Tag: contemplative

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Conjectures of Thomas Merton

In looking for another famous quote from Thomas Merton’s, Seven Storey Mountain, I happened upon a quote from Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander which is just a powerful and insightful given the current political and cultural climate.

For myself, I am more and more convinced that my job is to clarify something of the tradition that lives in me, and in which I live: the tradition of wisdom and spirit that is found not only in Western Christendom but in Orthodoxy and also at least analogously in Asia and in Islam.” –Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, Thomas Merton.

I have been reading and listening to the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra and I’m impressed at this analogue as Merton calls it. A contemplative heart and soul resides in all mystics regardless of their faith tradition. It is a point on which we could all agree.

Merton spoke of this when he referred to Thich Nhat Hanh as “my brother.”

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The new man

For the “new man” everything is new. Even the old is transfigured in the Holy Spirit and is always new. There is nothing to cling to, there is nothing to be hoped for in what is already past-it is nothing. The new man is he who can find reality where it cannot be seen by the eyes of the flesh-where it is not yet- where it comes into being the moment he sees it. And would not be (at least for him) if he did not see it. The new man lives in a world that is always being created and renewed. He lives in this realm of renewal and creation. He lives in Life.

Thomas Merton. “A Search for Solitude.” Journals, Volume 3. Lawrence S. Cunningham, editor. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997: 269

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The Shift Movie

I came across this great video after reading an article by Deepak Chopra on Huffington Post today. There is change brewing and this video gives some thought to that.

[brightcove vid=1135711486&exp=1125967605&w=425&h=350]

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Inner Christmas

A visit to Brother David’s website is always a treat and today was no exception. There was an invitation to celebrate inner Christmas. This resonates for me because it’s a sensation I’ve experienced since I was a young boy. Christmas Eve, the Easter Vigil and Holy Thursday night are the most sacred and mystical events of the Church year for me. I still celebrate the twelve days of Christmas in my heart. My mom never took down the Christmas decorations at our home until after the Feast of the Epiphany. I used to spend hours standing or sitting in front of our own nativity set. It was always an invitation to the mystical. I hope you take some time now to visit and enjoy this link to an Inner Christmas.

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Namaste

This video captures what is in my heart for the whole earth and all of heaven too. Namaste, the ancient Sanskrit greeting literally means, “I bow to the divine in you.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcgNJ7cgDVs]

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Beautiful Solitude

Today my usual was interrupted by mother nature. We awoke to a blanket of five inches of snow and then freezing rain on top of that. I was to travel to Mt. Irenaeus for Mass and then a meeting our Secular Franciscan fraternity. I called Fr. Lou and then a couple of our members and decided it best to call off the meeting. Mt. Irenaeus is located at the top of 2200 foot hill in rural Allegany County. It sits astride a dirt road that can be treacherous with a coating of ice. Continue reading “Beautiful Solitude”

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The Way

A while back I purchased Wayne Dyer’s, “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life.” It’s only the second or third audio book I’ve ever purchased. I’ve really enjoyed listening to it when I’m out driving around. I listen to very little radio and very little television. I even read very little news on the Internet with the exception of Linux, open source, and technology blogs. I’ve found through this experience that I’ve become even more contemplative and I hope more peaceful. Last week I started re-reading the Te of Piglet which has been quite interesting to read again a book I first read four or five years ago. I know that Dr. Dyer’s book which is based on the Tao te Ching has really caused me to do this.

A couple of weeks ago I visited Abbey of the Genesee and while there I picked up Thomas Merton’s, “The Way of Chuang-Tzu“. I found it interesting that Merton’s interest in the Tao was much like mine. I have found many parallels in the Gospels with the Tao te Ching. My reading and listening has invited me to be more contemplative and more sensitive to my surroundings.

Literally interpreted the Tao is “the way” and that same phrase was one of the early descriptions of Christianity.

The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.–Tao te Ching,Chapter 1

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Non being

I’ve been thinking as I listen to Wayne Dyer’s commentary on the Tao Te Ching. So much of my life is spent in being and doing and what is really important in me and in my life is really non-being. I’m grateful for this book and these moments of insight that have come from it. Until now, the concept of non-being has been elusive. What were they speaking of? Continue reading “Non being”

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Happy is the man

I had the day off for Veterans Day. I drove some country roads I hadn’t been on in years. Eventually my driving brought me to a familiar stop. I arrived at Abbey of the Genesee and the first person to greet me was the familiar, Brother Christian. He said, “you haven’t been here in a while.” I said, “yes, it’s been a month or more since my last visit.” Continue reading “Happy is the man”