The Lotus, rises above it's murky origins, true. It also rises above the reflection of the water. It's seeds may lie dormant for a thousand years yet remain viable. Every part of the plant may be used for food. Yet, it is a perrenial, transitory yet eternal.
________________________________ From: david buchanan <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, April 27, 2009 10:49:43 PM Subject: Re: [MD] Duality and where it leads us Paul and y'all: It's interesting that you should post on this topic. I happen to be writing a term paper on this sort of thing at present. The course is called "The Hero's Journey" and is taught as psychology within the religious studies department. As you may have guessed from the title, Joseph Campbell's book, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" is required reading for the course. As I understand it, "the jewel is in the lotus" means, roughly, that "eternity is in the wholeness". Apparently, the lotus flower has been used as a symbol of wholeness because of its mandala-like appearance, when seen at a certain angle anyway. (It occurs to me now that the rose also looks like a series of concentric circles when viewed from above and so can be see as a mandala too.) But there is another remarkable thing about the lotus flower. I've never seen one in its natural context, but I'm told that plant grows in the murky, murky muck and yet it has this beautiful white blossom that rises above the yuk and opens itself to the sun. And so I imagine that some ancient poet used this natural fact as a metaphor for wholeness. The flower is white and pure and aspires upward yet grows out of a low, murky place. And that's the kind of wholeness the instructor emphasized. Maybe that is a Jungian emphasis because he was convinced that one of the central problems in the West is a repression of our dark side, of our ancient pre-rational side. There is room for decent restraint and there would need to be a balancing act but Jung was convinced that the attempts to suppress sex and violence have also suppressed our intuitions and other sensitivities. This, he thinks, prevents Western people from achieving psychological wholeness and integrity. And it's not just a matter of millions of neurotic people. Its also a matter of war and genocide. When we refuse to accept the darkness in ourselves, he thinks, we end up projecting evil and darkness onto the other guy. The cold war and Bush's "axis of evil" strike me as two obvious examples of what happens when whole nations project evil onto the other guy. I realize this doesn't sound particularly spiritual. I'm making it sound like it's foreign policy issue or a matter of sexual liberation or something. I guess the idea is that spiritual dimension can't properly be opened up until these more basic issues are taken care of. On the other hand, it was Jesus who said to love your enemies and there is a story from the East where Vishnu (as Krishna) delivers a vision to a Arjuna, his devotee, on the battlefield just as he's about to slaughter an enemy army. In effect, then, we have warnings about projecting evil onto the other in the sacred text of the world's great religions. Anyway, can't wait to see where you're going with this. Sure doesn't sound like the old Paul. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Thanksdmb > Date: Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:49:42 -0700 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > Subject: [MD] Duality and where it leads us > > * > > The dual nature of the human being > * > > First of all, there is one fundamental insight which, though at first glance > may seem very simple, can actually prove decisive in our quest for life's > meaning. > > This insight, if understood and worked with on a daily basis, can help > enormously in purifying our urge to seek, so that it becomes much more > dynamic and capable of > > reaching its goal. This insight is the knowledge that our urge to seek -- > our yearning for absolute truth, perfection, healing, love -- does > *not *originate > in the part of > > ourselves we are accustomed to calling 'I,' although it may *appear *to do > so. Our thirst for the Absolute actually originates from an eternal > principle latent within us. This > * > > eternal *principle is quite distinct from the ego, and remains in a more or > less dormant state in most people. We call this principle of eternity the > > 'Rose,' but it is also known by many other names, such as 'divine spark,' > 'spirit-spark atom,' the Christos, the Pearl of Great Price, the Precious > Jewel in the Lotus, and so > > on. > * > > The two orders of existence > * > > This brings us to the second fundamental tenet : the knowledge that the Rose > -- the eternal principle latent in the heart -- is subject to one set of > laws, > > while the rest of our being is subject to another. We call these two sets of > laws the 'two orders of existence,' or the 'two nature orders.' > > Apart from the Rose, our whole being is a product of nature, entirely > subject to the laws of time and space. That is why, of ourselves, we can > never achieve anything > > absolute and lasting, for our creations will always be subject to finiteness > and temporality. > > The Rose, on the other hand, as the principle of eternity latent within us, > is subject to the laws of eternity. That is why, if we want to transcend > space and time, if we want > > to reach the Absolute, the eternal, we will never be able to do so with any > part of our self as it is at this moment. If we want our thirst for the > Absolute to be satisfied, we > > will need to begin by 'standing aside,' as regards our ordinary, I-central > consciousness, and allowing the eternal principle latent within us to > develop so that > > it gradually becomes predominant in our system. > * > > A bridge from time to eternity > * > > The goal the is to shift the I-central consciousness from its position as > 'king' in their inner household, and to restore it to its proper role: that > of 'servant' > > to the growing True Self within, the Christ-Self, the Rose. Simultaneously, > this Rose within them is given all the sustenance it needs to be able to > grow. If the person > > cooperates and perseveres in this process, the Rose increasingly unfolds and > blooms; it becomes an inner source of light and love that sheds its perfume > and radiance over > all, for the benefit of all. > > *The heart of religion > * > > The method of restoring to life the Rose -- the original, divine Self -- can > be traced at the heart of all the world's great religions. However, we human > beings in whom the > > I-central self predominates are prone to misunderstanding, since we tend to > interpret the teachings of religion as if they were intended for the > ordinary I-consciousness. In > > this way, messages regarding the spiritual path are distorted, and the > original truth is forgotten as the years go by. > * > > The universal path > * > > In all the world's great religions the idea is expressed that, in the > beginning, human beings had a perfect connection with their origin, with the > Absolute, with God. When > > they lost this connection they became twofold creatures in a world separated > from God, no longer able to live in the original Light-World. > > The original teachings behind all religions describe a path of return to > that Light- World, a method of restoring our connection with the Godhead. > Hence the word > > 'religion', which stems from the Latin *re ligare*, 'to reconnect'.This > possibility of restoring our connection with the Godhead is beautifully > > described, for instance, in the ancient Egyptian text, the *Corpus > Hermeticum*: *'It was His will that the link with the Spirit should be > placed within reach of all souls; > > however, as a prize for the race. He sent down a great Mixing Vessel, filled > with the powers of the Spirit and He appointed a herald and bade him > proclaim to the hearts of men: 'Immerse > yourselves in this Mixing Vessel, you souls who can; you who believe and > trust that you will ascend to Him who sent down this Vessel; you who know > for what purpose you were created.' > > next piece I will talk about the Holy Grail in the mean time reflect on > this.... > * > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ _________________________________________________________________ Rediscover Hotmail®: Get e-mail storage that grows with you. http://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Rediscover_Storage2_042009 Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
