Spirit dance
September 24, 2006 by Bill
There has been a dance of the human spirit through millions of years of evolution. An anthropomorphic supernatural ‘being’, or ‘god’, was a part of that dance in more primitive and superstitious times, but the dance goes on evolving past these archaic images. There is the reality of a Mystery at work in evolution. It is the “something unknown doing we know not what” of Nobel physicist Eddington’s statement. To simply stand before this Mystery in wonder, astonishment and awe leaves us free to join the dance of spirit toward a more refined consciousness.
“Will you…won’t you…will you…won’t you…will you join the dance?” is still the question today even as it was in “Alice in Wonderland.” But, to join the dance in this evolution of consciousness, it is mandatory that we let go of the past and become contemporary with ourselves and the world we live in. The inability to “let go” of archaic beliefs, no matter how cherished they have been, and the inability to give up pride and prejudice is the beginning of the countdown to death, either individually or collectively.
“At the still point of the turning world…there is only the dance.” wrote T.S. Eliot. To live fully in joy and daily celebration we must abandon ourselves to the dance of existence. Life is a dance, and the dance goes on with or without us. Life is in session…are you present?
Life…as the flight of a bird
September 17, 2006 by Bill
“The spirit of man is nomad…his blood Bedouin…and love is the aboriginal tracker on the faded desert spoor of his lost self, and so I came to live my life not by conscious plan or prearranged design but as someone following the flight of a bird.” So wrote Sir Laurens van der Post in one of his more eloquent moments.
I stand in awe before this man. He was perhaps without equal as one of the giant Renaissance men of our time. I have been inspired by his brilliance for more years than I can remember. He was a hunter and conservationist..explorer and soldier…poet…linguist…anthropologist…philosopher…close friend and biographer of Carl Jung. Many say his was the finest biography of Jung ever written. He is also the author of 23 other books.
He was born on 13 December, 1906, on a farm in Bushman country of Africa. He had a Bushman nanny whom he loved in memory even more than his parents. His writings on the spirituality of the Bushmen in “Testament to the Bushman” and other works have been called the most beautiful in existence.
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Religion’s roots reflect the land
September 10, 2006 by Bill
I am thinking of the influence of the earth on the formation of religious doctrines and belief’s.
The pantheon of any particular group is directly related to the type of land and landscape they live with. An agricultural society has gods and goddesses for sun, rain, storms and the like, and above all for fertility. A rich, lush land gives rise to nymphs, satyrs and spirits of woods and water. The Northwest Indians lived in giant rain forests, dark, dreary and foreboding. Their world of spirits and religious mythology was all directly related to the landscape.
To those whose landscape was the Southwest, a Papago said it best: “We desert people have no rivers. All our water is in the sky.”
Taoism harmonizes beautifully with the landscape of much of China with mountains and mist, waterfalls and rich vegetation. The austere God of Judaism, Islam and Christianity came from the austerity of a bleak desert and a Moslem mosque is a stylized oasis.
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