Seeker's Sojourn

WELCOME

2011-10-18T15:05:00.000-07:00

Welcome to "Seeker's Sojourn," a blog that contains
both old and new essays of mine. Not all, but most
involve my interest in Science and Spirituality.
They go back a few years, pretty much reflecting
my experience as well.

It would probably be better to go back to the first
post, which is an Introduction, then work your way
forward--following the numerical sequence. This
approach allows for probably a more natural flow of
my thought.

(50) Extraterrestrial Life

2011-10-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

Years back, a few years before I retired from the Government, I
met a scientist connected with the Mutual UFO Network--known
as MUFON. At the time I was a member of the Washington
Evolutionary Systems Society, a group mainly composed of
local scientists interested in the subject of Evolutionary Systems.
Attending their meetings, I met this gentleman. We got to talking
about UFOs, and I made mention my interest. He felt that perhaps
after my retirement I might consider volunteering as a MUFON
interviewer for the Northern Virginia group.

Anyway, I looked into this and discovered that there were lots
of UFO sightings in this part of the world--where I lived at the
time. The trouble was that I had one bad ear, and my other
so-called good ear was beginning to fade. So I wasn't sure that
I would make a good interviewer when it came to talking and
taping conversations with people who reported UFO sightings.
On top of this, I was a little bit scared. Didn't know why I felt
this way, but at the time I was.

On the other hand at the time (around 1990) I kept up with UFO
literature that I found by digging-up news reports, books in the
library, etc. But what caught my eye was that the Government
Repository located in nearby Maryland was planning to make
available collected UFO data due to the recently instituted
"Freedom of Information Act" by Congress. I thought to myself
that by golly I might like doing research into some of this
stuff after I retired, might even find something interesting
that I could write about.

The trouble was that I had already started the "ball rolling" on
another track when it came to what I might do after I retired--
Science and Spirituality.

I had already enrolled in a postgraduate program at Georgetown
University. So I put aside any "far fetched" ideas I might have
had about UFO research. And these past twenty or so years I have
been busily engaged in the field of Science and Spirituality,
following my professional education in such by writing essays
and stories that I have placed aboard the WEB.

Lately I've extended into a "Future Focus" essay site, working
into cutting-edge scientifically oriented theological-philosophical
theoretics that can be projected into the future of Science and
Spirituality. After this site is completed, I think I'll work
into the idea of Extraterrestrial Life, with all the accessories
such as Panspermia, Directed Panspermia, UFO phenomena (ancient and
modern), crop circles (as perhaps a means of communication) and
abduction accounts. Even if this phenomena is only borderline credible,
it's fascinating--holding import for the Present as well as the Future.

[Part of this post is derived from one of Facebook Notes, entitled
"MUFON: Almost Once," published in August 2011.]

(49) Full Circle

2011-10-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

The other day I was surprised, in that Google was advertising "my"
E-Book, available for sale on Google or Amazon. I didn't even know
that I had an E-Book. As it turned out, it's a thesis I wrote at
Georgetown back in 1990--and the university was listed as the
publisher. I'm thinking that perhaps universities are sifting through
old theses, deciding to sell some on the E-market.

Anyway, I dusted off my old thesis in order to find anything that might
be embarrassing after 21 years since writing it. Fortunately, nope!

What interested me was that what I said in this thesis--"The Play of
the Cosmic Process: A Synthesis of Teilhard's Cosmogenesis and
Bohm's Theory of the Implicate Order"--pretty much described my
bent of thinking over the long period since I wrote it.

It's *cosmic* oriented, and recently I listed myself on Facebook as
being prone towards "Cosmic Theism." Just about all my essays
and stories I've written--since probably 1998--are pretty much
cosmically oriented. Basically, whether its the Perennial Philosophy,
the Logos-Pneuma, or the Pantocrator coupled with the Holy Spirit,
these approaches are all speaking of the same thing, just trying
to explain the Mystery that stands behind the universe and all of
existence.

So I have come "full circle," not really much deviating from my days
back during my studies at Georgetown. The thesis is also a study
in modeling, a systems philosophy approach, evolving a second
tier model out of first tier models--in this case those of Teilhard de
Chardin and David Bohm.

Interestingly, though coming from different milieux as well as
different perspectives, Teilhard and Bohm theoretically declare
that there's a "Within" to our universe, or an "Inner Lining" to our
outer universe. Bohm was one of the leading quantum physicists
of the 20th century and Teilhard--a Jesuit--was a well respected
geologist and paleontologist during the forepart of the 20th century,

They both also believe that the "Within" or Bohm's "Holomovement"
are intimately connected with our explicate or outer universe. This
connection is like a feedback cycle, in that *Information* is enfolded
in the Within, but such is thrust out into the Explicate Order, where
through insight, intuition, greater levels of consciousness, we
sentient beings might pick-up this Information and make something
out of it. And as we evolve, building-up via research, new approaches,
developing a Noosphere, our learning and accomplishments are
fed back to the "Within," which somehow is evolving as well.

Unfortunately, as both Teilhard and Bohm attest, we humans are
a long way off when it comes to grasping this "connection." But it's
there, always present, waiting, hopefully not being ignored or
wasted. Of course the universe is a rather large place, so Sentience
is surely everywhere, coming eventually to terms with this special
connection. And those who are at the cusp of such connection,
and can't somehow connect because of *Ignorance* or refusal,
Evolution has a propensity to replace such with ever rising new
species that reflect Sentience.

At least I am glad, coming to realize that I have come Full Circle
over the years. I'll just keep plugging along.

(48) Creation as Scripture

2011-07-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Recently I had a conversation with a friend, and our
discussion turned to the topic of Scripture. Being a devotee
of Science and Spirituality, I made mention the oft heard
"Book of Nature" vis-a-vis the "Book of Scripture." One would
seem based on observation, and the other based on revelation.
There has also been a tendency to choose one over the other.

While my friend and I were talking about these two kinds of
Books, if you will, I suddenly said that I felt that Creation was
truly Scripture writ by the Creator. I kind of surprised myself,
because this statement literally jumped out before I even began
to think about it.

Later I started wondering about this slip of my mind. As I have
oft considered, Scripture we possess and declare has been
written by human hand. And it is moot as to whether the authors
were "divinely inspired." Perhaps it is easier to assume we
might know by the fruits brought forth by written Scripture. As
any serious student of History, much less Religion, can tell you--
our written Scripture is a mixed miscellany that can be judged
in both positive and negative ways. We humans have had the
tendency to use Scripture in wrongful ways, for our own
purposes--especially when it comes to Power and Authority.

Turning to the Book of Nature, or Creation as Scripture, I began
to wonder if perhaps we had a kind of fool-proof "book" writ by
the Creator. It's definitely a certainty that we humans had no
hand creating the universe, at least initially. However, now our
Science and Technology has reached the point where we are at the
edge of creating what once was presumed only possible via Nature's
work. Of course humans are part and parcel of Nature, though
sometimes we forget this little fact. Thus maybe it is not so
outlandish to think that via our own creativity we are contributing
to the Book of Nature.

Nonetheless, there are pitfalls in this--just as when the Book of
Scripture was writ by human hands. We *interpret* the Deity,
the Divine, and usually follow with pronouncements. Alas, from
what I can tell, we tend toward the same habits when it comes to
the Book of Nature.

Still there's lots to learn from these two great Books--of Scripture,
of Nature. It's just that we need look with not only our heart but
with our mind, in a more honest way--rather than as a matter of
expediency.

I think, too, that we can blend these two Books, somehow
integrating the pearls of Wisdom found in the Book of Scripture
with the discoveries of Profundity we find in the Book of Nature.
Then we might eventually glean a great message.

(47) Scripture

2011-06-12T10:04:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I was e-talking with a friend about Scripture. Over
the millennia there have been all forms of human-generated
Scripture, eventually transformed by some as writ by God's own
hand. Hence we have "Holy Writ," if you will.

As for myself, even when a youngster, I had questions about
Biblical Scripture. I still remember people pointing fingers,
threatening, quoting Scripture in the most extreme ways. So--
since I had begun to read pretty good, I decided to pull out a
family Bible and started checking it out for myself.

Right off I began to see disparities, mistakes in the telling,
and this shook me at my young age. Later, after years of not
only self-study, but also professional study, I'm no longer
surprised or shook. The Bible is a library of books about a
myriad of topics, ranging from an usually heroic (if not precisely
a historically correct) account of Ancient Israel and its People.
Moving from the Old to the New Testament, one can detect
the effort of the various authors to carry forth a continuity of
those earlier writings that proclaimed the coming of a Messiah.

Hence writers in the New Testament proclaimed Jesus the
Messiah, the Son of God. And the Gospel writers also catered
to the particular faith group to which the belonged. Also, the
Gospels were written 70-to-90 years after the death of Jesus.
Just check any Bible and look at the special notes, and this
chronology is mentioned.

So it's difficult to think of these Gospel writers as those original
disciples, some likely near illiterate fishermen who spoke
colloquial Aramaic rather than the Greek which was the
original language employed when it came to these writings.
Studying further, I found out that biblical scholars believe that
the Gospel writers initially may have formed their stories around
an earlier account called the "Q" document, though no such
document has ever been discovered. However, surely there
must have been an oral tradition of sorts,

I discovered, too, that there probably was more than one author
of some of these Gospels. Computer technology has played a
part when it comes to this assumption. Goodness! Even recently
I came across a noted scholar talking about the "Deutero Paul."
That surprised me, especially since St. Paul's writing preceded
the Gospels.

Nonetheless, I do realize that there's some "historicity" in these
scriptural accounts. It's just not History as we have come to
understand such today, which is documented and presumed
factual. What scholars have been discovering is that these
Gospels were narratives, stories smack full of not only events
but symbolism. And they definitely tell one of the Greatest
Stories of all time!

Now does all this make the Scriptures untenable? For some,
maybe. For others, not at all. They are a record presented by
ancient voices, oft in a style familiar to the archaic societies in
which they lived. What has become important for me, as I have
continued to be fascinated by Scripture, is to study deeper into
these archaic societies to which the Gospel writers were addressing.

If we can better understand the thought patterns, the nuances of
these archaic societies, then Scripture might fall into place far
better when it comes to our understanding of such.

(46) Cosmic Vision

2011-06-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

People through the ages have visions, some come through
meditation, some through dreams, but always unexpectedly.
My special vision came in a dream, a seriously profound dream!

Years back I spent a lot of time working into the Benedictine
Tradition, a monastic-oriented life. (See my "Monastic Muse"
journal, if interested.) Anyway--I was having concerns that
my Benedictine moorings were drifting away, hence I was
disturbed. Perhaps because of this disturbed state I had
this special dream or vision.

In the dream I was sitting in the abbey, listening to a conference
given by the abbot. During the course of his talk, I started noticing
him slipping farther and farther away. Suddenly I looked up and
saw the roof of the abbey had become a gigantic skylight. It
opened to the night sky, and a friend sitting next to me said "look."

Looking upward, I saw countless stars in the night sky--and directly
overhead was the Big Dipper, turned upside down. It was
pouring stars down onto my head. And out of the corner of my eye
I saw a great shining City of Light in the distance, out in Space.
Astounded, I realized that I had received a cosmic baptism!

Now there are different ways to interpret such a dream or vision.
One is to ignore it completely, but I couldn't. Another is to set it
within the context of my own small reality, and probably whittle it
away. But I couldn't. Somehow, down to my basic instinct, I felt
this dream or vision as seriously significant for me.

Years before, in New Mexico, I had discovered my "wotai stone,"
which I described in Item 21 of this essay site. I had worked into
the indigenous spirituality of Ed McGaa, a Sioux spiritual master,
and he talked about the Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka, and also about
the wotai stone, millions of years in the making, made just for you.
And, yes, I found mine!

Within this special stone one could see a rainbow-streaked eagle
looming over a globe, seemingly protecting it. The eagle is a spirit
bird, flying higher than all the other birds, reaching into the heavens.
It's symbolic of the Great Spirit. As for the globe, I interpreted this
symbol two ways: one as the planet Earth, the other as the universe.

Later I came upon a special ring, which I wear to this day. It drew
me towards it when I first saw it. Within the stone there's a massive
comet streaking across the starry sky. I see it as the Fire of the
Spirit traversing through the Cosmos.

So, with this special dream vision I finally realized that all my past
concentration into understanding the universe, trying to approach
the Contours of God through my efforts in Science and Spirituality,
my fascination with the Pantocrator, the Lord of the Universe,
Master of the Cosmic Realm, even my volunteer efforts as a
docent naturalist, concentrating on eco-literacy, focusing on the
natural systems of the planet, all were somehow *connected.*

Consequently, this special dream-vision of a cosmic baptism
seemed a verification for me that my long sojourn, into all its
paths, was right for me. I had over time received strong hints
all along the way that this special sojourn reflected the right
calling for me. And the dream-vision seemed the final stamp
of approval, if you will.

I accept such, and with this shall continue my efforts as long as
I have breath.

(45) Looking Back

2011-06-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

It's like I am in an in-between time, neither this, neither that. I can't
say that I am comfortable in this state, but I do try to keep plugging
forward. Forward to what? It's like I am leaving something behind
and I have to go back and find it. So, before heading forward maybe
I need look back.

What might be back there to re-discover or maybe actually discover.
Events, experiences, happen in our life that sometimes just pass over
us, making hardly a ripple, barely noticeable, and later emerge into
significance. I seem to intuit that this might be the case for me.

On the other hand, I really do dislike looking back. I've never cared
to be Past oriented, if you will. But I seem to be getting an inner
message that now is the time to go against the grain and look back.

Whatever might I see or at least sense? I've walked down many
paths over my years, crossed bridges multiple times, keeping my
eyes fixed in the distance. So changing my gaze back, I need
look far in the distance the places I have traversed. What's there?

Maybe I have to employ my "feeling" more. I know what I miss, what
I sometimes long for. I miss those magical moments that I have
abandoned. My cool head, my scientific bent has held me in good
stead; however, so have my feelings. In the past they always worked
well together, but I have to wonder whether I have grown too one-
sided? Or too old?

I remember those magical moments in Nature, where I have walked
through glorious realms of mountains and canyons, looking out on
the distances of grasslands, cupping rainbows in my hands, watching
thunderous dark clouds closing overhead, watching wild animals
burrowing in the desert, transfixed by the Giant Sequoia, and simply
looking up at the clouds.

Too old for all this now? I hope not, but I feel more limited. Still I can
reach the ocean, sometimes go to the desert, and travel through the
mountains. I live in an area where all this is actually possible in a
day's time. So why not bring my Past back into my Present. It's just
a matter of intention--and a small amount of effort.

What else might I re-discover? It's the ever New that held me in
thrall when I first encountered the excitement of modern Science
Theories. I've let them become "hard work" now, and that's no
fun. I need regain my enthusiasm, that sense of *en theos* that
these new theoretics were unfolding for me.

Whew! This little exercise looking back actually energized me!
Perhaps such might help me get back on track. But it's all up to
me, bringing "back then" once again into my horizon as I move
forward.

(44) Fixing it Up

2011-03-28T09:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my sojourn swings into other territories that are not
necessarily "spiritual," but than again maybe they are in a different
kind of way. Living in a century-old (or more) Craftsman house,
designed by Greene & Greene during the Arts and Crafts Era,
I've spent a lot of time landscaping the property. The house
remains in pretty good shape, made of redwood, painted in
creamy Navajo White with Cherokee Rock trim, we decided to
stain the front porch a complimentary Aztec Red. Happily the
effort turned out just fine. And it gave me an excuse to brighten
the porch further with lovely pink ceramic pots replete with orange
and red flowers. And our new doormat is a splash of colors that
surely attracts the eye.

Recently I wrote a journal in which I made mention my "Sensate
Side," taking note my propensity for beautiful interior decor as
well as attractive outdoor living. And I realized how important
the sense of Beauty is when it comes to any sort of spiritual life.
It's not all deep thought and meditation, it's more--at least for me--
a well-rounded effort in living out the daily, if you will, in pleasant
and creative ways.

(43) Futurist

2010-10-14T13:36:00.000-07:00

Over the past several years I have been groping towards a new
kind of activity, basically wanting to slip into yet another career.
I remain incredulous that I have lived long enough to actually
even think about a third career, much less moving into one. But
that is what I seem to have been doing lately.

As for becoming a futurist, well that was a "bee in my bonnet"
quite a long time ago. I thought about such a pursuit while I was
still preparing to be a science and systems philosopher. But at
the time I felt that I already had too much on my plate, which was
true. And, geez, that all was more than 20 years back.

During the ensuing 20 years I have truly enjoyed playing at being
a free-thinking philosopher, if you will. Speculative, of course,
fiddling into Metaphysics--basically wondering over those great
human questions we all have, about the nature of the universe,
about a Greater Reality, and about our situation and role in such.
I've been blessed having the leisure to do this, and I'm truly
thankful for having had the privilege to do so.

But in a strange way, I felt that I had reached the end of the ride.
I felt that I had said about all that I was capable of saying. Yes,
information keeps pouring in, material that is well beyond my
ability to handle. So I felt that it was time, once again, to "retire."

After two careers, why not retire? However, I discovered that I
am one of those persons who somehow cannot really retire.
Somehow I need keep digging around, researching and writing,
approaching new topics.

Hence I am again grappling as to what I might do in this so-called
"Third Age" that is upon me. After some time the thought about
becoming a futurist once again pounced into my life. So I
gathered myself together and looked about how one becomes
a futurist.

For awhile I studied the writing of some futurists I knew about.
There's the "Futurist Magazine" as well, that seems to cover
all the territories of the entire ballpark. But I realized that all
this new business had to jell in my mind. Finally I came to realize
that I would continue working towards that scientific and spiritual
blend of topics I love, only moving into what seems to be
"cutting-edge" subjects that have only arisen (at least in my
horizon) and might seriously impact in the future.

So, after lots more pondering as well as some digging about, I
have managed to discover at least 30 topics, fitting into three
major philosophical categories, that are on the cusp of this
axial period in which we live. Finding these topics are one thing,
however; but carrying out depth research and writing eventual
essays are another.

When I came to realize the enormity of this proposed project, I
really cringed. Would I even live long enough to complete it?
What the heck! It would be nice to finish what I hope to start,
but--really--more important for me is that not only do I think the
work is significant, but it keeps me out of the rocking-chair!
Might as well have a sense of humor when it comes to this
ever lengthy sojourn of mine.

(42) Vitalism, Panpsychism, & Emergentism

2010-10-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Albeit boasting ancient philosophical sources, these three
above "isms" remain speculative right into our own modern
day. Academic philosophers have written reams about these
particular positions about Mind, pro and con. And mostly
they tend to separate these three concepts, one from the
other. And beyond separation, sometimes there's contrast
and competition between the three, even denial of one
over the other.

So I can only dare to tiptoe into these categories about Mind.
Starting out, we should at least give a minimal definition to
these categories--though I have no wish to delve deep in
such. Otherwise we would be writing tomes!

• Vitalism: In its simplest form, vitalism holds that living
organisms differ from non-living forms, in that there is an
energy--or "elan vital"--that sparks their "soul" or living spirit.
This vital energy is a substance that infuses and gives life
to more sophisticated forms.

• Panpsychism: Basically panpsychism is a doctrine that
maintains that Mind is suffused throughout the universe.
Mind is everywhere!

• Emergentism: Here we move into "complex systems" that
are not reducible "to those of their constituent elements."
And emergentism--as it involves Consciousness and Mind--
relates to a complex system that is more then the sum of the
"properties" of its parts.

Perhaps odd on my part, but I don't in the least feel the
need to pit any one of these three categories over against
the other. Rather I tend to see the possibility of a
fascinating *connection* linking all three of these "isms."

I tend to think that there must be a Creator of this particular
universe in which we live. Scientists talk about Natural Laws
incorporated into our universe. Theologians talk of God, or
more specifically the Spirit that gives us, the universe, its
power to move, to exist. Hence the "elan vital." One can
look at this from a more natural perspective, or assume
the theological perspective. Could be that our presumed
Natural Laws serve as the inputted pulse of the Spirit.

In turn, this special energy, this vital pulse, quickens Mind
that could have been embedded in the universe since its
creation. It's perhaps an Intelligible Force spread throughout,
waiting to be awakened.

And possibly this is where emergent minds come into the
picture. Underlying everything, everywhere, is Potential
Mind, slowly evolving, cropping forth in those complex
life forms (or systems).

So with this, I am getting around to what I blithely deem
as "consciousness points." We humans would seem to
be such. No doubt other complex systems, likely situated
throughout the universe, are also points of this
emergence of Embedded Mind.

In essay (39) I talk some about consciousness points and
ask "why." I cannot presume a specific answer, but I
suspect it's about Universal Mind becoming slowly yet
steadily more and more Conscious--and we humans,
we ever evolving complex systems, will continue to
mentally emerge until the entire universe becomes
What it is meant to be!

A companion to its Creator? An independent Thinking
Entity? Who knows! But whatever the "why" of it all,
at least I have come to realize the Exciting Adventure
of it all. There's Meaning deep down, if we choose
to see our universe this way.

(41) A Hiatus

2010-10-07T11:59:00.000-07:00

The last several months I have been engaged working through
a health issue. Not too bad, fortunately. Still, there was some
anxiety undergoing various tests appropriate for my age, then
waiting for the results. The process took some time.

I could have let *stress* take over, but I had the good sense to
give over my anxiety to my particular sense of the Greater
Reality, who I dare to call the "Lord." Happily this gesture on
my part really helped, and I am truly thankful.

On the other hand, something strange seemed to be happening.
It wasn't that I had lost interest in my usual endeavors, like
writing essays and stories that represent my own spiritual
inclinations. Rather it simply was that my head and hands
would not comply. Recognizing this, I tried to break out
and get back to where I was before my health situation.

Didn't work, so I pretty much submitted to my "hiatus," if you will.
I went shopping, bought some new clothes which I really
needed since I've been losing weight. I also continued
pampering my new lawn area, establishing a new section
for table and chairs. All mundane stuff, I suppose, but somehow
I felt content. And these non-intellectual pursuits helped me
through. Have to give credit where credit is due--engaged in
the mundane most definitely can be a spiritual endeavor!

Feeling better now, I probably will slip back into my old habit
as a writer. But I'm willing to wait until my spirit, my mind, and
even my body says "yes."

(40) Working the Earth

2010-07-28T09:36:00.000-07:00

Somewhat off subject, yet maybe not. These past few weeks
I have worked hard, but enjoyed, cultivating a new part of
our large back garden. We had some old sheds torn down,
leaving some pretty raw ground that we leveled, seeded,
watered, and eventually watched the grass grow. It's pretty
much green now, and my little dog initiated it by rolling
happily in the new grass. Also the birds and the butterflies
have discovered this new lovely patch.

Spiritually I have enjoyed working the earth for a good number
of years, building Japanese natural gardens when I lived back
East and now here out West I have a far more expansive
and diverse sort of garden--i.e., tropical flowers, succulents,
and Mediterranean types of trees such as palms, cyprus, and
junipers. Importantly, they blend into the greater environment
all around.

I have little doubt that this working of the earth, allowing for
all sorts of plant growth, is about *creativity.* And albeit
hard work, seeing the results of my labor affords me great
pleasure. For me, too, this work is about aesthetics, in that
I somehow have connected all these outdoor gardens around
with the inside of our house.

Our house is a near-century old Craftsman, aka Greene &
Greene. It is a friend of Nature, with wide open windows
that peer out onto the gardens, letting the natural breeze
from the ocean drift through the house. And long before
"Green," the Craftsman is energy-efficient.

Beyond the above kudos, the Craftsman design features
the good earth, ours made of redwood, embellished with
river stone, it's truly neat.

Anyway, a shift away from the deep subjects I usually get
into--but my working the earth, my gardens, the birds
and butterflies, our Craftsman bungalow, all feed my
spirit.

(39) Consciousness Points

2010-07-28T09:32:00.000-07:00

Just my opinion, but I believe that we humans might actually be
"consciousness points" of the universe. I'm of the opinion that
likely the universe is growing consciousness points through
and through, on all the multitudes of galaxies that probably
serve as the spawning ground of Consciousness.

Also right here on Earth scientists are now watching the
intellectual potential that some in the Animal Kingdom are
now expressing. Does this mean that those more intellectually
qualified are actually conscious?

I think there does have to be a sense of "I" when it comes to
being conscious. And we do know that millions of our pets
respond to their name. I've also seen in my own pets a certain
will when it comes to getting their way. I've also seen hurt
feelings, even jealously. We know some animals become
enamored with themselves when looking in mirrors. Also
some animals engage in planning. It's not all merely instinct.

Lots seem to be going on when it comes to consciousness
development, noticeably so, right here on out own planet.

Of course the biggest question is "why" consciousness? It's
fairly obvious--even to us fledglings--that evolving consciousness
would seem crucial for our successful survival. But what happens
when we begin to edge out from under the survival mode and
enter into a greater state of leisure?

When one looks around in our own milieu, it's hard not to be
judgmental. There seems to be a drift away from a sense of
responsibility, both personal and communal. We humans
have become ever so much more sharp-minded, but nowadays
we seem more engaged in questionable behavior.

To be fair, maybe this situation of questionable behavior or lack
of responsibility is nothing recent. History would seem to attest
to this. On the other hand, historical too, there always seem to
be a small minority that reaches out toward the Greater Virtues,
the Deeper Quest for Knowledge that go far and beyond
money-making and war-mongering.

So--what with the infinite variety and levels of Consciousness
right here aboard our own small planet, and assuming multitudes
of consciousness-levels throughout the universe, one simply
has to ask whatever are we up to, whatever is this evolving
drift towards Greater Consciousness about? Why, why, why?

(38) The Abbey & the Cathedral

2010-07-26T13:24:00.000-07:00

Going through some personal shifts of late, I found an
interesting correlation between an affiliation in my past
and a new affiliation that portends possibilities for my
future.

Decades back I affiliated with an abbey, as a monastic
oblate. And more recently I became a member of an
ecumenically-oriented cathedral community. What I
came to notice was that both the abbey's and the
cathedral's coat-of-arms were the same. Far earlier
than both, this coat-of-arms once belonged to
St. Anselm, a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury.

I had to smile when I noted this connection, in that my
very favorite saint *is* St. Anselm. Before he came to his
English cathedral he was the Benedictine abbot of Bec. As
for my particular connection, once I wrote a small article
about the life of St. Anselm. I was drawn to his contention,
as has been reported, that "faith precedes reason, but that
reason can expand upon faith."

Interestingly, even before St. Anselm crossed my path, I had
come to the same conclusion. More colloquially, to paraphrase
the good saint, he once put that "because I have faith, I need to
know." That's my stance as well.

Of course today "knowing" has bounced far beyond the
boundaries of Medieval Christianity. Our contemporary
knowledge-base is now both diverse and vast. But I'm willing
to bet that if St. Anselm were living today, he would be cruising
along the modern frontiers of Knowlege trying ever to
understand that Greater Reality we call "God."

(37) Consciousness Beckons, But...

2010-07-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I am smart enough to figure out at least two
flows of Consciousness Research that I have discovered.
One is the research of Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose,
and the other of Henry Stapp.

A particle physicist, Henry Stapp has carried out research
on the foundations of quantum mechanics--with a particular
focus on the role and nature of Consciousness at the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at the University
of California.

Stuart Hameroff is a M.D., currently the Director of the
Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of
Arizona (Tucson).

And Sir Roger Penrose is a mathematical physicist, who is
the Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the
University of Oxford.

Together, Penrose and Hameroff speculate that
Consciousness is the result of quantum gravity effects
in microtubles, which they dub Orch-OR (orchestrated
objective reduction). Microtubules are part of a structural
network (the cytoskeleton) within the cells cytoplasm.

About all I can figure at this point is that the above
mentioned gentlemen are *major* scientists focusing
hard on the issue of Consciousness. With them we are
not dealing with magical thinking when it comes to this
topic. On the other hand, from what I can glean, their
focus is based on Nature, on cutting-edge theoretics
about what we are slowly coming to discover about the
universe and the world in which we live and have our
being.

I know that I must find the time to follow these two
flows of Consciousness Research. As a spiritual seeker,
I would be remiss not to be intrigued by this research--
especially as such might tell me more about God, the
Cosmos, and Consciousness. My intuition points very
much towards such a connection, and it leaves me with
the feeling that coming to comprehend this connection
far more keenly is seriously important.

So, I must train myself in some complicated and
challenging scientific lingo. This portends becoming
"smarter." I only hope that eventually I might manage.

(36) Non-local Consciousness

2010-07-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Later I discovered that there were reputable scientists examining
non-local consciousness. Basically this was about morphogenetic
fields, about telepathy, even about prayer. Non-local consciousness
extends from one individual's consciousness outward to other
conscious persons!

And beyond even this, scientists at well-known universities, as well
as reputable psychologists, are moving even further. In connection
with Consciousness, they are probing what used to be considered
very, very esoteric phenomena: the Out-of-Body Experience, the
Near-Death Experience, Past Life Visions, and even Reincarnation.

These additional approaches were very new, but another approach
was very old: PanPsychism. Adherents of this approach believe that
"psyche--the essence of consciousness--is a universal presence in
the world; and that this PanPsyche is evolving through the living
organisms who live on this planet. In other words, Mother Earth is
becoming more conscious.

(Originally an item in my story "Sol Scientia")

(35) More on Consciousness

2010-07-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

I happened onto the writings of Ken Wilber, an amazing polymath
who covered many territories and than tried to integrate them
into some sort of focus when it came to Consciousness.

A scientist, philosopher, and transpersonal psychologist, Wilber
provided a list of categories in Consciousness Research. I
should like to quote at least sparingly from Wilber's list.

" *Cognitive Science* tends to view consciousness as anchored
in functional schemas of the brain/mind, either in a simple
representational fashion...or in the more complex emergent/
connectionist models, which view consciousness as an emergent
of hierarchically integrated networks...

" *Introspectionism* maintains that consciousness is best
understood in terms of intentionality, anchored in first-person
accounts...

" *Neuropsychology* views consciousness as anchored in
neural systems, neurotransmitters, and organic brain mechanisms...

" *Individual psychotherapy*...tends to view consciousness as
primarily anchored in an individual organism's adaptive capacities...

" *Social psychology* views consciousness as embedded in
networks of cultural meaning, or, alternatively, as being largely
a byproduct of the social system itself...

" *Clinical psychiatry* focuses on the relation of psychopathology,
behavioural patterns, and psychopharmacology...

" *Developmental psychology* views consciousness not as a single
entity but as a developmentally unfolding process with a substantially
different architecture at each of its stages of growth...

" *Psychosomatic medicine* views consciousness as strongly and
intrinsically inter-active with organic bodily processes...

" *Nonordinary states of consciousness,* from dreams to psychedelics,
constitutes a field of study that, its advocates believe, is crucial
to a grasp of consciousness in general...

" *Eastern and contemplative traditions* maintain that ordinary
consciousness is but a narrow and restricted version of deeper and
higher modes of awareness...

" *Quantum consciousness* approaches...consciousness as being
intrinsically capable of interacting with, and altering, the physical
world, generally through quantum interactions...

" *Subtle energies* research has postulated that there exist subtler
types of bio-energies beyond the four recognized forces of physics
(strong and weak nuclear, electromagnetic, gravitational) and that
these subtler energies play an intrinsic role in consciousness..."
[Ken Wilber, an article entitled "Integral Theory of Consciousness.]

(Originally an item in my story "Sol Scientia")

(34) Consciousness

2010-07-04T10:45:00.000-07:00

"Explaining consciousness in terms of quantum theory is no
help to a person to whom quantum theory is a mystery. "
[Henry P. Stapp, MIND, MATTER, AND QUANTUM
MECHANICS, Springer Verlag, 1993, p. 14.]

Musing: Well, that probably includes about 95 percent of the
world's population. Nonetheless, there are some erudite
citizens in the world who are coming together at academic
meetings, researching, writing tomes about something which
we humans possess, but have barely begun to understand.

Of course scientists are moving into the cutting-edge of
Consciousness Studies--people like Henry Stapp who is
a member of the Theoretical Physics Group, Lawrence
Berkeley Laboratory, the University of California (Berkeley).
There's also Roger Penrose, the Rouse Ball Professor of
Mathematics at the University of Oxford, who has written
books "concerning computers, minds, and the laws of physics."

Annually the University of Arizona has hosted a major
conference on Consciousness where not only scientists
but also philosophers, theologians, psychologists, and
scholars representing other disciplines come together,
trying to piece together their studies about Consciousness.
These days the issue of Consciousness is steadily rising to
the forefront of pioneer research.

As for myself, well over the years I have collected a goodly
number of books pertaining to Consciousness. And, for the
most part, they have been sitting on their shelves collecting
dust. I enjoy modern science theory--and, occasionally, almost
understand some of it. But I have been a near failure trying to
dive into Consciousness Studies. I can hardly get to first-base
with this material.

Still, as a spiritual seeker, as one who simply wants to know--or
at least begin to understand--who we are, how we connect to
the universe, Who or What stands behind the All of it, well there's
no getting around this issue of Consciousness! Sentience is our
"claim to fame," so to speak. And we would be remiss if somehow
we don't try to get a grip on this special quality we possess.

So I guess I best get to work on this.
[Originally Item 46, in my "Murrell's Musings."]

(33) Remembering an Event

2010-06-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

When I lived in the DC/Virginia area I became a member of the
Washington Evolutionary Systems Society. This group consisted
of some fairly high-powered scientists. Me? Younger back then,
I was more on the junior level. Nonetheless I enjoyed myself,
attending some of the society's symposia at the Smithsonian--
and especially going to its monthly dinner meetings that featured
hot-shot speakers on various topics that related to systems
thinking.

At the time, I was beginning to move more progressively into
advanced study at Georgetown, not yet retired from government
but nevertheless preparing for a new career in Science and
Spirituality. So one night we were treated to a world-famous
British scholar (connected with both Oxford and Cambridge)
who was not only a biologist but also an Anglican priest. I had
read a couple of his books, so I really didn't want to miss this
particular fellow.

This good gentleman passed away several years back, so I
feel free relating this event. He talked about his work relating
Modern Biology with a sense of God. Nice, interesting--but
the real event took place at the dinner afterwards.

As it happened, I was sitting across the table from this British
gentleman. The dinner was good, the wine flowed. Everybody
loosened-up. I cannot remember the details, but someone
asked the speaker how in the world he became a priest. He
provided some detail, but added that he no longer put much
faith in his particular religion.

Whew! Dead silence, looks of incredibility all around. Couldn't
see my own face, but I know that I was shocked. It wasn't that
I am a paradigm of religious purity, but I did feel a deep devotion
towards Christ. I didn't speak (thank goodness), but one of the
honcho scientists exclaimed, "how can you be a priest and not
believe?"

The British gentleman signed deeply, and put it thus: "Christianity
is the best that we have." Well, that answer went nowhere. And I
wondered about all the other great world religions that might
compare with the "best."

Over the years that event remains sharp in my mind. After far
more study (and later my own work) when it came to Science
and Spirituality, I somewhat can relate to this British scientist's
dillemma. When it comes to an objective honesty, when it
comes to a certain integrity, when examining modern scientific
discoveries and theoretics, I have found it difficult linking any
religious system *specifically* with such.

There are those who have tried, such as one of my heros:
the Jesuit-paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. He made
his case and faced "silencing" by his own religious authorities.
Today he is far more accepted, in that at least he is recognized as
a pioneer engaging natural theology. As for his "Christogenesis,"
it's a beautiful Mind Piece, but it comes out of his particular
background as a Jesuit priest. And he admits to having a
special experience that helped him to connect Christ and
his "Cosmogenesis."

I'm not familiar enough with the other great world religions, as
to whether there might have been similar efforts to link their
particular faith system with the findings of Science.

As for myself, I try to stick with the idea of God and God's
Creation when it comes to my own approach. It's a generic
approach, but at least there is some realistic hint when it
comes to at least approaching the "Contours of God," as I
put it. Maybe that will have to be enough for now, slowly
plodding, yet moving towards more *insight* as to Whom
we are trying to discover.

One thing for sure, it's an exciting adventure this business!

(32) Freedom

2010-06-27T17:16:00.000-07:00

This morning at church it was announced that next Sunday
a new series of sermons (homilies) would begin about
Freedom. I blinked, nearly sat straight in the pew, and
thought that this was different. Of course I had no idea
how the topic would be presented. Freedom is kind of
like the Janus Face, the two-sided face, in that it can be
used as a Yes or No, for Good or Evil, for Right or Wrong,
to Be or Not to Be, to Do or not to Do. And within these
categories, there's a myriad of action or non-action.

Later I wondered more over this topic of Freedom, especially
how it has actually been impacting upon me during this period
of shift that I have been undergoing. It's quite important I believe.
Indeed, for all the past challenges that I have worked through,
the baseline has been the existence of freedom.

I wanted to put my thought to writing, creating a certain
body of thought that I wanted to share with others--but all
this necessitated freedom, as it does unto this very day!

I am beginning to realize that my recent "transition" has really
been about freedom of thought. But now I am aware that I
must continue to employ that freedom carefully, so not as to
cause harm. Perhaps that was why I have decided to
"go Generic," if you will.

(31) Remembering a Dream

2010-06-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

Long ago, I had a special dream that quite shook me
for awhile. I was walking down a sidewalk with a friend,
in a California town, and across the way stood one of
those stucco Mission churches. I cried out, "look, there's
the church." My friend responded, saying "no, there's
the church" as he pointed down towards the end of the
street. There stood an enormous statue, surely as big
as the Statue of Liberty.

I thought it must be a statue of Jesus, but as we came
near I saw that it was a statue of the Virgin Mary. And
to make sure I got the point, there were thousands of
cards of the Blessed Mother scattered around the pedestal.

Upon waking I was incredulous! Had I encountered the
Great Mother, the Feminine aspect of God? Perhaps so,
but why. Ever since I make sure that I honor this aspect.

But recently I *remembered* a second part of this dream
that seemingly I had forgotten. After encountering the
statue of the Virgin Mary I was suddenly transported to
the sea shore, looking out over the deep ocean.

Having done dreamwork, I was familiar with symbolism.
The ocean (or deep water) can symbolize the feminine,
but I have another "take" on this. Let me explain.

Remembering this, I re-analyzed this particular dream as
it seems to me today.

I believe the Virgin Mary represents the "Theotokos," the
one who brings forth the child Jesus. In cosmic terms,
I tend to think of the great Feminine figure more in terms
of the "Divine Milieu." Perhaps a Teilhardian sense in that
Matter provides the milieu in which God somehow requires
as a neccessity as we all trudge towards "Omega," that final
point of Completion.

So, as part of this Divine Milieu what might our role be?
The second part of this dream suggests that we need
come to ever greater consciousness. The deep water in
this dream is perhaps about plunging into the great
depths of our being, ever evolving our comprehension
when it comes to the Reality in which we live and have
our being.

My dream, I believe, is about the Integration of Mind and
Matter ever working towards something More.

(30) Going Generic

2010-06-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

Without going into fine detail, I actually have lived out my
personal myth--at first unconsciously, later consciously. But
recently I seemed to have come to a standstill. I'm in the later
years of my life, so naturally I am not as active--yet, I have
enjoyed lots of mental experience, if you will.

In real life, when younger, I served in government, working
as a science and technology analyst, focusing on weapons
proliferation issues and arms control during the Cold War.
Later I studied both Theology and Philosophy, and specifically
focused on Science and Spirituality. Over the years I have
written essays and stories in this field.

Okay, fine and good. I engaged in an active life and later
tended towards a more solitary life. And now I wish to shed
any additional mental clothing I have put on myself. Now I
seriously want to express myself, my personal myth, even
more in generic terms.

To use an analogy, rather than buying brand names I'm
buying generic products. And what does this mean when
it comes to my personal myth? As a solitaire, a solitary, my
focus remains the same: I'm devoted towards "Seeking God."
I'm also fascinated by God's Creation, our wonderful universe,
and I'm always curious about Life's role, our role in it.

But I have reached the point that this focus must steam ahead,
far into the NEW--not only probing more our modern knowledge-
base, but moving into futurist thinking. This also means going
beyond medieval-based or even more archaic thinking oft found
in Religion, other than whatever *wisdom* in it might relate to
where we are HERE and NOW.

Unfortunately, there aren't many groups, organizations, or
even people who lend shelter to such a generic outlook.
So probably I'll be going it alone, finding companionship
when possible. However, as ever, my "seeking" is about God
and the universe. Hence I remain a panentheist ever devoted
to the Pantocrator.

As for these terms: "Panentheism" is about Creation existing
*within* God, but that God is more than hir Creation; and the
"Pantocrator" is an ancient icon representing the Lord of the
Universe, expressed by the Cosmic Christ.

Looking back I've long moved into the role of a panentheist,
in that my writing reflects such. But I just needed to be
more clear about this.

(29) Personal Myth

2010-06-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Carl Jung, the psychiatrist, and the mythologists Karl Kerenyi and
Joseph Campbell talk about or allude to the "personal myth."
This idea has led to everything from typology studies to Follow
Your Bliss, even to gods/goddesses types.

Long ago I wandered into this subject matter, trying to understand
better who I might be--or at least find myself in all this maze of
approaches. I already had a sense of my own archetypal structure
when I undertook some five years of dreamwork--on my own,
but with the help of a lot of psychological books as well as works
on symbolism. Anyway, I started out this project not knowing very
much about my self--and, in the end, I knew lots more.

So--is all this effort really narcissistic or actually rather meaningful?
Could be both, since a person who is interested in self no doubt
can be tinged with a certain amount of narcissism; however, on the
other hand, it can be quite helpful to discover one's personal myth.
Such can provide an archetypal infrastructure for one's life. And,
true, sometimes this special infrastructure can come in the guise
of archaic symbolism. Our mind and brain are both subject to
such historical-cultural residue, and psychiatrists have written
tomes about how to work through such mental material.

As for myself, long ago I learned about my own personal myth.
And a few years back I wrote two short stories--"Roman Trek"
and "Templar True" that were actually accounts of my own
archetypal infrastructure--albeit fictionally over-layed. Found
on the links margin of this essay site, one can click onto these
stories.

These stories are really about my *personal myth*, which has
unfolded over many years. They also encompasses my varied
interests. But now I am arriving towards the end of my personal
myth. This doesn't mean that I am going to slip away anytime soon--
I hope--but rather I have reached a new state-of-being when it
comes to my personal myth. It's about yet another transition within
my personal infrastructure that surely will involve new experience.
And who knows, but likely I will have to write yet another story
one day.

(28) Birthday Break

2010-06-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Today is my birthday, and I'm as old as the hills! Still I am both
surprised and grateful that I am still alive, still somewhat capable.
Looking back I've gone through a varied number of life transitions--
and, lately, I have been edging towards yet another.

Whenever I seem to make a transition, I seem to percolate forever
so long. And though I try to force myself to make such a change,
in the end it usually is an event come from outside myself. And
that's what has happened to me in just the past few days.

Without going into detail, I just got pushed over the edge and
landed in another way of be-ing and do-ing. The situation
allowed for a "break," if you will. Hence I have left behind some
long term circumstances, and have finally started to move into
something over which I have been ruminating for quite a spell.

What is nice is that what I learned from my old role, I can bring
forth in a new way into my future role. Nicer yet, now I have lots
more freedom not only to expand my life and thinking, but I can
play into all that experience I had before and integrate it in
different ways into my new role.

Sound weird, all this? Maybe, but I'm willing to bet a goodly
number of perceptive folk engage in these transitions. Goodness!
People write books about these major transitions that must come
if you want to lead an ever more creative life.

Anyway, it's nice that this break in roles has spilled over into
my birthday. Keeps me ever young. :-)

(27) WebCam World

2010-06-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

Following my electronic retreat, I cruised around the WebCam
World--and wow! Nearly covering every subject under the sun,
a seeker of knowledge can nearly put hirself through a college
education via the videos available on the Web in conjunction
with information, book reviews, etc, on a chosen subject,

I've been toying with working into Consciousness Research in
relation to Quantum Theory, as well as getting an elementary
background in Cognitive Science. One of the major universities
in my locale has a top department in this field--and the
luminaries in that department are on WebCam. Even my local
Natural History Museum has some of these people on video, in
conjunction with a Body/Mind exhibit they displayed recently.

So why would I get into Consciousness Research and Cognitive
Science? Well one reason is that I don't know much about these
subjects. Another reason is that as a seeker, trying to touch
upon the Contours of God, or Ultimate Reality, a number of
scholars (including me) believe that the Information of Such
flows into the Mind. And somehow we need make this special
Information intelligible. How? By becoming more conscious!

Anyway, Consciousness Research is one of the *hot topics*
these days--involving a number of disciplines. Indeed, academic
groups and universities are definitely getting into the act.
Me? I'll just tag along on the outskirts.

(26) Electronic Retreat: Thomas Matus

2010-05-29T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've just come off the better part of two days watching part of a
collection of videos on Youtube. Probably I managed a third of
these presentations by Thomas Matus. A monk, a Camaldolese
of the Benedictine Order, a dedicated hermit, he seems to me
to be a man of wisdom.

Of course hermits nowadays don't exactly sit in a cave.
Fr. Thomas has stakes not only in California, but also in Italy
and India. A practitioner of Yoga before he even became a monk,
he surely could be considered a deep meditator. And his books
sometimes reflect this.

I haven't read all of his books, mainly on the contemplative
tradition of the Camaldolese, but I have dipped deep into his
latest--"Ashram Diary." It's an account of his stay(s) in the
ashram established by the late Bede Griffiths. Within the
monastic world, Fr. Bede was (and still is) a super-star.

Though a Benedictine, Griffiths was also a Christian member
of the sannyasis--Hindu inspired universally-oriented monks.
As put by Wayne Teasdale, they are "contemplatives or mystics
from all traditions united in their awareness, their love, and their
dedication to the earth, humankind, and all sentient beings."

Thomas Matus also is a member of the sannyasis, initiated by
Fr. Bede. And after this electronic retreat, I could easily see
that Matus was definitely universally oriented. His video talks
seem to range from six-to-ten minutes in length. And what I
did was try to categorize so that I had a sense of continuity
when it came to his presentations.

The themes I chose were *interiority* oriented. He talked on
some of the following topics: Consciousness, the Collective
Unconscious, Dreams and Fantasy, the Paranormal (Psi),
Psychoactives, Universal Law, and even Extraterrestrials.

This good monk wasn't afraid to admit that he had an alien
encounter when he was six-years old. And it would seem
that this encounter has lingered in the back of his mind. It
has been a long time, since Matus recently celebrated his
70th birthday.

As for Consciousness/Unconscious, well Fr. Thomas
seemed to take very much a cosmic approach, if you will.
His dreamwork, too, he felt connected him with the universe
and a coming out of the Unconscious into consciousness.

Regarding Psychoactives, Matus certainly was *not* into
chemically induced psychoactives that supposedly enhance
our consciousness. Rather he stressed that Natural Actives,
such as our sense of Beauty (whether as experienced in Nature,
the Psalms, Art or Music) would seem the most Real.

Not surprising that Fr. Thomas would stress Music. An
accomplished musician and composer, he noted that Music
is the "heart" of his feelings when it comes to his own
experience in this world.

During the final part of this electronic retreat, I switched to
another theme presented by Matus--to *science* and how it
impacted us spiritually. This was not surprising, in that years
back I first encountered a book which he contributed along
with authors Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB, and the physicist
Fritjof Capra. It was "Belonging to the Universe: Explorations
on the Frontiers of Science & Spirituality." It was the result
of a discussion at Esalen Institute, comparing side-by-side
the New Theology and the New Cosmology.

Fr. Thomas talked about the "cloister" of science. He discussed
the meme, that "infectious virus" of Dawkins'. He talked about
the Ground of the universe. He referred to Teilhard, one of my
spiritual heros who pioneered the idea that science could also
be the approach towards a more realistic and natural under-
standing. Above all, Matus stressed *integration* when it came
to his own sense of understanding the Mystery in which we live
and have our being.

Throughout, I enjoyed this electronic retreat with Thomas Matus,
a rare "Man in Full," if you will. He most definitely is on my own
wavelength.

(25) Creativity & the Divine

2010-05-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

Currently I am in the midst of a book about Creativity that
suggests that such is the flashpoint where the human and
Divine meet. Indeed this book goes on to discuss the creativity
of the universe, itself, describing in detail the billions of years
wherein, like an Artist, the Divine spreads forth the great Cosmic
Mural. Until, at last, after a succession of life forms, there's the
human that we are today, the creative entity who now stands
in the forefront of this beautiful little planet we call home.

Reading this book about Creativity and the Divine, I felt
swept-up into its message. The message? At first it seemed
very much about the "tools" of creativity, which for the author
was about Freedom and the Openness to Diversity.

The author didn't call for anarchy or anything like that, but
rather his book was more about a balanced sense of wonder--
and duty. Duty towards what? A duty connected with the
Wonder of it all. It wasn't a stern unwavering duty written
into the concrete of some authoritative system, but more a
duty deep in the recesses of Freedom. A freedom balanced
between spontaneity and strategic consideration.

"Strategic" suggests not only getting from point A to point B,
but it's about long-term thinking and projections. Nowadays we
seem to be pretty poor when it comes to this ability to strategize.
But that's what most artists, creators do. Before the paint hits the
canvas there's the imaginal layout that lurks in the mind. Perhaps
this is the way of the Mind of God as well, thinking through the
entire *unfolding* of the universe before setting it off on its long
run?

But if one looks close, whether the universe, the work of an artist,
or even an author's story, there's that spontaneity that seeps in
from the very first stroke. The story starts with the plan in the
author's mind, but as it spills forth it journeys into new territories
ripe for previously unexpressed options. The same seems the case
with the artist and his or her choice of colors and nuanced motifs.
And such adventurous expressions are also observed within the
long expanse of the universe.

These free expressions are wonderfully diverse. They surely
serve as the Adventure into the ever New.

(24) God Meme

2010-04-07T14:38:00.000-07:00

Periodically I feel inclined to write something about what some
call the "God Meme." But after I do some research, whether
aboard the Net, whether outside in the old-fashioned library,
I feel at a loss as to what to say specifically.

Memetics is a scientific field now, in that it follows a certain line
of cultural thought that seems to propagate itself in a kind of
continuous direction. Likened to the physical gene, there's
the cultural meme that seems to carry through rather endlessly.
It's more than just an idea that may or may not catch attention.
It's a *continuum* of thought that mutates and evolves!

Hence we have the God Meme.

Researching this, I had to smile at myself--because for years
I have had fun following what I call the "Continuum." Like lots
of scholars, I have pursued both Philosophy and Theology--and
even Science--when it comes to tracing the God Meme. These
days the God Meme has even jumped into Spirituality, thus
universalizing itself beyond various religious faith systems.

I had hoped to launch into a special study, mainly focusing on
how the Universal Spirit might employ the meme to advance
Consciousness. Maybe it does, but I've decided that such a
study on my part would be endless--and, ultimately, answer-less.

Teilhard inferred that God (or Omega) is an Attractor, the Ahead
(or Future) that draws us forth. Well one can switch names, and
think Meme instead of Attractor. Rather fascinating...

More fascinating, however, is the trick of proving "God" via
the Meme. There's definitely no question that God has been
in our head, probably all the way back to the dawn of human
consciousness. Psychologists have had a wonderful time
tracing this God in our head, sprouting forth from animism to
polytheism to monotheism to modern deism to WHAT.

It would be interesting to inject this cultural God Meme into
Spiritual Development Theory, tracing how we humans try to
answer our two great questions: what is this universe, and
who are we in it? No doubt some already have embarked on
such a journey.

Curiously, all I can think about this God Meme is that in the
end it's not about our usual considerations, such as Religion or
even Theology, but rather more so about the Evolution of
Consciousness! Some day we may call the God Meme
something altogether different.

(23) Two Transcendentalists

2010-03-31T10:39:00.000-07:00

I've recently happened onto Transcendentalism, a 19th century
movement that emphasized the Spirit working in this world, in us,
in ever new ways. Consequently I started focusing on Ralph
Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, major proponents
of Transcendentalism.

I especially enjoyed reading some of Emerson's essays. One
particular thought of his attracted me, to quote:

"The simplicity of the universe is very different from the simplicity
of a machine. He who sees more nature out and out and
thoroughly knows how knowledge is acquired and character
formed, is a pedant. The simplicity of nature...is inexhaustible.

"God exists. There is a soul at the center of nature and over the
will of every man, so that none of us can wrong the universe. It
has so infused its strong enchantment into nature that we accept
its advice...The whole course of things goes to teach us faith.
We need only obey. There is a guidance for each of us, and
by lowly listening we shall hear the right word."
[EMERSON'S ESSAYS, PP. 98-99.]

Emerson was also a good friend and mentor to Henry David
Thoreau, who became famous as an author, poet, and naturalist.
He lived simply, in a small cottage near Walden Pond close to
Concord, Massachusetts. He stressed self-sufficiency and
simple living. His writings on natural history serve as a
forerunner to our contemporary emphasis on Ecology and
Environmentalism.

So here I have discovered two 19th century Transcendentalists
who were already on track when it comes to my own cosmic
and naturalist interests! I surely will have to study in depth this
old Transcendentalist Movement that would seem to have been
far ahead of its time.

(22) God's Garden

2010-03-30T10:52:00.000-07:00

Long before I left the East Coast I attended a workshop given by
Brian Swimme and his mentor, now the late Thomas Berry, a
Passionist priest and monk. At the time they were some of the few
small voices at the forefront of the "New Cosmology."

In 1992 their book THE UNIVERSE STORY was published. It
met with considerable success. However, I learned later that
Fr. Berry had written an earlier book--THE DREAM OF THE EARTH,
published in 1988 by the Sierra Club.

Now living in California, I came across yet another important book
written by Thomas Berry. In my opinion THE GREAT WORK is a
landmark study. It's an appeal for environmental responsibility, a
study in *Spiritual Ecology*--a field that I had no idea even existed.
Today, it's a movement that involves major universities, famous
people, religious groups, Green groups, right down to the grass-roots.

As for myself, I decided to volunteer with the San Diego Natural
History Museum. After more than a half-year of specialized training,
presented by scientists and curators, I graduated and became a
docent naturalist with the museum. For almost eight years I worked
in an EcoLiteracy program designed for small children.

Essentially, the message was to introduce these youngster to Nature.
It was about getting them involved early, not only to understand this
great Atmospheric-Oceanic-Geological-Biological System that we
call "Earth," but to value it.

Eventually I got a hankering to work in the "field," so to speak. After
more training, I was certified as a Volunteer Naturalist with the
California State Parks system--working at a national estaurine
research reserve shared also with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

I didn't know it--until I read Thomas Berry's book--but I was already
involved in the "Great Work."

Thomas Berry had become an important EcoTheologian in addition
to being a world-class Cultural Historian. As for his book, THE
GREAT WORK, it's the most jam-packed resourceful treatise that
I have encountered when it comes to the issues of Ecology and the
Environment. Let me quote him:

"History is governed by those overarching movements that give
shape and meaning to life by relating the human venture to the
larger destinies of the universe. Creating such a movement might
be called the Great Work of a people."
[Thomas Berry, THE GREAT WORK, p. 1.]

Some of the past efforts of the Great Work are as follows:

• For Classical Greece it "was the understanding of the human
mind and creation of the Western humanist tradition."

• For Israel it was about "articulating a new experience of the
divine in human affairs."

• For Ancient Rome it was about "gathering the peoples of the
Mediterranean world and of Western Europe into an ordered
relation with one another.

• In the Medieval Period "there was the task of giving a first
shape to the Western world in its Christian form...with the
medieval cathedrals rising so graciously into the heavens."

• In India the "Great Work was to lead human thought into
spiritual experiences of time and eternity."

• And China "created on of the most elegant and most human
civilizations we have ever known."

• In America the "Great Work of the First Peoples was to occupy
this continent and establish an intimate rapport with the powers
that brought this continent into existence in all its magnificence."
[ Ibid, pp. 1-2. ]

With this background Thomas Berry addresses our now living
generations--as put: "The Great Work now, as we move into a
new millennium, is to carry out the transition from a period of
human devastation of the Earth to a period when humans would
be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner...Such a
transition has no historical parallel since the geobiological
transition that took place 67 million years ago when the period
of the dinosaurs was terminated and a new biological age had
begun." [ Ibid, p. 3. ]

Having said this, Fr. Berry's book provides some very useful
answers on how to achieve this transition from devastation unto
a once-again healthy planet. And I can only put, that in a small way
I found myself in the midst of the Great Work.

At the beginning of my venture into the Great Work, as Thomas
Berry put, I began to wonder how this might relate to the
Benedictine Tradition. I knew about its monastic history in
the Dark Ages, when Benedictine monks reintroduced the
rudiments of agriculture to the peasantry and helped establish
fisheries. I also knew that the monks worked the land. They
were their own farmers.

And the late Rene Dubos--an early pioneer when it came to the
environment, who I understand was a Benedictine Oblate, added
that the "monks developed skills pertaining to agriculture [and]
they learned to manage their holdings on sound ecological
principles." [Conversation Lecture, Berkeley, 1970.]

As for modern day Benedictines, they are involved in habitat
restoration projects as well as workshops. And the Cistercians
(who follow the Rule of Benedict) are also engaged in the
Great Work. One book I have found and hold dear is
ECO-SPIRITUALITY: TOWARD A REVERENT LIFE, written
by Charles Cummings, A Trappist-Cistercian monk belonging
to an abbey in Utah. His book was published early on, in 1991,
long before "spiritual ecology" became popular.

In the end, for me the Earth is God's Garden. It's not only just
about saving it, but it is especially about being in it, enjoying it.

(21) Wakan Tanka

2010-03-29T16:59:00.000-07:00

An additional thought that Raimundo Panikkar provided, which
struck a chord, is as follows:

"The monk has a certain chthonic-telluric consciousness that
characterizes him; he does not belong like the ants or bees or
other humans to a productive society, but to a living cosmos like
the wild things and the seasons...The monk cultivates this Earth
and all the spirits that vivify her. The monk lives in communion
with the cosmos; he is in touch with the sap that runs through
the earth...[Raimundo Panikkar, BLESSED SIMPLICITY, p. 51]

Through my work at Georgetown, I already knew that I was
cosmic-oriented. But being a Phenomenologist of Science and
Spirituality was really all about being theoretical. My sense of
the cosmos mainly dwelled in thought. What I now craved was
something that I could see, touch, and even smell. My sensate
side was once again coming to the fore. Essentially, I wanted
somehow to feel God in the Earth, on the ground where I walked,
in the Sky that thrilled me with its clouds at day, with its stars at
night, and even with its wild weather. I wanted to feel God in
the pounding waves of the Ocean.

At this point a young friend told me about a Native American
spiritual teacher. His name was Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, who
was planning a workshop in our area. So I went with my friend
and began to learn a whole new approach when it came to
"Wakan Tanka," the Great Spirit in relation to the Earth, and
about the sacredness of the Earth.

Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, was a really big fellow. I couldn't figure
how he could fit into the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. A retired
Marine pilot, also a lawyer, Eagle Man is part Celtic, part Sioux.
He grew up in South Dakota, on a reservation near the Badlands.

At the workshop he talked about the basics that underlie Sioux
spirituality. There are the spiritual legends, the rituals, the pipe
that spawns from these special stories. Eagle Man specifically
addressed the Sweat Lodge, the Vision Quest, the Sun Dance,
and the Sacred Hoop and the Four Directions.

By this time I was no young chick, so I wasn't about to engage
in these strenuous rituals. The vision quest fascinated me; but
I knew that if I spent a day and night upon top a mountain, fasting,
becoming dehydrated, I wouldn't have a vision--rather I likely
would be dead.

Still I was interested in learning more from Eagle Man. But
before I could delve in more deeply, I felt that I needed to find
more of his books that described in more detail his spirituality.
Not unexpected, I soon found myself traveling once again.

Flying into Sioux Falls, we picked-up the Lewis & Clark trail
midway and followed it through the plains of the Dakotas on
into Montana. Along the way we stopped at the Battlefield of the
Little Big Horn. It was totally not what I expected, both in layout
and in history. According to the park rangers, Custer planned
to attack the Sioux while they were asleep. Of course there were
mishaps all the way, and the better military minds of the Sioux
won the day.

What really fascinated me about this trip was traveling through
the Great Plains. The sky was incredible. It seemed to press on
us, with clouds so close-up that it looked as if they might fall on
you! Swinging down from Montana back into South Dakota, we
finally reached the sacred Black Hills of the Sioux where we
visited Crazy Horse Monument, a gigantic mountain sculpture
begun in 1948--and still underway.

Below the site stood the American Indian Cultural Center. It's
equally gigantic, a building that includes a museum and
sectors that display all the banners of the Indian Nations. The
Center's bookstore provided me with nearly all of Ed McGaa's
books--and some few strays I found in other stores as we made
our way towards the Badlands.

It was obvious that Eagle Man was popular in Sioux country.
As for the books I found, beyond MOTHER EARTH SPIRITUALITY,
there were the following:

• CRAZY HORSE AND CHIEF RED CLOUD.
• NATURE'S WAY: NATIVE WISDOM FOR LIVING IN
BALANCE WITH THE EARTH.
• NATIVE WISDOM: PERCEPTIONS OF THE NATURAL WAY.
• RAINBOW TRIBE: ORDINARY PEOPLE JOURNEYING ON
THE RED ROAD.

I could see that I had my work cut out for me. But there was a
good omen. While glancing at the RAINBOW TRIBE as I was
flying home, I looked out the airplane's window and saw down
below rainbows all over the place.

One of the interesting facets of Sioux spirituality was about a
special stone--the Wotai Stone--"that conveys a special meaning
to you and has come to you in a special way. It may also bear
special symbols that speak out and assure that a minute portion
of Mother Earth (the stone) was created just for you, millions
upon millions of years ago."
[Ed McGall, MOTHER EARTH SPIRITUALITY, p. 177.]

I have a Wotai Stone, and a very special story surrounds it.

By this time I had been "snowbirding" out in Southern California,
spending a couple of months during the winter pampering
myself with the good climate. On one such excursion, just
before Christmas, I decided that I would stop off along the way
and visit New Mexico.

Renting a car in Albuquerque, I decided to visit a Benedictine
monastery situated long the way to Santa Fe. One of the
Benedictines I met on my trip to Greece and Turkey belonged
to the community there.

Afterwards, my Benedictine friend suggested that I might like
to pay a visit to the nearby Pecos National Park. Cold, but not
snowy, I drove over to see it. It was my first encounter with the
ancient Pueblo Culture. By myself, walking around this strange
place, I felt somewhat afraid. It seemed very bleak. I did climb
down an unsteady ladder into a kiva, where ancient religious
rituals were held. I found out later that the kiva also represented
the emergence of the Pueblo from Mother Earth.

Driving on up to Santa Fe, I settled down for the night at a hotel
near the cathedral. Perhaps the visit to Pecos, to the kiva, inspired
my dreams, because all night long I dreamt of Indians hovering
over my head. Since the weather was still good, I decided to
drive-up through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on to Taos
to see the great Pueblo located there. And interestingly, in this
tourist mecca was where I discovered my Wotai Stone--or, rather,
it found me.

I was somewhat flabbergasted by the imagery in the stone.
Reflected in the agate was a rainbow streaked eagle-like bird,
high up in space, hovering over a globe. Was this my spirit
animal? According to Ed McGaa, the Eagle is the symbol of
observation--"it is the creature that best symbolizes immense
wisdom...It is the eyes of the all-seeing *Wakan Tanka,* the
Great Spirit, the mysterious unknown entity that created all things."
[Ed McGaa, NATURE'S WAY, p. 1]

With this, I remembered that on the front cover of Eagle Man's
NATIVE WISDOM there was a design by Rudy Chasing Hawk
that nearly depicts the imagery in my Wotai Stone. Of course
his design is more elaborate, showing the Eagle hovering
over the Earth that itself is encircled by the colors of the
Four Directions.

I quite liked Ed McGaa's Sioux spirituality. To me, it seemed
honest and straightforward. To quote:

"The American Indian deplores arguing over 'the exactness'
of attempted descriptions of the Great Power that Created All...
North American Indians believe there is a limit to the human brain,
at least while a person lives upon this planet. There may be some
higher answers in the spirit world where it is believed our spirit
travels, but to probe and argue with one another in this lifetime
is considered utterly foolish and quite nonspiritual. Traditional
Indians believe that attempts to describe to another two-legged
an overly definite concept of the mysterious vastness of the
Great Provider of All are crude and unmannerly..."
[MOTHER EARTH SPIRITUALITY, p. 44.]

After my visit to Taos, I ended with a trip to Bandelier National
Monument where one can find dwellings of the ancient Pueblo
people. Some refer to these people as the Anasazi. Regardless,
considering we were just into winter--and there were now
snow-fields all around--the Bandelier park was still open
and actually accessible.

After going through the Park Service entrance, I was delighted
in that there was nobody around. I was all alone walking down
the path towards the ancient dwellings. Alongside the path were
all these native trees and plants that were somewhat low-lying,
yet so beautiful. Suddenly I heard the pounding of hooves!
I stood in my tracks.

Then the most wonderful thing happened! I saw deer heading
towards me--not one or two, but literally a small herd of deer.
The incredible followed.

This small herd of deer began to run circles around me.
Transfixed, they still circled me. Finally I decided to keep walking.
And for probably another five minutes they kept circling me as I
walked forward towards the ancient dwellings.

It was one of the most astounding things that ever happened
to me. Strange, but I felt blessed by these beautiful creatures.
I just couldn't get over it, thinking of this marvelous event as I
drove back to Albuquerque to catch my plane on to California.

Over the years I have oft wondered about this special experience
I had in Bandelier. At the time I felt it nearly some kind of
*validation* of something I had not yet come to understand.

(20) Continuum of Truth

2010-03-29T14:58:00.000-07:00

These days "Truth" is bandied about by all sorts, some
very religious, some not so much. Maybe about the best
one can say at this time is that "Truth" is relative. In other
words, perhaps we need examine what we hold as true in
particular relation to our lives, to our modern knowledge-
base, to our social conditions, etc.

As for myself, I've been hankering after Truth most of my
adult life--and not always just religious truth. What I've
discovered is that Truth is not only a shapeshifter, but
sometimes also becomes invisible. Old truths fade, new
truths arise. It's an uncomfortable situation for a person
who demands a concrete Truth.

As for discovering all the truths in Scripture that seem to
fall by wayside, well yes when I first encountered such, I
was upset. "See, see--it doesn't compute!" At least I never
closed my mind, even in the name of Faith.

But since my first glimpse into these biblical problems, I
have mellowed. As for narratives, metaphors, well eventually
I discovered that the Ancients actually wrote in this style.
After all they were coming out of their "mythopoesis" period,
so it's not surprising they weren't literalists--like us cold
rationalists.

Along the way, too, I guess I became more mellow when it
came to the cracks in the window of biblical truth. And now
old, I really no longer care about these archaic inaccuracies.
"Been there, went through that," I guess.

What is important to me now maybe is more practical.
I would love to understand better That deemed Ultimate
Reality. I haven't forgot the ancient metaphors, some of
these indeed wise, but I have put my hand to the plough
of our modern data base--which mostly revolves around
Science and Depth Psychology and its different disciplines,
such as Cosmology, Quantum Physics, the Transpersonal
Experience, etc.

It would seem that we are now standing in a whole new
ballpark, but we still haven't learned how to play the game
more effectively.

As for the "game," I've pretty much put most of my money
on what St. Paul called the "indwelling Holy Spirit." In his
day he believed that the Church was the Temple of the
Spirit. Jesus felt *we* were the Temple of the Spirit. And,
now what with our coming to realize that the entire
Universal System is composed of an infinity of related
systems, via Deep Ecology, I imagine we can safely say
that the entire Cosmos--and All therein--is the Temple
of the Spirit.

Consequently, my focus nowadays is mainly on the Spirit
as the Plenum of the Universe, as Intelligence, Energy,
propelling us through both Deep Space and Deep Time,
towards a Completion--perhaps?

Where Christ fits in all this, perhaps it is a matter of
identity--or more precisely, personality. I think it's
at this point where Teilhard stepped forward. While
examining his evolutionary sense of Cosmogenesis, he
noted that he had a "special experience" that convinced
him of the Truth of Omega as the Cosmic Christ. It
would seem that Teilhard had a personal mystical
encounter and he transposed it into his faith system.

But is what he experienced *the* Truth? He believed in
Jesus as the "Incarnation of the Logos," capitalizing
on the Greek philosophers who exclaimed the
Logos-Pneuma as the Cosmic Plenum.

So what do we have here? Faith, Intuition, Mysticism,
Philosophy, Science? Probably all put together,
mixed-up in a common pot, we have what is
essentially a Continuum of thought that has
threaded through our Western Civilization since
its earliest beginnings.

Truth spins and moves us ever towards new questions
and new answers.

(19) Archetype of the Monk

2010-03-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

An interesting and well-known priest, Raimundo Panikkar was
asked to attend a conference of monks who wanted to discuss
what they deemed the "traditional monk" vis-a-vis the
"non-traditional monk." I note that this was not exactly a new
consideration, because this conference occurred some 30 years
ago in Massachusetts. It had been sponsored by the Aide Inter-
Monasteries (A.I.M.), which is the Secretariat of the Benedictine
Confederation. Also, the North American Board for East-West
Dialogue was involved in this conference. The conferees chose
Fr. Panikkar as the respondent. In turn, some of the major
discussions as well as Panikkar's observations were published
in 1982, in BLESSED SIMPLICITY: THE MONK AS UNIVERSAL
ARCHETYPE.

Well, when I saw the monk as "archetype" as part of the title, it
only took me a few seconds to decide to buy this book. (I'm
glad I did, because it is now out of print.)

If I may, I should like to present Panikkar's discussion via quick,
understandable points. (Quoting from pages 10 through 16 in
his book.) To quote:

• By monk...I understand that person who aspires to reach the
ultimate goal of life with all his being by renouncing all that is not
necessary to it.

• The monk is the expression of an archetype which is a constitutive
dimension of human life. This archetype is a unique quality of each
person, which at once needs and shuns institutionalization.

• One does not become a monk in order to "do" something or even
to "acquire" anything, but in order to "be"...

• Human perfection: The perfection of the human individual is not the
fullness of human nature; it is not nature but personhood. Yet there
are people who actualize their dormant potentialities and others who
don't, people who reach a high degree of humanness...and others
who don't.

• I shall call the *humanum* this core of...humanness that can be
realized in as many fashions as there are human beings. Religion
is a path to the *humanum.* [Also] the poet, the intellectual, the
craftsman, the man of action...all express different facets of it.

• The archetype of...the monk is an expression [that] corresponds to
one dimension of this *humanum.* Monkhood is a dimension that
has to be integrated with other dimensions of human life in order to
fulfill the *humanum.*

* The monk within the institutionalized framework often suffers from
the fact that his vital impulses toward full humanness are curtailed
merely because they are absorbed in the total institution.

• One of the crises of present-day monasticism is precisely this kind
of *quid pro quo,* that something which belongs to human nature as
one of its constitutive dimensions loses a good part of its force and its
universality once it becomes a particular form of organized life.

• The monastic vocation is essentially personal...[involving] the
search for the center...[which]...is immanent to the human being...
but at the same time...it is transcendent.

• Monasticism is not a specifically Christian, Jaina, Buddhist, or
a sectarian phenomenon; rather, it is a basically human and
primordiallya religious one.

So--reading over these initial points, I began to realize that my sense
about being a monastic might not be so strange after all. :-)

(18) Monks & Brain Waves

2010-03-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

A number of years ago the Dalai Lama invited biological
psychologist Richard Davidson to come to India to test one
of his Tibetan monks--a Frenchman, actually--by applying
electrodes on his cranium while the monk was meditating
on "unconditional loving-kindness and compassion." This
particular Buddhist monk had already accrued more than
10,000 hours of meditation, so he surely had to be a
seasoned contemplative. Davidson's team, from the
University of Wisconsin, nearly immediately noticed
powerful gamma brain wave activity. Later more Buddhist
monks were tested by Davidson, and he found similar
results.

Gamma brain waves essentially are considered the brain's
optimal frequency of functioning and associated with a
"conscious awareness of reality and increased mental abilities.
The reported benefits of gamma brain waves are as follows:
Boosted Memory, Enhanced Perception of Reality, Building
of Senses, Increased Compassion, High-Level Information
Processing, Natural Antidepressant, Advanced Learning
Ability, IQ Increase, High Level of Focus, and Improved
Perception/Consciousness,

These reports about these monks and their brain waves
caught my interest when it comes to how the Universal Spirit
might be working through us, perhaps upon us by enhancing
our brain's capabilities.

Meditation more than often has been in Religion's bailiwick,
though nowadays this kind of mental focus has also rapidly
moved out into the secular world: i.e., Transcendental Meditation
and Biofeedback.

Regardless the specific milieu for meditation, it's an interesting
phenomenon when the study of such has come under the
scrutiny of neuroscientists. It would seem our brain is far more
activated. As to "why," well that's a question that will have to
wait for another day to be answered. As for "what" might stand
behind all this, well that's open to speculation.

Just maybe there really *is* a Higher Reality acting upon us,
an Universal Spirit, that might actually be evolving us. Could
be our brains have finally reached the level where some of us
humans, like the French Buddhist meditator, seem to have
become an open channel for the reconfiguring of our brain
processes.

(17) Vacuum

2010-03-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

"Vacuum" usually means a space devoid of matter, but it can also
mean simply a space ready to be filled. For example, there's the
idea about a political vacuum--when a leadership or ruling group
have been removed, and yet there's no immediate follow-up to
replace them. A vacuum can be problematic, but it always awaits
to be filled.

Anyway, the other day I was talking to a friend who is much older
than I am. He's gone through where I have arrived. I'm at a point
where I am experiencing a spiritual vacuum. It's different from the
"dark night" I went through during my mid-life. Rather it's an
emptiness that just sits there, waiting.

After decades "seeking God," I came to realize that no matter how
I try, I haven't and never will pin down God. The old maxims,
the cultural views, the faith systems--none--seem to touch me.
I see them as efforts towards trying to understand. Some profess
that their way is the Truth. And I would love it to be so, but in my
heart I cannot quite comply.

Still, I do recognize that our human communities of faith are oft
valiant efforts towards trying to understand That Beyond us. And
it surely could be, as we ever continue to compile our understanding
that we might just be making God more comprehensible. So
collectively we shouldn't stop trying!

But during the course of my conversation with my older friend, our
talk started focusing on trying more to understand our self rather
than God.

I suppose when we are edging-up towards the end of our life's
course, we might find it more imperative to focus in more on
"Knowing Self."

But what happens when an older person suddenly finds hir self
in this vacuum of "not knowing" God. For a god-seeker, it can
be a disaster or it can be a respite, a rest from the pursuit. Me?
I decided that I am resting--and, at the same time, admitting that
I probably never will get a precise answer when it comes to God.

About the only thing that I have discovered is that the god-imagery
in my mind involves a *process.* The more I think I know, the more
the imagery shifts to yet another plateau. I used to think that God
was playing games with me, but I realize better now that God is
more an Attractor for me.

And this Attractor has a way of "growing" us towards a greater
maturity when it comes to any relationship with That Beyond
which we call God.

But there are interims in our pursuit, vacuums where we are faced
with a void, not knowing. This "not knowing" may be akin to the
mystics's Cloud of Unknowing. Yet I understand the mystics
always felt some form of comfort in this not knowing. Whereas
being in a vacuum is more a case of uncomfortable waiting.
There's the danger, too, of giving-up--and then there's *really*
a Nothing!

In my own case, I have decided to be patient, to wait, in the
hope for a new inspiration when it comes to my own God quest.

(16) SOL

2009-09-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

• Sol Invictus: The Ancient World's god-imagery of the Light.

• Solar Logos: Holy Reason. The Godhead. The Cosmic Plenum.

• Solar Sophia: Holy Wisdom. The Great Mother.

• The Spirit of the World: Pneuma, Providence, Protector.

• The Lord of the Elements: Panentheism. Panpsychism.

• The Incarnation of the Logos: The Word. The Way.

• The Light of the World: Illumination. Evolving Consciousness.

• The Omega Point.

Lord of the Universe: Illumination, the Light of the World,
Intelligence and Wisdom, Altogether, Spirit, Running Through,
Infinite in All Directions.

(15) Holy Spirit

2009-09-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

A friend once wrote: "I'm far more content thinking of
the Holy Spirit as the God that is with us."

It would seem we are on the same line here. After what
seems nearly a lifetime of exploring our God-imagery, of
examining critically our archaic religious systems, I still
hold fast to the hoped-for existence of the Holy Spirit.

I perceive the Holy Spirit to be our expression of what is
the Godhead, the Plenum, who under-girds the Universe,
who illuminates the Cosmos, who has evolved Personality
and is bound to all those evolving sentient beings who
surely must populate the entirety of Creation.

(14) Despair unto Hope

2009-09-30T13:02:00.000-07:00

Quoting the late great monk, Thomas Merton: "When I first
became a monk, yes, I was more sure of my 'answers.' But as
I grow old in the monastic life and advance further into solitude,
I become aware that I have only begun to seek the questions.
And what are the questions? Can man make sense out of his
existence?"

No longer having the answers surely can lead to an uncertain
despair; however, there's hope in asking ever new questions.
It shows we are still alive and ticking, ever moving forward into
challenging new worlds. Like so many of us who are thoughtful
in one way or another, it would seem that Merton was under-
going his particular maturation process.

And gaining ever increasing maturity can unbalance one
occasionally. Probably it's normal to feel "you have got it"
when young. One puts their marbles in a favorite bag, and
then one day the bag wears through and the marbles spill
out. We cannot hold to the "same" forever and ever, no
matter what we are told and might believe.

Merton puts: "...perhaps in my solitude I have become as it
were an explorer..."

And that's what good monks do! They are explorers of the
Imaginal Realm, of the Subtle, trying to work through, to
"Seek God." Yet God insists upon remaining a MYSTERY.
And we explorers, monk or not, sometimes really do get
tired, weary, despairing over the fact that we do *not* know!

Merton puts: "I have been summoned to explore a desert
area of man's heart in which explanations no longer suffice,
and in which one learns that only experience counts."

Tis true, I believe. *Experience* would seem to be the
ultimate teacher. But our life's experience is more like a
"process" rather than an explanation. And as we know,
process is ever fluid. There may be short respites--here
and there--and then, once again, we are caught in the
currents of this process. Like a river, there's both calm
and terrifying rapids. That's Life, that's God too!

Merton puts: "...why is there evil and what is necessary
for a good life?"

We all have our opinions, our cultural heritage about
Good and Evil. Nonetheless, eventually we are at a loss
about these polarities that both caress and confound us.
Perhaps the Taoists make the most sense of these
strange polarities that wrap around us in this weird,
wonderful world.

At the end of the day, the very fact that we were born,
given life, given mind and greater levels of consciousness,
in a world evolved to sustain us, we should be *thankful.*
Responding, we need outgrow ourselves constantly, aiming
towards greater, higher levels of being--and that's where
HOPE resides for me. The fact that we can always be *more
and more.* It can be a wonderful life when we realize that
there's always the next step forwards.

(13) UnManifest/Manifest

2009-09-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

The way I have understood the UnManifest, it's the great Inner
Dimension of our Universe--whether we view it as spiritual or
otherwise. And the way I have usually understood, from my
studies at least, is that the UnManifest *unfolds* its information
into the Manifest. Hence we have the Micro-Unfolding of
Consciousness into "points of consciousness" that, in them-
selves, unfold in the Cosmos.

However, questions arise: Is this one-way traffic? Or is it
two-way traffic?

Generations have longed to travel back into the UnManifest.
Religious contemplatives long "to see God," or at least lounge
in hir arms. As is oft put, we also need help in this life. So,too,
we direct prayers towards the UnManifest--hoping that we will
be heard. We honor God through out worship, through our
religious ceremonies, presuming this kind of Larger Prayer
might connect somehow with the UnManifest.

Thus, it seems we humans have long felt that we can engage
in two-way traffic between the UnManifest and the Manifest.
However, this situation--for me--rouses even more questions.

Let's harken back to the Big Bang. Scientists have confirmed
its radiation throughout the Universe. They now have enough
evidence to go back just a few seconds after this great burst
of Informed Energy; and they have been able to follow through
the various stages of the Cosmic Unfoldment unto this very day.
Profound, but our science and technology has this capability.

Still, most of our observations relate to the physical universe.
But only in our own time have scientists begun to ponder about
the Inner Dimension of the Universe via Quantum Physics.
Nowadays astrophysicists at least wonder out loud about what
prompted the Big Bang and the ensuing inflationary universe.
Usually they leave it at that. Yet for some it's a Great Mystery,
just as put long before by theologians.

With this, I have to address this question about our strange 13.7
billion-year-old universe. What is it all about? Guess that's the
biggest question in the world. We Consciousness Points ask
this question all the time, over and over. And it does seem that
the question surmises an answer; and drawing closer to an
answer, we are spurred to grow and develop towards an ever
heightened Maturity. So it goes, generation-after-generation!

As for myself, I look at the questions, look at the Mystery of the
UnManifest and the Manifest from various perspectives. and
*not* all my perspectives are spiritual. I'm actually more inclined
to believe that the spiritual perspective still remains at our
human "beginners level." Our spiritual evolution only began
to sprout with the cave people, more so with the early
civilizations of the Mesopotamian Basin, of the Ganges,
and in China. And since then we can trace the slow strange
historical development of this spiritual evolution.

More recently we humans have sprouted another perspective,
looking at the Mystery of the Universe from a rational perspective.
This led to the Enlightenment, its philosophies, and even on into
skepticism. We see the residue of this rational perspective right
now, this very day, in our own generation.

And yet another perspective is the scientific perspective. I'm
inclined toward this perspective myself. What's interesting is that
it is based on observation and eventual collaborative data. Even
more interesting, however, is where some of this scientific and
technological data is taking us! It's leading back to the Great
Mystery, and some scientists have become unafraid to ponder
on Such.

Now what many of us humans tend to do is line-up these three
perspectives and chose *one.* It's usually one over the other(s).

Now I find that approach quite limiting. Considering our
knowledge-base, it just doesn't make sense to rule out other
perspectives. What we need is, first, to recognize the genesis
of our perspective(s)--and, then, employ *all* of them, working
together, working ever towards that beckoning Answer.

I also think that by blending our perspectives, we become more
sophisticated Consciousness Points. And I think we need be!

In the end, what appears to be is a vast Cosmic System with
both inner and outer attributes, the UnManifest and the Manifest.
What we seem to have is a continuous unfolding of Information
pouring from the UnManifest, into and contributing to the
building-up of the Manifest. This seems a basic process of
this System in which we find ourselves.

Beyond this, we have begun to realize that we Consciousness
Points are likely recipients for much of this unfoldment of
information. We are likely bathed in it, but can only process and
make intelligible small drops of it at this point in our development.

(12) Stability

2009-09-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

"Find the place that God has given you and take root there. The
ability to stand firm, to be where you are and to dwell with oneself
is a sign of maturity of mind. This is stability."
[From Thomas Merton's Monastic Conferences at Gethesemani.]

Forever so long I have read over and over the thought of the
late famous monk, Thomas Merton. And the quote above really
connects with my own experience. Often in monastic literature
the idea of stability is about staying in a given physical location.
It's a mainstay for monastic community. On the other hand, those
living outside abbeys, monasteries, priories, for those who live in
the world, there seems the requirement to find one's *place.*
Sometimes this circumstance is easier said than done.

In my own case there's both an inner and an outer to this
situation of stability. And the two perspectives interweave
through one another. Also, I believe that as we progress in
maturity we see a lot of shifting with these perspectives. Life
is not always rock-solid, and that circumstance oft comes into
conflict with more traditional monastic ideas of stability.

Over the course of my life I have made many moves, to
different places and environments. So during this period of
moves, how can one possess any sense of stability? Nearly
from the beginning of my own monastic-oriented life, I had to
come to realize that I would have to forge that sense of stability
*inwardly.* Again, easier said than done.

It took me years to work through this inward project, forging
my own home anchor--if you will. How did I manage? Well,
I certainly wasn't very conscious of having achieved stability
whilst along the way. It was mainly by hindsight that I slowly
began to realize that I was becoming more and more stable
within myself. Via this hindsight I began to gain some small
insight on what had happened. Overall, it was about
"accepting" myself.

But it's not easy accepting one's self, if one doesn't have a
grip on one's self. That's how I started out. One day I began
to realize that I didn't have a clue as to who I was, am...And
just pondering on my navel didn't seem much of an approach.
What was there to ponder upon? Nevertheless, when one
does start down the road of serious introspection, helpful
tools pop forth here and there.

In my own case, the first major tool of "understanding" was
depth psychology. I had had some exposure to Freudian
Psychology, but it held little appeal for me. And I cannot
remember when I first encountered Jungian Psychology,
but it was if the lights went on! I really connected with the
archetypal world so important to Jung's psychology. In time
I moved into some serious dream-work, assisted by some
equally serious study. And has been said in a famous flick:
"If you build it, [they] will come."

Sure enough my Big Dreams--as Native Americans put
it--made their appearance, over a multi-year period. And
it was my working with these Big Dreams that I first really
felt that I had an encounter with the Numinous--and that I felt
I was beginning to make out my own archetypal constellation
that I could call "Self." With this, I was on the road leading
towards inner stability. I began to know who I am, what I
wanted to be, what I needed to do. And over these many
years I have stayed on this discovered "track," and this has
led to my sense of an inner stability.

Still, there's the other side of the coin, outer stability. There's
a lot of reading material about monastic stability, more than
often written by traditional vowed monastics. Many of these
writers were very much aware that they were offering advice
for those non-traditional monastics who lived outside the
cloister. Their books are "how to" types of advice. And it's
good advice, too! These books continue to build-up your
inner stability, but they also can provide information on how
to forge a sense of community on the outside. It's always
back to "community." But what happens if you are disposed
towards being a solitary?

Naturally, if someone wants to break all ties, go out to the
desert like the ancient monks. I've trekked through deserts--
both inner and outer--but I had the good sense to leave.
I'm an urban person, though I honor Nature and work for her
benefit.

Nonetheless, eventually I came to enjoy both solitude and
community. I finally began to see my own little monastic
community that I have built.

There's my home, almost a cloister with an actual fence
around the property. Not originally meant to cordon off,
but mainly the fence was just a part of how our neighbor-
hood was built, put together. Still the fence provides privacy,
a space for solitude,a space where beauty can be built and
enjoyed. Over the years I landscaped the property, working
with the soil, dirtying my hands--not unlike the monks in their
monasteries who do the same.

Beyond this, I evolved a new life as a philosophical essayist
and story-teller in addition to being a docent naturalist. These
avocations have kept me involved--out of trouble--and they
have become my monastic *labora.* Traditional monks also
work in various disciplines and pursuits. One still has to make
a living; or if already self-sufficient, one does need the balance
of an active life vis-a-vis the contemplative life. There's also my
lovely library--that I sometimes call my *luminarium*--where I
can go, quietly read, and work more into my spiritual life through
its offerings. And than there's my local church, an Eucharist-
oriented church that actually has its historical roots in the great
Benedictine cathedral services of medieval England. And here,
too. I find fellowship. Put altogether, my home, my gardens, my
library, my church--they serve, in my mind, as a monastic-type
community, where I enjoy a strong sense of stability.

(11) Stoics & Monks

2009-09-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

Beyond the previous post about Monks and Stoics, I've
found that the Stoic lifestyle corresponds nicely with the
great Benedictine Way.

STOIC: The Stoic philosopher Seneca believed that in order
to live well we need to develop a stability of mind. By this he
means the "well-being of soul," which he calls Tranquility.
Seneca puts the question: how can the mind "maintain a
consistent and advantageous course, be kind to itself and
take pleasure in its attributes...[and] abide in its serenity,
without excitement or depression?" What this Stoic philo-
sopher is talking about is a life led simply and steadily via
the practice of *apatheia.*

And Seneca continues: "it takes a great man...to allow none
of his time to be frittered away, such a man's life is very long,
because he devotes every available minute of it to himself.
None of it lies idle and unexploited, none of it is at the
disposal of another." In this case he is talking about a
person who is sufficient unto himself, a person who knows
his likes and dislikes, a person who can plan ahead. He
is describing a self-contained person who is capable of
determining his own course by employing the Stoic lifestyle.

BENEDICTINE. Obedience: Over the course of my life I have
had to discern as to Whom or What I need be obedient. It
hasn't been an easy effort, fraught with a lot of failure on my
part. There has been a lot of trial-and-error, working through
territories that were part of a *via negativa* for me. Regardless,
one learns from this painful approach. In obedience I continue
trying to follow the whisperings of the Spirit, the Logos, working
in my heart and mind.

Stability: Becoming a stable person isn't easy. Like darkness is
to light, like chaos is to order, there's a linkage that must be
understood before one can run a sturdy course. The psyche is
full of such polarities, and mine surely has exemplified a great
variety of such. I've had to come to terms with these polarities,
and the job will never be finished. One must make the effort to
retain a stable and sturdy hand, always!

Conversio Morum: This is about spiritual formation, inwardly
and as an expression in the world. I harken back to That to
whom I am obedient, the Spirit, the Logos! Over my many
years I have been continuously surprised as I moved along
a Spirit- prompted path set forth for me. I have made fabulous
discoveries along the way--discoveries that have brought forth
insights and perhaps a little wisdom. My soul has steadily
grown, though sometimes I don't know it except through
hindsight.

Still, I make room for my being human. Perfection is not the
same as Change. Long ago I determined that the evolution
of my soul is a process towards ideal agency, making the
"ideal real."

Ora et Labora: This is about Prayer and Work. Praying has
always proved difficult for me. I am rarely pleased with myself
when praying. I've studied prayer, and there are different modes
of which I am sure I have participated. But I mainly like and try
to follow the kind of praying Christ suggested: private, simple,
and from the heart. Indeed the ancient Stoics also proposed
the same sort of prayer.

As for my Work, I'm a born scholar and possess the monastic
"Love of Learning." And I direct my learning mainly toward that
great Benedictine mandate "To Seek God." Though monastically
oriented, my universal approach through many years has also
been that of the spiritual Stoic philosopher.

Over the years I have written out my learning, not preaching but
rather hopefully sharing. Nonetheless, my aim is not to push
my few small pearls upon any soul--but rather to bring forth what
I have learned along my way as a sustenance for those who
find such appealing.

(10) Monks & Stoics

2009-09-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

For nigh on three decades I have lived on the sidelines of the
great Benedictine Monastic Tradition and the Wisdom of the Stoa.
In due course I wished to reconcile these two magnificent spiritual
currents of Western Civilization--and started looking for any few
connections there might be.

The only serious comparison in common that I discovered was that
of "apatheia." It runs through both monasticism and stoicism.

Apatheia in the Benedictine Order is connected with the formation
of the monk, and in Latin terms it involves what is called "conversio
morum." The Benedictine need control his/her passions via
detachment--as does the Stoic--that's apatheia! In community,
the Benedictine has reinforcement and structures that lends to
this effort.

There's the order of the day, mainly involving liturgical prayer, work,
and study duties. And there's the great Rule of St. Benedict that
prescribes all this in detail. The aim is one of conversion. In their
case the Benedictine monk is aiming towards Christian perfection.

In the case of the modern Stoic, apatheia is left more to the
individual--though there are books and perhaps philosophy
classes. Ancient Stoics might have enjoyed more reinforcement
than the modern Stoic, in that the Stoa was far more pervasive
in the Mediterranean World than in our own times. Nonetheless,
the Stoic aims towards the perfection of the Sage.

There's also some possible historical connections between the two
traditions. First, the monastic founder--St. Benedict of Nursia--was a
Roman aristocrat, likely schooled in a classical education. So it's
possible he was fairly aware of some of the earlier tenets of stoicism,
as other Christian Fathers surely were, as exemplified by their
writings. Anyway the notion of apatheia transferred easily from the
Stoic to the Monk, though the aim standing behind such behavior
may have differed.

After the Fall of the Roman Imperium, with the onslaught of the Dark
Ages, it seemed as if the great writings of the Classical philosophers
were lost. But fortunately for us, medieval Benedictine monks got
around and acquired some of this lost classical mother-lode from the
Muslims. And these great classical books we read today were main-
tained and perpetuated by generations of Benedictine monks in their
scriptoriums. Indeed, these monks became quite enamored of
classical thought and eventually worked a lot of that thought into
their own monastic theology.

But naturally there are also considerable differences. One major
difference between the Benedictine Tradition and the Stoic Tradition
is that of "aim." And their outlook had to be colored by their aims.
From their outset, Benedictines declared their community to be a
"School of the Lord's Service." One might immediately think this
some kind of evangelical dictum, but not so. What it meant was that
the monastic community was the resource--the school--for the
individual monk to attain towards Christian perfection via conversio
morum, via apatheia.

Today the modern Stoic seems somewhat aimless in comparison.
Yes, there's a small trickle of individuals looking for a better form of
living in this world. Perhaps they are looking for a certain content-
ment, a way of managing the chaos that life oft presents in one way
or another. But beyond these individual pursuits, does the modern
Stoic aim towards any greater goals? Hence there are...

Questions: Early Christianity, out of which the Benedictine Tradition
grew, stressed the "Body of Christ" on several levels. One level was
more immediate. It was about building the Body of Christ which was
the Church. In time, for some in the Church and many in the
Benedictine Tradition, another level of approach became that of
building-up the world that had also come to represent the Body of
Christ.

Now are there such aims in the Stoic Tradition? I'm not sure modern
Stoics have moved much beyond their own individual consideration.
However, I have read that ancient Stoics did hold to a certain outlook.
One such account sticks in my mind. For the ancient Stoic, the "goal"
of man is to live in agreement with world design: the cosmic citizen!
As a cosmic citizen, man has a loyalty and obligation to all things in
that city--the world, the cosmos, man's essential worth, universal
brotherhood.

Now if this goal is still considered viable, than it would seem the
modern Stoic has a target. From encyclopedic accounts, the Stoic
wise man was independent of the society in which he lived. Yet a
man could become more virtuous only by exercising his virtue in
his relations with other men, and the exercise of virtue was to be
found in areas demanding responsibility. Thus it was necessary for
the Stoic to earn his living and take part in public life.

There's surely no doubt that many ancient Stoics did indeed take
part in public leadership. The teachers of the Stoa, in their own
way, were educating the young ruling classes of the Roman Empire,
surely in the hope of seeing, eventually, a more humane and
rational public service.

As for the Benedictines, regardless their religious outlook, they
have always provided public service. In the Dark Ages they
actually helped re-teach the peasantry the rudiments of agri-
culture and fisheries. In time they established "outer" schools
for the ruling classes. And towns (and eventually cities) built
around the hub of the monastery. Today Benedictines can be
found outside the cloister, not only working in churches but also
in public service such as in hospitals and in teaching.

(9) Soul

2009-09-28T10:16:00.000-07:00

I still find it difficult to "live" myself as a soul. But now that I am
advancing in years, I think it beneficial to start trying! But how
would I go about this endeavor? Here's some points:

• I must think in terms of Energy, that I am a Conscious Energy
entity. That all of Life, on all levels, is about Energy.

• I must consider where my "true" home is. My experience
keeps pointing to a Center that seems the essence of my being.
It would seem, somehow, that this Center is my soul.

• I believe I have led previous lives, thus I subscribe to
reincarnation. Have these previous lives come out of my
Soul-Center as separate existences? Or is there a continuum
of consciousness in regard to these various existences?

• I suspect my various existences were lived as separate
personalities; yet, on the other hand, the experience of these
existences pool into my Soul-Center. And upon occasion,
perhaps memories of these other existences can impact upon
one's present existence. That's how I have tried to explain
a past-life vision I experienced, which profoundly impacted
upon the "me" that I'm living today. So there's some kind of
connection in my opinion.

• What's the point of being a soul? Only my view, but I feel
it surely must involve "soul growth"--ever evolving towards
a greater maturity of head and heart. Then what? Somehow
I can only imagine a great convergence of souls from all over
the Universe. Such a convergence could take the Universe
into another dimension of be-ing, beyond physical matter,
indeed probably beyond our religio-spiritual imaginings!

• In the meanwhile, what about here and now? As always,
I *try* to live the noble life. Rarely very successful, but I try.
What I mean is that I want to be good, I want to be noble,
obliging towards others, towards Life in general, without
having to have a carrot perched in front of my nose. I try
to self-generate this sense of nobility. Somehow I feel the
good and noble life is the soul's responsibility, that it is
part-and-parcel of our evolutionary process.

• I also want to continually inform my soul, so as to sharpen
its knowledge and intelligence. Also, I hope as I grow to
become more wise, more considerate, more compassionate.

• I want to experiment, too! What I am planning is to practice
what I call the "mind-matter" connection. Throughout my life
I've noticed definite connections with my thought and outside
synchronistic events. I think as Energy beings, we have
considerable potential in this area that we have barely begun
to realize. Perhaps as conscious Energy we might have the
capacity to form energy into material events. This is not a
unique idea, but I think we need practice.

• I will try to be less afraid of physical decay and destruction,
trying to keep in mind that I am a conscious Energy being.
Terribly difficult, one cannot deny. Still I feel I must try to work
my mind around to the fact that I am an Eternal Soul--and try to
live this life with intent and joy, rather than be fearful.

• Finally, I must become aware of what I deem a future life to
come forth from my Soul-Center. I have had intimations of such,
just as I once had a past-life vision. Indeed, I sense that what I
have been doing in the later years of this life somehow relates
to the person I will become in a future life.

So there's my points about being a soul. Not exactly a manifesto,
but it's a pretty good map for me!

(8) Spirituality

2009-09-27T10:49:00.000-07:00

"I've used the word 'spiritual' as a label to identify a meaning-
oriented approach to [life]. Its focus is on the yearning of human
beings for a world of love and caring, for genuine connection
and mutual recognition, for kindness and generosity, for
connection to the common good, to the sacred, and to a
transcendent purpose for our lives."
[Michael Lerner, THE LEFT HAND OF GOD, Harper, 2006,
p. 158.]

(7) Ideas About God

2009-09-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

Essentially I am going to take a three-pronged approach to this
"idea" of God. Thus I'll be addressing Presence, Providence, and
Perspective.

PRESENCE: This part of the discussion will focus upon my own
more immediate personal experience in relation tto God. Like most
people sometimes my experiences have held a numinous quality
for me, occasionally in extraordinary ways--whether in dreams, in
visions, in locutions. I don't put down these experiential occurrences--
nor does the Bible or modern psychologists. It's how you react to
such (I guess) that determines whether you might be crazy or not.

Anyway, I am not going to plague you by discussing my dreams in
detail. They are mine, only mine. Rather I will emphasize that some
20 years back (or more) I experienced what the Native Americans
call "Big Dreams." They were special, full of numinous content--and
unless you are a dullard, you know when you have them!

At the time of these Big Dreams I was at one of the lowest points in
my life. And these special dreams came to my rescue. I approached
these dreams as a series and wrote them down. At first they seemed
to be addressing my problems, and various dream characters were
trying to come to my rescue. The major gist of the dreams was that
of kindness and love and hope.

In these dreams, too, I was introduced to a Great Presence--and it's
here where I must be honest. I encountered the Divine Feminine, a
Great Mother who was a nourisher and a savior. There was also a
numinous Masculine figure in the guise of a Great Abbot. In depth
psychology one can say we are dealing with the anima/animus
energies. Perhaps so, but all through they were very, very numinous
beings. Eventually I experienced the Great Eye of God and was
given some direction in no uncertain terms!

These dreams also gave me insight as to my soul. I learned from
whence I came, and I was directed to be "as good a soul as I could
be." And in due course I eventually was able to determine from
these dreams a certain direction that I should take in this life.

Eventually I came to the end of these Big Dreams; and upon
pondering them altogether, I was utterly astonished. I was
astounded, because I was suddenly hit with the realization that
there was SOMEONE far beyond, far more intelligent, far more
than myself involved in all this!

Now depth psychologists oft call this situation an encounter with
the "Greater Self." It's there, present within us. Well I certainly
could not deny that there indeed was a great Presence that
came to me, nourished me, informed me of the significance of
my soul and of my life, and actually really *cared.* Having said
this, for me this Presence is very much up-front and personal.
And we worked together to put the pieces of my life back together,
even better than they were before! In a sense I was re-born.

Now it's easy to diminish this experience, assuming it's all just
in my mind and part-and-parcel of my mind's mechanism.
Maybe so--but if so, than we were created this way and it's a
gift of kindness provided by the Creator. But I have chosen to
think there's much more than this. The numinous qualities as
well as the encounters with the Numinous in its special forms
made it clear to me that there is (and remains) a Great Presence
that awaits our awareness--and, in turn, tries to help make us
more aware of who we are in relation to Such.

PROVIDENCE: The dictionary relates that this word is about
"care and control by a deity." This is the idea of both a
transcendent and imminent God that stands in its *own
freedom* to determine its own actions.

I stress this idea of freedom, because we humans too often
conjure over this and that, of what God must be! Perhaps we
can't help ourselves, but our opinions of God are *not*
necessarily God. So--with Providence there's this free God
that remains outside our control, a God that simply IS what it is.

Over my lifetime I have become less and less inclined to read
into God's actions. They happen, and sometimes they seem
bad as well as good. It's hard to explain a loving, caring God to
hurricane victims or to people in terrible, terrible pain that can
seem so endless. I, for one, will not presume to thrust the
"Summa Bonum," the All Good God, on people who are suffering,
oft innocently suffering.

The "Theodicy Problem" remains, and unto this day we keep
trying to figure it through. Nonetheless, I can speak of provi-
dential acts in my life that I must admit have been very helpful
to me. Providence has seen fit to play into my life with both
negatives and positives. Over time, too, I have learned that
there's major meaning in "closed doors" and "open doors."
What this means, IMO, is that these varied circumstances that
Providence provides offer us a *freedom of choice.* This is
where Providence gets personal, I guess. We can choose to
make the best of it, or not.

However, it would seem there are also impersonal acts by
Providence. Providence works in History, in social and cultural
decisions, as well as in Nature. The process of this universe
isn't just about our personal edification. It would seem that
Providence--as well as Presence--also plays out on this
Grander Scale of Being. And at our level of consciousness,
we cannot presume to know the *why* of providential action.

The old Stoics said just accept the acts of Providence. But
we have moved beyond just mere acceptance. We do rush
into assumptions and judgments, but we also are beginning
to see (or at least sense) the *challenge* that can stand behind
the movement of Providence. Perhaps providential acts are a
"prompter" that can move us along unto higher levels of
consciousness and being--if we stand aside from out own
need to control and accept the challenge of these acts. If we
rose to the challenge, so much pain and suffering in this world
could be eliminated.

PERSPECTIVE: Here the focus would seem more on us than
upon God. We seem *not* to be able to not have ideas and
imagery about the Numinous. It's in our heads, it's in our
cultures and societies, and it's just as much in the heads of
atheists--otherwise they wouldn't try so hard to deny God.
Everybody is touched at some level by a perspective of God.
There's cults and creeds, and opinions throughout about who
God might be.

As for myself, I love playing with all these perspectives that have
come my way--mainly through my studies. Though these days I
am studying Taoism, I'm mostly Western-oriented. And just my
perspective, but I view God in terms of a CONTINUUM--revealing
hirself slowly down through the ages via many interpretations that
we humans have managed.

(6) Wondrous Creation

2009-09-26T08:46:00.001-07:00

For myself, I have tried to develop a personal spirituality that
allows for living more in communion with this world, this Universe.
It's all we really have. It's a truly fascinating place, a Living System
as our scientists are now beginning to admit. It's a self-organizing
system, containing further systems infinitum within itself. There's
creativity and experimentation and adventure all over the place!

Some philosophers and theologians are beginning to realize
that our Universe includes a suggestive *subjectivity,* hence
mind and consciousness. We humans in this world would seem
the proof. Think upon this, through millennia of evolution *we*
represent all the living organisms (once and now) on this planet.
Through groping, punctuated jumping, whatever, there's been a
steady trajectory. We can trace back our ancestry up from the
earlier forms of humans, from land mammals, from the amphibian,
from marine creatures, indeed right from the amoeba. But it is *we*
who represent the Earth's arrival into self-consciousness! As
Teilhard de Chardin once expressed: "the cell has become
someone!"

We have become Consciousness Points in this wondrous creation.

(5) Continuum

2009-09-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

What I have been able to do is as follows: I've come to approach
the Plenum of this Universe, the Ground, the Center if you will,
as Mystery that wishes itself to be unraveled or unfolded. This
will always be our primary job as cosmic Consciousness Points.
I also see that this process has only begun, considering we are
only beginning to reach towards more sophistication in our
consciousness.

Remember, we started with animism, religious tribalism, to
pantheons of gods, to various levels of monotheism. It's all
about consciousness development and our evolving
conceptions of what this Mystery might be. Hence over the
millennia we have not only these different concepts, but also
different labels regarding the Mystery.

Though many today are attracted to Eastern philosophy, I
(for one) am definitely a child of the West. Consequently I've
tended to look back at the West's religious and philosophical
evolution, rising out of the Middle East in many forms, moving
to the Mediterranean World, on into the European continent,
and than via empire into its colonies.

I've studied this evolution, from Mesopotamian gods to the
Olympian Pantheon to the Mysteries of the Hellenistic World
to Judaism to Christianity to the unfolding of what I deem
"Scientific Spirituality." In turn, I've worked hard to *integrate*
this evolution of religio-spiritual thought into what I consider
a CONTINUUM.

Now only personal for me, but I latched onto the Greek philo-
sophical concept of the "Logos" as a way to carry through this
awareness of the Ground--from its earliest conception unto
today's contemporary science theories.

I like the idea of the Logos, because originally it was a way of
explaining the Mystery, the Ground, *universally.* Now I have
little trouble thinking about all this in universal terms, and oft I
do so. Still, one must look at the overwhelming majority of any
given population. For the most part, they are not at a universal
level conceptually and still remain compartmentalized within
creedal contexts. Still, human beings (I believe) intuit this Ground
of Being; but they must somehow bring it into their own horizon
in order to grasp it. That's why we need images and analogies
that more than often are found in religious creeds.

Yet, it would seem that we are now beginning to advance toward
a different time, a different place perhaps in our conceptualization
of the Mystery. Maybe this has to do with the advent of advanced
transportation and communication. Today the world rubs up-and-
against itself. East and West, North and South are all implicating
one another in varied relationships. These relationships also
include creedal and philosophical perceptions as well. It's like
many colors streaking across a canvas, beginning to blend into
one another. This process has only begun and we don't have any
idea what the final outcome will be, if ever!

But what seems to be happening is that this universalization of the
Mystery is taking hold more and more. And it is coming head-on
with older creedal concepts. Consequently there's a certain
discomfort, oft misunderstanding.

The trick (I believe) is to stand above the process for a little while,
and looked upon dispassionately one can see that the whole
blasted thing is a CONTINUUM of evolving conceptualizations
about the Mystery, about Ultimate Reality. If viewed this way, all
our spiritual efforts, all our religious creeds have been all a part of
the *process* of this ever unfolding Continuum.

(4) Mother Hen

2009-09-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

Quoting from an article: "The problem is that big things, like stars,
planets and galaxies (collectively the macroworld), are governed
by Einstein's theories of relativity, which revolutionized physics a
century ago. The embarrassments started coming soon after with
the development of quantum theory: it turns out that small things,
like atoms and their constituents (collectively the microworld), are
ruled by a completely different set of physics, one that conflicts
horrifically with relativity."

I've always considered this strangeness of the Universe more
"close to home." If we, who are body and soul, who are micro-
cosms, than the Macrocosm must in some unknown way seem
the same as its smaller reflections.

Thus the macroworld of the Universe would seem the Body, and
the microworld of the Universe would seem the Soul. Hence the
Universe is running on two servers. Just as we Consciousness
Points are running on two servers.

This cosmic outer world seems so elegantly straightforward,
whereas--to quote--"the inner world of quantum mechanics
is a wild, unpredictable sea of mind-bending weirdness. It's
based on pure randomness: things just pop in and out of
existence almost at whim, and we end up with hundreds of
different types of particles each with different properties, and
the whole thing gets so confusing that documenting them in
one over-arching 'registry' just slows the while thing down and
ends up fragmenting the Universe into a mess..."

This seems *so* much like our own puny inner workings, doesn't
it? Our soul, our inner life, still borders on the random, on the
chaotic; so, as microcosmos, is it so hard to ponder the similarity
we see in the Microcosmos? Neither level--Macro or micro--of
the Universe would yet seem finished or complete.

It's kind of like adolescents suddenly in a nearly mature, elegant
body, but yet still all messed-up inside. Poor kids, poor us, poor
Cosmos!

Now scientists are impatient to explain it all: and, yes, they are
irked over this strange condition of the Universe that is both
steady and chaotic altogether. I know that most scientists
would never take the philosophical (or spiritual) perspective I
have on this issue, though some of the more thoughtful are
twittering around this territory.

In the meanwhile we, in our own smaller worlds, existing in the
Greater World, will just have to become ever more conscious, more
comprehending, in order to work through the chaos towards a
better existence. I've no doubt the development of us microcosms--
the Universe's Consciousness Points--are utterly necessary for the
development of the Macrocosm.

So that's my theory, wishful as it may be. But one does have to ask
where "God" might be in all this scenario? Just my opinion (and
really no more than an opinion), my little Wotai Stone carries a
curious image within it. It's the image of a sunbird--a rainbow
streaked eagle--hovering over a globe. Since it is my stone, the
image is mine only. Yet all along, for much of my life, I have felt
the Great Spirit hovering over and within us all, hovering over the
Earth, hovering over the Cosmos, hovering over each living entity
that had come forth in Creation.

It's like a "Mother Hen" watching after her own as they edge
precariously out into the Light.

(3) The Light

2009-09-24T13:37:00.000-07:00

Occasionally I weary over all of our God-Talk. In reality I'm not
positive any of us know very much about what we talk about.
Lots of this God-Talk comes from various sources, and nowadays
some of these sources are under critical re-evaluation. And,
overall, we mostly inherit our opinions from religion, philosophy,
and history. To use a Catholic term, we are all "cradle"
God-talkers!

So is there any *new* approach that we might take outside
religion, philosophy, and history? I don't know. It has been said
that we humans are immersed in our inherited world-view by the
time we are two years of age--and really locked-in by the time we
are four.

The trouble for our present living generations is that our world-view
no longer seems to have that "lock" that it once had on people. We
are those generations on the cusp of a New Millennium, leaving
the Old one behind, and that maybe makes our predicament even
more confusing. Regardless, either the Old needs new ways to
view its theologies--or the New needs to start coming into view. It's
a rough time, perplexing, and we living generations certainly reflect
all this activity in a micro-scale kind of way.

Now I've spent a goodly part of my life gleaning insight from history,
philosophy, and religion--as well as science. And over this period
I've slowly been putting all that I have come to know into a kind of
new package (or world-view). Beyond that I have been whittling it
down into shorthand. Quickly, my personal world-view can be
called the "Light."

I really can't say that God does this, or God says that, or God means
thus and so. Sorry, I just can't presume such a thing. Rather mine
seems more an observation, an interpretation, and an evaluation.
Yet not any of this approach is set in concrete. It's always open-
ended.

Looking out onto the Universe, reading about the beginnings of such,
knowing about the detected background radiation of the Big Bang,
there's just a great burst of Light. Out of this Light comes forth all the
building-blocks for the gradual unfolding of the Universe, as we have
come to know it today, and surely as we will never see it in far
different ways in the Future.

The Light stands as a spiritual symbol for me. We have come to
know that Light is both Particles and Waves. In turn I can transcribe
these constituents into Matter and Energy. And bingo! That's what
composes this Universe, and what constitutes us!

What else might Light be--as we understand it? It's Illumination, and
it's Energetic Vitality. Out of these conceptualizations we can glean
forth the Forces that move us through evolution, move us from the
primitive unto various levels of Civilization. These Forces of the Light
would seem to be Consciousness, Comprehension, and the urge to
move forward towards greater Achievement and Character.

So--when I look back at all our God-Talk, look back on our inherited
world-view(s), I now can spot the Light slowly and surely creeping
into our horizon, into our vision. We have "incarnations" of the
Light (the Logos), we have our great moments of Nobility wherein,
who in, the Light illuminates most brightly.

And, finally, my view of the Light takes us into far-reaching territories,
not just in the realm of God-Talk. The Light is the underlying Core
that under-girds all the activities of the Universe, including our own.
Thus, I view the Light standing behind our pursuit for ever greater
knowledge, via all the disciplines, via our integral approaches. I also
view the Light in our myriad of efforts to become better human
beings, to become more truly aware and fully spirited beings, to
become the "Consciousness Points" of the Universe through which
the Light shines and shines and shines ever more clearly.

(2) Light & Word

2009-09-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

What I will be trying to say here is "darned difficult," if you will. It's
not something heavy or harsh, just something complex that has
been whittling its way in my mind forever so long. It's about both
knowing and not knowing.

Without going into a lot of detail, I've studied the history of Religion--
coming to understand the continuum of religious thought (at least
here in the West), ranging from the archaic to the modern. Within
this continuum the connections are fairly obvious.

But there's also a *disconnect.* At least I have experienced such.
Having studied contemporary science theory, having written about
these theories, working to blend them with a sense of spirituality,
I have had a lot of difficulty relating such to our archaic forms of
Religion.

These new theoretics, these ever continuing scientific revelations
about how our universe has evolved, how physical forms have
evolved, how intelligence has evolved, all seem so far removed
from the God/gods of our religious continuum. It has been
darned difficult making sense of where we have come from and
what we now have.

Consequently, I have moved into more vague and usually un-
explored territories that I can only label as "universal." But this
sense of universality doesn't seem to fit our standing religious
prescriptions. When I get into these archaic prescriptions, I feel
as if I'm driving a Model-T while sitting in my garage is a
Thunderbird.

I've pretty much stepped out of the Model-T, but I haven't yet
found a comfortable way to slip into the Thunderbird.

Over the years I have only found one religio-spiritual concept
that makes sense to me: the idea of the Cosmic Plenum. This
Godhead, sometimes called by both Pagan Philosophy and
Christianity the "Logos" or "LogosSophia" is (for me) a Universal.
Yet--today--in the world, in the Modern Mentality in which I live,
I have difficulty connecting our archaic spiritual legacies with a
Quantum World that is, in fact, an Evolutionary System.

I know that a goodly number of the Early Christian Fathers were
classically trained, indeed some were pagan converts bringing
their philosophical manuals right on into the Church. Many
Christians today aren't even aware of these spiritual connections
between Pagan Philosophy and Christian Thought. Yet,
historically, they are easily traceable.

Knowing this, I initially felt let-down. But "down" is not necessarily
"out." I've just begun reading Francis Collin's THE LANGUAGE
OF GOD. He's the Director of the National Human Genome Project.
He is finding God's code, in you will, written into our genetic script--
albeit presented somewhat from an evangelical or fundamentalist
perspective. Via my own studies, I also ponder the Double Helix
and the incredible information which it carries. I also have been
fascinated by the field of Memetics--a new discipline that is
probing mental genes now currently labeled "memes."

These are societal mental codes, not just ordinary ideas that come
and go--but, rather, these are great flows of information that are
like great currents that continuously wash over our minds, over
our Collective Mind. And I am playing around with what I call the
"MEME of all memes." Of course this is the GOD-MEME.

Again, working out of the traditions of the West, those parts that
can be universally applied, I lean towards two trends of memes
that might be God-inspired, that can evolve right along with us:
Light and Word.

The meme of Light has been with us humans nearly all through
our existence. It's ultimately about illumination, about ever
greater consciousness and comprehension. The meme of Light
has sparked not only our spiritual endeavors but also our pursuit
of scientific understanding.

As for the meme of Word, well it's through this that the meme of
Light is conveyed . Right up to our own day we have seen the
Word expressed by our great avatars, our spiritual warriors, our
probing philosophers, and our scientific questers.

So--though I have pretty much narrowed down into universals
the memes of Light and Word, I still have found it darned difficult
working with them outside of a traditional context. But more
perplexing for me is that I have found the traditional contexts
"wanting." They have stayed too much in place, not bending or
growing as continuously developing evolutionary systems.

Thus, I am into that unwanted place of "not knowing." It would
seem that we are on the edge of a Big Leap, but we haven't
yet been driven to that last foothold. But we will be. Else we
will fall backwards--and I pray to God that will never happen.
Though it has happened before.

As for the thought of the monk Thomas Merton, as for a lot of
current contemplative thought, I sincerely believe that this is an
area where we might probe--not just looking back, but looking
ahead. Contemplation is perhaps the "nesting place" for both
the Light and the Word. A place for birthing, for evolutionary
jumps in consciousness, and perhaps for a more universal
comprehension of the Lord of the Universe and Creation.

So--what with change in our midst, perhaps this might be
the time where new spiritual frontiers might be seen in the
distance, where we might explore and wonder, where we can
hopefully take our Spiritual Past into the Spiritual Future.

(1) Being in BEING

2009-09-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

Academically--back in 1987--I began studying professionally
the then fairly new field of "Science and Spirituality." And my
efforts finally culminated in my website, the "Stoa del Sol." At
the time I felt myself, along with a few other stalwarts, petty much
a pioneer in this work. But now I have become *antiquated.*
The field of Science and Spirituality has exploded on the scene,
big time, with world-class contributors that include major
philosophers, theologians, and scientists. Bookstores are
rampant with books on this subject.

As it turned out, my small effort was just a tiny squeak down in
the trenches. Still, every little effort counts. So--what are we
trying to do?

It's always tough saying it, but the "God" of tribalism and magic
just isn't cutting it anymore. Simultaneously, most of us are at a
loss as to why this is happening and what can we do. It's true, I
believe, that "God is a mind-projection," as has been said; on
the other hand, "God" is with us regardless our pithy efforts of
comprehension. The God Image is collectively in our minds.
It plays us, no matter how dense we are in term of our imagery
and projections. This situation *is* about evolution--our mental
evolution.

But spiritually we seem to be moving slightly ahead of our old
mental concepts of God. Still trying to hang-on to our mythopoetic
concepts, our self-generating God myths, we are at last left
remiss and confused.

On some levels, we poor humans are resorting to barbarism--
playing out our "God" via wars, killings, hating, finger-pointing,
rigidity. BACKWARDS personified. Others desperately try to
retain the STATUS QUO, insisting on so-called "fundamentals"
that, in turn, point straight back to our old tribal cultures. Trying
to relate tribal mindsets with a modern technological secular
society seems nearly bordering on craziness. Oh well, we
humans are a murky folk at best.

Than there's the issue of our religious institutions. They have
gone afoul, and some even smell of dastardly deeds. Again,
however, we humans mostly are afraid to set foot outside of
our "container systems"--as Jung puts it--thus we shiver and
shake over our ominous institutional breakdowns. I guess not
many of us are ready to "stand on our own two feet," as Thomas
Merton once put.

It has been said that if our religious institutions fell by the wayside,
there would be nothing to fall back upon. Not true. Unless you
can't read--and that is a problem for a goodly number of us--there's
that Great Treasure of Wisdom come down through the ages, in
books. Perhaps we need to come straight on with our magnificent
conveyors of Wisdom--rather than via lesser voices that are prone
to power and authority.

Trying to "fix" something that is failing, near collapse, may be an
effort in futility. Hard to say for sure, but I would think our efforts,
our energy, can be put to better use. We humans--spiritually--
really, really need to move forward. But the old contexts, the old
vehicles, just are not carrying us in the right direction.

So back to Science and Spirituality, will it be the next step towards
refining ourselves? I don't know, but it's certainly a prospect. Now
not everyone is going to be terribly informed in Science, but more
of us are now becoming more aware of the Infinite Universe of which
we are a part. The Universe is a challenge to our minds, to our
imagination, and surely to our spiritual inclinations.

As to whether the Universe is all that there is, that the Universe is
God, well that's a moot point. These days scientists talk of multi-
universes. I, for one, focus more on God's Creation that reflects and
resides with the Architect. A more panentheistic view, I suppose.

But imagine this fantastic Universe, what with its myriad aspects that
just can shake us into astonishment. Whatever must the Architect of
such a Creation be like? When evolutionary babes, we looked out
onto the world in fear and trembling, later in wonder at the "canopy"
of stars, turning the constellations into gods, or worshiping the
thunder and lightening. Our minds have struggled to grow, to
grasp towards an ever greater understanding, moving into more
sophisticated god-concepts such as the Logos and Sophia, such
as Love and Compassion and Reason. And we also indulge in the
habit of "incarnating" our concepts--hence our god-projections.

Moving on, now at the cusp of another spiritual level, looking out at
the Universe via Hubble, assisted by world-class philosophers,
theologians, and scientists, will we make the next jump in our God
Imago? It would seem logical, maybe even hopeful--yet we poor
humans still have the propensity to fall backwards into "Dark Ages."
Historically, that has happened before.

Nonetheless, after all this has been said, after all my long study in
Science and Spirituality, and now working as a Naturalist, I have
barely any new god-images in mind. Indeed, maybe the answer is
NO god-image will be forthcoming. Perhaps we will eventually just
reach the level of simply "being in BEING." Then, we just might have
arrived *Home.*

Introduction

2009-09-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

A number of years ago I started writing a miscellany of posts
that I buried away. Only recently I re-discovered them, so I
decided to put these past writings into a blog. And following
these, I'll continue to add new items.

However--over my lifetime--I must make mention that
there has been lots of change in my approach, going through
different phases when it comes to what I might believe and
where I put my hope. Hence, overall, these personal posts
reflect those different perspectives as I march through my
ever shifting "Seeker's Sojourn."

--Beatrix