3 Jewels of the Tao

The Three Jewels of the Tao:

Compassion leads to courage,
Moderation leads to generosity,
Humility leads to leadership.

Heart 2 Heart

We may not see eye to eye,
   But we can try to see heart to heart.

I belong to God

"Many belong to the Church who don't belong to God, but many belong to God who don't belong to the Church."   ---- St. Augustine

Resurrection

Easter - the solemn remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. What a thought! We experience a resurrection of sorts every single day - we wake up to a new day. We pray in the Apostles' Creed that "we believe in...... the resurrection of the body....  This has been misunderstood for centuries. Our bodies are to be brought back to life? Really? I think not. The remains of billions of humans are in a constant state of decay - some have disappeared completely, their atoms "reused" to create other human bodies and other parts of this wonderfully created world.

We should rather be praying that we believe in resurrection - period. Yes, Jesus transformed his mortal body into pure spirit, and is able to traverse all the heavens/dimensions/universes --- whatever you want to call them. He conquered the one thing that most people fear - death. Yet, death is a part of life which we must embrace (St. Francis called it "Sister Death"). The fear we feel is part of our built-in organic instinct - survival at any cost. But death is only a moment of transition. The soul (filled with the Spirit of God), detaches from the organic body and is awakened to another reality, another dimension, a heaven, if you will (or a hell), of our own choosing. It's like being submerged in the ocean and taking a lungful of water and surviving - functioning in a new environment which hitherto was considered unattainable. 

What we find difficult to believe is that the dimension we are "resurrected" into after bodily death is actually our home, the world we came FROM when we were born into this material realm. We Christians even call ourselves "pilgrims" in this world, trustingly awaiting our "resurrection" through the act of death. 

But we never "leave" our spiritual home. Our souls exist in our "home" dimension even while we are connected to the material body. That is why Jesus can say -- "The Kingdom of God is within you." When death detaches us from the material body, our spiritual senses are opened once more to the dimension we had always been a part of, but from which we were blinded, because we learn to believe more in the physical senses than the spiritual. 

I believe in the resurrection -- the Resurrection of Jesus, and the resurrection into another dimension of every soul who experiences the death of the material body.

Divine Laughter

"God is a comedian playing to an audience that is afraid to laugh."
                                                                                               Voltaire

We are forgiven

Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases;
yet we accounted him stricken,
struck down by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions,
crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the punishment that made us whole,
and by his bruises we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way,
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

By a perversion of justice he was taken away,.
Who could have imagined his future?
For he was cut off from the land of the living,
stricken for the transgressions of my people.
They made his grave with the wicked
and his tomb with the rich,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
                                                              Isaiah 52-53

Through the heart of it all

May the heart of earth
flow to the heart of heaven
              through my heart
and through all hearts together.

And may our hearts be
the heart of every being
in all the starry sky.

And may the heart of the heavens
flow to the heart of the earth,
              through my heart
and through all our hearts together.

And may our hearts be
the heart of every earthly creature.
                                            Chichicastenango, Mayan Elder, Guatemala

"Life is 90% maintenance."
                                           ("Taken" - TV series)

Look & Listen

From the flower'd yaw
streams the light,
golden, merciful -- enlightening all.

Can you see it?
Look with your heart.
Listen with your breath.
                                     agd

Say: "The fault is mine."

I am a drop in the ocean,
but I am also the ocean.
How I act, how I change,
so also is the ocean affected.

Apply the above to any situation, e.g.:

The more I heal and become whole,
so also does my family, my community,
my species, my America becomes healed,
becomes whole.

My very thoughts ripple out from me
like a stone dropped into a mirrored pool.
This is why Jesus can say that even our thoughts
can be "sin" (e.g. - sin is an act of selfishness which
affects other persons adversely). Mat 5:22

Thus, our very thoughts are like radio waves which
ripple out from us - they can affect others for good
or for ill. How often have you "felt" the negativity of
another person? ... or the joy of another person?

So purify your thoughts, pray for everyone you pass by,
whether in the mall, in the park, or on the highway.
Your thoughts change the world and the people around you.

Scary, isn't it?

But it is the challenge Jesus gives us
if we want to transform this world.
"Do unto others..."
"... and love your neighbor as yourself."
"Love your enemies...."
"...give him your coat as well..."
"..forgive from your heart.." (the most important admonition)

How do YOU want to transform this world?

During this Holy Week, 2012, let us all ponder the state of our thoughts, and let us promise ourselves to work diligently to purify our thoughts and intentions. The future of humanity depends upon each of us to "make a difference." It is not up to the other person to change. God speaks to ME to give up old ways of "instinct" and "popular", "learned" reaction, and to think and act as the child of God that I am. Let e-go.

Inspiration

Religion must be transformed into spirituality --- that is --- into a search for the meaning of existence itself, at the heart of all reality.
                                                         -- Swami Kriyananda

The Wedding Dress

   "It's starting to rain again," Miriam thought. Looking around, she was, at the moment, alone in the quiet of the ICU Waiting Room.  It was a comfortable room, nice chairs.  The volunteer at the desk was very helpful.

   Joshua was brought in earlier in the day.  Getting up from the breakfast table, Joshua teetered, turned to look at her, and uttered "Miriam", then, collapsed to the floor, unconscious.  She grabbed the cell phone and called 911.  The EMTs were very prompt in their response. The Fire House is only 4 blocks away. "He looks so pale," she thought. They offered to have her ride in the ambulance, which she did. Now, she's been waiting, waiting to be able to look into Joshua's loving eyes again.

   Miriam learned to live in the moment, and this moment was a very long one. No word after an hour. They were doing tests. "Joshua hated medical tests," she thought, "I hope I can see him soon." Two of her daughters joined her just as the doors to the ICU Unit swung open.   A nurse walked through and into the waiting room.  "Mrs. Burton?" "Yes?," Miriam answered, yanked from her reverie. The nurse sat down next to her and began to explain what they done for her husband.  The nurse ended with a soulful "I'm so sorry."

   Sixty-two years of marriage.  Not just a legal bond, but truly wedded bliss.  Now half of her being was torn from her in body, but in spirit, she felt the love of Joshua embracing her soul, and Miriam was comforted.

   She shed some tears when she was told the news, almost forgetting that Maggie and Jan were there with her in the ICU waiting room.  They seemed to take it harder than she.  She felt for them.  They could not know the spiritual bond she and Joshua shared throughout their life together.

    Now, all four children were downstairs, waiting for her. "What to wear?"  she sighed.  "Not black," she thought.  She pulled out an old box, and carefully lifted the dress out.  Miriam donned the dress, looked in the mirror and thought, "Perfect.  I don't want to be thought of as a bereaving widow.  I want this moment to be a moment of joy," she thought.  What greater joy was there to remember than the day she and Joshua committed their lives to one another?  It was a time of pure bliss, and that blissful union is still a part of Miriam's "moment."  

   As she descended the stairs, her children and families stared at her with incredulity.  On the way to the funeral chapel, her progeny chattered with gasps and chuckles and tears.  Miriam only smiled, remembering how blessed she and Joshua were to have brought into the world four souls. When they arrived, Miriam gathered her strength and made her way up the aisle. Her friends and family were already seated.  When they turned to see who walked in, they were awestruck.  Miriam walked up the aisle, smiling with a smile that would befit a bride.  All that was missing was the processional music. She was wearing her wedding dress!

   After the service, Miriam got up, walked over to the casket, and stretching her arms over it, caressed it as if she were embracing Joshua himself.  A long moment ensued, and as if watching a slow motion movie, Miriam slid to the floor, a glowing smile on her face, a grateful prayer in her heart and the name "Joshua" whispering through her last breath.  

   As they were united in body through life, Miriam and Joshua were united in spirit, through death.

                                                                                     by Allen G. Dec

No Papal Bull needed here

The teaching is simple - no need for commentary: