Dualistic and Nondual Thinking
See Everything; Judge Little; Forgive Much
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
We are living in exciting times, where we are teaching people not what to see, but how to see! The broad rediscovery of nondual, contemplative consciousness gives me hope for the maturing of religion and is probably the only way we can move beyond partisan politics. Many are now realizing that we have been trying to solve so many of our religious, social, political, and relational issues inside of the very mind that falsely framed the problem in the first place. And, as Einstein is purported to have said, no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
The contemplative mind can see things in a nondual way, without being rebellious or enmeshed, without being reactionary or hateful. The title for today’s meditation—See everything; judge little; forgive much—is inspired by Pope John XXIII’s motto, “See everything; overlook a great deal; correct a little.” Whenever you move to a higher level of consciousness, you would be wise to include the previous stages; do not waste much time reacting against the previous idea or generation, which had some level of truth to it. Rejecting the lower level was the dualistic mistake of almost all reforms and revolutions until very recently. This is why most reformers tended to repeat the same ills but just in a new way. Because nothing really “new” happened, most reforms quickly needed reforming themselves. The ability to “transcend and include” is the sign of a higher (or deeper) level of consciousness.
As you spiritually mature, you can forgive your own—and others’—mistakes. You can let go of everyone who hurt you, your former spouse, the boss who fired you, the church, or even God. You have no interest in carrying around negative baggage. Wisdom emerges when you can see everything, you eliminate none of it, and you include all as important training. Finally, everything belongs. You are eventually able to say, from some larger place that may surprise you, “It is what it is” and “Even the ‘bad’ was good.”
Forgiveness is the Christian form of nonviolence, but we never got really good at it because we did not incorporate it as a full and all-pervasive philosophy of life as it was for some Eastern religions or even as found in the Western A Course in Miracles. [1] When Christians ignore parts of their own message, it seems the Spirit always gets another group to emphasize it and spread it. Like flowing water, God always finds a way through.
Receptive, flowing people are the ones who change the world and transform history. Their possibilities are limitless, because they do not let any seeming barriers stop their path; in fact they well up from within until they can surmount any obstacle. “Be like water” is a good piece of advice.
Gateway to Silence:
We are oned in love.
References:
[1] You can learn more about A Course in Miracles here: https://www.acim.org/.
Adapted from Richard Rohr, A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations (CAC Publishing: 2016), 276-277.
