Standing on Tiptoe

I was reviewing some of my old blog postings from a few years ago, and I came across this one - it's one of my favorites, and at the time that I posted it, I received a lot of positive comments. So here it is again.....

THE ETERNAL WAY OF TRUTH

In the writings and recorded words of the great masters and teachers of Truth (with a capital "T") it can be seen that they do not refer to themselves as founders of a religion - but more as discoverers or propagators of the "Way."

It is usually their disciples and followers who claim that their leaders' teachings are new or exclusive, and thus they construct a protective institution of religion around their teachers . Even those who later claim to be reformers and preservers speak more to the return or restoration of that which was known before and somehow lost or forgotten. There is a natural tendency to want to preserve and protect the truth - however, the methods of protection of the truth often become confused with the practice of truth itself.

There is a sanskrit expression "Sanatana Dharma" - which is often translated as "Eternal Truth" or "Eternal Law." It is this "Eternal Law" that appears to underlie all that has become known as "Religion." It is this principle that Jesus appears to refer to in the Sermon on the Mount when he compares the written law with the spirit of the law. i.e. "You have heard that......but, I say" (See Matthew 5.)

The search for Truth, or the understanding of reality, is a fascinating "mind game." It is seeing something again for the first time. The great teachers of the world are those that continue to direct us to the eternal reality - those who show us the destination that we've only seen on maps.

THE TRUSTWORTHY CAUSE OF CAUSES

Since I realized, (or re-discovered), that I could no longer claim to know the truth - but only interpret it according to my own choices - I am much more frequently at peace with myself, and less divided from others.

I no longer feel that I have to fear for the future of those who believe differently from me, or that I bear the unreasonable responsibility for their future - their destiny is in the hands of something far beyond my understanding; whether called God or identified as some law of boundless compassion that underlies the whole purpose of creation. The "Cause of all Causes" can be trusted - benevolence and forgiveness beyond any human level of measurement.

In all of my seeking and searching I was always "standing on tiptoe" - trying to see beyond my current situation. Literally, all of a sudden, in a blessing of grace - I can see that truth is not something distant that is different from the way things are - only my viewpoint needs to change.

The big questions like: Why do bad things happen to good people? Still bother me - but I can see that there is a more meaningful question beyond it. What can I do to really help people who are experiencing bad things, and what causes can be made to prevent this from happening? Perhaps when I do that it stops the bad things from being worse and may even result in better things in the future.

Instead of using the "why" question to justify doubt and fear - I can follow the example of those who have practiced wisdom, courage and compassion during moments of great trial and suffering by focusing on the bigger picture. By working and supporting the attitude of compassion, persistence and victory, I can contribute to the causes that help prevent tragedy.

THE BLINDNESS OF THE RELIGIOUS MIND

With a "religious" mind (one that believes that knowledge of something changes reality) it becomes all to easy to sit in judgment of bad situations as a consequence of sin or karma that can only be solved by something "other" than me. However with the awareness of the interconnected reality of all life and with the compassionate mind of a non-denominational human it can be seen that what happens to them "over there" is at least partly a consequence of what I'm doing "over here."

Rather than seeking shelter behind a wall of separation between myself and everything else - I need to step up and accept full responsibility for the chain-reaction impact of my own actions on everything else. This is truly "working out my own salvation with trembling and fear" (Philippians 2:12).

HAPPINESS

There's just no accounting for happiness,
or the way it turns up like a prodigal
who comes back to the dust at your feet
having squandered a fortune far away.

And how can you not forgive?
You make a feast in honor of what
was lost, and take from its place the finest
garment, which you saved for an occasion
you could not imagine, and you weep night and day
to know that you were not abandoned,
that happiness saved its most extreme form
for you alone.

No, happiness is the uncle you never
knew about, who flies a single-engine plane
onto the grassy landing strip, hitchhikes
into town, and inquires at every door
until he finds you asleep midafternoon
as you so often are during the unmerciful
hours of your despair.

It comes to the monk in his cell.
It comes to the woman sweeping the street
with a birch broom, to the child
whose mother has passed out from drink.
It comes to the lover, to the dog chewing
a sock, to the pusher, to the basket maker,
and to the clerk stacking cans of carrots
in the night.

It even comes to the boulder
int the perpetual shade of pine barrens,
to rain falling on the open sea,
to the wineglass, weary of holding wine."

- Jane Kenyon (1947 - 1995)