Guest guest Posted September 11, 2001 Report Share Posted September 11, 2001 - White Wolfe <valemar.1 <thomasmerton> Tuesday, September 11, 2001 9:11 AM Re: [thomasmerton] Retreat Online/Contemplation > my beloved mazie...you have seen what i have seen....you have seen what TM > saw....when the beloved comes there is only the refiner's fire of love in > every direction....in contemplation i learned to ride the divine wind of my > beloved.....in contemplation each day my beloved reveals that she is not > done with me and that i still have attachments, an inordinate desire for > mental concepts, for places and for things...my dark one, the Black Madonna, > my mirabai,.she calls to me from beyond and in so doing i hear her voice > echoing from in all directions of the cosmos....there is and is not duality > in my beloved....we are two for without two there is no love, yet in mutual > surrender to each other we become something fresh and new, a third > one....this is the mystery of the trinity.....the one become two, the two > manifest love by creating a trinity....the circle of love is not a circle > but a triangle.....the many become one plus one....christ arose yesterday, > he is arising right now, he will arise again each endless tomorrow....yet, i > am in my beloved as she is in me and i am become a holy infant....the christ > within me arises and i awake each morning with a heart bursting with love > for my beloved and all creation.....in contemplation i learned as Arjuna > that every act i do from washing the dishes to lighting incense is holy, an > act of divine love rendered unto my beloved who is manifesting Itself > through the miracle of my hands....in contemplation i saw the millions of > ancestors who sacrificed and suffered that i would arise and carry love to a > new limit within creation....and i am in love with love itself....in the > eyes of my beloved i sail in a boundless sea of compassion reaching ever > beyond the darkness out of which it first arose.....light upon light, light > within light....my heart rests in the sacred heart of my beloved.....i am > she.....^^~~~~ > > The Master Speaks to The Lover and The Beloved > > " I am the part of you that is You, my child > Regardless of the one you take me > for." > - > > Until, my children, you become as a piece of driftwood > you have not heard My Secret Word whispering in the trees. > > The driftwood itself was once a tree high on a holy mountain, > it drank deeply of sacramental waters and swayed majestically > in the fiery, icy, dry, wet winds that blow from My Four Corners > > You have not heard My Secret Word roaring in the waters > until, my children, you become as a piece of driftwood. > > The driftwood itself once floated on the many waters. > Perhaps it first fell into a still blue tarn mirroring heaven, > later, it may have been caressed gently by a babbling stream, > still later, it may have been jettisoned from raging white water > onto a lazy river green with mud and from there remorselessly > condemned to sail on the shifting turbulence of the changing seas > > You become as a piece of driftwood, my children, when, > When you hear My Secret Word laughing in Living Waters. > > The driftwood itself is Something becoming Nothing. > It is something that was alive, but is still not dead, > uncarved by human hands, yet etched deeply by living, > The form of its inner beauty revealed and refined, > the flower and scars of its life melted into clear water, > it rests on and surrenders its form to the alluvial sands. > > When, My Children, you become as a piece of driftwood > Then you hear My Secret Word singing in living trees. > > In the fiery, icy, dry, wet winds that blow from My Four Corners. > As a tree, you drink deeply of sacramental waters and dance majestically. > You become as driftwood, my child, as a living tree became a sacred cross. > > How do you surrender as a piece of driftwood surrenders, my children? > > The lover must reaching out take the open hand of her Beloved, > inside this time and that space, inside that form and this spirit, > here, now, where the confluence of earth, water, fire and meet. > Where Desire's bliss brings both frustration and fulfillment, > And Love's anguish requires both acceptance and rejection. > Without the one there is no other, without two there is nothing. > > My children, you cannot return to me as one but as two, as one I am not. > You return to me as two mutually surrendering each to the other within me, > Just as the driftwood surrenders to My Holy Breath upon sand and water. > > > further up and further in, > > white wolfe > > - > <sraddha54 > <thomasmerton> > Tuesday, September 11, 2001 3:43 AM > [thomasmerton] Retreat Online/Contemplation > > > > Dear Friends, > > > > Having spoken to many people who have had a near-death experience, I > > have found that the various dogma and doctrines of religions they > > held, their personal idea of God and heaven, were what they saw when > > they died. How can this be? How can the Buddhist have the experience > > of total Love, with the Lord Buddha greeting him when he arrived. How > > can the Christian be lifted and led to the Light and Love by Jesus? > > How can a person who adheres to no religion be embraced by that total > > Love and Light? Merton says in chapter three: > > > > "So much depends on our idea of God! Yet no idea of Him, however pure > > and perfect, is adequate to express Him as He really is. Our idea of > > God tells us more about ourselves than about Him." > > > > When one dies and returns with the same message again and again, it > > is one thing: God is Love. They all say the same thing. By giving the > > devotee this special dispensation by allowing them to return to their > > bodies and relate the wonders, He is, as Merton says, affecting a > > change by "His inscrutable love seeks our awakening." This symbolic > > death, the near-death experience is He seeking our awakening. We must > > do as Merton says, and die to the little self, the self with endless > > desires and likes and dislikes. We must surrender to His Inscrutable > > Awakening Call. > > > > All the different experiences of the same Love is evidence for those > > who need evidence, that He is as fully realized in one religion as > > another. Each divine path is imbued with His footsteps. The nectar of > > amrita is spilled on every different kind of devotee or disciples > > cave of contemplation. Love knows no confines. Truth knows no > > confines. It is only man who puts the confines and limits on God's > > Inscrutability in everything and everyone at all times. He is > > available to every open heart, every open mind, every yearning soul, > > regardless of the outer rituals and doctrines. The perfect soul, is > > beyond doctrines and religions. It is the very Huuummm of Love that > > vibrates endlessly and without favoritism through all creation. I am > > so strangely, and in my heart, a Catholic who burns with the fire of > > His Sacred Heart, weeping tears of devotion at one glance from Him. I > > am also so strangely, a Gopi, yearning for my Beloved Krishna, my > > Achyuta, or Changeless One, night and day, night and day. Surrender > > to the Beloved One brings such freedom. Merton understood this so > > very much. Whether he was a Catholic or a Buddhist, what would it > > matter? Would it diminish what he has given to mankind? Would it > > diminish any of his love and compassion? If you were to find out that > > some secret letters of Merton (not that there are any!) said that he > > was a Buddhist at heart, that he adored Lord Buddha as much as Lord > > Jesus Christ, would it diminish to you, in your eyes, who Thomas > > Merton was? If it would, then the statement that he made that "Our > > idea of God tells us more about ourselves than God," would hold true. > > We would have projected our limits on God, and projected our > > judgement on Merton's credibility and faith, and experiential wisdom. > > I believe that Merton would understand the ability to be a Catholic > > and a Hindu, and a Buddhist, and a Muslim, and STILL receive the full > > bounty, the entire abundance of the Beloved, the Adorable One, in > > contemplation, samadhi, nirvana, death, whatever way comes along as > > His offering at all moments of our life. St. Therese of Avila > > instructed her nuns to be like a tortoise, to withdraw the senses > > like the limbs of a turtle. This allows for the ability to 'perceive' > > the true vision of God. Lord Krishna, in the Bhagavad-Gita instructs > > the very same thing to Arjuna. He tells him the devotee of Yoga must > > withdraw his senses like a tortoise. Go within and and in the silence > > of deep meditation, all delusions of separation fall away. There is > > no longer any religion to adhere to, accept one - the religion of > > Love. The same ardor you have for Jesus will be as radiating as the > > ardor transferred to Krishna or Kali or any saint. This love will > > then extend to everyone who crosses your path. Love and Beauty have > > no degrees of separation. God, in truth, has no degrees of > > separation. Merton instructing the benefits of the one who reaches > > that 'contemplative understanding' is invaluable to realize these > > great truths. Compassion of Lord Buddha and Lord Jesus was one and > > the same 'Abundance." > > > > With Love to All of You, > > Mazie > > > > > > > > "Christ came on earth to form contemplatives" Thomas Merton > > > > Your use of is subject to > > > > > > > > "Christ came on earth to form contemplatives" Thomas Merton > > Your use of is subject to > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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