Our usual perception of the world shows us all being as
carefully defined, with distinct edges, all outside one another… We are finite,
contingent, and conditioned beings, and nothing more… The heart of the mystic
discovery is that we are all one, and that One is unconditioned, unlimited, and
undefined. This, of course, is the
foundation of neighbor love.. until we see ourselves in our undefined reality
we won’t have the freedom, the power, and the energy to love our neighbor in
the neighbor’s undefined reality…
Nobody denies that dividing, as a vehicle for better
understanding is useful. But along comes
the mystic and puts the separated things together, and all the “rational”
people cry Paradox! or worse, Heresy!
… the unity is there… both elements of the paradox are
simultaneously the case. The bush burns
and yet is not consumed. Reality is both
changing and unchanging. One is both one's self and intimately united with all
others. What one does is done by both
oneself and the Supreme Being. You don’t
have to choose between them.
Beatrice
Bruteau, Radical Optimism
______________________________________
Dualism
Individualism
Call it what you will
It has hard edges
It divides and separates
It forces us into radical polarities
Us, Them
Good, Bad
Sacred, Secular
Powerful, weak
Right, Wrong
Republican, Democrat
The other is other
All outside us, our individual, self, our political
party, our country
Is “another”
But not just “another”
Another who because they are distinct
And take up their own space in the universe
And use the same resources we do
And compete with us
In opposition
Are not simply distinct, different (perhaps very
different)
But a threat, even an enemy
So much for love of neighbor
How can we possibly love our neighbor as ourselves
Unless we see the other as not other
But as one who participates in the One with us?
A distinct, and yet not distinct
An individual, and yet united with us at the deepest
And most meaningful level
I love this!
I hate it!
I love the idea of being united with a Gandhi, a Nelson
Mandela
A Desmond Tutu, a Martin Luther King Jr.
It is not so much fun to embrace that unity
When one thinks of Donald Trump,
And the racist waving that Nazi flag
And the second amendment extremist carrying an AR-15 in
McDonald's
Yet what would it mean to see those people from whom we
feel alienated
Those people who violate our moral, ethical, and
spiritual values
Those people who we, frankly dislike, immensely
As people with whom we are one
As we participate in the One?
It is easier to slide back into dualism
And an individualism that is, ultimately, toxic
Than to embrace the reality
That they too are our neighbors
It is easier to create distinctions and boundaries
And huddle behind the sharp boundaries
And give ourselves permission not to interact with them
Not to listen to them
Not to see them as fully human
And simply throw them away,
As garbage
Yes, I know
It seems as if that is exactly what they have done with
so many others
The poor, and ill
The immigrant, and the Indigenous
The people who happen to be LGBTQI+
But isn’t it the failure to see the other as not other
That leads to a focus on distinctions
That creates fear, and then, worse, hate
And causes one to remove the other's face?
Dehumanize them?
And isn’t this that which enables them,
And us if we are not careful,
To reject, demean, ridicule, oppress,
And even kill?
The bush burns but is not consumed
That is the mystery of the Sacred
They are people who are (insert a word here)
Deplorable?
Evil?
Toxic
And they are united to me (and you)
We are one?
Neighbors, brothers, sisters, children of God
All of us
Oh God
I cannot grasp this
I cannot see some people this way
With charity and compassion
I need help
I need help to find my unity with them
To feel even the slightest spark of love
To accept them as brother, sister
As individuals who participate with me in
the One that is you.
And yet I realize I will never find peace, hope
Justice and equity
That I will never fully enjoy the Kingdom
Until I do.
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