A man wanted to walk on water. A holy man wrote a name of God on a leaf, tied it inside the man's sash, and spoke, "Don't be afraid. Trust, and you'll walk on water. However, one thing: the moment you lose trust, you will sink."
The man began walking across the water. Way beyond the shore, he began to wonder what the holy man had placed inside the sash. He removed his garment and found a leaf with the word RAMA, one of the names of God in Hinduism, written on it. He thought, "What's this? Just a name for God." Immediately, he began sinking.
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This "just" can be misleading in the spiritual life concerning relative means, or form; as in, words, images, sounds... The man could have said, "This is one of God's names," which would have been fine. But he said, "Just a name for God."
The apophatic way - taught in varied spiritual paths and sometimes in contemplative Christianity called the negative way, or via negativa - is often explained as negating all we can say about God.
"Apophatic" derives from the Greek apophēmi, "to say no, to deny." In Christian theology, apophatic is contrasted with kataphatic. "Kataphatic" derives from a Greek verb κατάφάναι, "to speak." This is the via positiva, or the positive way. God, or the Absolute, is not anything we can say about God. Yet, we speak of this Absolute. Negation is not, standing alone, the whole truth.
An example of affirmation and negation is the Buddhist image of a finger and the moon. The moon indicates Buddha Nature. The finger is anything of form indicating Buddha Nature. The finger includes even the words Buddha and Nature. Buddha Nature is not "Buddha Nature." Thus, Buddhists teach not to mistake the finger for the moon. True, but what happens if one cuts off the finger? What if one refutes all relative means pointing one to the realization of the non-relative?
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I spoke with a guest today who is staying in our Inn. Her name is Aria. Yet, what if I negated all relative images and tried to communicate with her without her form being a means to the formless of her? Form is essential like religious icons help many to experience the reality the icon points to. The word "Aria," for example, assists in positioning my consciousness to relate with the whole beingness she is. All pointers to the Absolute are iconic; hence, there is no contradiction between form and formless. Through flesh, form, we receive spirit, the Formless.
We, embodied, are windows to God. Our flesh is the house of spirit, as taught in the early Church, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit (or, holy Spirit, holy spirit) within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (I Corinthians 6.19, NRSVUE). As a place can open our hearts to the Sacred, the appearance of a person can open our hearts to the spirit he or she is.
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The negation of all we can say of God - or anything or anyone - can lead to a dualism without integration. Negation does not nullify the power and importance of relative acts, images, and words to communicate meaning and energy for trust and devotion. Form positions us to connect with the Formless.
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What is the integration beyond "this is God" or "this is not God"? The integration transcends the duality of "this" and "that" altogether. That is, "'God is neither 'God' nor 'not God.'"
God - comparable to the moon in Buddhism - is more than can be pointed to via negation or affirmation. Thus, spiritual contemplation leads to loving detachment from identification with or abdication of relative language, images, rites, and rituals.
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Common in spiritual paths is a movement with three processes. First, one has been habituated to relate to Spirit through relative means. Then, through a commitment to a spiritual path, one grows into a turning away from relative form. Next, both are united in one's consciousness and life. One returns to enjoying form with a consciousness transformed by immersion in and alignment with the Formless. Now, all life is spiritualized, or enlightened, the split between profane and sacred is no more. Buddhists connote this by saying, "Nirvana is Samsara, Samsara is Nirvana."
*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.
