Early thought was that hell existed below (beneath the earth) and heaven existed above (in the sky). That gave way to a belief that both heaven and hell are inside of us. Now we open to the understanding that we are embodyings of the cosmos. We are the universe universing. Where does that put heaven and hell? Hell is when we continue to encapsulate ourselves in our seed husks while being pulled to open and flower. Heaven is when we open to the flowering of the universe that we are and move beyond the shuffling zombie existence of a seed refusing to die and be born.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
theosis
"Another characteristic was his (Suhrawardi's) view of the inseparability of philosophical study from spiritual experience, namely the mystical experience designated as ta'ullah, the Arabic equivalent of the Greek theosis. For him, a philosophy which does not lead to a personal spiritual realization is a vanity and a waste of time, yet mystical experience which is not founded upon sound philosophical training is exposed to all the dangers of going astray which we now call schizophrenia." -- Henry Corbin, A Theory of Visionary Knowledge
True philosophy is the love of (philo) sophia (wisdom).
Wisdom is personified, is a spiritual energy, a person.
When one has a love of Wisdom, Wisdom does not lead one astray.
True philosophy is the love of (philo) sophia (wisdom).
Wisdom is personified, is a spiritual energy, a person.
When one has a love of Wisdom, Wisdom does not lead one astray.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
a case of the grip
If, as David Miller proclaims, "Religion means being gripped by a story," then all of us, every mother's child of us, is religious. Every one of us has our story about who we are, from whence we came, and where we may or may not be headed.
The story by which you are gripped is your religion!
It is foolish to rail against religions, O proud bearers of the scientific flag, when you yourself are religious and filled with zeal for the grip your story has upon you.
It is foolish to say you have the only true religion, O Christ-ian and O Pagan! It is equivalent to saying that the story that grips you is the only true grip. What inbred arrogance!
Religion means being gripped by a story. Just because I am enchanted by a story (and I am) does not mean that you will or should be enchanted by that story. I enjoy the enchantment of my story and as I open to the richness of your story and the stories of others, I see the interweaving of our stories.
So let's stop our belly-aching about other people's stories and our belly-swelling about our own story. We need to get past that. There's work to be done.
The story by which you are gripped is your religion!
It is foolish to rail against religions, O proud bearers of the scientific flag, when you yourself are religious and filled with zeal for the grip your story has upon you.
It is foolish to say you have the only true religion, O Christ-ian and O Pagan! It is equivalent to saying that the story that grips you is the only true grip. What inbred arrogance!
Religion means being gripped by a story. Just because I am enchanted by a story (and I am) does not mean that you will or should be enchanted by that story. I enjoy the enchantment of my story and as I open to the richness of your story and the stories of others, I see the interweaving of our stories.
So let's stop our belly-aching about other people's stories and our belly-swelling about our own story. We need to get past that. There's work to be done.
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