Dame Julian of Norwich

I wanted to write on this reading because it looks like she might be the only female writer in our book, and I liked some of what she had to say.

There were a few sayings that caught my attention in this reading. First, "God made it, loves it, keeps it...truly the Maker, the Lover, and the Keeper." That is a pretty complete set of actions that caught my eye. Also, she talks about never having full rest or bliss til she is so connected to God that "there is no created thing between my God and me." What a peaceful feeling she is describing, to feel at one with the Maker, Lover, Keeper. I think that's a powerful idea.

"...for all that is beneath Him is not sufficient for us." That is such an interesting way to say that things of creation will not be enough for us...people, things, money...nothing but God will be good enough for us, and when we turn toward Him and away from stuff, we are able to receive spiritual rest.

"...enclosed in the goodness of God." I don't think I've ever heard that term before. It seems beautiful to me.

"...for our natural will is to have God, and the good will of God is to have us, and we can never cease willing or loving till we have him in fullness of joy." I really appreciated the focus on love and goodness here. That really cuts to the chase.

"Know it well, love was His meaning." I think sometimes man-made religious systems can (inadvertently?) get people distracted from the core of God's intention of love. I'm not saying all organized religion is bad, I'm just saying I don't think it should take away from the whole reason for being of faith in the first place.

John the Evangelist

"To all who receive him, he gives the power to become children of God."

"The Spirit you have received from Him..."

Yesterday in class we were talking about how some people say a step to salvation is saying a prayer to ask Jesus into your heart and receive Him as your savior. I wonder if the two readings above are where that kind of thinking came from.

The Gospel of Thomas

"When we change the way we see the world, we change the world." That is one of the most powerful things I have read in The Enlightened Mind. It is so true that our perspective really does affect us, our actions, our experiences, and consequently the world. When people look at the world through defensive angry eyes, it negatively colors their interactions with other people and how they receive what comes into their lives. That negativity can become a downward spiral that draws others down it too, and the negative cycle just continues on until someone stops it. Likewise, the opposite perspective can reap many blessings. A perspective of love and generosity can feed a positive outlook as positive interactions and experiences strengthen it. It is enjoyable to be around loving people. Spread the love around...it's a whole lot more fun than the alternative.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have chosen their solitude, for they will find the kingdom of heaven." As much as I enjoy spending time with friends and family, I have found times of solitude refreshing. Taking time to read inspiring books and pray gives me strength and peace.

The disciples said to him, "Tell us who you are, so that we can trust you." Jesus said, "You search for me through heaven and earth, but you don't know the one who is right before your eyes, because you don't know how to search into this very moment." Psalm 139:7-12 in the Bible talks about God being everywhere. Even when the disciples had Jesus face-to-face they still wanted to confirm Jesus' presence. I wonder how often people are searching for answers in life, and if they only knew how to "search into this very moment" they would see that God is active all around them and may have even placed the answer right in their midst.

Hui-Hai

The confusion (& semi-frustration) I had with last week’s readings has been replaced with the opposite regarding this week’s Chinese Religions readings. I enjoyed them all! This is more what I expected from the Buddhism readings…messages of simplicity and peace.

This was an interesting message. I would have imagined a spiritual man would encourage monks in their practices, and while Hui-Hai says its okay for them to be monks, he challenges them. He says it is a waste of energy “trying to empty your minds, straining to attain enlightenment, blabbering about your understanding…” That surprised me. I guess I have pre-conceived ideas about things thanks to my primary source of exposure to monks and other religions…Hollywood movies. That’s not a very reliable source of information to base one’s understanding on is it? I’m glad to be taking this class and learning the truth about things!

Something in this reading that stuck out to me, was when he said, “Your own treasure house already contains everything you need. Why don’t you use it freely, instead of chasing after something outside yourself?” It can be so easy, especially in Modern America, to spend a lot of time and energy chasing things that are outside ourselves. Sometimes they might even seem like good things to chase. But maybe we look outside too much? Maybe we are distracted with chasing outside, instead of slowing down and seeing we already had the answer we needed. Are we running to the store to buy chocolate chips when we already have 2 bags at home? Simple analogy, I know, but hey, I’m a chocoholic so that’s what came to mind. :)

The end of this reading talked about the mind dwelling on nothing, and “this full awareness in yourself of a mind that dwells upon nothing is known as having a clear perception of your own mind or of your own true nature.” A mind can “be free from both delusion and reality.” It makes sense that if we get rid of things that obscure our view or distract us, we will then see ourselves and other things clearly.

The thought of “dwelling upon nothing” made me think of men. This is not a sexist comment, just an observation. Ask a man what he’s thinking about and there’s a good chance he’ll answer with “nothing” and is at peace with that. Ask a woman the same question and she’ll probably have a multi-faceted task list. Her mind has a lot going on. (I am speaking from experience here.) I never understood how a man could be thinking about “nothing.” It never made sense to me before. While I think it is a great strength to be organized and productive, I’m thinking that something I once considered to possibly be a simplistic weakness…thinking about “nothing”…maybe there’s something to it...maybe it's actually a strength. It sounds very peaceful to be able to take a break and think about nothing for a while. I hope the gears in my brain get used to slowing down a little here and there, and think about nothing. :)

The common thing I took away from this reading was how much (unnecessary?) striving goes on in life, and maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. If we slow down, maybe we’ll find that we already know what we need to know, have what we need to have, and that we don’t have to be thinking about everything all the time. I’m a busy single mom, woman with hobbies, and a full-time college student. The simple peacefulness of slowing down sounds great to me. I am going to chill out for a while! Since I don’t like beer, I think I’ll get a chocolate cookie and go sit in my hot tub for a while, and think about nothing. :)

Pai-Chang

This reading is saying that what we need is inside us already. I think I remember reading in the Bible that He has placed truth in our hearts. That’s interesting to me. If it’s there, then something sometimes gets in the way of us seeing/knowing it. In its simplest form I think this reading is saying we already know what we need to know, we just need to stop looking through the dirty window of false understandings that obscure our view, so we can “be free from unreality and delusion.” Surely there are things that get in the way of us doing/saying/thinking what we know is right.

I disagree with the reading saying there is no truth. I believe there is truth…what is right…and that is what is in us. Things such as the sincerity, humanity, and understanding mentioned in the Tzu-Ssu reading.

Chuang-Tzu

As funny as it sounds, this reading, even with all the “this’s” and “thats” made more sense to me than last week’s Buddhism readings.

We are taught to make sense of things, think, reason, organize, etc. And it all takes a lot of brain power. The Chuang-Tzu reading seems to make some simple suggestions.

• “So he has no use for categories, but relegates all to the constant. The constant is the useful, the useful is the passable; the passable is the successful; and with success, all is accomplished. He relies upon this alone, relies upon it and does not know he is doing so. This is called the Way.”
  
  To sum that up, I think he is saying not to label things certain ways, just accept them as they are, and keep doing what’s working.

• “But to wear out your brain trying to make things into one without realizing that they are all the same – this is called ‘three in the morning.’ ”
  
  Here I think he is saying reality is reality, regardless of the words used. It will all wash in the end, and it is what it is.

• “No one has lived longer than a dead child, and P’eng-tsu died young. Heaven and earth were born at the same time I was, and the ten thousand things are one with me.”
  
  I think he is again talking about realities versus perceived realities. Basically, life is life, and duration does not change the reality of it…the essence of life is universal.

• “The True Man of ancient times knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hating death. He emerged without delight; he went back in without a fuss. He came briskly, he went briskly, and that was all. He didn’t forget where he began; he didn’t try to find out where he would end. He received something and took pleasure in it; he forgot about it and handed it back again.”
  
  That is quite simple language, but to me it presents such a beautifully simple yet profound way. As a Christian in America, I have been conditioned to value my life, accept death but not savor it the same way I do life; to look toward the future (degree, career, retirement, etc.) and plan for it and work for it; to sentimentally hang on to that which brings me pleasure. Those all seem like positive, reasonable things. Yet the paragraph above was beautiful and peaceful to me. There is a simple peace in simply living and not getting caught up in the distraction of knowing or doing it all…simply accepting things as they are and living in the moment. (Obviously I know to continue my education, meet with the school counselor to help plan my future, etc. But I think it would be wise to take some down time and have peaceful moments…to just sit and enjoy the moment.)

I really enjoyed the Chuang-Tzu reading. I saw some amazing insights into peaceful living that challenged me personally. As an idealist, I often see how I would like things to be. That can be good, as it can affect positive change. However, it is also important to take a reality check, see things as they are, keep doing what’s working, and live in the moment.

Dogen

Once again, confused. I understand it is delusion to start from the self and try to understand all things. If self is confused….as I currently am after reading this week’s Buddhism readings…I will get no where.

Also, it talks about “studying self…forgetting self…being enlightened by all things…drop off our own body and mind and others’ bodies and minds too…no trace of enlightenment remains…and this no-trace continues endlessly.” I don’t get this. I see how it makes sense to get our eyes off ourselves and others, but if there is no trace of enlightenment, how do you know it’s there? If enlightenment is a good thing, why should there be no trace of it?

“Life doesn’t become death, so life is called the Unborn. Death is called the Undying.” That didn’t make sense. Why not just call then the Born and the Dead? This is a much different look at things than I’ve ever heard. I’ve always considered death to be a part of life, but this reading says life and death are each complete in themselves. Recognize things at the stage they are at.

The birds and fish use a little water or sky when they need a little, or a lot when they need a lot. “Thus they use all of it at every moment?” What? It seems when they use a little they are only using a little…not all of it at every moment.

The end of the reading talked about a monk asking a zen master why he used a fan since the wind is permanent and reaches everywhere. The monk didn’t clarify. I wish he would have. I still don’t get it. With all due respect to any Buddhists out there, I don’t think I’m meant to be a Buddhist. Unless I wanted to be a confused Buddhist…then I’d be right on target.

Wu-Men

I am now sufficiently confused. I was looking forward to learning about Buddhism, but I'm having a hard time following these readings. Then, just as I think I'm getting part of it, the author changes direction completely and I'm lost again.

"Mu" is a barrier set up by ancestral teachers? A gateless barrier of the zen tradition? Is this a word with special significance, and if so, why? Or is it just a simple word for focus? And when one passes through it they will interview Chai-chou intimately, walk hand in hand with all the ancestral teachers in the successive generations of that lineage? So much of the Buddhist readings seem to be about getting rid of self and emptying the mind in order to be ready for something new. But if there is no self and the mind is empty, how does one interview Chai-chou? Wouldn't self and a paying attention to your thoughts be the source of questions for an interview?

I did find a section of the text interesting..."the hair of eyebrows entangling with the ancestral teachers, seeing with the same eyes, hearing with the same ears." I am interested in history and learning, so that caught my attention. There are people whose eyes and ears I'd like to share for a while.

I saw wisdom in the author's words, "Gradually you purify yourself, eliminating mistaken knowledge and attitudes you have held from the past." I think it is a good idea to get rid of wrong understandings, false assumptions, and things that hold us back from the wholeness we can experience.

Then the confusion sets in again. "When you meet the Buddha, you kill the Buddha. When you meet Bodhidharma, you kill Bodhidharma. At the very cliff edge of birth-and-death you find the great freedom...frolic and play." What the heck is he talking about? Killing the Buddha or anyone else doesn't sound peaceful and I sure wouldn't play and frolic after killing anyone, so is it figurative suggesting that one would realize there is no single 'awakened one' but rather there are many, so get rid of the misconception there is only one main 'buddha'?

I was really hoping to gain some interesting and cool insights from the Buddhism readings...so far it isn't what I was hoping for. I'll look over it again tomorrow and give it some more thought though...maybe I'll get it then.

Yehiel Mikhal of Zlotchov

This was an insightful explanation of creation and existence. From creation delighting God, to souls taking a material shape, from which they are purified in order to approach God and hold fast to Him in their thoughts and love. Considering themselves nothing without God’s power….as without a source, yet infinite if connected to God, as a branch connected to a root.

“The root is the Infinite, therefore the branch is also infinite. It has lost its own existence, like a drop that has fallen into the great sea and is one with the waters of the sea and cannot be recognized as a separate thing.” Truly living connected to the Source, life emanates the Source and is one with it, indistinguishable from it. That’s really intriguing.

Bible

Each of the readings from the Bible had something interesting in them, but I chose the two below to write about.

I wonder what creation looked like in the beginning. "And God looked at everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good." When at the ocean or some other beautiful place, I am in awe. How much more incredible must it have been before the things that limit our experience such as pollution and extinction. A more whole, beautiful world. Just as in the physical, the human experience can also be more whole and beautiful if we nurture each other and pursue peace.

The reading about Jacob was interesting and a few things stood out to me. 1) Jacob was left alone, 2) Jacob wrestled in darkness, and 3) Jacob's persistence was blessed. How often do we struggle with things alone? I've heard it's darkest before the dawn, and sometimes that really seems true. But when we hang in there and push toward what's good and right, we are blessed.