we iz what we iz
Oct. 16th, 2006 07:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonI reply I wrote recently to someone on a mailing list, kind of encapsulating part of my own sense of deity. After stating the unevolved nature of "worship," the writer went on to bash the concept of ego, and to suggest that anyone who purports to teach you anything other than to follow your own intuition has nothing of value to offer. Hmmph.
At 12:10 PM -0700 10/16/06, Paul xxxxxx wrote:
>Ascension Letter # 21-=-Worship_*
>
>To worship anything at all is to consent to the notion of separateness.
Hmm, lost me right there with that big ol' generalization. I worship the divinity inherent in all people, in all beings, and in all things, both as a universal (on a very real, if abstract, cosmic level, we all are One), and also in the individual embodiment, form, flavor, and unique attributes of the perfect, exquisite and delightful form of the All in front of me in this place, at this time. All is sacred, all is holy.
Should I seek to be egoless, to be completely immersed in that All? As Ken Wilber wrote, a human without a healthy, functioning ego is a psychotic, not a sage. But are we only our ego, only this small self-conscious thinking self trapped in a frail form of flesh? Hell, no. We are so much, much more -- we are divine, each of us, all of us...including that part of us that we call ego. Again, to borrow from Wilber, to transcend does not mean to abandon or leave behind, it means to wrap what is, inside of something bigger, to plug the small-I ego into the cosmic All, to strengthen each and every part of our selves -- body, mind, soul, and to come over time to identify with more and more of what seems to be "external" to ourselves. To be, in a nutshell, fully human, which is to say, fully divine.
It may be that the dominant form of worship in many cultures has been worship of the dualistic, transcendent Big Daddy (or Big Mommy) deity, that perfection of the spirit against which we mere mortal flesh cannot but fall short. But that does not mean that all worship is thus. It is possible to believe in deity which is both immanent, transcendent, and radiant, which shines through and is all things. "I" am not the center of the universe, how could "I" be? But in an infinite universe, each and every point *is* the center, no more, or less, than any other.
That last paragraph, about teachers, is in one way spot-on, by my personal, individualized sense of truth -- anyone who tries to tell you there is only One True Way, whatever that way, is selling something you probably don't want to buy. But that doesn't mean that specific teachers, teaching certain specific things, can't have much value for one's own path. The best teachers, whatever system they espouse or believe, can give the seeker tools which they can use to find their own way through the wilderness. Care is best taken, however, to make sure the tools one receives from any teacher or system do not come with a big ol' complimentary (and mandatory) set of blinders, built-in! ;>
[edit: some bits added below from a subsequent note, in reply to a suggestion that "honoring" is okay, but "worshipping" is not]
I can totally agree with the desire to stay away from submitting one's will to "false gods." And I also recognize that, while in one sense, I am the same as anything I may perceive, and of essentially equal worth, from another, equally valid perspective, there are many things, in fact most things, in this universe, that are larger, older, quite a bit more powerful that that part of me which exists in a particular mortal form, in one or many ways...a star, for instance. I am star-stuff, and of the stars, but I can still choose to worship the brilliance, the exquisite beauty, the nuclear furnace beyond imagining, the creative and destructive force, the age and grandeur, of a star, or a sky full of stars. Do I submit my life-force, my will, to that? Certainly not. But I do call it worship. The same with a tree, a stream, or a blade of grass, a lover, a friend. There is a level of connection, a power of ecstatic longing and belonging, a depth of love and identification, with "worship" that I do not myself find inherent in "honoring."
From my perspective, I do feel that there is a valid, and for me, quite essential place for worship. "Honoring," is fine, and also quite valid, but for me, that word misses some of the powerful essence of deepest mystery and wonder that can, and at times, does, go along with recognition of and identification with the divine, whether that divine is glimpsed and experienced within oneself or in another being, place, thing or circumstance. One of the most profound acts of worship can be identification, recognition, that moment that acknowledges the central, powerful mystery that I am you and you are me, and we are one with the All...and at the very same time, we are each ourselves, both essentially One and essentially unique. Delicious, powerful paradox!
At 12:10 PM -0700 10/16/06, Paul xxxxxx wrote:
>Ascension Letter # 21-=-Worship_*
>
>To worship anything at all is to consent to the notion of separateness.
Hmm, lost me right there with that big ol' generalization. I worship the divinity inherent in all people, in all beings, and in all things, both as a universal (on a very real, if abstract, cosmic level, we all are One), and also in the individual embodiment, form, flavor, and unique attributes of the perfect, exquisite and delightful form of the All in front of me in this place, at this time. All is sacred, all is holy.
Should I seek to be egoless, to be completely immersed in that All? As Ken Wilber wrote, a human without a healthy, functioning ego is a psychotic, not a sage. But are we only our ego, only this small self-conscious thinking self trapped in a frail form of flesh? Hell, no. We are so much, much more -- we are divine, each of us, all of us...including that part of us that we call ego. Again, to borrow from Wilber, to transcend does not mean to abandon or leave behind, it means to wrap what is, inside of something bigger, to plug the small-I ego into the cosmic All, to strengthen each and every part of our selves -- body, mind, soul, and to come over time to identify with more and more of what seems to be "external" to ourselves. To be, in a nutshell, fully human, which is to say, fully divine.
It may be that the dominant form of worship in many cultures has been worship of the dualistic, transcendent Big Daddy (or Big Mommy) deity, that perfection of the spirit against which we mere mortal flesh cannot but fall short. But that does not mean that all worship is thus. It is possible to believe in deity which is both immanent, transcendent, and radiant, which shines through and is all things. "I" am not the center of the universe, how could "I" be? But in an infinite universe, each and every point *is* the center, no more, or less, than any other.
That last paragraph, about teachers, is in one way spot-on, by my personal, individualized sense of truth -- anyone who tries to tell you there is only One True Way, whatever that way, is selling something you probably don't want to buy. But that doesn't mean that specific teachers, teaching certain specific things, can't have much value for one's own path. The best teachers, whatever system they espouse or believe, can give the seeker tools which they can use to find their own way through the wilderness. Care is best taken, however, to make sure the tools one receives from any teacher or system do not come with a big ol' complimentary (and mandatory) set of blinders, built-in! ;>
[edit: some bits added below from a subsequent note, in reply to a suggestion that "honoring" is okay, but "worshipping" is not]
I can totally agree with the desire to stay away from submitting one's will to "false gods." And I also recognize that, while in one sense, I am the same as anything I may perceive, and of essentially equal worth, from another, equally valid perspective, there are many things, in fact most things, in this universe, that are larger, older, quite a bit more powerful that that part of me which exists in a particular mortal form, in one or many ways...a star, for instance. I am star-stuff, and of the stars, but I can still choose to worship the brilliance, the exquisite beauty, the nuclear furnace beyond imagining, the creative and destructive force, the age and grandeur, of a star, or a sky full of stars. Do I submit my life-force, my will, to that? Certainly not. But I do call it worship. The same with a tree, a stream, or a blade of grass, a lover, a friend. There is a level of connection, a power of ecstatic longing and belonging, a depth of love and identification, with "worship" that I do not myself find inherent in "honoring."
From my perspective, I do feel that there is a valid, and for me, quite essential place for worship. "Honoring," is fine, and also quite valid, but for me, that word misses some of the powerful essence of deepest mystery and wonder that can, and at times, does, go along with recognition of and identification with the divine, whether that divine is glimpsed and experienced within oneself or in another being, place, thing or circumstance. One of the most profound acts of worship can be identification, recognition, that moment that acknowledges the central, powerful mystery that I am you and you are me, and we are one with the All...and at the very same time, we are each ourselves, both essentially One and essentially unique. Delicious, powerful paradox!
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no subject
Date: 2006-10-17 01:49 am (UTC)Sounds to me like you've said something similar ... and me, I'm agreeing with both of you. Submit? practically never, and certainly not to anything that much more powerful than I suppose myself to be. But ... Cooperate? Value? Delight in, share with, trust in, dance with ... Oh, YES: Worship.
Wow.....
Date: 2006-10-17 05:52 pm (UTC)