Guest guest Posted March 2, 2001 Report Share Posted March 2, 2001 dear nds/hs... white wolfe is always interested in cross cultural/cross practice dialogue....lent is a holy time to catholics...it seems to me is it paralleled by yom kippur, ramanda, etc. within other faiths...andf therefore the experience of suffering is he same for us all and this discussion of intewrest to all who are true seekers of the tao...he recommends you yead this from the bottom up...^^~~~~ - White Wolf thomasmerton Friday, March 02, 2001 6:39 AM Re: [thomasmerton] Merton/Lent 2 dear tm... ....Jesus said, "Take up your cross and follow me."...St. Paul pointed us to charity (higher love)...Siddhartha Gautama said that the first noble truth is suffering and pointed us toward compassion (higher love)...Thomas Merton and Thich Nhat Hahn who remains with us still considered themselves spiritual brothers...when we where children we experienced the growing pains of the body...as adults we experience the growing pains of suffering...this is the perrenial spiritulaity of all seekers of the way up the sacred mountain...white wolfe has attempted to speak to this wisdom in his meditation on ash wednesday....^^~~~~ further up and further in, white wolfe - Ash Wednesday Meditation “I came from nothing. I am nothing. I return to nothing.” -St. Ignatius Loyola ashes to ashes, dust to dust, what arises from ashes? that which is great persists, only love is greatest of all. i have sought the face of the beloved forever it seems the love in my gentle heart is a wilting rose ruby red yet even it makes moonless midnight a golden glimmer even it makes darkest day sparkle with an amethyst glow that which persists goes far, only love is persistent dust to dust, ashes to ashes, what arises from dust? i have longed for the arms of my beloved it seems forever the love in my deep heart’s core is a flickering cobalt flame it melts a way before me through dawn’s foggy unknowing it burns the dusky mists of grayest twilight with a warm kiss what arises from ashes, ashes to dust, dust to ashes? that which goes far returns, love leaves to return to itself i have desired the faithful heart of the beloved forever it seems having traveled on ice and snow, stream and river, lake and sea far upon many waters to return to the endless end of all journeys i return home to see suffering embrace love, love enfold suffering what arises from dust, dust to ashes, ashes to dust? that which returns is not love as it was before, it is higher love i return to the center of nothing that is my beginning to discover my beloved descending, leaving the cross of infinite suffering empty, on broken legs, gentle eyes burning, incandescent heart bleeding, to open my third eye blind with ashes from ashes, dust from dust that which returns is infinitely great, endlessly deep and high, ashes from ashes, dust from dust, what arises from ashes and dust? as a dove descends without effort, without effort as a lark ascending my beloved greets me with a swirling whisper of dusty white ashes and the holy fire, the blue flame at the heart of the faceted ruby rose, wicks back to life and burns me into ephemeral ashes of cosmic dust ashes from ashes, dust from dust, what arises from dust and ashes? what arises is not the lover nor the beloved, what arises is love itself! love gently enfolding love in an integral embrace of love loving love a cerulean heat hidden within the crimson rose of the one sacred heart burning at the jagged edge where blue fire flaming kisses ruby petals, the earth, the sky, the universe all dissolving into a lenten purple glow There are four great things in the universe. The Beloved is the first of these Heaven the second Earth the third The Lover is the fourth The Lover dances on the Good Earth The Earth sings to Starry Heaven Heaven rests in the Womb of the Beloved The Beloved burns in the Sacred Heart of the Lover. These are the four great things in the universe. ashes from dust, dust from ashes, what arises from these? the four great things arise, what arises out of these is greatest of all what arises from nothing into and through all creation is love itself! __ Mystical Rose of Mary, Flower of infinite compassion Sacred Heart of Jesus, Flame of endless compassion I come to you, I kneel before you Emperor and Empress, to ashes and dust I return that dust and ashes may arise as Love. Oh, my Beloved, I surrender to the purple edge of your holy fire…. mark christopher valentine (February 28, 2001) Patrick Collins thomasmerton Cc: acleary (AT) saunix (DOT) sau.edu ; frdoug (AT) sabre-net (DOT) net ; billcreed (AT) aol (DOT) com ; JWDIIIKMD (AT) aol (DOT) com Thursday, March 01, 2001 11:31 PM [thomasmerton] Merton/Lent 2 Dear Merton Group, Here is another small segment from my book, Thomas Merton Uncensored, which reflects Merton's approach to spirituality. Read, Reflect, Respond, Patrick Collins, Group Moderator By 1959 Thomas Merton was very much aware that the “deep interiorrevolution” of the spiritual life can never be devoid of anguish.Actually he contends it is the anguish itself which combusts into thefruit of spiritual growth. He expressed these personally garneredthoughts on spirituality to his friend, John Harris, a school teacher inEngland, with whom Merton corresponded for ten years. “Grace (we sayglibly) works on nature, and can work suddenly if it pleases. Butactually a deep interior revolution needs to go on and this takes time.A settling and a sort of aging of the strong new wine. We have noadequate idea of what takes place in our depths when we grow spirituallyor change. Meanwhile you have had a chance to go through a lot of quickand volatile surface reactions, which are bare indications of theadjustment taking place deeper down. Let peace have time to settle andgain a firm grasp of those depths. And do not be troubled if you do notalways feel settled. Time takes care of such things. And the Churchwith her sacraments, while doing infinitely much in your life, will nottake away all anguish. On the contrary, the anguish must always bethere. But it must deepen and change and become vastly more fruitful.That is the best we can hope for nowadays: a fruitful anguish insteadof one that is utterly sterile and consuming.” (Harris, John9.12.59 HGL 393) Mail Personal Address - Get email at your own domain with Mail. "Christ came on earth to form contemplatives" Thomas Merton Your use of is subject to the Attachment: (image/jpeg) bluerose.JPG [not stored] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 2, 2001 Report Share Posted March 2, 2001 Dear White Wolf, Have not responded to any of your communications yet... Lent is an important cleansing and purging period of the year, I just pruned my fruit trees so that they may bare better fruit, Lent is a kind of whole body / mind pruning. Jesus at some point came to live in the southern part of France and took up grape growing and wine making, not the miraculous symbolic kind but the real natural miraculous kind. Doing a miracle for him was no sweat, for him to grow things really instead in parables was a real challenge and became his greatest Joy, he had a son whose name was something like 'Julius' Love, Wim You wrote: >>>... is always interested in cross cultural/cross practice dialogue....lent is a holy time to catholics...it seems to me is it paralleled by yom kippur, ramanda, etc. within other faiths...andf therefore the experience of suffering is he same for us all and this discussion of intewrest to all who are true seekers of the tao...he recommends you yead this from the bottom up...^^~~~~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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