Beyond

 "Beyond the grandeur is God."  

Rabbi Heschel 

  

"God... always creates in the present. The act of creation does not fade into the past but is always in the beginning and in process and new...There is no standing still for us in any path in this life, and there never has been for any person, no matter how advanced one might be."

Meister Ekhart     

  

Meister Eckhart, A Mystic Warrior for Our Times (p.12)  

Matthew Fox 

  

    

   

     

photograph:  San Leandro, March 2021  

When I walk past this peony today, it will be changing.  So will I.    

Wonderful

 A friend recently suggested that I might like the book, Meister Eckhart, A Mystic Warrior for Our Times by Matthew Fox.  At least I think this is the book she was suggesting; it is easy to get lost when ordering online.  In the first chapter entitled, "The God of Awe, Wonder, Radical Amazement, and Justice: Meister Eckhart Meets Rabbi Heschel", Fox writes, "We need wonder to restart culture because the modern agenda started philosophy not with awe and wonder but with doubt. Heschel claims that this is destructive because 'wonder rather than doubt is the root of knowledge. ' Merkle [John C. Merkle, Genesis of Faith] comments that a philosophy 'that begins in doubt will find it difficult, if not impossible, to include wonder.' This explains why we live in a society that is less and less wonder oriented, and why our educational systems are failing - and boring - our young  people. Heschel makes the point that there is no word in biblical Hebrew for doubt - but there are many words for wonder (9).        

Granted there are some pretty sweeping statements here that I will probably never be prepared enough to defend or argue.  Yet, having started way too many projects in the spirit of doubt, I know there is some deep truth here, and I just felt my life shift.  Jesus often lamented the doubt that would periodically take root in the hearts of those around him.   When we doubt, we listen too much to our own fears.  Wonder opens us to new possibilities.   Wonder leaves room for God. 

photograph:  San Leandro, March, 2021 

Yes, it Matters

 When I first read this poem, I could feel the pear in my hand.  I touched  the burro's ears with happiness.   I could see the kindly monk who would occasionally drop by.  I find this to be a humbling reminder that it matters how we treat the world.  It matters what we plant and what we eat.  It matters what we buy and what we throw away.  Who and what we care for.   What work we ask our fellow creatures (including humans)  to do day in and day out.  It matters how we tend to our souls because that is how we tend to all.  

Our bee population is having to carry their burdens further and further  because we forget to create way stations for them.  Plant something, and herbs will do nicely,  to lessen  the distance the little bee must  travel. Put some stones in your bird baths so they can pause and take a drink.  Even these simple steps will help us all taste the sacredness of  a really good pear.   

    

Love Does That  

 

All day long a little burro labors, sometimes 

with heavy loads on her back and sometimes just with worries 

about things that bother only 

burros.   

  

And worries, as we know, can be more exhausting 

than physical labor. 

  

Once in awhile a kind monk comes 

to her stable and brings 

a pear, but more than that, 

  

he looks into the burro's eyes and touches her ears 

  

and for a few seconds the burro is free 

and even seems to laugh, 

  

because love does 

that.    

 

Love frees.        

   

Meister Eckart, translated by Daniel Ladinsky in Love Poems from God   

   

photograph:  San Leandro, March 2021 

Cathedral

 On Monday, I happened to come to the communion table that is the ceanothus.  The sun was shining brightly, and the bees were finding the sustenance for which they had been searching.  The scent was woodsy and ethereal at the same time.  Winged music filled the air.   For some minutes I was held in splendor.   

This poem leads me to believe that I need to read more of Meister Eckhart.  Daniel Ladinsky writes: "His religious writings were so eloquent that they helped evolve the German language."  However it seems that the Cathoic Church of the time accused him of heresy, and may have even destroyed some of his works after his death.   While the Dominican Order has worked to bring Meister Eckhart's brilliancy to light, even  now we continue to hear of churches that fear love. They leave us no alternative but to turn away from such institutions.  We are on a journey to love.       

   

The Hope of Loving   

 

What keeps us alive, what allows us to endure? 

I think it is the hope of loving, 

or being loved.  

  

I heard a fable once about the sun going on a journey 

to find its source, and how the moon wept 

without her lover's 

warm gaze.  

  

We weep when light does not reach our hearts. We wither 

like fields if someone close 

does not rain their 

kindness 

upon 

us.   

     

Meister Eckhart as translated by Daniel Ladinsky

Love Poems from God 

photograph:  San Leandro, March 2021

Prayer, Poem, and a Peony

 Last night we began  and ended our meditation time with this poem by Kabir.   I have so appreciated gathering with others for meditation.  Yes, even on Zoom, we have a sense of a small meditating community.  It is humbling to think that my journey has brought me to this time and place where I can simply sit and fall in love with the world once more.  

 

   

I Had to Seek the Physician 

     

I had to seek the Physician 

because of the pain this world 

caused 

me.  

 

I could not believe what happened when I got there - 

I found my 

Teacher.  

  

Before  I left, he said, 

"Up for a little homework, yet?"  

"Okay," I replied. 

  

"Well then, try thanking all the people 

who have caused you pain.  

  

They helped you 

come to 

me."   

   

Love Poems from God 

Translations by Daniel Ladinsky     

photograph:  

San Leandro, March 2021  

  

This peony lives not very far from us.   I have always found it beautiful and intriguing, partly because of the wall next to it.   

Revealing Presence

 This poem by Alfred K. LaMotte is longer than what  I would usually post, but I find it compelling and beautiful.  Yes, we humans are storytelling creatures.  When I listen to the birds I think that all creatures are.  Yet, we and those around us need  times when we  humans are not defining ourselves and staking out  the territory of our egos day in and day out.  Even if we let go for only a moment, that moment will be enough to let us, and therefore the world, unfurl into a brand new peace.       

Love Doesn't Need a Story   

As you awaken, just before

the mind of yesterday

falls like a net of stones

behind your eye,

be weightless.

Be presence without a story - 

How your soul looks

in that mirror

when it sees itself!

What gets you out of bed,

trembling like a wild

purple iris in the breath

of dawn!

It doesn’t matter at all

what you will do for

a living today.

The priceless jewel

is just living.

It doesn’t matter at all

how much money

you will make today.

Your body is more

precious than sunlight,

your sternum is beaten

from finer gold.

Whether you feed

the multitudes today

or only wash the dishes

makes no difference at all.

What matters is to plunge

down the stem of this unfolding

meditation flower,

to follow the thunderbolt

in your backbone

all the way home

to silence,

to drop the terrible fairy tale

of yesterday’s rage.

The mirage of sorrow

vanishes in clarity,

your heart the whole sky.

Don’t you know that

you save the planet

just by being awake?

Love doesn’t need a story.

 

~ Alfred K. LaMotte   

First Sip 

photograph: San Leandro, March 2021