Today's Universities & Humbolt's 19th Century Ideas

     “Metaphysical views, ... had not been retired from the curricula of universities because they had somehow been proven false but because Humbolt’s scientific model had been over-applied to all human concerns, including those of philosophy and the humanities. Looking through the lens of science, Humbolt could see no legitimacy or necessity for metaphysical theories; however, Huston believed this was confusing ‘an absence of evidence for an evidence of absence.’ … like looking at the world through blue sunglasses and denying the existence of the color yellow on the grounds that it couldn’t be seen through them.

     [Humbolt’s continuing hold on universities] appears to serve logical sensibilities admirably, but onto transcendence, the sacred, the meaning of life and humanity’s potentials it opens no vistas.
     Who [today is] working with students whose sensibilities and concerns lie in these directions? Are we to say that these concerns are unimportant? Spawned by neuroses? Intangible to the life of the mind?” 

       Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014.

Poppies of France

Mystical Experiences

     Mystical experiences “need not and should not contradict scientific facts, but when mystics experience the Ground, the One, the Universal Self, Godhead, they have transcended the Cartesian duality of subject and object that takes place in the physical world. Their experiences are therefore neither subjective nor objective in the traditional sense – since the ‘Cartesian Split’ has no relevance to that which lies beyond time and space, and so no relevance to the experience of That.

Universal core of common characteristics of mystical experience:          
          1. A sense of everything in the cosmos as interconnected.
          2. An apprehension of the One – described variously as life, or consciousness or a living Presence.
          3. A sense of objectivity or profound reality.
          4. A feeling of blessedness, joy, happiness, satisfaction.
          5. A feeling that what is apprehended is holy, or sacred, or divine.
          6. Paradoxicality of experience.
          7. Ineffability, or the sense that what is happening cannot be described with words.
          8. Transiency of the experience.
          9. Persistent positive changes in attitude and behavior."
 
        Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014

North Street, Halifax, NS

Do You Feel Right?

     Perhaps we have two basic modes of being in this world. In one, our natural state, we are unconditional love. In the other, self-concern dominates. 

     Certain people, animals, places, events easily open our hearts, so that we, as individuals, essentially disappear, transforming into loving energy, freely, selflessly flowing into, nurturing our loved one. This is where empathy, respect, forgiveness, gratitude and joy also happen.
     Other people, animals, places, events easily trigger self-concern. When "me, myself & I" dominates, our hearts are closed unless there's something in it for me. Then a bit of "conditional love" sneaks out - but it's essentially a business transaction. Fear rules here: "taking care of #1", "greed is good", "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth", cynicism, restlessness, revenge, depression, anxiety, loneliness, paranoia.

     It can take a lifetime to realize that "taking care of #1" can't ever truly satisfy. As we mature, we gradually realize that we only feel right when we are being egoless unconditional love. Our true nature is unconditional, transcending words & concepts.

 

Wisdom Beyond Apparent Opposites & Paradoxes

     “Vedanta allowed Huston to see each religion as a particular ‘color of the spectrum’ emanating from the same white light of mystical insight. Even when speaking about God specifically, Satprakashananda had taught Huston that there is no conflict between the traditions. Each god and goddess is only an emanation of the Diving Ground, the Godhead behind all the gods, and each religion’s god is only a specific culture’s interpretation of the personal-God principle. In Vedanta’s universalism, where the world’s gods are ultimately masks on the face of the one pre-cultural Sacred, Huston found a theology flexible enough for him to support the world’s religions collectively while also moving easily back and forth between them as different paths up the same mountain.”

     Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014.

 

To Be, or Not to Be ...

     "Being is that which disturbs our insistence on remaining in the life-numbing realm of our secret desperation. It is the itch that cannot be scratched, the whisper that will not be denied. To be, to truly be, is not a given.

     Most of us live in a state where our being has long ago been exiled to the shadow realm of our silent anguish. At times being will break through the fabric of our unconsciousness to remind us that we are not living the life we could be living, the life that truly matters. At other times being will recede into the back-ground silently waiting for our devoted attention. But make no mistake: being — your being — is the central issue of life."

        Adyashanti "The Way of Liberation" 2012 ebook,

        which may be downloaded: http://www.adyashanti.org/library/The_Way_of_Liberation_Ebook.pdf

Just an Interest OR a Real Commitment?

     "Being a spectator is easy and safe; being an active participant in your own awakening to Truth is neither easy nor safe. The way forward is unpredictable, the commitment absolute, the results not guaranteed. Did you really think that it could be any other way?"

        Adyashanti "The Way of Liberation" 2012 ebook,

        which may be downloaded: http://www.adyashanti.org/library/The_Way_of_Liberation_Ebook.pdf

 

 

Monet's Garden

To Question Old Answers

     "Many people think that it is the function of a spiritual teaching to provide answers to life’s biggest questions, but actually the opposite is true. The primary task of any good spiritual teaching is not to answer your questions, but to question your answers. For it is your conscious and unconscious assumptions and beliefs that distort your perception and cause you to see separation and division where there is actually only unity and completeness."

        Adyashanti "The Way of Liberation" 2012 ebook,

        which may be downloaded: http://www.adyashanti.org/library/The_Way_of_Liberation_Ebook.pdf

Public Gardens, Halifax, NS