Forest Poetry

06/7/10

The Religious Community

Filed under: Uncategorized — Tags: , , , — admin @ 3:23 pm

“It is interesting to note that in almost every field or specialty, common sense tells us that we need guidance and such is sought from experts. But when it comes to spiritual matters the greater majority have no hesitation in choosing themselves as both expert and advisor. This despite the Muslim aphorism that he who uses himself as his own director has Satan for his guide.” – Rama Coomaraswamy

How many times have we heard “I believe in a supreme energy, something like God, but I’m against organized religion” or “I’m spiritual, but not religious”?

As we explained before, the socialization of spiritual experiences can give us a compared perspective, and a way to share values. Nonetheless, people opt for building their own spiritualities in a mix of concepts and spiritual-like media. People become lone wolves in their spiritual pursuit, but being realists, lone wolves aren’t precisely the most efficient members of the wolf pack.

The Jesuit priest James Martin says:

“Being spiritual but not religious can lead to complacency and self-centeredness,”…”Religion is hard,” he says. “Sometimes it’s just too much work. People don’t feel like it. I have better things to do with my time. It’s plain old laziness.”

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/personal/06/03/spiritual.but.not.religious/?hpt=C1

The truth is that people choosing their own ways of spirituality, besides lacking compromise, misunderstand the basic tenets of religions they conveniently cherry pick from.  Let’s remember: “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”  Matthew 18:20, or in the words of Buddha: “Well awakened, they’re awake, ever the Buddha’s pupils, who constantly by day, by night, are mindful of the Sangha. [community]” Dhammapada, 298.

sangha

Religions, despite the obvious human mistakes, have been protectors of sacred literature, that literature which holds the concepts  “God”, “soul”, “spirit”. Nevertheless, people believe that these concepts are simply there, in the books, DVDs or websites they consume, thinking that they need no further discipline and organization to dwell deeper in the concepts that,  in the best case, are just theoretically correct.

05/17/10

Steps to the Spiritual Realization

Filed under: English — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:31 am

“In the ancient days, when the first quiver of speech came to my lips, I ascended the holy mountain and spoke unto God, saying, ‘Master, I am thy slave. Thy hidden will is my law and I shall obey thee for ever more.’But God made no answer, and like a mighty tempest passed away.And after a thousand years I ascended the holy mountain and again spoke unto God, saying, ‘Creator, I am thy creation. Out of clay hast thou fashioned me and to thee I owe mine all.’

And God made no answer, but like a thousand swift wings passed away.

And after a thousand years I climbed the holy mountain and spoke unto God again, saying, ‘Father, I am thy son. In pity and love thou hast given me birth, and through love and worship I shall inherit thy kingdom.’

And God made no answer, and like the mist that veils the distant hills he passed away.

And after a thousand years I climbed the sacred mountain and again spoke unto God, saying, ‘My God, my aim and my fulfillment; I am thy yesterday and thou art my tomorrow. I am thy root in the earth and thou art my flower in the sky, and together we grow before the face of the sun.’

Then God leaned over me, and in my ears whispered words of sweetness, and even as the sea that enfoldeth a brook that runneth down to her, he enfolded me.

And when I descended to the valleys and the plains God was there also.

-“God” by Khalil Gibran

Man, as a slave, is tied to his master and his laws. Man surrenders because he fears the punishment of his disobedience; because he has tasted solitude and error, and by following orders he will commit no mistake and he will not be alone. He lowers his head, and begs for a master to grant him no hell. This is called in Catholicism “Attrition” or “Imperfect Contrition” where the sinner repents for fear of the sanction, and not for love of God. The Trent Council in Canon v, Sess. XIV declares: “If any man assert that attrition . . . is not a true and a profitable sorrow; that it does not prepare the soul for grace, but that it makes a man a hypocrite, yea, even a greater sinner, let him be anathema”¹ In this state, life is an unavoidable burden which subjugates man and leaves no place for piety.

What follows is man as a creature, whose life is a gift, a grace, the divine breath infused in all living flesh. Yet man cannot recognize his own soul, confusing it with life, with some inkling of joy as a creature, as an animal, but not in the glory of his recognition as the imago dei, the image of God, and therefore grace is not fully received. In the Platonic school of thought, there is an idea called Scala Naturae, or “Great chain of being”, where man is imbued with the Logos. He’s beyond a creature, an animal, plant or stone. Although in this state, just as a creation, he can’t recognize this and so he understands himself only as his lower self allows him to. path

And next man, as a son, sees himself as a lesser, mortal god, who deserves a place in Heaven through devotion and love. But the duality remains. The son knows about his Father, yet, he still is divided from Him, wrapped in the veil of maya, wailing in this valley of tears, expecting the kingdom of no suffering to come to the Earth. But, is He actually apart from man, waiting for an event to have an actual existence in the heart of His son? The sufi poet Ibn ‘Arabi said about this:

“You presume others to be other than Allah. There is nothing

other than He, but you do not know this. While you are

looking at Him you do not recognize Him. When the secret

opens to you, you will know that you are none other than He”

Man, as one with God, finally reaches Wahdat al-Wajud, or Unity of Being. Man becomes just a manifestation of God, not an entity that is separated by a intermediary reality. As was exposed by Meister Eckhart in his fourth sermon: “The eye with which I see God is the same with which God sees me. My eye and God’s eye is one eye, and one sight, and one knowledge, and one love.” This is the highest realization of man, and even when man goes through the world, the certainty of Oneness acompanies him wherever he goes.

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¹New Advent: Catholic Encyclopedia . http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02065a.htm

03/6/10

Life and Study

Filed under: English — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:30 am

The following passage is quoted from the classic Buddhist text The Dhammapada (translated by Gil Fronsdal):

“One who recites many teachings
 But, being negligent, doesn’t act accordingly,
 Like a cowherd counting other’s cows,
 Doe not attain the benefits of the contemplative life.

One who recites but a few teachings
 Yet lives according to the Dharma,
 Abandoning passion, ill will, and delusion,
 Aware and with mind well freed,
 Not clinging in this life or the next,
 Attains the benefits of the contemplative life.”

This passage highlights an important issue for Traditionalists: the balance of contemplation and activity. We are excited by explorations of traditional wisdom, as we should be, given that this wisdom is the greatest human possession, a boon from the divine that can show us the best way to live; but we must not forget to simply live. In the worst circumstances we can become too attached to the academic search for wisdom and neglect the implementation of wisdom in our lives. If one feels regret or is distressed that one will never master the terminology and symbolism of every traditional doctrine, or that studying these doctrines in their original languages would take a lifetime of work, one must carefully examine one’s deepest motivations for study and see if they are pure. Buddhism stresses this point by stories of lowly figures such as washerwomen attaining enlightenment without ever studying the scriptures. The Christian tradition also features unlearned mystics who received the gift of grace. Academic learning is not essential to living a healthy spiritual life.

St. Thomas Aquinas

That is not to say, of course, that we are anti-intellectual. In traditional societies there are individuals whose sole duty is to engage in intellectual study of sacred doctrines, preserving the proper understanding of revelation for the entire community. But in the West, traditional civilization has long since disappeared, and those of us who wish to restore Tradition must understand that we cannot approach life as if we were members of a learned class whose sole occupation is to engage in intellectual activity. Proper intellectual activity is key, and without it no restoration can take place, but when traditional civilization collapsed, all of the traditional societal functions disappeared, not just the intellectual function. For the time being, we must be more versatile, and integrate the wisdom that we have into lives more or less within the mainstream of society as examples for change.

11/24/09

New Article: The Virtue of Prayer

Filed under: English — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 12:05 am

“This method of spiritual recognition has two inescapable and mutually inclusive sides: on one hand ethics as a guide for behavior for the external, material world, and on the other hand a contemplative exercise for inward, spiritual experience. In order to know the Divine, beyond all the acknowledged metaphysical theory, both these interdependent and indivisible aspects must be present within a given religion.¹

What exactly is this contemplative praxis? Very simple: Prayer.”

Read the full article here.

08/20/09

An Exhortation

Filed under: English — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:15 pm

In countless myths from all traditional cultures of the world, strong, fair heroes do battle with vile and deformed beasts. Sometimes the heroes are remarkable mortals, sometimes the gods themselves, the villains also varying in power. These tales have endured in popularity, even to the modern day, although their true meaning is no longer widely understood. It is often assumed that these tales serve to show the triumph of good over evil and to serve as an inspiration to act in a similar manner. While this is an accurate interpretation, it is not the most profound level of understanding, and one must not neglect the metaphysical significance, the meaning of the tales that can be applied to internal spiritual realization.

The characters in these myths represent the eternal metaphysical principles that govern the world and the life of man. The “battle” that takes places represents the struggle in manifested things that exist suspended between the beauty and order of the divine and the shadow existence of matter. These things can either hold fast to the divine and thereby stabilize their existence (that is, the heroes can be triumphant), or they can veer towards matter and dissolution (that is, the villains can be triumphant). The Greek philosopher Proclus describes it thus, referencing the myth of Athena doing battle with the giants:

“The true warfare with the giants takes place in souls: whenever reason and intellect rule in them, the goods of the Olympians and Athena prevail, and the entire life is kingly and philosophical; but whenever the passions reign, or in general the worse and earth-born elements, then the constitution within them is tyranny.” ¹

Many of those who deplore modernity lament that the glorious struggles of past legends are absent from a world that has been reduced by technology and quantitative valuations, and they long for an age when a man can exert all of his energies in a struggle for the good. While such external conditions are indeed desirable, a yearning for such an external struggle must not obscure the true battle. If the true battle is in our souls, then good men must be more fervent in this battle; they must crave victory and sacrifice in this struggle just as assiduously as they would with swords in their hands. Unlike the physical battle, this inner battle does not end, at least not for any but the most advanced spiritual masters. Consider, then, how hard you would fight and strain when facing enemies on the field, and make that thought present in your mind when the worse elements within yourself begin to assert themselves.

¹Proclus. Proclus’ Commentary on Plato’s “Parmenides” Trans. Glenn R. Morrow and John M. Dillon. New York: Princeton UP, 1992. Print, 71.

07/8/09

Spirituality is Religion

Filed under: English — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:39 pm

Roughly three months ago, Jon Meacham published an article for NEWSWEEK titled The End of Christian America. In this article, the author mentions that “the rising numbers of religiously unaffiliated Americans are people more apt to call themselves ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘religious.’ (In the new NEWSWEEK Poll, 30 percent describe themselves this way, up from 24 percent in 2005.)” […]

To begin with, I think that society as a whole harbors incorrect presuppositions about religion. I won’t necessarily play the blame game, seeing as I feel that Christianity has often been misrepresented by its supposed adherents, but nonetheless, society now possesses numerous false ideas about what the movement is or what it should be. The truth of the matter is, Christianity becomes simply religion when relationship is replaced by routine.

This is the exact problem the apostle Paul dealt with in writing to the church at Philippi. In Philippians 3:1-16, Paul addresses the difficulty in dealing with the Judaizers in the church. This group set out to impose a sort of “Christian checklist” for all believers. The problem in this, of course, is that salvation is nothing that can be earned by human means. Upon successfully explaining this issue, Paul then proceeded in 3:17-4:1 to address antinomianism. This movement was essentially the opposite of the legalistic Judaizers, and these people felt that salvation could be obtained only by faith. Unfortunately, these people had actual standards for behavior.

What this means for Christians today is that we won’t be saved by simply fulfilling self-imposed obligations of praying, reading the Bible, etc. However, we do have to maintain behavioral standards for spiritual living, and these disciplines will involve structure and order to some extent.

-Link

The moment that a man communicates his spiritual emotions to another man, religion takes shape, because from this communication, a dialectic springs forth, and association occurs. Through the success of these ideas, or Revelations, Religion becomes the inescapable connection between the human group and the Divine.

Reading the article in this light, we notice the loss of contact from people towards this connection, to place themselves exclusively in the grounds of spiritual individuality. Why does this happen? A diversity of cultures living together and having a common territory produces a system which has to sustain them economically based on a democratic and secular ambience independent of their beliefs, creating space for an elective form of spirituality for the individual. However, this form of spirituality is often lacking.

We know that the mystic experience takes the form of the subjective , but its action framework doesn’t end there. It tends to be communicated, compared, and transmitted simply due to the love for Truth. Beyond seeing religious precepts as norms, religion brings behavioral standards to aid in a successful life in the community.

What does a man or woman gain by entering into traditional religion?

-Knowledge, peculiar to the communicative nature of religious association.

-An expert’s guidance in metaphysical and ethical issues.

-Identity.

-Social cohesion with like minded people, disposed to common objectives.

-Friendship and even romantic relationships with persons of similar values.

-Familiar integration in religious activities.

An individual of spiritual wealth can only benefit from traditional religion, acquiring associative capabilities and an opportunity to share knowledge.

En Español

06/13/09

What We Stand to Win: Sacrificing Technology

Filed under: English — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:50 pm

As explained in our article “The Problem of Technology”, humanity has lost many things through its obsession with mechanistic advancement. Here are some things we stand to win by using technology in a responsible manner, or not using it at all.

Community: While communications technology connects us to ever more distant people, it disconnects us from our more immediate environments, leading to isolation and social ineptitude. With the time you gain back by not using communications to interact with or read about distant people who are most likely inconsequential, focus on developing relationships with your family, friends, church, and township.

-Join a cultural group (choruses, historical societies, environmental initiatives, book clubs, newspapers, churches etc.) in your community and help it to flourish.
-Take a role in town politics.
-Pick and maintain close friends.
-Teach your children a useful skill, like fishing.
-Take time off with your spouse.

Environment: Much how communications technology has attached us to people with whom we have no spiritual or pragmatic relationship, it has also attached us to lands that are foreign to our own, warping our sense of cultural and geographical identity, as well as robbing us of skill sets that can only be gained through a close relationship with wilderness. Skip the irrelevance associated with being a “citizen of the world” by foregoing overexposure to international media, and instead become a citizen of your backyard and the land and streets surrounding it.

-Work and play near your place of residence, and spend time becoming accustomed to the outdoors through cycling, hiking, hunting, or the like.
-Know what crops grow well in your region, and learn how to cultivate, prepare, and store them.
-Know the game and edible wild plants of your region, well enough to be able to survive off the land alone if you had too.
-Know the streets and trails in your community well enough to give accurate directions to any thinking passerby.
-Know the history of the land you live on, why it’s important, and teach this to others.

Mental: Technological advancement has provided access to an exponentially increasing pool of data in the form of electronic media, but overexposure to this hollow information can desensitize and preoccupy us, robbing our minds of mental quietude. With the mental space that you gain by ignoring excess media like television, spend time devoting yourself to a task that exercises and improves your brain, rather than filling it with useless “facts”.

-Pray regularly.
-Take on creative projects, such as building a table for your house, or writing poetry.
-Develop new skill sets, and improve old ones. Focus on your weak areas, and learn by doing rather than reading.

It should be stated that while it is nice to think that self control alone can accomplish these goals, for many of us this is unrealistic. Do not be afraid to throw away the television, break a CD in half, unplug the computer, or even cancel your subscription to national newspapers if the temptation proves too great.

All this comes with the added benefits of money saved and time reclaimed. Plus you will have a renewed sense of self confidence at your ability to ignore modern trends, and instead forge a better path.

Additionally, while disconnecting from modernity and re-connecting with the immanent is indeed a spiritual mandate, and will reflect and augment our spiritual health, it can never replace an actual connection to spirituality in itself. We should never use activity as a surrogate for philosophical understanding, and perhaps most importantly we should not mistake one for the other.

The obvious irony of all this is that you are reading these words thanks to some form of electronic technology, and we are writing them with the assistance of that technology. As explained before(“The Problem of Technology”), this can only be rationalized as being a temporary, necessary evil, whose consequences are far less severe than the alternative. In any case, these words are written with the intent and hope that once their meaning is fully comprehended and internalized by all, then we will no longer desire the machines on which they were written.

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