Sunday, 8 May 2011
The meaning of mysticism and its misunderstanding - cf fundamentalism
Our definition of mysticism as true philosophy-science or the enlightened state of mind -- come about through contemplation or meditation -- is thus: on the cognitive side, the recognition that All is One, that All has come from nothing or can be here at all, and that Everything is just the way it is, complex, orderly, and beautiful; and, on the emotive side, the amazement in these three recognitions, and the feeling of love for All and the acceptance of All in the way it is.7
We are not satisfied with the mere complementarity between philosophy with physics, as suggested by the continental conception of philosophy (noted i
Click on link for a long but very interesting essay
Want to know if you are a fundamentalist? Check it out right here.
True and false understanding laid bare.
If you're not clear on which is which keep going back to silence.
Unhook from self-indoctrinating beliefs.
If the urge to proselytize (convert) is strong you're probably heading in the wrong direction.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Leo Babauta (blog ZenHabits) is 38 years old today - happy birthday Leo!
Today I turn 38 years old.
I’ve been on this earth for nearly four decades. Being in a city like Paris, where there are buildings that measure their age by the millennia, helps put that brief blink of the eye into perspective. But still, it amazes me that I’ve been around that long — I feel like I’ve barely begun.
I’m not usually one to make a big deal about my birthday, but as always, it has given me an opportunity to reflect. I thought I’d share a handful of lessons I’ve learned — as a helpful guide for those just starting out.
This post is for my children, whom I miss greatly across the distance of a continent and an ocean. I hope this will shine a dim light on the streets they have to navigate ahead of them, though I know they’ll still stumble as much as I have.
This is for you, Chloe, Justin, Rain, Maia, Seth and Noelle. I apologize for the length.
38 Lessons I’ve Learned in My 38 Years
1. Always swallow your pride to say you’re sorry. Being too proud to apologize is never worth it — your relationship suffers for no good benefit.
2. Possessions are worse than worthless — they’re harmful. They add no value to your life, and cost you everything. Not just the money required to buy them, but the time and money spent shopping for them, maintaining them, worrying about them, insuring them, fixing them, etc.
3. Slow down. Rushing is rarely worth it. Life is better enjoyed at a leisurely pace.
....................................
Saturday, 30 April 2011
USA Hunger Facts
Hunger Facts
In many ways, America is the land of plenty. But for 1 in 6 Americans, hunger is a reality. Many people believe that the problems associated with hunger are confined to small pockets of society, certain areas of the country, or certain neighborhoods, but the reality is much different.
Right now, millions of Americans are struggling with hunger. These are often hard-working adults, children and seniors who simply cannot make ends meet and are forced to go without food for several meals, or even days.
It’s time to educate ourselves about the causes of hunger in America.
I used to procrastinate now I just put things off - BRILLIANT video & student resources
Click o link to see Dr Shulman's site
"What is mysticism?" - a view by Dr Laura Ellen Shulman
What is Mysticism?
Handout and Review: definition and characteristics of mysticism
Popular religion believes in gods and goddesses worshipped through ritual practices
Mystical religion moves beyond popular deities to an abstract, philosophical conception of Higher Reality, moves beyond ritual and devotion to direct, experiential knowledge of divinity and the presence of such in one’s own being/self
theology = indirect, intellectual knowledge about God; Mysticism = direct, experiential knowledge of God (c.f.: knowing about someone famous [from afar] vs. knowing him as a personal friend)
Dr Shulman has the skill to present in a simple and clear way this subject area that can so easily obfuscate.
What is Universalism? - Ans: It is the perennial wisdom of the inter-spiritual, inter-mystic
Major points of agreement developed by 15 spiritual leaders from nine different religious traditions, including:
Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, Native American, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions.
These guidelines are not presented as definitive, but they offer a useful starting point for interfaith religious dialogue. They were written by the SnowMass Ecumenical Conference, convened by Fr. Thomas Keating, 1984 -89.1. The world religions bear witness to the experience of Ultimate Reality, to which they give various names: Brahman, Allah, (the) Absolute, God, Great Spirit.
2. Ultimate Reality cannot be limited by any name or concept.
3. Ultimate Reality is the ground of infinite potentiality and actualization.
4. Faith is opening, accepting, and responding to Ultimate Reality. Faith in this sense precedes every belief system.
5. The potential for human wholeness—or in other frames of reference, enlightenment, salvation, transformation, blessedness, nirvana—is present in every human person.
6. Ultimate Reality may be experienced not only through religious practices but also through nature, art, human relationships, and service of others.
7. As long as the human condition is experienced as separate from Ultimate Reality, it is subject to ignorance, illusion, weakness and suffering.
8. Disciplined practice is essential to the spiritual life; yet spiritual attainment is not the result of one’s own efforts, but the result of the experience of oneness (unity) with Ultimate Reality.
9. Prayer is communion with Ultimate Reality, whether it is regarded as personal, impersonal (transpersonal), or beyond them both.
The participants in the Snowmass Conference who discovered these areas of agreement were all long-term practitioners of their respective spiritual paths, to the point of embodying their respective traditions in a remarkable way. Although these guidelines point to certain truths that appear to be common to all religions, they do not imply that all religions are the same. The guidelines in no way contradict the spiritual uniqueness and richness of any one tradition.
During the Snowmass Conference, which met in annual week-long retreats for several years, various areas of disagreement were also discovered and explored. The participants became very honest with each other in stating exactly what they believed, but they did not try to convince the others of their respective positions. To their delight, they found that discussing their points of disagreement actually increased the bonding of the group even more than discovering their points of agreement.
Interfaith spirituality is a growing movement toward a universal spirituality world wide, as practitioners from different faiths discover how their own spiritual lives are enriched by learning from other traditions. Interfaith spirituality has a profound role to play in healing the religious divisions and conflicts in the world.
For an excellent introduction to interfaith spirituality, see “The Mystic Heart” by Wayne Teasdale (New World, 2001).
-0-
Alternative version
The Snowmass Conference's Guidelines for Interreligious Understanding
- The world religions bear witness to the experience of the Ultimate Reality to which they give various names: Brahman, the Absolute, God, Allah, (the) Great Spirit, the Transcendent.
- The Ultimate Reality surpasses any name or concept that can be given to It.
- The Ultimate Reality is the source (ground of being) of all existence.
- Faith is opening, surrendering, and responding to the Ultimate Reality. This relationship precedes every belief system.
- The potential for human wholeness -- or in other frames of reference, liberation, self-transcendence, enlightenment, salvation, transforming union, moksha, nirvana, fana -- is present in every human person.
- The Ultimate Reality may be experienced not only through religious practices but also through nature, art, human relationships and service to others.
- The differences among belief systems should be presented as facts that distinguish them, not as points of superiority.
- In the light of the globalization of life and culture now in process, the personal and social ethical principles proposed by the world religions in the past need to be re-thought and re-expressed.
from Speaking of Silence: Christian and Buddhists on the Contemplative Way by Thomas Keating
World Scripture - FORMLESS, EMPTINESS, MYSTERY
FORMLESS, EMPTINESS, MYSTERY
This section treats Ultimate Reality as a mystery, not a thing that can be defined by form or a concept of being. In the monotheistic religions, God is beyond any human concept, hidden, and inscrutable: 'My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.' The prohibition of images is a statement about the utter transcendence of God, for to make an idol to represent God is to reduce the infinite to finitude. Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Taoism affirm the ineffability of Ultimate Reality in their assertions that no words or intellection can properly convey its nature. It is beyond all duality, e.g., all attempts to think of it as a "thing" separate from other things. Its nature is emptiness.Emptiness in the eastern religions should never be misunderstood as a cognitive statement about Reality--such a statement or its referent is a "thing" and cannot itself be empty. Rather, as the Buddhist scholar Edward Conze writes,
Emptiness is not a theory, but a ladder that reaches out into the infinite. A ladder is not there to be discussed, but to be climbed.... It is a practical concept, and it embodies an aspiration, not a view. Its only use is to help us to get rid of this world and of the ignorance which binds us to it. It has not only one meaning, but several, which can unfold themselves on the successive stages of the actual process of transcending the world through wisdom. Not everyone, of course, is meant to understand what emptiness means. In that case it is better to pass on to something else.1
Truly Thou art a God who hidest Thyself.1. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 45.15
Invent not similitudes for God; for God knows, and you know not.2. Islam. Qur'an 16.74
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.3. Judaism and Christianity. Bible, Isaiah 55.8-9
No vision can grasp Him,
But His grasp is over all vision;
He is above all comprehension,
Yet is acquainted with all things.
Click on link to go to this vast anthology
"Happiness is the very opposite of selfishness." says Anthony Seldon
Anthony Seldon, leading British educationalist and political historian, has been the head of Wellington College since 2006, where he has replaced the GCSEs by his own curriculum, including lessons in happiness.In the BBC programme 'Five Things I have learnt", he says: "Happiness is the very opposite of selfishness. It involves conscious choice every second of every day. Much of my life has been spent either unhappy or in a kind of neutral state and I now realise that one can make a conscious decision to be happy. Happiness follows from a sense of living in harmony with oneself and with others, and turning one's mind to the present and away from one's own self-centred thoughts. (...)
It is now an obsession with me as a head master that young people are encouraged to make their own choices and learn how to live. Happiness lessons help here - we have them at my school. They learn that making mistakes can often be a good thing. Learning to meditate and do yoga helped me enormously." More on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12935895
'Dr Ambedkar a hero of India written out of history because of the accursed caste system' - see also Guardian editorial
Among the most tiresome of all observations made about the royal wedding was that it represented some kind of triumph of social mobility.
The new Duchess of Cambridge is the great-great-granddaughter of a coalminer, runs this story, and her mother worked as an air hostess. ....... she also went to Marlborough College.
Such cant brings to mind a more potent example of social mobility – and of that mobility being put to significant purpose. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born in 1891, an untouchable in an India run by the British – that is to say a subaltern twice over, subjugated by an imperial government and by high-caste Indians.
He died in 1956, with doctorates from Columbia University and the LSE. Most importantly, he will be remembered as the emancipator of other untouchables and the jurist in charge of drafting the constitution of the Indian republic.
Ambedkar fought for a free India, and for the freedom of all castes within that state. He sought advancement not just for himself, nor for those like him, but also for Brahmins, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists. His time at the bar in London and at the LSE, but most of all his sterling example, surely make him more than deserving of public memorial here.
"How long shall we continue to deny equality in our social and economic life?" asked Ambedkar. "If we continue to deny it for long, we will do so only by putting our political democracy in peril."
His message, intended for 20th-century India, is just as relevant for 21st-century Britain.
It's not only time that Dr Ambedkar had a fitting memorial here in the UK but it is much more to the point that India should put right the appalling consequences of its caste system - far worse that the treatment of black Americans in the 20thC or South African apartheid - it is a vileness that the greatness of the Indian spirit should expunge from the whole continent.
Posts
