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.