Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Thirty-one: "Perennial Tradition"
"Perennial Wisdom"Monday, July 30, 2018
No one lives outside the walls of this sacred place, existence.
The holy water, I need it upon my eyes: it is you, dear, you—each form.
What mother would lose her infant—and we are that to God,
never lost from [Her] gaze are we? Every cry of the heart
is attended by light’s own arms.
You cannot wander anywhere that will not aid you.
Anything you can touch—God brought it into
the classroom of your mind.
Differences exist, but not in the city of love.
Thus my vows and yours, I know they are the same. . . .
The holy water my soul’s brow needs is unity.
Love opened my eye and I was cleansed
by the purity of each
form. (Daniel Ladinsky, inspired by St. Francis of Assisi [1])
You can call it the collective unconscious; you can call it globalization; you can call it the One Spirit of God—the question is, why are so many people from different cultures, countries, ethnicities, educations, and religions saying very similar things today? This really is quite amazing and to my knowledge has no precedent in human history.We are rediscovering the philosophia perennis, the perennial philosophy—an early nineteenth-century phrase that pointed to an idea of a shared universal truth. Some of us called it the “wisdom tradition” which keeps showing itself in all of the world religions throughout history. This wisdom cannot be dismissed as mere syncretism—a word sometimes used to dismiss something unfamiliar or different as merely lightweight thinking, skepticism, or just wrong.
Too many of God’s holy people from other “flocks” keep saying the same or very similar things for them to be false. Hearing the same thing in different language and images helps us see the same reality more clearly. It is like the blind men walking around the proverbial elephant and touching different parts of the one huge body of Christ.
As Rabbi Rami Shapiro explains it, “Perennial wisdom isn’t unique to any specific system of thought or belief, but rather a set of teachings common to all of them. Each articulation of perennial wisdom takes on the flavor of the system in which it rests. Mistaking the flavor for the substance leads us to imagine differences where none exist.” [2]
One way to summarize the essence of perennial wisdom (to paraphrase Aldous Huxley) is:
- There is a Divine Reality underneath and inherent in the world of things;
- There is in the human soul a natural capacity, similarity, and longing for this Divine Reality;
- The final goal of existence is union with this Divine Reality. [3]
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[1] Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Penguin Compass: 2002), 35. Used with permission.[2] Rami Shapiro, Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings—Annotated & Explained (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2013), xvi.
[3] See Aldous Huxley, The Perennial Philosophy (Harper & Brothers: 1945), vii.
Adapted from Richard Rohr’s Foreword in Rami Shapiro, Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings—Annotated & Explained (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2013), ix-x, xvi; and
“Introduction,” “The Perennial Tradition,” Oneing, vol. 1, no. 1 (CAC: 2013), 11-12. (This issue of Oneing, a limited edition publication, is no longer available in print; however, the eBook is available from Amazon and iTunes. Explore additional issues of Oneing at store.cac.org.)
Image credit: Broken Obelisk (detail), by Barnett Newman. A permanent installation in the reflecting pool on the grounds of the Rothko Chapel, Houston, Texas, United States.
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News from the CAC
Last chance to register!
Breathing Under Water:
A Spiritual Study of the Twelve Steps
August 22-October 17, 2018
You cannot heal what you do not first acknowledge. (Richard Rohr)
This self-paced, online course explores Richard Rohr’s classic book, Breathing Under Water. Apply wisdom from Alcoholics Anonymous and the Christian contemplative tradition to your own life and addictions.
Registration closes August 8! Register now (no application needed) at cac.org.
Registration is now open to the public!
The Universal Christ: Another Name for Every Thing
a conference with Richard Rohr, Jacqui Lewis, and John Dominic Crossan
March 28-31, 2019
Albuquerque Convention Center, New Mexico
Online Webcast
What if Christ is a name for the transcendent within of every “thing” in the universe?
What if Christ is another name for every thing—in its fullness? (Richard Rohr)
Join us as we explore the central themes of Father Richard’s new book (available Spring 2019) and discover the roots of the universal Christ in the rich history of the Christian tradition. Experience a new approach to the Easter liturgy as we consider Holy Week through this larger, cosmic view of Christ.
Learn more and register soon! If you’re not able to join us in person, we hope you’ll register for the online experience to watch the live webcast or enjoy the recordings.
"Image and Likeness"
2018 Daily Meditations Theme
God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
Richard Rohr explores places in which God’s presence has often been ignored or assumed absent. God’s “image” is our inherent identity in and union with God, an eternal essence that cannot be destroyed. “Likeness” is our personal embodiment of that inner divine image that we have the freedom to develop—or not—throughout our lives. Though we differ in likeness, the imago Dei persists and shines through all created things.
Over the course of this year’s Daily Meditations, discover opportunities to incarnate love in your unique context by unveiling the Image and Likeness of God in all that you see and do.
Each week builds on previous topics, but you can join at any time! Click the video to learn more about the theme and to find meditations you may have missed.
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Inspiration for this week's banner image: Awakening the essential Self is one reason that the Center for Action and Contemplation is dedicated to reinvigorating the teaching of Christian contemplation. The consistent practice of contemplation helps to uncover our essential Self, our connected Self, our True Self. (Richard Rohr)
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 291,469 readers worldwide (as of July 2018).
News from the CAC
Last chance to register!
Breathing Under Water:
A Spiritual Study of the Twelve Steps
August 22-October 17, 2018
You cannot heal what you do not first acknowledge. (Richard Rohr)
This self-paced, online course explores Richard Rohr’s classic book, Breathing Under Water. Apply wisdom from Alcoholics Anonymous and the Christian contemplative tradition to your own life and addictions.
Registration closes August 8! Register now (no application needed) at cac.org.
Registration is now open to the public!
The Universal Christ: Another Name for Every Thing
a conference with Richard Rohr, Jacqui Lewis, and John Dominic Crossan
March 28-31, 2019
Albuquerque Convention Center, New Mexico
Online Webcast
What if Christ is a name for the transcendent within of every “thing” in the universe?
What if Christ is another name for every thing—in its fullness? (Richard Rohr)
Join us as we explore the central themes of Father Richard’s new book (available Spring 2019) and discover the roots of the universal Christ in the rich history of the Christian tradition. Experience a new approach to the Easter liturgy as we consider Holy Week through this larger, cosmic view of Christ.
Learn more and register soon! If you’re not able to join us in person, we hope you’ll register for the online experience to watch the live webcast or enjoy the recordings.
"Image and Likeness"
2018 Daily Meditations Theme
God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
Richard Rohr explores places in which God’s presence has often been ignored or assumed absent. God’s “image” is our inherent identity in and union with God, an eternal essence that cannot be destroyed. “Likeness” is our personal embodiment of that inner divine image that we have the freedom to develop—or not—throughout our lives. Though we differ in likeness, the imago Dei persists and shines through all created things.
Over the course of this year’s Daily Meditations, discover opportunities to incarnate love in your unique context by unveiling the Image and Likeness of God in all that you see and do.
Each week builds on previous topics, but you can join at any time! Click the video to learn more about the theme and to find meditations you may have missed.
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditations are made possible through the generosity of CAC's donors. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation.
If you would like to change how often you receive emails from CAC, click here. If you would like to change your email address, click here. Visit our Email Subscription FAQ page for more information. Submit an inquiry here for additional assistance.
Inspiration for this week's banner image: Awakening the essential Self is one reason that the Center for Action and Contemplation is dedicated to reinvigorating the teaching of Christian contemplation. The consistent practice of contemplation helps to uncover our essential Self, our connected Self, our True Self. (Richard Rohr)
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Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
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