Progress Vs. Conformity

Are you on the right side of history?

Every time period has overthrown and disproven the prejudices of the centuries preceding it. Yet, every time period continues to cling tenaciously to the contemporary models as if they were the final word. What can we learn from this? Only that one should not dare to consider oneself a critical thinker unless one is equally as skeptical of the mainstream as of the alternatives. The methods and models of the future have always arisen, and will continue to arise, from the margins. History has shown that nearly every significant discovery was first disparaged and rejected by the established order of the day. Will we ever learn?

How is that, in the face of the sweeping historical perspective mankind has achieved, the vast majority of people still sacrifice their skepticism in the face of a university degree, and embrace cynicism as a response to anything not already approved by the established order? The fact of the matter is that at a university, one is far more likely to be indoctrinated than educated. True scholarship is an independent effort requiring a passionately inquisitive mind. Practically all that is necessary for a university degree is the ability to memorize and to regurgitate the views of the past and present day. In such an environment, progressive thinking is a hindrance, not a help. We must realize that the ability to unlearn is often a prerequisite for the ability to learn. We can learn nothing new when we are fixedly convinced of a falsehood.

The Problem With (Bill Maher's) Religulous

[Note: For the most part, I'm a fan, whose views are largely in sympathy with Maher's own, but the following piece is highly critical of his documentary, and even takes a quick jab at his lifestyle at the end there.]

"I, for one, do not wish to make the mistake
of blaming Christianity for what men have done to it."
~ Carl Gustav Jung

Have you noticed that Bible-thumping fundamentalists and atheists who reject the Bible have this in common: both prefer to focus exclusively on the worst elements of scripture; the former to promote it, and the latter to refute it? Neither is remotely interested in what is best in the Bible; both callously dismiss, as more or less irrelevant, passages of the most breathtaking profundity, which rival anything our world has to offer. The fact of the matter is that cruelty and stupidity abound in all fields, yet atheists reject religion by focusing only on the stupidity and cruelty of its worst adherents, and fundamentalists reject atheism by doing the same.

The main fault with Maher's documentary is its utter one-sidedness. No attention is paid to the atrocities committed by atheist organizations like the Communist Party, -- presumably because the argument which blames religion for the horrors of the Inquisition might just as easily be used to blame atheism for the horrors of the Russian Gulags; in either case, a specious, if not entirely moronic, argument. Conversely, Maher never once gives attention to the shining stars of religion -- the saints, monks, and activists who, all throughout history, have served as living monuments to what is best in the human spirit and, indeed, in religion. Nor does he so much as mention movements like Quakerism, a religion which eschews arbitrary dogmas (and indeed all doctrine whatsoever, aside from the one which states that there is something sacred, and deserving of encouragement, in every person), but which is based firmly on common sense, moral reflection, silent meditation, and political activism.

If anyone wishes to formally criticize the evils of religion, it would be wise to offer an alternative (apart from the flat negation which atheism represents) in the form of at least one affirmative example of religion.

Quakers, in particular, deserve some notice as forerunners in the promotion of civil rights for minorities and women -- including fair dealings with Native Americans, the abolition of slavery and the boycotting of goods produced through slave-labor, the equal right to vote, and better treatment for prisoners and mental patients. Not to mention, their ongoing work in favor of nonviolent resistance, an aspect of which includes the successful institution of a law (as early as 1672) which rejected the military draft in favor of freedom for conscientious objectors. And, lastly, a modest -- as opposed to materialistic, consumption-driven -- lifestyle; a position which perhaps has the most significant ramifications of all, particularly now that such stark class divisions exist between wealthy nations and the third-world countries upon which they prey; exploiting their indigenous resources, not the least of which are the lives, labors, liberties, and livelihoods of human beings.

Neglecting this, one wonders how anyone can take Bill Maher's documentary, his atheist views, or his mansion in Beverly Hills, seriously.

On The Relative Nature Of The Good

A Discourse On Karma, Grace, and Spiritual Gifts

It is no shame for a child to behave like a child. The shame is only when an adult falls into equally childish behavior. Likewise, when a child behaves maturely, this is something which ought to be commended, whereas maturity is not much to the credit of an adult, and ought hardly to be remarked upon. Yet, having said this much, it is now positively essential to make clear that we are all in some respects children, just as we are in other respects quite advanced. While it may be popular to label some individuals "old souls" and others "young souls", the truth of the matter is that every soul has matured in some ways and has yet to mature in others.

We've heard the adage, "With great power comes great responsibility," and it follows that one's level of responsibility must be relative to one's power for good. To the degree that one is capable of doing good, and in the manner in which one is capable, one is responsible for exercising that given capacity. Each of us has certain strengths and weakness; gifts we are given and gifts we are not given. Seeing that we can only give to others what we have ourselves received from God, and that we cannot give something which we have not first received, the standard of virtue to which we are held must necessarily vary from virtue to virtue.

A person born with a naturally temperate disposition has very little excuse for bouts of temper. Conversely, when this person exhibits gentleness, it is no great accomplishment in the eyes of God. Moreover, if such a person, in addition to having received a calm nature, has also been fortunate enough to grow up in the care and with the instruction of equally moderate parents and teachers, then, not only is there scarcely any excuse for failing to exhibit this trait, but, such a person ought to consider him/herself called upon to perfect it.

In contrast, a person who is by nature hot-blooded, and particularly if the environment in which he/she has been reared was not especially conducive to the development of even-temperedness, should not be expected to exhibit nearly the same degree of self-possession as the type described above. The two are different, and God, who weighs each person's actions against that person's heart (and not against the heart of any other person), knows well how to adjust the scales of justice in order to discover the extent to which each person's outward behavior balances with their own inward proclivities.

Similarly, to provide just one further example, a person whose nature is characterized by a rare depth, -- or an inclination to penetrate relatively deeply into the heart of things, -- deserves no special reward or congratulations for having exercised that perspicacity by making some shrewd discovery or delivering some unusual insight upon the essence of a matter. This much is only to be expected. Such a person ought to be singled out only if they exhibit an uncharacteristic shallowness of thought, or shortsightedness of vision.

Bearing these reflections in mind, the question naturally arises, "How then ought we to judge?" If the outward appearance is insufficient to distinguish the degree to which an action is truly virtuous, or truly vicious, for the one who commits it, how then are we to assess the "karmic condition" of the individual? The answer is that we are not. We are, in fact, in no position to judge the degree to which a person is making progress, falling short, or merely expressing their natural tendencies. God alone has insight into the poverty or abundance of the heart, and into the manner in which these correspond to the operations of the will.

The truth is that we can make only the vaguest appraisals, whether of ourselves or of others, and in order to conduct our business in the world it is sometimes necessary to rely on these loose approximations, imperfect as they are. What is imperative is that we recognize the numinous character of our judgements; that they are, at best, proximal, and, at worst, entirely wide of the mark.

If we are honest, we will confess that we are in a perpetual state of doubt with respect to the karmic significance, for good or ill, of every action, and that, if there is one thing we can know for sure, it is that we must endeavor to give ourselves and others the benefit of this doubt. That is to say, "When in doubt, love." And one is always in doubt.

Perhaps the most important point to reflect upon here is that all the virtues we have, we have received as gifts from God, and that our job is to give, or make use of, those gifts; withholding nothing which it is in our power to give. We are simply the vessels and channels of God's grace, and our function is to "pay it forward".

In fact, the way we overcome our vices, and develop more virtues, is precisely by making use of the virtues we already possess. Whenever we make use of our gifts, releasing them into the world, we make room within ourselves to receive more gifts, and the gifts we receive correspond directly to the vices overcome. Put more simply, the overcoming of a vice is also the developing of a virtue; or the receiving of a new and well-deserved gift.

The Lord gives us all that we have, and is not done giving. Open the gifts of the Lord.
For by means of gifts, more gifts are discovered. Always, the gifts of gifts!
~ Unio Mystica

Humility and Taming the Passions: The Jesus Prayer

"Let us cry to him to come, and he will cure us by his coming. Let us moan like a sick man, and he like a doctor will come lovingly to our aid. Let us cry like the one who fell among thieves, and the good Samaritan will come to clean our wounds and guide us to the Inn; that is, to theoria (vision) of the Light which consumes all our being. When God comes into our heart, he gains victory over the devil and cleanses the impurities which the evil one has created. The victory, therefore, over the devil is the victory of Christ in us. Let us do the human part; that is to invite Christ. And he will do the divine part; he will gain victory over the devil and cut him off. So we should not want to do the divine part ourselves and expect God to do the human one. We should understand this well: We do the human part, the prayer of Jesus, and God the divine part, our salvation. The entire work of the Church is the collaboration of human and divine."
~ A Night In The Desert Of The Holy Mountain: Discussion With A Hermit On Jesus Prayer

"Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me!" ~ The Jesus Prayer

This is the Jesus Prayer, practiced for centuries by Christian mystics in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The constant repetition of this prayer engenders deep humility within the soul and places it in a devotional relationship to Christ, the teacher of God. First, the prayer is recited almost mindlessly. When the voice grows tired, it is repeated silently, and when the mind grows tired it is spoken again. In the beginning, it is only a method to block out evil and inferior thoughts, leaving no room for them. In time, one begins to reflect on the deeper meanings and implications of the words. Finally, they migrate from the intellectual center to the heart of the aspirant. When this happens, it is no longer necessary to think of them or to recite them, because they go on repeating themselves automatically within the heart. This final stage produces an experience of profound and abiding bliss, which is an echo of Paradise.

"This prayer has filled Paradise with holy men and women."
~ Elder Amphilochios of Patmos

In "The Ladder of Divine Ascent", St. John Climacus, in addition to outlining stages in the soul's ascent to God, lists four stages by which the soul descends. The first is when an unworthy suggestion arises in the mind, in order to tempt us. The second is when we enter into dialogue with that suggestion; whether to dispute or to consider it. The third stage is when we consent to encourage and obey the suggestion. It is not until this third stage that one has yielded to the temptation. Finally, in the fourth stage, we become bound; the sin becomes habitual and compulsive. With the practice of the Jesus Prayer, one learns to be watchful, so as to dismiss the suggestions of the devil the very instant they appear. One neither disputes nor considers them, but merely retrains one's conscious attention on the prayer. In this way, the passions are cut off before they have an opportunity to take root.

"The cunning enemy knows very well how to hide behind passions and weaknesses.
So, in order to strike him, you must fight and mortify yourself -- all your passions, that is."
~ Elder Joseph the Hesychast

The first task along the spiritual path is the silencing the lower self. Before anything great may be accomplished, the lower self must be brought into submission. Silence lays the foundations for patience, which, in turn, lays the foundations for a deeper experience of silence. These two, working together, alternately and simultaneously, encourage each other. But since it is not possible to enter immediately into silence or patience, the first task is one of distraction and redirection. When the attention has been sufficiently fixed on higher matters, and the lower self has undergone a corresponding mortification, the true dance between silence and patience may be practiced. This is because the guarding of the lower self does not allow the passions to take possession.

Humility is the foundation. Without humility, one rushes out, at the mercy of the passions, hastily approving without qualification this, and disapproving without qualification that. No care is taken to discriminate, or to seek the grace of God before taking thought, speech, or action. What is needed is a thorough recognition of the soul's dependence upon the grace of God. By our own power, we can do nothing. Our attempts to reflect and reveal the gifts of the spirit fall flat if proper care is not taken to first receive those gifts, and to acknowledge our own position as one of receptivity to the blessings we wish to impart.

"All the eagerness you have for spiritual things is due to grace alone. Nothing is your own."
~ Elder Joseph the Hesychast

In order to purify ourselves, to prepare the ground, and to clear a channel for grace, we must first develop a fairly accurate assessment of ourselves in relation to God. The key phrase here is "in relation to God". While it stands to reason that we must be mindful of our faults and challenges, it is equally important to reflect that even our strengths are poor and miserable things beside the power of God, who looks down even on miracles and things too lofty for mortal eyes to see.

It follows that one ought to regard the words of a flatterer as more to be feared than the bite of an asp, for a snake can only strike at your flesh, but a flatterer strikes at your soul; even at the very foundation of your soul, which is humility. Therefore, when you anyone praises you, and you feel yourself puffed up, quickly purge the venom through prayer, lest it seep into the blood, and from there into the heart. Suck it up into your mouth, "Lord, Jesus Christ," and spit it out into the dirt, "have mercy on me." In this way, you will be rescued from the trap of vainglory, by the grace of God.

Conversely, one may regard insults as salutary, and enemies as one's greatest benefactors. The more they burn and reduce us to bones and ash, the more quickly and thoroughly do they humble us, and so make way for the grace of God. Without humility, repentance is impossible, and without repentance, we rely on our own strength, and refuse to acknowledge the power of God, beside which our greatest talents are as dust.

Mind you, it is not enough simply to pulverize the self. If we were to stop there, we would merely be left feeling self-hatred, anguish, and despair. The key is to raise oneself up, not by one's own strength, but by the power of God. If we merely exchange a favorable opinion of ourselves for an unfavorable one, we merely remain fixated on ourselves. We must use the opportunity to redirect our attention to something greater than ourselves; to God; or Christ, His avatar.

Grace and Karma: Ends and Means

"Let no man say when he is tempted, 'I am tempted by God':
for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man..."
~ James 1:13

"The Old Testament is to Karma as The New Testament is to Grace."
~ Valentin Tomberg


Karma is earth's gravity,

and grace is outer space;

grace is not subject to karma.



As long as we remain focused on karma,

even "good karma", we won't be in grace;

we'll remain bound to the earth and incarnation.



Love the earth as your mother,

the womb, then leave her.



God does not want to give lessons,

God wants to give pure light.



He is the end, not the means.



But we try to find "Him" in the means;

we search instead of find.

New Reflections

Lord, fashion my prayer. Teach me what you will, as you will.
I am vain to think I can instruct you in the ways to instruct me.

The heart is a treasurehouse, where the sweetest things are preserved.

In the heart of every sentient being, there is a fragment of the heart of God.

Unless you doubt everything you will believe anything.

Light is not positivity and darkness is not negativity. Light is awareness and darkness is its absence.

The center is wherever you are. If you feel you are in the dark, that is where the center is. Don't move from there. Say to yourself, "I feel I am in the dark". In this way, you shine light on your present. It is not holding the darkness, nor resisting it, but holding a light up to the darkness. Just be aware of it, as it is, and you will see it change.

The soul is only partially dependent upon God for its survival, but wholly dependent for its perfection. The greater our desire for perfection, the more completely we must abandon self-will and wait upon the grace of the Lord.

It is a sign of respect, when entering a church, or entering the prayerful chambers of the heart, to remove one's hat. In the same way, one ought to remove, as it were, and inasmuch as this is possible, one's own self and self-will, becoming receptive only to the divine presence and will of God.

Scripture can only be interpreted by the spirit which inspired it. If you could not have written the Bible, you could not have read it.

In every mind are vain and righteous thoughts, but the vain clamor and crowd and compete for the chief places in the heart, and one must dismiss them, turn them away, in order to discover the better; which are meek and audible only to one who has listened.

Glory to the blessed ones of all religions, and also to the blessed ones who serve God without religious structure. They are proof that all God desires is a pure and loving heart, humbly devoted and entrusted to the noblest impulses of the spirit. Glory to the many forms and names of God, and to the formless and unnamed divinity. Praises to the eternal source of love, hope, charity and healing. God makes saints of Catholics, Muslims, Buddhists, and all who are full of humility and compassion. Boundless is His goodness. Praised be His graces, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wisely was it said, 'There is no companionship with fools.' Silence is a stranger to them, and peace has no part in their conversation. Neither do they speak by turns, but each, desiring his own hearing, clamors over the voices of his neighbors and is not edified. The more fools speak, the more confusion spreads; but a wise man instructs even by his silence.

A downer is someone looking for something deeper.

Give attention to the good, and the evil will swallow itself up.

All artists thirst and hunger for inspiration, and bear their craving like a prayer.

Don't forget music.

It is as if one is standing beside a heavy stone door, and one can hear God calling from the other side of the door, bidding one to enter. Alas, the door is too heavy to open. Still, there, just beside the door, is a set of weights. It appears the only thing to do is to lift the weights until one is strong enough to open the door. But this is difficult. This takes persistence, and persistence is the only true mark of faith. So, instead, we imagine that God has said "Don't come in. You are not ready." Or we leave and go searching for Him elsewhere. And the sound of His voice, still calling us to enter, fades into the distance as we wander off in search of Him. How sad. We ought to know by now that it is not a search. It is a practice.

The sun cooks food as it grows on the vine, on the tree, or in the earth. We call this process "ripening", but really this is cooking. The food is cooked, sun-cooked, when it is ripe (and raw). The truth is, we don't cook; we overcook. This is just one more example of a principle we see everywhere in human behavior. What nature has done, man wants to overdo.

Nothing so astonishes me as the popularity of the belief in an unconditionally loving God who will yet condemn you to an eternity of hellfire for the sin of thinking with your own mind and seeing with your own eyes; that God must be infinitely cruel to be infinitely kind. And nothing provides such palpable proof of the subtle depths to which human foolishness and impressionability may sink. Never imagine that simple men are insensible to paradox, or incapable of holding two contradictory notions in the mind at one and the same time. On the contrary, they have a genius for precisely this!

There is nothing like life in a war-torn country to make one amenable to the sentiments of anarchists.

Truth, like the sun, must not be gazed directly upon.

People always ask me the same question: "If you are against earthly life, why do you not kill yourself?" And my answer is always the same: If you discovered you were aboard a sinking ship, would you immediately abandon ship, or would you first attempt to rouse the other passengers and alert them to the impending catastrophe?

When you reach the point where you no longer need to reincarnate, you will choose to reincarnate "by default", for the sake of others. To transcend the world is not to escape from the world, but from one's attachment and aversion to it; as long as you desire to reincarnate or to escape reincarnation, you remain bound.

War is slavery, and the military man is a whip in the master's hand. A soldier is the personification of misguided service, who murders in the name of peace. He is the tragic figure par-excellence. All the more tragic because he not only dies in vain, but dies while making the world a more violent place. Generally, a brave, self-sacrificing soul without the sense to question the motivations of a government bent on war. And to think how many soldiers consider themselves Christians, as if it were possible to be a follower of the Prince of Peace and a professional killer. Judas betrayed Christ because, like so many, he was waiting for a worldly messiah, who would lead the Jewish people in a bloody revolt against their Roman oppressors. But Christ forbid Peter to defend him with force (when Peter cut off the Centurian's ear), and chose rather to allow himself to be crucified than to resist violence with violence. The entire message of his words, his life, and his death was to return good for evil; love for hatred. This was not some impractical ideal for which he wished to be honored, but an example which he demanded all his self-proclaimed followers to follow. "Why callest me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not the things which I say?" Though I have tremendous respect for the courage and the noble intentions of these soldiers, the fact remains that there is nothing sadder or more absurd than a person wearing a cross and holding a machine gun; praying to Christ while slaughtering the children of God, whom Christ came only to comfort, instruct, and forgive.

Nothing is as controversial, or as twisted, as the truth: Parents give their children cancer-causing poisons, and both the parents and the children think it's nourishment; Doctors torture children who have cancer, and both the doctors and the kids think it's helping; Soldiers devastate whole countries for the cause of peace; Believers in a loving God condemn Gandhi to hell. Any questions?

Are you on the right side of history? Every time period has overthrown and disproven the prejudices of the centuries preceding it. Yet, every time period continues to cling tenaciously to the contemporary models as if they were the final word. What can we learn from this? Only that one should not dare to consider oneself a critical thinker unless one is equally as skeptical of the mainstream as of the alternatives. The methods and models of the future have always arisen, and will continue to arise, from the margins. History has shown that every significant discovery was first disparaged and rejected by the established order of the day. Will we ever learn? How is that, in the face of the sweeping historical perspective mankind has achieved, the vast majority of people still sacrifice their skepticism in the face of a university degree, and embrace cynicism as a response to anything not already approved by the established order? The fact of the matter is that at a university, one is far more likely to be indoctrinated than educated. True scholarship is an independent effort requiring a passionately inquisitive mind. Practically all that is necessary for a university degree is the ability to memorize and to regurgitate the views of the past and present day. In such an environment, progressive thinking is a hindrance, not a help. We must realize that the ability to unlearn is often a prerequisite for the ability to learn. We can learn nothing new when we are fixedly convinced of a falsehood.

Silence is spiritual research.

Consciousness is paternal/maternal. The operations of consciousness are like children playing in a field of awareness. Consciousness watches from the background, tenderly observing the play of consciousness, like parents observing their children at play.

I am not a wise man dispensing his own wisdom, but an inspired man dispensing wisdom which is as much for his own edification as it is for others.

Who is the Mother? She is the one in whose lap we are cradled and tenderly held. She it is who, with boundless love and infinite tenderness, protects our innocence and receives the blessing of our devotion. In this way, we are nurtured, and mature into the saviors of the world.

The New Testament did not arise from the Old Testament and is not a fulfillment of it. The Grace of Jesus Christ did not arise from the Law of Moses. Christ emerged from the lap of Mary, not from the finger of Moses. The Goddess-worshiping cultures of prehistory are the true soil from which the Truth has sprung. She is the first part of the book. How can you understand the second part of the book, if you have not read and understood the first? Conversely, if you only read part one, your understanding remains incomplete. Seed begins in the earth, and only indirectly receives the sun. So, focus on the Mother, and see Christ peripherally. Once the seed has sprouted, grown roots, and pierced the soil of the earth, then it is ready to receive the direct rays of the sun. If it remains in the earth, it cannot reach its full maturity. First the Mother, then the Master. Worship the forms of God until you are ready to worship the formless God. When you have fed upon the wisdom of the earth, you will ascend to receive the manna from heaven. Understand this, and will you understand the mystery of reincarnation.

Rice scattered on water;
stars in the night sky.

Birds shining behind branches;
the moon singing behind clouds.

The moon perched on a cloud.

Birds dart thru branches,
like shafts of light,
shook loose by the wind.