The definition of sin as missing the mark is erroneous, or rather, of shortened vision. One cannot miss the mark. The Mark is everywhere. Sin is separation, separation from the Source -- from the One, thus from Intelligence and from Soul, to use Plotinus's terms. One has isolated oneself from the Current, from the Flow. One has made oneself a separate god, a false image, an untrue idol. Sin is not a physical action. Sin is an attitude.
There is no mark out there (or in here) that one is trying to hit, no X marks the spot, no bulls-eye. You are not missing the mark. You are missing Soul.
We could dispense of the concept of sin altogether and speak instead of losing Soul. We shift instantly from living or not living up to a code of moralistic standards (the law dead without spirit) to the embodying or disembodying of Soul itself, the life force or current ever flowing from the One, the current that we are, without which we do not exist.
It is not that we are "full of sin." It is not that we are "missing the mark." It is that we are not living with Soul.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
the cross as symbol of human transformation
As a prime symbol of human transformation, especially for Western consciousness, the Cross immediately shows the human situation. Anchored in the ground, both in the ground of Earth and the Ground of Being, and open to the Heavens, the Cross depicts a firmly implanted vulnerability.
Grounded. Made of earth and feet firmly planted on earth, I fulfill one of the defining characteristics of the Cross: grounded being. I spend the days of my life as an earthling, as earth touching earth. Following ancestral practices, I settle and sink. Weight underside. For now, this is where I belong. And now is all I know.
When I settle, I settle down. The gravity of my situation gets to me. I allow it, encourage it , get more grave. I become dead, thoroughly dead, and thus more alive. The portal, the opening to life is through this death. The rule of opposites works here. The more I sink, the more I release.
The Cross is planted into the earth to bear and to release. I walk the earth and bear up. The more solidly I am grounded, the more up I can bear. Symmetry. A positive correlation between deep grounding and expansive opening. The greater, the greater.
How firm is my foundation? As firm as I allow.
I breathe deeply. I settle. I settle down.
Down, the nether region, is looked down upon. In this “have a nice day” society, one is not supposed to be down. One will be called on it, told to cheer up. A vast entertainment industry awaits. Drugs will “cure” you.
And yet the Cross, great transformation symbol that it is, does not come with a smile button. Unless it is a grinning death head. For the Cross means my death. It does not fool around. To be on the Cross, or more intimately still, to be the Cross is death. To be on the Cross is to be grounded for life.
That is not all there is to it. If it were a matter of being grounded and nothing more, the Cross would be a Hole that I would jump into, pull the dirt over my head and snuggle in. No, it is more fiendish than that. I am elevated. I am in the Hole but raised up.
I am anchored not only in this Earth as a living sacrifice. I am anchored in this Cosmos. Infinity extends from the Ground of my Being in all “directions.” It is vast. I see no end to any of these lines, no circumference of this circle, no surface to this sphere. I am anchored and grounded with no bounds.
Horizontal. The horizontal beam is the linear plane, the plane of history, where my incarnation story is told, is acted out. Like all the crucified, I am destined to carry the horizontal beam through town, through Vanity Fair, through the masses for entertainment and viewing pleasure.
This beam of horizon energy convinces me there is a past, a future, that I came from somewhere, am going somewhere. I am a straight arrow shot from some distant bow aimed at some unknown target. I come from my mother’s womb and am headed for a certain grave. Once again it is a grave situation.
Make something of yourself, they say. You only have so long. Gather stuff in piles. Couple in orgasm. Run around and do things. Plan your security. Attend violent events. Be somebody. Build an erection to yourself that will last.
Soon enough. Soon enough. I will lay me down in horizontal posture soon enough.
Pardon me. I need to get through here. I have a stake in my future.
Vertical. Affix that cross beam to that stake. Don’t hesitate. Now stretch those arms out. Drive those nails in. Not that way! Not that soft little pity tapping. One blow each nail maybe two should do it. Yeah! Like that! You see why you need help. That last hand hangs loose.
What’s that? No. Your horizontal days are about over. It’s all vertical now. You are on the pathway of the Divine. The Present. You are the present for the present.
A line of light, of energy, moves through the infinity “above,” through the top of my head, through my body, through my feet, through the earth below, and extends infinitely through the infinity “below.”
I am transfixed, pinned to this spot, this spatio-temporal location that is mine, truly mine and no one else’s. No trespassing is allowed simply because no trespassing can occur. I am this universe that spins around this axis. Others have their own spin, their own axis. This is my Cross, my Cross to bear.
Grounded. Made of earth and feet firmly planted on earth, I fulfill one of the defining characteristics of the Cross: grounded being. I spend the days of my life as an earthling, as earth touching earth. Following ancestral practices, I settle and sink. Weight underside. For now, this is where I belong. And now is all I know.
When I settle, I settle down. The gravity of my situation gets to me. I allow it, encourage it , get more grave. I become dead, thoroughly dead, and thus more alive. The portal, the opening to life is through this death. The rule of opposites works here. The more I sink, the more I release.
The Cross is planted into the earth to bear and to release. I walk the earth and bear up. The more solidly I am grounded, the more up I can bear. Symmetry. A positive correlation between deep grounding and expansive opening. The greater, the greater.
How firm is my foundation? As firm as I allow.
I breathe deeply. I settle. I settle down.
Down, the nether region, is looked down upon. In this “have a nice day” society, one is not supposed to be down. One will be called on it, told to cheer up. A vast entertainment industry awaits. Drugs will “cure” you.
And yet the Cross, great transformation symbol that it is, does not come with a smile button. Unless it is a grinning death head. For the Cross means my death. It does not fool around. To be on the Cross, or more intimately still, to be the Cross is death. To be on the Cross is to be grounded for life.
That is not all there is to it. If it were a matter of being grounded and nothing more, the Cross would be a Hole that I would jump into, pull the dirt over my head and snuggle in. No, it is more fiendish than that. I am elevated. I am in the Hole but raised up.
I am anchored not only in this Earth as a living sacrifice. I am anchored in this Cosmos. Infinity extends from the Ground of my Being in all “directions.” It is vast. I see no end to any of these lines, no circumference of this circle, no surface to this sphere. I am anchored and grounded with no bounds.
Horizontal. The horizontal beam is the linear plane, the plane of history, where my incarnation story is told, is acted out. Like all the crucified, I am destined to carry the horizontal beam through town, through Vanity Fair, through the masses for entertainment and viewing pleasure.
This beam of horizon energy convinces me there is a past, a future, that I came from somewhere, am going somewhere. I am a straight arrow shot from some distant bow aimed at some unknown target. I come from my mother’s womb and am headed for a certain grave. Once again it is a grave situation.
Make something of yourself, they say. You only have so long. Gather stuff in piles. Couple in orgasm. Run around and do things. Plan your security. Attend violent events. Be somebody. Build an erection to yourself that will last.
Soon enough. Soon enough. I will lay me down in horizontal posture soon enough.
Pardon me. I need to get through here. I have a stake in my future.
Vertical. Affix that cross beam to that stake. Don’t hesitate. Now stretch those arms out. Drive those nails in. Not that way! Not that soft little pity tapping. One blow each nail maybe two should do it. Yeah! Like that! You see why you need help. That last hand hangs loose.
What’s that? No. Your horizontal days are about over. It’s all vertical now. You are on the pathway of the Divine. The Present. You are the present for the present.
A line of light, of energy, moves through the infinity “above,” through the top of my head, through my body, through my feet, through the earth below, and extends infinitely through the infinity “below.”
I am transfixed, pinned to this spot, this spatio-temporal location that is mine, truly mine and no one else’s. No trespassing is allowed simply because no trespassing can occur. I am this universe that spins around this axis. Others have their own spin, their own axis. This is my Cross, my Cross to bear.
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