Tag Archives: reality

TENTATIVE ENCOUNTERS WITH REALITY

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Everything – living and nonliving –
Shares, in some way, with God –
Even our sleepy selves.

But this effect tends to disappear
As soon as we experience it –
Yet is the reason it seems so beautiful!

Life appears to be, and is, exquisite
When we experience it slipping through our fingers –

We try our best to hold onto it –
But are able to capture only a few images
In memory or
Imagination.

As we mature, we come to believe
That the mind is “real” –
But this is a lie.

When we dive down into our personal ocean of unreality
Even kisses are only ideas
As we repeatedly lose ourselves in all the infinite dimensions
Of no dimension.

The truth is –

God, and the true self,
May be encountered, only tentatively,
One individual, and one moment,
At a time.

SUPERMAN

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If there is no God
There are no longer any boundaries either –
Which is why, recently, the world’s been filling up with supermen
Who flourish best in anti-reality.

The problem with being strong in this way, however,
Is that supermen are able to withstand enormous amounts of self-destruction
Without having to admit there’s a problem.

Eventually, of course, even supermen
Come to a “tragic end” –
Fading like a comic strip left out in the sun.

But this won’t stop newer, more contemporary supermen from still going strong –
Making up reality as they go.

Jesus warned against this kind of behavior –
Always stressing humility.

That’s why they’ve had to remake the Christian religion
From top to bottom –
So that the red capes can continue streaming –

Superman, superman, despite all your superpowers,
You aren’t really real –
Are you?

THE PALE BLUE DOT

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3.7 billion miles distant and still moving – on its way out of the solar system –

It’s 1990, and Carl Sagan has requested one last photograph from the Voyager 1 space probe –
So the camera turns and takes one final image of earth –
A “pale blue dot” from that distance – smaller than a pixel –

“Click.”

Think about “time” – how little is taken up by a single human life –
By humanity as a whole –
Or even by “life on earth.”

Given this, shouldn’t we be thinking about God’s perspective on things more
Than our individual egos?

After all, human beings were created by God
While egos are self-constructed –
Shadows, really, of our true selves.

Oops, that pale blue dot just got lost in the sunlight –
But there’s no “word” for the kind of world that’s no longer able to see itself.

Nothing’s ever lost, however,
No matter how large or small –
Size doesn’t matter to God
Only “reality” does.

That pale blue dot is loved by God beyond all human fathoming
Carrying the potential of an intelligent-loving, self-conscious form of life –
And, it’s a fact that a small number of these have already appeared –
But God has promised that more are on the way – and, one day, will include everyone.

Later on, when God gets in a much better mood,
God intends to place this beautiful blue planet on her ring finger –
Like a “blue-water” jewel –
Radiating light and life and literally infinite quantities of love –

Nothing will ever be discovered as valuable as this in any other universe!

Yes, it’s true our blue/green earth constitutes a jewel
God’s gaze has been centered upon –
Proof that God has decided to “marry” this tiny world that
One day, could be filled to overflowing with intelligent/loving human lives –
Innumerable “Friends of God”.

If you want to see our “pale blue dot”:

TASTING GOD

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What does God smell like?
Perhaps we should ask a dog.

What does it feel like to be “taken up into the spirit”?
Perhaps we should query the diving-down ducks.

Every sentient being “knows” God in their own unique manner
Except humans who generally think spiritually only in blueprints.

We do know God – but several steps removed –
In our focused, yet abstract way.

Backing up a bit, we can gain some perspective
But the intensity of the experience diminishes –
On the other hand, if we move closer – like a lover should –
We often lose a sense of the whole.

Perhaps we should think about reclaiming our distant vegetable self –
Or take up an intimate relationship with stones –

In other words, leave our beautiful minds at home
And approach God “fresh” –

That is, close as “reality” can get –

Licking close.

(UN)FORTUNATELY

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Eastern sages teach that everything is unreal
Because most of us experience reality primarily through the funhouse mirrors
Of ego.

But when ego retreats,
Reality receives God’s permission to enter our lives.

However, we always want both at once –

(Un)fortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

SEARCHING FOR GOD – WITH BOTH MINDS

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We possess two minds: a logical/mathematical/scientific mind and a creative artistic one:
Joined at the brain’s center they function best when acting together
Because it takes both to encompass reality.

Today, many people are using just one of their minds in their search for God or for understanding reality – the “logical” one –
And that’s true whether we’re speaking of believers in orthodox religion or atheists –
Since both can be quite comfortable construing reality in a purely logical manner.

Atheists – being materialistic – use “Occam’s Razor” to crop spirit entirely out of life’s picture,
While Fundamentalists and Conservative Evangelicals proselytize a “god-given” faith
composed of ancient superstitions systematized into a “take it or leave it” religion.

Both are dead-ends.

I propose that people should start searching for God and their true self by using both minds. A new post-“postmodern” field of human endeavor will be necessary to accomplish this: a freely creative and artistic, yet inherently rational, spiritual discipline of using both of our minds.

In the past, artists convincingly portrayed various aspects of God, but restricted their images and stories to their culture’s predominant religion – whether Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam.

Today, however, artists need to widen their scope of work to encompass all human religions, spirituality, thought, and emotions. Human beings’ highest and most joyful levels of creativity could then be used to “paint pictures” and “tell stories” about God, and to discover their true selves – with absolute freedom – while grounding this new“ spiritual-art” in a profound and rational understanding of reality.

This “Two Minds spiritual discipline,” however, will never be included in the course curricula at Princeton Theological Seminary or Oral Roberts University because this combination of a rational scientific approach with spontaneous and free artistic creativity, by its very nature, could never be the subject of academic systematization.

The best thing would be for each person to become a “scientific-artist” or “artistic-scientist” (depending upon one’s natural preference), and to go and search for God and one’s true self on their own – using both minds. If they happen to learn about someone who might be helpful to them in that search – they should go and talk to that person – one on one.

Repeat, as often as necessary, until radiant with joy!

NOTHING ELSE LASTS

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The Quantum Theory, the General Theory of Relativity, and God
Are all intellectual constructs –

Sophisticated mental tools located inside our heads

Each pointing out and away from us –
And used to apprehend different types of reality –

However, the farthest reaching – “God” – may only be discerned by using both mind and spirit

In other words, God –
As well as the spiritual attributes of God – such as love, truth, justice, and beauty –
Are the only true reality –

Nothing else lasts.

CAMOUFLAGE PEOPLE

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Jesus, in the way he lived his life, demonstrated
Something truly amazing –
So, it’s surprising that, even after all these years, we still haven’t “gotten” it.

Big Religion, on the other hand, has acted like an enormous stuffed pillow
With extraordinary capacity to smother spirit –
And, even though it hasn’t been able to muffle Jesus’ radiant words entirely,
It has been effective at “re-interpreting” what he said –
For over 2000 years.

Quite a feat!

In spite of that, the Church never achieved complete ownership of Jesus –
Even though it’s been publicly displaying him,
Like a jeweled pendant for two millennia.

In contrast to these theological contortions, however –
Jesus has always been just another human being –
Teaching us how to love God –
Which, of course – is both very easy and very difficult.

Jesus told us not to try to live like him but, instead, to be like him –
To embrace, whenever possible, truth, justice, and beauty –
And always be vulnerable
To love.

Without his extraordinary example, how will we ever escape all the crazy ideas
We are so constantly fashioning about ourselves –
Faster than eye can follow –
Instantly creating and re-creating a “self” in order to meet worldly expectations.

Camouflage people –
We assiduously avoid any reality
That might turn out to be our actual lives.

CHURCH LIKE A MUSEUM

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Jesus had this idea
That, one day, we might become complete human beings
Instead of remaining, in some part, human animals –

That we might set aside our materialistic desires and fantasies
And live in “reality,” that is, in spirit.

To Jesus – spirit was God,
And the reason we’re prevented from seeing God, face-to-face,
Without dying,
Is the very real danger of seeing ourselves.

In light of this, Jesus preached death to artificial selves
And the rebirth of our true self –

The “pearl” –

After he died, Church officials rushed to designate him as “God” –
But, of course, by then, he was no longer able to stop that from happening.

His finest gift to us was the validation of an active, open, loving human spirit –
While his successors spent their time constructing a spiritual/materialistic empire.

Everything they did, at least in part, led away from God –

So, today, we attend church, reverentially, like entering a museum.

PERSPECTIVE

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Hindus tell us life is a dream
While, at Cal Tech, reality is conceived of as particles –
Relying upon these concepts, there appears to be no true reality –
Everything just a trick!

But, if we’re a dream, we’re certainly a real dream,
And if we’re particles, where, after all, did “love” and “truth” come from?

People worry about how a God who’s good,
Can permit suffering to exist –

But, really, isn’t it simply the price of freedom.

Existence is deeply magical – that is, “spiritual” –
And, ordinarily, even though we take it for granted –
We really shouldn’t.

Picture raindrops striking a window –
Are they dreams, particles,
Or tiny gifts from God?

Think about how everything
Is part of everything else –
So intricately interrelated –
If this weren’t true
The world couldn’t exist
And, really, would be just a dream
Or a bunch of particles.

So,
We should be thankful for love, truth, and beauty
Each of which comes in almost infinite varieties –
Because, actually, they’re the only meaningful reality
That we’re ever going to experience.