“If we ever hope to glimpse the true nature of the divine, we must unlearn everything we have been taught about God.”
The Cloud of Unknowing, Author unknown.
Universal consciousness or the fundamental essence of existence, is often referred to as "Kosmos" in ancient Greek.
This piece titled KOSMOS, (below), points to the inadequacy of the religious framing of god as a personified mutterer, picking sides, killing firstborn sons, jealously demanding obeisance and loyalty.
What we mean when we say god, cannot be so small as a capricious being with trust issues, or something so finite as a destination we can reach by reading books and avoiding pork; if it means anything, it is a vector, an infinite invitation, always just beyond our reach, beckoning us forward, in expansion - and thence deeper within ourselves, forever; The beautiful and deliberate rounding error;
When someone says they do not trust science, what they really mean is that they do not trust the way they have seen it practiced. They have been exposed only to poor examples.
As it happens, when someone says they do not trust mysticism and spirituality, it is fair to say what they really mean is that they do not trust the way they have seen it practiced. Likely they have been exposed only to poor examples.
Most of the ideas we covet and defend, we did not choose. We inherited them from our parents, we caught them like a virus from our journey through our childhood, our teenage years, our school and education, our cultural conditioning and our religious and ideological indoctrination. Even as thinking reasoning adults, many of the ideas which take hold do so subconsciously, subliminally, through direct and indirect suggestion, like viruses through the Trojan horses of our emotions and psychological capture.
We are in both cases, with science and mysticism, trying to look through different windows onto the same elusive thing: the eternal, from behind a veil of our limited senses, flawed assumptions and perennially incomplete understanding.
We are changing and the nature of the universe is one of change. It has been pointed out, quite fairly I believe, that we are in a creating universe not a created universe. One fixed lens, cut and polished a thousand years ago, even a generation ago, cannot be indelible forever. For our mysticism to work as intended, as it perhaps once did, we need to revise and adapt it. This is essential for both the adherents and the sceptics, neither of whom arrived at their beliefs or their doubts dishonestly.
“When we think of the divine and whether we are theologically inclined to think of that as God or not, whatever context or horizon we feel is beyond us and that is beckoning us, is in an essence our spiritual invitation in the world. And it is amazing how narrow the language is by which we hold our conversation with that horizon.”
David Whyte
KOSMOS i am the shelter , i am the beginning of the need, i have no need, i am the word, i am the silence that came before, i am the holy breath upon the waters i am the infinity that holds the waters and the heaven i am the witness, to the terrible cry. i am the love of the mother, i am what is understanding, i am what is wise. i am one, i am many within the one. i am all, above and below. i am the mover, i am stillness. i am the very great, i am the very fine. i am the union of choice and surrender, i am life, the orderer of all tides and seasons. i am that i am, the first cause. i am the axis, and the turning. i am gravity, i am the space in emptiness. i am the keeper of all limits. i am the twist in the snake. i am the caster of the die. i am the destination, the arrival and the road. i am the many pilgrims and the hard stones along the way, and the bird of triumph that sets the soul to flight when the trials are done. i am the mirror and the light. i am the filler of the cup. i am the rod, and the staff. i am the eye of judgement within all clemency, and i am the heart of clemency in all judgement. i am the humility of majesty and the majesty of humility. i am the sower and the harvester. i am the beginning and the end. I am the assurity and agreement of life and it’s invisible vows and guarantees. i am here. i am waiting. i am infinite patience. i am awareness, i am essence. i am the candle in the darkness and the fire in the hearth. i am all ways home. i am. © Rocco Jarman
Ughhhhh, so powerful.
This is my favorite poem from your book 💖