Ever Forward

The word humility is often taken to mean something like submissiveness, subservience, or low self esteem. Maybe passivity, not standing up for yourself, holding yourself back, or even self negation. These are distortions, misinterpretations of the outward appearance humility can sometimes present. Humility is seldom recognized for what it really is -- a state of pure possibility, of receptivity to true creative power.

The word humility shares its linguistic origins with the word humus, as in earth, soil, the forest floor. Humus is more fully defined as soil that has so decomposed that it can't break down any further. It is the most mature, most basic soil. This is the true nature of humility. Humility properly understood is the soil of who we truly are, our most basic state, the place where possibility lives. To be humble is to have access to the ground of your being. To cultivate humility is to cultivate that ground. The more humble we are, the richer that ground will be. It is the soil from which the god self grows.

Humility is the attitude, the mental and emotional orientation that accompanies and makes effective the practice of the present moment. To practice the present moment is to tend the soil. Humility is the state of mind and the necessary posture for participating in the creative power of the Divine. It is the state of connectedness to your own potential, and the state of readiness for the action of the Divine in your life. There is no delusion in humility, no avoidance, no self hate, no judgment of self or others. There is no room for these things. Humility is perception cleansed of these distortions, and action purified of the falsifying effect these things have on our motives. To the mind characterized by humility, everything simply is. Humility is a state of undistracted consciousness. And that is the most powerful thing in the world.

The power of humility is in its practice. The practice of humility brings release of the self from the prison of ego, preconception, judgment, delusion, hesitation, fear. Humility is the basic human orientation of cooperation with the Divine, and provides the basis for all patience, kindness, love, compassion, forgiveness. These things are all emanations of divine power. It is only through humility that we become capable of them, and through their practice, capable of manifesting God, of unleashing the god self on the world.

And humility is the mental state most receptive to reality and to extraordinary possibility. So, it is humility that makes possible the realization of our dreams. It enables cooperation with the Divine in their achievement. Humility is the ability to let your dream be shaped according to what is, and to be joined to the great dream that is everything. In humility you can find your true place, your true expression, free of ego-driven demands on what those things should look like. Humility is the ability to respond without resistance to the role of the Divine in your unfolding.

Ever forward.

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I had a great conversation with an old friend, who always seems to come through with great conversations. He told me about an experience he had recently with the sensation of pure being. There were some incredible details in his story, including a serendipitous encounter with some reading material within hours of the deeply terrifying experience that brought on the sensation.

He wondered how to respond to the experience in terms of practice and lifestyle. He recognized the significance of the event and while I doubt he wants to repeat the circumstances under which it took place, he clearly wants to find ways of cultivating the level of consciousness he’d wandered into. After he described the experience, he asked me if I knew what he was talking about, thinking my time in the monastery might have put me in the way of similar experiences.

“Yes,” I said. “I know what you’re talking about.”

I suggested he not seek to repeat the experience. I suggested he just let it inform how he proceeds in life. It has already served its purpose: his awareness has been heightened. Nothing can take back the ground he covered in that moment. And that, not the sensation of pure being, is the point. The high points come and go, then it’s back to the trenches. Peak experiences are not the point. In fact, St. John of the Cross, one of the great Christian mystics, teaches that peak experiences are a sign of psychological immaturity. A fully purified soul, one habitually immersed in pure being, does not feel it as such. Instead, life is just life and even the hard parts are peak.

Dividing peak experiences from trough experiences can be misleading. The experiences we call sharp, uncomfortable, or even tragic are part of life. Even if they are senseless, God is there, no less so than in the moments of pure being. It’s telling that my friend had his moment under circumstances of extreme duress. It’s the perfect illustration: harsh and heavenly in the same moment.

That’s what life is.

Every morning I roll out of bed, go to my knees, and touch my forehead to the carpet in an effort to surrender to the Absolute. It’s an act of reverence and willingness, and anticipates the richness of divine blessing.

But the carpet smells funny.

Ever forward.

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That’s a common answer at places online -- like Facebook -- that have an information field for religious affiliation: spiritual but not religious. What does that mean, exactly? It always feels like a glimpse into that person’s dissatisfaction with their own religious experience. They seem to be saying that spirituality somehow succeeds where religion fails. That field on my Facebook page says: “I don’t like the word religious.” And I don’t because I don’t like the distinction between ‘religious’ and ‘not religious’ in everyday life. But I don’t like the word ‘spiritual’ for similar reasons. Spiritual as opposed to what? Physical? Religious affiliation: Physical but not Religious. Huh? Being human makes me spiritual. Getting out of bed in the morning makes me religious. So much so that just using the words ‘spiritual’ and ‘religious’ presents a distraction. Eating, working, running, writing, loving my wife: these are religious acts. Or they can be. It’s all a matter of intention. Spirituality without religion is a ghost. Religion without spirituality is a corpse. Put religion and spirituality together and what have you got? Life. Ever forward.

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What are the attributes of Jesus? His reflexes and responses? Why should I want them? The fast answer (assuming you believe Jesus was God) is "Who wouldn't want the attributes of God?" But a person doesn't need to believe in the divinity of Jesus to see the metaphorical value of such a goal. Unlocking my best possible self. Who wouldn't want that? The real answer is more complicated. It has to do with my own experience of life and what I would change about it if I could. I'm not talking about having more money or a better job, or no job and lots of money. I'm talking about my insides. What happens in there that I don't like? What is about me that stands in the way of me? Of me prospering, of me thriving, of me hatching and achieving my dreams? Or, to keep in the context of the Christian ideology, what keeps me from loving my enemies? What keeps me from loving my neighbor as myself? What keeps me from loving myself...? Removing those obstacles constitutes the struggle. The goal of the struggle is acquiring the attributes of Jesus. And that has to be worthwhile. Loving my neighbor, loving my enemy, loving myself, achieving my dreams�??these things are all bound up together. I have believed for years now that the best thing I can do for the world is strive toward my dream. It's my little piece of the common good, my little corner of the garden. Sometimes I like to imagine a world where all of us, or even most of us, are doing that work. The result would be a world that I don't think we can imagine, a world that I don't think we'd even recognize. So, what are the attibutes of Jesus? What characterizes a person who loves everyone and fulfills his human destiny? I mean, apart from the fact that he loves everyone and fulfills his human destiny. What are some of the details? Such a big question. And this entry is long enough already. Ever forward.

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I mean more on worldviews. MORE ON. Of course, that's what I meant. Anyway, I see a difference between a worldview and an ideology. An ideology can be embraced and put on like a coat. But not a worldview�??a worldview is mostly involuntary. As an ideology, Christianity is a regimen for transformation. Like any regimen, the first thing it does is present me with a goal. The result is that I see how far from that goal I really am. Take "Love your enemies," for example. St. Paul writes to the Romans that they should "put on Christ." He reminds the Corinthians that they "have the mind of Christ," and the Galatians that they have "clothed themselves with Christ." It's all another way of saying, "Don't forget the ideology you have chosen to believe." It can be very much like putting on a costume, because so much of what the ideology demands is different from who I already am. It requires me to be far more than I am used to being. But one of the truly interesting aspects of Christianity is its transforming effect. It's an ideology that can actually reshape my worldview. It can give me new reflexes and new responses to life. Christianity on paper is an ideology, Christianity in practice can make a different person out of me. Loving my neighbor isn't just a good thing to do, it can change who I am. To the Ephesians, St. Paul writes "be renewed in the spirit of your minds," and "put on the new self." To Corinth he writes about "becoming the righteousness of God." This vocabulary can be off-putting to modern sensibilities, which is a shame, because what's being said is mind-blowing. The claim here is that through the full embrace and practice of the ideology taught by Jesus, we actually begin to acquire his attributes. We start acting like him and thinking like him, exhibiting his reflexes and his responses to life. And not merely because we're trying to, but because in time, that becomes who we really are. For me, that's the point. Transformation. Ever forward.

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