What a tempest in a teapot! So President Ahmadinejad is invited to Columbia to speak. The President of Columbia, Lee Bollinger catches a ton of heat from Americans who say it is wrong to provide a forum for a "terrorist" such as Ahmadinejad. Bollinger defends his actions and in his ten minute diatribe against Ahmadinejad which was by way of introduction (how rude) he innoculates himself against criticisms of lack of patriotism etc. Which was noted by Ahmadinejad immediately when he stated that Iran wouldn't invite someone to speak and then let loose a ration of criticism up front in order to prejudice the student audience beforehand. Touche'. I mean really, Ahmadinejad IS so out there, in many ways, that intelligent people should be able to listen to his point of view and fairly easily determine that this guy is not 100% credible. Didn't Bollinger trust the Columbia student body that much? My sense is that he really laid the insults on heavy in order to help his own PR image, rather than to influence the Columbia students. But that's just me.
What I found interesting in reading the account in both the NY Times and the Press TV of Ahmadinejad's speech was that when asked if Iran really wanted the destruction of Israel, he answered that Iran loves all people and wanted to live in peace and currently DOES live in peace with Jews. At first blush, we Americans might immediately doubt this, as we're taught to do by our own media, based on the slant of Middle East news which is our steady diet from the MSM. However if we scratch the surface we might find this, as I did on Press TV website. News story from September 3, 2007:
Iran to build Jewish cultural center
Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:25:06
Iran is to build a huge cultural-sports complex for the Jewish community, which evinces respect for and fair treatment of minorities.
Iranian Housing and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Saidi-Kia along with the representative of the Jewish community in Parliament Morris Motamed broke the ground of the 3300-square-meter complex in Tehran on Tuesday.
“The followers of divine religions live under a single flag in Iran and enjoy the freedom the constitution has granted them,” said Saidi-Kia.
“Establishing such centers can create a strong sense of solidarity in Iran. It will encourage unity and prosperity,” he maintained.
Morris Motamed, for his part, stated that the complex will be inaugurated in two and a half years and will cost 30 billion rials ($3.2 million).
Today, Iran's Jewish population is the second largest in the Middle East after Israel.
HJF/TE/AA
© Press TV 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Did you catch this part: Today, Iran's Jewish population is the second largest in the Middle East after Israel.
What does that tell you? With the incentives given out by the Israeli government to potential Jewish settlers, if the social climate for Jews was so untenable in Iran, would this be the case?
Yes, Ahmadinejad is treading on thin ice when he says that the Holocaust is a "theory" which must be studied further and he is totally whack for saying "We have no gays in Iran, not one." But the point that Iran would like to destroy Israel and hates the Jews, I think is hugely over-stated by the West and Israel. That point is absolutely critical. On the basis of that belief, the nuclear threat we imagine is posed by Iran is what would send us to war against them. Because we believe they WANT the destruction of the Jews and if they possessed nukes, they would nuke Israel in a first strike.
We need to pay attention to what is really going on in Iran. We need to pay attention to more sources than our own, Western-slanted media. Is it unpatriotic these days to even READ news from Middle East news outlets? What are we afraid of?
I offer this from Press TV website, "About Us" section:
About Us
PRESS TV is the first international Iran-based news network to broadcast in English on a round-the-clock schedule.
Our Tehran-based headquarters is staffed by media professionals from around the world. PRESS TV has an extensive network of bureaus located in the world’s most strategic places.
Goals
PRESS TV offers broad news coverage, specifically focusing on the Middle East.
PRESS TV dares to tackle the controversial global news agenda and broadcasts cutting-edge documentaries with political, social and economic contents.
PRESS TV’s goal is to present a deeper analysis of current affairs, aiming to show the other side of the story.
Our Vision
1- To break the global media stranglehold of western outlets.
2- To bridge cultural divisions pragmatically.
3- To highlight the versatility and vitality of political and cultural differences, making up the human condition.
Personally, I can't find much to disagree with here. I especially like #3 in "Our Vision". How about you?
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran........can we do it to the soundtrack of a Beach Boys song at least?
I was driving home on Friday after work, and heard a "debate" on the local SF radio station about whether or not, we should bomb Iran. While I am now used to this actually being presented as a serious idea, and with a straight face by pundits and news agents, what particularly blew my mind into tiny glass shards, was that the talk show host had JUST FINISHED interviewing Wayne White, Adjunct Scholar at the Middle East Institute an expert on Iran, who had clearly stated, based upon his serious study and review of the current situation, that bombing Iran would be disasterous. Disasterous. Yet, Gil Gross, talk show host, (and let's not forget, comedian) asked the general public to call the show and weigh in on whether or not we should rain destruction on Iran in a first strike.
What is the point of this exercise? Is it to illustrate the point that Americans are so ignorant of what it means to actually study and research other cultures and political climates? Is it to demonstrate and flaunt a feeling on the part of many Americans that it's patriotic to distrust and dismiss evidential facts when presented by "intellectuals" rather than politicians or military?
I mean, just the other day we were being told we need to listen to General Petraeus' assessment of what the facts are on the ground in Iraq and that we should also listen to what the glorious leader Bush has to say about his "beliefs" about Iraq. So, it's listen to Petraeus' cherry picked stats and Bush's political shilling for the neocon party line, but dismiss and behave as if we never heard it, the detailed and factual account from a man who STUDIES another culture (Iran) for a living!
I have heard from another source, OTHER than Wayne White that the younger generation in Iran is in the majority, in fact that 52% of Iranians are under 25 and they are very dissatisfied with Ahmadinejad's regime. They lean toward secular rule, they want iPods and cell phones, computers and other items which are iconic of the younger generation, worldwide. If we wait five minutes, this generation could shift everything in Iran to a position which would be much more "user friendly" to the West. Bombing Iran would serve to throw the younger generation in Iran into the arms of the rightwing of the country, for the sake of national solidarity. Isn't that obvious? Have we learned nothing of 9/11? Does our memory not serve to provide us with images of Americans banding together, regardless of political party? Do we not recall the sudden solidarity we all felt toward a common enemy?
Jaysus! I can't believe we would be so stupid as to ignore the advice and concerns of a veteran middle eastern scholar in favor of the kneejerk uninformed reactionary sentiments of Americans who can't be bothered to crack a book or a website or even a policy paper on such a complex subject. Yeah, let's poll Joe Average American to determine our next foreign policy maneuver in the middle east hotbed of potential nuclear destruction. (Let's not forget, Israel has nukes).
All I know is that as I listened to my fellow citizens calling in to the program stating that they believe we should "nuke 'em" (this AFTER Wayne White's extensive report advocating diplomacy) the tiny glass shards of my blown mind began to circulate through my bloodstream sending tiny points of pain throughout my being.
Makes me wanna holla, makes me wanna shout "Beam me up Scotty!" Or maybe just beam me down to Mexico......where i can be an ex-Pat as I watch the American citizenry talk each other into another pointless, stupid, horrifically immoral war.
When will we ever learn?
What is the point of this exercise? Is it to illustrate the point that Americans are so ignorant of what it means to actually study and research other cultures and political climates? Is it to demonstrate and flaunt a feeling on the part of many Americans that it's patriotic to distrust and dismiss evidential facts when presented by "intellectuals" rather than politicians or military?
I mean, just the other day we were being told we need to listen to General Petraeus' assessment of what the facts are on the ground in Iraq and that we should also listen to what the glorious leader Bush has to say about his "beliefs" about Iraq. So, it's listen to Petraeus' cherry picked stats and Bush's political shilling for the neocon party line, but dismiss and behave as if we never heard it, the detailed and factual account from a man who STUDIES another culture (Iran) for a living!
I have heard from another source, OTHER than Wayne White that the younger generation in Iran is in the majority, in fact that 52% of Iranians are under 25 and they are very dissatisfied with Ahmadinejad's regime. They lean toward secular rule, they want iPods and cell phones, computers and other items which are iconic of the younger generation, worldwide. If we wait five minutes, this generation could shift everything in Iran to a position which would be much more "user friendly" to the West. Bombing Iran would serve to throw the younger generation in Iran into the arms of the rightwing of the country, for the sake of national solidarity. Isn't that obvious? Have we learned nothing of 9/11? Does our memory not serve to provide us with images of Americans banding together, regardless of political party? Do we not recall the sudden solidarity we all felt toward a common enemy?
Jaysus! I can't believe we would be so stupid as to ignore the advice and concerns of a veteran middle eastern scholar in favor of the kneejerk uninformed reactionary sentiments of Americans who can't be bothered to crack a book or a website or even a policy paper on such a complex subject. Yeah, let's poll Joe Average American to determine our next foreign policy maneuver in the middle east hotbed of potential nuclear destruction. (Let's not forget, Israel has nukes).
All I know is that as I listened to my fellow citizens calling in to the program stating that they believe we should "nuke 'em" (this AFTER Wayne White's extensive report advocating diplomacy) the tiny glass shards of my blown mind began to circulate through my bloodstream sending tiny points of pain throughout my being.
Makes me wanna holla, makes me wanna shout "Beam me up Scotty!" Or maybe just beam me down to Mexico......where i can be an ex-Pat as I watch the American citizenry talk each other into another pointless, stupid, horrifically immoral war.
When will we ever learn?
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Secret....get anything you want? Wish for it? Try wishing to be a NY Knick
Ongoing discussion on a listserv regarding the bestselling book/DVD "The Secret". If you haven't heard of it, you need to get off the Space Station and arrange transport back to Earth, soon.
Anywho, here's my take in a conversation I'm having, once again with my buddy Tony:
HI Tony,
You say that perhaps we simply open up our awareness
of events that may further realization of our goals.
Yes, I agree! You open up opportunites to take
action toward making what you are constantly mentally
dwelling upon, happen.
I could wish all I like, to become a star player on
the New York Knicks basketball team, and do all of the
mental exercises the Secret advises and it aint gonna
happen baby! :-))
You and I as ballerina and basketball player could
start a theatre of the absurd, however.
Once, I was in need of $40 to pay a bill that I had
overlooked. I was a single mom at the time and money
was tight. The very day, a Saturday, wherein I
became aware that I needed the money right away, a
check for $40 arrived in the mail. It was a check
from a company I'd worked for a year previously and
during an audit they apparently caught an error in
which they had shorted me on a paycheck by the amount
of $40.00.
Now, the Secret folks might have me believe that I
"manifested" the $40 check out of the Universe. If
so, did that mean that early in the morning, before I
realized I had to pay that bill immediately, that the
Post Office did NOT have possession of that check?
Did it mean that once I "thought" about the $40, it
....POOF.... sprang into existence right inside the
mail bag of my mailman? Or could it be that the $40
bucks was on its way to me anyway, regardless of
whether I thought about it or not?
The term "there is no such thing as coincidence" is
meant to imply that everything is happening for a very
important reason and people, places and things are
coordinated to come together for the spiritual benefit
of ME. The folks who talk about "there is no such
thing as coincidence" seem to me to be overlooking a
TON of incidents where there is absolutely nothing
remarkable going on.
For example, last night I went to the gas station and
filled my car with gas. There were several other
foks there simultaneously filling their car with gas.
Coincidence? Likewise I was at the grocery store
and many others were shopping there as well,
coincidence?
It seems to me that events are deemed to carry
supernatural weight when what occurs happens to
correspondence to what we've been thinking about.
Events are just as random as they ever were, but when,
coincidentally we were just happening to be
considering something mentally and an associated event
occurs, we immediately jump to the conclusion that it
was MEANT to be! We run into a friend we were
thinking of earlier in the day....suddenly the
intersect of thought/event MEANS something
supernatural!
I think it's all a bit superstitious. But I could
be wrong.
:-)
Trudy
Anywho, here's my take in a conversation I'm having, once again with my buddy Tony:
HI Tony,
You say that perhaps we simply open up our awareness
of events that may further realization of our goals.
Yes, I agree! You open up opportunites to take
action toward making what you are constantly mentally
dwelling upon, happen.
I could wish all I like, to become a star player on
the New York Knicks basketball team, and do all of the
mental exercises the Secret advises and it aint gonna
happen baby! :-))
You and I as ballerina and basketball player could
start a theatre of the absurd, however.
Once, I was in need of $40 to pay a bill that I had
overlooked. I was a single mom at the time and money
was tight. The very day, a Saturday, wherein I
became aware that I needed the money right away, a
check for $40 arrived in the mail. It was a check
from a company I'd worked for a year previously and
during an audit they apparently caught an error in
which they had shorted me on a paycheck by the amount
of $40.00.
Now, the Secret folks might have me believe that I
"manifested" the $40 check out of the Universe. If
so, did that mean that early in the morning, before I
realized I had to pay that bill immediately, that the
Post Office did NOT have possession of that check?
Did it mean that once I "thought" about the $40, it
....POOF.... sprang into existence right inside the
mail bag of my mailman? Or could it be that the $40
bucks was on its way to me anyway, regardless of
whether I thought about it or not?
The term "there is no such thing as coincidence" is
meant to imply that everything is happening for a very
important reason and people, places and things are
coordinated to come together for the spiritual benefit
of ME. The folks who talk about "there is no such
thing as coincidence" seem to me to be overlooking a
TON of incidents where there is absolutely nothing
remarkable going on.
For example, last night I went to the gas station and
filled my car with gas. There were several other
foks there simultaneously filling their car with gas.
Coincidence? Likewise I was at the grocery store
and many others were shopping there as well,
coincidence?
It seems to me that events are deemed to carry
supernatural weight when what occurs happens to
correspondence to what we've been thinking about.
Events are just as random as they ever were, but when,
coincidentally we were just happening to be
considering something mentally and an associated event
occurs, we immediately jump to the conclusion that it
was MEANT to be! We run into a friend we were
thinking of earlier in the day....suddenly the
intersect of thought/event MEANS something
supernatural!
I think it's all a bit superstitious. But I could
be wrong.
:-)
Trudy
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tasered at Florida University.."Step out of line, the man come and take you away."
You better STOP children, what's that sound, everybody look what's goin' down.
I don't know about you, but I am outraged about the tasering of that student, Andrew Meyer, for supposedly "resisting arrest" when cops tried to pull him away from a microphone. Naomi Wolfe has a great column on HuffPo describing this act as a harbinger of what is to come, as our society is "closing" as she says.
People are not paying attention! One incident here, another development there, it is the drip-drip of Chinese water torture, slowly getting American people accustomed to agregrious trespasses on our civil rights. But connect the dots! Blackwater shoots at Iraqis as basically target practice.....did you know that Blackwater is a private mercenary army in Iraq which is recruiting American soldiers OUT of the US Army? They pay about three times what the US Army pays and they don't have to answer to the Military code of Justice. They don't need Congressional approval to fight in wars and they can be deployed by PRIVATE CITIZENS. Maybe soon they'll be coming to a theater near you. Connect this to the gazillions of dollars Halliburton has made off the war in Iraq and it starts to become clear that the US Pentagon is a figurehead institution or soon will be, but a figurehead in cahoots with the private mercenary contractors.
Now the State is tasering kids at universities for speaking past their time limit at political forums. If this kid was criticizing Kerry for not being SUPPORTIVE of George W. Bush, would he still have gotten tasered? I'm going to be posting the video shortly, judge for yourself whether this act in Florida was over the top, and while viewing it, try to place yourself in the situation with those cops, under those circumstances and imagine what it would be like.
I hope we start seeing bumper stickers "Don't taze me Bro!" For What It's Worth
I don't know about you, but I am outraged about the tasering of that student, Andrew Meyer, for supposedly "resisting arrest" when cops tried to pull him away from a microphone. Naomi Wolfe has a great column on HuffPo describing this act as a harbinger of what is to come, as our society is "closing" as she says.
People are not paying attention! One incident here, another development there, it is the drip-drip of Chinese water torture, slowly getting American people accustomed to agregrious trespasses on our civil rights. But connect the dots! Blackwater shoots at Iraqis as basically target practice.....did you know that Blackwater is a private mercenary army in Iraq which is recruiting American soldiers OUT of the US Army? They pay about three times what the US Army pays and they don't have to answer to the Military code of Justice. They don't need Congressional approval to fight in wars and they can be deployed by PRIVATE CITIZENS. Maybe soon they'll be coming to a theater near you. Connect this to the gazillions of dollars Halliburton has made off the war in Iraq and it starts to become clear that the US Pentagon is a figurehead institution or soon will be, but a figurehead in cahoots with the private mercenary contractors.
Now the State is tasering kids at universities for speaking past their time limit at political forums. If this kid was criticizing Kerry for not being SUPPORTIVE of George W. Bush, would he still have gotten tasered? I'm going to be posting the video shortly, judge for yourself whether this act in Florida was over the top, and while viewing it, try to place yourself in the situation with those cops, under those circumstances and imagine what it would be like.
I hope we start seeing bumper stickers "Don't taze me Bro!" For What It's Worth
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Bowl of Saki (Don't let it get you down, it's only castles burning....)
I've been hearing so much lately about the private contractors in Iraq, Blackwater and Halliburton, the companies on board with the perpetrators of the "Shock and Awe" theory. It started way back in the 1950's in Universities and psychology departments and psychiatric hospitals. After listening to an hour segment on "Democracy Now' yesterday, I felt seriously disheartened, which is a common danger for those who truly pay attention to what is bubbling beneath the surface of things. The slimey muck from which such ideas as "water-boarding" and suspension of Habeus Corpus arise. Sigh....
Today in my inbox, however I received a reminder not to become heavy-laden by the woes I witness. Because I know so many who tread each day between disgust and hope, I offer this:
To become cold from the coldness of the world is weakness, to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above it is like walking on the water.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The spiritual path is easiest if there is not something pulling one from behind; and that force is the life in the world, one's friends, surroundings, acquaintances, and one's foes. Remain, therefore, in the world as a traveler making a station on his way. Do all the good you can to serve and succor humanity, but escape attachment. By this in no way will you prove to be loveless. On the contrary, it is attachment which divides love, and love raised above attachment is like a rain from above nourishing all the plants upon the earth.
There is only one thing that helps us to rise above conditions, and that is a change of outlook on life. This change is made practicable by a change of attitude. .. For a Sufi, therefore, not only patience to bear all things is necessary, but to see all things from a certain point of view that can relieve him for that moment from difficulty and pain. Very often it is one's outlook which changes a person's whole life. It can turn hell into heaven, it can turn sorrow into joy. When a person looks from a certain point of view, every little pin-prick feels like the point of a sword piercing his heart. If he looks at the same thing from a different point of view, the heart becomes sting-proof. Nothing can touch it. All things which are sent forth at that person as bullets drop down without every having touched him.
What is the meaning of walking upon the water? Life is symbolized as water. There is one person who drowns in the water, there is another who swims in the water, but there is still another who walks upon it. The one who is so sensitive that, after one little pin prick he is unhappy throughout the day and night is the man of the first category. The one who takes and gives back and makes a game of life is the swimmer. He does not mind if he receives one knock, for he derives satisfaction from being able to give two knocks in return. But the one whom nothing can touch is in the world and yet is above the world. He is the one who walks upon the water; life is under his feet, both its joy an its sorrow.
Verily, independence and indifference are the two wings which enable the soul to fly.
To become cold with the coldness of the world is weakness, and to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above the world is like walking on the water. There are two essential duties for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love in our nature ever increasing and expanding, and to strengthen the will so that the heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal in life; one must be fine and yet strong, one must be loving and yet powerful.
- posted to SufiMystic
Today in my inbox, however I received a reminder not to become heavy-laden by the woes I witness. Because I know so many who tread each day between disgust and hope, I offer this:
To become cold from the coldness of the world is weakness, to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above it is like walking on the water.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
The spiritual path is easiest if there is not something pulling one from behind; and that force is the life in the world, one's friends, surroundings, acquaintances, and one's foes. Remain, therefore, in the world as a traveler making a station on his way. Do all the good you can to serve and succor humanity, but escape attachment. By this in no way will you prove to be loveless. On the contrary, it is attachment which divides love, and love raised above attachment is like a rain from above nourishing all the plants upon the earth.
There is only one thing that helps us to rise above conditions, and that is a change of outlook on life. This change is made practicable by a change of attitude. .. For a Sufi, therefore, not only patience to bear all things is necessary, but to see all things from a certain point of view that can relieve him for that moment from difficulty and pain. Very often it is one's outlook which changes a person's whole life. It can turn hell into heaven, it can turn sorrow into joy. When a person looks from a certain point of view, every little pin-prick feels like the point of a sword piercing his heart. If he looks at the same thing from a different point of view, the heart becomes sting-proof. Nothing can touch it. All things which are sent forth at that person as bullets drop down without every having touched him.
What is the meaning of walking upon the water? Life is symbolized as water. There is one person who drowns in the water, there is another who swims in the water, but there is still another who walks upon it. The one who is so sensitive that, after one little pin prick he is unhappy throughout the day and night is the man of the first category. The one who takes and gives back and makes a game of life is the swimmer. He does not mind if he receives one knock, for he derives satisfaction from being able to give two knocks in return. But the one whom nothing can touch is in the world and yet is above the world. He is the one who walks upon the water; life is under his feet, both its joy an its sorrow.
Verily, independence and indifference are the two wings which enable the soul to fly.
To become cold with the coldness of the world is weakness, and to become broken by the hardness of the world is feebleness, but to live in the world and yet to keep above the world is like walking on the water. There are two essential duties for the man of wisdom and love; that is to keep the love in our nature ever increasing and expanding, and to strengthen the will so that the heart may not be easily broken. Balance is ideal in life; one must be fine and yet strong, one must be loving and yet powerful.
- posted to SufiMystic
Monday, September 17, 2007
A Strange Circularity
I sometimes have correspondence with an old, dear friend named Tony who happened to belong to a "spiritual" group where I also was a member. This group had a teacher, a good man, a decent fellow, but someone with whom many became disillusioned as a spiritual guide or leader. The disillusioned folks left the group but many still maintain contact with one another, because we DID have a strong bond of love which survives to this day.
Recently, on a very small listserv moderated by a Catholic monk (a VERY dear fellow!) Tony and I had the following exchange. Tony had some observations that are representative of those that many of us have had, following our engagement with spiritual groups of one type or another. I responded and the correspondence is what follows:
--- Tony said:
I was looking up all the remarkable URL’s out there
so kindly provided by
Monk and I had this rather strange thought.
There is so much information and advice out there
about spirituality, the
spiritual search and spiritual practice.
There is masses of information on how to discipline
the mind, meditation
practice, spiritual practice, academic tomes on
mysticism to be read, dating
back to Grecian times.
Trudy said:
A dazzling array yes? I used to find myself totally
kerbobbled by reading a variety of spiritual books and
essays by teachers. Not only is there a plethora of
information, much of it is contradictory! Pity the
poor spiritual seeker who really wants to get the
spiritual gold nugget, but must sift through mountains
of verbal silt. Ack!
Tony:
I was also wondering about Mother Theresa’s inner
life that her recently
published letters reveal.
Searching for God who appeared to have left her.
Trudy:
*Now this is a very interesting case.
Publicly, M. Teresa was an icon of faith and deep
personal love for God. Privately, she suffered
tremendous doubts even to the point of doubting the
very existence of God; beyond simply doubting if she
were worthy enough to feel/receive God's love or
tangible presence.
What is boggling to me is that the Catholic Church
with it's pantheon of saints;( I mean this church is
nothing if not a Hall of Fame for saintly folks who've
really immersed themselves in the life of Spirit)
couldn't come up with anything better than the weak
responses from the priests with whom M. Teresa had
correspondence. These people have a treasure trove
of spiritual literature from some truly great and
insightful saints like Teresa of Avila, St. John of
the Cross, St. Francis, Meister Eckart, for godsake!
Why didn't they suggest that poor M. Teresa read the
thoughts and experiences of some of these other folk,
who like her, had experienced dry spiritual spells,
dark nights of the soul etc.......the spiritual desert
as it were? Is the Church THAT out of touch with its
own history and stellar clergy? Can't fathom this
one.
Tony:
I was reminded of my friend who had joined a gym.
She said that her goal was to get really fit.
I asked her about sport and physical activity. Did
she play any sport? No
she did not.
Was she engaged in any physical activity like
dancing tramping,
mountaineering, that required a level of physical
fitness beyond ordinary
everyday activities?
No she was not.
I was puzzled by this.
Then I realized what was puzzling.
She was engaged in getting fit, in order to get fit
to go to the gym.
There is the saying, “It is better to travel
hopefully than to arrive”.
Does all this spiritual practice, spiritual
discipline, all this searching
about just make for a more interesting search?
Trudy:
* For many I believe it certainly does.
For more serious others, I believe it does for awhile
and then they realize the fruitlessness of the
"search' per se. Being bereft is a benefit, if you
will, of the unfulfilling search. Once you get to
that place, you have the opportunity to question your
assumptions. You have the opportunity to questions
your beliefs altogether and perhaps for the first
time, take a virgin, pristine look at simply what IS.
Unencumbered by a set of beliefs or assumptions,
perception can shift. Maybe even, a person can get
out of verbal mind, and have a somatic experience of
Reality, hmm?
It seems to get folk better at searching.
If one had actually found what one was looking for
wouldn’t the search be
over?
Has the spiritual search become more important than
finding anything?
Or is it that one is not particularly happy with
what one has found?
Trudy:
*I think for a lot of people, this is
exactly the case. Death of cherished beliefs can be
hard for many and the risk is that they become so
disenchanted, SO disillusioned that they become bitter
and cynical, RATHER than becoming more wide open with
the bittersweet philosophical approach to life of "I
don't know."
My two cents.
Love,
Trudy
Tony
Recently, on a very small listserv moderated by a Catholic monk (a VERY dear fellow!) Tony and I had the following exchange. Tony had some observations that are representative of those that many of us have had, following our engagement with spiritual groups of one type or another. I responded and the correspondence is what follows:
--- Tony said:
I was looking up all the remarkable URL’s out there
so kindly provided by
Monk and I had this rather strange thought.
There is so much information and advice out there
about spirituality, the
spiritual search and spiritual practice.
There is masses of information on how to discipline
the mind, meditation
practice, spiritual practice, academic tomes on
mysticism to be read, dating
back to Grecian times.
Trudy said:
A dazzling array yes? I used to find myself totally
kerbobbled by reading a variety of spiritual books and
essays by teachers. Not only is there a plethora of
information, much of it is contradictory! Pity the
poor spiritual seeker who really wants to get the
spiritual gold nugget, but must sift through mountains
of verbal silt. Ack!
Tony:
I was also wondering about Mother Theresa’s inner
life that her recently
published letters reveal.
Searching for God who appeared to have left her.
Trudy:
*Now this is a very interesting case.
Publicly, M. Teresa was an icon of faith and deep
personal love for God. Privately, she suffered
tremendous doubts even to the point of doubting the
very existence of God; beyond simply doubting if she
were worthy enough to feel/receive God's love or
tangible presence.
What is boggling to me is that the Catholic Church
with it's pantheon of saints;( I mean this church is
nothing if not a Hall of Fame for saintly folks who've
really immersed themselves in the life of Spirit)
couldn't come up with anything better than the weak
responses from the priests with whom M. Teresa had
correspondence. These people have a treasure trove
of spiritual literature from some truly great and
insightful saints like Teresa of Avila, St. John of
the Cross, St. Francis, Meister Eckart, for godsake!
Why didn't they suggest that poor M. Teresa read the
thoughts and experiences of some of these other folk,
who like her, had experienced dry spiritual spells,
dark nights of the soul etc.......the spiritual desert
as it were? Is the Church THAT out of touch with its
own history and stellar clergy? Can't fathom this
one.
Tony:
I was reminded of my friend who had joined a gym.
She said that her goal was to get really fit.
I asked her about sport and physical activity. Did
she play any sport? No
she did not.
Was she engaged in any physical activity like
dancing tramping,
mountaineering, that required a level of physical
fitness beyond ordinary
everyday activities?
No she was not.
I was puzzled by this.
Then I realized what was puzzling.
She was engaged in getting fit, in order to get fit
to go to the gym.
There is the saying, “It is better to travel
hopefully than to arrive”.
Does all this spiritual practice, spiritual
discipline, all this searching
about just make for a more interesting search?
Trudy:
* For many I believe it certainly does.
For more serious others, I believe it does for awhile
and then they realize the fruitlessness of the
"search' per se. Being bereft is a benefit, if you
will, of the unfulfilling search. Once you get to
that place, you have the opportunity to question your
assumptions. You have the opportunity to questions
your beliefs altogether and perhaps for the first
time, take a virgin, pristine look at simply what IS.
Unencumbered by a set of beliefs or assumptions,
perception can shift. Maybe even, a person can get
out of verbal mind, and have a somatic experience of
Reality, hmm?
It seems to get folk better at searching.
If one had actually found what one was looking for
wouldn’t the search be
over?
Has the spiritual search become more important than
finding anything?
Or is it that one is not particularly happy with
what one has found?
Trudy:
*I think for a lot of people, this is
exactly the case. Death of cherished beliefs can be
hard for many and the risk is that they become so
disenchanted, SO disillusioned that they become bitter
and cynical, RATHER than becoming more wide open with
the bittersweet philosophical approach to life of "I
don't know."
My two cents.
Love,
Trudy
Tony
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