Thinking And Doing

"Their rest is more beneficial than others' works." ~ Meister Eckhart


Generally speaking, whenever a distinction is made between Thinkers and Doers, or whenever these two types are discussed, there tends to be a tacit assumption that what the Doer is doing is the very thing which the Thinker is "merely" thinking about. In fact, far more often than not, Doers are, grudgingly or enthusiastically, engaged in the most mindless, pointless, ephemeral, and destructive of behaviors. It is precisely the awareness of this fact which sets the thinker apart, and sets his thoughts in motion.

While men of action -- particularly, those most characteristic of the type; the extreme ones, who are nearly all action and almost no thought, -- are concerned primarily with what comes into direct contact with their senses, men of thought are concerned primarily with what comes into contact with their hearts and minds. This naturally involves them in a wider sphere of activity (and, yes, we may confidently refer to it as "activity"; notwithstanding the fact that it is activity on the mental plane, and, therefore, of a more nuanced type).

Where a man's senses end, his thoughts may yet take flight; -- and, covering much ground, possess a bird's eye view of the more indirect consequences of those actions which would otherwise have been performed within a severely limited range of awareness.

In fact, the sphere of action is effectively enlarged by thought; for one who thinks also acts with concern for the wider ramifications of actions; and this intentionality works to bind, with ties of responsibility, even the more indirect consequences of an action to its source in human volition; essentially enlarging the sphere of action.

What we call a man's "inner world" is not smaller than what we call his "outer world". On the contrary, his outer world extends only as far as his legs and available modes of transportation may carry him; but his thoughts extend into space and time, and even pierce the veil of sense, to take hold of eternal objects; insights, principles, sentiments, and transpersonal passions.

Moreover, they examine the sensory objects before them from odd and unanticipated angles, and come to relate all things to one another, by a remarkably intricate web of associations. There is nothing solid which does not contain some hollow wherein mystery hides, and nothing is so stable that it may not unexpectedly explode into a symphony of meanings and correspondences.

The man of thought is not removed from the world; rather, he is almost smothered by it; for it gags him like a thick atmosphere, which penetrates his blood and brain, and finally chokes his mind with realizations of itself. Far from keeping the world at arm's length, he is intoxicated with it; his arms are by his sides, that his thoughts may embrace all things. But the active type, with all his empty busyness, is jerking his limbs about and scattering the smoke of being, in an attempt to remain unaltered, unconscious, and aloof.

The Proposal

How close will you reign in your soul
It seems to me only a god would stop
How deep will you drink of this love
Before you yourself dismiss the cup

How long will you stare and soak up
The tender moonlight with your eye
How long before you turn away
To something without life

God has given all you ask
Every law has long been writ
It is for you to read the word
And discover every gift

A host of treasures unforseen
Love waits in silence to disclose
The sweetness of a soul at peace
And of a heart to rest disposed

Grace transcendant showers down
But who can well perceive the flood
We struggle blindly and deny
That all the world is full of good

To Worship

[This poem is dedicated to Sri Ramakrishna, who focused much of his teaching on reconciling or putting to rest many superficial points of contention between religious people of different orientations and backgrounds. Also, to Jesus, my primary teacher, or "chosen ideal". (Incidentally, or perhaps significantly, there are thirteen verses; the number traditionally associated with Christ, - there being twelve disciples, and Christ.)

Come if you have Faith
Come if you have None
Play here as a little child
of the Moon or of the Sun

Enter as a friend of Nature
Or of the Nameless Other
Sit without regard to sect
For every man's a brother

Observe the icon on the altar
Or the Light around it shown
Honor God as flesh and spirit
Or symbol for the great unknown

Be strict or full of mercy
Be sober or a sign of mirth
Mindful of your close encounters
Or of an infinite rebirth

Come with eyes and heart downcast
Or lifted up to greet the height
Hold your hands in formal prayer
Or lay them down if that feels right

Keep your visions under lock
Or else distribute them at will
Pray in secret if it suits you
Or like a castle on a hill

Take your place in perfect silence
Or stand and sing a heartfelt hymn
Listen for the pastor's wisdom
Or a wise voice from within

To show respect for hallow'd ground
Remove the cover from your head
Or if it serves your spirit more
Put on a certain cap instead

Hold the churches sacrosanct
As man's God-given homes
Or as no more nor less divine
Than any place a pilgrim roams

Let thy mind be free of care
Resting with Eternal Night
Or else invested and astonished
By virtue of Supernal Light

Come to celebrate the moment
Come to glimpse the life in store
To meditate on timeless matters
Or all that's come and gone before

Trust in every sturdy verse
And honor what is aptly told
Or in the heart that subtly interprets
Truths no mortal tongue can hold

Be led to worship by a whirlwind
Or by a small and simple sound
It makes the merest difference really
Just as long as you come ‘round

'HYMNS TO THE NIGHT' by Novalis (a brief excerpt)

Away I turn to the holy, the unspeakable, the secretive Night. Down over there, far, lies the world -- sunken in a deep vault -- its place wasted and lonely. In the heart's strings, deep sadness blows. In dewdrops I'll sink and mix with the ashes...

What wells up so menacingly under the heart and gulps down the soft air's sadness? Are you pleased with us, dark Night? What're you holding under your cloak, that grabs so unseen at my soul? Costly balm drips from your hand, from a bundle of poppies. You raise up the soul's heavy wings. Darkly, unspeakably we feel moved... How poor and childish the Light seems to me now -- how happy and blessed the day's departure...

‎Must the morning always return? Will the earthly force never end? Unholy busyness devours the Night's heavenward approach. Won't Love's secret offering ever burn forever? Light's time was measured out to it; but Night's reign is timeless and spaceless. -- Forever's the length of sleep.

Holy sleep -- don't make the Night's elect too rarely happy in this earthly day-labor. Only fools misrecognize you... They don't feel you in the grapes' golden flood -- in almond trees' wonder oil -- in poppies' brown juice. They don't know its you hovering around a tender girl's breasts making her womb heaven...

'KIERKEGAARD AND NIETZSCHE' An Essay by Karl Jaspers (excerpt)

In every generation there are two or three who are sacrificed for the others, who discover in frightful suffering what others shall profit by... When, in a generation, a thunderstorm begins to threaten, individuals like me appear.

~ Soren Kierkegaard


If my lectures do not come even close to satisfying these demands, it is still essential that the ideal of one's concerns be recognized. One can take courage to try to do that which passes beyond his strength from the fact that it is a human problem, and man is that creature which poses problems beyond his powers. And also from this, that whoever even once thought he heard softly the authentic philosophic note, can never tire of trying to communicate it...

Nietzsche wanted to 'awaken the highest suspicion against himself', explaining that 'to the humanity of a teacher belongs the duty of warning his students against himself'.

Nietzsche knew himself to be an exception, spoke 'in favor of the exception, so long as it never wants to become the rule'. He required of the philosopher 'that he take care of the rule, since he is the exception.'

This exceptionality, which was as excruciating to them as it was the unique requirement of their problem, they characterized -- and here again they agree -- as pure mentality, as though they were deprived of any authentic life. Kierkegaard said that he was 'in almost every physical respect deprived of the conditions for being a whole man.' He had never lived except as mind. He had never been a man: at very most, child and youth. He lacked 'the animal side of humanity'. His melancholy carried him almost to the 'edge of imbecility' and was 'something that he could conceal as long as he was independent, but made him useless for any service where he could not himself determine everything'.

Nietzsche experienced his own pure mentality as 'through excess of light, through his radiance, condemned to be, not to love,'. He expressed it convulsively in the 'Nightsong' of Zarathustra: 'Light I am; ah! would that I were NIGHT!... I live in my own light...'

Nietzsche compared himself to a fir tree on the heights overlooking an abyss: 'Lonely! Who dares to be a guest here? Perhaps a bird of prey, gloating in the hair of the branches....'. And Kierkegaard: 'Like a lonely fir tree, egotistically isolated, looking toward something higher, I stand alone, throwing no shadow, only the wood dove building its nest in my branches.'

Nietzsche compared himself to the 'scratchings which an unknown power makes on paper, in order to test a new pen'.

The positive value of his illness is his standing problem.

Kierkegaard thought he indeed 'would be erased by God's mighty hand, extinguished as an unsuccessful experiment.'... He felt like an 'interjection in speaking, without influence upon the sentence.'

In great contrast to the abandonment, failure, and contingency of their existence, was the growing consciousness in the course of their lives of the meaning, sense, and necessity of all that happened to them.

Kierkegaard called it Providence. He recognized the divine in it: 'That everything that happens, is said, goes on, and so forth, is portentious: the factual continually changes itself to mean something far higher.' The factual, for him, is not something to abstract oneself from, but rather something to be penetrated until God himself gives the meaning. Even what he himself did became clear to him only later. It was 'the extra which I do not owe to myself but to Providence. It shows itself continually in such a fashion that even what I do out of the greatest possible conviction, afterwards I understand far better,'.

Nietzsche called it Chance. And he was concerned to use chance. For him 'sublime chance' ruled existence. 'The man of highest spirituality and power feels himself grown for every chance, but also inside a snowfall of contingencies,'. But this contingency increasingly took on, for Nietzsche, a remarkable meaning: 'What you call chance -- you yourself are that which befalls and astonishes you,'. Throughout his life, he found intimations of how chance events which were of the greatest importance to him carried a secret meaning, and in the end he wrote: 'There is no more chance,'.


~ Karl Jaspers ('Kierkegaard And Nietzsche')


The Holy Longing
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Tell a wise person or else keep silent
For the everyman will mock it right away.
I praise what is truly alive
And what longs to be burned to death.
In the calm waters of the love nights
Where you were begotten,
Where you have begotten,
A strange feeling comes over you
When you see the silent candle burning.
Now you are no longer caught in this obsession with darkness
And a desire for higher lovemaking sweeps you upward.
Distance does not make you falter.
And now, arriving in magic, flying
and finally, insane for the light
You are the butterfly.
And you are gone.
And so long as you haven't experienced this,
To die and so to grow,
You are only a troubled guest on a dark earth.

Industrialized Society and The Virtue of Laziness

Endless production, quantity before quality, all of us busily draining the third-world of its resources for the sake of crap we don't need and have no place for... The pollution of the waters, the depletion of the soil, the illusion of dispossal, the band-aid that is recycling... In such a world, laziness might even be counted a virtue, and industriousness a vice.

The true sources of social ills are systemic, rooted in our largest, most ungainly, and most staunchly embedded institutions; none of which have our best interests at heart, but all of which were designed to localize wealth and to preserve themselves, -- that is, the status quo. Is it any wonder that our institutions, governments, and Western Civilization itself have all taken on a life of their own, when everyone is encouraged not to take their eyes off their "own" work; and definitely not to look at the bigger picture (including the wider consequences of "their" work)?

If we defend these structures, and believe they are benign, it is only because we suffer from a kind of Stockholm Syndrome, which leads us to identify with the very principles and conditions which inhibit or prevent our escape from the condition of wage-slavery. For many people, the knowledge of their condition is too burdensome to bear, and, since they harbor no hope of ever changing it, pure survival instinct impels them to think well of it, and to think of themselves as good citizens, for having submitted, often enthusiastically, to the demands made on them. (Naturally, the whole culture helps to fan this "pride of accomplishment", while discouraging any in-depth inquiry into the actuality of what is being accomplished.) Rather than frustrate themselves, -- or worse, risk madness, -- by imagining a better world, they clip the wings of their imaginations, and tell themselves the culture they are living in is not only inescapable and unalterable, but, that it is, in fact, the real and only world; that, to see beyond it, or to imagine one sees beyond it, is simply a form of utopian escapism and denial. Of course, men have been telling themselves that ever since they invented culture.

Nietzsche summed up the cult of industry thus: "ye put up with yourselves badly; your diligence is flight, and the will to self-forgetfulness... for waiting, ye have not enough of capacity in you - nor even for idling!"

We would do well to remember that Hitler, had he possessed a greater capacity for idling, and been more lazy than ambitious, would have made no hate speeches, commissioned the construction of no tanks or bombers, invaded no countries, and put no millions to death. On the contrary, he might have spent his days admiring the flowers, reflecting on the clouds, and discovering what a vain exercise conquest is.

People forget that work for work's sake is not a virtue. If one is working in the wrong direction, then it is a even a vice; and the harder one works, the more of a vice it is.

Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, rightly states that we are always being prompted to do something, "'The world is on fire. Don't just sit there; do something.' But many of us have been doing many things, and the world continues to be burned. Perhaps it is because we have forgotten the art of stopping. So I say, Don't just do something; sit there. Sit there, in order for peace to be possible."

Is this really so hard to understand?

Catholicism and Dissent

Recently, appearing as a guest on Real Time With Bill Maher, Catholic editor Andrew Sullivan said something which I found fascinating. According to Sullivan, it's a common mistake to think of the Catholic Church as the hierarchy, or the clergy, with the Pope at the head. The Church is primarily the people, he said, and the Catholic people, by and large, are not stuck in the dark ages, as their leadership may sometimes suggest. Evidently, there was an actual decree to this effect; some ecumenical council or something, which decided that "the people are also the pope". It would appear that, within Catholicism, there is a mysterious system of checks and balances at play.

This clarified something I've long tried to understand.

Catholicism is not it's hierarchy, any more than America is it's government. Nonetheless, the true disciple is one who criticizes his church, just as the true patriot criticizes his government; because he wants what is best for it. All Americans want their politicians to live up to the principles set forth in the Constitution, and all Christians want their clergy to live up to the principles set forth in the Gospel.

If I call myself a proud American, it is because I am proud of my identification with the progressive spirit in which the country was founded; it does not mean that I am proud of the job my government is doing. Similarly, if I call myself a proud Christian, it is because I am proud to align myself with the principles espoused by Jesus, and with the legacy of saints whom he inspired to unite under the banner of his blessed name; it does not mean that I am proud of the calculated maneuverings of political clerics, who only claim to represent the members of Christ's Church.

I would ask anyone who disagrees with this, and wishes to see dissent rooted out of the Church, to familiarize himself or herself with the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. In addition to forgiving sins, giving sight to the blind, casting out demons, and sacrificing his life for the cause of pacifism, Christ spent most of his time voicing his dissent. The Gospel is full of admonitions he delivered to the Pharisees; the religious hierarchy of his time.

And one need only look to the lives of the greatest saints, to see how Christ (in and through them) has responded to Catholic authorities over the ages:

Augustine famously declared, "The Church is a whore, and she's my mother." Does this sound like unqualified approval and submission? Or, rather, like criticism from someone in a unique position to criticize?
The most beloved of all saints, Francis, who may have been the only Christian to ever fully confess and live the teaching of Jesus Christ, sought the Pope's blessing for his monastic order, while respectfully proclaiming his own ascetical way of life as a more authentic immitation of Christ.

Saint Catherine is still honored for her shockingly bold, yet deferential, letters to the Pope, pressuming to counsel him on various matters and exhorting him to be worthy of his great office.

Saint Padre Pio was hounded by Church authorities for most of his life, and had to continually submit his clearer vision to the muddier dictates of church politics. Until the end of his life, he was hemmed in and treated as a charlatan by many high ranking Catholics.

Likewise, outside of Catholicism, there have been many "saints" whom the Church still cannot officially recognize, or cease from persecuting. It is a shame that they must be summarily dismissed from Catholic study, since these members of the more esoteric Christian Church are among some of the most authentic and uncompromising followers of Christ.

Women like 'Peace Pilgrim' don't observe the Sabbath, but they take Christ's words seriously when he says, "Go, sell all that you own, distribute it to the poor, come follow me, and you shall have treasure in heaven... For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven." This woman gave away everything but a few "essentials" she could fit in her pockets, and walked in the footsteps of Christ, preaching about spiritual wealth.

Did she know less about Christianity than the pope, who has his own city, -- and needs an entire city in order to hoard the massive amount of material wealth acquired through centuries of war and extortion; enough to feed the whole world ten times over?

Men like George Fox never observed the symbolic ritual known as The Mass, but they received the true Eucharist when they meditated in silence and were filled with the living spirit of Christ. Unlike so many who only go through the motions and believe they have been changed, these people proved by their works that they had been utterly transformed; for they lived modestly, peacefully, and suffered years of imprisonment and persecution for their faith.

Naturally, the Church gets very uneasy when men start preaching and living like the Early Christians, as Fox did, with divine authority: "You will say, 'Christ saith this', and 'the apostles say this', but what canst thou say? Art thou a Child of the Light, and hast thou walked in the Light, and what thou speakest, is it inwardly from the Lord?"

Fox has his own things to say, but he undoubtedly took seriously the words of Christ: "resist not evil.. turn the other cheek.. pray for your enemies... return good for evil." A true Christian, he became a pacifist, and endured many beatings without ever returning a blow. All this, while the Catholic Church was still torturing people for conscientious objection to war.

And, of course, there are individuals who do not trace their spiritual awakening to Jesus in any way, yet, who lived thoroughly Christian, or Christ-like, lives. What of them? Who among us has the arrogance to suppose that he or she is pleasing to God, while a man like Gandhi warrants divine wrath and hellfire? But this is precisely what the Catholic so-called authorities believe, to this day. We have yet to see Gandhi canonized as a Catholic saint and, I dare say, we will have to wait a very long time before we see something like that; for it will mean that the leadership of the Catholic Church has finally come to its senses.

While leadership, by definition, is supposed to be progressive, we find the exact opposite in the case of the Catholic hierarchy. They have yet to declare anything in advance of public opinion, but, when they do come out with some new declaration, it is invariably something which the people have long known and campaigned for themselves. They do not challenge the people, as they should, but are continually challenged by the people. For example, the significance of Mary in Catholicism is due, not to the clergy, but, mainly to the people, who loved and honored her long before the Church was obliged to take a similar notice.

We only need to consider how many times, in ways great and small, the Roman Catholic Church has reversed its position and changed its policies (its doctrines) over time. A cursory glance at history should suffice to make this fact obvious to even the most brainwashed and unconscious Catholics. In light of this fact, we must either confess that the Church has been (and, pressumably, still is) mistaken on many issues, or, confess that revelation has been (and, pressumably, still is) ongoing; that doctrine is continually subject to revision, as God increasingly makes His will known in the world.

My own contention is that the Church has yet to live up to revelations made on the Sermon On The Mount, and has a long way to go before it can look squarely at the words of Paul the Apostle, when he wrote, "...there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Gal. 3:28)

It is very telling that the disciple who was named the foundation of the church (and is often called "the first pope"), namely, Peter, is the one who cut off the centurian's ear when they came for Jesus, -- essentially, attempting to defend Christ by betraying Christ's core teaching. Even Judas did not betray Christ's teaching when he told the Romans where to find the master.

It is very telling that, at another moment of truth, "the first pope" denied (three times) that he even knew the Lord. Before Christ was crucified, "the rock" upon which the Church was founded had already betrayed him and crumbled like a clod of dirt.

Lastly, it is telling that, of all the disciples, only John, and not Peter, would accompany Jesus to the cross, where, in the final moments, he would be told to look upon Mary as his own mother.

Evidently, Peter -- or the Church which claims succession from him -- is still denying Christ, while John's spiritual heirs are still standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Mary at the foot of the cross, too busy following the Lord, and protecting his mother, to be overly concerned with the administration of worldly religion.