A meditation which seems to be a rather impromptu affair, one which appears to ..... intrude ..... into one's normal meditating routine is sufficient reason to treat it as having greater importance than some others, if such a gradation can truly be made. I always feel that such a meditation, chosen by some inner 'presence' rather than my 'external I', has about it a gravity ..... an experiential gravity ..... that needs to be taken note of, a lesson that needs to be learned.
Perhaps this meditation is a response to "The Crypt" which I published earlier. If one's soul lies in the crypt of one's being, assuming a living soul actually exists, then a journey of descent may be the first action that is required to approach and, possibly, experience that soul. The first steps of this journey are so very important. This journey of descent is what I would call ..... 'A Way of Uncovering' ..... an eradication of psychological denial or encrustations of the ego. And not only does it lead to a psychospiritual development that is hugely beneficial to the Self, but it also indicates that there are practical steps which can be taken to that end. The actual transformation may not be in the hands of the ego, it certainly is not, but the move towards preparedness almost certainly is. At a deeper level, as Prof. Needleman has said,
"Nor can we be active in the way we are accustomed to be. It's the same question that arises out of St. Paul: we are helpless and weak; there is nothing we can do. Yet there is something we must do. Just what, exactly, is within our power?"
I wonder whether St. Augustine and Pelagius didn't both miss the point.
It might sounds miraculous (but doesn't everything to do with one's soul seem that way?) to suggest that a change of heart comes to us as ideas do - unbidden. Our openness to being new allows such revelation to work on us.
ReplyDeleteI see this as neither a boon to one in a helpless condition, or one that is pre-destined. Instead, as you suggest - preparedness being rewarded.
Now where did all of that come from?
Hello Deanna,
DeleteI hesitate to make any reply to your comment because, clearly, you have said all that can be said at this point. As you so correctly say, it is our openness to being new that allows such revelation to work on us. It always comes as something of a surprise to me that an apparently simple, straightforward "doing" can have such deep-running effects on our spiritual being.
"Now where did all of that come from?" you ask ...... mmmm! ;)
Hi Tom
ReplyDeleteNeedleman does offers us an interesting perspective, firstly as the philosopher, but particularly as one erudite writer on religious studies that in turn, led to his self enlightenment. I like his ideas which seem to have resonated with yourself.
Just one point of interest concerns your note that you wonder whether St Augustine and Pelagius miss the point. Needleman initially burned the book containing St Augustines Confessions but later on found his ideas to be beautiful as he was then looking at them in a different light? Assuming your talking about a greater conscious energy ( variable ) than the experience will be more vivid as the case may be ? Best wishes
I am finding it very difficult to condense into a mere comment, what it is that appeals to me about Jacob Needleman's writings. Most obviously, he comes across [see Deanna's latest post] as an authentic human being; one who speaks to the heart rather than one talking from the head.
DeleteAlthough his experiences are very different from mine, nevertheless there is much that walks side-by-side with my inner journey.