[MD] dharma, the way, zazen, path, the morning fog, etc...

[kgt83dr at yahoo.com]

Hello SA,
  
You've given me much to think about.  Thanks much.
  
Your words and the book I ordered last week that came in the mail today have
helped me to see I need to take some time to step back and reflect on what
you and others are saying and what I'm saying.  I suspect today's bike ride
may have also contributed to this awareness.
  
To be aware.  Isn't this what we're talking about?
  
I'd like to share a paragraph or two from Everything Belongs: The Gift of
Contemplative Prayer by Richard Rohr.  The following is from chapter 1, 
  Center and Circumference.
  
          Turning and turning in the widening gyre
          The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
          Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
          Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
          The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
          The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
          The best lack all conviction, while the worst
          Are full of passionate intensity.
  
                    -William Butler Yeats, ''The Second Coming"
  
     We are a circumference people, with little access to the center. We live on
     the boundaries of our own lives "in the widening gyre," confusing edges
     with essence, too quickly claiming the superficial as substance. As Yeats
     predicted, things have fallen apart and the center does not seem to be
     holding.
  
<snip>
  
     The gift that true contemplatives offer to themselves and society is that
     they know themselves as a part of a much larger Story, a much larger
     Self. In that sense, centered people are profoundly conservative, knowing
     that they stand on the shoulders of their ancestors and the Perennial
     Tradition. Yet true contemplatives are paradoxically risk-takers and
     reformists, precisely because they have no private agendas, jobs, or
     securities to maintain. Their security and identity are founded in God, not
     in being right, being paid by a church, or looking for promotion in people's
     eyes. These people alone can move beyond self-interest and fear to do
     God's necessary work. Look at out how many saints, theologians, and
     especially woman foundresses of orders were corrected, threatened, and
     even persecuted by the church during their lifetimes. God is always bigger
     than the boxes we build for God, so we should not waste too much time
     protecting the boxes.
  
Oh and I wouldn't worry too much about where to tread.  It's a very broad
sandbox.  There's room enough for all.  And "Everything Belongs."
   
  
Kevin, stepping out for a short walk.  I'll be right back.
   

		
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