Inner Orientation
A fundamental characteristic of being human is to become oriented toward some reality. We say, for example, “I am an American, or a Christian, or a Buddhist. I am straight or gay. I am a liberal, or a Republican.” All these are ways of orienting ourselves in this world—meaning, my conscious identity is toward something that gives me a center or grounding to my life.
If we look at the list above carefully, we will see that they are all external. Our orientation is toward something outside ourselves. External orientation is the norm for human beings living along the horizontal axis of space-time aqnd the world of social reality. It is the way we both see ourselves and ground ourselves.
Within the stream of wisdom Christianity flowing from Yeshua, however, there is an understanding about this issue that is quite different from the human norm. Yeshua speaks not of external orientation, but of inner orientation—toward something that lies at the center of one’s being instead of the periphery. One’s true “orient” is not external, but interior. It has nothing to do with the public space or time around us. In fact, external orientation is ultimately “disorienting,” because it takes us from our "true North," our Original Self. The essence of what it means to be a human being lies, therefore, within. Lacking inner orientation we become lost in the kosmos, the world of human making.
Once we find the center, and stand up out of this world at that center (as Yeshua says in the Gospel of Thomas), then the process of interiorization has begun where we find, not only our ground, but also our “original face”—the image of the divine which the first gift made to us.
But what about the outer world? Is it something that we must reject? Ultimately not. The outer world also has a soul, and an interiority. It has a deep meaning, and an inner essence, just as we do, but we can only know it when we begin the process of own interiorization. Once we know that interiority within ourselves, then we are ready to begin to know the world’s soul. In truth, “the human soul and the soul of the world are revealed as inextricably linked. A violation of either is a violation of both,” says Tom Cheetham (After Prophecy, 5). But, “the birth of the human person, and the revelation of the soul of the world are accomplished by a kind of ‘turning-inside-out’ of each, giving the outer world the interiority of the personal soul and the inner person the confident reality of the outer world” (5).
This is why Yeshua refers constantly to the priority of the inner reality over outer religion, interiority (the inside of the cup) over external appearance of any kind. This wisdom’s way of knowing—from the inside out.
If we look at the list above carefully, we will see that they are all external. Our orientation is toward something outside ourselves. External orientation is the norm for human beings living along the horizontal axis of space-time aqnd the world of social reality. It is the way we both see ourselves and ground ourselves.
Within the stream of wisdom Christianity flowing from Yeshua, however, there is an understanding about this issue that is quite different from the human norm. Yeshua speaks not of external orientation, but of inner orientation—toward something that lies at the center of one’s being instead of the periphery. One’s true “orient” is not external, but interior. It has nothing to do with the public space or time around us. In fact, external orientation is ultimately “disorienting,” because it takes us from our "true North," our Original Self. The essence of what it means to be a human being lies, therefore, within. Lacking inner orientation we become lost in the kosmos, the world of human making.
Once we find the center, and stand up out of this world at that center (as Yeshua says in the Gospel of Thomas), then the process of interiorization has begun where we find, not only our ground, but also our “original face”—the image of the divine which the first gift made to us.
But what about the outer world? Is it something that we must reject? Ultimately not. The outer world also has a soul, and an interiority. It has a deep meaning, and an inner essence, just as we do, but we can only know it when we begin the process of own interiorization. Once we know that interiority within ourselves, then we are ready to begin to know the world’s soul. In truth, “the human soul and the soul of the world are revealed as inextricably linked. A violation of either is a violation of both,” says Tom Cheetham (After Prophecy, 5). But, “the birth of the human person, and the revelation of the soul of the world are accomplished by a kind of ‘turning-inside-out’ of each, giving the outer world the interiority of the personal soul and the inner person the confident reality of the outer world” (5).
This is why Yeshua refers constantly to the priority of the inner reality over outer religion, interiority (the inside of the cup) over external appearance of any kind. This wisdom’s way of knowing—from the inside out.
posted by Lynn Bauman at 8:49 AM
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