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We Can't Separate the
Inseparable
by Robert Rabbin
I am a spiritual activist, a person who feels that spiritual practice, study and
wisdom are inseparable from the minutiae of day-to-day living. The German-born architect
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe once said, "God is in the details." This is a
wonderful slogan for a spiritual activist. The demonstration of our spiritual work
must find expression in our every word, choice and action. We cannot separate yoga,
meditation and deep spiritual work from living: They are inseparable. We cannot separate
the SPIRITUAL from the WORLDLY. These are language-based distinctions we use to appreciate
various aspects of the great Mystery of existence. It is a tragic conceit to think
that yoga, meditation and spiritual wisdom exist outside daily life. They don't.
A flower and its fragrance cannot be separated, because they are innately inseparable.
Along these lines, I'd like to share an excerpt from a recent e-mail I received,
and my response.
"I was initially attracted to you and your mailing list because of, for lack
of a better word, spirituality -- your clarity and accuracy in issues of the Holy,
or God, or the Great Mystery. Recently, however, it seems that everything coming
from your direction has been your political and anti-war sentiments.
"While I respect your opinion and your right to speak and e-mail whatever you
wish, I would just like to let you know that the more you wander into political territory
and away from spirituality, the more you alienate me, and perhaps others, as a 'fan'
of your work. The more you speak about politics, the more my respect for you evaporates.
"My point in writing this is primarily to say that I have seen other spiritual
figures whom I respect and admire look foolish and lose respect when they wander
away from their true area of expertise, and begin to think that they are experts
not only in matters of the spirit, but in everything else as well."
As I travel around the country talking with many people, and corresponding with many
more, I frequently encounter this point of view. I have been rebuked by some yoga
and meditation teachers for circulating "An Open Letter of Conscience and Choice,"
for "mixing spirituality and political choice." I understand this, because
I was at one time a poster-boy for this perspective. Perhaps that is why I was so
attracted to this letter: it showed me the distance I have traveled in my life and
consciousness, from that first step long ago when my kundalini opened like an exploding
sun.
I do not believe in such things as "spiritual" and "political"
as though they were shoes and beer bottles. They are just notions in the mind and
have life and force only to the extent we empower them. The naming of things is a
feature of the mind: Its nature is to name and separate one thing from another. Beyond
the mind, in the realm of Silence, all things are expressions of one Consciousness
and have the same name.
I have never felt that I had any "expertise in matters of spirit." If anything,
35 years of spiritual practice and study have made me acutely aware of all that I
don't know. I must admit, however, that I have encountered the infinite majesty of
the Great Mystery and can confirm that it is aptly named. I also confess to knowing
that I am a portion of the Great Mystery and to feeling within my blood the murmurs
of a universal heart. In this heart, I live as a song of Silence. In this song there
are no verses of murder and the mayhem of war. I am not an expert in spiritual or
political matters; but I constantly hear the murmur of the universal heart within
my blood, telling me that I must pour my heart into this world, that I must live
in this world as a strong emblem of love and peace.
My Merriam-Webster dictionary defines politics as "the totality of relationships
between people living in society, especially involving power, authority and influence."
To say that one should refrain from politics is like saying that one should refrain
from breathing. It is not possible. From cradle to grave, we exist in relationship.
Our very life comes from others. Our food comes from others. Our clothes come from
others. We are affected by others, as they are by us. Think of your life: It is nothing
but relationship, and each relationship includes negotiations and transactions of
power, authority and influence.
How are we to live in these relationships? To me, this question is of equal weight
and importance to "Who am I?" This latter question is often regarded as
spiritual, while the former is termed worldly. Nonsense.
During the last few years in America, we have seen the growth and popularization
of ancient non-dual wisdom traditions like Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism and Dzogchen.
This is good news. However, with popularization comes the danger of distortion. One
such distortion lies in thinking that the answer/resolution to the question "Who
am I?" represents the summit of Self-Realization. It does not.
"Who am I?" is but half of the true question; the other half is "How
shall I live?" The answer/resolution to this true question is the gateway to
realized Self-expression.
If one only asks "Who am I?" then one has but one leg, one hand, one eye,
and half a heart. I want to be whole, for I am whole. So I also ask, "How shall
I live?" Asking this gives me my second leg, second hand, second eye, and a
whole heart.
"Who am I? How Shall I live?" is really one question, one breath, one path,
one realization. Insight and action are one movement; realization and expression
are one movement. One cannot separate non-dual perception and knowledge from its
behavioral corollary. Pure consciousness and the world are not different. Each exists
as reflections of the other. Therefore, knowledge and action arise together, just
as form and formlessness arise together. The perception of self, other, and world
as vibrations of pure consciousness is only the foothills, not the high mountains.
"Who am I?" is the easier part of the koan: I am that which is beyond thought
and concept; I am that eternal Silent presence which pervades the entire cosmos and
which lives in and as all things.
OK, now what? Now comes the hard part: "How shall I live?" Taking up this
question with sincerity and commitment is the true beginning of realized Self-expression,
the true beginning of spiritual maturity and wisdom. What, in fact, does a life of
Oneness look like? How shall I live? FROM whom and from where shall I receive money?
To whom and to what shall I give my money? For whom shall I vote? What car shall
I drive? What is my civic responsibility to my community, country, and the world?
How much responsibility do I take for the condition of the world, the world of which
I am a PART?
These are just a few of the questions that one must ask and answer every day. There
are many more. What are they? Please spend some time with these questions, and let
the asking and the listening for answers affect how you live your life. As with "Who
am I?" do not be content with first answers. Dig deep. Challenge your beliefs.
Challenge what your teachers have told you. Challenge your complacency.
Asking "Who am I?" alone leads only to self-absorption and spiritual narcissism;
it does not lead to wisdom or to freedom. In your spiritual practice, if you do not
already do so, please begin asking the true and correct question: "Who am I?
How shall I live?"
Robert Rabbin is a writer, speaker, and spiritual activist. He is the author of
numerous books and articles, and the creator of Radicalsages.com, TruthForPresident.org,
an online spiritual activism center. For contact information, please visit www.robrabbin.com
or www.truthforpresident.org
Copyright © 2004 Robert Rabbin. All rights reserved. |
| May 2005 |
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