posted November 08, 2007 01:44 AM         

Otherwise the Darkness

I
have a cause.
we need those don't we?
Otherwise the darkness and the cold gets in
and everything starts to ache.

my soul has a purpose, it is
to love;

if I
do not fulfill
my heart's vocation,
I suffer.

posted November 08, 2007 01:55 AM         

Ask Anything

"ask anything,"

My Lord said to me.

and my mind and heart thought deeply
for a second,

then replied with just one word,

"When?"

God's arms then opened up and I entered Myself.
I entered myself when I entered
Christ.

and having learned compassion I
allowed my soul

to stay.

posted November 08, 2007 02:34 AM         

How oft will fools forget themselves?

All is relative.

Maculine/Feminine

From one point of view, its the one,
from another point of view, its the other.

But its both... and neither.

Positive and Negative
Active and Receptive

The one who leads is led.

posted November 08, 2007 02:44 AM         

quote:

---

It's difficult for me to imagine someone - man or woman - having such a deep love of God and such a rare wisdom and insight into the works of that God, could, at the same time, also hold a hatred for half the population of the earth.

---

the poems i posted are from one of my favorite books resting upon my bookshelf. surely Aquinas didn't hate, literally, all women. he does appear, however, to have been instrumental in establishing them, through the auspices of the early church, as inferior creatures upon the earth, according to the quote i posted ~

quote:

---

Men have "more perfect reason" and "stronger virtue" than women. The intellectual defects of women, according to Aquinas, is similar to those "evident in children and mentally ill persons."

---

(and i'm quite certain there are some reading this at this moment who wholeheartedly agree, even today. )

this is directly related to what LG expresses in her work, particularly this passage ~

quote:

---

certain members
of the religious Hierarchy did determine
among themselves..that these unexpectedly unearthed
secret formulas of the Truth of existence
and the trembling reality
of the lost powers of the gods and goddesses
now called Earthlings

constituted dangerous knowledge for the masses
and therefore, caused to have removed
all references from the Scriptures
which might, even through latent suggestion

light the flame of soul memory
within the sleeping hearts of all men and women
who then might recall their lost powers
and once again use them as a force for awful destruction
in this, the Church Fathers
believed themselves to be right

and the other part of the answer to your question
hidden for many centuries..is the negative motivation
by those who desired to retain the religious patriarchy
for the sake of the priesthood
and indeed, for the sake of the entire religious hierarchy
of even each Protestant denomination
who felt it to be, as did the Church of Rome
a fearsome abomination

for the ‘unclean’ woman to arise
......for the feminine ‘I’ of the individuality
to assume her rightful place – as equal in wisdom
to the masculine ‘O’ of the Overself
this even now reflected in the Church’s attitude toward women

---

so i think it relevant not to gloss over these things, even from such a one as Thomas Aquinas.

posted November 08, 2007 02:48 AM         

I am the artist putting the finishing touches on his masterpiece,
unable to leave it alone.

I am the gauge that perfects the statue
and splits it in two.

I am Creature, Creator, Void.

posted November 08, 2007 02:54 AM         

because of my Compassion the sun wanted to be near me all night,
and the earth deeded her fields to me,
and all in heaven said,

"We have voted you our governor; tell us your divine mandate."
and i did, and God will never revoke it:

nothing in existence is turned
away.

more tender is my Lord's heart than any heart
has ever been.

so, when the divine realm asked me to govern it
with one simple
rule,

i looked into His eyes and then knew
what to say to any angel
who might serve as
a sentry to
God:

no creature should be
turned away.

posted November 08, 2007 09:12 AM         

God, Soul, Christ,Heart, Love,Lord. All these lovely connotations reminded me of an Indries Shah story.

There was once a small boy who banged a drum all day and loved every moment of it. He would not be quiet, no matter what anyone else said or did. Various people who called themselves Sufis, and other well-wishers, were called in by neighbors and asked to do something about the child.

The first so-called Sufi told the boy that he would, if he continued to make so much noise, perforate his eardrums; this reasoning was too advanced for the child, who was neither a scientist nor a scholar. The second told him that drum beating was a sacred activity and should be carried out only on special occasions. The third offered the neighbors plugs for their ears; the fourth gave the boy a book; the fifth gave the neighbors books that described a method of controlling anger through biofeedback; the sixth gave the boy meditation exercises to make him placid and explained that all reality was imagination. Like all placebos, each of these remedies worked for a short while, but none worked for very long.
Eventually, a real Sufi came along. He looked at the situation, handed the boy a hammer and chisel, and said, "I wonder what is INSIDE the drum?"

------------------
~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted November 08, 2007 11:04 AM         

isn't it?

posted November 08, 2007 11:44 AM         

Make a joyful noise unto God...

sometimes the pure joy in life escapes us all. esp that of a child, who soon learns to conform to the ways of the world.

posted November 08, 2007 12:00 PM         

*sigh* I suppose a story will mean whatever you wish it to mean. I suppose we will judge it with whatever we bring to the table.

posted November 08, 2007 12:34 PM         

As we weren't there (and the story may or my not be true), then we do not know the manner in which the suggestion was put to the boy, or how the boy took it.

posted November 08, 2007 12:35 PM         

let authority remain lofty, that it might always rest easy in its superiority.

posted November 08, 2007 12:54 PM         

Why do I feel so old and tired?

Perhaps I need to re-invent myself?

posted November 08, 2007 01:45 PM         

"So I recently conversed with an elderly hindu gentleman whom asked me if my "third eye" was open. I replied "well, it was at one point" and at that, he became so ecstatic repeating "I knew it! I knew it!".

He told me that when things get tough, to use the affirmation "I am enough" and that I need to go back to the place I went in my childhood that made me feel safe. I thought it was humorous, seeing that I grew up with a family of emotionally abusive drug addicts and probably never felt safe at any moment at the time. He then told me that there was a place that I visited in my mind that made me feel safe and that I should go back.

At that I would just like to know what place made you guys feel safe as a child. Did you go back? Will you go back? Was it real? Was it imaginary?"

http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/Forum7/HTML/005461.html

that was so helpful, and it made sense, as the following song from the soul-healing album, Gospel Oak, from Sinead O'Connor, was always a favorite ~

I Am Enough

Oh the days are long
'Til the baby comes
God will take all fear
If you say this clear

I am enough for myself
I don't need anything else
I am enough for myself

I am in your heart
I only can have that part
I am in your dreams
I only can touch these things
I am who gives the breath
I am your nakedness
I am nothing at all
And I am singing your soul

posted November 08, 2007 01:57 PM         

quote:

---

I know that wasn't the meaning of the story, but every person's perspective has meaning.

---

Do you mean to say that everyone's perspective has value? I would agree, in that something can be learned from everything ... if you're willing to look. Do you mean that everyone's perspective means something? Again, I would agree. Persepctive says quite a bit about a person. When I ask myself why I perceive something in a certain way, I learn as much about myself as I do the object I perceive. Your experience?

quote:

---

As we weren't there (and the story may or my not be true), then we do not know the manner in which the suggestion was put to the boy, or how the boy took it.

---

I don't believe the story is to be taken literally. The Sufis are known for their teaching stories, their parables. It is said that they contain at least 7 layers of meaning.

quote:

---

Perhaps I need to re-invent myself?

---

A rhetorical question, I suspect? I admire a person who recognizes the time to re-invent their thinking. Never rest easy in a sense of inferiority!

quote:

---

i readily admit, my seeing and hearing is far beyond, or below, one might observe, that that most who would instruct, would wish it to be.

---

Well, I guess that's a start, zanya. What are you going to do about it?

quote:

---

let authority remain lofty, that it might always rest easy in its superiority.

---

posted November 08, 2007 01:59 PM         

Nice observation It is said there are seven layers of understanding (some say more) to the Holy Texts and Teachings storys.

Some will see the drum as a literal drum & accouterments. Another may come along and see the drum as ego, the drum sticks as prejudices and assumptions. The chisel & hammer as tools to find Truths and so on. Different layers, none right, none wrong. They just are.

Then the goal of the Seeker is to stretch our minds and hearts past its current limits in order to begin to see a different layer. Simple but never easy

------------------
~
What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world is immortal"~

posted November 08, 2007 02:01 PM         

What is the cosmic meaning to laughter??????

posted November 08, 2007 02:05 PM         

quote:

---

Beautiful song; beautiful thoughts, thanks for sharing.

But is or isn't life *just* a "ride on a rollercoaster"? (As Bill Hicks put it).

---

posted November 08, 2007 02:13 PM         

I wonder if we'll feel like this: if we ascend, as they learned to in the "Celestine Prophecy"?

posted November 08, 2007 02:25 PM         

quote:

---

Well, I guess that's a start, zanya. What are you going to do about it?.....

This is an issue for you, yes? This authority stuff? Balanced by the need to adore and idolize? Why is that? I'm curious.

---

what am i going to about it? do i need to do anything about it Tink? i think it's those who are frustrated that their superiority is not adequately lauded that need to do something for themselves, not me. but that's just my own stupid opinion. perhaps inferior to yours, but suffices for me. what would my answer to your question afford you? further cause for instruction? instruct away.

authority, adoration, idolization?? sorry, i'm so far beneath your level Tink, i could never hope to be as wise and erudite as you. please do ponder my 'issues' all day if you'd like, though i'm certain you have much better pursuits to follow. i don't understand your question, though i was never that good at the cryptic mysiticism either, that's such a popular game here. sorry, i'm just not at your level. your curiosity about me would be severely disappointed. i'm just rabble. **unless that's just what you were expecting...in that case, you can rest content in your estimation.