<em><span style="font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></em></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Skies, and be perfect! </div>
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Fly vivider in the fiery dark, you quiet meteors,</div>
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And disappear.</div>
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You moon, be slow to go down,</div>
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This is your full!</div>
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The four white roads make off in silence</div>
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Towards the four parts of the starry universe.</div>
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Time falls like manna at the corners of the wintry earth.</div>
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We have become more humble than the rocks,</div>
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More wakeful than the patient hills.</div>
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Charm with your stainlessness these nights in Advent,</div>
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holy spheres,</div>
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While minds, as meek as beasts,</div>
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Stay close at home in the sweet hay;</div>
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And intellects are quieter than the flocks that feed by
starlight.</div>
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Oh pour your darkness and your brightness over all our</div>
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solemn valleys,</div>
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You skies: and travel like the gentle Virgin,</div>
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Toward the planets' stately setting,</div>
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Oh white full moon as quiet as <st1:city w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:city>!</div>
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Read this poem slowly. Read it, perhaps two or three times
so you can feel into the words and rest deeply into the place from which Merton
describes the scene of Advent unfolding. Read and rest with the words until you
step out of time and feel yourself
"more humble than the rocks, more wakeful than the patient
hills." Smell the sweetness of hay and hear the lowing of the beasts in
the barn. And on the vast open mountainside, the sheep graze in a silent starry
night. Let the words of the poem, like the coming of the New, pour over you
slowly, slowly and gently lift you into the flow of the journey to <st1:city w:st="on">Bethlehem</st1:city>.</div>
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May the serenity of the season surround you ~ Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-72859543151345851942015-11-20T06:43:00.001-08:002015-11-21T05:39:45.965-08:00Intimacy. Identity. Life is Sacred Relationship - Love Yourself In Order to Love Others<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DtjsLigJ2IkHlf_WTiXK-3tWniBl9HxoJMHtuo2qgdezeaOdW6wLlCXI4W255DUP5xy4b19kDZzP3CUFEMtOxN2k5XTPolesrtlTn3fqRL40lK1u4a39e6qGIWKXmiiOEDYaFKBYAJY/s1600/inner+child.lee+kerttu.websmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DtjsLigJ2IkHlf_WTiXK-3tWniBl9HxoJMHtuo2qgdezeaOdW6wLlCXI4W255DUP5xy4b19kDZzP3CUFEMtOxN2k5XTPolesrtlTn3fqRL40lK1u4a39e6qGIWKXmiiOEDYaFKBYAJY/s320/inner+child.lee+kerttu.websmall.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lee Kerttu</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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More thoughts on the Daily Meditation from Fr Rohr today, on
the 12-Step program. </div>
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<a href="http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=8ba43023-27a6-49be-845a-6c9f4978caed&c=19a5a190-eeea-11e3-8c22-782bcb740129&ch=1a916120-eeea-11e3-8c3e-782bcb740129">Father Rohr's meditation</a> refers to this step:</div>
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Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our
conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of
God's will for us and the power to carry that out.</div>
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Having had experience with addiction, I can say with all certainty: addiction
is always related to an unmet need for love - not from others, from yourself.
Remember, when we say "love" we refer in a deep, emotional way, to
RELATIONSHIP. </div>
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Addicts, whether blatant substance abuse, sex, gambling,
etc., or more subtle, critical, negative, judgmental, distracted, anxious, or
otherwise at the mercy of the ego and emotions, all fall seriously into the
first category of "Why we suffer" per Buddhist reasoning: </div>
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We do not know who we are. </div>
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We cannot give our self what we need if we do not know who
we are. BEING balanced and peaceful within, being in "union with
God," is primary to DOING balanced and peaceful or unitive. I cannot
stress how subtle and continuous this work is!</div>
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Rohr makes 2 statements in his meditation today that I find
ultimately important:</div>
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"...addiction emerges out of a lack of inner experience
of intimacy with oneself, with God, with life, and with the moment."</div>
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<br /></div>
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"If something is really working for you, then less and
less will be required to satisfy you."</div>
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<br /></div>
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Knowing who you are is more than taking a moral inventory.
Its making the realization that YOU ARE/HAVE ALL YOU THINK YOU NEED and living
into that truth. </div>
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<br /></div>
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You may like the notion that you are partnered with a Higher
Power in this case. It certainly helps to believe so. In fact, it is this relationship that is the foundation for all others. This trust, this confidence, this forgiveness, this compassion - self love lays the groundwork for all our outward expressions of love. So, as <a href="http://prayerfoundation.org/mother_teresa_do_it_anyway.htm">Mother
Teresa's</a> beautiful prayer says, "In the end, its between you and
God." Its always only between you and God. The real, true, authentic you
(not the one you are hiding or denying) and God. If you get that part right,
everything else seems to fall into place, just as Rohr implies in the second
quote above.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Matthew 22:36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in
the Law?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first
and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”<br /><br />The first statement in Matthew's quote is about loving yourself or, in others words, loving yourself through a deep, continuously cultivated spiritual relationship with your higher power, whatever name that goes by.</span></div>
</div>
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Here is Fr Rohr's second meditation on the 12 Step Program
and Intimacy:<a href="http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?ca=8ba43023-27a6-49be-845a-6c9f4978caed&c=19a5a190-eeea-11e3-8c22-782bcb740129&ch=1a916120-eeea-11e3-8c3e-782bcb740129">
Experiencing Intimacy</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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May you realize now that you are a perfect child of the
Sacred Universe. "no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right
to be here." (<a href="http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~gongsu/desiderata_textonly.html">Desiderata</a>)
May you know yourself as LOVE, the most sacred relationship of life - whole and
wisely balanced within, giving expression to whole and wisely balanced without.
This is the example of Jesus the Christ, the enlightened one. This is the
example of Buddha, the awakened one...and all the wise ones who impart their
stories to us so that we may grow into possibility and potential. So that we
may "Go placidly amid the noise and haste..." (<a href="http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~gongsu/desiderata_textonly.html">Desiderata</a>)
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ88-LVHj_t_t__fy9FhRTqm2DMzc9OZJkozKh73_OK8cZrpB5Cr4bPW-66w7aj09aT1c9_MmII1wn1TiOEQF_MuNt7GZKuNdb881OjESTdG5LMYSMMgcepbyoqFOrfrzdCe7e0f631d0/s1600/innerlight.Buddhanellavalle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ88-LVHj_t_t__fy9FhRTqm2DMzc9OZJkozKh73_OK8cZrpB5Cr4bPW-66w7aj09aT1c9_MmII1wn1TiOEQF_MuNt7GZKuNdb881OjESTdG5LMYSMMgcepbyoqFOrfrzdCe7e0f631d0/s320/innerlight.Buddhanellavalle.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anna Valle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/?ref=bookmarks">Ecumenicus</a></div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-28789934111265024742015-11-19T05:55:00.000-08:002015-11-19T07:01:14.881-08:00Emotional Maturity….The Practical Kingdom of God Within Us<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dKe2Qt07INUx8yphy_xsaN9P3mta8lYeZiY9skkLsswdEAFLhoVrMwem6bEGKsgGovhgTL6WXZg3oHQKnGaZ_Hao9jCw6lIZmr_gR49oGJboUOjkDluWrSeXEZIVfztJULTItLX1v00/s1600/brain+evolution.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dKe2Qt07INUx8yphy_xsaN9P3mta8lYeZiY9skkLsswdEAFLhoVrMwem6bEGKsgGovhgTL6WXZg3oHQKnGaZ_Hao9jCw6lIZmr_gR49oGJboUOjkDluWrSeXEZIVfztJULTItLX1v00/s320/brain+evolution.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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This blog is a response to the excellent Daily Meditation on <a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation--Emotional-Sobriety.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=h52Z_HkXng0">Emotional Sobriety</a></div>
<br />
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and the 12-Step Program offered today by Fr Richard Rohr. He refers to the 11th step.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Step 11<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our
conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of
God's will for us and the power to carry that out.</div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
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Emotional maturity needs to be learned. I am not talking
about having a bit of restraint, I am talking about quieting that inner critic,
letting go of the niggling fear and anxiety about stuff, changing the
perception from a glass half empty to a glass half full, moving beyond the need
to control everything and everyone in your life, reducing your reactivity to
cultivated responsiveness. Do you know that psychologists use meditation in
therapy? Some use spiritual direction also as a nonjudgmental method of
reflecting you to yourself. Here is why.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Religion is all about re-ligare, “binding back” to your
highest (best) self we call “God.” Religion uses ritual and liturgy and
practice of prayer to encourage you to be aware of the Spirit of Love that
integrates the Mind- body on the very levels (see programs for happiness) that
Fr Rohr describes below. Before there was psychology, there was religious practice.
But the goals are the same: a healthy, balanced, integrated mind body; a subtly
aware, emotionally mature individual, who is balanced and fair to herself and
to others. This is <st1:place w:st="on">Union</st1:place>
with God. This is the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">Kingdom</st1:placetype>
of <st1:placename w:st="on">God</st1:placename></st1:place> within you. We cannot help someone else be any more
emotionally mature than we are, in the same way we can’t teach concepts that we don’t
know our self. We must be the change we want to see in the world (Gandhi). This
is where it begins….with “me.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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The 11<sup>th</sup> step on the 12 step program is
important for all of us! We are all “addicted” to our entitlement to be
negative and judgmental, to our pain and anxiety, to our “suffering” as Buddha
would say. We are blindly addicted to our immature emotionality. And it takes a
long gentle process of waking up and being with our self to heal. We would
often rather suffer, leaving things as they are (certain and predictable), than
change! That’s addiction.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfxOvE_FvmU2PKi2JOO1VFndrKL-GDD5RmYsbfsRUuo2QL5TZ34rxZ4JoewC5wvmpOdaNeqKQzvH3fHgI3nLhpSyLGdzOegPjjj1mjLU6UAuQljmLhXzW9eGJSijv7ivSAT4cXZ_z9XM/s1600/Maslow.higherarchy+of+needs.+J+finkelstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfxOvE_FvmU2PKi2JOO1VFndrKL-GDD5RmYsbfsRUuo2QL5TZ34rxZ4JoewC5wvmpOdaNeqKQzvH3fHgI3nLhpSyLGdzOegPjjj1mjLU6UAuQljmLhXzW9eGJSijv7ivSAT4cXZ_z9XM/s320/Maslow.higherarchy+of+needs.+J+finkelstein.jpg" width="320" /></a>The way we feel and act follows the evolution of the human
brain. So here is Rohr’s explanation from a scientific/evolutionary
perspective, simplified: Our reactions result from our primitive needs for: 1.
survival/safety (oldest part of the brain – reptilian) 2. power and control
(next oldest part of brain – limbic-frontal cortex) 3. esteem/ affection
(Frontal cortex – limbic). Check out the graphic of Maslow’s hierarchy of
needs. This developmental process not only takes place across humanity, but it
is the way we each develop as individuals. The body responds with sympathetic
flight/fright first (vagal tone), then the emotions follow reactively, and
finally, our mind becomes aware of the situation and either reacts or holds.
The rational mind is the last to kick in! This is why we need to cultivate a
delay and a more subtle awareness between the mind and body. The body
physiology “remembers” responses we needed when we were more primitive and the
mind – capable of objectivity – must mature into a capable, skillful master of
compassion. That is emotional maturity. Not denying or repressing your
emotions, but learning to be gentle with them so that you can also be gentle
toward others’.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Meditative prayer is the time-tested way to hold space –
indeed, it anatomically and physiologically changes the brain wiring and
neurotransmitting to downplay emotional and egoic reactivity and stimulate
skillful rationale. The answer has been right in front of us all this time. We
must learn to BE with ourselves. We must learn to be Mary and not so much
Martha. We must learn to Be Still and Know that we are. What are we? Made in
the image of God, vessels of the Kingdom, Love incarnate. We can only know who
we are if we are quiet enough to listen to our selves.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For the excellent blog that spurred my thoughts read Fr Richard Rohr's November 19, 2015 Daily Meditation <a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Richard-Rohr-s-Meditation--Emotional-Sobriety.html?soid=1103098668616&aid=h52Z_HkXng0">Emotional Sobriety by Fr Richard Rohr</a> </div>
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I leave you with the message in this meme - I cannot state it any better than that!! Love and peace to all of you!!</div>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus</a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24-RfVFMCrWWxbUa35vX_SC0IzdxE_BSpyrJzKW2tUhNY_4zI05SoPDB2I3f_q8tQt86jopEamMYVD4bBAEFVeH6HxR6bKLhgyRxnoMhW43Y9lER1UnY1VkPtSY8ccP_zlIINYdD_lBc/s1600/mindful.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24-RfVFMCrWWxbUa35vX_SC0IzdxE_BSpyrJzKW2tUhNY_4zI05SoPDB2I3f_q8tQt86jopEamMYVD4bBAEFVeH6HxR6bKLhgyRxnoMhW43Y9lER1UnY1VkPtSY8ccP_zlIINYdD_lBc/s320/mindful.png" width="248" /></a></div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-53403620326930446472015-11-12T06:35:00.000-08:002015-11-14T07:05:05.987-08:00The Energy of Prayer and Mindsight<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3YGfZKv8oF5apfmNGNs1DUwKRQxb0IVf6BUSem23f4lCJxffBggtVVTsrh9ZwbL6uKyblbh8xgPhyphenhyphenLZBHYY55yZKwArWbns2iQVpC730P64SHOxcGlYBRoyd1h6Gglho_nfXnE37yXU/s1600/monks+at+the+spencer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj3YGfZKv8oF5apfmNGNs1DUwKRQxb0IVf6BUSem23f4lCJxffBggtVVTsrh9ZwbL6uKyblbh8xgPhyphenhyphenLZBHYY55yZKwArWbns2iQVpC730P64SHOxcGlYBRoyd1h6Gglho_nfXnE37yXU/s320/monks+at+the+spencer.jpg" width="320" /></a>Sometimes when prayers are not answered we hear, “It’s the
will of God.” In Buddhism, the “will of God” is identical to the “retribution of karma.” Cause and effect is real, but sometimes the effect doesn’t seem to reflect the cause. If prayer cannot change these apparently wrong circumstances, then why pray?</div>
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Let’s consider what we think of as reality. Our physical reality is
impermanent. All religions, and science as well, attest to the fragile and
fleeting, temporary nature of the physical universe. Matter, and everything
concerning matter, from carefully constructed mental plans to the lives of the
stars, is constantly changing from its current energy state to another; from what our eye construes as solid to dissipated energy. The physicists notion of atomic particles is just a representation of a particular behavior of energy. The
only thing that is the same, changing and unchanging simultaneously, is energy, always. So what if we deal with prayer
on an energetic level? How does that look?</div>
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The mind is not the same as the brain. The mind (subject) is
a regulator for the flow of energy and information (energy with meaning). (1)
The brain (object), including all nervous systems, autonomic and central, is
like a transistor. The brain is also essentially energy, but we can see it,
unlike the mind. The brain is system of cells and pathways that carry, amplify
and integrate the minds attention. Psychiatrist, neuro-researcher, and author of the Mindsight concept books, Dan
Siegle defines mind as, “an embodied and relational process that regulates the
flow of energy and information.” (1) The mind is in dynamic <i>relationship</i> with the brain.<b> </b>What the mind focuses attention on
literally changes the neural pathways of the brain. So, as we look at a person or object or have a thought,
our embodied energy and information regulator (mind) is in dynamic relationship
with the flow of universal energy (all energies we produce and encounter) in each
and every moment. The way we train our attention to our relationship with, </div>
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<br /></div>
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1. our own thoughts and emotions and, </div>
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2. their relationship with worldly energies </div>
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<br /></div>
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determines the way we wire and rewire our neural pathways. </div>
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The process of prayer, or mindful meditation, or
contemplation (the deep and repeated observance of an object) directs energies
in ways that create and embed neural circuitry directed toward the attributes
of the object. The object our mind creates. If we pray to God, our brain wires toward the attributes we
ascribe to Godliness. But we don’t have to pray TO anyone, because what we are
really asking for is to embody and express the attributes of such Divinity. And,
truly, we are already Divine. Divinity is, like an atomic particle, a representation that we give to a particular notion of information (energy with meaning). We are "made in the image of God." Full of Godly possibility! So, always keep an open mind. As we allow this mental regulator of the flow of energy and information to be aware without attachment and bias, unity becomes the organic nature of our perception.</div>
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The relationship between the one who creates and the created
are one and the same, the subject (mind) creates the object (God) and the
object (God) creates the subject (mind). Stated another way, the artist creates
the art, but the art creates the artist. The creator and the created are in <i>dynamic</i> relationship. Each is changed
toward a new expression of what they are by the other. In reality, there is no
separation. The only reality is in <i>both</i>
subject and object.<br />
<br />
This is clearly stated in the following scripture:</div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">John 17:20 My prayer is not
for them alone. I pray for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father just as you are in me and I am in you. May
they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have
given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one, I in
them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtBoJW9OMe3mzZ9oapnkqYiGKQzyNdzSAYl-NpVXMHzM9Rv_MmFUvklj67CWsPxTyNnXGW9bB2HbHTMhVrqSxN_qfKSEFPRCjSF0W4Uejdm8932r9D25-QCsxgU9yYDZnSbLFZ8GSr64/s1600/Michelangelo-Sistine-Chapel-Adam-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUtBoJW9OMe3mzZ9oapnkqYiGKQzyNdzSAYl-NpVXMHzM9Rv_MmFUvklj67CWsPxTyNnXGW9bB2HbHTMhVrqSxN_qfKSEFPRCjSF0W4Uejdm8932r9D25-QCsxgU9yYDZnSbLFZ8GSr64/s320/Michelangelo-Sistine-Chapel-Adam-.jpg" width="320" /></a><o:p> </o:p></div>
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Thich Nhat Hanh in his book, The Energy of Prayer, states, “We and God are not two separate existences; therefore the
will of God is also our own will. If we want to change, then God will not stop
us from changing…. The energy of mindfulness is a real energy, and whenever
energy is applied there is a change.</div>
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When we sit down to practice unifying our body and mind
[through prayer], and we bring our energy of love to our grandmother, to an
elder sister, or a younger brother, then we are producing a new energy. That
energy immediately opens our heart. When we have the nectar of compassion and
have established communication between the one who is praying and the one being
prayed to, then the distance between us does not have any meaning. This
connection can’t be estimated or described in words; time and space cannot
present any obstacles.</div>
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In prayer, the electric current [energy] is love,
mindfulness and right concentration. Mindfulness is the real presence of our
body and our mind, directed toward one point, the present moment. When you have
this, you have concentration that leads to prajna, Sanskrit for insight and
transcendent wisdom. Without that, our prayer is just superstition.” (2)</div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p>The benefits of prayer/meditation are well-documented over many years of study. With the advent of neuroimaging and advanced EEG technologies, we are able to locate activity associated with certain behaviors in the brain and measure subtle changes in activity resulting from external stimuli. Most importantly, we are learning that interdisciplinary collaboration and study massively increases our understanding of the human mind-body experience.</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p>May your mind-body experience be expanded and enhanced by the reading of this article. May your prayer open your mind to the beautiful Divinity of Life and lead you forward with wisdom and compassion for the world.</o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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<o:p>_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus</a></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><b>References</b></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal">Dan
Siegle, Practicing Mindsight, (Sounds True, <st1:city w:st="on">Boulder</st1:city>, 2015).</li>
<li class="MsoNormal">Thich
Nhat Hanh, The Energy of Prayer, (Parallax Press, <st1:place w:st="on">Berkley</st1:place>, 2006)</li>
</ol>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-59596675010376539892015-11-08T07:35:00.003-08:002015-11-08T07:35:45.174-08:00Unified Field Theory and Oneness<div style="margin-bottom: 6px;">
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px;">Physicists and Oneness~</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNKEUQGbcf-GYHPy6cGvh9Ln-rTXH-snm7nZltSkqcvFmNDgC7zxVgit24tjDM3dBLd6QTMqupxLkuRzeD7K90L12woYoZh03RfJ5HIUidE0A_90PkfMwBCTMawSicaEq_Ir6AGVBNuo/s1600/Oneness+Universal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; color: #141823; float: right; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGNKEUQGbcf-GYHPy6cGvh9Ln-rTXH-snm7nZltSkqcvFmNDgC7zxVgit24tjDM3dBLd6QTMqupxLkuRzeD7K90L12woYoZh03RfJ5HIUidE0A_90PkfMwBCTMawSicaEq_Ir6AGVBNuo/s320/Oneness+Universal.jpg" width="316" /></a><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 19.32px;">Have I piqued your interest with the sexy words, "Unified Field Theory?" Good! Then lets talk about the way things are, and have been for a long, long time...and all our sacred texts tell us about it! The key to "getting it" is changing your perception.</span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">Let me re-emphasize this at the get-go: this is not new. This is not secret. The seeming convergence of quantum physics and spiritual subjectivity only allows us to realize what has been said in different ways by different human cultures, many, many times before. Listen with open mind and heart. "Let those who hear, let them hear," says Jesus repeatedly in the Gospels. Even the Old Testament the prophet Isaiah (6:9-10) writes: </span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">"You will indeed hear but never understand,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">and you will indeed see but never perceive.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">For this people’s heart has grown dull,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">and with their ears they can barely hear,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">and their eyes they have closed,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">lest they should see with their eyes</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">and hear with their ears."</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">In fact, these will be the words of any prophet you read/hear, because a prophet (or intuitively-biased person) can perceive many meanings in one idea/circumstance. This is "seeing" with the third eye - the ajna chakra, the mind of Christ, enlightened, nondual perceiving. All humans use this inner intuition daily, but most are unaware of it. On the Myers-Briggs Personality Types Inventory, only 27% of the population is biased toward intuition, which means only 27% of us use intuition as our primary perceiving mechanism. Seventy-three percent of us use our outward sensing capabilities (these include sight, hearing etc., and logical, analytical thinking) </span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">in a more primary way than our intuition</span><span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">.</span><br />
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</div>
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">So moving on, with this quote from physicist, Lothar Schafer's in mind (from the video below)...</span><br />
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.32px;">"Unified field theory proves everything is interdependent. If you harm another, you harm yourself." Lothar Schafer</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">Photosynthesis and O2 respiration are an example of co-dependence. We dont really have to understand nonlocal particle physics to know it, although the notion that there would be no form (particles) without the reality of formlessness (waves/potential) is well-understood through quantum understanding.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">What we should know, however, is this: Co-dependence of life on ALL levels has been understood (perhaps not quantified) from ancient times. All religions speak about our interdependence and Oneness.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">The concept of Trinity celebrates this paradigm. Buddhists have been talking about co-dependent arising for millenia. Many Eastern religions practice ahimsa - cause no injury, do no harm. Ahimsa is also referred to as nonviolence, and it applies to all living beings - including all animals - according to Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">Yet, in the materiaiistic West, we have been encultured right out of touch with this way of thinking. This is a sociololgical fact. The advent of discrete disciplines: science, philosophy, theology, linguisitics etc during the late 18thC encouraged our mechanistic and separationist worldveiw.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">However, it is still within us, this ancient knowledge...it is the way humans used to use the mind. A former, more holistic awareness of our subjective AND objective experience. And, as Dr Schafer states here, when I know you and I are one and the same, morality is common sense: what I do to you, I do to myself. That is the [ancient] golden rule.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><br /></span><iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/gQbM4gYg6rA/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gQbM4gYg6rA?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"></span></div>
<div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3; line-height: 19.32px;">Treat others as you would treat yourself. Learn to treat yourself with honesty and compassion and you will express that in the world. Ancient wisdom. Science, philosophy, religion....all understand this and have for a very long time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">But each of us hears, sees, learns, understands, believes what we want to believe, see, hear, understand. Perception is everything! Open your filters. Listen to others, but dont believe everything you hear. If it expands your ideas or is outside of your box - allow it, but hold it. If it diminishes your ideas or feels like a box, let it GO! Stay open, stay supple, stay flexible with your mind. Be what you want to see in the world...if its more love, then be more loving, if its more peace, then be more peaceful. You will have to make sacrifices - of pride, of time, of power, of control, of status....it takes work to be humble but maintain integrity. Ask the trees about that this time of year.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">Anyway, as Ghandi said, "Be the Change."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">Change what you want to love and unity. Change how you roll to generosity and compassion. Change who you think you are to humility and patience and tolerance and mercy. Change your need to be right to a bigger need to be kind. Unity is about similarities, not differences. Differences are so beautiful when they are expressions of unity, but they can cause mighty conflict when we oppose them and give them power by status.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;">We are one. Our pain, our gain, our lives....ONE, sacred LIFE. Treat each other the way you want to be treated. And work on treating yourself well first.<br /><br />With love, _/\_Peggy @ @<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">ecumenicus</a></span></div>
</div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-8310786698937601372015-11-06T06:41:00.000-08:002015-11-06T06:47:18.178-08:00Metanoia, Mindfulness and The Universe in a Table<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIQI1CfCSOUSymxLsncpXvDz2m9_Sn-41XuZO8cvd8lDCMpDEDT0wzu29R1DoVf1_HU5cnbaTHbGE5qDSuYFtCvKc8DF2G08ny5yqCqnAIpL7bPkQtE8R2-S9zyf7BHmoL7K7LPDJlmg/s1600/table.cool+lake+design.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKIQI1CfCSOUSymxLsncpXvDz2m9_Sn-41XuZO8cvd8lDCMpDEDT0wzu29R1DoVf1_HU5cnbaTHbGE5qDSuYFtCvKc8DF2G08ny5yqCqnAIpL7bPkQtE8R2-S9zyf7BHmoL7K7LPDJlmg/s200/table.cool+lake+design.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">COOL Lake Design</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The Latin
translation of the Greek, </span></em><i><span lang="EN">metanoeō</span></i><span lang="EN">/μετανοέω (</span><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">metanoia) to </span></em><i><span lang="EN"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poenitentiam_agite" title="Poenitentiam agite">poenitentiam agite</a></span></i><span lang="EN">.(</span><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">repentance) during the 2<sup>nd</sup> century lent
an unfortunate tone of remorse or contrition to the word, vastly
misinterpreting its original intent. In fact, the Greek, metanoia, </span>metá,</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> meaning
"beyond" or "after" and </span>noeō,”</em><em><span style="font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"> meaning "perception"
or "understanding" or "mind," is a change of holistic perception.</span></em><br />
<span lang="EN"><br /></span>
<br />
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</div>
<span lang="EN">In biblical Greek, <i>metanoeō</i>/μετανοέω
and <i>metanoia</i>/μετάνοια signify a "change of Mind, a change in the
trend and action of the whole inner nature, intellectual, affectional and
moral." This meaning of metanoia as a "transmutation" of
consciousness is even in contrast to classical Greek in which the word expressed
a superficial change of mind. (1) It was in its use in the New Testament and in
writings grounded in the New Testament that the depth of metanoia increased
until it came "to express that mighty change in mind, heart, and life
wrought by the Spirit of God." (2) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
This kind of perception change, or expanding awareness, can be most readily attained through contemplation,
the lingering observation of an object or action that allows for all subjective
possibility to inform objective discernment. It is important to remember that perception is always changing, consciousness is fluid, with ideas and thoughts full of meaning and understanding emerging and fading constantly. Experiencing this is encountering the nondual and interdependent nature of reality as yang and yin, as material and energetic, as formed and formless, as active and receptive...simultaneously.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioEsJorczu7Irh5D7MkwWdafy62UB9NcFAtTPvYbfzQ0tYgIiZT8rlexRpqZb0LIqbIKeLhbGFAwlEBjt7fOY9uuJczx-irDRnYD5UDEgQV5-VBcBDJv_G8cifppwpCK3fqMHd-cuv0-4/s1600/table.laura_spector_rustic_table.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioEsJorczu7Irh5D7MkwWdafy62UB9NcFAtTPvYbfzQ0tYgIiZT8rlexRpqZb0LIqbIKeLhbGFAwlEBjt7fOY9uuJczx-irDRnYD5UDEgQV5-VBcBDJv_G8cifppwpCK3fqMHd-cuv0-4/s320/table.laura_spector_rustic_table.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laura Spector Rustic Designs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (3) ~<br />
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<span style="font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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Recall a simple and ancient truth: the subject of
knowledge cannot exist independently from the object of knowledge. To see is to
see something. To hear is to hear something.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The practitioner meditates on mind and, by so doing, is able
to see the interdependence of the subject of knowledge and the object of
knowledge. When we practice mindfulness of breath, then the knowledge of breath
is mind. When we practice mindfulness of the body, then the knowledge of body
is mind. When we practice mindfulness of objects outside ourselves, then the
knowledge of these objects is also mind. Therefore the contemplation of the
nature of interdependence of all objects is also the contemplation of the mind.
Every object of the mind is itself mind. In Buddhism, we call the objects of
mind the dharmas. Dharmas are usually grouped into five categories:</div>
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<br /></div>
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1. bodily and physical forms</div>
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2. feelings</div>
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3. perceptions</div>
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4. mental functionings</div>
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5. consciousness</div>
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<br /></div>
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These five categories are called the five aggregates. The
fifth category, consciousness, however, contains all the other categories and
is the basis of their existence. Contemplation on interdependence is a deep looking
into all dharmas in order to pierce through to their real nature, in order to
see them as part of the great body of reality and in order to see that the
great body of reality is indivisible. It cannot be cut into pieces with separate
existences of their own. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The first object of contemplation is our own person, the
assembly of the five aggregates in ourselves. You contemplate right here and now
on the five aggregates which make up yourself.</div>
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<br /></div>
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You are conscious of the presence of bodily form, feeling,
perception, mental functionings, and consciousness. You observe these
"objects" until you see that each of them has intimate connection
with the world outside yourself: if the world did not exist then the assembly
of the five aggregates could not exist either. Consider the example of a table.
The table's existence is possible due to the existence of things which we might
call "the non-table world": the forest where the wood grew and was
cut, the carpenter, the iron ore which became the nails and screws, and
countless other things which have relation to the table, the parents and
ancestors of the carpenter, the sun and rain which made it possible for the
trees to grow.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If you grasp the table's reality then you see that in the
table itself are present all those things which we normally think of as the
nontable world. If you took away any of those nontable elements and returned
them to their sources-the nails back to the iron ore, the wood to the forest,
the carpenter to his parents-the table would no longer exist.</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxyjJFJzJjBrouC2ozxvvMdG63ohalimP0ZA-xCuBdBgUvPxF2RPvluU3kqhD2J6MzuHT5umGz308FjaxIooVyJpjSUKTM3jyI5_4q1M_E2ghqP3dgFMqXJs_N8HBiVdc9j8rGBobprA/s1600/Table+by+Michael+Dreeben.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxyjJFJzJjBrouC2ozxvvMdG63ohalimP0ZA-xCuBdBgUvPxF2RPvluU3kqhD2J6MzuHT5umGz308FjaxIooVyJpjSUKTM3jyI5_4q1M_E2ghqP3dgFMqXJs_N8HBiVdc9j8rGBobprA/s320/Table+by+Michael+Dreeben.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Dreeben</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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A person who looks at the table and can see the universe is
a person who can see the way. You meditate on the assembly of the five
aggregates in yourself in the same manner. You meditate on them until you are
able to see the presence of the reality of one-ness in your own self, and can
see that your own life and the life of the universe are one. If the five
aggregates return to their sources, the self no longer exists. Each second, the
world nourishes the five aggregates. The self is no different from the assembly
of the five aggregates themselves. The assembly of the five aggregates plays,
as well, a crucial role in the formation, creation, and destruction of all
things in the universe.</div>
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<br /></div>
Be Still and Know that I Am. Be Still and Know. Be Still. Be. This is the Way.<br />
<br />
Blessings on the journey, Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus/">Ecumenicus</a><br />
<br />
<b>References</b><br />
1. Treadwell Walden, <i>The Great Meaning of the Word Metanoia: Lost in the Old Version, Unrecovered in the New</i>. (Thomas Whittaker, 1896) 4, 9.<br />
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2. Richard C. Trench, <i>Synonyms of the New Testament</i> (Macmillan, 1880, 9th edition) 255-261.<br />
<div>
3. Thich Nhat Hanh, <i>The Miracle of Mindfulness</i>, Trans. Mobi Ho (Beacon Press, 1975) 45-54.</div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-92000526207439725672015-10-13T08:23:00.000-07:002015-10-13T15:22:24.749-07:00Suffering is Not Knowing Who You Are<div class="MsoNormal">
“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ8SssgGBSkAFf0glAg4f4AL3pAe4B0_v5iqOcGJzJ0Cmp7XHUI5gN5H6SpzYKmaVUffj7WN_FwUMuZx-0Tuglj02nWK2XUNL-3dPZMxSp8LypDiYq8H86IWUKKOx9ZapQEJSHcSSQP4/s1600/dark+matter+to+gasillustris_box_dmdens_gasdens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilJ8SssgGBSkAFf0glAg4f4AL3pAe4B0_v5iqOcGJzJ0Cmp7XHUI5gN5H6SpzYKmaVUffj7WN_FwUMuZx-0Tuglj02nWK2XUNL-3dPZMxSp8LypDiYq8H86IWUKKOx9ZapQEJSHcSSQP4/s320/dark+matter+to+gasillustris_box_dmdens_gasdens.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Love is knowing I am everything,</div>
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and between the two my life moves.” </div>
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― Nisargadatta Maharaj</div>
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<br /></div>
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I bought a book today, The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience
and the Life Well Lived, by psychiatrist and neuroscientist, <a href="http://www.peterwhybrow.com/">Peter Whybrow</a>.
Peter says our culture is unstable as a result of our thinking from the small
mind of the ego – habituated to the quick fix, the rapid reward. He studied why
we, ALL of US, think we can live on credit and avoid economic collapse, as we
had in 2008. He says 3 year olds know more about brands than they do nature and
common sense.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And that our
fundamental problem is,</div>
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WE DON'T KNOW WHO WE
ARE.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Hmmmm, that’s familiar. It is the great fundamental
spiritual reason for suffering in all traditions and for all time –</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Buddhists say we suffer because we do not know who we
are. Or, in better keeping with the idea
of "no self," would probably like this worded in reverse: We do not
know who we are not.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Christians and Muslims say our suffering is a reflection
of our <poor> relationship with God, and the illusion that we are
separate from God. The Christian scriptures repeated say, Do you still not see
or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Do you have eyes but fail to see,
and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? (Jeremiah 6, Mark 8, Matthew
13, Psalm 135, Isaiah 6 and 32…..). I would ask you to reflect deeply, inwardly,
on, “Who do you think God is?” and “How are you in relationship with God?”</poor></div>
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<br /></div>
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The Hindu Sanskrit teachings point to ignorance as the cause
of suffering. And that ignorance is of one single thing, lack of knowledge of
Self, our True Self, the one who Knows God and doesn't claim differently. It is
said "Who knows himself, knows his Lord." It is also said, "One
knows God only to the extent one knows oneself."</div>
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Our personal and social out of balance with self, with each
other, with our economy, and critically, ecology are all based on this
ignorance. We do not know who we are.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Religion is designed to point us in the direction of this
truth. The Latin roots of “religion” – re – ligare – mean, to bind back; to
return our minds from the illusion that we are separate physical entities to
the reality that we are connected as ONE spiritually.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6okecB4Oxv1nVrS6GgiIJhZYivPMJER1GcZIXckJFcK2PxlSTeL781qheUmtIDYeIKFQd0Skaz7FtTXegioLVDs3uJtyTMFw8GbUVjq5v_9e5uNWhHrdEsBUjM56VrqkLWLlw2TOqNY/s1600/hippocampus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ6okecB4Oxv1nVrS6GgiIJhZYivPMJER1GcZIXckJFcK2PxlSTeL781qheUmtIDYeIKFQd0Skaz7FtTXegioLVDs3uJtyTMFw8GbUVjq5v_9e5uNWhHrdEsBUjM56VrqkLWLlw2TOqNY/s320/hippocampus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Whybrow says we still allow our primitive neural survival
mechanisms to take precedence over the more recently evolved functions of the
neocortex. This too, the research on meditation and the scriptures have been
telling us for years. In fact, this is the Garden of Eden Story – the illusion
of the separation from God. We allow our ego defense mechanisms to override
what our mind and heart know is true and right, fair and equitable, sustaining
for the greater good rather than serving ME (often at someone else’s expense).</div>
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So here’s the thing: All religion is essentially about
psychology. Religion is about YOU, the person and YOUR relationships. Some
religions use a philosophical language that appears very straight forward.
Others use metaphor and story and we have to place our self into the story as
ALL of the characters in order to observe the whole spectrum of personal and
social implications regarding WHO WE ARE and HOW WE ARE IN RELATIONSHIP with
our Higher Power/God and with the world – people and planet – economy and
ecology. We are not “hearing” or “seeing” the meaning of the story without
imagining our self in the roles of the characters in the story – the good AND
THE BAD. You are “us” and you are “them.”</div>
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If we think someone
else will live this life for us, will save us from the suffering of the world,
we are mistaken. That is OUR job. And our primary assignment to complete the job is TO KNOW </div>
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WHO WE ARE.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8av0zCIuj0f7yzs6WHRpZcHC1SgK1v0iD1Aoyvail8zLPeNSii6_eGd5f0CFxtQkR8OedYNCiBdqv9FyotlabjJ5IbGYOKLazjo_jWQVnIV_0CgdHhrH6jMMNpkxISqXtNeoCMNdVb10/s1600/Dark_matter_stride_by_tchaikovsky2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8av0zCIuj0f7yzs6WHRpZcHC1SgK1v0iD1Aoyvail8zLPeNSii6_eGd5f0CFxtQkR8OedYNCiBdqv9FyotlabjJ5IbGYOKLazjo_jWQVnIV_0CgdHhrH6jMMNpkxISqXtNeoCMNdVb10/s320/Dark_matter_stride_by_tchaikovsky2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We are nothing and we are everything. We are spirit and we are enfleshed. We are energy and we are matter. We are a receiver, poised at the intersection of time and space and we are able to know this.<br />
<br />
Be Still and Know that I AM. and YOU ARE, WE ARE ONE. One Spirit. One humanity. One planet. One Life. One miracle.<br />
<br />
_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus">Ecumenicus</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-1748881902294435612015-09-05T04:58:00.002-07:002015-09-05T04:58:53.615-07:00Advaita - Nonduality and the Tension of Opposites<div style="background: white; line-height: 9.5pt; margin-bottom: .05in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Hozh3zdg7NqYAi89XouCzfh5SUBpGfY9-f3qgt7H3uSWQYQqsVuYziclCpWuH83xdRKSX9rPvKxXYOWVzQ2w1gdgPc5UBDKzSwR9hQwkCOEnrAOo5MdgMWrISLktnrmh9buEcizoZQU/s1600/nonduality2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Hozh3zdg7NqYAi89XouCzfh5SUBpGfY9-f3qgt7H3uSWQYQqsVuYziclCpWuH83xdRKSX9rPvKxXYOWVzQ2w1gdgPc5UBDKzSwR9hQwkCOEnrAOo5MdgMWrISLktnrmh9buEcizoZQU/s320/nonduality2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Truth always seeks unity. Truth does not tolerate
contradiction. Understanding the truth is a dynamic operation of thought that
requires the "tension of opposites" to unfold. Hegel's thesis -
antithesis = synthesis describes this, as does Gurdjieff's affirmation - negation
= reconciliation. The nature of duality is paradox. Truth is the acceptance of
both extremes of paradox. It is an insight gained from the reconciliation of
point + counterpoint.</div>
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<br /></div>
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We live in a tension of opposites, spirit and flesh, energy
and matter. We "think" in a tension of opposites, objective rationale
and subjective intuiting/feeling. Even our objectified opinions create a
tension of opposites. (also called coincidence of opposites - Heraclitus (5th c
BC), Nicholas of Cusa, De Docta Ignorantia (15th c CE) and also Kabbalistic
sources)</div>
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Ultimately, truth is nondual (Advaita). It never picks one
side over the other. It always reconciles both. Nondual awareness is
enlightenment. All mystics are aware that they think this way, both objectively
and subjectively, rationally and with intuition/feeling. God of the mystical
heart and mind is the absolute nondual reality of Ultimate Awareness.
"Ultimate awareness, the vast and unlimited consciousness of the divine,
is also the nature of mature enlightenment."</div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 9.5pt; margin-bottom: .05in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
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~Wayne Teasdale, generously adapted.<br />
Art from <a href="http://embodhiment.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">embodhiment.wordpress.com</a></div>
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Be Still.</div>
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<br /></div>
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_/\_Peggy @ <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus">ecumenicus</a></div>
ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7490542019367126463.post-66607284024598137252015-08-24T07:16:00.003-07:002015-08-24T07:16:46.135-07:00UNKNOWING<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0GcJOfufAZD4bgwKHUMDA2cF7zMFeGZL6cjNgaPjlql7HCYj0ClpwRsYP8f9sb-pWtHOpebu7Rs8uA6oej0g96A-LzYDO-5QXGkCAbFlDva2Ck_y_gBoe27esHhxs5pAEyHlp3ZrDhk/s1600/reflection.APNphotog+school.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0GcJOfufAZD4bgwKHUMDA2cF7zMFeGZL6cjNgaPjlql7HCYj0ClpwRsYP8f9sb-pWtHOpebu7Rs8uA6oej0g96A-LzYDO-5QXGkCAbFlDva2Ck_y_gBoe27esHhxs5pAEyHlp3ZrDhk/s320/reflection.APNphotog+school.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">APN Photography School</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">“The wise
man is one who knows what he does not know.”<br />
~Tao Te Ching, 5th Century BCE<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”<br />~ Socrates, 469/470-399 BCE</div>
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He (God) exists in a superessential mode and is known beyond all understanding only in so far as he is utterly unknown and does not exist at all. And it is that perfect unknowing, taken in the best sense of the word, that constitutes the true knowing of him who transcends all knowing.<br />~Dionysius the Areopagite, Letter I to Gaius (PG3,1o6s) 5th-6th century CE</div>
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“I tell you the truth, any object you have in your mind, however good, will be a barrier between you and the inmost Truth.”<br />~ Meister Eckhart, 1260 – c. 1328</div>
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This knowledge by unknowing<br />Is such a soaring force<br />That scholars argue long<br />But never leave the ground.<br />Their reason always fails the source:<br />To understand unknowing,<br />All reason now transcended.<br />~ St John of the Cross, excerpt: I Entered Where I Did Not Know, 1542 – 1591</div>
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<h1 class="quoteText" style="color: #181818; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“The intuitive mind (the mind that experiences the "unknown") is a sacred gift and the rational mind (the mind of knowing) is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” </span><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">~Einstein paraphrased by Bob Samples</span></h1>
<div style="font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
_/\_peggy @ <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=326734894393" href="https://www.facebook.com/ecumenicus" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;">ECUMENICUS</a></div>
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ecumenicushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12652660400597406873noreply@blogger.com0