Monakhos

The Supreme Self
Looks on with detachment
At Zen gardens with stones
And those with no stones
When stones arrive
And when stones disappear.
The unenlightened self
Is angered
When even one of his stones
Is missing
Or one is added
Based on a parable in the Upanishads - Written for Jon

Jon introduced me to a cool new-ish site yesterday named Zaadz. I’ll let you visit their page for the full description of what it is, but from what I read, my one sentence summary would be:

To create a thriving spiritually based community on the web with the goal of changing the world.

Check it out! It’s pretty cool. Here’s my Zaadz page.

Pluto is no longer a planet. I know it is sad. You grew up learning that Pluto was a planet and now a bunch of astronomers have decided to rewrite the rules. And those poor Plutians are worse off than you! All this time they believed their planet was a good as ours, but now they don’t even have a planet and are just the inhabitants of some little rock a few miles away!

I just wanted to bring this up to point out that belief systems sometimes cause troubles. I have been reading this book Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell, and the author points out that too many times belief systems are like a brick wall. You pull a brick out, and all of a sudden, the whole wall collapses (well, this doesn’t always happen with just one brick, but sometimes, and even if it doesn’t collapse, you do have a big hole.) This is clearly a problem.

Let’s step back and look what we have been sitting on. Let’s not end up like the Plutians.

We’re the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War’s a spiritual war… our Great Depression is our lives.
Tyler Durden - Fight Club (movie)

We don’t have a great war in our generation, or a great depression, but we do, we have a great war of the spirit. We have a great revolution against the culture. The great depression is our lives. We have a spiritual depression.
Tyler Durden - Fight Club (book)

I’ve met God across his long walnut desk with his diplomas hanging on the wall behind him, and God asks me, “Why?” Why did I cause so much pain? Didn’t I realize that each of us is a sacred, unique snowflake of special unique specialness? Can’t I see how we’re all manifestations of love? I look at God behind his desk, taking notes on a pad, but God’s got this all wrong. We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens. And God says, “No, that’s not right.” Yeah. Well. Whatever. You can’t teach God anything.
Narrator - Fight Club (book)

There are so many great lines I wanted to post from that movie/book, but these in particular just really stuck out. If you haven’t read the book and liked the movie (or didn’t like the movie for that matter, the book is more fun) check it out. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, watch it soon. You won’t think of the world in the same way again.

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25 (English Standard Version)

Hebrews has always been one of my favorite books. I was looking through it today and rediscovered what I loved about it. It skips a lot of the more “basic” theology and digs in straight to the meat. Who was Jesus, and why is he important to us? What did he bring to the table, that others had not?

Jesus brought us through the curtain into fellowship with God again. He united the two again. He gave us hope for what had been lost. And he gave us freedom. From here on out “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1 English Standard Version.) Furthermore, nothing can seperate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:29-31.)

I know what some of you are thinking, and no this doesn’t mean we go on through life unchanged. We are changed to new creations. If you have truly had that enlightenment or salvation (depending on what you want to call it) experience, you can’t go back! And why would we?

Once we are through that curtain, we are with God. Still distinct, mind you, but as the journey continues the lines start to blur. Where does Zach end and God begin? The two are united inseperably. We become one with God.

As Saint Athanasios said, “God became human that we might be made god.”