Binary vs. Non-dual: dealing with life’s paradoxes

Romans 8:25-30 (ESV) - But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

My devotional life really does dynamically move into deep contemplation as I read and reread the words of Richard Rohr*, one of my favorite authors. “The contemplative or non-dual mind, which for me is the essential self, is a tree of life, and brings about continual fruitfulness for the soul. Rohr reminds me of this in the discussion of how we usually make judgments based on our binary, or “either/or” false self/or/ego”.
“A binary system of either/or choices is good and necessary in the lofty worlds of logic, mechanics, math and science…and in the everyday worlds of getting from point A to point B, whether to turn left, or right. …But these binary thinking paradigms have begun to show severe limitations, and this binary mind can only take us so far, it cannot access eternal things.
It is not ‘the tree of life’—it is ‘the tree of the knowledge of “this or that”/or/”good and evil”.”
Most of us are not very good at the unitive or non-dual way of seeing or knowing. In fact, in often seems like “groaning” as addressed by the Apostle Paul in the verse above. In recent times, in my experience, no one –none of my traditional teachers in the church setting-has taught any of this—not in any Baptist church I have been associated with. Yet, this revelation is surely the tree of life, as Rohr puts it. It is at the center of God’s garden of wisdom! … and ---it’s roots extend far and wide. It enables us to deal with the constant paradox, or conflict of the dark side and the bright side…
Rohr mentions that “it is actually at the root of what we refer to as forgiveness”.The struggle “to forgive reality for being exactly as it is right now often breaks us through to non-dual consciousness”. We have to forgive the rational domination of ego and reason ---to forgive a deep hurt or memory in the NOW or in the past.”
Rohr quotes the canticle of Zechariah in Luke 1: “you will know salvation through the mystery of forgiveness.”
And further, “You cannot bypass the necessary tension of holding contraries and inconsistencies together, if you are to live on this earth. These earthly experiences, these daily presentations of paradox, will teach duality in a way that is no longer theoretical or abstract.”
Surely this forgiveness must be extended to each person or situation we encounter, and indeed to ourselves and our own limitations and mistakes. In this, I believe is the beginning of “the peace that passes all understanding”. In this wisdom is also “the fear of the Lord”…only He holds the key to the riddle, the paradox of the constant hard edged, either-or, black-white, good-bad dichotomies we face each day, in the world, and in ourselves.
Thanks be to God, that He is teaching us to live in this hard edged world, through the groanings of His Spirit within us, and through the teaching of this modern day guru of Christ Consciousness.
*The Naked Now-Amazon link to the book-"The Naked Now" by Rohr.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

You can do it! Yes you can.

Image
I claim to be an average man of less than average ability.I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith. -Mahatma Gandhi So, are you willing to give it your best? In this transformation of the small i's to the Real I, the essence, are you willing? to do the Work? Resolve to awaken to the inner motivations of the small self within. Observe yourself. Put some separation between you and your small self/ego. Observe your own behavior, thoughts, actions, motivations. Let the Spirit filter the way you respond to stresses from outside. For the Word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two edged sword, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart-----------your heart! Who is The Living Word? The logos? You know.
Read more

Baylor has need of Christ’s wisdom

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You can not serve both God and Mammon.” We ( Baylor - as a university community which says its follows Christ) have blindly served mammon, with the other schools in Texas…and look where it has taken us. Now money is driving the conference groupings even more than before- in 1995. Where will this lead? Texas—that is the University of Texas at Austin, is the driving force of the ‘we deserve more money’ movement. Fair enough, that is as it probably should be. UT is a dominant force in NCAA athletics. It is a secular school. It has absolutely no ties to the Gospel, other than the Gospel’s influence on our culture. Although far less in influence, the same goes for our militaristic land grant school, and our state’s other outpost, which defies description. But Baylor—why do we follow them? We say we are of Christ . I question that. Especially ...
Read more

Handling God's blessings with care

It is permissible to take life's blessings with both hands provided thou dost know thyself prepared in the opposite event to take them just as gladly. This applies to food and friends and kindred, to anything God gives and takes away. -Meister Eckhart In order to live in freedom, we must learn to accept a temporary disappointment, if necessary, when it is for our permanent well-being. Sometimes, when we want to eat something that appeals to us, or when we want to eat a little more than is necessary, we can't help feeling disappointment as we push away from the table. We cannot help thinking that we could as well have stayed on for five more minutes of pleasure, forgetting that it would probably be followed by five hours of stomachache at night. The right time to get up from the meal is when we want just a little more. This is real artistry, real gourmet judgment: when we find that everything is so good that we would like to have one more helping, we get up and walk away. ~Easwa...
Read more