|
natural elegance
Bath, Maine
* * *
Be encouraged! I've overcome the world.
*Gospel of John 16.33
* * *
One day, after he had become an Awakened One, Gautama sat under a tree, sheltering from the sun. An astrologer came for a bath in the river and saw a footprint on the bank. He saw that this was the footprint of an emperor, someone who would rule the world. He wondered why such a person would be in this remote place near a jungle.
The astrologer followed the footprint, thinking he would meet an emperor. Instead, he saw a monk sitting under a tree. He thought, "Either my astrology has gone all wrong, or I'm being fooled or hallucinating. What's going on?"
He went to Gautama and asked, "Who are you?" Gautama said, "Nobody." "But you have the feet of an emperor. You should conquer the world!" Gautama said, "I will, but not by conquest."
* * *
When we overcome the world, that moment we are in love. Love is the only way to conquer the world. To conquer does not mean to defeat the natural order but escape the secularity that ignores the Sacred and, hence, seeks to dominate the natural order - including other people.
* * *
In uniting with Spirit, we dissociate from the life-denying influences about us. We turn toward the Light.
This warriorship is not violent but peaceful. We may choose a different word than conquer. Using "not by conquest," Gautama indicates his way is not a violent overthrow. In uniting with Life, the will to violence dissipates in the radiance of Wisdom and Love.
When we awaken by Love to Love, there is harmony. We step more deeply into everyday life - the relative - by stepping from the denial of the Sacred Fount of all life forms. By consenting to Grace, we radiate a quiet, gentle peace.
* * *
*©Brian K. Wilcox, 2023.
*Use of photography is allowed accompanied by credit given to Brian K. Wilcox and title and place of photograph.
*Brian's book, An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major online booksellers or the publisher AuthorHouse.
|
