As we grow spiritually, we discover that we are not as separate as we thought we were. We realize that everything belongs and everything can be received. (Richard Rohr)
If Father Richard’s Daily Meditations support your journey of growing spiritually, we invite you to go deeper in community with one of CAC’s online courses: Breathing Under Water, The Franciscan Way, Immortal Diamond, and Interior Castle (new!). Learn more at cac.org/online-ed. Scholarships are available!
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Thirty-two: "Primal and Indigenous Spirituality"
"Shamanism"Monday, August 6, 2018
Hiroshima Day
Some of the earliest evidences of human expression—dating over 40,000 years ago—can be found in the caves of Indonesia, France, and Spain. While the original meanings of these paintings are unknown to us, many anthropologists suggest “shamanism” or what we might call mystical consciousness and connection to the spirit-filled world.
There are no doubt significant differences in belief and practice between ancient traditions (as there are today between Christian denominations, other religions, and Native spiritualities). However, religious historian Karen Armstrong gives us a glimpse into what this spirituality may have looked like:
We know that shamanism developed in Africa and Europe during the Palaeolithic period and that it spread to Siberia and thence to America and Australia, where the shaman is still the chief religious practitioner among the indigenous hunting peoples. . . . [We learn from today’s shamans that] shamans have bird and animal guardians and can converse with the beasts that are revered as messengers of higher powers. The shaman’s vision gives meaning to the hunting and killing of animals on which these societies depend.
The hunters feel profoundly uneasy about slaughtering the beasts, who are their friends and patrons, and to assuage this anxiety, they surround the hunt with taboos and prohibitions. They say that long ago the animals made a covenant with humankind and now a god known as the Animal Master regularly sends flocks from the lower world to be killed on the hunting plains, because the hunters promised to perform the rites that will give them posthumous life. Hunters often . . . feel a deep empathy with their prey. . . .
The [Kalahari] Bushmen [or San] say that their own rock paintings depict “the world behind this one that we see with our eyes,” which the shamans visit during their mystical flights. They smear the walls of the caves with the blood, excrement, and fat of their kill in order to restore it, symbolically, to the earth; animal blood and fat were ingredients of the Palaeolithic paints, and the act of painting itself could have been a ritual of restoration. The images [on the cave walls] may depict the eternal, archetypal animals that take temporary physical form in [our] upper world. All ancient religion was based on what has been called the perennial philosophy, because it was present in some form in so many premodern cultures. It sees every single person, object, or experience as a replica of reality in a sacred world that is more effective and enduring than our own. [1]
Even in such an early, primal religion we can see the idea of this world as “image and likeness” of Ultimate Reality, and how the perennial idea of our connectedness with everything calls us to be respectful and compassionate toward all.Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
***
[1] Karen Armstrong, The Case for God (Alfred A. Knopf: 2009), 5-7.Image Credit: National Powwow Grass Dancers (detail), 2007, Smithsonian Institute creator, photographer Cynthia Frankenburg, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "Finding the One in the Many" for Sunday, 5 August 2018 from The Center for Action and and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Thirty-two: "Primal and Indigenous Spirituality"
"Finding the One in the Many"Sunday, August 5, 2018
Over the next several weeks, I will explore the divine image and likeness in many spiritual streams throughout history and around the world. I can’t even attempt to give an exhaustive study—there are so many wonderful examples from the Perennial Tradition. I’ll simply focus on the religious expressions which have most influenced and broadened my own life.
The Jewish mystical teacher Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes:
To me, religions are like languages: no language is true or false; all languages are of human origin; each language reflects and shapes the civilization that speaks it; there are things you can say in one language that you cannot say as well in another; and the more languages you speak, the more nuanced your understanding of life becomes. Judaism is my mother tongue, yet in matters of the spirit I strive to be multilingual. [1]
Shapiro describes Perennial Wisdom as “the fourfold teaching at the mystic heart of the world’s religions”:
all life is a manifesting of a single Reality called by many names: God, Tao, Mother, Allah, Nature, YHVH, Dharmakaya, Brahman, and Great Spirit among others;
human beings have an innate capacity to know the One in, with, and as all life;
knowing the One carries a universal ethic of compassion and justice toward all beings; and
knowing the One and living this ethic is the highest human calling. [2]
I want to emphasize contemplative insights and practices that help us heal our sense of separation and isolation, experience connection and community, and awaken a sense of responsibility for all beings. I hope to show how each of the great spiritual traditions can help us rediscover our True Self—indwelled by God—and live into our fullness as co-creators of our world.In the words of my friend and one of our CONSPIRE 2018 teachers, Mirabai Starr:
Taoism offers context for the entire spiritual enterprise in the opening lines of the Tao Te Ching:The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. Buddhism affirms that there is only one of us, and therefore we are each responsible for every link in the web of being. Christianity offers us the unconditional mercy of an incarnational God who permeates the whole of creation with love. Judaism urges us to demonstrate our love for God in the way we treat each other and care for creation. Hinduism kindles the fire of devotion for reunification with the Beloved who is no other than our own true Self. Islam shares the peace that comes with complete submission to the One. [3]
All wisdom traditions stream toward the same ocean of union.Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
***
[1] Rami Shapiro, http://rabbirami.com.[2] Rami Shapiro, http://rabbirami.com/perennialist/.
[3] Mirabai Starr in The World Wisdom Bible: A New Testament for a Global Spirituality, Rami Shapiro, ed. (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2017), vii-viii.
Image Credit: National Powwow Grass Dancers (detail), 2007, Smithsonian Institute creator, photographer Cynthia Frankenburg, National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 294,604 readers worldwide (as of August 2018).
News from the CAC
News from the Living School
The annual Living School symposium kicks off August 6 with over 500 students in attendance. 190 are just starting the two-year program, and 177 are graduating, or being sent, as we say. We send them into the world to continue integrating action and contemplation.
Tuesday morning, August 7, at 8:30-9:00 a.m. US MT, we invite you to sit with the Living School community in contemplative practice. Join your prayers with ours as we seek to awaken a more loving world through transformed consciousness and compassionate service. Find us on Facebook live!
The Living School is currently accepting applications for the 2019-2021 cohort. (Applications are available for purchase through September 15. Completed applications are due September 30, 2018.) Begin your own discernment process or share the invitation with someone who may be ready to take this further journey. Learn more and apply at cac.org/living-school.
"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: Looking for beauty all around us is a contemplative practice, an exercise in opening our hearts, minds, and bodies to the divine image. In indigenous traditions, such opening practices often take the form of dance, drumming, song, and trance, embodied forms that Western, and particularly Euro-centric, Christianity has neglected. (Richard Rohr)
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "Perennial Tradition: Weekly Summary" for Saturday, 4 August 2018 from The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Summary: Week Thirty-one "Perennial Tradition"
July 29 - August 4, 2018
The underlying messages that different religions and denominations use are often in strong agreement, but they use different metaphors to communicate their own experience of union with God. (Sunday)One way to summarize the substance of perennial wisdom (paraphrasing 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. (Monday)
Everything you see, think, feel, and imagine is part of and never apart from the same Source. We call this Source by such names as God, Reality, Brahman, Allah, One, Krishna, the Absolute, and the Nondual. The list of names is long; the reality to which they all point is the same. (Rami Shapiro) (Wednesday)
Awakening is the expression of that grace in which we see through our apparent separation and notice that we are already one with divine Presence and with all that is. All that is missing is awareness. (David G. Benner) (Thursday)
What do you want? If it’s union with Love, then listen to that longing and it will be a reliable guide to truth and intimacy. (Friday)
Practice: Imagining Oneness
James Finley, a faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation, offers a guided meditation to bring this week’s meditations to the experiential level of the heart:
Imagine you are out walking on the beach and God says, “Go ahead, pick a grain of sand, any grain.” No matter what grain of sand you choose, God is present in it. Since God is not subject to division or diminishment of any kind, God is completely present in that one little grain of sand. Furthermore, since the whole universe flows from God, is sustained by God, and subsists in God, you are holding in your hand a grain of sand in which you, along with the whole universe and everyone and everything in it, is wholly present.
Surprised by such an all-encompassing oneness, you begin to get a little weak in the knees. Then God moves in to finish you off by suddenly expanding this awareness of realized oneness in all directions. “Go ahead,” God says, “pick a place, a situation, a circumstance in which you might find yourself.” If you choose a wooded area, you see yourself in your mind’s eye surrounded by trees. God is there, inviting you to reach out and pick a leaf off one of the low-hanging branches. As you do so, you realize you are holding a leaf in which the totality of reality is wholly present. . . . No matter what you might choose, you realize you are choosing something in which God is wholly present, loving you, and all people and all things, into being.
Then God invites you to reflect on any aspect of yourself. No matter what aspect of yourself you focus on, God is there, wholly present in each breath, each thought and feeling, each turn of your head. You realize, as you sit, that God is present as the ungraspable immediacy of your sitting. . . . As you laugh, God is there as your laughter. As you cry, God is wholly present in each tear that falls from your eyes.
It does not matter what little thing you might choose, within or around you. It might just be the thing that awakens you from your fitful dream of being separate from God, who is the reality of yourself and all that is real. May each of us be so fortunate as to be overtaken by God in the midst of little things. . . . May we, in having our illusory, separate self slain by God, be born into a new and true awareness of who we really are: one with God forever. May we continue on in this true awareness, seeing in each and every little thing we see, the fullness of God’s presence in our lives. May we also be someone in whose presence others are better able to recognize God’s presence in their lives, so that they, too, might know the freedom of the children of God.
***
James Finley, “Epilogue,” “The Perennial Tradition,” Oneing, vol. 1, no. 1 (CAC: 2013), 81-82. (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.
For Further Study:
Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming an Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart (Jossey-Bass: 2003)
Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self (Jossey-Bass: 2013)
Rami Shapiro, Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings (Annotated & Explained (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2013))
World Wisdom Bible: A New Testament for a Global Spirituality, Rami Shapiro, ed. (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2017)
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "What Do You Want?" for Friday, 3 August 2018 from The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Thirty-one: "Perennial Tradition"
"What Do You Want?"Friday, August 3, 2018
A good gauge of spiritual health is to write down
the three things you most want.
If they in any way differ,
you are in trouble. (Daniel Ladinsky, inspired by Rumi )[1]
Big Truth was manifest in reality itself before it was ever written in books. All disciplines and religions are looking at reality from different angles, goals, assumptions, and vocabulary. If we are really convinced that we have the Big Truth, then we should also be able to trust that others will see it from their different angles—or it is not the Big Truth.
As my fellow faculty member Cynthia Bourgeault says, “We begin to discover that our Buddhist and Jewish and Islamic and Hindu friends are not competitors. Religion is not a survival of the fittest. There is a deep understanding that we all swim together or we sink together. Each religious tradition reveals a color of the heart of God that is precious.” [2] As the old saying goes, do you want to be right or do you want to be in relationship?
If it is true, it is common domain, and “there for the mind to see in the things that God has made” (Romans 1:20). Or, as Aquinas was fond of saying, quoting Ambrose (another Doctor of the Church), “If it’s true, it is always from the one Holy Spirit.” [3] The important question is not, “Who said it?” but, “Is it true?”
The deepest truth is that we are one—with each other and Ultimate Reality. Mirabai Starr, one of our CONSPIRE 2018 teachers, explains it so well (as she always does!):
I have glimpsed the same shining thread running throughout the tapestry of our perennial wisdom legacy and appreciated the ways in which we sing the one song of the human heart. It has become clear that while all the world’s religions cannot and must not be reduced to one truth, their core teachings are unifying; they are all calling us to the truth of our essential oneness. This unity in diversity is a cause for celebration. [4]
At their immature levels, religions can be obsessed with the differences that make them better or more right than others. Pope Francis insists that mercy is at the very top of the Christian hierarchy of great truths [5], and everything falls apart whenever mercy is displaced by anything else or anything less.Bourgeault writes:
When the center starts to wobble, it’s a pretty sure bet that what’s lacking is not means but depth: a vision rich and sustaining enough to contain all this restless striving and shape it into a more universal and subtle understanding of human purpose. “Think; take stock; what do you really want?” This is the traditional terrain of Wisdom. [6]
What do you want? If it’s union with Love, then listen to that longing and it will be a reliable guide to truth and intimacy.Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
***
[1] Daniel Ladinsky, Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West (Penguin Compass: 2002), 72. Used with permission.[2] Cynthia Bourgeault, Returning to Essentials: Teaching an Alternative Orthodoxy, disc 1 (CAC: 2015), CD, MP3 download.
[3] Thomas Aquinas, De Veritate, q. 1, a. 8. Also Summa Theologia I-II, q. 109, a. 1, ad 1. The statement “Omne verum, a quocumque dicatur, a Spiritu Sancto est” is recorded in Patres Latini, 17, 245; today, the unknown author is called Ambrosiaster.
[4] Mirabai Starr in World Wisdom Bible: A New Testament for a Global Spirituality, Rami Shapiro, ed. (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2017), viii.
[5] Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), 36-37. http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/apost_exhortations/documents/papa-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-gaudium.html.
[6] Cynthia Bourgeault, The Wisdom Way of Knowing: Reclaiming an Ancient Tradition to Awaken the Heart (Jossey-Bass: 2003), 4.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self(Jossey-Bass: 2013), 135-136.
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.
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "Knowing Our Source and Ground" for Thursday, 2 August 2018 from The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Thirty-one: "Perennial Tradition"
"Knowing Our Source and Ground"Thursday, August 2, 2018
David Benner, a friend and wise teacher, has been a part of several Christian traditions over the years, including fundamentalism, evangelicalism, and now contemplative Anglicanism. He reflects on universal truths across denominations and religions:
All wisdom traditions have something to say about four important matters:
(1) the nature of ultimate reality,
(2) the possibilities for human knowing of this ultimate human reality,
(3) the nature of personhood, and
(4) the goal of human existence. . . .
However named, God is the Ultimate Reality. Language does not serve us well to describe this Ultimate Reality since it is so profoundly supra-human and trans-personal. . . .
However named, God is the Ultimate Reality. Language does not serve us well to describe this Ultimate Reality since it is so profoundly supra-human and trans-personal. . . .
All names for this foundation of existence point to the same reality—a reality that . . . is both transcendent and immanent, not set apart from the world of humans and things but deeply connected to everything that is. . . .
Ultimate Reality is the source, substance and sustenance of all that is. Nothing exists without it. To be removed from this vital connection would be to instantly cease to exist. We exist because we are in relation to Ultimate Reality, or, more precisely, because we exist within it. . . .
The mystics of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition assert that direct, immediate knowing [of Ultimate Reality] is possible. They tell us that such knowing is not based on reason or deduction, but on communion. . . .
Ultimate Reality is the source, substance and sustenance of all that is. Nothing exists without it. To be removed from this vital connection would be to instantly cease to exist. We exist because we are in relation to Ultimate Reality, or, more precisely, because we exist within it. . . .
The mystics of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition assert that direct, immediate knowing [of Ultimate Reality] is possible. They tell us that such knowing is not based on reason or deduction, but on communion. . . .
Knowing is intimate, and this intimacy is transformational. We come to resemble that which we know. . . .
There is a place in the depths of [the human] soul in which Ultimate Reality alone can dwell, and within which we dwell in Ultimate Reality. . . .
The knowing that humans seek, in every cell of our being, is to know the source and ground of our existence. This, the Perennial Wisdom Tradition teaches, is the goal and meaning of being human. Life has a direction. All of life flows from and returns to Divine Presence. . . . Union with Ultimate Reality is sharing in the divinity of Christ. It is participating in the Divine Presence. This is the fulfillment of humanity. . . .
[For Christians,] the moral of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition is, “Don’t settle for anything less than the truth of your Christ-self.” The ego-self, with which we are all much more familiar, is a small cramped place when compared with the spaciousness of our true self-in-Christ. This is the self that is not only at one within itself; it is at one with the world, and with all others who share it as their world. . . .
Awakening is the expression of that grace in which we see through our apparent separation and notice that we are already one with divine Presence and with all that is. All that is missing is awareness.
Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
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.
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "Oneness" for Wednesday, 1 August 2018 from The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
On that day, you will know that you are in me and I am in you. (John 14:20)
“That day” that John refers to has been a long time in coming; even so, it has been the enduring message of every great religion in history. It is the Perennial Tradition. Yet union with God is still considered esoteric, mystical, a largely moral matter, and possible only for a very few, as if God were playing hard to get. Nevertheless, divine and thus universal union is still the core message and promise of all religion.
The Perennial Tradition states that there is a capacity, a similarity, and a desire for divine reality inside all humans. And what we seek is what we are, which is exactly why Jesus says that we will find it (see Matthew 7:7-8). The Perennial Tradition invariably concludes that we initially cannot see what we are looking for because what we are looking for is doing the looking. God is never an object to be found or possessed as we find other objects, but the One who shares our own deepest subjectivity—our True Self, soul, or the divine indwelling.
Place does not exist except in God. There is no time outside God. God is the beauty in all beauty. Those who allow divine friendship enjoy divine friendship, and it is almost that simple. God’s life and love flow through you as soon as you are ready to allow it. That is the core meaning of faith—to dare to trust that God could, will, and does have an eternal compassion toward you.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes:
[2] Ibid., 5.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self(Jossey-Bass: 2013), xii-xiii, 95-96.
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.
***
Thank you for being part of CAC’s contemplative community. You are one of 326,399 readers worldwide (as of August 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.
We hope that reading these messages is a contemplative, spiritual practice for you. Learn about contemplative prayer and other forms of meditation. For frequently asked questions—such as what versions of the Bible Father Richard recommends or how to ensure you receive every meditation—please see our email FAQ.
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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)
***
There is a place in the depths of [the human] soul in which Ultimate Reality alone can dwell, and within which we dwell in Ultimate Reality. . . .
The knowing that humans seek, in every cell of our being, is to know the source and ground of our existence. This, the Perennial Wisdom Tradition teaches, is the goal and meaning of being human. Life has a direction. All of life flows from and returns to Divine Presence. . . . Union with Ultimate Reality is sharing in the divinity of Christ. It is participating in the Divine Presence. This is the fulfillment of humanity. . . .
[For Christians,] the moral of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition is, “Don’t settle for anything less than the truth of your Christ-self.” The ego-self, with which we are all much more familiar, is a small cramped place when compared with the spaciousness of our true self-in-Christ. This is the self that is not only at one within itself; it is at one with the world, and with all others who share it as their world. . . .
Awakening is the expression of that grace in which we see through our apparent separation and notice that we are already one with divine Presence and with all that is. All that is missing is awareness.
Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
***
David G. Benner, “Ancient Wisdom for Contemporary Living,” “The Perennial Tradition,” Oneing, vol. 1, no. 1 (CAC: 2013), 24-28. (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.
***
The Richard Rohr Meditation: "Oneness" for Wednesday, 1 August 2018 from The Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation
From the Center for Action and Contemplation
Week Thirty-one: "Perennial Tradition"
"Oneness"Wednesday, August 1, 2018
On that day, you will know that you are in me and I am in you. (John 14:20)
“That day” that John refers to has been a long time in coming; even so, it has been the enduring message of every great religion in history. It is the Perennial Tradition. Yet union with God is still considered esoteric, mystical, a largely moral matter, and possible only for a very few, as if God were playing hard to get. Nevertheless, divine and thus universal union is still the core message and promise of all religion.
The Perennial Tradition states that there is a capacity, a similarity, and a desire for divine reality inside all humans. And what we seek is what we are, which is exactly why Jesus says that we will find it (see Matthew 7:7-8). The Perennial Tradition invariably concludes that we initially cannot see what we are looking for because what we are looking for is doing the looking. God is never an object to be found or possessed as we find other objects, but the One who shares our own deepest subjectivity—our True Self, soul, or the divine indwelling.
Place does not exist except in God. There is no time outside God. God is the beauty in all beauty. Those who allow divine friendship enjoy divine friendship, and it is almost that simple. God’s life and love flow through you as soon as you are ready to allow it. That is the core meaning of faith—to dare to trust that God could, will, and does have an eternal compassion toward you.
Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes:
My experience with [perennial wisdom] convinces me that all diversity is part of a greater unity; that my sense of a separate self is a functional necessity rather than an absolute reality; that all my suffering is rooted in mistaking my limited and labeled self (male, Jewish, white, American) as my truest Self; and that I can, with practice, shift my awareness from that limited egoic self to the infinite divine Self that is all Reality. [1]
Shapiro uses a brilliant metaphor to help us see this:
Everything is a facet of the one thing. Think in terms of white light shining through a prism to reveal the full spectrum of color perceivable by the human eye: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Each of these colors is part of the original whole and cannot be separated from it—turn off the light source and the colors disappear. Now apply this metaphor to the world around and within you. Everything you see, think, feel, and imagine is part of and never apart from the same Source. We call this Source by such names as God, Reality, Brahman, Allah, One, Krishna, the Absolute, and the Nondual. The list of names is long; the reality to which they all point is the same. [2]
Gateway to Presence: If you want to go deeper with today’s meditation, take note of what word or phrase stands out to you. Come back to that word or phrase throughout the day, being present to its impact and invitation.
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[1] Rami Shapiro, Perennial Wisdom for the Spiritually Independent: Sacred Teachings—Annotated & Explained (Skylight Paths Publishing: 2013), xvi.[2] Ibid., 5.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self(Jossey-Bass: 2013), xii-xiii, 95-96.
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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What if Christ is another name for every thing—in its fullness? (Richard Rohr)
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"Image and Likeness"
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God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)
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