Fr John Main OSB, “Religious Love,”

Fr John Main OSB, “Religious Love,” THE WAY OF UNKNOWING (New York: Crossroad, 1990), pp. 115-116.

By opening our hearts to love at the deepest and most silent level of our being, we are not repressing human knowledge or rejecting human values or relationships. On the contrary, all of these are enlightened; that is, we see them in a new light, in a transcendent light. We see a new light in them. The extraordinary thing about the Christian message is that this light is not less than the light of Christ, the light who is Christ. The call to us to enter this light is for each of us to know from our own experience. . . .that Christ’s light shines in our hearts and that the first task of our life is to be open to it, to be bathed in it, to be made whole in it and so see with it. [. . . .] Meditation is our journey to that light. 

Merger

Below is a beautiful poem written by Swami Veda Bharati, with a story from Paul Emerson:

When my father died in 2006 Swami Veda gifted me with the following poem. With my mother's recent passing on Friday and Swami Veda's own passing this Monday it seems an especially appropriate sentiment.

 

Merger

 

The breath becomes one

With all the fragrant breezes,
One's little earth joins the vast expanse.
Prana merges into lightning,
The eyes now dwell in the core of the sun.
Boundaries have been demolished
And the soul is no longer held fast, fettered.
The being now takes a walk in open cosmic fields,
A flight through obstacle-free skies.

Those who are left behind
Yet confined within the boundaries of tangibles;
Not knowing the pleasure of subtle intangibles,
Irrigate the fields of the past with liquid pearls.
But the one who has flown
Is now planting fresh crops into the fields of his future.

Do not bind him to your fetters now.
Rejoice if you cannot in his freedom,
Cherish the paths traversed through the flourishing greens,
Claim no more his future harvest.
He paid all his debts before leaving,
Now claim him no more.

May the flowers of his wisdom
Remain a treasure in your mind vase.
May your wisdom guide your ever flowing sentiment
Into an ocean-ward channel,
Into a God-ward flowing stream.

I remain centered in the peace of God. 25th Day of Lent

Are you willing to give up your enemies?

25th Day of Lent
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Nonresistance
By Elise Cowan

Regardless of outer circumstances,

I remain centered in the peace of God.

Sometimes things don’t go the way we would like them to
go. We may feel we have been treated rudely, unkindly, or
unfairly. Yet despite outer conditions, we can choose to stay
centered in the love of God. When we do, peace permeates
our very being.

In Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus taught we are not to question
someone’s motive but to love them without judgment. “You
have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and
pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children
of your Father in heaven.” What happens when we love our
enemies? We no longer have enemies! When we practice
nonresistance, we allow the kingdom