Fire

In the church of my heart,
The choir is on fire.

--Vladimir Mayakovsky, 1893-1930

Embedded Wisdom

We live inside a modern ideology: the propaganda of separateness—that we are beings separated from one another and from the natural world, and we, therefore, can demand that our separate needs can and must be met at the expense of all other beings. This is the world of egoic reality that drives the engines of contemporary culture. The truth is simply the opposite. We are embedded beings, webbed to multiple layers of reality, part of an extraordinary universe of interconnection. Wisdom means both to see and live by means of these deep connections of which we are already a part.

To begin, clearly the physical world all around us is a network of deep, ecological interconnectedness. To violate this is to destroy not only the beautiful web of creation, but to tear apart our own larger being in favor of so-called individual self interests. Wisdom would demand that we live in harmony with and embedded in the encompassing web that sustains us. Wisdom teaching would express how to do this by understanding the principles of co-inherent living. This, however, is only the first step. We also live webbed to unseen realities, and these are the ones that sustain our hearts and give meaning to the inner spaces of our lives. Without knowing our interconnection to the unseen world, the Divine Realm (what Yeshua called “the Kingdom of God”) we lose our way because we have no inner compass, not orientation to the axis of Being itself. It is this larger, unseen reality which sustains us, guides us, teaches us, and gives us the meaning and the means we need to live even on the physical plane. Only by learning this inner, embedded wisdom, therefore, can we sustain and grow in all our outer relationships. The inner and the outer are inextricably bound together and form a whole which is the matrix of embedded wisdom’s teaching.

Flower of the Mountain

There sits a blossom
High on the mountain
Who sees this flower
Except for me

What a wonder!

Only the creator and I
Know of its exquisite beauty
The flower cares not
Who appreciates it
It is content to just be
Deeply it knows its contribution
It has lived many years
Surpassing the lifespan
of many a man
Yet it is not bored
In its own radiance it basks
It never grows weary
nor ever carries burdens
It is a wonder to behold
One day on this plane, it will flower no more
Going back into the great collective
Merging with other beauty
To possibly bloom again
In some other glorious way

We are all flowers of extraordinary brilliance
Of all types and colors
Be like the flower
Even if NO one knows that true brilliance
For like the flower of the mountain
You add immeasurably to the whole
Realize your contribution
Sing the song of thanks to the Creator
For you are privileged to serve

Soul

What is soul? Soul is conscious of good and evil,
rejoicing over kindness, weeping over injury.
Since consciousness is the inmost nature and
essence of the soul,the more aware you are
the more spiritual you are.Awareness is the
effect of the spirit:anyone who has this in
abundance is a man or woman of God.


-Mathnawi

Religion

Religions are different roads converging on the same point. What does it matter that we take different roads so long as we reach the same goal? I believe that all religions of the world are true more or less. I say "more or less" because I believe that everything the human hand touches, by reason of the very fact that human beings are imperfect, becomes imperfect.

-Mahatma Gandhi

Early Christian Eco-theology

One of the early Christian texts that was suppressed by the western tradition of Christianity is the more eastern or oriental Gospel of Philip. In that text, which Ward Bauman and I have recently translated from Coptic, the following "Analogue" appears. It is quite telling and powerful. If western Christianity had kept this perspective, we might not be in the ecological crisis we are experiencing today.

The Master said, “Blessed are all who existed before coming into being, for all who are now, both existed before and shall ever be.”

The transcendence of human beings is not obvious to the naked eye. It remains hidden from view, but the result is that humans have mastery over creation, even over those creatures which are larger and stronger. Through what is manifest and what is hidden, we are able to survive. When, however, humans separate from nature, then everything begins to devour and destroy itself, because there is no mutual nourishment. But when human beings cherish and cultivate the earth, then all things are properly fed.

Evolution of Consciousness

In a recent seminar in Fredericksburg, Texas, Ward Bauman's work on Meister Eckhart included the following quote from Ken Wilber. It summarized the goal in the evolution of consciousness which is unfolding and being experienced in each individual across the planet.

When the Great Search is undone, and the separate-self sense has been crucified; when the continuity of witnessing has stablized in your own case; when ever-present awareness is your constanted ground--then your entire body-mind will regenerate, resurrect, and reorganize itself around intrinsic Spirit, and you will arise, as from the dead, to a new destiny and a new duty in consciousness.
--Ken Wilber

Perspective

Remember the whole thing is just a play and the Lord has assigned you a part. Act your part well; there all your duty ends. He has designed the play and he enjoys it.

-Sai Baba