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This is a sample of the JUNE SALON:
THE HEALING POWER OF REFLECTION
I always make a distinction between thinking about something and reflecting on something, such as a piece of writing, or poetry, or an insight someone has offered in a conversation. Thinking and reflecting are two distinct skills and both need to be understood for their power and the arena of their genius. I remember being asked several times in my mid-twenties why I was pursuing the study of Theology for a graduate degree – as opposed to something more “practical,” such as Law or an advanced degree in Journalism. I was frustrated as a journalist for several reasons, but the most pressing one was that I had come to realize even in my mid-twenties that for all my education in the skill of writing, I lacked the proper training in how to transcend the limitations of my own thinking, my own personal vocabulary, and the ideas I had been brought up on. I had to get out of my own head. For me, Theology and the study of the mystical experience represented the unknown, beyond religion. And, as it would ultimately turn out, the study of mysticism challenged the parameters of my reality, but not in the way I had anticipated. In keeping with the nature of great personal changes, we can never anticipate how they will come – they just do.
Mysticism and the mystical experience baffled me and, so, consumed my interest. What was it that mystics experienced, I wondered, that made them mystics? I wondered why they couldn’t they describe their experiences in words that communicated these transcendent raptures more clearly, and I questioned their need for metaphor and poetry. I puzzled over the fact that all mystics seemed to come to the same conclusion about the nature of the Divine, regardless of their spiritual tradition. What was this inner sanctum of love, grace, tranquility, and truth that they describe and how did one get to this place? And did one really want to make this journey? So many questions kept bubbling up. I would have loved to find one mystic who had written, “You know, this journey is a pain in the neck and all this talk of love and light – it’s nice, but I’ll take negativity, doubt, despair, and fear, as long as I can get what I want in the ‘real’ world.” I never found such a quote – but I did look for one.
What, then, makes one a mystic? A simple definition, which implies far more than it seems at first, is that a mystic is a person who experiences the power of God as opposed to thinking or talking about God. A mystic makes the profound shift from thought to experience or, more directly, from arrogance to humility, from ego-knowing to soul revelation. From that point onward, a mystic becomes a servant to the Divine as opposed to an authority on the Divine. I just wrote a mouthful, and the argument could even be made that I contradicted myself by making statements as an authority on the Divine. Yet, this is a description that I am comfortable putting forth, because a mystical experience alters you dramatically; you are given an experience of that which, hitherto, you have only been discussing, and about which you might well have been wrong. One brief, authentic experience of the nature of God is all you require to flush out your own blind spots. Take, for example, those who are so convinced that they know what and who God loves and judges, and what they might gain from a good, old-fashioned near-death experience in which they are taken out of their bodies and exposed to the stunningly bright Light of unconditional Love. (I have fantasies about this – obviously.) They would then need to be shoved back into their little bodies, so jammed with mental prejudice, only they would suddenly have a soul that has been blasted with a mystical experience revealing that all are loved unconditionally. Let them now set about the task of balancing the Truth of cosmic Love with how their ego wanted God to be – as a reflection and projection of their own prejudices.
A mystic, then, is one who has experienced the power of Truth, as Truth is one of the disguises of God. But Truth, like the mystical revelation of unconditional Love, is not something that the mind can grasp. You cannot comprehend the meaning or the power of unconditional Love as an expression of the Divine by thinking about that. Here’s where we begin to examine the split in the road between the fundamental nature of thinking, which is a mental art that engages reason and logic, and the more interior skill of reflection, which draws you away from reason and logic and directs your attention toward transcendent pursuits. Unconditional Love is a mystical force, not a logical or reasonable one. Therefore, to say that one comprehends the meaning, the power, the size, the significance, or the magnitude that unconditional Love offers for the transformation of humanity, is preposterous. This is an incomprehensible force for the rational mind to even consider, because at the very least, the rational mind is the part of you that will automatically put up qualifiers: Who qualifies for unconditional Love? What are the requirements? If there is such a thing as unconditional Love, then there must be “conditional Love” – so what are the conditions that must be met in order to be loved “unconditionally”? Hey, I’ve talked with people who have actually taken workshops on Unconditional Love and how to get there. This is a puzzling force for the rational mind, as well it should be, because it is a mystical force – and a mystical force cannot be attained through thinking or reasoning or workshops – period. It is NOT gained via the ego, no matter what, but through a far different path – that of the heart….
This is Continued in the June Salon...
THE HEALING WORK
As always, I want to thank all of you who continue to be a part of our Healing Work and I want to tell you that a handful of letters have come in, sharing stories of improved health. One profound healing case to report – a five-year-old named Mary – who has been blessed with the full recovery of her eyesight. She was completely blind. I cannot emphasize to you how much it means to have all of you put aside even ten minutes a day in prayer, devoted to the healing of others, our nation, and this whole planet and all humanity. We are a planet undergoing massive, chaotic transformation that has only begun. As Thomas Merton noted in his writings, it is the prayers of the silent that no doubt are holding together the lives of billions who otherwise believe this planet runs itself.
So, these are the prayers that we shall share this month, just to have a couple of group prayers that unite all of us. Beyond that, add your own intentions and in your heart just mention the intention of all of the people who have asked for assistance through the CMED Healing Work.
I offer you this beautiful selection from The Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross, to reflect on as you prepare to enter into healing prayer:
NAKED WISDOM
So, you entered the wisdom of divine love?
I did.
What did it look like?
Look like? The wisdom of love came naked. It was not dressed in the clothes of any physical image. It bore no content. None. It bypassed my intellect, transcended my senses, overrode my will, and penetrated me directly. How could I possibly report on the color of its garment? It shed every scrap on my threshold and threw itself into my arms and entered me.
How can you be so sure the wisdom of divine love was inside you? It sounds so vague, like a cloud, like a dream, like an error.
I have never been more certain of anything in my life. There is nothing vague about it. Just because it was naked does not make it anything less than perfectly beautiful and perfectly clear. Its flavor lingers on my tongue, changing the way I taste everything. The language of love has no words.
Please try.
Listen. It would be as if you saw something no one had ever seen before. In fact, no one had ever seen anything remotely similar. It was the most marvelous thing you had ever encountered, a thing that changed you forever. And yet, even in the midst of fully experiencing it, utterly enjoying it, and completely understanding it, how could you ever begin to describe it? Mere metaphor does not come close. All you could do would be to stammer, like Moses: “Ah, ah, ah. . . .”
No words?
The wisdom of divine love silences the soul.
A selection from Saint John of the Cross by Mirabai Starr
An on-going resource for personal growth, the purpose in creating this on-line program is to share with you thoughts, ideas, feedback from you to others, inspiration, and direction to help enrich your life.
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September 2008
The Journey Expo in Cleveland 2008
Lakeland Community College
Sept. 7, 2008?Kirtland, Ohio
440.223.1392
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