DISASTROUS CONTEMPLATIONS
DISASTROUS CONTEMPLATIONS
Many thoughts stream into my consciousness, perhaps symbolic of the great hurricane, which has recently inundated the city of New Orleans and the entire gulf coast of the United States. So much is going on around me—so much change, so much drama, so many plots and subplots—on all levels of experience: personal, local, global, universal. The upheavals are symbols I realize. They are metaphors, clues to the great mystery that is ONE. I feel as though I am in the process of piecing together a puzzle, attempting to balance emotion and rationalization. Prioritization and honesty are key. I am by and large not an emotional person. My tendencies are in the direction of detachment and rationalization. I realize that such tendencies can leave one susceptible to being labeled by society as callous and cold. I accept this, although I do not wholly agree with it. At any rate, I am simply attempting to analyze the situation from as many perspectives as possible and fit everything into a framework—for certainly the “purpose” of spiritual practice is to foster the ability to retain equanimity during harrowing experiences and events. What good is spiritual training if it flags under the duress of emotion in times such as these? The “purpose” of spiritual training and life itself, I am convinced, is to learn from experience…and that necessitates detached observation, analysis, and integration of the “pieces” of those experiences. One must consider dreams, words, pictures, sounds, images, memories, and future projections in order to assess events—both “large” and “small”. Indeed, it is my belief that if everybody would take the “time” to reflect on the “small” events that take place constantly throughout ones life and actually seek to learn from them, many of the large scale “wake-up calls” could be averted. What is the meaning of these wake-up calls—the wars, the catastrophic weather events, the violent upheavals? Brothers, I believe all of these “tragic” events occur as the result of our disrespect for or sheer ignorance of the concept of UNITY among all ALL things—not only the unity of all tangible and sensual things, but the unity and power of CONCEPTS and IDEAS. Our thoughts serve to CREATE our world, and I mean that in a very LITERAL way. If it is at all possible for anybody to express the meaning of life itself in words, he or she must in some way convey the sense that we are “here” to generate ideas and to create methods by which we might be able to escape the confines of space and time. Our purpose is to know ourselves as ONE, as GOD. To do this, we must begin by examining the assumptions we make about the world, the universe, ourselves—and we must acknowledge that they are fluid and subject to great distortions. But alas, I find that I am getting off of my original thought track. Returning now.
I have absolutely no doubt that my thoughts are incomprehensibly powerful. Likewise, I have absolutely no doubt that “I” am infinite, but that I am choosing to relinquish some of that infinite power and energy so that “I” might learn from, participate in, and witness the games, dramas, and expressions of “physical” life—that life where space, time, and distinctions among words, emotions, and other living creatures are accepted as “real”. Just as our cells are but microcosms of our “brains” and “bodies”, so our brains and bodies are microcosms of the infinite universe. But the plot is constantly thickening, for we are also reflections of each other and of life itself. Moreover, we are not mere reflections, but we are creative EXPRESSIONS of that infinite universe, which consists of all time, matter, space, and energy. That said, since I have chosen to accept this reality, I feel as though I must learn something from it. This means coming to grips with the omnipresent suffering that abounds at this time around me. I must strive to feel compassion and empathy, but I must also maintain a proper distance—a distance which is adequate to evaluate the unfolding events in light of a universal context. The picture of the nature of LIFE is a hardwired piece of my mental machinery. It is solidified there because it makes sense to me. Life and death are continuous, eternal. Since absolute zero does not exist, it follows that “death” (the cessation of “life”) cannot exist, unless we allow our consciousness to create a new concept of “death”—a concept that integrates it with the concept of “life” itself. In other words, a concept that denies that death is the opposite of life and avows that it is an integral aspect of life. The two coexist at ALL TIMES.
And so in the wake of these formidable disasters and upheavals, I remain calm, but at the same time I can not help but feel that there is a warning, a valuable lesson to learned. One lesson is poignant, and yet it sounds so cliché and trite: Appreciate fully what you have now, but do not become overly attached to it—whether it be the body, a significant other, or material possession. These things are transient and offer no long-term security. Is it possible—perhaps inevitable—that New Orleans, renowned for both excess (consider Mardi Gras=Fat Tuesday) and “saintliness” has been smitten to balance out materialistic forces, arrogance, and hedonism which have dominated that region? Is it a precursor to things to come throughout the entire United States? The world at large? Let it be clear that I do not believe that such catastrophes are the works of “vengeful Gods” or “angry deities”. To anthropomorphosize in such a fashion, to attribute human qualities to “Gods”, is irrefutably the height of arrogance. Rather, I believe these events to be natural “cleansers”, expressions of life that occur to insure the long-term evolution of life itself, which is infinite and indefatigable. (Note that life expresses itself in order to evolve. Life is the prime mover.) Time and again we see that tragedy and apparent chaos serve ultimately to bind and unify life—to bring it together for a common purpose…to heal and become stronger…to make it REALIZE the concept of UNITY. There is nothing superior to this realization.
Many thoughts stream into my consciousness, perhaps symbolic of the great hurricane, which has recently inundated the city of New Orleans and the entire gulf coast of the United States. So much is going on around me—so much change, so much drama, so many plots and subplots—on all levels of experience: personal, local, global, universal. The upheavals are symbols I realize. They are metaphors, clues to the great mystery that is ONE. I feel as though I am in the process of piecing together a puzzle, attempting to balance emotion and rationalization. Prioritization and honesty are key. I am by and large not an emotional person. My tendencies are in the direction of detachment and rationalization. I realize that such tendencies can leave one susceptible to being labeled by society as callous and cold. I accept this, although I do not wholly agree with it. At any rate, I am simply attempting to analyze the situation from as many perspectives as possible and fit everything into a framework—for certainly the “purpose” of spiritual practice is to foster the ability to retain equanimity during harrowing experiences and events. What good is spiritual training if it flags under the duress of emotion in times such as these? The “purpose” of spiritual training and life itself, I am convinced, is to learn from experience…and that necessitates detached observation, analysis, and integration of the “pieces” of those experiences. One must consider dreams, words, pictures, sounds, images, memories, and future projections in order to assess events—both “large” and “small”. Indeed, it is my belief that if everybody would take the “time” to reflect on the “small” events that take place constantly throughout ones life and actually seek to learn from them, many of the large scale “wake-up calls” could be averted. What is the meaning of these wake-up calls—the wars, the catastrophic weather events, the violent upheavals? Brothers, I believe all of these “tragic” events occur as the result of our disrespect for or sheer ignorance of the concept of UNITY among all ALL things—not only the unity of all tangible and sensual things, but the unity and power of CONCEPTS and IDEAS. Our thoughts serve to CREATE our world, and I mean that in a very LITERAL way. If it is at all possible for anybody to express the meaning of life itself in words, he or she must in some way convey the sense that we are “here” to generate ideas and to create methods by which we might be able to escape the confines of space and time. Our purpose is to know ourselves as ONE, as GOD. To do this, we must begin by examining the assumptions we make about the world, the universe, ourselves—and we must acknowledge that they are fluid and subject to great distortions. But alas, I find that I am getting off of my original thought track. Returning now.
I have absolutely no doubt that my thoughts are incomprehensibly powerful. Likewise, I have absolutely no doubt that “I” am infinite, but that I am choosing to relinquish some of that infinite power and energy so that “I” might learn from, participate in, and witness the games, dramas, and expressions of “physical” life—that life where space, time, and distinctions among words, emotions, and other living creatures are accepted as “real”. Just as our cells are but microcosms of our “brains” and “bodies”, so our brains and bodies are microcosms of the infinite universe. But the plot is constantly thickening, for we are also reflections of each other and of life itself. Moreover, we are not mere reflections, but we are creative EXPRESSIONS of that infinite universe, which consists of all time, matter, space, and energy. That said, since I have chosen to accept this reality, I feel as though I must learn something from it. This means coming to grips with the omnipresent suffering that abounds at this time around me. I must strive to feel compassion and empathy, but I must also maintain a proper distance—a distance which is adequate to evaluate the unfolding events in light of a universal context. The picture of the nature of LIFE is a hardwired piece of my mental machinery. It is solidified there because it makes sense to me. Life and death are continuous, eternal. Since absolute zero does not exist, it follows that “death” (the cessation of “life”) cannot exist, unless we allow our consciousness to create a new concept of “death”—a concept that integrates it with the concept of “life” itself. In other words, a concept that denies that death is the opposite of life and avows that it is an integral aspect of life. The two coexist at ALL TIMES.
And so in the wake of these formidable disasters and upheavals, I remain calm, but at the same time I can not help but feel that there is a warning, a valuable lesson to learned. One lesson is poignant, and yet it sounds so cliché and trite: Appreciate fully what you have now, but do not become overly attached to it—whether it be the body, a significant other, or material possession. These things are transient and offer no long-term security. Is it possible—perhaps inevitable—that New Orleans, renowned for both excess (consider Mardi Gras=Fat Tuesday) and “saintliness” has been smitten to balance out materialistic forces, arrogance, and hedonism which have dominated that region? Is it a precursor to things to come throughout the entire United States? The world at large? Let it be clear that I do not believe that such catastrophes are the works of “vengeful Gods” or “angry deities”. To anthropomorphosize in such a fashion, to attribute human qualities to “Gods”, is irrefutably the height of arrogance. Rather, I believe these events to be natural “cleansers”, expressions of life that occur to insure the long-term evolution of life itself, which is infinite and indefatigable. (Note that life expresses itself in order to evolve. Life is the prime mover.) Time and again we see that tragedy and apparent chaos serve ultimately to bind and unify life—to bring it together for a common purpose…to heal and become stronger…to make it REALIZE the concept of UNITY. There is nothing superior to this realization.
posted by Todd Reinhard at 3:41 AM
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