Posts
Every argument-- including those which express truth or reality-- has two sides. The flipside of the arguments that you and I have discussed is the idealistic. Few people have the courage or the vision to see what can be, as opposed to what is. We do need both, in order to be balanced in this life.
So, no one should ever take away from you your ability to dream. Dreams are not always "logical," but can express something far beyond mere "logic." They can express the yearnings and hungers of the Soul.
If your interior "calling" is of this type, it is a sacred heartreasure. It is of enormous value.
I know, because, when I was eighteen, I was "called" to Guatemala. Everyone thought it impossible, or at least, implausible.
We would buy parts for our step-van, which we were reconstructing into a selfsustaining type of "camper." On the bills, the clerk would always write, "Mission: Impossible."
We bought a stepvan for $245, and I replaced all the modular parts accessible in the six-cylinder ("straight six") engine, including the carburetor, water-pump, fuel-pump, radiator, electrical wiring, fuel lines, and much, much more. When I started, I knew nothing about engines, their structure or function.
This trip, well over three thousand miles, could have been a disaster. We all knew that going in. In fact, in many ways, it was. But I would not trade the lifexperience obtained for anything; I married the Love of my life, Adamaria, in Guatemala City. Establishing our first home in a land of great beauty (it was called "the land of eternal spring" or el pais de la primavera eterna), surrounded by dire and extreme poverty, gave both of us values of nonmaterialism and nongreed which are still imprinted on our hearts. That adventure/journey still enriches our heartminds with memories that are irreplaceable.
I am glad that we did not listen to the "overly cautious" but older people around us.
It can, even now, be discouraging to think of the absence of support among older people, whom I once had regarded as "friends." They spoke of caution in the name of Love; and, no doubt, they were sincere. But I had to learn to love them all over again.
In an enterprise such as this one, people are quite skeptical. But you still have the courage and the vision to dream, and dream you should. It is your life, and your inalienable right. So, reach for the stars, go for the highest. Reach beyond the dull and "safe" borders of the doubters. Reach, and keep reaching; you will never regret the capacity to dream large.
This is the valid "flipside" of the discussions that we have already had. Both sides are true, and both sides have value. Please try to stretch your mind in order to encompass both. You will always be glad that you did!:)
Showing posts with label vision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vision. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Jesus' Transfiguration
*******
The "Mount of Transfiguration" was not a phrase used by Jesus, but was a later description used by others. This describes an event in the Gospel accounts of the Life of Jesus. This is perhaps a symbolic or representative account of a radical shift in the mind (consciousness) of Jesus.
In a clearly altered state of consciousness, Jesus was granted a vision one night upon a mountain. In the vision, he was apparently glowing, which is a symbol of the interior Light. He apparently encountered several light-phenomena. In the vision, he saw two beings who were later interpreted to be "Moses" and "Elijah," two of the more famous "prophets" in the Jewish tradition. So, he was obviously in touch with the profound area of the Superconscious Mind (Lovemind, Godmind, Coremind) called the
akasha. This contains the spacetime history of our world.
Although, historically, there is usually a clear distinction between the visionary and the mystic-- and mystics generally do not "see visions"-- this is a rare synergic unity of a visionary and mystical experience in one single event.
"Transfiguration" means major transformation, transmogrification, or spiritual rebirth. So, this was likely one of the major mystical experiences, of which Jesus experienced many.
This type of experience occurs in the lives of mystics, although not to this extent, or this powerfully, all throughout the spiritual history of every enlightened being. As is often the case, Jesus here is an "archetype," or universal model, of the mystically illuminated kind or type of human being. But why would the experience include encounters with the famous Jewish sages?
Probably because most of his disciples, and, in fact, most of the first early Christians, who would learn of the story and make use and application of it, were from a Jewish genetic, cultural, and geographic background. So, this event, like so much in Jesus' life, was not prepared for only Jesus, but for his followers as well. The Jewish historical component was included, not because it was necessary to the spirituality of the event, but because the people of the time could easily relate to the event as deeply "spiritual." For in that situation, culture and history were closely interwoven, in their minds, with spirituality.
It is perhaps historically significant, some literalist scholars point out, that Moses had a breath-taking experience similar to that of Jesus, and so did Elijah. These historians are reasoning from the premise that these accounts represent actual, literal experiences with extraordinary power-- not symbolic events or descriptions. They believe that the same power returned to earth and created the transfigurative experience. This also is a real possibility, but, at this late date in human history, we cannot know the whole story. So, all that we have is speculation.
*******
The "Mount of Transfiguration" was not a phrase used by Jesus, but was a later description used by others. This describes an event in the Gospel accounts of the Life of Jesus. This is perhaps a symbolic or representative account of a radical shift in the mind (consciousness) of Jesus.
In a clearly altered state of consciousness, Jesus was granted a vision one night upon a mountain. In the vision, he was apparently glowing, which is a symbol of the interior Light. He apparently encountered several light-phenomena. In the vision, he saw two beings who were later interpreted to be "Moses" and "Elijah," two of the more famous "prophets" in the Jewish tradition. So, he was obviously in touch with the profound area of the Superconscious Mind (Lovemind, Godmind, Coremind) called the
akasha. This contains the spacetime history of our world.
Although, historically, there is usually a clear distinction between the visionary and the mystic-- and mystics generally do not "see visions"-- this is a rare synergic unity of a visionary and mystical experience in one single event.
"Transfiguration" means major transformation, transmogrification, or spiritual rebirth. So, this was likely one of the major mystical experiences, of which Jesus experienced many.
This type of experience occurs in the lives of mystics, although not to this extent, or this powerfully, all throughout the spiritual history of every enlightened being. As is often the case, Jesus here is an "archetype," or universal model, of the mystically illuminated kind or type of human being. But why would the experience include encounters with the famous Jewish sages?
Probably because most of his disciples, and, in fact, most of the first early Christians, who would learn of the story and make use and application of it, were from a Jewish genetic, cultural, and geographic background. So, this event, like so much in Jesus' life, was not prepared for only Jesus, but for his followers as well. The Jewish historical component was included, not because it was necessary to the spirituality of the event, but because the people of the time could easily relate to the event as deeply "spiritual." For in that situation, culture and history were closely interwoven, in their minds, with spirituality.
It is perhaps historically significant, some literalist scholars point out, that Moses had a breath-taking experience similar to that of Jesus, and so did Elijah. These historians are reasoning from the premise that these accounts represent actual, literal experiences with extraordinary power-- not symbolic events or descriptions. They believe that the same power returned to earth and created the transfigurative experience. This also is a real possibility, but, at this late date in human history, we cannot know the whole story. So, all that we have is speculation.
*******
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)