Friday, October 29, 2010
Religion Need Not Divide Us
Here's a link to a commentary by the Dalai Lama published in the New York Times. He provides what I believe to be a good basis for interfaith harmony.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
The Coming Famine?
Here's a link to a book review that warns of a coming famine. The argument is based on the often heard warning that the days of cheap oil, of which our food supply is based, are coming to an end. To be certain, I've read good arguments to the contrary, some that I've also posted links to in previous blogs. But in the wake of apolcalyptic musings, thought I'd post this here.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Leaving the Realm of the Prophets: Summarization
As we prepare to leave the realm of the prophets, I'll summarize what I beleive to be the most important points.
Concerning prophecy, I believe one would be right to be skeptical but wrong to be dismissive. The key disposition is humility.
Given the lamentable condition of the world, it's both fitting and proper to look to the fulfillment of prophecy as a means toward divine guidance. This is not to suggest we abandon science, reason, or common sense, but merely to recognize our human limitations to understand all of the mysteries of the universe. Again, the key disposition is humility.
Poetry can be used to render prophecy more serviceable by recognizing the symbols as manifestations of our human nature. For example, the dragon of our nature can represent the destructive and enslaving forces of greed for both wealth and power, and its use of fear towards those who might challenge it. Christ accepting the cross (a.k.a., the blood of the lamb) can represent the human capacity for love, faith, and sacrifice. The above examples are taken from the Biblical Book of Revelation.
What takes root and grows in the collective imagination matters, whether one believes in the prophecy or not. The use of myth, defined as the stories a society tells about itself, shapes how the individual sees his or her self in relation to the rest of the world body. While I've focused on Christian myth, this is not to exclude prophecy from other groups. As I advocated elsewhere for greater merging of the mainstream American culture with its indigenous culture, particular attention I believe should be paid to Native American prophecy.
The Native American prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors, for example, can be combined with that of Christian prophecy. The prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors foresees a time of environmental degradation when the earth would begin to die because of greed. At that time the Rainbow Warriors, a people regardless or color, race, or religion, would arise and save the people, animals, trees, and the earth. Using the symbols noted above, I'm suggesting the Rainbow Warriors should take up the cross and use it to slay the dragon.
While attempting to fulfill prophecy, the old adage applies: "Man proposes, God disposes." Once again humility is the key. But as the meek may well inherit the earth, my interpretation is that this is no call for passivity but a call for action, such as that reflected in the early Christians as they overtook the Roman Empire. Because the year 2012 looms in the collective imagination, an opportunity for action is at hand.
Concerning prophecy, I believe one would be right to be skeptical but wrong to be dismissive. The key disposition is humility.
Given the lamentable condition of the world, it's both fitting and proper to look to the fulfillment of prophecy as a means toward divine guidance. This is not to suggest we abandon science, reason, or common sense, but merely to recognize our human limitations to understand all of the mysteries of the universe. Again, the key disposition is humility.
Poetry can be used to render prophecy more serviceable by recognizing the symbols as manifestations of our human nature. For example, the dragon of our nature can represent the destructive and enslaving forces of greed for both wealth and power, and its use of fear towards those who might challenge it. Christ accepting the cross (a.k.a., the blood of the lamb) can represent the human capacity for love, faith, and sacrifice. The above examples are taken from the Biblical Book of Revelation.
What takes root and grows in the collective imagination matters, whether one believes in the prophecy or not. The use of myth, defined as the stories a society tells about itself, shapes how the individual sees his or her self in relation to the rest of the world body. While I've focused on Christian myth, this is not to exclude prophecy from other groups. As I advocated elsewhere for greater merging of the mainstream American culture with its indigenous culture, particular attention I believe should be paid to Native American prophecy.
The Native American prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors, for example, can be combined with that of Christian prophecy. The prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors foresees a time of environmental degradation when the earth would begin to die because of greed. At that time the Rainbow Warriors, a people regardless or color, race, or religion, would arise and save the people, animals, trees, and the earth. Using the symbols noted above, I'm suggesting the Rainbow Warriors should take up the cross and use it to slay the dragon.
While attempting to fulfill prophecy, the old adage applies: "Man proposes, God disposes." Once again humility is the key. But as the meek may well inherit the earth, my interpretation is that this is no call for passivity but a call for action, such as that reflected in the early Christians as they overtook the Roman Empire. Because the year 2012 looms in the collective imagination, an opportunity for action is at hand.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: How the Meek Can Inherit the Earth
Self-interest is human nature but because we're social beings, there can be a problem with how it sits with the soul and consequently can compromise human flourishing. I believe the optimal state of human actions are those that promote others as it also promotes one's self. Put another way, what's best for human biology is a society that reflects what I call the cross-cultural divine law of reciprocity, to love others as you love your self. As stated elsewhere, I believe such an existence to be compatible with the principles of a market economy.
The problem may not be self-interest so much but one's worldview that lends itself to self-justification of that self-interest. No one actually sees the world in its entirety yet we all have an 'idea' of the world that determines our actions. The problem comes as this 'idea' of the world is inextricably tied to our sense of self. Furthermore one's 'idea' of the world can be formed by an ideology that can be in conflict with the soul.
We can attain a sense of self through two means, though usually through some variation of both: comparison to others, or to a cultural ideal; or, through contribution to a greater collective. The former is problematic while the latter often fails to receive recognition and monetary compensation; consequently, our society is currently afflicted by some degree of demoralization.
Through vision, or projection of the soul, or primal soul, we can tell the human story from beginning to end. By drawing on the mythos and framing it poetically yet truthfully and interjecting the arts, we can tell the human story, in its diversity of forms, to induce the human spirit. By telling the human story you enable the individual to awaken to the truth that affirms one’s sense of self derived from contribution as the appropriate foundation toward human flourishing for both the individual and society.
The problem comes with those whose sense of self is overly derived through comparison to others, that is , on the weak foundation of pride. Through the disparaging of others, for example, can falsely prop up one's sense of self, or group identity, probably to enable justification of their own actions. Those person's would have to undergo a painful adjustment to their sense of self by confronting the shameful truth. Yet its only painful because of the pride; the realization of the truth sets one free, so to speak, by awakening one's sense of self derived on the true foundation of contribution to the greater end.
However hypothetical or specualtive this line of reasoning may be, I'm suggesting it checks out with Christ's teachings, as follows:
The problem may not be self-interest so much but one's worldview that lends itself to self-justification of that self-interest. No one actually sees the world in its entirety yet we all have an 'idea' of the world that determines our actions. The problem comes as this 'idea' of the world is inextricably tied to our sense of self. Furthermore one's 'idea' of the world can be formed by an ideology that can be in conflict with the soul.
We can attain a sense of self through two means, though usually through some variation of both: comparison to others, or to a cultural ideal; or, through contribution to a greater collective. The former is problematic while the latter often fails to receive recognition and monetary compensation; consequently, our society is currently afflicted by some degree of demoralization.
Through vision, or projection of the soul, or primal soul, we can tell the human story from beginning to end. By drawing on the mythos and framing it poetically yet truthfully and interjecting the arts, we can tell the human story, in its diversity of forms, to induce the human spirit. By telling the human story you enable the individual to awaken to the truth that affirms one’s sense of self derived from contribution as the appropriate foundation toward human flourishing for both the individual and society.
The problem comes with those whose sense of self is overly derived through comparison to others, that is , on the weak foundation of pride. Through the disparaging of others, for example, can falsely prop up one's sense of self, or group identity, probably to enable justification of their own actions. Those person's would have to undergo a painful adjustment to their sense of self by confronting the shameful truth. Yet its only painful because of the pride; the realization of the truth sets one free, so to speak, by awakening one's sense of self derived on the true foundation of contribution to the greater end.
However hypothetical or specualtive this line of reasoning may be, I'm suggesting it checks out with Christ's teachings, as follows:
"For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5).My interpretation of "meek" being a disposition of love and humility but not passivity. For more in depth reasoning about the process I've described above, readers can turn to past blogs, particularly from May 17 to July 4, 2010 as I describe the poetic genius as it reflects the course of human evolution.
Monday, October 18, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: Bringing Jesus Down to Earth as a Poet
So much has been made about Jesus in the religious sense -- being a prophet, the Messiah, the Savior, the Christ -- that we're apt to forget a more grounded sense that Jesus of Nazareth was also, essentially, a poet. The use of metaphor and symbolism in his parables, those short stories that convey a deeper truth, testify to this. Following his crucifixion, his own life would become a moving story and a powerful symbol that captures our imagination to this day.
Throughout the modern era we've been exhorted to "rise above" our human nature for the sake of reason or a moral ideal; and consequently, we often set ourselves up to fail, disdaining others as we disdain ourselves. Instead, I argue, we need to work with our nature and in so doing, begin to restore faith in our nature, loving others as we love ourselves.
The modern era has exalted reason, but as the poet Dante dramatized in the symbolic form of the poet Virgil, reason only leads us so far. And as the modern poet Walt Whitman exhorted, we can better discover a sense of our divinity through embracing the primal; for the truth is, we are animals, but we're social animals capable of reflecting that dynamic of our collective nature called love.
Culture, including religion, is not static but evolves over time. Through the crucifixion of Jesus, we have a powerful symbol that extends beyond the religious-cultural context of personal salvation; we have both the representation and the inspiration for the best of our nature, the human capacity for love, faith, and sacrifice that can lead us to human salvation. My assertion is that we can better draw on this power in the mythos, as we continue to make our way on the path of the poetic genius:
Through our poets with their heads in the clouds
we can welcome Christ Jesus riding down:
the Kingdom of God lies within you.
Throughout the modern era we've been exhorted to "rise above" our human nature for the sake of reason or a moral ideal; and consequently, we often set ourselves up to fail, disdaining others as we disdain ourselves. Instead, I argue, we need to work with our nature and in so doing, begin to restore faith in our nature, loving others as we love ourselves.
The modern era has exalted reason, but as the poet Dante dramatized in the symbolic form of the poet Virgil, reason only leads us so far. And as the modern poet Walt Whitman exhorted, we can better discover a sense of our divinity through embracing the primal; for the truth is, we are animals, but we're social animals capable of reflecting that dynamic of our collective nature called love.
Culture, including religion, is not static but evolves over time. Through the crucifixion of Jesus, we have a powerful symbol that extends beyond the religious-cultural context of personal salvation; we have both the representation and the inspiration for the best of our nature, the human capacity for love, faith, and sacrifice that can lead us to human salvation. My assertion is that we can better draw on this power in the mythos, as we continue to make our way on the path of the poetic genius:
Through our poets with their heads in the clouds
we can welcome Christ Jesus riding down:
the Kingdom of God lies within you.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: Restoring the Fall of Man
As addressed in the previous blog, the allegory of the Fall of Man addresses broadly the problem of the human condition and specifically the dispiritualizing affects of the fall into self-conciousness. When Christ comes onto the scene and says that to follow him one must pick up the cross and deny the self, I expect he's redressing this same problem of the human condition; he is exhorting his followers to move beyond the consciousness of the self and attain the spiritual realm of a collective consciousness and the feeling of unity with God and others.
Yet it is this feeling that's proved elusive in human history. Without question, the early Christians achieved it and sustained it on such a level as to overtake the Roman Empire, despite its daunting persecutions, thus attesting to its power to transform. As reflected in the verse from the Biblical Book of Hebrews, cited in the previous blog entry of October 4, there was a sense of a new convenant where people would no longer didactically proclaim “know the Lord” but feel it, with the commandments regarding their neighbors imbued on their hearts.
But as Christianity became an institution it inevitably conforms to some degree or other to the ways of the world for its operations and thus becomes more mundane; and it's back to telling people to “know the Lord” with the peculiar addition to “know Jesus” as well. In the modern era, following the horror of the First World War with its participant nations predominatly Christian, the writer D.H. Lawrence bristled against the moral order of his day. From his book Apocalypse, Lawrence wrote as follows:
Yet it is this feeling that's proved elusive in human history. Without question, the early Christians achieved it and sustained it on such a level as to overtake the Roman Empire, despite its daunting persecutions, thus attesting to its power to transform. As reflected in the verse from the Biblical Book of Hebrews, cited in the previous blog entry of October 4, there was a sense of a new convenant where people would no longer didactically proclaim “know the Lord” but feel it, with the commandments regarding their neighbors imbued on their hearts.
But as Christianity became an institution it inevitably conforms to some degree or other to the ways of the world for its operations and thus becomes more mundane; and it's back to telling people to “know the Lord” with the peculiar addition to “know Jesus” as well. In the modern era, following the horror of the First World War with its participant nations predominatly Christian, the writer D.H. Lawrence bristled against the moral order of his day. From his book Apocalypse, Lawrence wrote as follows:
With Jesus, a new thing came into the world. And we can say with confidence, that no further thing will ever come into the world again, without a further new breath of love, and of tenderness.It is a certain feeling that were after, one that can also be sustained. To harness it, I expect it will come through a greater role for the arts in revitalizing the moral culture. I imagine that the restoration of the Fall of Man will be an affective mix of insouciance and experience, truth, physicality, and a deep level of acceptance towards others and one's self. That all may seem quite distant from our current state of affairs. Yet we seem to get a glimpse of it from time to time, in the present and throughout human history, a feeling that maybe we're not so far as we may feel at times.
Friday, October 8, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: The Allegory of the Fall of Man
My poetic take on the allegory of the Fall of Man is that it's a story about consciousness, notably the dispiritualizing aspects of the fall into self-conciousness. Adam and Eve become self-conscious that they're naked, robbing themselves of being in the spirit. It is not their nakedness that's evil but the dispiritualizing feeling itself that we can't help but feel. Yet through certain means, however, such as an intimate relationship, this feeling can be alleviated.
There is more to this allegory as it represents the rendering of a complex notion, that of the evolution of human consciousness, into a more communicable narrative. The allegory also tells the story of our pride, that is, consciously setting ourselves apart from others and nature, or the fall into the consciousness of the individual self. Also reflected is this removal of ourselves from the natural processes such as that which occurred through the agricultural revolution.
Because we're also conscious of our own death, it induces fear that can also rob us of being in the spirit. Without question, one of the great selling-points of Christianity is its promise of eternal life through Christ. Yet there are other means that can alleviate the fear of death, such as one's consciousness being in the spirit of the collective; because while individuals die, the collective lives.
There is more to this allegory as it represents the rendering of a complex notion, that of the evolution of human consciousness, into a more communicable narrative. The allegory also tells the story of our pride, that is, consciously setting ourselves apart from others and nature, or the fall into the consciousness of the individual self. Also reflected is this removal of ourselves from the natural processes such as that which occurred through the agricultural revolution.
Because we're also conscious of our own death, it induces fear that can also rob us of being in the spirit. Without question, one of the great selling-points of Christianity is its promise of eternal life through Christ. Yet there are other means that can alleviate the fear of death, such as one's consciousness being in the spirit of the collective; because while individuals die, the collective lives.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: Love Flourishing Best in the Bed of Freedom
The previous blog may suggest that some day we'll do away with the didactic and religion in general and bask in the feeling of love. Maybe some day but I'm skeptical. Religion and the didactic, or religous doctrine, can be imbued with deep wisdom that the contemporary mindset can fail to appreciate. Yet it's also true that religious doctrine can also be stuck in the past and impair true progress. Cultures, including religion, evolve over time.
In the wake of the 1960's, we should recognize that feelings of 'love' can degenerate into the afflictions of the self. What feels like love and what truly is love can be quite different, especially regarding sexual or 'romantic' love; and here religious doctrine can help guide us. True love, as it appears to me, is the denial of the individual self to attain a greater collective, or spiritual, experience.
We're on the trail of the poetic genius because of its reflection on the course of human evolution. The writings of D.H. Lawrence would necessarily break moral taboos to advance the realization of the spiritual aspects of the body. Yet it also must be said that his writings, such as the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover) would help sow the seeds of the sexual revolution and the rise of casual sex, which can be dispiriting toward the body, and contribute to other social ills: the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, the breakdown of the family social unit, childhood poverty, hurt feelings, etc.
The sexual revolution, I believe, is an example of human evolution that probably would've inevitably occurred in the human drive toward freedom. Through the experience, however, we can better appreciate the sacred rite of marriage. Yet if the marriage is mere convention or coerced, such as through intimidation or threat of shaming or social ostracism, it can detract from the realization of the greater spiritual aspects that can be discovered in the marital unit. To my view, attaining a deep level of intimacy may only come through a corresponding deep level of committment, and that love flourishes best when given freely.
In the wake of the 1960's, we should recognize that feelings of 'love' can degenerate into the afflictions of the self. What feels like love and what truly is love can be quite different, especially regarding sexual or 'romantic' love; and here religious doctrine can help guide us. True love, as it appears to me, is the denial of the individual self to attain a greater collective, or spiritual, experience.
We're on the trail of the poetic genius because of its reflection on the course of human evolution. The writings of D.H. Lawrence would necessarily break moral taboos to advance the realization of the spiritual aspects of the body. Yet it also must be said that his writings, such as the novel Lady Chatterley's Lover) would help sow the seeds of the sexual revolution and the rise of casual sex, which can be dispiriting toward the body, and contribute to other social ills: the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancies, the breakdown of the family social unit, childhood poverty, hurt feelings, etc.
The sexual revolution, I believe, is an example of human evolution that probably would've inevitably occurred in the human drive toward freedom. Through the experience, however, we can better appreciate the sacred rite of marriage. Yet if the marriage is mere convention or coerced, such as through intimidation or threat of shaming or social ostracism, it can detract from the realization of the greater spiritual aspects that can be discovered in the marital unit. To my view, attaining a deep level of intimacy may only come through a corresponding deep level of committment, and that love flourishes best when given freely.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: Evolution from the Didactic to the Inspirational
As the prophet Moses led the Israelites from slavery into freedom, he provided a collective narrative of the old covenant to help forge a collective identity. He laid down the law of the ten commandments, a didactic expression of morality. Subsequent prophets would come and qualify this moral culture. As the prophet Jesus of Nazareth came onto the scene, he is quoted in the gospel according to Matthew (5:17) as follows:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.While Jesus would seemingly fulfill the prophecy of both Isaiah and John the Baptist, he would also expand on the didactic expression of the ten commandments (i.e., “thou shalt not...) to the more inspirational expression of love (see Matthew 22:37-40). Subsequently, the Apostle Paul would clarify to the Romans of the early Christian church as follows:
For the commandments …. are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13,14).In the Biblical Book of Hebrews (9:10,11), the following verse refects the transition from the old convenant to the new covenant, from less of the didactic, or teaching approach and towards more of an inspirational, or love as a feeling.
This is the covenant I will make withThe Christian church in time would become an institution, break into various denominations, all talking about love, but the truly successful ones can feel it and sustain that feeling on some level. It is this dynamic of our collective nature that this project concerns itself.
the house of Israel
after that time, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God
and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach their fellow citizens
or their brothers, saying, 'Know
the Lord,”
for all shall know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
In the Realm of the Prophets: On the Biblical Book of Revelation
Having come to Christianity through poetry, I'm inclined to take the Bible poetically rather than literally. Certainly some verses can be taken literally, such as what strike me as the essential teachings of Christ: love God and love each other. But to my view, taking the Bible literally while failing to recognize its poetry is like reading lyrics without hearing the music.
I won't go into the historical background of the Biblical Book of Revelation too much, but it's inseparable from its time and place: a time of Christian persecution by Roman authorities back in the days of the Roman Empire. Arguably, the prophecy of the Book of Revelation has already been fulfilled as Christianity overtook the Roman Empire. Yet Christians worldwide continue to look for the second coming of Christ and that matters.
Christians can still act to acheive human salvation while maintaining that conviction that Jesus will physically return; and, I believe, it's common that many Christian churches promote such an approach. As I began this blog to express my vision -- my call in the blogosphere -- I didn't necessarily expect a lot of readers; I was conscious that if I only get one reader, it could still be all important if that one reader happens to be the right reader.
I ran into a guy in Eugene, Oregon who seemed to me to resemble Jesus in form and persoanlity, who struck me as a true poet and also happened to be jewish. If I run into him again, I'll ask him if it ever occurred to him that he might be the second coming of Christ. But short of a literal realization of the Book of Revelation, we should also explore poetic realizations in the fulfillment of prophecy, such as that which I alluded to in the previous blog.
I won't go into the historical background of the Biblical Book of Revelation too much, but it's inseparable from its time and place: a time of Christian persecution by Roman authorities back in the days of the Roman Empire. Arguably, the prophecy of the Book of Revelation has already been fulfilled as Christianity overtook the Roman Empire. Yet Christians worldwide continue to look for the second coming of Christ and that matters.
Christians can still act to acheive human salvation while maintaining that conviction that Jesus will physically return; and, I believe, it's common that many Christian churches promote such an approach. As I began this blog to express my vision -- my call in the blogosphere -- I didn't necessarily expect a lot of readers; I was conscious that if I only get one reader, it could still be all important if that one reader happens to be the right reader.
I ran into a guy in Eugene, Oregon who seemed to me to resemble Jesus in form and persoanlity, who struck me as a true poet and also happened to be jewish. If I run into him again, I'll ask him if it ever occurred to him that he might be the second coming of Christ. But short of a literal realization of the Book of Revelation, we should also explore poetic realizations in the fulfillment of prophecy, such as that which I alluded to in the previous blog.
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