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#2350-
Three articles in this issue. Eric
Chaffee, writing in the context of nondual Christianity,
asks, "Can we reconstruct our desires with the building
blocks of original innocence?"
Ramon Sender brings us some
astrological Buddhism with a shot of Christianity.
The third article is from the blog of Rob
Rabbin and is about spiritual activism:
"No thought, no deliberation, no planning, no fundraising:
just this, a simple response from the heart, choiceless,
immediate, loving, peaceful, embodied, public. Beautiful. Not
against anything. Not for anything. Just sitting in authentic
being, radiating authentic being. Insight and action, flower and
fragrance, sitting and silence, peace and more peace."
Happy Holidays.
HOW MANY VIRGIN BIRTHS?
by Eric Chaffee
The Lord himself shall give you
a sign; Behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel
[God with us]. -Isaiah 7: 14
I will now argue that the virgin birth is
not a rare and unique event. Yes, it appears to be
one-of-a-kind. But it may well be an occurrence that every
true son and daughter of God eventually must experience as
happening to themselves. I hope to show there is scriptural basis
for this adventurous position.
Are we disqualified? We may think we've
squandered our virginity through worldly experience. But
until we volunteer to become God's instrumentality by submitting
to His penetration into our child-heart, with disregard of what
our neighbors will think of us, we remain in cowardice or
rebellion, living, struggling, by our own wits, ways, and means.
Yes, it takes humility to submit. Mary was
invited to be the mother of the promised Messiah by an angel. She
assented, discounting the cost. She dismissed the fear of what
her fiance would say, or of the judgment the neighbors would
render regarding her big belly, being yet unmarried. Her tryst
with the divine would revolutionize the world. She did not shrink
from the offer.
Again, I'm beginning to think a
virgin-birthing experience is in store for all of us. Here's the
basis of my thought:
How many virgins are in the Bible? Besides
Mary, I can quickly count ten more. The parable of the virgins
with the lamps quickly comes to mind (see Matt 25:1-13). Five
were distracted and unprepared, having forgotten to bring oil for
their lamps; and five were enlightened -- or at least, bearers of
light, with sufficient oil to keep their lamps lit. Why did Jesus
choose 'virgins' for this parable? Surely there must be a point
in that choice; and perhaps the point is, that there must needs
be additional virgin births to come. I ask that you allow me some
elasticity of definition, as these additional virgins may not be
destined to experience physiological birthing, a messy process. I
will soon offer a new conception of the term, by analogy.
Agamogenesis means 'a fatherless beginning.'
Intellectuals may dismiss the so-called virgin birth of Jesus as
a fairy tale. But many of them will readily subscribe to the
demonstrated practicality of cloning, which is surely
agamogenesis, as seen in the birth of Dolly, the sheep, and
similar replicated examples. (Such techniques will likely be
performed on humans some day.) How odd, that the technology which
is sniffed at when pertaining to God, is acceptable with those
same folks, when credited to humans. Dolly illustrates the
feasibility of virgins giving birth.
If we are destined to participate in a
virgin birth, could it be that we must each discover our pristine
nature, our original innocence? (Original sin has been all the
rage since Augustine, although some would say, since Adam; but
that doctrine had minimal currency until the 5th century.) And
once we are ready to grasp this innocent nature, allowing the
concept to displace the charge of a fallen nature, can we abide
by it, be comfortable in it, let it bear fruit? Could
metaphorical birthing by additional 'virtual and virtuous
virgins' be just as holy and significant and necessary as Mary's
virgin birth?
Here's the somewhat redacted benediction
that I pronounced at the end of worship service the Sunday before
Christmas, with emphasis added (and it was audible):
"...The Holy Ghost shall come upon THEE, and the power of
the Highest shall overshadow THEE: therefore ALSO that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
(shortened from Luke 1:35).
Although Luke was reporting this verse as
pertaining to Mary, I think the words above have universal
application. Can YOU hear the invitation and the promise? Will
you respond? The new birth is not the offspring of a quickie, not
a one-time event. We are being beckoned into relationship with
the divine, chosen to bring forth progeny, trusted to be faithful
to our Mate. This suggests ongoing intimacy. After all, God
is not a Father who abandons his children, or his mate. "You
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you." (-John15:16).
Too much of Christendom is stunted by
preoccupation with the jump-street question: "Are you
saved?" The typical formula is: admit your sins,
accept Jesus as your personal savior, and you'll get into heaven
-- and there'll be pie in the sky bye-and-bye, and you'll get
raptured out of the chaos and suffering of the apocalypse, if it
arrives during your time on Earth. For me, this is too much
like buying an insurance policy. (A friend quips 'it's better to
have it, and not need it, than to need it, and not have it.' The
father of probabilities, Pascal, calls this a wise bet; but God
is not courting us because of our astute risk-assessment skills.
S/He's deeply interested and attracted to each of us.
'Who, me?' you ask. 'Why would God be
interested in starting a family with me? I have nothing worthy of
preservation!' Ah, but maybe God knows otherwise. He has
sired us, and wants to deliver us to His good and ultimate
purpose. God doesn't 'spawn' children, S/he bears them, and
nurtures them, patiently, until we are ready to set aside our own
distractions and desires and imaginations, and accept the divine
plan.
But would it be okay even to want to be a
virgin mother? Isn't that a form of over-reaching pride, or a
ridiculously impossible goal? Although not directed at the
preceding question, I love the image CS Lewis presents in his
essay, Weight of Glory: "...Our Lord finds our desires
not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures,
fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy
is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making
mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the
offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily
pleased."
Can we reconstruct our desires with the
building blocks of original innocence? Where do we begin? For
starters, I will offer a simple observation about the nature of
water, surely an image of purity. A chemist would tell us that
water isn't water if it contains anything other than hydrogen and
oxygen in the right proportion. If water is muddy, it isn't water
at all, but something else, generally said to contain
"salts." But the water can be recovered through
distillation. Through change-of-state, it is purified of its
contaminants. The muddy salts are left behind, and the pure,
clear liquid flows forth. This reagent, pure water, is known to
be a universal solvent, able to wash away accumulated
grime. Will we allow ourselves to be thus instructed and
cleansed by something so basic and simple, through a change of
heart or thought. Hidden within this illustration is a baptism
which can wash us daily, rather than merely ceremonially.
Today I can be a chaste virgin if I will but re-conceive of
myself as a child made in God's image and likeness. The 'me' of
yesterday need not persist unless I allow it. I can be fresh and
clean and new today, as if awakened from a dream-state.
Someone has said most of life is simply
'showing up.' Are we ready to accept our invitation, our
assignment? Is there oil (energy, eagerness) in this virgin's
lamp? Have we re-conceived of ourselves as virgins with the
commission of sharing our light (but not our oil) with our
neighbors? The invitation is marked 'RSVP, please.' (The
One who invites us is worthy of our response.)
"...the bridegroom came; and they that
were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was
shut."
Be there! Or continue making mud pies; as
you wish.
May you rediscover your eligibility to be
counted among the prospective and alert virgins, chosen of God,
to shine light in dark places.
"I am the light of the world" said
Jesus. "You are the light of the world" said Jesus.
"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."
~eric
Ramon Sender
Wishing all of you spontaneously pure,
self-refreshing, temporary illusory
pristine awareness embodiments a festive absorption into the
light as we
move closest to our parent star on Perihelion, January 4, 17 hrs
An explanation of these terms, derived from a quote by Roo from
Kennard
Lipman's Commentary to Longchenpa's "A Precious Ship"
in
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DzogchenPractice/
Spontaneously: Because your naturally perfect state of buddhahood
is
occurring to you right now, effortlessly, despite whatever
flotsam and
jetsam may be impeding your view.
Pure: We all surf, consciously or not, on the wave of the NOW,
while
thoughts of the past and future continually dissolve into the
primordial
purity of total presence (the supreme ordering principle that
fashions
everything in this universe).
Self-refreshing: This very core of reality, pure and total
presence, is
self- refreshing and primordially pure.
Temporary: Obviously our embodiment is temporary, at least in
this body.
Embodiment: What we all currently are experiencing planetside as
'witness
selves in the flesh.'
Pristine: This awareness is untouched by cause and effect, good
deed or bad.
It shines with the pure light of consciousness-love.
Awareness: In the center of the embodiment is the witness
self, watching
the passing show.
Illusory: Even this pristine witness self, although capable of
evolving
through many levels of heavens and paradises, is ultimately
illusory. Total
absorption in Nirvana (Source, the Unmanifest) remains the
ultimate goal.
Perihelion: The earth's orbit is slightly eccentric, so every
year a moment
arrives when we are thousands of miles closer to the Sun. The
date of
Perihelion varies between Jan 2-5 depending on the year (Jan 4,
15 hours
6), celebrating the Three Kings arrival in
to be determined).
Rob Rabbin
http://radicalsages.com/sageblog_id.php?id=328
Defining "Spiritual
Action"
When it comes to explaining concepts, I
favor metaphors over definitions, and I favor examples over
metaphors. Examples are the best way to explain concepts: don’t
tell me; show me. What does enlightenment mean? Don’t tell
me the answer: show me.
I begin with this caveat because I am
often asked to define spiritual activism or, as I prefer to call
it, spiritual action — about which I speak. I
usually say that spiritual action is the embodiment of the
highest expression of our common humanity — love, wisdom,
and peace. I say that when we enter the Silence beyond the mind,
we discover our authentic nature, and this nature expresses
itself in certain predictable ways: as love, wisdom, and peace. I
say that spiritual action is not a choice, it is choiceless. The
experience of our authentic being and its embodiment as wisdom,
love, and peace are a singular, inseparable movement, dance,
entity. Insight and action, flower and fragrance, wetness and
water.
I have said that spiritual action, when
presented with violence, presences peace; when presented with
hatred; presences love; when presented with fear, presences
unity.
Of course, I go on and on with metaphors
and definitions because I love to talk, however futile such talk
may be. So today, I want to offer a beautiful example of
spiritual action, courtesy of one of my many new Australian
friends: Isira Sananda.
A brief context: in the past few days, a
number of violent incidents, dubbed “race riots,” have
occurred on
Isira acted. The media release distributed
by her organization, Living Awareness (www.isira.com), announced:
Living Awareness, centre for healing and personal growth,
today said it will hold a peace gathering at
And so it happened. On Sunday, December
18th, at
On this brightly prophetic day in Hyde
Park, with traffic filling Elizabeth Street, and throngs of
people flowing through the park toward the cafes and shops, in
this city of five million people, in this country of 20 million,
on this Earth with six billion — some 25 people gathered to
express the peace of their authentic being, to demonstrate their
peacefulness, to welcome others without distinction, to meet
others heart to heart, and thus meet them unified in peace, and
unified in love; on this morning turning to early afternoon,
under the sun and blue sky, some 25 people chose to gather in
peace, to announce peace, to show peace; to sit quietly and open
their hearts, to open themselves, to expand themselves and
embrace all, to welcome themselves, and each other, and others
not present, and the world, the Earth herself, welcoming,
welcoming in love and peace, choiceless, immediate, without
thought, but from the necessity to embody the highest expression
of our common humanity, to testify to the truth and accuracy of
my definition of the nature of authentic being: unity-in-love
with all creation.
I know the world is richer and more
vibrant, more alive with spirit, more open for peaceful
possibilities, for our gathering, for our expression, for our
choice. May we all find ways to gather for peace, to express
peace, to choose peace, for this is truly the highest expression
of our common humanity. May we find ourselves in each other, and
delight in each other, and celebrate life with each other, in
love, and joy, and peace — each day, every day, from now
until forever.
I’d like to conclude by quoting
another of my new friends, a marvelous young sage who lives with
his parents and younger brother, Seth, in
“If the world can be beloved by us,
we can bring peace and hope to all the world.”