Translate

Monday, January 30, 2017

The Social Hermit

   Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.
― Paul Tillich 

I am never alone. We are connected by virtue of living on the same planet. What connects or separates us is our attitude of connectivity. Everything is connected, but if we cannot acknowledge that in our own minds, we fool ourselves into thinking we are alone, and thus suffer loneliness. 
We are a bunch of collected molecules interacting in a sea of molecules, some of which we see, and a lot that we don't see. Air is not nothing. It is an ocean of  gases and particulates in which we move and breathe and sense the world we live in. The air I touch right here connects through a string of molecules to the air Pope Francis breathes in Rome. That alone proves our uber-connectivity to all things.
So, the hermit who chooses to live alone stays connected to the world and all its life by virtue of an attitude: I am not alone. I am connected to the world I live in, the home and neighborhood I live in, the people I pray for, and the Life in all that is. Sela.

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Generations

Generations have passed and this is a new generation. The moon is always the same, only the water changes. Justice remains the same justice, learning the same learning, as people and nations change.
Generations have passed; the true meanings stay constant and are eternal. The water in the stream may have changed a million times – the reflection of the moon and stars stays the same.

- Rumi

Friday, January 20, 2017

Living Fully

I've come across a number of references in media lately which point to the fact that this earthly life is really a hell for another dimension, or another world. There's even a show - The Good Place, which acts out the analogy. The intensity of this life, the innate, violent human nature, the violent universe, making one another suffer  for one thing or another - all very telling activities which we are always struggling to balance, trying to do away with "evil" and "injustice", yet they speak of a suffering which is the bottom line of this life. Hence the "religious" urgings to retreat from the surface of this world into the world which is our home - maybe changed? maybe healed (spiritually)? 
And in the end, it is all the Beloved, because it's all God's Life, all God's thoughts, all God's promptings, all God's experiencing through every one of us - an unfathomable thought, and one which can only make me smile.
And still, in the end, the love you get is equal to the love you give (Beatles). 
"Live out the drama as best you can, and marvel at it" is all the advice I want to give anyone now.
Uuuu - new political leadership begins today - or maybe Monday - hmmm .....   let's see what he does when the earthquakes start. 
Don't live only on the surface - keep connected to the Source, to the Beloved - observe and do what you can.

Sunday, January 15, 2017

Blazing Life

Everything is burning
with desire,
with lust,
with violence.
But that is the drama
of this universe.

It burns
because I want it to evolve.

It is filled with lust
because I want to be
ecstatic with desire.

It is filled with violence
because I want
to feel it intensely.

It burns because
I AM.

Quiet the mind
to see the truth,
but you cannot change it.

You are here to live it.

agd

Monday, January 2, 2017

Participation

From my calendar:

"Every day passes whether you participate or not." - Deng Ming-Dao

What does it mean to pariticpate? Think of it as truly inhabiting each day. Meditation is one way, proven through centuries of use, so here's a brand-new year to start a practice if you haven't already.
Participation can also mean to pay attention, to be responsive, to listen actively to life around you or when when others speak, and to answer from the heart, not from a place of anticipation.  (adapted)