Simone Weil

Every time that we say "Thy will be done," we should have in mind all possible missfortunes added together. This is what Simone said and our author states "all blessings" as well. We always focus on the Blessing part and in the past few years I have come to realize that the blessings are a mixed bag. My Mother always told us to be careful of what you pray for because you just may get it. I know that a lot of people are told this and it took me a long time to realize what the implications of this are. I do prefer the missfortunes of "Thy will be done" because I recieve the best lessons from them. Our most painful experiences tend to be the ones that have the biggest reward whaen all is over. Again I say "Find the good in each harsh experience". You may find that that is the answer to your prayer.

Isaac of Nineveh

I really enjoy the forwards to a lot of our readings. 'One plus one equals one". When this statement is read after the opposites are made clear for you it is easy to understand that they are one. Good can not exist without bad and up and down like a tedder-todder. I have always badgered my parents with this idea. I used to babble on in the car about it. The in and out of the waves is also a way that I experience this oneness. I was always taought this balance by my Mom. She said " always find the good in a bad situation" and when I reflect and focus on that good part it always makes the ugly part not quite so bad. Balance, it's all about balance.

Hugh of St. Victor

I spent a lot of summers on the ocean with my family. and this ending really sums it up for me. "Happy is he who escapes unharmed from that storm-tossed sea, and reaches the safety of the port!" Here Hugh has us on the sea with the wind in our sails and Symeon has us in the sea looking like God. Water is a mystery to me. I like being in both places. On the sea I smell and hear and see all that is before and behind me. I tack back and forth as I move towards my destination. I sit on the bow and ride the waves on the vessal. I know that I will reach the prot because I have the greatest of Captains at the helm. In the sea I am the vessal. I am not able to see or smell but I can still hear. Long sounds that feel like they come from far way. For what ever reason I feel less safe her in the water than on it. How do I manage to stay unharmed. I don't.

Symeon the new Theologian

The paragraph about the sea resonates with me. I love his use of words like "dive, plunge, and vision". I love the way it feel to be fully in the water. It is such a weightless place. I never thought about god being like the sea. It is boyant and dark as well as constantly moving. I think my trips to the river this year are going to have new meaning.
Jason talked about the humility of the Tao. How it is like water, the softest thing on earth and yet the force that moves earth and dissolves rocks. Here I read the same thing. I hope to look at life through the vision of God like I am immersed in the softness of my creator, allowing it to dissolve all my firm resolutions.

Blake

Proverbs of Hell: I laughed and I reflected. These read to me like a bunch of "one liners". "The cistern contains: the fountain overflows". Is this about polarity? The Yin/Yang dynamic seems to be him evening out his mind. For this there is that. "The most sublime act is to set another before you." This is parenting. We are no longer exclusively "me" because "me" is now "we". Why does he title this Proverbs of Hell? Most of these phrases are so beautiful they can't be hell. My favorite is "Improvement makes straight roads; but the crooked roads without Improvement are roads of Genius". Society has often looked at the "new idea" as being totally absurd. Without those that are absurd we would not have the inventions we have today but are the fine tuned inventions really the best thing for us? "Where man is not, nature is barren." This comes from a man who knows that men have a purpose. I could not imagine for the centuries past how hard it must have been for males to know that there was a bonified reason for their existance. If humans were not able to figure out that it is a man's sperm that impregnates a woman, would men still feel like "Why am I here, when females have babies and we don't"? As I keep writing I am beginning to understand Blake's Proverbs of Hell title.

Kafka

These writings were very interesting to me. "The Messiah will come only when he is no longer necessary." This is profound for how many times do we need something and we find a way to do with out then it appears. In times like these a enjoy in the humor of God. How funny he is.
I would have to agree to his idea that humans have two great sins, both lead to the one, impatience. I never thought about how to return or if we can. Could it be that simple. I am a very impatient person and it has been a great challenge for me this Lenten season to work on this one. I have fallen off my path of calm behavior as did Jesus with His cross. Impatience has kept me from finding peace and that could be what happened in the Garden. Due to thier impatience they lost peace.

Heraclitus

"You can't step twice into the same river". This is the perfect reminder that nothing remains the same. You are at the river with loved ones and playing in the water. Swimming upstream and walking on the shore are the way that you are sharing in the beauty of creation. As you swim, you pass a leaf floating downstream. Then you float downstream. As you start your way back up to jump off a rock, you see that leaf is gone. This is not the same river you were just floating down because that leaf is a new one and it is from a different tree. The ebb and flow of life becomes very clear. That frog is new and that Hawk just landed in a tree. Tomorrow the river will be different and it is going to be a great day.

Maximus of Tyre

I understand the commandment about not worshiping idols. In some contexts the image of Mary or the Rosary can be viewed as this. I love that Maximus acknowledges that we need the "help of sounds and names and pictures". How beautifully he has given comfort for the fact that we are simple and sometimes we can focus on an innate object or a mountain and see God. I believe the Druid teachings that humans need simple things to help them focus on the Great One. For them it is a rock or a tree, something not made by man, and one can see the Almighty in the best of His works.
I love that he does not want to pass judgment about images and what people see or hear. That is what we are taught in Christianity, "Judge not lest ye be judged" and yet some do only this. How often have you heard, "You can't do that or you are a sinner"? Maybe this is one of those things that Jason talked about in class. We do pick and choose which rules we want to follow. Thank you, Jason, for speaking those words and truths. It is a good reminder of the human condition.

Abu hamid al-Ghazali

"...he must be loved by those to whom his beauty and his majesty are revealed." It seems to me to be a bit concieted. In every writing that we have read on Islam, they all hint that they are the only ones to recieve these gifts. I was taught that we have all recieved the grace of God and we will all come to our own relationship with Him. I feel like Christianity, in my world, is much more forgiving than Islam. I would not want to be taught that it will be God's choice to love me or not or that God will be selective in revelation. How do you hear God, and how do you see God? The last paragraph feels the most real to me. Ask for forgiveness and you shall recieve it. JUST ASK.

Muhammad

I was quickly stopped by a single phrase and I am struggling working past it. The phrase by Muhammed is this, "My sevant does not cease to come near Me until I love him; and when I love him, I am the sight he sees with and the hearing he hears with and the hand he recieves with and the foot he walks with."
I thought that He loves us no matter what. I believe that we see from His eyes and hear with His ears, but sometimes we ignore Him. But as the prodigal son was unconditionaly loved so are we. All we have to do is surrender to Him and we shall have the Kingdom of God.
The surrendering is the only commonality that I found in this group of writings by this man. I know this because I have closed myself off due to this statement.
Iwent back to read this group of writings and then I find the "We". Is this "We" the trinity? I don't understand Islam.

The Cloud of Unknowing

"And be sure not to think of anything but himself, so that nothing may work in your mind or in your will but only himself." I think this is the same act as what we read in the Gospel of Thomas. He writes that Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is inside you, what you bring forth will save you. If you don't bring forth what is inside you , what you don't bring forth will destroy you."
I believe that by exuding the gifts you have from God through opening your heart and silencing your mind, you will have happiness. If you squander those gifts and ignore them then you are telling God that He is wrong and this will bring you great unhappiness. Everything is from God. Know that you have nothing and then you will have everything. This is also taught to us in everything we have read so far. I was raised to be an example of how to work hard and you can have everything. I had everthing material but I had an empty soul. In the last year as I have let go of everything I believed I needed, I have recieved God from an unencumbered mind. It's just this human part of me that keeps getting me clouded with the idea that "I know". Everytime I tell my children that we do not say that in our house, I find myself being the biggest hypocrit of all. Then I pray and listen and try again.

Gregory Of Nyssa

This Beatitude is always a hard one for me. Father Mike has spent alot of time educating us on the importance of the Beatitudes. I didn't even know they existed until I went to Adult Catholic Education Classes. I know that they support the Ten Comandments and the Comandments of Jesus.
The conundrum is how hard and yet how easy this one is. "Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God". I love his comparison to iron, this helps me see more clearly the releasing of all that encumbers me to be free to just see. When I let go of all that I think should be, I can just enjoy what is. This is like the nothingness of "The Cloud of Unknowing". I have always felt that everything ends up with God and these readings from these wonderful people are confirming this.
The more that I cling to my idea of what is right the more things go wrong. When I let things just happen as they are and I am not bothered, I see the goodness in each situation as it is.

Hui-Hai

This is a beautiful speech. The same belief seems to run from all of the readings so far. The answers are within you. Why do we continue to look elsewhere? I love that he tells us to stop searching. I have spent much of my time searching and in the last few years, I have come to realize the more I let go of things the less I need of them.
He makes the comparrison of "mirrors" which parallells the Jewel reading. The theory of endless and infinate can be so frightening. To be free of "delutions and attachments" means to me that being clear in your mind is completely reflective. What you project, hoping it's "nothing", that "nothing" bounces around and back and forth for all to experience. I looked in my mirrors in the bathroom to see that endless flow of back and forth and it was awsome. Could it really be true. If I send out that smile and another moves into that area of seeing, would they truely feel and smile too?

Shunryu Suzuki

I really enjoy the teachings of Buddha. Here is one of his greatest followers teaching us that the "beginning is at every moment". He also says that the "Beginners mind is the mind of God". I know that this is why we say "Out of the mouths of Babes". Children truely speak from this place. Their minds are "empty and ready".
Wouldn't it be amazing if we could keep that innocence for our whole lives? It would feel like true freedom. The swinging door is a great way to teach this. In Pilates this is how we breathe. It's almost like the neverending circle. He says "a swinging door which moves when we inhale and when we exhale". We also spend a lot of time in Pilates challenging our balance, often times we lose it and then we breathe, focus, relax, and we regain it. I believe that being out of balance is perfect. It helps us move through life and seek symetry. "Before the rain stops we hear a bird." This is beautiful to me. Both things are happening at the same time and a bit of confusion is good for all of us, it reminds us that we know nothing.

Wu-Men

I really like the inroductions to the readings. Sometimes they are more profound. In the intro to this reading the statement that "If we have the courage and patience to remain in not-knowing, then eventually the solution falls into our lap, like a ripe fruit."
I realize that all religions tell the same messages. This message is to admit that you know nothing, trust that you know nothing and all will happen as it is supposed to. We have read this before and I am sure we will read this again. This is the way that the "inside and outside become one". These uinsights are for you alone. No matter how many times you read it or are told that you know nothing, until you surrender to this truth your ego wins.
The Great One is the only "knowing". Relax and listen to the world and you will get the solution you are seeking. It is my personal experience that the Great One's time is not ours. Don't ask for patience because you will be working on this virture for your whole life. This giving in to the oneness of it all gives you the freedom to not worry about when something will happen. It will come when it comes.

The Bible

These passages from the Bible are great. You can tell that the last one is from a newer version of the New Testament. I was raised with the King James Version and it has always confused me. When discussions come up about who wrote the Bible, The usual answer is God. I always say that a human had to write it with God at their side.
Jason, you have shared with us that you were learning to read in Hebrew and Sanskrit so you could read the word in its original form. I say that is the only way to truly spend time with the book. I do see it as a book with great teachings written by humans that spent a lot of time with God. The "I am" phrase is the key for me. Jesus taught that God is in us, to me that is "I am".
The stories, myths, ideas, and history are everything from incredibly violent to beautiful love. Could you find a better book to read? I don't think so.

Shmelke of Nikolsburg

I read this last week and I am continually reminded that these experiences are part of the plan. What plan? Whose plan? I believe its the one that we all end up at. I was part of a neighborly drama on Sunday the 24th. We as a family started working our way through the problem and then I read this conversation with the Rabbi.
The Rabbi's answer is perfect. I would never punish my own hand to teach it. What punishment I believed in was not nessesary. Because now my whole schedule has had to change to accomodate my very strong moral dilema. The problem is this, it's my moral issue not theirs. How can I rationalize punishing another adult for something that they don't think was wrong?
I believe that Rabbi's are some of the wisest teachers there are. My tradition is grounded in Jewdaism. I have lived in a neighborhood where most people were Orthodox. This neighborhood was the most peaceful place in the Valley.
The explanitory beginning paragraph holds another great statement,"It is our right to hate an evil man for his actions, but because his deepest self is the image of God, it is our duty to honor him with love." Do you ever get exausted with duing your duty. It is not always the fun way to go. The lessons are very hard and sometimes they come at a rapid pace. Other times they come far between. When I get caught off guard, sometimes I get to hate too quickly. Then I have to make ammends with what happened. I hope that it sticks and I don't repeat the same lesson, thats when it really sucks.

Ramana Maharishi

This group of statements from such a holy man are so moving. I love his way of teaching with things that are familiar. The first example is "...trying to cover the whole world with leather...". This to me is tangeable. I can understand how ridiculus our attempts are to fix the world. We need to fix ourselves first. However he doesn't make it sound selfish.
In the part about Christian beliefs I completely understand. I have argued this with Father Mike more than once. I don't like going to confession. I just want to talk with God by my self. My best argument to Father is that he doesn't have enough time for my confession and that I will not die because God doesn't want me up there yapping all the time either. I know that God is within me. Every time I realize a lesson that has been perfectly planned by God and the result is within me to do, I am amazed.
His teaching about the dreamer frustrates me. I know that to be selfless even in this state is part of the plan but how can one guide a dream so well. Sometimes you can do things in your dreams but this concept is too much. I know it in the waking world but in my dream world all I want to do is get out sometimes.
Lastly I love his belief in silence. When I am strong enough to stay quiet in a situation I am so aware of everything. I believe that this is my biggest job. To learn to shut up. When I was a massage tech I spent alot of time being quiet and I have felt this flow of energy. Then I share with my client what was felt and they feel better but I don't because I now have felt their flow. I never liked trying to manage theirs or redirect it. If I could have figured out a way to keep the flow intact then I would probably still be doing massage today.

The Upanishads

It struck me that the 5th sentance referes to the Lord. I believe that this comes from the translator. If this book was written between 8000-5000 BCE then did the original writer call this higher power Lord?
This piece of The Upanishads brings to mind the Hymn that we sing in church about "Eye has not seen, Ear has not heard...". The similarities of baseline teachings is amazing. I wonder if the writers of the Bible (Christian) studied all of the religions they could and found a way to merge those ideas into one new text. Of course the names have changed and the stories are different but they all have the same feeling. This reading teaches me to trust in my inner moral code, "Don't be a slave to the senses." How does this feel? Does it feel good and pure? I am trying to teach this to my children and the concept of it is just not getting to them yet.
I believe that there is a group of papers written by Jesus. I believe that these writings say the exact idea as the last paragraph of this reading. God is within you and when that is truley realized one can be free.
My friend Desi always tells me to let go of my carnality and live in the spirit. She is so wise. I wonder what it would be like for all of humanity to live a greater portion of their life in the spirit. Would we have a better outcome or would we be like the Lemurians before they were stuck to the earth. These spirit beings were selfish because they didn't need any other for anything. What an interesting problem.

Chief Seattle

I have read parts of this speech before. This was a wise man. His complete acceptance of the future that awaits the original people of this country is inspring. How hard it must have been to believe that your time has come, to be ready to just be a part of this land.
I believe that the dust of the ancestors coveres every inch of this land. I have felt it and I have seen the men running through the hills after deer.
I know that what Chief Seattle said is true. The day and the night can not exist at the same time. However there comes a time when they both exist at the same time. We need to look for those times as an inspiration. In know that the white man that came here was fleeing religious persecutuion and in the next heart beat they were doing the same thing.
There was one thing that Chief Seattle got wrong. His people have combined and are becoming a great force in this country. They are reclaiming their finances and they are going to continue to aquire more land. There are laws that allow them to govern themselves exclusively and yet they also have a voice in the current government.
We could have learned how to be better people much faster than we have. God says to wait and be patient. Yet the forefathers of our government did not wait one minute to say that their way was the only one.
I don't blame the natives for doubting the goodness of God when his followers were so mean. If you slow down for one minute by a natural waterfall in Auburn you can see the women filling water baskets and bathing their babies.

sa-go-ye-wat-ha

After I read this I know that we all end up at the same place. With one creator and one purpose in life. That is to be good humans and enjoy the differences that we have and the similarities too. My family came to this country between the early 1900's and 1949. I am of British, Scotish and Irish descent. I have always regarded the native people of this country with great respect. I grew up next to a reservation in Arizona and I will never forget the first time I encountered an American Indian. I don't know if that title bothers them because I have never asked. I was about two years old. He was tall and beautiful. My father is also tall so to me he was just another fatherly man. The religion I was raised with taught tolerance and acceptance.

In my years of herbal studies I have come to respect the teachings of many Natives here. It seems to me that we all have a great deal to learn about the indigenous people of North America. The "White Man" didn't slow down for even a short time to understand that the way to enjoy the gifts that have been placed before them. The Great Creator is the same but the maltreatment of their clans was almost too much to comprehend.

I love that the Natives want to wait to see how the "neighbors" recieve the earlier teachings of the word of God. How many do you think acctually applied this to their lives and then hid it from their towns? The red man has more to offer than we could ever comprehend and their subtle way of warning is to be regarded as Holy.

I think that the Minister did not take their hands in farewell because he was hurt by the truth that had just been said.