What the heck does is mean to be spiritual? Does it mean to have some kind of faith in another realm? Does it mean to be sensitive to or aware of forces that seem to be irrational? Maybe it simply means to exist. I am; therefore, I am also in spirit. What the heck am I talking about?
I don't know. My life seems to be a constant wavering between something like faith and something like judgement. The judging part of us, ego, intellect, can't really comprehend the irrational. Intellect thinks it would be nice if there WERE a good, loving god or a good, loving flow of life. That's as far as it can really go. The capacity to make a judgement based on information and reason stops at the end of physical reality. Immense intellects like Einstein's have come close to understanding and explaining the magnitude and simplicity of creation. They liken this to understanding the mind of God. I find that comforting. My intellect is comforted that there is some kind of bridge in great minds from this reality to other ones.
On the other hand, the faith part of us is willing to believe without the intellect's input. It leaps across the divide between physical reality and spiritual reality. The closest I can come to that is occasionally letting grace seep into my awareness so that suddenly I am residing in an alternate reality. It's kind of like time slows way down and I see and hear with an acuity that is not part of my normal life. I look into my dog's eyes and I see a soul. I step out the door and I hear the wind in tall trees or see mist rising off a river. I am present. I am IN life. The question of faith or judgement ceases to exist. There is only this moment when my body seems to merge with the universe.
Some part of me knows that's where it is. That's enlightenment. That's grace. That's salvation. Whatever. When I'm consciously part of it all, the ego/mind/judging part of me disappears. It's irrelevant. I know with certainty, in those moments, that I'm a child of the universe. I'm home. Roxie
I don't know. My life seems to be a constant wavering between something like faith and something like judgement. The judging part of us, ego, intellect, can't really comprehend the irrational. Intellect thinks it would be nice if there WERE a good, loving god or a good, loving flow of life. That's as far as it can really go. The capacity to make a judgement based on information and reason stops at the end of physical reality. Immense intellects like Einstein's have come close to understanding and explaining the magnitude and simplicity of creation. They liken this to understanding the mind of God. I find that comforting. My intellect is comforted that there is some kind of bridge in great minds from this reality to other ones.
On the other hand, the faith part of us is willing to believe without the intellect's input. It leaps across the divide between physical reality and spiritual reality. The closest I can come to that is occasionally letting grace seep into my awareness so that suddenly I am residing in an alternate reality. It's kind of like time slows way down and I see and hear with an acuity that is not part of my normal life. I look into my dog's eyes and I see a soul. I step out the door and I hear the wind in tall trees or see mist rising off a river. I am present. I am IN life. The question of faith or judgement ceases to exist. There is only this moment when my body seems to merge with the universe.
Some part of me knows that's where it is. That's enlightenment. That's grace. That's salvation. Whatever. When I'm consciously part of it all, the ego/mind/judging part of me disappears. It's irrelevant. I know with certainty, in those moments, that I'm a child of the universe. I'm home. Roxie
Welcome from a long hiatus.
ReplyDelete"What the heck does is mean to be spiritual?"
You have yourself answered this question rather squarely. These are your words:
“Does it mean to have some kind of faith in another realm? Does it mean to be sensitive to or aware of forces that seem to be irrational? Maybe it simply means to exist.
I am; therefore, I am also in spirit.
What the heck am I talking about?”
More currency a word gets its meaning evaporates more. “Faith” comes to us as blind, also implying its emotional downgrading and rejection. What we are today is a sum total of cumulative evolution of millions of years. Over this entire learning curve, a human being has continuously faced the unknown. Born holistic in nature, the unknown was always included in our knowledge base under a dynamic label called faith. Seen positively faith is a hypothesis which may or may not be validated, if experience shows otherwise. In fact, we have ‘faith’ in today’s science otherwise we wouldn’t ignore its history of replacing old theories with new. Our brain stores knowledge in infinite pieces, but never as a whole Kodak picture as we believe it does. Extend this and one realizes that faith is how we hold the entire universe.
If faith is a hypothesis, sensory perception is our tool to gather evidences for and against. Perception leads to knowledge that is validated reality, and that makes us aware. But, senses are limited in range and reach and while perception is formed, it is heavily colored. So, armed with this defective mechanism can we really be aware of the forces? Unlikely.
So, question still remains, whether the forces are real. The problem is that the forces are subtle. Then to perceive them either I sharpen my senses enough or I be that subtle. The latter would have been an easy solution, but we stay locked in our self-awareness at the gross physical level. From there, the only option is either to deny the forces and the spirit or hold them as faith.
But there is a third option – change. Then “I am not physical body” doesn’t remain a fashionable parroting of a fake yogi but becomes a realized truth; it simply means to exist that way. You said it just right. Once change is an accepted course, gross to subtle journey is feasible. When the “I” is extremely subtle it doesn’t remain local, constrained or egotist. It realizes that it is truly spirit and then just “I am”.
The problem with the big dude is that the depth of the sea, the infinity of space, and the eternal wisdom is expected to be “seen” where he is sitting; on his terms; at his station; without moving, changing or reaching out.
So even when the divine experiences come to meet, the 'rational' mind pulls him away. Divine is not an alternative reality; it is THE reality. 'We are spiritual beings in a constant state of denial.'
I like your last line. I won't forget that!
ReplyDeleteYog has taught me that nothing ever happens without purpose. This is not a vague, philosophical quotable quote. There is no qualifier to 'purpose' - good or bad, mundane or divine. It is a simple statement of fact. If nature is the universe's manifest life, there is no reason for any waste - of time, matter or intelligence. My experiences support this.
DeleteWe try to ignore nature and indulge in the wasteful exercises. We invent time and a mirage called 'tomorrow'. We invent ways to separate, fragment, classify and then judge. We create "two" from One and allow ourselves to oscillate in between.
If you rise above enough, there will be nothing "on the other hand" Faith and intellect are not on opposite sides. Both lead to the same untruth or relative truth: faith, by leaping and intellect, by scaffolding.
That single moment when your body seem to merge with the universe is the real timeless truth. Then it is also realized that the universe is not out there, but is right within and from body to universe is not a journey but discovery of the real self.
Your last paragraph is priceless, right on, resonating with me. Thank you.
ReplyDelete