Johannes

“But if we start imagining God as behind the world, or beyond, or prior, or separate in any way, we have already stirred up mud in the clear water.”

I found this reading to be really interesting because it’s sort of the opposite approach I take when looking at God and his relation to me and the world. This reading stated over and over how God is all things and he’s not separate from anything or anyone. I feel separate from God and I don’t see that separateness as muddying up clear water or in any way negative. The way I think about God’s relationship with people is kind of like from the perspective as a parent. When a child is an infant, the parent has to be with that child 24/7 to do everything for them because they don’t know how to take care of themselves. As the child grows older, a parent does less and less because the child slowly becomes capable of independence. Finally, a child is no longer a child, but an adult and can take care of themselves. At this point, the parent isn’t doing everything for their son or daughter or telling them how to solve all their problems because they now have most of the tools to fix it themselves. Mom and dad call and check in, and may offer advice if it’s really needed, but ultimately they are on their own. I feel like that’s how God works. It’s not that he doesn’t care or couldn’t help you or even that he’s not watching, but like a parent, eventually trusts in your ability to make good decisions or to rectify a situation when you make poor ones. I don’t really see God in everything and I’ve never felt like God was working through me. When I accomplish something in my life or when I screw up, I don’t attribute either to God. I don’t feel like he takes such an active role in everything. It’s not that I think he isn’t present, but if he was going to do everything for us, why the hell would we even be here? I feel like he’s more on the sidelines like a coach or guide or a parent cheering you on and believing in your ability to think for yourself. I feel like he shows up when we truly need it. The only time I’ve ever really felt the presence of God is when I visited the Dachau concentration camp and stood in the crematorium in front of these two giant ovens and listened to a former prisoner tell me how he had put his father’s body into the oven we were staring at. I needed desperately to feel God and know that he was there in that moment and became filled with this profound sense of peace I can’t put into words. I don’t even know what I’m trying to say at this point and sort of feel like I’m off topic, but there it is…

Huang-Po

“Start to think about it and immediately you are mistaken. It is like the boundless void, which can’t be fathomed or measured.”

I’ve been thinking about the discussion we had today in class for like the last eight hours. I don’t have strong and conservative religious convictions, so it’s really interesting to hear from those who do. Belief in an afterlife is egotistical? Our morality isn’t a ticket into heaven, but affection towards God? What is heaven and hell? Where is heaven and hell? What the hell does it matter anyway? Like the quote says, I start to think about it all and I think I know what I think and how I feel and then I think about something else that makes me think about it all from a completely different angle. The interesting thing about taking this class and reading this book is that the more I know and understand, the less I know and understand. But perhaps not understanding is understanding. Why is it so hard to just admit to ourselves that we don’t know? Why do we feel the need to debate people on an argument that is impossible to win? Why are we so quick to point out who is a Christian or a Jew or an Atheist? Why are we so quick to point out everything that the other person or faith is doing wrong? When is the last time any of us looked at another human being and just saw a human being instead of seeing a sin/fault we could point out? Human beings always seem to want the world to be in black and white. Yes or no. Right or wrong. I’m beginning to think more and more that when it comes to God and religion, it isn’t black, white, or even grey. It just is or it just is not. I don’t think it is something that can or ever will be answered and I don’t think that is something we need to worry or feel guilty about. After all, if these concepts were easily measured and understood, Pharisees would have been out of a job and Jesus wouldn’t have had to speak in parables.

Franz Kafta

“The Messiah will come when he is no longer necessary.”

Jason said that to me once during his office hour and I have been thinking about it ever since. Every time it comes to mind, the very first think that pops into my head is “Oy vey. I guess he’s not coming.” The idea that the Messiah will only come when he is no longer necessary is either very exciting or very depressing. It could be exciting in the sense that perhaps humanity will wake up and get itself together and someone coming in and fixing everything won’t be necessary because we will have already done that ourselves. Or it is completely depressing because human beings so often show the worst side of humanity which isn’t really humanity at all.

Novalis

“We are alone with everything we love.”

I thought about this quote in a few different ways. Considering Emerson referred to Novalis as a “pure romantic,” one way I interpreted this quote was how it feels to be completely and utterly head over heels in love. When you’re in that mode, you and your significant other can be in a room with a thousand people and yet it feels like the only two people in the room are just you and the one you love. Another way I interpreted this quote is how it feels to lose someone or something that you love. You really are alone with the pain or disappointment you can feel from love. Whether it is that you broke up with someone or that someone you loved has passed away, even when friends and family are trying to support you or cheer you up, you are the one who feels that love and the pain from losing that love. You can only cheer yourself up. Another way I thought about this quote was that we are the only ones who truly know how we feel. Another person can have an idea of what we’re feeling, but nobody can know your heart but you.

“There is only one temple in the world and that is the human body.”

I felt like this was saying what many of our previous readings have stated-that it is not a temple, church, or another person that creates our relationship with God. God’s grace, heaven, or enlightenment will not be given to us through outside sources, but will be discovered within ourselves. You don’t have to go somewhere else to worship. You just have to look inside yourself to see the truth and know the truth. Buddha said,”Be a lamp to yourself. Be your own confidence. Hold to the truth within yourself, as to the only truth..You are all Buddhas. There is nothing that you need to achieve. Just open your eyes". I think that is the message here. We are all capable of understanding truth and God. Simply showing up at a church every week isn’t guaranteeing anything or necessarily bringing you any closer to anything. Like my grandmother always told me,”It’s on the inside that counts.” So if the “kingdom of heaven is within you” as Jesus has said, then it doesn’t matter what you’re doing in the outside world in front of other people; it only matters what is in your own heart and what you are doing when you think that no one is watching. The outside temple isn’t going to help you anyway if the inside temple is in disarray.

“When you understand how to love one thing-then you understand how best to love everything.”

I think the one thing he’s referring to is ourselves. You can’t truly be happy with anything around you unless you are first happy with yourself. Once you figure out how to love yourself and feel content with who you are, you can love other people and allow other people to really know and love you. This quote reminded me of the quote in the Ramana Maharshi reading that said,”If the mind is happy, not only the body but the whole world will be happy. So one must find out how to become happy oneself. Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the whole world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.” I think that loving yourself is like wearing shoes. If you’re trying to love other things and other people when you don’t even love yourself, it’s like walking barefoot over thorns-you’re not going to get very far.

The Hermetic Writings

“The person who says “I am God” may be a raving egomaniac.”
I laughed out loud when I read that and thought about various religious figures ranging from Jesus to Joseph Smith. It’s interesting how in Jesus’ lifetime many thought he was nuts and he is now arguably one of the most beloved and worshiped figures around the world. Today, you can’t really walk around saying that you’re the Son of God or a prophet of some sort; you’ll get put in a straightjacket. I find it fascinating how we respect these figures of the past, but are completely suspicious of anyone walking down a similar but modern path.

“Realize that nothing is impossible for you; recognize that you too are immortal and that you can embrace all things in your mind…”
I really like this quote. I’m supposed to graduate this semester and at times, it’s pretty overwhelming managing 17 units on top of my regular life. That quote fits perfectly and I think it can be applied to everyone. Coming to the realization that just because something is hard or even painful doesn’t make it impossible is an important part of growing up. I’m definitely partial to anything advocating believing in your own strength and abilities. If we don’t believe in ourselves, who will?

Heraclitus

“The hidden harmony is better than the obvious one.”

When you’re a kid, everything seems so obvious and simple. You think you know everything about everything. You think you know exactly what life is about and what you want out of it. You think you know exactly what is going to happen and exactly what is going to make you happy. You think you know exactly what you need. And sometimes all the things you want and need when you’re a kid are still the things you want and need when you’re an adult…but sometimes they’re not. Sometimes all the things you thought were important and necessary and crucial to your existence when you were a kid end up being the complete opposite of what you want and need as an adult. Sometimes what you thought would bring you the most joy ends up bringing you the most pain. And sometimes what you thought would bring you the most pain, brings you the most joy. It’ll be two years next month since I’ve been divorced. Growing up, I always thought that being married and having a white picket fence was the essence of happiness and harmony. I never thought in a million years that I would get divorced or that I would be raising my son on my own. To most, a marriage appears so obviously harmonious and a divorce appears so obviously painful. That is how I looked at marriage and divorce as a child. I was certain, perhaps because my own parents divorced, that getting married and having kids was the answer to the riddle. But I’ve realized that it isn’t always what is obvious or what you think you want or need that creates harmony in your life. Sometimes it’s the thing you swore you would never do or the last thing you were looking for that brings you the most peace. Sometimes it’s what you think you don’t need that makes you the most happy. As I am sitting here at the computer typing, the song “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles just came on and it’s pretty fitting. I’ve been through a lot in the last couple years and I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not at where I thought I would be in my life and I am completely stressed out about school and work and taking care of my son by myself, but I’m also the most content and sure of myself that I’ve ever been. It’s pretty amazing what happens when you’re not trying to make something happen.

Rumi

“You ask the embryo why he, or she, stays cooped up in the dark with eyes closed. Listen to the answer. There is no “other world.” I only know what I have experienced. You must be hallucinating.” I like this quote a lot. It reminded me of what my mother always says,” Perception is experience.” It is so true that we only know what we experience. Our perception of the world and other people in it is so often solely based on our own experience without a thought or care that many other ways of life and ways of thinking not only exist, but could greatly and positively impact our own existence.

“Whoever is loved is beautiful, but the opposite is not true, that whoever is beautiful is loved. Real beauty is part of loved-ness, and that loved-ness is primary.” This is definitely one of my favorite quotes from Rumi. It’s that old familiar idea that it’s on the inside that counts. You can have the perfect body, the perfect clothes, the perfect car, etc, but when it comes down to it, all that “perfection” doesn’t equal love. It is the love you experience from family, friends, or a significant other that makes us feel beautiful and see the world as beautiful. That kind of beauty is real because it isn’t based on the superficial and insignificant. That beauty is based on the depths of who we are as people. It is unfortunate that we live in a society that puts so much emphasis on superficial beauty and ultimately superficial love. There is so much more to people than what they look like. Looks fade, but our character has the ability to grow stronger and stronger. I loved his explanation of beauty using the cup and the wine. That was a great analogy.