Personal and Transpersonal - A Meditation by Richard Rohr Mature believers eventually move toward a transpersonal notion of God as presence itself, consciousness itself, pure Being, the very Ground of Being, God with us, and God in all things—and yet many of these very same people frequently find it helpful, if not necessary, to still relate to God through the intimate sharing of one trusting self to another. My only question would be, “Why not?” I believe it takes two to love—a giver and a receiver. You really cannot fully give yourself, fall in love with, or surrender to a concept, an energy, a force, or even to enlightenment as an idea. Persons love persons, and the brilliance of Judeo-Christianity is that it keeps the whole spiritual life intensely personal in this very rich sense, and yet also moves beyond it (“Transcend and Include” is the big principle here). The personal God revealed in both the scriptures and the Perennial Tradition makes known a divine nature that is seductive, self-disclosing, and immensely self-giving to those who are interested. This experience of “overflow” invites us into more freedom than most of us are even ready for, along with intimacy and real friendship. Such a relationship deeply empowers anyone who engages with it. For me, it really comes down to this: the individuals I know who are most genuinely happy and also fruitful for the world invariably relate to God in a way that is deeply personal, intimate, and almost conversational. Yet these same persons would be the first to admit and recognize that their personal God is also transpersonal and sometimes impersonal, and “the one in whom we all live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28), and, finally, beyond all names for God. God is humbly recognized as beyond any of our attempts to domesticate, understand, or control the Mystery. All names for God are “in vain.” Adapted from Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi, pp. 237-238, 239, 245-246 Gateway to Silence: I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through—listen to this music. —Hafiz
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 11:03:29 +0000
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