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Wisdom Quotes
"Your god is the final obstacle to get past."
*Joseph Campbell. A Joseph Campbell Companion. Ed. Diane K. Osbon.
"The ultimate leave-taking is the leaving of God for God."
*Meister Eckhart
"Lord, teach me to see thee and reveal Thyself to me when I seek Thee. For I cannot seek Thee except Thou teach me, nor find Thee except Thou reveal Thyself. ... Is the eye of the soul darkened by infirmity, or dazzled by Thy glory? Surely, it is both darkened in itself and dazzled by Thee. Lord, this is the unapproachable light in which Thou dwellest."
*St. Anselm.
Comments
In Hinduism the goddess Kali, notes the late mythologist Joseph Campbell, signifies "black" and "time." He explains the Kali symbolism: "Kali ... is that black abyss of mystery out of which all things come and back into which they go. ... Her principle image is that of dancing in the burning ground, the place where corpses are burned. This is dissolution. She is dancing on the body of her god, Shiva, her husband."
What a symbolism! Would it not be startling to most Westerners who like nice symbolism? What of this concept of deity trampling underfoot deity?
As with all myth, generally, we can see in Kali and her dance a spiritual truth by taking the portrait seriously but not literally. Spiritual Hindus see in Kali an aspect of Brahman, or God; she is a personification of an aspect of Truth.
Kali represents what the opening quotes speak of about our god. That is, there must be a death of my god; such a god must die through a crucifixion, so to be a resurrection, a new beginning.
No, I am not saying this is necessary for all persons. However, all contemplatives, of all faiths, declare it must be so for a person to be immersed in the dark faith, which is the very Light of Christ, and enjoy blissful and faithful union with God~the oneness which we are ultimately called to share with the Holy.
Eckhart says it well. I must leave what I image of God, which is a mental representation, not really God at all. If I am led to a detachment from (i.e., repentance of) the god-image and I refuse, then, I am committing a mental idolatry and turning away an increase of the Light. I, then, am clinging to a mental formation of the Divine; that is as much idolatry as clinging to a wooden or stone image and bowing to it in worship. Many Christians would rail against materialistic idolatry, even while clinging to and fighting over an image of the Divine within their collective head.
St. Anselm speaks from humble recognition and sane reason of the Light that blinds the intellect, a darkening that is dark for the Immensity of the Mystery that submerges the soul in a state beyond all intellectual light. This Light immerses the memory, will, and imagination in a death to all their contents, so that being lifted from this dissolution, the soul will be content to dwell in God alone rather than in the memory, will, and imagination.
This mystical death, living out the Passion and Resurrection of Christ, eternally, is not a final loss of the image of God within. Rather, the image is purged through being immersed in the spiritualizing Water. Afterward, the image is held with an acknowledgement, indeed an inner realization not of mind but of the True Self, in union with Christ, that such is only one reflection of the Divine Sun wherein we live and move and have our being. One has passed into Love by Love.
Spiritual Exercise
(1) What feelings arose in you while reading this writing? Why do you think you had those feelings?
(2) Why would I refer to St. Anselm as speaking from "humble recognition"? How might clinging to a god-image lead to unloving judgement on other persons? Could such clinging evidence pride? Explain.
(3) Breath Prayer.
Breathing in: Lord
Breathing out: I love you
Brian will respond to requests pertaining to seeking a Spiritual Mentor. He offers retreats, workshops, and classes in such subjects as Contemplative Prayer (he trains in Visualized Praying, Centering Prayer, Christian Meditation, The Jesus Prayer, ...); Contemplative Living; A Spiritual Understanding of the Lord's Prayer; Philippians and Spiritual Community; Spiritual Growth From Matter to Spirit; Spiritual Use of the Scripture.
See any major on-line bookseller for his book An Ache for Union.
For replies and biographical information, and submission to "The Light Shines" daily devotionals ~ a ministry of Christ Community United Methodist Church, Punta Gorda, FL, see next page:
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