real live preacher post, that i really liked
i love this post...
there are a lot of people who don't like to talk about this type of thing with me (spiritual enlightenment or the like), or simply don't know how (nor do I, most of the time I can barely get a 8 letter word out) but im constantly thinking in this vein...especially since the advent of my situation (being mostly alone) in San Antonio.
"Galactic Pyramid
November 16, 2006 - 3:46pm
Here are some signs of spiritual enlightenment:
* The embracing of paradox.
* The love of mystery in the presence of unanswered questions.
* The acceptance of your small place in reality.
* The willingness to engage in spiritual exercises without knowing how they will work or even what it would mean for them to work.
* The increase of the love, grace, forgiveness, and patience visible in your life.
Every human being is on a journey to discover the meaning of life. You cannot avoid this journey. It is the price and the gift of self-awareness. You can be intentional about the journey. You can embrace the idea of journey, seek out paths in the spiritual wilderness, listen and learn about the journeys of fellow pilgrims, and find joy in all of the above. Or you can follow a straight path from birth to death, taking life as it comes to you and straining bits of enlightenment with the spiritual baleen that is a natural part of your psyche.
But if you are a human being – and of course you are - you will be gathering truth and meaning as you go. You’ll be putting it all together in your mind and in your heart. By mind I mean the center of your intellect. By heart I mean the center of your emotions.
Here is a hard truth. The journey of every person is filled with pain. We like pain. It helps us find the edges of reality. It reminds us that we are real. We inflict pain on others, willingly and unwillingly, and if we find no pain in ourselves, we will seek it out. We will gnaw, pick, pinch, and worry the places that hurt us. Pain, like dreams, plays some unknown but essential role in our development.
Joy is also part of the journey. Along the way, some things and some people will light you up like a Christmas tree. Sometimes you will know why you feel joy. Often you will not. I want to say that you should pay close attention to what brings you joy and pain, but of course you will pay attention. How could you not?
I think the journey of enlightenment is a gift offered to creatures that are aware of their own existence. And this gift is not given very often in the universe.
Do you suppose it takes an entire galaxy to support the development of one self-aware species? It may be that only a very small percentage of worlds develop life of any kind. And of those worlds, perhaps only a small percentage will develop complex life forms, like plants and insects. And of those worlds, only a small few will develop life with any recognizable form of intelligence. And of those, a tiny fraction will develop life that is able to ponder the nature and meaning of its own existence.
You can think spatially about our relationship to our galaxy. We exist on the tip of a spiral arm of the Milky Way. Or you could use another model and consider that we sit atop a vast pyramid of life and the absence of life. The base of this pyramid stretches from one end of the galaxy to the other. Stacked beneath us are countless dead planets and other worlds arrested at some point in their development. It is impossible to comprehend the unlikely nature of our life and journey. All of these worlds were needed to produce you and me.
We have won the grandest of lotteries, and yet many of us refuse to take seriously the journey that is our birthright. Instead we sit around in the evenings watching reruns of The Simpsons, bickering over issues that will develop and conclude in the time it takes a star to wink, and picking at the scabs of our old wounds.
rlp"
I guess it would be tiring to talk about this all the time. Exhausting in fact...as I see it as the most important thing in life.
