I have a stack of about 15 books next to my bed. All of them are in some or other state of being read. I think a lot of it is to try and find words to articulate some of the things I've experienced lately - to find a way of making sense of them so I can somehow communicate that which has had so much impact on my life. The other reason, I think, is to make sure that I don't forget. And then there's trying to put it all into perspective - where to now?
In the past two weeks, two books really stood out. The one is "Soulcraft" by Bill Plotkin - "crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche". In this book I came across the following:
True art has nothing to do with impressing or entertaining others with pleasant or stunning creations: it's about carrying what is hidden in the soul as a gift to others. However we embody our souls in the world, that is our art
So how do I embody my soul and what is hidden in it? I think I'm starting to find what that is - but how do I express it? Perhaps it's not about putting it in words, but rather communicating this by being who I am?
The other is one of those rare books that I simply could not put down. Through his honesty in retelling his journey I'm beginning to understand what it means to "carry what is hidden in the soul as a gift to others". This book is a gift. It's called "The Dance of the Four Winds" by Alberto Villoldo - "Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel":
...our rationalization of things ephemeral, our intellectual framing of the transcendent, the thinking brain's version of the Divine, was just another mask of God. That all expressions of God, like the word itself, formed in the brain of language, were merely thoughts about that which is beyond thought.
No. Before thought.
Before consciousness itself. To speak the name of God is to name the unnameable, to carry a concept of the Divine within our heads is to carry a shield between us and the experience of the Divine...... It cannot be thought about. All notions of God are blasphemies. Things that can be known but not told.
I'm starting to realise that much of the past few months has been a process of finally putting my theology to death. Letting go of what I think I know, the false security of belief, and stepping out into the wildness of experiencing the Divine. Moving in to the realm of that which cannot be told.
It's funny - when I started this blog I was hoping for an audience so that I could say some of the things I felt were important. Now as I write I feel that the real audience is the person who's typing all of this ;)
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8 comments:
I'm listening Gav :)
If "All notions of God are blasphemies" is there any use in even trying? Or are you redefining blasphemy in a more positive light, or using it ironically?
Any notion of God is a story. I don't think that there's no use in trying, but when we become attached to the story as being how it is - then we're, well, missing the point ;)
While I think its a worthwhile point of view, it is extreme.
I spend much of my debating time talking to the doctrinaire side of the spectrum which sees certain texts as absolute. I normally come out looking like the "fuzzy liberal" heretic. But in the light of this I would look the fundamentalist!
If it is true that "All notions of God are blasphemies" then the icon (see my investigation on http://soundandsilence.wordpress.com/2007/10/16/idol-icon/) cannot exist: All stories are blasphemies; All language, all images. I just don't hold this to be true.
Manna was given the Israelites, to last one day before it went bad. This was an opportunity for faith, but in storing it up the faith was lost.
My point being, in the OT-NT tradition at least, there is an iconic window, a sweet spot where we can relax in faith and before it all turns to putrifying blasphemy.
Perhaps the word 'blasphemy' is what you're struggling with. I think it's a good word here, though, because it pushes one forward - beyond concept and form to experiencing trancendance, moving beyond thinking of, and experiencing Divinity as Other.
Blaspheme means to injure reputation (to "bla" the "fame").
If something lies "beyond concept or form", would it not appear that it has no "reputation" that can be so injured?
Well yes - that which is beyond form is also beyond the words that belong to form, but that's the point I'm trying to make. 'It' is indefinable, transcendant. The minute one tries to put it in words or any form 'it' is lost.
He who thinks he knows doesn't know. He who knows that he doesn't know, knows.
So - what is the 'it' I am talking about? well that's something I can't explain and can only be experienced for oneself. And the myths and stories we tell are pointers to that.
Yes perhaps the words used here are the wrong words (like blasphemy), but any words one uses will always fall short - if one tries to find 'it' in the words.
They're all empty and in that emptiness, point to the truth.
боня занимается сексом
фото секс со старыми женщинами
порно через веб камеру
мальчики секс эротика
порно группы рефлекс
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