Eating Issues

Tags

Buddhism, Christianity, contemplation, divine presence, food, meditation, religion, table hospitality

One of the joys of getting back to church last Sunday was in joining in with fellow parishioners in a discussion of Richard Rohr’s book, The Naked Now. It explores the concept of “present moment” work as a method of meditation or contemplation. Like many other works of this nature, its basic premise is that we experience the divine from within, and the great Christian mystics attain the same basic state as do the great Buddhist monks and yogis.

In this study, I am blessed to share my thoughts with a group of people who are highly educated and thoughtful people. They are readers, thinkers, and doers in the world. They are highly placed business people, college professors, theologians and biblical experts, and others of intellectual acuity and attainment. I learn a great deal, always.

This has not been my usual experience in other Christian faith traditions generally speaking. For reasons that are not necessary to this discussion, the Episcopal Church tends to attract the better educated and more career advanced of our populations. This is especially true in my church.

A statement was made by one participant that stuck with me, and provided some deeper thoughts within me. I thought I would share with you what that is, and ask for your thoughts. I’m not at all sure my analysis is accurate, and it is preliminary, but my first thoughts may lead to your second thoughts, and thus perhaps further sharpening by others. All in the name of learning and thinking, and being what we all are–inquisitive humans.

The statement referred to the fact that both Buddhist and Christian share this methodology of reaching the divine–call it contemplation or meditation. It is the attempt to remain focused on the present, without judging or naming. It is to proceed deeper into a  Oneness with the universe, and with the Divine Knowing, or God, or Higher Power, or whatever you wish to call it. We call it different things, but when described, it is clear we both are experiencing the same thing.

How ironic then that we differ to very much on another issue, that of table hospitality. It will be noted that the Jewish practice, indeed the Middle East tradition of table hospitality has a long and rich history, well independent of Christianity or Judaism for that matter. It was a survival technique developed in the desert environment that placed life about politics if you will. Any stranger or even enemy was graciously invited to eat and rest and was safe while within the environs of the camp.

Jesus took this practice to new levels, suggesting that even in a urban setting, such as Jerusalem or the small towns and villages that surrounded it, such practices should continue, and enlarge to include all the “others” we might identify. The ritually unclean, the sinner of whatever kind and so forth. Jews have continued the practice, and all Christians are urged to as well. We all conclude that the best meal is the one shared with others in friendly and warm conversation and laughter.

How different the practice of many Buddhists. Mindfulness trumps conviviality. Instead of sparkling conversation, there is often perfect silence, and by design. The monk would tell you that silence allows total focus on the food–its texture, its taste, its temperature, its aroma. Monks wish to experience food as clearly as possible, not diminished by mindless chatter.

It is well to remember that some Christian monasteries also practice silence during meals, but this is generally the result of an imposed order of silence that is normal for most all day, or perhaps even most all week. This is an attempt to keep focused not so much on the task before the monk or nun, but rather to retain focus in all doings on God. Constant prayer is the goal.

I can see the efficacy of both practices. Dieters are admonished to turn off  extraneous distracting influences such as TV and MP3 players. Distractions cause absent-minded eating. Yet, in the main, we pursue the family gathering as healthy to us emotionally and psychologically.

I began to wonder if there was any explanation for these so different practices and reasonings. I came up with one, but I am not sure how valuable are the insights, nor how strong the argument. You be the judge.

Christians are not by nature pantheists–people who believe that God permeates all things, and that all things are God. This concept leads to a dumbing down in a sense of God and his working in the world, and is rejected theologically as simply wrong. Yet Buddhists do tend to see the divine in all things. There is a reverence for life, for the beauty of stone and sand. There is a palpable response to every day things as sacred. All this without a defined concept of God as a defined creator.

Yet, in Buddhism, many Christians do see a sense of the sacred, of the divine, and that the Oneness with all things amounts in a sense to a wisdom presence that can be entered into and benefited from. Thus the intense time spent in meditation by believing Buddhists.

I think Christians, on the other hand, are taught to look primarily to each other to see the divine. Jesus taught that we would see him in the faces of those whom society rejected, the poor, the sinner, the tax collector, the diseased. Our hospitality looks to people to reveal the face of God, thus we find the food less interesting that the company we are in. The food enhances, rather than directs the meal.

Does this explain the difference? Hardly, but it offers an insight I believe. Or perhaps I am all wet. Anyway, it’s what I got to thinking about. As always that is a dangerous thing. Who knows what craziness I’ll come up with if I’m allowed to continue thinking. I guess that’s why fundamentalists turn away in droves when I open my mouth. Thinking is dangerous!

Exploring the Faith Matrix

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atheism, divine, duelism, faith, God, meditation, mind, presence, unbelief

I’ve acquired some wonderful new friends on Facebook, people who, from my perspective, see the world rationally. One, said something that got me to thinking.

C.S. Lewis, (or someone!) said something to the effect that if God/no God were an even proposition, then, choosing God cost nothing and garnered a great reward if God is real, but not choosing  God would cost eternity if you were wrong. You get the point. My friend suggested that he had not found this argument compelling.

I share that conclusion, perhaps mostly because I “back read” my belief that there is not all or nothing, salvation or damnation dualism when it comes to God in the first place. But even if that is  not true, I think my friend is right. Fear should not be the motivator to  “becoming” a believer.

Surely, non believers care about their community and humanity. Surely they volunteer, and give money to good causes. But just as surely the believer engages in other behaviors based on faith. Attending services regularly is but one of them. An active prayer life, or spiritual practices constitute more “time” devoted to faith. These cost in time what can be spent elsewhere. And I think everyone agrees that a one time “I believe” is not evidence of a living faith. So, the non-believer must expend something beyond a mere assent to faith. Therefore, he/she is entitled to a better proof.

Unfortunately no proof is forthcoming. Only the believer sees proof, because proof is not of a tangible sort, it is a special way of seeing and knowing that is more akin to wisdom than intellectual fact finding. That of course sounds fishy to the unbeliever, and I also understand that.

But it remains true, nonetheless. It is a paradox. Richard Rohr in his books describes this as the losing of oneself to find oneself. Jesus of course said this first. It is precisely the act of being counter intuitive that aligns us with the divine. Like  Justice Black, we know it when we see it.

A few days ago, I was driving to town for groceries. On the way back, I found myself in a tangle of intellectual musings. I cannot recall the topic now, but I “awoke” to find myself going down the road, a bit unsure of exactly where I was. Within a minute or so, I recognized a barn or house, and realized that I had executed at least two turns and was within a couple miles of home.

We have all had that experience. But think of what really is entailed. My mind (the one I am aware of) was busily engaged in working out a details of some thought on some subject. All the while, another “me” was lifting foot from gas, applying brake, turning wheel, and so forth, more than once. Some part of “me” was “seeing” the road, observing potential danger, reacting. Two of me were working in tandem, each apparently unaware of the other.

So what you say? Well, it seems to me that it suggests something of value. We are not who we think we are. Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am,” and many of us take that to be a fine statement of existence. Yet, this shadow person, and there may be more, quietly seems to work along side, taking over as needed, to preserve me when my mind veers to daydreaming. It keeps me from walking off cliffs, and driving off bridges.

Is it so hard then to realize that within me is a God spark–that “feeling” of unity with something so much bigger than myself? I think not. All those who meditate know this feeling. I am aware that I tread dangerously close to the argument that “god is in the gaps”. In other words, what I cannot explain, I assign to God. As science explains more, God continues to shrink.

I do not mean this. I mean, that it is increasingly clear that the mind is more complicated, more multifaceted than we might have thought. I am an ego, that is the part of me that I talk to, but I am talking to something aren’t I? I must in some way recognize that there is more to me than this ego personality, developed from birth, the result of all experience and learning that are peculiar to me.

This “other” me, the one that calls me to do right rather than wrong, the one that calls me to hope rather than despair, the one that soars in creative dreaming, rather than logical rational mundane reality, this is the Spirit that offers. It offers union. It is the Divine being patient, gentle, never forcing, never demanding, waiting, offering, loving. Blessedly, I’ve had this experience, and at least for small moments in time, I have fallen into that offering. I have released my fears and need to control. I have experienced freedom, and unconditional love.

As I said, I cannot prove it. It cannot be proven. It must be experienced. It cannot be willed, nor demanded, nor intellectually mandated. The best way developed so far to take this journey is by meditative practice. It is getting outside of  dualism. If I were to offer to my non-believing friends one thing, it would not be a bible, nor a theological proof, nor inspirational stories galore. It would be to read a good book on mediation, and then try it.

Even if you never experience this transcendent  moment, you will find it serves good purposes. It will lower your blood pressure, reduce stress, and actually, I’m told, make you a clearer thinker. Answers to sticky problems come forth. That is good enough reason. The fact that you may encounter for the first time, God, and thus learn the joy and peace of  the Holy, is bonus.

Why not try? You have nothing to lose but yourself.

Learning to be Human

Tags

contemplation, divinity, ego, gospels, humanness, Jesus, meditation, psychology, Syro-Phoenician woman, the Now

As I think I mentioned, I’ve been reading Richard Rohr’s, The Naked Now. It was really a foregone conclusion that I would adore his writing, I’d heard enough said about him from a number of bloggers who read him and were praiseworthy. That was plenty of recommendation.

Rohr talks about how to experience the Divine in the way the mystics do, and that essentially is in the practice of “now.” It is a well grounded practice in Eastern faith traditions, and frankly, has a long history in Western faiths as well, just by another name. In the East, the method of practice is meditation, in the West, it is called contemplation.

Both involve letting go of ego and past and future, and centering on the now. This is where we meet God. This is where we listen, open ourselves and wait. This is where we, if we surrender ourselves, find guidance. For all those who have experienced this wonder, whether for a moment or for long periods, it is in some sense indescribable, but pure joy. There is a oneness, a feeling of connectedness to all that is.

As anyone who has practiced either meditation or contemplation can tell you, the effort is hard. There is nothing harder to control than one’s own mind. The ego has a vested interest (it’s own perceived survival) in maintaining control, and keeping things within “known” parameters. To surrender to the Spirit, is to step off the cliff without a parachute. The ego fights mightily, and as anyone who has tried will tell you, the mind fills with one inane and disconnected thought after another, as one, in increasing desperation, tries to “quiet” the mind. But it is never about forcing, it is about letting go.

Living in the now means to be centered in the feelings, and senses fully of what is happening around you. Not thinking of what needs go on the grocery list, not recalling last night’s movie, not rehashing an argument of a week ago. It is smelling the flowers, feeling the sun upon your cheek, hearing the rustle of leaves in the trees, seeing the sparkle of sunlight upon the dew lipped blade of grass. It is being drunk in this moment of time.

While it is a perfect place to be, it cannot be the only place, lest we never get up, never move, and die of hunger and thirst. We must plan at least to shop and clean and it is also valuable to reflect, hoping to stave off repeating mistakes again and again. Still, we strive to be “now” people as much as possible, where we are called to be authentic and to respond authentically and with full attention to the world. As Rohr and others point out, we are Spirit, our job is to become fully human.

One point is made clear, that much of “now” work is non-dualistic. And we in the West, particularly, have a tough time with non duality. We are a right/wrong, up/down, happy/sad type of folk. Nothing brings this closer to home for us than contemplation of the humanity/divinity of Christ.

We by creedal refrain proclaim this belief. We assure anyone that it is true, (at least for most Christians). Yet, in our hearts of hearts, we are nearly incapable of realizing such a situation. How indeed can Jesus be fully human and fully divine at the same time?  We struggle with this, and imagine some switch whereby Jesus turned first one, and then the other on and off. One idling in the background while the other surges to the fore. We imagine, as best we can, but we don’t truly get it.

Yet the bible has a couple of stories that help us see it at least. One is the story of the Syro Phoenician woman. The story was apparently well known, used by both Matthew(15:21-28) and Luke (7:24-30). A Canaanite woman approaches Jesus and asks for help in healing her daughter. Jesus at first refuses, until the woman reminds him that even the “dogs receive the scraps from the table.” Jesus then does as she asks.

The story has always been difficult for me. Who is this Jesus who is so rude and dismissive? He has been traveling afoot for perhaps hours, and he clearly wants some peace, without the crowds demanding of him. When the woman approaches, alerting perhaps others that he is in fact the famous Jesus, he responds with  “it is not fair to share the food for the children with the dogs.”

This is mighty mean stuff. He refers to the woman and her child as being unworthy, dogs in comparison to the Israelites. He is dismissive. He appears tired and angry at the interruption. In a sense, one can think that Jesus was distracted with other thoughts, and reacted to the woman without thinking.

A similar story is told in all of the gospels about the cleansing of the temple, one of which in John, is replete with Jesus fashioning a whip out of cord to accomplish the task. Many people recoil again, at the anger expressed by Christ.

I think that we find in these stories, that perhaps unknowingly, the writer relates a glimpse of the real humanity of Jesus peaking through. Jesus was perhaps the human being who had transcended more than any other into the realm of perfect unity with the Divine, illustrated by living mostly in the Now. Yet, in his very humanness, he too, from time to time, failed and was overcome by ego. He too let gain purchase the too human emotions of frustration, anger, and perhaps physical exhaustion.

These stories, serve to point out to us, that we are in process. Even Jesus was it seems. His humanness in this is something we can relate to and thus we can truly seek to emulate his way of living. He failed here and there. We fail more than we succeed, yet, we are given courage and strength by his slips.

It is said, that without Jesus’ humanity, there is no point for us. If he is not us, then our efforts can come to nothing. These stories feed our need to feel that the effort is worthwhile. It is well we remember this. Tomorrow is another day to get up, dust ourselves off, and try again. Jesus, and the Creator beckon. Will you enter into the Now with them?

Peeking Inside My Head

Tags

ego, faith, God, meditation, personality, religion, self

Eye of God

Sitting in the bar the other night, having a rousing conversation with God, I paused. . . .

Okay, so I wasn’t sitting in a bar, but I do have rather intense conversations with God on a regular basis. No, I’m not crazy, I don’t hear voices or see things that other folks don’t. Nothing so mundane and thoroughly explainable as that.

But I do imagine God’s response to things I think about a lot. It seems rather normal to me, and is, I find a pretty good check on my tendency to put me first. Who is me, after all?

I’m tempted to say that I’m not really who you think I am, or I think I am, most of the time. This is a bit of a test actually. Imagine someone, anyone asking you, who are you? Note your response. . . . I’ll give you a minute.

If you said, “I’m a wife, mother, accountant, Catholic, feminist,” etc, etc, etc, you’ve fallen into my trap. You are repeating what other people define you as, what your ego defines itself as. That’s not at all who you are actually.

(TRUMPETS PLEASE). You are: “a spiritual being having a human experience.”

The ego takes the sum total of memory, of experiences, and conversations, of the looks given and received, words said and received, and creates a “personality” from this, and declares itself IT. Our conscious mind does this automatically it seems, without direction.

Yet, those of us immersed in meditation practices know that hidden deep inside, under all the chaotic yammering that goes inside our heads, is our real self, inextricably bound to God, or at least  many of us so  believe.

It is God as us, that spark called Spirit, shared with this living flesh, abiding in us, as us, watching, experiencing, and when given permission by “us” acting through us.

It’s at the same time, simple as a drop of rain, and as complicated as the most detailed of chemical compounds. We ignore it, and go blithely on our way, stumbling through life, thinking we are personality us, or we recognize the true us, and spend hours upon hours searching and trying to connect, to be aware of God within us.

It’s hard, and it can take a lifetime. It sometimes no doubt is never achieved, this blissful state of Oneness we so desire. Yet, those of us convinced of its reality, cannot stop the quest.

I was over at Dave’s blog earlier today, commenting on a post he did on Bill Richardson and the death penalty. I saw a “quote of the month” that was ironic to me, true and not true at the same time. To paraphrase, it said basically, that you are probably on the wrong track if you find that God dislikes the same people you do.

No doubt there is a lot of truth in that, but it’s one of those things, that also carries its opposite I think, or it can. It depends you see. Depends on whether you are on the right track in fact. Then perhaps your sense of good and bad is pretty darn good, and God would agree with you in principle at least.

Now, you have to understand that I start from the premise, that no one is lost. I don’t believe in hell, except for the fact that you can create a pretty darn nice one here on earth. God is sad when we do that, but he can’t stop us from our choices.

I believe that God calls us to him, but those who can’t or won’t answer, for whatever reason, aren’t punished but received home with open arms come that point of transition. What comes next I have no clue, but I sure hope its growth and learning, and lots of traveling around the universe, seeing all the sights and having important  work to do.

I do tend to think that those who progress farther along the path in life graduate higher and have more important work than others, but that doesn’t mean that the non-believers are left to being janitors, it just means they start learning from farther back.

This means of course that the proverbial bad guys (Hitler, Dalmer, bin Ladin, Stalin, etc, etc, etc, ) get there too. This drives some people utterly wild with anger. I find it right and good that God does thusly, and I find it amusing that it rankles some minds to distraction.

After all, these self-proclaimed righteous types always claim they do “right” because they love God. Truth is, they do it because they feel this is the price to be paid for eternal life. And it drives them batty to think that they “sacrificed” so much for nothing. They cannot and will not allow that it is possible. Why society would fall apart if everyone acted out from their baser instincts.

I guess that depends on what you think about humanity. I tend to think that we basically “get it” instinctively that we can’t steal, kill, and otherwise disrupt each other willy nilly and survive. What we do to another would and will be done to us. Common sense tells us to behave and to do so fairly rationally.

After all, I know of no study that suggests that atheists are law breakers and immoral turds to a degree any larger than anyone else. In fact, I think they tend to be at least as good as everyone who professes God.

So like I said, I have these conversations with God. Sometimes they are a hoot. Like this one:

“Okay, Pops, what do you REALLY think of George Dubya and Darth Cheney? The truth!”

God: “Two of my favorites actually smartie. George is like a big dumb kid, with a good heart, hoping to please. But I admit, you can get lost in that head of his. Not much up there, if you get my drift.Easy to manipulate and he ends up doing stupid things. He never got over that meeting when they sat him down and told him they wanted to run him for president. Reality never really set in until about year 7, when he started to get the feeling he had been. . . err used. That’s why he wouldn’t pardon Scooter Libby, just wanted to stick it to Dick for running his presidency into the ditch.”

“Dick, now there’s a piece of work. He actually thinks he’s me. Thinks he knows what I want. Couldn’t be more wrong, but wow you can’t get passed that arrogance. I keep toying with the idea of letting him think he’s gone to hell when the time comes, just for a few minutes…just to shake him up. Otherwise, he’s gonna argue with me about how we conduct business up here. And well, there is only ONE of us after all.”

Hope you enjoyed the trip through my head!