(16) SOL

• 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

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

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

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

"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

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

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.