Ruminations on God

Aug 20, 2010 10:03 AM

This will likely go into my blog as well.

Ruminations on God

I have been thinking a good bit about God lately.  Some of the books that I have been reading of late have the personified image of God as a part of their belief system.  I don't see anything inherently wrong with this but it is something that I have struggled with since breaking away from the Christian church some time ago.

So, let's dispense with the whole Old Guy in the Sky image that so many people hold of God.  Even theologians in those traditions realize that this is a silly image, often retained from Sunday school, that folks still cling to.  Theologians use words like ineffable and mysterious to describe their God concept and, the more they talk, the more you realize they really have no clue what they are talking about - they are simply building defensive ramparts around their ideas about God.

Reading the mystics is somewhat more enlightening since these people seem to have and encourage a direct experience of God but, what they end up saying, is that the experience is indescribable.  Once they have established  that there are no words for their experience, they then promptly begin to use lots of words, from whatever religious tradition they belong to, to try to describe that experience.  Try reading Evelyn Underhill's book on mysticism sometime if you do not believe me.  Massive tome which rapidly leads one to the conclusion that mystics are verbose people who use a lot of words to tell you that they can not tell you what they are trying to tell because it is not possible.

I realize that is an unfair assessment of mystics and that there are a number of beautiful mystical texts that point us in the right direction but the paragraph above portrays some of the frustration that the seeker faces when he or she is trying to explore these things for himself.

So, what, you might ask, do you think of God.  My simple answer?  There isn't one.

Now, before you brand me an irreligious heathen, I am talking very specifically about this Person that everyone seems to think is floating around out there.  No such Person.  What there is and what I think all these mystics have been tapping into and been unable to describe is a matrix . . . a fundamental energy template upon which creation is based and which is intelligent in a way that we can not even begin to understand or comprehend.  Like the Force in Star Wars, this template seems to have a will of it's own and perhaps even intelligence but what we can know about it is extremely limited since it is literally everything.  Personally, I think that a second's unlimited contact with this universal energy field would literally disintegrate any corporeal being.

The mystic or mage or shaman or . . . . whatever who has an experience of "oneness" or "union with God" or is experiencing some small part of this energy, a tiny tap in to the Force, if you will.  What I have discovered over time is this - while the Ineffable truly is ineffable and our human minds can not even begin to wrap themselves around even a small portion of "God", all is not lost.  One of the fundamental things I think you can say about the universal energy field is that it loves diversity and a huge number of beings, both corporeal and incorporeal exist within that field.  A lot of those beings seem pretty determined to give human beings at least a taste of that ineffable experience.  I am pretty sure that is why there is such a huge number of religious expressions throughout the cultures of the world.  Everyone is trying to grasp that which can not be grasped.    

 

Afterlife

As the result of some of my recent reading, I have been thinking a good bit about life after death lately.  It is one of the great mysteries of human life - what happens to us when we die?  Einstein tells us that energy never ceases to exist; it simply changes form.  Certainly, it is true that the physical body returns to its constituent elements, as in the Genesis phrase, ashes to ashes and dust to dust.  The trouble comes when we consider the force that animates those “ashes”, what some might call a soul.

A hard and fast materialist will argue that there is no such thing; that humans are simply a high order animal with a remarkable ability to manipulate their environment.  Very few people seem to buy into that notion though and that is where the argument really begins because, even though we do not know for certain what becomes of us after death, humans seem pretty eager to convince others that their version of the afterlife is correct.  

Humans also seem to have a remarkable facility for assembling stories about the afterlife and then using them in religions as means of social control.  Look at what happens to you in the afterlife if you do not lead a ‘good’ life in any other major religions of the world.  If you do not abide by the recognized proper behaviors, the best that you can hope for seems to be a lower rebirth (Buddhism) but you could just as easily end up in a very hot place for eternity (Christianity and Islam come to mind).  Even the Spiritualists, whose afterlife seems pretty harmless, own the idea that, if you have not acted according to their set of Natural Laws, then you are are likely to undergo rather extensive counseling after you “cross over”.  

So, is the afterlife simply a myth devised by societies to get humans beings to behave in a manner that is conducive to the ongoing needs of the society?  I honestly do not know but it is certainly an element of the afterlife equation.  All anyone can really go on when considering what happens after the corporeal form ceases to exist is that equation mentioned above.  Energy does not cease to exist; it simply changes form.  If, like me, you believe that there is something more to a human being than a 1.99 bag of chemicals, you need to consider this profound question.  

Set aside your religious opinions for a moment and really think about what could happen to the fundamental energy that makes you different from the person next to you.  I’ll say more as I continue to think on this one but I want to leave you with one thought.  One of my teachers was very fond of an idea that he read in a book called The Body of Myth.  The author of that work propounded the idea, which I have seen echoed in other esoteric writings, that what happens to us after we die is guided, in large part, by what we believe will happen to us.  

Dreams

I have been thinking a lot about dreams lately.  When I was younger, I brought dreams back from my sleeping time all the time but some time ago, and I can not quite remember when, I stopped remembering dreams.  I tried any number of 'fixes' that I read about but nothing seemed to help so I resigned myself to falling into oblivion each night and went on.  After all, I had a whole daytime life to live. 

Still, I felt vaguely jealous whenever someone told me about the ‘weird dream' that they had the night before.  I remembered dreaming and some of the best spiritual guidance (and most puzzling) I ever received came in dreams.  I could not pretend that I understood my dreams but, if I spent enough time with them, some nugget of insight almost always came forth.  My dreams were a rich source of journalling fodder.

Just to add to my dream lust, every now and again, I would bring back a dream or, more likely, some fragment of a dream.  Hope would spark in me that the long drought was over but then the oblivious nights would begin again - immediately - and I would go back to dreaming of having dreams.  

For some reason that I can not explain, that seems to have changed over the weekend.  I have had dreams that I brought back to consciousness three of the the past five nights and I was aware, on the nights when I did not recall a dream, that I was dreaming.  At least one of those dreams seems to have a real message for me and I have been sitting with it for a couple of days.  Mostly though, I am just happy to have a nightscape back.  

As I said, I have no idea what provoked this change.  Stacey has been working intently with her dreams as per our teacher’s instruction and that may have something do with it.   I have been re-reading a Tom Cowan book about core shamanism as a spiritual practice and the presence of that energy could certainly have something to do with my renewed night rambles.  It could simply be that I have arrived in a place on the path where I have a need to access that information.  

Whatever the cause, I am just happy to be getting those night time messages again.  Sure, most dreams are simply your consciousness downloading from the day but even those dreams are useful monitors of your subconscious.  Occasionally though, one has a dream that is a very clear message from . . . elsewhere.  Spirit, God, the spirits, whatever designation you wish to use.  Those clear, life like dreams are the ones that I really missed and I have been fortunate enough to have one in this interlude.  

So, if you are one of those people, like Stacey, who dreams regularly, enjoy it and pay attention.  You never know when that gift might be denied you for a while.  For the most part, dreams are something to be grateful for.  Listen to them, work with them and be happy you have them.  

Prayer II

My last post was on prayer but I do not think that I have exhausted the topic by any means.

This morning I woke to the sound of thunder. The sky was ominously dark and the wind was beginning to pick up. In short, we had a classic Western New York thunderstorm rolling in and, sure enough, as I dressed, the rain began to come down.

I have to walk a third of a mile, in the open, and then stand out waiting for my bus each morning. I am exposed to the elements for 15 minutes or more as I wait so I have rain gear for days like today. No matter how well prepared you are though, you are going to get a little wet.

I have been working on being grateful of late so, as I stood making my lunch this morning, I focused on what the Lakota would call the wakinyan, the Thunder Beings, and thanked them for bringing rain to the land and norishing our Mother, the Earth. I asked, quietly, that the rain might be soft and nourishing so that the Earth could derive the maximum benefit from it and so that I might avoid getting soaked as I made my way to work.

Long story short, the rain had subsided by the time that I left the house and continued in abeyance even after I got downtown. It seems to be raining gently outside now - a nourishing rain that will benefit the earth. Could be a coincidence, I suppose. Then again, I think that, were I a Thunder Being, I would be more likely to listen to someone who spoke respectfully to me rather than all the folks who look to the sky and curse the rain as an inconvenience.

The Lakota end their prayers with the phrase "mitakuye oyasin" - all my relations - as a way of acknowledging that all beings are their relatives and that they pray for the sake of all their relatives and not just for themselves. I like this idea; prayer is simply talking to your relatives or to the One Power from whence those relatives come.

As I said in my last post, offering prayers is not for everyone but it is something for every person on a spiritual path to investigate. My experience is that prayer makes me more deeply aware of the One and of the infinite diversity of "all my relations".

Prayer

I was talking to my wife the other day and mentioned that I say prayers every day.  She looked at me and asked me what I pray to and that set me to thinking about why I use prayer as a way of relating to the One.

Buddhism and Taoism tend to be nontheistic philosophies but, if you look at them in their cultural religious forms, there is still a good bit of praying going on.I think the reason for prayer is pretty simple.

It is one thing to have an intellectual understanding that there is a Power that flows through the universe (whatever you want to call that) and that our job as humans is to try to move in the flow of that Power.  The next big question that arises, once one has accepted this premise, is how?  How does one align oneself with that Power in order to live life effectively and to the fullest potential.

The answer to that question is, I think, wholly dependent on the person.  Some individuals will align through the use of meditation practices.  Others will see and feel the Power in formal religious rituals and disciplines.  Still others will require movement or rhythm to come into contact with the Power.

It is often the case that a single person may need to use a number of techniques to come into contact with the force that flows through all things.  For myself, movement (as in tai chi and chi gung) and prayer are my primary ways of relating to the Power.  The movement actually allows me to feel the flow of the Power around me (on a good day :-)) but prayer is my time of personally relating to the Power, what Lakota people called Wakan Tanka, the Great Mystery.

Yes, I am guilty of blatant personalization.  I feel, when I pray, that Someone is listening.  You can explain that feeling in any way that makes you comfortable because this is my subjective reality and it works for me.  Your mileage may vary.

What is important in all this thinking is the idea that we need to experiment to see what hooks us up with that Power.  Too often, our relationship to the Source is dictated by outside influences - family or friends, for instance.  As we look for ways to express our true nature, we have to realize that part of that nature is finding our connection to the Power, seeking what works best for us and then working with that to move ourselves into the flow of life.

Wrong Side of Bed

Did you ever have one of those days where you woke up "on the wrong side of the bed"? 

I read a good bit of on-line content but it always seems to me that people, in particular bloggers, and even bloggers who are trying to encourage self-development or spirituality, neglect the fact that not everyone is starting from a place of determination or motivation or engagement.  Some mornings, we wake up, look out the window and just want to go back to bed.  We drag ourselves out of bed from a sense of duty and routine and we haul our carcasses off to work because we really don't want to use up vacation time indulging a bad mood. 

I am sure that most people who read this will be able to relate to what  am saying.  So, if you are on a spiritual 
path, how do you deal skillfully with a morning where you want to crawl back under the covers and tell the world you are taking a pass on the day?  I would love to be able to give you a point by point breakdown on what you should do when the morning blahs strike but life is not as simple as some (usually people who get up happy no matter what) would have you believe.  I will tell you what I did when I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. 

First of all, I got up anyway.  There were places to go and things to do and even though I did not feel like it, I allowed that knowledge to get me out of bed and into the shower.  I immersed myself in my morning routine to get myself moving and, even though I was cranky, and family around me knew it, I tried to put on as good a face as I could manage.  Sometimes, if you try to act happy it is contagious and you begin to feel happy. 

That strategy did not work for me this morning since I really was feeling rushed.  No excuses.  I was cranky but I tried to keep the damage to a minimum by keeping my mouth shut.  Not an easy task in a household with two 'larks' who are busily buzzing around and asking questions.

I made it out of the house without too much drama and accomplished the task that I had to get done early today.  Then I utilized the time in the car and then on the bus to pull myself together.  I said my morning prayers in the car (offering thoughts for others is always a good way to divert yourself from feeling grumpy) and then used the bus ride for meditation.  The bus dropped me off in front of work earlier than usual so I took the opportunity to take a short walk and, while I walked, I outlined to myself some of the reasons that I have to be grateful.  This always helps me to adjust my perception and I strongly encourage people to try it when they are feeling down.  Just thinking about the things you have to be grateful for seems to elevate mood when nothing else can.

Finally, I sat down and wrote this blog.  On another day, I might have made an entry in my journal, but today I am writing this in hopes that it will help someone else move past a "slow start" morning.  I am smiling now so it is possible to work with the wrong side of the bed syndrome but it takes a little time and space.  I am grateful to have a family that (usually) allows me that time and space :-)

Why be normal?

Last week, I spoke about sacrifice and what that word might actually mean. In meditating a little on that concept, it occured to me that those who are prepared to sacrifice, that is, those who want to move toward wholeness and are desirous of a connection with all that is, will run headlong into a terrible word that has haunted me since my youth: normal.

Many of those that have explored alternative spiritual pathways, whatever they might be, have at some point been faced with one of these statements:

"That's just not . . . normal!"

"Why can't you just be normal?"

"Normal people don't do . . . "

I have never met anyone who could give me a really good definition of what normal was so I looked it up:

www.thefreedictionay.com
. Conforming with, adhering to, or constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type; typical:

www.myetymology.com
derived from the Late Latin word normalis

derived from the Latin word norma (rule, square used by carpenters, hence standard viewpoint; rule; carpenter's square; standard, pattern)

Basically, what people are saying when they accuse the spiritual seeker of not being normal, is that the seeker is not adhering to a "standard, pattern, level, or type". This should put on the brakes for any thinking person because it instantly begs the question: who set the standard or laid down the rule, who defined what was "typical" and why should I be beholden to this definition?

The proponent of "normalcy" will then, often smugly or with irritation, tell the seeker that normalcy is defined by society. While it is true that certain behaviors seem to be outside the bounds of almost all societies (premeditated murder, for example), there is such a huge variation in what is acceptable in any given society that it renders this argument specious at best.

So, when we look hard at what the proponent of normalcy is actually saying, we find that he or she is, most often, arguing for behavior that he or she considers normal. In other words, that person is trying to get the seeker to meet their expectations.

Part of what my Taoist teacher constantly harps on is the idea of finding your true nature and then living according to that nature.

If you are a person of faith and that is truly who you are, then that is who you are even if 'normal' people can only believe in what they can perceive with their five senses.

If you are a person who sees and feels the presence of All That Is or God or the Force or whatever you choose to call it, in the wind soughing through the trees or the roar of the waves at the beach, then that is who you are, even if "normal" people only encounter their deity in church.

If you are a person who has peak spiritual experiences while doing tai chi or dancing or running down a long road, then that is who you are even if 'normal' people don't have these experiences or can only encounter them through some other set of rituals and practices.

In short, like the bumper sticker, I would ask you: why be normal?