“Almost any religious system which fosters unearthly love is potentially a nursery for mystics.” ----Evelyn Underhill
Love of God certainly qualifies as unearthly love. We know what Jesus meant when he said: “love your neighbor as your self.” But what did he mean when he said to “love God?” At the beginning of the 20th century, Evelyn Underhill, the great chronicler of mystical experience, declared that ‘unearthly love’ and mystics go together like hand and glove.
We know that mystics are apparently rare, and may even be radical and strange. We have heard that mystics have a hard time living like ‘normal’ people in the world. Why, then, did Jesus declare to all of us that to ‘love God’ was one of the two great commandments* for all people, if only mystics are able to participate in this ‘unearthly love?’
There are two possible answers: (1) love of God is not ‘unearthly,’ and may just mean being good and praying to and thanking God for supplying our needs, or (2) we are all potential mystics capable of loving an ‘unearthly’ God. We here define a mystic as one who is able to see beyond the earthly world of time and space and experience the unseen realm which interpenetrates and informs our own material universe.
If we examine the Great Religious Traditions of the world, I believe we can agree that the latter answer is indicated in the teachings of these faiths. And if that be true, we may then look to our own tradition to find the specific inspirational teachings or teachers that will act as a nursery to birth us to the deep spiritual life of the soul. This may be related to the rebirth or the ‘born again’ doctrine spoken of in various faiths.
Recently, Ana and I went to the new planetarium connected to the Observatory community on top of Mauna Kea. The lady facilitating the program pointed out among the stars and constellations the Orion Nebula, which she described as a ‘nursery for the birth of new stars.’
Looking up into the sky now and seeing the blue smudge in the sword of Orion near the constellation Taurus is a magical experience. There right in front of our eyes is a nursery where stars like our own sun are being carried in the stellar womb. It reminds us that within the deep womb of our own faith lies a spiritual nursery which may birth the mystic within us. That mystic is the true dweller within which is our very soul. That mystic is one who can reach the beatitude and fruits of following all of the commandments of all religions by ‘loving God and loving our neighbors as we love our selves.’
*Drawing on his ancient Jewish tradition, Rabbi Jesus boldly stated that these two commandments—to love God and to love our neighbors as our selves—included and transcended all of the 613 laws and commandments of the Jewish faith.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Sweetest Taste
Recently, Ana and I attended Easter Mass at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Honolulu. The minister urged the congregants to go beyond simply believing the doctrines of Christianity and to actually encounter the risen Christ. He spoke of the first Easter when Mary Magdalene encountered Jesus in the garden three days after the crucifixion. The risen Jesus was initially unrecognized by the woman who was one of his closest disciples. Then the Master looked at her and said “Mary.” The veil was lifted from her eyes and she exclaimed “Rabbi!” Her beloved Teacher was not dead. Their relationship had not ended.
Religion—the deep intimate bond between a mortal and the Immortal—can never be experienced or understood through doctrine alone. The scriptures of the theistic religions describe ancient encounters between God and other beings, our own spiritual ancestors. But our saints of all faiths urge us to go beyond reading about the religious experiences of others to taste love of God for ourselves.
The tastes of the world can be sweet and varied. But they are ultimately short-lived and endlessly mixed with bitter tastes. Without tasting the fruits of religious experience, we will not be able to resist absorption, compulsion and addiction to the fleeting tastes of material life.
In the Vedic texts of India, God is described as Rasaraja—the King of all Rasas, or Tastes. This echoes the Psalmist who said, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.” The key to a sustained and motivated spiritual path in this Ashram of the World is to taste the immortal joy which is right before us. God is all around us, like the water which encircles a sea creature. As we serve the Highest through all our actions, we will taste the Goodness of God—a ‘food’ which nourishes the soul.
And as we learn to listen intently with our inner heart, one day we may hear God speak our name, as Jesus spoke to Mary so long ago. We will hear our name in a whisper on the breeze or amidst the bird songs of a forest or even rising above the noise of a crowded street. Our Master, our Friend, our Beloved calls us by name to taste the sweetness of a Relationship which has long been forgotten but never lost. This is the resurrection we seek—the revival of a deep, deep relationship with Divinity which brings the greatest joy and peace.
Religion—the deep intimate bond between a mortal and the Immortal—can never be experienced or understood through doctrine alone. The scriptures of the theistic religions describe ancient encounters between God and other beings, our own spiritual ancestors. But our saints of all faiths urge us to go beyond reading about the religious experiences of others to taste love of God for ourselves.
The tastes of the world can be sweet and varied. But they are ultimately short-lived and endlessly mixed with bitter tastes. Without tasting the fruits of religious experience, we will not be able to resist absorption, compulsion and addiction to the fleeting tastes of material life.
In the Vedic texts of India, God is described as Rasaraja—the King of all Rasas, or Tastes. This echoes the Psalmist who said, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good.” The key to a sustained and motivated spiritual path in this Ashram of the World is to taste the immortal joy which is right before us. God is all around us, like the water which encircles a sea creature. As we serve the Highest through all our actions, we will taste the Goodness of God—a ‘food’ which nourishes the soul.
And as we learn to listen intently with our inner heart, one day we may hear God speak our name, as Jesus spoke to Mary so long ago. We will hear our name in a whisper on the breeze or amidst the bird songs of a forest or even rising above the noise of a crowded street. Our Master, our Friend, our Beloved calls us by name to taste the sweetness of a Relationship which has long been forgotten but never lost. This is the resurrection we seek—the revival of a deep, deep relationship with Divinity which brings the greatest joy and peace.
Interconnections
In indigenous cultures, ancient or modern, the circles of the sun, moon and planets relative to the earth, as well as cycles of these and other celestial bodies, are considered critical to one’s understanding of life and living. I read recently that the 11 year sunspot cycle of the sun has a major influence, not only on telecommunication systems, but on living beings as well. Most of us have heard of the highly-documented increase in aggressive and psychotic behavior on full moon nights. Police and hospital officials understand this phenomenon, and plan accordingly. Fewer people may know that sun and moon cycles are also used by some smart investors in their stock market decisions.
Even casual attention to the ups and downs of the stock market let us know that swings of emotions—whether fear or optimistic moods—on a collective level can send shock waves around the world, disrupting whole countries’ economic strengths in the process. Understanding how peoples’ emotions are affected not only by oil prices, the inflation rate and the consumer confidence index, but also by a host of celestial influences, is important as we go forward as a world community.
If we can conceive of the world as a great Ashram, we may gain insight in how to grapple with this significant issue of emotional swings and their interconnected repercussions on peoples’ survival and happiness. In a spiritual community, where the interconnections among all of the members are understood, it’s easier to see that as we take care of the needs of ‘the least among us’ we take care of ourselves. Disruptions in one person’s emotional health may affect many other ashram dwellers because each person plays a role in the tasks of the entire community. If one person’s health needs are ignored, someone will have to take up the slack. So compassion and common sense dictate that we care for all of our sisters and brothers in the world community.
The world has become an interconnected community, demonstrating time and again the butterfly effect*: for example, emotionally abusive working conditions in China can affect the health of children in America (unsafe imported toys). And fear of recession in America can affect the value of someone’s retirement fund in France. For better or worse, we’re all interconnected in a fragile system of interdependence. Whether manmade or celestial actions bring cycles of favorable breezes or ‘disasters’ we have a choice and a challenge in these very global times of our lives. Compassionate and pragmatic choices will lead us to care for the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of each other—beyond racial, cultural, religious or country borders—if we want the human race to survive and thrive in the modern era.
* The ‘butterfly effect’ is a metaphoric-scientific principle arising from chaos theory that the wind created by a butterfly’s wings in China could contribute to the creation of a tornado in Kansas.
Even casual attention to the ups and downs of the stock market let us know that swings of emotions—whether fear or optimistic moods—on a collective level can send shock waves around the world, disrupting whole countries’ economic strengths in the process. Understanding how peoples’ emotions are affected not only by oil prices, the inflation rate and the consumer confidence index, but also by a host of celestial influences, is important as we go forward as a world community.
If we can conceive of the world as a great Ashram, we may gain insight in how to grapple with this significant issue of emotional swings and their interconnected repercussions on peoples’ survival and happiness. In a spiritual community, where the interconnections among all of the members are understood, it’s easier to see that as we take care of the needs of ‘the least among us’ we take care of ourselves. Disruptions in one person’s emotional health may affect many other ashram dwellers because each person plays a role in the tasks of the entire community. If one person’s health needs are ignored, someone will have to take up the slack. So compassion and common sense dictate that we care for all of our sisters and brothers in the world community.
The world has become an interconnected community, demonstrating time and again the butterfly effect*: for example, emotionally abusive working conditions in China can affect the health of children in America (unsafe imported toys). And fear of recession in America can affect the value of someone’s retirement fund in France. For better or worse, we’re all interconnected in a fragile system of interdependence. Whether manmade or celestial actions bring cycles of favorable breezes or ‘disasters’ we have a choice and a challenge in these very global times of our lives. Compassionate and pragmatic choices will lead us to care for the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health of each other—beyond racial, cultural, religious or country borders—if we want the human race to survive and thrive in the modern era.
* The ‘butterfly effect’ is a metaphoric-scientific principle arising from chaos theory that the wind created by a butterfly’s wings in China could contribute to the creation of a tornado in Kansas.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Karma, Dharma and Love
Recently I spoke via the miracle of cell phone technology with my friend Mike, who lives in the Washington, DC area. He was driving home from his job at the EPA in slow DC traffic. I was driving to the southern part of the Big Island to see a hospice patient. Mike was talking about his ongoing experiences with teachers and teachings from the world religions: “They all have something to say about karma in one form or another; and they all look at dharma…” he said. “And they all have something to say about love,” I finished the equation. Mike had noted that the Great Faiths all seem to revolve around a few universal principles. “And that’s a good thing!” we both agreed.
Karma, dharma and love: with these three principles we can gain a lot of insight into life on this planet. Karma gives a hint as to what our past activities and desires have been (either in this life, or some say even in past lives). For example, if I wake up one day behind bars wearing a uniform with black and white stripes, I can guess with some certainty that I have broken the law.
As a universal principle karma—the law of action and reaction—encourages us to accept responsibility for our current situations, and to use the lessons of karma to improve our plight. A school boy who fails fifth grade due to inattention to his classwork, or too much attention to girls, has a choice: he can learn from his mistakes and go on to graduate with honors (thus transcending his karma, or even being motivated by his karma), or he can go on being inattentive and continue to fail. We don’t generally like to hear that we’re responsible for our situation in life—and there is something to be said for the effects of group karma. But most spiritual traditions bluntly state that ‘as we sow we reap’ and ‘as we do unto others, others will do unto us.’
Karma then gives us some insight into why we are ‘where we are’ in life. Dharma on a personal level indicates what our special purpose in life is: some are called to teach, or to minister, to build, to create, to care give, to farm, and so forth. Dharma is that seed planted in the heart by Universal arrangement or agreement. The seed of a maple tree will not grow into an orange tree. The sooner we can determine our dharma, the quicker we can begin to play our role in the drama or the pilgrimage of this life. If I’m doing my dharma, and you are doing yours and she is doing hers, the world will be a heaven on earth—as all of the members of Life’s Orchestra play their instruments on time and in time.
Dharma indicates who we are and what we are here to do. Karma indicates how we’ve understood that and how well we’re doing at it. And Love indicates the purpose for each of us accepting our vocations and doing them excellently. Love is the reason behind the whole creation. God, Great Spirit, the Mystery, Source of all has spun out this universe and all of its inhabitants for love alone. As parents create children for love, so God creates all of the creatures of the universe for love alone. Love flowers and grows as the lovers grow into their particular strengths and beauties. God the Beloved awaits our maturing into vessels of divine love.
With our dharma understood, and our karmic actions directed toward the Good, each of us can and will flower into the magnificent beings we were born and seeded to be. As the song says, “someday there will be love.” And that will be our perfection.
Karma, dharma and love: with these three principles we can gain a lot of insight into life on this planet. Karma gives a hint as to what our past activities and desires have been (either in this life, or some say even in past lives). For example, if I wake up one day behind bars wearing a uniform with black and white stripes, I can guess with some certainty that I have broken the law.
As a universal principle karma—the law of action and reaction—encourages us to accept responsibility for our current situations, and to use the lessons of karma to improve our plight. A school boy who fails fifth grade due to inattention to his classwork, or too much attention to girls, has a choice: he can learn from his mistakes and go on to graduate with honors (thus transcending his karma, or even being motivated by his karma), or he can go on being inattentive and continue to fail. We don’t generally like to hear that we’re responsible for our situation in life—and there is something to be said for the effects of group karma. But most spiritual traditions bluntly state that ‘as we sow we reap’ and ‘as we do unto others, others will do unto us.’
Karma then gives us some insight into why we are ‘where we are’ in life. Dharma on a personal level indicates what our special purpose in life is: some are called to teach, or to minister, to build, to create, to care give, to farm, and so forth. Dharma is that seed planted in the heart by Universal arrangement or agreement. The seed of a maple tree will not grow into an orange tree. The sooner we can determine our dharma, the quicker we can begin to play our role in the drama or the pilgrimage of this life. If I’m doing my dharma, and you are doing yours and she is doing hers, the world will be a heaven on earth—as all of the members of Life’s Orchestra play their instruments on time and in time.
Dharma indicates who we are and what we are here to do. Karma indicates how we’ve understood that and how well we’re doing at it. And Love indicates the purpose for each of us accepting our vocations and doing them excellently. Love is the reason behind the whole creation. God, Great Spirit, the Mystery, Source of all has spun out this universe and all of its inhabitants for love alone. As parents create children for love, so God creates all of the creatures of the universe for love alone. Love flowers and grows as the lovers grow into their particular strengths and beauties. God the Beloved awaits our maturing into vessels of divine love.
With our dharma understood, and our karmic actions directed toward the Good, each of us can and will flower into the magnificent beings we were born and seeded to be. As the song says, “someday there will be love.” And that will be our perfection.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
A Goddess Speaks
Earlier this week, I traveled on the road by Volcanoes National Park where Goddess Pele has been sending forth small explosions and big streams of billowing gases from her crater home, Hale mau mau. I pulled over and walked out on a trail leading toward the ocean to get a better view of what the Island’s Grand Lady may be up to. I was on my way back home from the house of a hospice patient, a 90 year old woman named Leilani who has seen a multitude of volcanic, earthquake and weather patterns on this highly volatile Isle, where new land for our planet is being created every day.
Leilani is a Catholic, who longs for a return to the Latin mass which she loved in her youth. She had been a catechism teacher who reveled in the majesty and mystery of medieval Church traditions. Since Latin was minimized during the changes of Vatican II, Leilani gradually stopped going to the Anglicized mass. It did not touch her soul. I shared with her that Pope Benedict had recently issued an edict which would make it easier for bishops to perform the Latin mass again. She smiled wearily, as if to say, ‘well what took them so long to figure that out!’ As we discussed the vog (a volcanic equivalent of smog) which was troubling her breathing, she said casually that “Madame Pele must be trying to tell us something.”
Here in Hawaii, a crossroad of East and West, of indigenous and mainland cultures, most of us have little trouble crossing cultural and religious boundaries with our thoughts and conversations. Grandmother Leilani, a devout Catholic, certainly understood the primacy of Pele, the fiery goddess who lives just a few minutes up the road from her house. She didn’t need to consult Catholic doctrines or attend interfaith dialogues to understand the reality of the ancient Hawaiian gods and goddesses. And, to Leilani they posed absolutely no threat to her belief in and devotion to the Christian God.
Leilani and her daughter thought that perhaps Pele was protesting the increasing development of the coastline of the Island by ‘rich investors from the mainland.’ They spoke their thoughts out loud: ‘and what will happen to us Hawaiians when all of the land is privately owned by outsiders?’ We all began to speculate on other possible reasons why Pele was spewing her gases out onto the Island at an alarming rate. Was it a sign of protest against the spread of greed and aggression all over the planet? Was it a warning of things to come? Was it a wake-up call or a call to action? Was it the blast of a natural trumpet announcing the beginning of a Golden Age which would bring all of us together?
Whatever Pele’s reasons, I stopped and offered my prayers to the Goddess for a relief of Grandmother Leilani’s breathing problems, and for patience with us interlopers of all races and cultures who have settled into this particular patch of Nature, a little confused about how we all fit into the flora and fauna of this Island paradise. “You have our attention,” I silently prayed. “Help us to be pono*, help us to wake up to our part in the Life of the Whole, help us to take care of each other and the Land, help us to cooperate with the perfect movement of the All That Is. And….thank you for the reminder.”
*Pono, a Hawaiian word meaning to be righteous, aligned with humanity and Divinity.
Leilani is a Catholic, who longs for a return to the Latin mass which she loved in her youth. She had been a catechism teacher who reveled in the majesty and mystery of medieval Church traditions. Since Latin was minimized during the changes of Vatican II, Leilani gradually stopped going to the Anglicized mass. It did not touch her soul. I shared with her that Pope Benedict had recently issued an edict which would make it easier for bishops to perform the Latin mass again. She smiled wearily, as if to say, ‘well what took them so long to figure that out!’ As we discussed the vog (a volcanic equivalent of smog) which was troubling her breathing, she said casually that “Madame Pele must be trying to tell us something.”
Here in Hawaii, a crossroad of East and West, of indigenous and mainland cultures, most of us have little trouble crossing cultural and religious boundaries with our thoughts and conversations. Grandmother Leilani, a devout Catholic, certainly understood the primacy of Pele, the fiery goddess who lives just a few minutes up the road from her house. She didn’t need to consult Catholic doctrines or attend interfaith dialogues to understand the reality of the ancient Hawaiian gods and goddesses. And, to Leilani they posed absolutely no threat to her belief in and devotion to the Christian God.
Leilani and her daughter thought that perhaps Pele was protesting the increasing development of the coastline of the Island by ‘rich investors from the mainland.’ They spoke their thoughts out loud: ‘and what will happen to us Hawaiians when all of the land is privately owned by outsiders?’ We all began to speculate on other possible reasons why Pele was spewing her gases out onto the Island at an alarming rate. Was it a sign of protest against the spread of greed and aggression all over the planet? Was it a warning of things to come? Was it a wake-up call or a call to action? Was it the blast of a natural trumpet announcing the beginning of a Golden Age which would bring all of us together?
Whatever Pele’s reasons, I stopped and offered my prayers to the Goddess for a relief of Grandmother Leilani’s breathing problems, and for patience with us interlopers of all races and cultures who have settled into this particular patch of Nature, a little confused about how we all fit into the flora and fauna of this Island paradise. “You have our attention,” I silently prayed. “Help us to be pono*, help us to wake up to our part in the Life of the Whole, help us to take care of each other and the Land, help us to cooperate with the perfect movement of the All That Is. And….thank you for the reminder.”
*Pono, a Hawaiian word meaning to be righteous, aligned with humanity and Divinity.
Faces of the Mountain
Mauna Kea, ‘the white mountain,’ rises majestically above Hawaii’s Big Island as the tallest volcanic creation in the Pacific at 13,796 ft. These days my mythic world revolves around this great being like the circumpolar stars circle the pole star. From every side of the Island I get a different view of its personality. At a little bridge on the northern coast road which curves along the mountain’s slope, I always ‘stop’ (at least in my mind) on a beautiful morning commute to view what appears to be a powerful, broad obelisk, often partly shrouded in clouds of mystery. Down near South Point, Hawaii, the southernmost village in the United States, I see a longer view of the mountain—like a hazy divine presence in the background of a peaceful worship service. From Hilo’s eastern perspective, one day I saw Mauna Kea rising in the distance behind the local Hongwanji Buddhist temple. I was astounded to see the snowy slopes of the mountain juxtaposed with the temple’s archaic design. It reminded me more of the rugged Himalayas than a sleepy Polynesian peak. And from the western ‘gold coast’ of the Big Island, Mauna Kea stands guard with two other mighty mountains, forming a sort of volcanic trinity.
Mauna Kea has come to symbolize for me a God who has Faces which look out to worshipers and lovers in all directions. People of all faiths and persuasions view Divinity from perspectives which seem at times to be diametrically opposed, just as our great mountain looks very different to southern and northern Island dwellers. But doesn’t this reinforce the transcendent greatness and compassion of God? One Source, living in the center of all beings and all things, looks out with different and appropriate faces to those looking back from an infinity of directions. Is this Mountain, or this God, any less conceivable, or any less believable, because of a paradox of complementary visions? I think not.
Some say that one should stick with their own view of a mountain or of God; that one should study their single, often hereditary, vision each day; then clarify and quantify that deeply personal conception over a lifetime. I say that this is fine and perfect for some. But for some of us, for those called to be explorers of Truth, mediators and bridge-builders to Truth, the burning desire to travel around the circumference of a great mountain, or a Great and Multi-Faced God, is not a whimsical, self-indulgent obsession.
It is a pilgrimage of love. It is a circumambulation of wisdom gathering. Let us not be deterred from gazing through the viewing windows of people and cultures of myriad perspectives. In the process, we may discover more facets of the personality, beauty and greatness of our beloved mountain, or our Beloved God.
Blessed are those of multiple vision, for they may one day see the brilliant, multi-faceted diamond at the heart of all existence that is God.
Mauna Kea has come to symbolize for me a God who has Faces which look out to worshipers and lovers in all directions. People of all faiths and persuasions view Divinity from perspectives which seem at times to be diametrically opposed, just as our great mountain looks very different to southern and northern Island dwellers. But doesn’t this reinforce the transcendent greatness and compassion of God? One Source, living in the center of all beings and all things, looks out with different and appropriate faces to those looking back from an infinity of directions. Is this Mountain, or this God, any less conceivable, or any less believable, because of a paradox of complementary visions? I think not.
Some say that one should stick with their own view of a mountain or of God; that one should study their single, often hereditary, vision each day; then clarify and quantify that deeply personal conception over a lifetime. I say that this is fine and perfect for some. But for some of us, for those called to be explorers of Truth, mediators and bridge-builders to Truth, the burning desire to travel around the circumference of a great mountain, or a Great and Multi-Faced God, is not a whimsical, self-indulgent obsession.
It is a pilgrimage of love. It is a circumambulation of wisdom gathering. Let us not be deterred from gazing through the viewing windows of people and cultures of myriad perspectives. In the process, we may discover more facets of the personality, beauty and greatness of our beloved mountain, or our Beloved God.
Blessed are those of multiple vision, for they may one day see the brilliant, multi-faceted diamond at the heart of all existence that is God.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Shelter from the Storm
In a full cycle of time, weather patterns change perceptibly. In a solar year, we experience weather ranging from a crisp spring morning to a lazy summer day, from an overcast day of autumn to a full blown winter storm. Similarly, in a Great Cycle of time, what has been called a Platonic Year, the changes are even more pronounced. The Golden Age of perfect harmony gives way to a less perfect Silver Age; the Bronze Age of gathering clouds gives way to an Iron Age of chaos, a veritable winter storm of dissent and confusion among mankind. The Greeks, Romans, Hindus and other ancient peoples described these great cycles and also noted that one should prepare for the quintessential weather of a particular Age.
The Iron Age, or ‘winter’ of the four long eons of time, is upon us. The Vedic seers, along with other cultures, foresaw the Storm of the Iron Age which would rage within the hearts of men, creating divisions of every kind—between the sexes, races, languages, cultures. Divisions would arise between rich and poor, young and old, even between mother and child within blood families. The ‘Iron Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy’ would be experienced as a Cosmic Wind and Rain Storm of gigantic proportions. Who amongst us can deny the insanity of this age in which we live, with its unending wars and genocides? The evening news each night confirms our worst fears.
But, these seers also saw that the Grace of Spirit would send forth a Golden Age within this long-running Age of Iron—described as “an Umbrella within a Hail Storm.” As the 2012 Era draws near, the prophecies of many wise cultures coalesce around legends of a cleansing followed by a transforming Age of Gold. The South Americans say that ‘the eagle of the North will fly with the condor of the South.’ The Vedic sages foresaw that people of all races and creeds would come together in One Family, singing Sacred Songs to purify an atmosphere long contaminated with anger and greed.
Ashram is from the Sanskrit word ‘ashraya’ which means ‘where one can find shelter.’ As we awaken to the possibility of a Golden Age where ‘lion and lamb lie together’ and people are no longer divided by the Old Fearful Ways, we can spread the word to those with the ears to hear that the Ashram of the World has open doors for all. If we can dream it, if we can begin to live it, then each and every child of God can find a shelter from the storm.
The Iron Age, or ‘winter’ of the four long eons of time, is upon us. The Vedic seers, along with other cultures, foresaw the Storm of the Iron Age which would rage within the hearts of men, creating divisions of every kind—between the sexes, races, languages, cultures. Divisions would arise between rich and poor, young and old, even between mother and child within blood families. The ‘Iron Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy’ would be experienced as a Cosmic Wind and Rain Storm of gigantic proportions. Who amongst us can deny the insanity of this age in which we live, with its unending wars and genocides? The evening news each night confirms our worst fears.
But, these seers also saw that the Grace of Spirit would send forth a Golden Age within this long-running Age of Iron—described as “an Umbrella within a Hail Storm.” As the 2012 Era draws near, the prophecies of many wise cultures coalesce around legends of a cleansing followed by a transforming Age of Gold. The South Americans say that ‘the eagle of the North will fly with the condor of the South.’ The Vedic sages foresaw that people of all races and creeds would come together in One Family, singing Sacred Songs to purify an atmosphere long contaminated with anger and greed.
Ashram is from the Sanskrit word ‘ashraya’ which means ‘where one can find shelter.’ As we awaken to the possibility of a Golden Age where ‘lion and lamb lie together’ and people are no longer divided by the Old Fearful Ways, we can spread the word to those with the ears to hear that the Ashram of the World has open doors for all. If we can dream it, if we can begin to live it, then each and every child of God can find a shelter from the storm.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Enlightenment Lessons from Politicians
An ashram is a place for intense spiritual growth, a place where we face our desires, confront our illusions and seek to gain insight into our true nature.
The 2008 contest for the Democratic nomination for President continues as Senators Clinton and Obama fight their way across the United States seeking votes and victories. What could attention to American political primaries have to do with our path to enlightenment? If the world is our ashram, we may look for spiritual lessons in all areas of life. What might politics have to do with soul growth?
Well, for one thing, the incredible discipline, determination and (dare we say) courage to run for the highest office in the land is admirable. Can we as spiritual candidates match the time, energy and enthusiasm of political candidates seeking to serve as president? Do we not seek to serve the Highest and Greatest? Do we find that some men and women engaged in a material service put us to shame with their dedication? Where is our fire, our passion, and our courage to expose ourselves and our values to the criticisms and judgment of the world?
Living in the world, we regularly interact with people of high discipline and energy working in various occupations and services. These men and women can be our inspiration, our exemplars, as we challenge ourselves to pursue the goal of self realization as intensely as they rush toward their goals of self achievement. Among such men and women, politicians are some of the most intensely dedicated.
Politics is a brutal game, not for the faint-hearted. So is the spiritual path. The Katha Upanishad describes the spiritual journey as subtle and as perilous as ‘a razor’s edge,’ especially for the faint of heart or inattentive: “Wake up, get up! Your boons you’ve won! Awake and understand them! The path is like a razor’s edge. With guidance go attain it!” Some of the great mystics of all faiths and times have given up everything of value: every attachment, every unnecessary pleasure of the world in a fierce engagement with the greatest antagonist of a spiritual aspirant’s life—his or her own mind.
There is another way in which politics may inform our spiritual journey: by learning from the failures, ‘near death’ experiences, and improbable comebacks of politicians. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton were ‘given up for dead’ at various times during this campaign season. And Barrack Obama reminds us of the improbability that the son of an impoverished sheep farmer from Kenya and a poor white woman from Iowa could rise to be the third candidate still left in the race for president. The lesson for us in our world ashram is clear: never give up. We will stumble on the spiritual path—often, and sometimes very hard. We will rise to great heights and fall to the lowest depths. The sages tell us to get up, shake off the dust, and go on. The only way our Journey ends in failure is if we don’t get up, or turn around and go back.
The 2008 contest for the Democratic nomination for President continues as Senators Clinton and Obama fight their way across the United States seeking votes and victories. What could attention to American political primaries have to do with our path to enlightenment? If the world is our ashram, we may look for spiritual lessons in all areas of life. What might politics have to do with soul growth?
Well, for one thing, the incredible discipline, determination and (dare we say) courage to run for the highest office in the land is admirable. Can we as spiritual candidates match the time, energy and enthusiasm of political candidates seeking to serve as president? Do we not seek to serve the Highest and Greatest? Do we find that some men and women engaged in a material service put us to shame with their dedication? Where is our fire, our passion, and our courage to expose ourselves and our values to the criticisms and judgment of the world?
Living in the world, we regularly interact with people of high discipline and energy working in various occupations and services. These men and women can be our inspiration, our exemplars, as we challenge ourselves to pursue the goal of self realization as intensely as they rush toward their goals of self achievement. Among such men and women, politicians are some of the most intensely dedicated.
Politics is a brutal game, not for the faint-hearted. So is the spiritual path. The Katha Upanishad describes the spiritual journey as subtle and as perilous as ‘a razor’s edge,’ especially for the faint of heart or inattentive: “Wake up, get up! Your boons you’ve won! Awake and understand them! The path is like a razor’s edge. With guidance go attain it!” Some of the great mystics of all faiths and times have given up everything of value: every attachment, every unnecessary pleasure of the world in a fierce engagement with the greatest antagonist of a spiritual aspirant’s life—his or her own mind.
There is another way in which politics may inform our spiritual journey: by learning from the failures, ‘near death’ experiences, and improbable comebacks of politicians. Both John McCain and Hillary Clinton were ‘given up for dead’ at various times during this campaign season. And Barrack Obama reminds us of the improbability that the son of an impoverished sheep farmer from Kenya and a poor white woman from Iowa could rise to be the third candidate still left in the race for president. The lesson for us in our world ashram is clear: never give up. We will stumble on the spiritual path—often, and sometimes very hard. We will rise to great heights and fall to the lowest depths. The sages tell us to get up, shake off the dust, and go on. The only way our Journey ends in failure is if we don’t get up, or turn around and go back.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Of Presidents and Popes
“It’s the opportunity of a lifetime,” said a Master-Sergeant at Andrews Air Force base, “to see two of the most powerful men in the world together.” The Pope and the President walked toward a waiting limousine as onlookers cheered.
I cheered too. Pope Benedict is the first foreign dignitary to be ‘picked up at the airport’ by Bush in the seven years of his presidency. I cheered because political authority briefly showed humility before spiritual authority.
I was with a devout Catholic man yesterday during my hospice rounds. I asked him what he thought of the new Pope. Randall said, “Well, he has to be tested first.” And then he added, “But he sure dresses well.” We certainly seem to be in a time of testing for world leaders, both political and religious. While our leaders continue to impress with the trappings of political and religious power, we long to see them pass the ongoing tests of integrity and vision which confront a divided human race.
I was glad to hear that President Bush will be discussing interfaith dialogue with the Pontiff. This issue may be much more important for the world’s future than the two men’s disagreement over the war in Iraq. And I was happy to hear the Pope addressing the sex abuse issue. Pope Benedict XVI heads a Church which claims over 1 billion adherents. President Bush heads the most powerful country on the planet, and is called ‘the leader of the free world.’ The President and other politicians have said that ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ is the greatest enemy to peace in the world. Some Muslim leaders have declared that Western arrogance and materialism (supported by Christianity, in their opinion) is the ‘great Satan’ which threatens world peace and a God-centered civilization.
Who is right? Who is wrong? Leaving aside such polarizing questions, perhaps we should ask instead, “Who’s willing to take a risk?” “Who is going to risk offending their own congregation or voters by stepping across religious and cultural lines to talk with ‘the enemy’? The Islamic Saladin and Christian Richard-the-Lion-Heart met centuries ago, risking the condemnation of their followers. They met, not only as hard-line representatives of warring religions, but as two human beings at a crossroads in history. Their risk-taking resulted in a long period of peace in Jerusalem.
It has been said that this Pope’s predecessor and Ronald Reagan collaborated together to help bring down the Berlin Wall. If current religious and political leaders can humble themselves through collaboration versus condemnation, perhaps they can begin the process of breaking down the very dangerous walls of mistrust between believers of different faiths. These walls are not made of stones like the Berlin Wall. They are much more calcified walls—walls of dark history and retribution, terrorism and crusading, betrayal and abuse. They will not fall as swiftly as walls made of stone.
Popes and presidents, rabbis and imams, gurus and pastors. May they each risk taking a brick from the dangerous walls which divide us, and thus honor the God who has given inspiration to prophets, saints and founders of a multitude of faiths and civilizations.
I cheered too. Pope Benedict is the first foreign dignitary to be ‘picked up at the airport’ by Bush in the seven years of his presidency. I cheered because political authority briefly showed humility before spiritual authority.
I was with a devout Catholic man yesterday during my hospice rounds. I asked him what he thought of the new Pope. Randall said, “Well, he has to be tested first.” And then he added, “But he sure dresses well.” We certainly seem to be in a time of testing for world leaders, both political and religious. While our leaders continue to impress with the trappings of political and religious power, we long to see them pass the ongoing tests of integrity and vision which confront a divided human race.
I was glad to hear that President Bush will be discussing interfaith dialogue with the Pontiff. This issue may be much more important for the world’s future than the two men’s disagreement over the war in Iraq. And I was happy to hear the Pope addressing the sex abuse issue. Pope Benedict XVI heads a Church which claims over 1 billion adherents. President Bush heads the most powerful country on the planet, and is called ‘the leader of the free world.’ The President and other politicians have said that ‘radical Islamic terrorism’ is the greatest enemy to peace in the world. Some Muslim leaders have declared that Western arrogance and materialism (supported by Christianity, in their opinion) is the ‘great Satan’ which threatens world peace and a God-centered civilization.
Who is right? Who is wrong? Leaving aside such polarizing questions, perhaps we should ask instead, “Who’s willing to take a risk?” “Who is going to risk offending their own congregation or voters by stepping across religious and cultural lines to talk with ‘the enemy’? The Islamic Saladin and Christian Richard-the-Lion-Heart met centuries ago, risking the condemnation of their followers. They met, not only as hard-line representatives of warring religions, but as two human beings at a crossroads in history. Their risk-taking resulted in a long period of peace in Jerusalem.
It has been said that this Pope’s predecessor and Ronald Reagan collaborated together to help bring down the Berlin Wall. If current religious and political leaders can humble themselves through collaboration versus condemnation, perhaps they can begin the process of breaking down the very dangerous walls of mistrust between believers of different faiths. These walls are not made of stones like the Berlin Wall. They are much more calcified walls—walls of dark history and retribution, terrorism and crusading, betrayal and abuse. They will not fall as swiftly as walls made of stone.
Popes and presidents, rabbis and imams, gurus and pastors. May they each risk taking a brick from the dangerous walls which divide us, and thus honor the God who has given inspiration to prophets, saints and founders of a multitude of faiths and civilizations.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
My Grandmother's Gift
Last night I dreamed of my maternal grandmother for the first time in years, maybe decades. She had come out with a beautifully cooked meal for me before I was to leave on a long trip. I cried tears of appreciation and respect for her gift. Waking up, I thought of the multi-generational support which is available to each of us from our family lineages. My grandmother died over 30 years ago. I remember her as a hard-working, often smiling and always strong woman who balanced out my charismatic, idealistic grandfather with her practical concern for their extended family. At family gatherings, she was the foundation that held the celebrations together. Whatever individual aspirations she may have had earlier in life, she had sacrificed to create a safe, happy and inviting family environment for her children and grandchildren. That was a real gift to me. It was my first experience of the joy of being with a group of diverse yet loving people who cared for each other on a deep level. Later when I lived in a large spiritual community, I often hoped that someday I could be in relation to each ashram member like a brother or a sister, just like it was growing up at our family gatherings. God being our common Source, we are all brothers and sisters at the deepest level. Indeed, we can only feel the profound peace and joy of being 'at home' in this world when we can relate to everyone as brothers and sisters. My grandmother's gift allowed me to feel what that is like. In this way, she is one of my great ashram teachers. Her gift helps me to know intuitively how far I have come and how far I have to go to find spiritual community and universal family within the great diversity of the world.
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