Disruption as Invitation — Discovering New Ways of Being

We are living in a time of great disruption. This pandemic is shutting down the world, closing business as usual—for both individuals and the systems that we are used to operating in daily. Especially in the early days of disruption, there is a desire for a return to normalcy. When we can breathe normally again and go back to the way things were.

There is uncertainty and insecurity. The way of the future can diverge in many different pathways and directions. The old path is the one our minds gravitate toward because it is the most familiar. We remember that which we miss. The unknown is much more daunting.

Last week we looked at the Jesus path through the pandemic for dealing with fear, disease, and the eventuality of death. This week, I want to consider how we might accept the gifts of this present time and look at how we can begin to imagine a different way ahead. Business as usual won’t work anymore. It wasn’t working before. Our way of life is not only killing the planet but is also keeping us from moving into the consciousness necessary to save it and ourselves.

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EvolutionLuke HealyComment
Shoot the Dove!

Spirit as Consciousness in the Bible

During New Testament times, both in Jewish and other spiritual traditions, doves were very much associated with God and God’s Spirit. Early Christians began depicting Spirit almost exclusively as a dove. It is a beautiful symbol for those who are aware of this meaning. For others, not so much.

I was teaching a group of several hundred progressive Catholics who had gathered in Santa Barbara. Before my first talk, a man came up to me and said, “I hear you are going to talk about the Trinity. I hope you don’t tell us again that God is two men and a bird.” I smiled and said, “I hope I don’t either.” In this essay, I am suggesting we not only shoot the dove for those who don’t find it meaningful, but also update what we mean by “the Holy Spirit.”

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PracticePaul SmithMystical, practice, spiritual knowing Comments
Why Jesus Did Not Die for Our Sins

Jesus left physically, so we know him spirituality

Why was Jesus crucified?

Except for progressive and integral Christians, along with the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the dominant theory among Christians today of why Jesus died on the cross goes something like this: All people are separated from God because of both original sin and our own sin. Because of this, we are destined for eternal punishment. However, Jesus came to provide a way out of this destiny by taking our place and dying on the cross to satisfy God’s wrath for our sins. Jesus was punished in the place of us so God could forgive our sins. Those who accept Jesus as their Savior are no longer separated from God and are destined for heaven.

This is a serious and devastating misunderstanding of Jesus, God, and our relationship to God. It is based on four interpretations which reflect previous stages of spiritual evolutionary understanding.

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JesusPaul SmithJesus, theology, Consciousness Comments
God Beyond God – Evolutionary Devotion

“This is the most dangerous prayer you can pray, you know?”

I remember the words but not the speaker. I remember because I was bold enough and perhaps naïve enough to think I was up to the task. My spiritual ego was still quite strong and my zealous traditional Christian upbringing had prepared me well for the moment. Yes, I was ready. I could do this. I knew enough to know that I didn’t know what the consequences would be, only that they would be beyond what I could imagine at the time.

I’m pretty sure I literally, physically got down on my knees. And I opened my mouth to pray:

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EvolutionLuke Healyevolution, development, Devotion Comments
Cocreating Mystical Reality

“Transpersonal cocreation refers to dynamic interaction between embodied human beings and the mystery in the bringing forth of spiritual insights, practices, states, and worlds.”

-Jorge Ferrer

Last week, Paul wrote about partnering with God in the work of evolution through co-creation. He wrote about how that work involves doing more than Jesus did (John 14:12), participating in the birth of new creation (Rom. 8: 19-23), cutting “Kosmic grooves” into the fabric of tomorrow’s reality (Ken Wilber), and realizing “ourselves as incarnate divine creativity” (Richard Rohr). I’ve got those on my to-do list, but I’m not sure if I’ll quite finish by the end of the week!

No, of course these are life-long works of no short order. But it is also highly empowering to recognize that we have the potential and ability to engagingly participate in the evolving work of God. Not only can we, but we are highly encouraged to do so!

So how do we do this? Where do we start?

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MysticismLuke HealyCocreation, evolution, Mystical Comments
In the Creation Business with God

Divine Human Cocreation

Writing of the work of God in continually creating an ever-evolving creation Meister Eckhart said: “St. Augustine says, ‘What does it avail me that this birth is always happening, if it does not happen in me? That it should happen in me is what matters.’ We shall therefore speak of this birth, of how it may take place in us. —Meister Eckhart (1260–1327)

COCREATION

Yes, let’s speak of this divine-human birthing that goes on in and through us. In the business world, co-creation is a strategy that brings different parties together (for instance, a company and a group of customers), in order to jointly produce a mutually valued outcome. It is a form of collaborative innovation where ideas are shared and improved together, rather than kept to oneself. 

Add God to that definition and you have Spiritual Cocreation—partnering with God in the continuing creation of reality. Let’s see what Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Ken Wilber, and Richard Rohr have to say about this.

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PracticePaul SmithCocreation, spiritual knowing, Mystical Comment
Listening to Your Sacred Body

Spiritual Knowing: Part Six – Discovering Your Mystical Language (2)

“When the somatic and vital worlds are invited to participate in spiritual life, one’s sense of identity becomes permeable to not only transcendent but also immanent spiritual sources, turning body and world into sacred realities that can be appreciated as fundamental for human and perhaps even cosmic evolution.”

—Jorge Ferrer 

In Whole-Body Mystical Awakening we are doing just that—inviting our bodily and energetic worlds to join in our spiritual life.

In Part 1 we explored inviting our heart and mind to participate in our spiritual life. The mystical language of the heart is the deep feelings that flow from our heart space. The mystical language of the head is the deeper thoughts, words, and images than come from a mind cleared of its usual constant chatter. Now we explore the mystical language of the other two centers of spiritual knowing—our gut’s vital energy and our feet’s energetic embodiment in the physical cosmos.

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Mysticism, PracticePaul Smith & Luke HealyGut Path, Feet, spiritual knowing Comments
Discovering Your Mystical Language

Spiritual Knowing: Part Five — Mystical Awareness from Our Whole Body

“We cannot recognize God’s hand and voice in the world without a special sensitizing of the eyes and ears and of our soul (‘grace’) – that is, without a special sort of sense or super-sense.” —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Last week, we talked about how mystical intelligence is something that we can develop and cultivate. We do this by undertaking practices that awaken and engage our centers of spiritual knowing. Based on research from transpersonal psychologists, we have identified four major body centers of spiritual knowing, each with their own ways of sensing. To develop your intelligence in each of these areas, you can practice Whole-Body Mystical Awakening either by yourself or together with a group.

There are certainly other practices that engage with some of these centers, but most traditional mediation and prayer forms stay in the head, or some may also include the heart. Other body-practices that may involve scanning or movement most often stay in the physical realm, or keep the seat of awareness in the mind, perceiving the body. Very few seek to listen and know, including our body and gut as places of spiritual knowing together with the heart and the head. 

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MysticismLuke Healy & Paul Smith Comment