Archive for April, 2008
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
Losing Our Religion
Religions have the potential of offering us a much closer relationship with our spiritual nature, yet, more often than not, the doctrines used in most traditions act to reinforce separation between believers and non-believers. This doctrinal wedge is also exactly what separates any seeker from Spirit. Attaching to any sense of separation significantly diminishes our [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Tuesday, April 29th, 2008
Anger and Dogma
One of the most common ways that we feel resistance is anger. Anger is an intense and specific form of resistance to something that is presenting itself in a given moment. Hatred, on the other hand, is an even more deeply attached, and therefore intense, form of anger that is directed very specifically at something [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Monday, April 28th, 2008
Resistance
If a man wishes to be sure of the road he treads on, he must close his eyes and walk in the dark.
—St. John of the Cross
What is it like when force becomes the standard of conduct? The great attack the small, the strong plunder the weak, the many oppress the few, the cunning deceive [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Sunday, April 27th, 2008
Body, Mind and Soul
The body, mind, and soul are also seen as separate entities by the ego, even though they, like everything else, are actually aspects of the same Infinity. Body is our personally felt physical vessel of the infinity of Spirit in this world of form. Mind is our personally felt conceptual vessel of Spirit in this [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Saturday, April 26th, 2008
Near Enemies
The more we become aware of ego’s activity, the less important its drama becomes. Climbing higher, we are reminded continually that the ego is rooted in self-concern rather than generosity. Seeing this for what it is allows for us to make increasingly selfless choices. In making deeply selfless decisions we take power from the ego, [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Friday, April 25th, 2008
The Most Basic Negotiation
Unfortunately, none of us can truly give of ourselves as long as the ego is attached to any of our activity. This is because any activity sourced from the ego will always play itself out as a giving for the sake of getting something in return. The moment this happens, unity gives way to separation [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Thursday, April 24th, 2008
Craving
Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol, morphine or idealism.
—Carl Jung
The newer people, of this modern age, are more eager to amass than to realize.
—Rabindranath Tagore
Our unconscious habits develop from our inability to experience and accept things for what they truly are. We might, for instance, make ourselves coffee [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Chapter 2 - Grasping by Michael
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008
Chapter 2 - Grasping
If a man owns land, the land owns him.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
One does not err by perceiving, one errs by clinging; but knowing clinging itself as mind, it frees itself.
—Zen saying
As our climb up the Mountain of Spirit progresses, some things begin to stand out. First of all, we recognize how our small self works to [...]