Monthly Archives: September 2017
Mysticism: Week 1 Summary
Mysticism: Week 1 Summary: Sunday, September 24-Friday, September 29, 2017 “Institutional Christianity has hardly contemplated the possibility that the consciousness of Jesus might be the consciousness of the Christian, that the whole point of the Gospel is that everyone may experience union with God in the same way as Jesus himself.” —Alan Watts (Sunday) Jesus… Continue Reading Mysticism: Week 1 Summary
Meister Eckhart, Part II
Mysticism: Week 1 Meister Eckhart, Part II Friday, September 29, 2017 What is life? God’s being is my life. —Meister Eckhart [1] Meister Eckhart illustrates the height of western non-dualism. This is why he is largely impossible to understand with our usual dualistic mind. When Eckhart says, “Let us pray to God that we may… Continue Reading Meister Eckhart, Part II
Meister Eckhart, Part I
Mysticism: Week 1 Meister Eckhart: Part I Thursday, September 28, 2017 Meister Eckhart (1260-1327), a German friar, priest, mystic, and renowned preacher, was also an administrator—prior, vicar, and provincial—for his Dominican Order. James Finley suggests Eckhart’s engagement in the “ways of the world” makes his teachings more accessible to us all, since there’s no requirement… Continue Reading Meister Eckhart, Part I
Hildegard of Bingen
Mysticism: Week 1 Hildegard of Bingen Wednesday, September 27, 2017 Throughout the ages, the mystics have kept alive the awareness of our union with God and thus with everything. What some now call creation spirituality, deep salvation, or the holistic Gospel was voiced long ago by the Desert Fathers and Mothers, some Eastern Fathers, in… Continue Reading Hildegard of Bingen
Full Participation
Mysticism: Week 1 Full Participation Tuesday, September 26, 2017 Jesus’ rather evident message of “full and final participation”—union with oneself, others, creation, and God—was probably only fully enjoyed by a small minority throughout history. Only contemplatives, whether conscious or “hidden,” know how to access unitive consciousness through their nondual and inclusive way of processing the… Continue Reading Full Participation
The Evolution of Consciousness
Mysticism: Week 1 The Evolution of Consciousness Monday, September 25, 2017 Let’s take a look at the history of mysticism to find our roots and see how we had it, how and why we largely lost it, and to recognize that now we are in the midst of a rediscovery and new appreciation for the… Continue Reading The Evolution of Consciousness
Inner Experience of God
Mysticism: Week 1 Inner Experience of God Sunday, September 24, 2017 Years ago, someone asked if I could sum up all my teachings in two words. My response was “incarnational mysticism.” The first word, “incarnational,” is Christianity’s specialty and should always be our essential theme. We believe God became incarnate. The early Fathers of the… Continue Reading Inner Experience of God
Nonviolence: Weekly Summary
Nonviolence Summary: Sunday, September 17-Friday, September 22, 2017 I sense the urgency of the Holy Spirit, with 7.5 billion humans now on the planet at the same time. Our future is either nonviolent or there is no future at all. (Sunday) The root of violence is the illusion of separation—from God, from Being itself, from… Continue Reading Nonviolence: Weekly Summary
Healing Our Social Wounds
Nonviolence Healing Our Social Wounds Friday, September 22, 2017 Today’s meditation is longer than usual, but important. Many people associate the word “justice” with the penal system and retributive justice. Yet the prophets and Jesus clearly practiced what we now call “restorative justice.” Jesus never punished anybody. He undercut the basis for all violent, exclusionary,… Continue Reading Healing Our Social Wounds
Beloved Children of God
Nonviolence Beloved Children of God Thursday, September 21, 2017 Because it is crucial to our understanding of nonviolence, let me repeat: The root of violence is the illusion of separation—from God, from Being itself, from being somehow one with everyone and everything. Most of our conflicts arise from a very fragile sense of the self.… Continue Reading Beloved Children of God