¢â‚¬Å“And I chose to have Wisdom rather than the light, because the splendor of her never yields to sleep. ¢â‚¬ 

~ Wisdom 7:10

The beauty of the unconscious is that it knows a great deal ¢â‚¬”whether personal or collective ¢â‚¬”but it always knows that it does not know, cannot say, and dare not try to prove or assert too strongly; because what it does know is that there is always more ¢â‚¬”and all words will fall short. The contemplative is precisely the person who agrees to live in that unique kind of brightness (a combination of light and dark that is brighter still!). The Paradox, of course, is that it does not feel like brightness at all, but what John of the Cross calls a  ¢â‚¬Å“luminous darkness, ¢â‚¬  or others call  ¢â‚¬Å“learned ignorance. ¢â‚¬ 

In summary, you cannot grow in the great art form, the integration of action and contemplation, without 1) a strong tolerance for ambiguity; 2) an ability to allow, forgive, and contain a certain degree of anxiety; and 3) a willingness to not know and not even need to know. This is how you allow and encounter mystery. All else is mere religion.

From A Lever And a Place to Stand:

The Contemplative Stance, the Active Prayer, p. x (foreword)

 ¢â‚¬Å“All that is hidden, all that is plain, I have come to know, instructed by Wisdom who designed them all. ¢â‚¬ 

~ Wisdom 7:21-22

The irony of ego  ¢â‚¬Å“consciousness ¢â‚¬  is that it always excludes and eliminates the unconscious ¢â‚¬”so it is actually not conscious at all! It insists on knowing, of being certain, and it refuses all unknowing. So most people who think they are fully conscious (read:  ¢â‚¬Å“smart ¢â‚¬ ) have that big leaden manhole covering their unconscious. It gives them control but seldom compassion or wisdom. That is exactly why politicians, priests, CEOs of anything, and know-it-alls must continue to fail and fall (spiritually speaking) or they will never come to any real wisdom. The trouble is that we have to put up with them in the meantime and wait for another growth spurt. Sometimes that very power position makes failing and falling quite rare and even impossible for them.

From A Lever and a Place to Stand:

The Contemplative Stance, the Active Prayer, p. x (foreword)

~~

 ¢â‚¬Å“I begged and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. ¢â‚¬ 

~ Wisdom 7:7

People ¢â‚¬â„¢s willingness to find God in their own struggle with life ¢â‚¬”and let it change them ¢â‚¬”is their deepest and truest obedience to God ¢â‚¬â„¢s eternal will. We must admit this is what all of us do anyway, as  ¢â‚¬Å“God comes to us disguised as our life ¢â‚¬ ! Remember, always remember, that the heartfelt desire to do the will of God is, in fact, the truest will of God. At that point, God has won, and the ego has lost, and your prayer has already been answered.

To sum up the importance of an alternative mind, this message from an unknown source says it all:

Watch your thoughts; they become words.

Watch your words; they become actions.

Watch your actions; they become habits.

Watch your habits; they become character.

Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

From Breathing Under Water: Spirituality and the Twelve Steps, p. 103

~~

 ¢â‚¬Å“We have a wisdom to offer to those who have reached maturity . . . a hidden wisdom that the masters of this age did not know, or they would never have crucified! ¢â‚¬ 

~ Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, 2:6-8

In classical spiritual biographies and autobiographies, the seeker usually moves through several stages, today referred to as levels of consciousness. The seeker travels from simple consciousness ( ¢â‚¬Å“the child ¢â‚¬ ), to complex consciousness (most of the middle of life), and, hopefully, to enlightened consciousness, which looks surprisingly simple again! Is that the real meaning of  ¢â‚¬Å“second childhood ¢â‚¬ ? Such enlightenment is, of course, the goal.

The first simplicity and the second simplicity are, however, completely different. The first simplicity is na ƒ ¯ve, dualistic, and far too sure of itself. This is what Paul regrets about his early zeal and righteousness, which led him to kill Christians. In our early years, we largely  ¢â‚¬Å“split ¢â‚¬  for the sake of quick and false success ¢â‚¬”we split the natural from the spiritual, the light from the shadow, the weeds from the wheat, the friend from the enemy. But when we come to enlightened consciousness, which is the second simplicity, we have learned to include, accept, and forgive the negatives, the problems, and the contradictions that were revealed in the middle of life to be much more complex than we first imagined.

As Paul says above, we learn to stop  ¢â‚¬Å“crucifying ¢â‚¬  ¢â‚¬”ourselves and others, which is precisely  ¢â‚¬Å“resurrection ¢â‚¬ !

Adapted from On the Threshold of Transformation:

Daily Meditations for Men, p. 32

~~

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Feast of St. Francis de Sales,

patron of Christian writers and journalists

 ¢â‚¬Å“You can catch more flies with a spoonful of honey than a barrel of vinegar, ¢â‚¬  says Francis de Sales.

Enlightenment cannot be manufactured, manipulated, or delivered on demand. It is always passed on from another. Jesus both claims to be the Light of the World and then says the same for us too! (See John 8:12 and Matthew 5:14-16.) It is surprising that most do not connect these two scriptures. Wisdom is not a do-it-yourself project. It is a mystery of transmission, contagion, and the passing on of life, as Francis de Sales did so well through his many loving messages in very hostile 17th-century Geneva.

I always tell people who ask if they can quote me that if it is true wisdom then I have no copyright to it. I learned it from someone else. If it is true wisdom it is always  ¢â‚¬Å“common domain. ¢â‚¬ 

Enlightenment is not about knowing as much as it is about unknowing; it is not so much learning as unlearning. It is more about entering a vast mystery than arriving at a mental certitude. Enlightenment knows that grace is everywhere, and the only reasonable response is a grateful heart and the acknowledgment that there is more depth and meaning to everything. A too quick and easy answer is invariably a wrong one.

Adapted from On the Threshold of Transformation:

Daily Meditations for Men, p. 38

~~~

 ¢â‚¬Å“Wisdom is a spirit, a friend to all. ¢â‚¬ 

~ Wisdom 1:6

It is usually over time and with patience that we come to see the wonderful patterns of grace, which is why it takes most of us a long time to be converted. Our focus slowly moves from an initial preoccupation with perfect actions ( ¢â‚¬Å“first half of life ¢â‚¬  issues), to naked presence itself. The code word for that is simply  ¢â‚¬Å“prayer, ¢â‚¬  but it became cheapened by misuse.

Jesus will often call prayer  ¢â‚¬Å“vigilance, ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬Å“seeing, ¢â‚¬  or  ¢â‚¬Å“being awake. ¢â‚¬  When you are aware and awakened, you will know for yourself all that you need to know. In fact,  ¢â‚¬Å“Stay awake ¢â‚¬  is the last thing Jesus says to the apostles ¢â‚¬”three or perhaps four times ¢â‚¬”before he is taken away to be killed (Matthew 26:38-45). Finally, continuing to find them asleep, he kindly but sadly says,  ¢â‚¬Å“Sleep now and take your rest, ¢â‚¬  which might have been his resigned forgiving statement to the church itself.

It is not that we do not want to be awake; but very few teachers have actually told us how to do that in a very practical way. We call it the teaching of  ¢â‚¬Å“contemplation. ¢â‚¬ 

Adapted from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, p. 16

~~

 ¢â‚¬Å“Wisdom is bright and does not grow dim . . . and is found by those who look for her. ¢â‚¬ 

~ Wisdom 6:12-13

Wisdom is not the gathering of more facts and information, as if that would eventually coalesce into truth. Wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the  ¢â‚¬Å“ten thousand things ¢â‚¬  in a new way. I suggest that wisdom is precisely the freedom to be truly present to what is right in front of you. Presence is wisdom! People who are fully present know how to see fully, rightly, and truthfully.

Presence is the one thing necessary for wisdom, and in many ways, it is the hardest thing of all. Just try to keep 1) your heart space open, 2) your mind without division or resistance, and 3) your body not somewhere else ¢â‚¬”and all at the same time! Most religions just decided it was easier to believe doctrines and obey often-arbitrary laws than the truly converting work of being present. Those who can be present will know what they need to know, and in a wisdom way.

From The Naked Now:   Learning to See as the Mystics See, pp. 59-60

Starter Prayer:

Grant me wisdom.