Metanoia, Mindfulness and The Universe in a Table

COOL Lake Design

The Latin translation of the Greek, metanoeō/μετανοέω (metanoia) to poenitentiam agite.(repentance) during the 2^nd century lent an unfortunate tone of remorse or contrition to the word, vastly misinterpreting its original intent. In fact, the Greek, metanoia, metá, meaning "beyond" or "after" and noeō,” meaning "perception" or "understanding" or "mind," is a change of holistic perception.

In biblical Greek, metanoeō/μετανοέω and metanoia/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)

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.

Laura Spector Rustic Designs

From Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness (3) ~

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.

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:

1. bodily and physical forms

2. feelings

3. perceptions

4. mental functionings

5. consciousness

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.

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.

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.

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.

Michael Dreeben

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.

Be Still and Know that I Am.  Be Still and Know. Be Still. Be.   This is the Way.

Blessings on the journey, Peggy @ Ecumenicus

References
1. Treadwell Walden, The Great Meaning of the Word Metanoia: Lost in the Old Version, Unrecovered in the New. (Thomas Whittaker, 1896) 4, 9.

2. Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament (Macmillan, 1880, 9th edition) 255-261.

3. Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness, Trans. Mobi Ho (Beacon Press, 1975) 45-54.

Suffering is Not Knowing Who You Are

“Wisdom is knowing I am nothing,

Love is knowing I am everything,

and between the two my life moves.”

― Nisargadatta Maharaj

I bought a book today, The Well-Tuned Brain: Neuroscience and the Life Well Lived, by psychiatrist and neuroscientist, Peter Whybrow. 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.

 And that our fundamental problem is,

 WE DON'T KNOW WHO WE ARE.

Hmmmm, that’s familiar. It is the great fundamental spiritual reason for suffering in all traditions and for all time –

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.

The Christians and Muslims say our suffering is a reflection of our 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?”

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."

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.

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.

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).

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.”

 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

WHO WE ARE.

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.

Be Still and Know that I AM. and YOU ARE, WE ARE ONE. One Spirit. One humanity. One planet. One Life. One miracle.

_/\_Peggy @ Ecumenicus

Advaita - Nonduality and the Tension of Opposites

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.

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)

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."

~Wayne Teasdale, generously adapted.
Art from embodhiment.wordpress.com

Be Still.

_/\_Peggy @ ecumenicus

UNKNOWING

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“The wise man is one who knows what he does not know.”
~Tao Te Ching, 5th Century BCE

The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
~ Socrates, 469/470-399 BCE

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.
~Dionysius the Areopagite, Letter I to Gaius (PG3,1o6s) 5th-6th century CE

“I tell you the truth, any object you have in your mind, however good, will be a barrier between you and the inmost Truth.”
~ Meister Eckhart, 1260 – c. 1328

This knowledge by unknowing
Is such a soaring force
That scholars argue long
But never leave the ground.
Their reason always fails the source:
To understand unknowing,
All reason now transcended.
~ St John of the Cross, excerpt: I Entered Where I Did Not Know, 1542 – 1591

“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.”   ~Einstein paraphrased by Bob Samples

_/\_peggy @ ECUMENICUS

Hildegard of Bingen - Man in Sapphire Blue or The Trinity: A Study in Compassion.

In a very general, cultural (patriarchal) sense, male and female consciousness express themselves respectively as active and receptive, yang and yin, objective/logic and subjective/relational. While these biases commonly express in social roles along gender lines, it is important to note that all men and all women have BOTH styles of consciousness and they compliment each other. 

The mystical or contemplative perspective is essentially nondual in its expression of active and receptive consciousness, but with a culturally heavy emphasis on active rational consciousness, the mystical-contemplative is characterized by substantial development of receptive consciousness; that is, intuitive-empathic perceiving and judging capabilities; and again, these compliment and deepen more active sensing and thinking. 

This mystical-intuitive perspective is found in the writings and visions of Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century German Benedictine abbess, writer, composer, philosopher, visionary, healer, administrator and, as of October 2012, Dr of the Roman Catholic Church.

In Hildegard's time, it was traditional in women’s religious orders, to describe Divinity as a circle or a circle in motion, as a spiral. Hildegard writes: “A wheel was shown to me, wonderful to behold…Divinity is in its omniscience and omnipotence like a wheel, a circle, a whole that can neither be understood, nor divided, no begun, nor ended”  She continues, “Just as a circle embraces all that is within it, so does the Godhead embrace all.” The circular imagery is deeply maternal. “Godhead” is feminine in both German and Latin, and is an all-embracing name for divinity.

Man in Sapphire Blue or The Trinity: A Study in Compassion. 

The Man in Sapphire Blue is from the book Scivias (1151)
Hildegard was 42 years old in 1142, when this, her first 

book of illuminations, was started.

Hildegard describes: “A most quiet light and in it burning with flashing fire the form of a man in sapphire blue.”  The blue colors and the manner in which the man holds out his hands, extended toward the world, denote compassion and healing. Hildegard describes the Trinity as “One light, three persons, One God. The Father is brightness and the brightness has a flashing forth and in the flashing forth is fire and these three are one.” The Father is a living light, the Son, a flash of light and the Spirit is fire.. The fire of the Holy spirit binds all things together, illustrated as an energy field surrounding the man. Symbolized as the golden cord of the universe, the Holy Spirit streams through eternity creating a web of interconnectivity of all being and of divinity with creation and humanity (reminiscent of an East Indian cosmology using cord and thread imagery).

Hildegard’s theology of Trinity is about divine compassion entering the world. Jesus the Christ is the revelation of the compassion of God, the incarnation of divine compassion. The Hebrew word for Womb is compassion. But we do not merely look at a mandala (ancient circular image of the universe) – we are transformed by it. This mandala draws us into the energy of divine compassion, it connects us with the Christ, the Blue Man, such that we realize our own identity in Him who is the compassion for the universe.  If we don't hold our healing capacity in unity, the entire rope (universe) unravels. The aperture on the man's head is likened to the 7th Chakra, the crown chakra, that connects individual awareness with universal awareness.

May the words and visions of Hildegard speak to your sense of divine receptivity. And may you wonder with reverence at the precious gift of this amazing, sacred cosmos and our Oneness with all of Life.

_/\_Peggy @ Ecumenicus

References:

Matthew Fox, Illuminations of Hildegard of Bingen, Bear and Co. Rochester VT, 1985, 2002.

Renate Craine, Hildegard, Prophet of the Cosmic Christ.  Crossroad Publishing, NY, 1997.

The Other

Psychologists call it self-actualization,
Christians call it Union with God,
Buddhists call it Nirvana,
Hindus call it Moksha or Union with God (of the Atman with Brahman)

...all of these refer to the ability to merge relative with absolute...all "things," all concepts with no thing and no concept. Particles with waves.

Of course we cannot forget concepts and things, we live in that objective reality; our mind has evolved to perceive particles/things/concepts. Our language snatches them out of endless possibility and offers them up for everyone to consider.

But the greater reality is that which precedes objectification, the Kairos...the eternity of the subjective, the possibility of that which cannot be named without limiting. Unknown is always greater than Known.

G_d, the breath of Yahweh...Allah...these are spoken symbols of the sound of our breathing, not objectified designators of some mental concept. These are the sound of Spirit - the sacred no thing and everything. Breath of Life.

Where do we find this no thing? Look within and everything without will be understood.

“The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end - you don't come to an achievement, you don't come to a conclusion. It is an endless river.”

~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

Be

Still

Know

I

Am

Be. 

_/\_Peggy at Ecumenicus

Three Doors of Refuge

Meditation or contemplative practice, such as centering prayer, is a practice of receptivity. To enter the space of pure being, we must change (for the time of meditation) our fundamental relationship with the outer world from one of action and expression to one of receptivity and openness. We shift perception to "What Is" as it is. "Not mine, but Thy will be done." is the Christian language for this posture of mind. 

In Christian thought, to enter into the flow of divine grace, one must assume a mental posture of humility, meaning that one must relinquish both external identity attachments and the false sense of control they give us, and be with circumstances as they are, trusting God to carry us. This posture of receptivity is referred to as kenosis, self emptying. It is releasing the illusions imparted by ego: separation, attachment, neediness for power and control, for affection and esteem, in favor of trust, truth and authenticity. When we can learn to make this change of mind in  meditation, from active control to passive receptivity,  we are better able to bring our peaceful presence to times of active engagement with the outer world. This is the objective of meditation or contemplation: to exercise the mind in the way of receptivity so that as we live in the world, it is engaged in receptivity in a balance with its engagement in activity.

This description of meditation by Bon Tibetan Buddhist lama, Tinzen Wangyal Rinpoche describes the contemplative process.

"There is no better protection than the refuge of unbounded sacred space, infinite awareness, and genuine warmth. With the inner refuge, you are not depending on someone or something outside you to make you feel secure. Any external source of refuge is ultimately unreliable. 

OPEN. The first refuge, unbounded sacred space, is a true support because it is unchanging, indestructible, beyond birth and death, and eternal. Whatever difficulties you face, the first refuge supports you in allowing your experiences and hosting them fully.

AWARENESS. The second inner refuge, the light of awareness, can never be diminished or extinguished by any cause or condition. Inner light is unceasing—forever luminous and clear. Even in the darkest of circumstances, you can trust that it is always there.

PURE BEING.  You can also trust that the warmth of the third refuge is within you. It spontaneously arises from the union of openness and awareness. There may be moments when you feel emotionally cold and dark, when it seems that all the light has gone from your life. But your experience and inner truth are not in sync—the light is always there. At these moments, access to the inner refuge may seem distant, but a sense of trust may bring you a glimmer of the inner refuge that can lead to a shift in the darkness of your experience. Trust is a necessary companion on the path.

There is no situation so bad that you can't turn toward the three doors. As you become more familiar with entering and abiding in the inner refuge, you will begin to trust in its healing presence.

Being aware of the three doors is not work. In fact, the more effort you put into connecting with stillness, silence, and spaciousness, the more elusive the inner refuge seems. Connecting with the inner refuge is simply a matter of shifting your attention. If you are already still, be aware of stillness. When you are silent, hear the silence that is already there. Notice the spaciousness at the very center of your being. As you rest in awareness, you connect with your authentic self. The effort of seeking dissipates, and you are unbounded sacred space, infinite awareness, and genuine warmth—you are the inner refuge. The inner sacred space is so simple and close that if we search for it, we cannot find it. But it is always there for you, the source of all the elemental qualities you need. As the inner refuge, you are whole and complete in each moment."

~Tenzin Wangyal

Adapted from Tricycle .  Originally From The True Source of Healing, by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche (July 7, 2015). Reprinted with permission of Hay House.

Christian contemplative theology informs us that the first endeavor on the path to union with God is purgation. This is the process of opening, the removal of ego-defenses that keep us from a state of humble, loving acceptance; the psychological barriers to truth and grace. The second phase of the spiritual path is illumination, the same as awareness, described above as a light that is always on. Finally, union with God is akin to Pure Being, an experience of Oneness with the Divine finds us in the light of our own Pure Being.

May you be refined by the solitude of the open waters of grace, breathed through by the Spirit of light and love, and expanded into the open arms of Pure Oneness. It is from this Space that you can bring the highest healing to the world.

_/\_Peggy @ ecumenicus