THE FOUR GIFTS

In order to explore consciousness we need to cultivate other ways of knowing beyond reasoning and the senses. In short, we need to balance our “four gifts”: the Philosopher’s Gift of reason; the Scientist’s Gift of the senses ( and methodology); the Shaman’s Gift of participatory knowing through feeling; and the Mystic’s Gift of sacred silence or direct spiritual experience. In this book I focus on two of these gifts in particular, the Philosopher’s Gift of reason and the Shaman’s Gift of participatory knowing. I show that in order to know who we are, and to find deep meaning in our lives, we need to engage in “radical knowing”—by that I mean we need to feel our thinking (not merely think our thoughts). When we are able to do this, we discover that we exist in a web of interconnection. In a literal sense we are our relationships. Philosophers call this “intersubjectivity”……… When we learn to feel our thinking in this way, we allow the wisdom of silence to find its unforced natural expression in appropriate and evocative language. I call this process “giving voice to the cosmos”.

from the introduction of Christian de Quincey’s book, RADICAL KNOWING
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I have been interested in De Quincey's thinking for a few years now, he being a consciousness philosopher. After reading the first book of his on-going Trilogy, RADICAL NATURE, and giving a talk to the UU Church about it(one of my earlier blog messages), I am currently doing a re-read of his second book, RADICAL KNOWING. I admire his insight into the idea that relationship comes first and is primary over and above the individual. In other words we are not individuals forming relationships, but rather, we are the relationships forming the individual, in a continuing process called "shared consciousness". This concept has a Buddhist origin. When it is genuine between two participants, it leads to more spiritual growth for both, and reveals the deepest understanding that we can have of ourselves. Much of the transformation in myself has come through dialogue with the other, that I continue to encounter in my daily life, even in this cyber world. Martin Buber believed, that in the I and Thou relationship with another person, you have an opportunity to sense the Divine Presence. I know it to be a continuous process in my own life's encounters...and you get better at it, as you put its practice in your life.
It is what's needed in this troubled world, if we are ever going to find peace, in my humble opinion, but the ego keeps us stuck in this separateness notion where we remain alienated behind our private walls searching for meaning that few can find.
Let us take a more adventurous path and become more world centric in our approach to others, and come to love the wonderful diversity of this Creative Universe. It is always the person's soul I'm trying to sense, when I'm in genuine dialogue with another. To me, it is a gift that transcends any material thing, and has paved my own way to more self-discovery. In some, it's easy to sense the soul, in others it takes more work.…but I deem it a worthwhile venture, nevertheless. All of us have our unique stories that need to be told and the re-telling allows the experience to live again. So engage yourself in genuine dialogue with another as often as you can, and be part of the great web of life giving voice to the cosmos. In the end, it is because there are "Persons" in the world that I can believe that God exists.

woodsman

Belief is a word of love, not thought. It comes from a Germanic root meaning to hold dear. Belief is an endearment. We are drawn to a certain way of imagining experience by its beauty. We become familiar to it and then feel loyal to it. People may try to show us how our belief is wrong or deluded, but we may be profoundly attached to it. We love life as we see it and don’t want others to take that precious vision away from us.

All human love is complicated, even religious belief. Infatuation and needy dependence usually play a role in it. Love is always a risk. A spiritual leader comes along and presents a persuasive and appealing worldview. The heart may respond first, even if the mind is wary. For all the talk of dogma and teaching, attachment to a religion or spiritual system is almost always a matter of the heart rather than the head.

When I reflect on my own belief, I realize that I would love to keep my childlike attachment to Catholicism. But those primal emotions, perhaps the eternal child’s wish for the comfort of Mother Church, don’t satisfy my adult desires. I want both belonging and adventure. I want to have a spiritual home, but at the same time I need to explore.

Excerpted from Thomas Moore’s: THE SOUL’S RELIGION
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Being a UU, I have always admired Thomas Moore's sentiment here..it resonates with my soul's understanding that uncertainty keeps this Universe evolving and keeps me always wondering and searching. The questions remain more important than the answers for me. My short time allotment and space in this living experience is only a tiny reflection of the Divine Experiencer.

"... I have, an image of a future in which a new brand of spirituality has fully emerged, a spirituality that takes the entire world as its starting point, that marries inner and outer work, that cultivates stillness and compassion in the midst of active, engaged lives. This spirituality is a slow dance of evolution, a tender response to the pulsing heartbeat of the universe. It builds upon – but ultimately goes beyond – traditional belief systems to create a unique path, marrying ancient wisdom, scientific and philosophic truth, and personal insight. It is a spirituality that honors periods of withdrawal, of inner contemplation, as equally as it honors the active and passionate life. It recognizes a sublime Ground, ultimately beyond all manifest form, while it also sees the realm of manifest form as the playful and ecstatic dance of that very Ground. Its God is to be found both in prayer and in lovemaking, in meditation and in mountain climbing. It sees every moment as an opportunity: for learning, for giving, for expressing a truer nature. Perhaps more than anything, it is a spirituality built upon adventure, a plunge into the unknown."
Introduction from Steven Dinan’s book: RADICAL SPIRIT

ON FRIENDSHIP

I have been around the sun almost 66 times a few days from now, and have been doing a bit of thinking about my life lately, making it this far. Of course, today, 66 is now considered to be mid age. I must admit I’m living my dream. It took, at least, two- thirds of my life working to get here, and help from my incredible wife of 27 years, and two great kids. Coming from the big city, my dream was always to live in nature, to live in the woods…well, my house sits in the middle of a 50-acre property of a thick woods in Central Maine. I see, nor hear no neighbors when I walk out the door in the morning to feed the animals, and at night, it feels as though the sky belongs all to me. It is beautiful to live here and sense the glory of solitude and commune with all the nature as the Seasons run their course. But as I dwell on this, I know it is not the highest value of my life, what really remains the most significant value of my entire life is the fact that I have and have had wonderful friends along the way, sharing all the flavors that this living experience offers us. Making my life so much more than it could ever be. I can say this, that if you are not working on friendship each day, your personhood and maturity will be stunted, and you will be less of the person that you were meant to be. Of all the people that have been friends with me in this time and have passed on, I owe a great debt for their encouragement of my own growth and potential. Some were teachers, spiritual mentors and just kind, everyday people sharing their wisdom and experience with me when I was growing up. Some were mean, cantankerous, and maybe deceiving..but we must learn from everyone. I have spent many an hour dialoguing, one of my favorite activities now, as I have aged, face to face with another and being in some kind of different space. Martin Buber, one of the great theologians of the 20th century said there are two relationships that we have with the other, one is the I- IT and the I –THOU. The former is treating the other as an object, using them for one’s purpose, it is egoistic, the latter is treating the other as being sacred, kinda of like seeing another face of God in our midst, it is soul to soul. I love to hear people tell their stories and be transparent. It’s in that genuine dialogue I do sense the sacred presence. There lies the opportunity to open ourselves up and truly free ourselves from being alone. All these people I have encountered in my life have left an indelible soulprint in my mind and have helped to make me who I am. Some more than others but all have offered something.
Like a finger print, the soul print is the unique essence that we all leave behind to those that follow us. You are leaving your soulprint right now in the way you open yourself up to the other. Be free then, judge no one, be genuine and dialogue whenever you get the chance. I have built a large treasury of these along the way, they remain my riches that no one can rob me of. I love the diversity of the human race and I hope to go on meeting others, even on blogstream.

MY CONNECTION WITH THE UU CHURCH Part 1

LOVE IS THE SPIRIT OF THIS CHURCH;
THE QUEST FOR TRUTH IS ITS SACRAMENT;
AND SERVICE IS ITS PRAYER.
TO DWELL TOGETHER IN PEACE;
TO SEEK KNOWLEDGE IN FREEDOM;
TO SERVE HUMAN NEED;
TO THE END THAT ALL SOULS SHALL GROW
INTO HARMONY WITH THE DIVINE.
THUS DO WE COVENANT WITH EACH OTHER
AND WITH OUR GOD.

I first encountered these words when I stepped into The First Universalist Church of Dexter, a few years after moving to Maine in the late ‘80’s. I was curious and a bit timid, not knowing what to expect, as I was never too much of a church goer. What actually enticed me to enter this beautiful New England style church with a high steeple and beautiful stain glass windows, was the sign outside… which stated the theme of the sermon: THE TURNING POINT, by Fritjof Capra. I had just read that book. The other thing was there was no minister just a lay person giving the talk and I could tell that he was very intelligent by the way he spoke eloquentlythat day to the congregation. The talk centered on the environment. That was quite different from anything I was accustomed to seeing in a regular church.

The timing was good for me to check out this place, for I was looking to make new friends and these seemed to be the kind of people that read the stuff I was reading. I knew from literature, that Emerson had spoken in the 1800’s to the Unitarian churches in Boston…. and Emerson and Thoreau were very important thinkers to me. My hunch proved correct and as I read the UU Avowal of Faith over a few times it rang true with me unlike any other experiences I had had with other faith communities, limited that they were in my church going experiences. The emphasis seemed to be more on deeds rather than creeds…and if you wanted to hold to a belief system that was OK too! The important thing here is that the individual is not given a spoon fed doctrine, but rathe,r allowed to come up with his own truth by his own living experiences and a capacity to be open to the wisdom and testament of all the religions and the knowledge of science.

UU’s are probably one of the most liberal of all religious organizations on the planet. They are an inclusive not an exclusive group, and the pulpit is free as long as respect and dignity is given to all. Anyone is allowed to enter our church from any faith, although there are those fundamental churches that would avoid us like the plague… and we have many ex-Catholics, Jews, fundamentalists, humanists, etc. that are in our pews. The UU’s are a dedicated organization to finding Justice and Peace in this world and are very strong advocates for the environment. They are seekers of truth and believe it to be an on-going process. The Hymnal has passages that stem from all faiths and so is the music. I have never witnessed any kind of “Holier than Thou” attitude shown, as I came to be part of the fellowship that always meets for an hour after the service. There are scientists, teachers, artists and just everyday common folks that meet there to discuss topics and enjoy the learning process and the sharing of our thoughts. Many of the congregation have given talks on their own areas of expertise. It is a very civil diverse group that agrees to disagree at times. The other important thing to mention is that it is always interesting, we have had a wide assortment of speakers, including clergy from other faiths including our own, environmentalists, scientists, poets, Native Americans, Muslims … some thing that is rare in other churches. It seems always to be some place where you are learning and sharing the wide diversity of ideas. Love and creation are honored above the redemption theme. Fear is never used as a tactic to manipulate people.

When you look at how so many churches are declining in numbers, I wonder if some of these people that have become so alienated to the usual stuff they hear in most churches today, that they no longer attend, would ever give the UU’s a try. I feel that many of these people searching for something that may be closer to accommodating their spirituality needs might be found in a nearby UU church. The one thing for sure they will definitely find there, are warm and sensitive humans . This is one of the salient features that I cannot overemphasize here, and why I’ve become a regular there.