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LOTUS OF THE HEART
All is Welcome Here
Living in Love beyond Beliefs
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No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.
*St. John 3.13 (ESV)
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A real temptation is to get stuck on one of the apparent poles of descent or ascent. Spiritually, descent refers to immanence, being in body, living with matter, while ascent refers to transcending this world and the body to more subtle states of reality, or being, all the way to 'heaven,' or 'God,' or 'Spirit.' Ascent has been the dominant spiritual path in East and West, having apparently transcended paganism, or nature religions, with its emphasis on nature, body, this world.
The Contemplative path in Christianity, and most paths of deep spirituality East and West, teach that ascension, or detachment from this world, is essential. This is my view, but I see the ascending and descending to be signs imperfect and over-simplistic - I do not see the duality, or a neat differentiation between the two.
Because we have an errant over-identification with this world and body and bodies, a wise spiritual path will teach some measure of ascension, or detachment. So far, so good. Yet, this is not to see matter as wrong, sinful, or opposite spirit, or Spirit. Rather, what happens - and I have undergone after years of ascension teaching and practice - is a renewed, healthier communion with the body of this world - matter. Most of us are so immersed in matter, we need some ascending way of spirituality as part of correcting the over-identification that is so intimate we cannot experience matter as an expression of Spirit, or imbued with Grace, but see ourselves as matter itself - regardless of our claims otherwise. We even go so far to create an afterlife materialistic, an extension of our identification with materiality.
Finally, we come to know the opposites are not opposites, and through being drawn more intimately into Pure Spirit, we discover our relationship with all reality more intimate. Therefore, by wedding together Spirit and matter, we see they are not inimical.
However, the essential part of a path of ascension - again, as noted, a misnomer - is this sacred marriage between Spirit and matter cannot occur from the side of matter, for matter does not have the capacity for the union and, as noted before, we are already identified with matter - that is, we begin with identifying ourselves with less subtle expression of Spirit. Therefore, 'upward' is the only way to return to heal the split that was there in the first place.
In conclusion, 'upward' and 'downward,' or 'ascent' and 'descent,' are directional, but spiritual growth is not directional. We could as easily say 'subtle" and 'dense,' or 'inward' and 'outward.' By the union of the two, ironically, the split is healed - a split that is within us, but never in either Spirit or matter. Spirit and matter are whole already, but our realization of that wholeness is the fruit of ascending from identification with matter, including the body and physical world, to be able to realize the Union that already, always was. This is the Sacred Wedding we long for, though most try to heal the apparent divorce of matter and Spirit by immersion in matter - this will not work, but neither will a world-denying religion or spirituality that denudes matter and body of its intrinsic holiness and worth as manifestation of Grace. When the Sacred Wedding occurs, you see the whole world and everyone is already sacramental, and nothing anyone does or can do makes it so. Either we see this, or we do not, and only Grace can, regardless of the spiritual practices we engage, give us this seeing of the Heart.
*Move cursor over pictures for photographer and title.
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