819 “I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through.” —Hafiz
Day 819: Monday, June 13, 2022
“I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through.” —Hafiz
Victoria would like to follow up with us on the Liturgy in which we discovered the Holy Spirit living deeply in each of us, being us, enjoying a third way thathelps us break through the dualism we so often fiercly embrace (YOU'RE WRONG... I'M RIGHT!)
Victoria writes: If anyone is interested in reading more about The Trinity and the The of Law of Three, here is a photo of the book I read by Cynthia Bourgeault. It’s quite a read, but we could then talk more about it.
Yesterday Marcie led us in a beautiful closing blessing - a favorite of Victoria's. I had never heard it before and was struck by its depth and wonder. I looked for it and found a few paragraphs from Richard Rohr who used it in a daily meditation several years ago.
"Symeon the New Theologian (949-1022) was a Byzantine Christian monk and mystic revered to this day by Eastern Christians. Symeon believed humans had the capacity to experience God’s presence directly. He visualized this union happening within the “force field” of the Body of Christ. This cosmic embodiment is created both by God’s grace and our response.
Symeon’s Hymn 15 in his Hymns of Divine Love beautifully names the divine union that God is forever inviting us toward. These twenty-seven mystical lines honestly say it all for me and move me to an embodied knowing, to a living force field wherein we will know mystical union on even the cellular level." - Richard Rohr
We awaken in Christ’s body,
As Christ awakens our bodies
There I look down and my poor hand is Christ,
He enters my foot and is infinitely me.
I move my hand and wonderfully
My hand becomes Christ,
Becomes all of Him.
I move my foot and at once
He appears in a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous to you?
–Then open your heart to Him.
And let yourself receive the one
Who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
We wake up inside Christ’s body
Where all our body all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us utterly real.
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
Maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged
Is in Him transformed.
And in Him, recognized as whole, as lovely,
And radiant in His light,
We awaken as the beloved
In every last part of our body.
(Parents caring for son with AIDS)
Adapted from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, pp. 219-220
Announcement: An Invitation from Pema Chödrön
Even though it is an intrinsic and unavoidable part of life, our culture as a whole doesn’t like to talk about death. For many of us, the concept is not only frightening, but nearly taboo—a grim shadow overhanging everything, silent and dreadful. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, it shouldn’t.
When you’ve engaged in deep Buddhist practice for as long as I have, it’s impossible not to become familiar with The Tibetan Book of the Dead. This extraordinary text—part of a much larger cycle of foundational teachings—details a specific Buddhist view on what happens to you after death.
Specifically, the Book of the Dead explores the concept of bardo, the in-between space that opens beyond death and leads eventually into reincarnation. The state of bardo does not wait for you at some unknown moment in the future; it is already here, woven throughout the liminal spaces of our days. And when you come to understand that, enormous opportunities for awakening become available to you. “Death isn’t just something that happens at the end. Life is continually arising, dwelling, ceasing, and arising. It’s a cycle that goes on every day, and continues to go on forever.” —Ani Pema— This is why I created Embracing the Unknown, a new online course devoted to exploring the context and meaning of the Book of the Dead, grasping the bardo of the everyday, and cultivating the courage necessary to face change head on. When you realize that every moment is a “between” moment, you also begin to recognize the immense power available in present-moment awareness.
Embracing the Unknown is a potent entry point to Buddhist philosophy, but its thorough exploration of the bardo also makes it ideal for advanced practitioners. Not only will you hear my own thoughts on death and change, you’ll also learn directly from Timothy Olmsted, one of my favorite and most frequent collaborators.
Change is inevitable. Fear of change is not. Join me in Embracing the Unknown to discover why we really do need to talk about death, and thus come to appreciate the rebirth available in every single moment of life. With you on the journey, Ani Pema Chödrön
Interested? for more information and to Sign up use this link: