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There is No God, but God Is
The Question of God Makes Me Hungry
Last night I saw Julia Sweeney’s Letting Go of God. What a wonderful film. Julia Sweeney amazed me with her wit, dialogue and personal inquiry into God.
I noticed as the film progressed and Julia got deeper and deeper into exploring her belief in God, religion and personal meaning – she started looking more and more yummy to me. At first, I thought it was about her as a person, but I soon realized that it was the exploration that was arousing my appetite – the more she talked, the more I wanted to tag along with her. The humor was delicious, the dialogue was a veritable cornucopia of spices, and her facial expressions were a feast for the eyes. I was relishing the experience.Like Julia, one thing that continues to intrigue me is how many people take the Bible as the literal word of God – and rely on others to explain it to them. It is a rare and exceptional person, like Julia, who will sincerely question sacred cows.
One of my favorite spiritual books is Prayers of the Cosmos by Neil Douglas-Klotz (from the publisher – Reinterpreting the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes from the vantage of Middle Eastern mysticism, Douglas–Klotz offers a radical new translation of the words of Jesus Christ that reveals a mystical, feminist, cosmic Christ). This little book can really open one’s eyes to the “word” of God.
What Douglas-Klotz does is to take the Lord’s Prayer and the Beatitudes back into Aramaic and then provide the reader with a broader perspective on the scope of each line. From each line comes much more breadth and depth. What is immediately apparent is how much is lost in translation. When we consider the question of what might get lost in translation (from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to English), it makes sense that a deeper, more personal exploration of “the word of God” is a worthy endeavor.
I thoroughly enjoyed the path and process of Julia’s exploration. Her resolution of more openness and mystery to replace dogma, conditioning and reification seems logical to me, though the question of the non-dual never really gets addressed.
Have you seen Letting Go of God? What did you think of her exploration? The dialogue? The wit?
Does God Exist?
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My Father’s Hand
Dad’s Hands are Still Strong
I was the last person I would expect to be taking care of my father – I have/had issues!
At 85, dad is moving slower, forgetting more, remembering more, mellower and even more set in his ways at times.
We just moved from the Bay Area of California to Petoskey, Michigan – way “Up North”, as they say here. The 2565-mile drive seemed to fly by – for me. I was surprised at how much time dad was alert and taking in the scenery. (more…)
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Nonduality – Oneness, Existence and Me
Nondual duality
- If it’s all one, where am I?
- Am I here or not?
- Do I have choice?
- Am I separate from you?
- Who’s speaking, thinking and breathing?
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Uncertainty of Certain Change
Wither & Whence Change Cometh?
A couple of years ago, I knew it was time to consider moving from California. I felt a movement in my soul for more settling and quietude – literally.
In June of 2009, I traveled to Petoskey, Michigan for my niece’s wedding. After spending a Saturday morning at Roast & Toast, Petoskey Health & Fitness and Horizon Books, I found myself on East Mitchell Street in Petoskey, MI and felt a deep sigh, an ahhhhh in my heart, soul, mind and body. I thought – this could be a great place to hang out for the next decade or so.I returned to Petoskey 4 times in the following 12 months – twice to check out winter. I was hoping Mother Nature would throw some vicious winter weather my way so I could assess where I was with the notion of winter. After 4 years in California, I wasn’t sure I would welcome the cold and snow – even after 13 years in Park City, Utah where I had 3 snow blowers to deal with the 15 feet or more of snow we received each winter.
I was a little disappointed in the 2009/2010 winter in Petoskey – at least the part of it I enjoyed. I think it only got to about 18 degrees when I was there and even with the 20 knot winds, it did not dissuade me from further exploration.
As I write this, I am in Naperville, IL on my way to a home in Petoskey. The other night in Rock Springs, Wy. and again the following night in Shelby, Iowa, I had a few moments of – Am I doing the right thing? What am I getting myself into? As I drove from Shelby, IA to Naperville, IL, I was listening to an interview with Mitchell May that my friend Holly had given me. I share some of Mitchell’s orientation toward the mystery of life. As I listened to the interview, I again felt the certainty in my soul about the move and Petoskey.
My mind wants to worry about the future and finances, but my observation is that 40 years of such worry, concern and uncertainty haven’t accomplished much – especially in regards to increasing a sense of certainty and security in a constantly changing world.
I notice a certainty and security in my heart. The sense of a turning in my soul has morphed into a sense of settling – like an enormous soft spaceship touching down.
My 84-year old father is moving with me to Petoskey. I notice that spending more time with him is a real support for practicing Total Being – an evolution of Realization as Practice. As I slow my walking pace to dad’s, I bring more attention and awareness to total being.
There seem to be no coincidences. Back-to-back retreats on NonConceptual Realty and then the Fulcrum Practicum seem to have prepared me to move slower with more attention and awareness.
Where will life in Petoskey lead me? Certainly to more moments of uncertainty and certainty.
Certainly or Not
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Inquiring into Death & Dying – Life & Living
What’s up with Life & Death – Living & Dying?
My first real experience with death was when a dear friend of mine died from ovarian cancer about 10 years ago. As I grieved, I learned a very interesting thing – my grief spoke to depth of the love. It was fascinating to discover that grieving actually helped to maintain ego structure and identity, but attending to the love would absolutely disappear me. That continues to be an enlightening realization.A couple of years ago, I became very interested in pain – what exactly is pain? Not physical pain, but emotional, or psychological, or existential pain. I can place all kinds of labels and understanding on pain – sadness, angst, terror, raw, sharp, dull, intense, etc. But none of the defining addressed my basic question. As I probed deeper into this over the course of many months, what I finally arrived at was this – pain is separation from being. I continue to explore this thread of interest as it arises, but, so far, I always wind up at – ultimately (fundamentally), pain is separation from being.
When I am in a state of being, I notice that emotional, psychological and existential pain seem to disappear. I say seem, because events are still happening, but my relationship to them and my reaction to them changes profoundly – my experience of my experience transforms. The Sufis say the journey is only one step – you step out and IT steps in.
My exploration into pain also led me to the observation that only the past can hurt me. What I notice is that whenever I am experiencing pain, I am always in the past. I may seem to be in the present, in a situation with someone in current time, but in my psyche, the present situation is reminding me of the past – pulling past pain and trauma into the present. In actuality, I am dancing with the past not the present moment. Engaging the projection of the past onto the present always leads me to a state of deeper being and being in the moment always seems to be pain free.
For the past year or so, my primary thread of interest has shifted to ME, the “I.” It is becoming more and more curious to me that I am always in the center of my experience. This “I” I am speaking of has a consistent sense of familiarity through time. There are constellations of attitudes and beliefs that are part and parcel of this sense of self. I am extremely curious as to why I am so addicted to this sense of self. Why does “my” experience revolve around this me?
I am quite aware that the body can continue on in good health without me in the picture, so what’s up with me always having to be here in this familiar way – historical identity?
Death & Dying – Life & Living… Who lives? Who Dies? What is life? What is Death?
These simple questions are so engrossing!
Soon The Wisdom of Life & Death will be available.
A perspective on living:
Life, Death or Both?
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