Kuei-Shan

This reading presented such an unwavering acceptance and peace. It intrigued me.

Perception and response make such an impact in life. The Zen Master doesn't give power over to things to allow things to control a response. The Zen Master has chosen to look at things clearly and remove the power from things that don't deserve such power, and instead reserved the power to control perception of and response to things...allowing an objective perspective. Being objective can really help in making good decisions and controlling responses.

The Zen Master's mind is perfectly straightforward, no front or back, no deceit or delusion, everything observed is common and beautifully formed. Being unattached to things, the Zen Master can accept things as they come and not have to interefere with or block perception of things. Having clear, good thinking habits, the Zen Master is untroubled, calm, peaceful.

I'm hoping to try to incorporate more of this into my life. My daughter just came home with her first speeding ticket last night...guess I have the perfect opportunity to try this out! :)

Simone Weil

"In what concerns divine things, belief is not appropriate. Only certainty will do. Anything less than certainty is unworthy of God."

I liked the way this statement presented a contrast between the strength of two choices people make. I wanted to learn a bit more and really fine-tune my understanding of the point being made, so I looked the words up in a dictionary. Portions of the definitions are below.

BELIEVE: trust, confidence, conviction of truth

CERTAIN: fixed, settled, dependable, reliable, indisputable, inevitable, destined

Belief is a choice of acceptance and trust of the reality of something. Certainty takes a firmer stand. To rephrase the above quote...to be worthy of God it is not enough to trust there are divine things. Rather, only being settled and destined for divine things in God is worthy of God.

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"God continually showers the fullness of his grace on every being in the universe, but we consent to receive it to a greater or lesser extent. In purely spiritual matters, God grants all desires. Those who have less have asked for less."

I've wondered why "good" things happen and "bad" things happen...sometimes it seems indiscriminantly to people who seem "good" or "bad." I remember a verse in the Bible that says God makes it rain on the just and the unjust alike. This passage says God is pouring a full measure of His grace on every one. How much people receive depends on their alignment with what He is trying to do, and how much they have sought Him for His provision. I find it interesting that this means God wants to bless and wants us to receive what He is giving us. It also means He gives us some responisbility and choice as to how much we will allow Him to give us. Someone with an open hand can receive a lot more than someone clinging to something else and not ready to receive His blessings.

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"Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer."

I don't think I've ever read such a brief yet clear statement about prayer. That makes it seem so simple. If only it were that easy to always keep attention focused and unmixed!

Rilke

What an interesting approach. The visual imagery was rich.

Much of the Rilke reading was about the inner life. I think this is one of my favorite readings all semester. Patience to wait until the right season, acceptance of life and natural outcomes, embracing unknowns as opportunities to learn and live more fully with answers in the future, taking personal responsibility for what we sow and reap, recognizing what is really important, looking beneath the surface, loving each other. Such interesting ways to look at things. I think I'm going to reread this one again and again.

Al-Muhasibi

"The path of love and the path of insight lead into the same garden."

I thought that was really beautiful and so enlightening. Love and truth and understanding all together.

The reading says, "When love is established in the heart of a servant of God, there is no place for remembrance of men or demons or Paradise or Hell, or for anything except the remembrance of the Beloved and his grace." That sounds really eloquent, but it doesn't quite make sense to me. It seems incomplete. Creation reveals parts of God to us, so why wouldn't it be in our hearts if we love God? It's part of the fulness of God. I would think it would be there, with an even clearer view than we had before God's love was established in our hearts.

The last paragraph talks about lovers of God, righteousness, wisdom, purity, God's care, serving, and bliss in living the good life. Those are common to many of the religions we've learned about. It is interesting that we basically desire the same things, regardless of our faith. Guess it makes sense though if God made us and put them there.

Abi-L Khayr

The gist of this reading is that God frees us. It is a process of grace, repentance, humbling, conviction, joy, certainty, love, unity, and peace and joy in both worlds. The pathway to each step must be prepared by God, and as we get through one stage, we are then prepared for the next, until we are one with God.

That is very interesting. Those are similar to the Christian walk, and as a psychology student I see applications there, too. Truth is truth, whether it is labeled by faith or science, it is still truth. For example, whether we say the "law of sowing and reaping" or "karma" or "natural law," it is true regardless of the label. A very similar path of peace and unity via a certain faith walk may also be spelled out in modern psychology. Whether a religion can accept psychological terms or not, does not negate them. A blend of both makes sense to me, as psychology may not acknowledge God who prepares each step of healing and guides us along our way in grace, repentance, humbling, conviction, joy, certainty, love, unity, and peace and joy in both worlds.

Thomas Traherne

This was my favorite reading this week. Maybe it's recent stress, or that I need a break, but I found myself burned out and just needing to read something that speaks my native "Western" tongue. I needed something easier to read and understand that made sense to me, and this reading did.

This reading really points out the importance of your personal perspective. We are to see things as God does, the beauty and connectedness of creation.

"You never enjoy the world aright till you see all things in it so perfectly yours that you cannot desire them any other way; and till you are convinced that all things serve you best in their proper places. For can you desire to enjoy anything a better way than in God's image?" That made me say hmmm, and really think. All things do serve us best in their proper places. I appreciate such simple insights. If we have a clear perspective, and things are in their proper place, we will see that as the best way and how God designed them to be seen and used.

"Your enjoyment is never right till you esteem every soul so great a treasure as our Savior does..." How much sweeter fellowship is when we can speak what we believe is true, give each other the freedom to either agree or disagree, and we all continue to love each other. Each person is a gift to be treasured. It's our privilege to love each other, and if we don't love each other who is going to? As far as I know, we are the only humans on the earth sharing this life, so we may as well love and get along.