Post by frank on Apr 27, 2009 0:23:26 GMT -5
Born 1942, Taurus, Scorpio rising. Drawn to the life of spirit since childhood, but also drawn to the world of senses. Grew up in a devout blue-collar family. Spent four years as a teen in a Byzantine seminary, observing the Great Silence, and then many years in the world of theater and the literary arts. After a period of three months in a maximum security punishment cell for possession of a marijuana cigarette and for "obscenity," I turned to the wilderness, where I spent many decades practicing yoga and zazen and whirling like a Sufi with the turning of the Cosmos. These days my heart is returning to the Eastern Orthodox Christianity of my youth and heritage and to the ceaseless repetition of the Jesus Prayer: "Oh Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God Almighty, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Sin, of course, is separation from the Divine. And the Divine, as Ramakrishna taught us, can be found through all religions. I have never been able to join a church, however, a government-approved tax-exempt corporation. I think that the struggle for enlightenment is solitary. Jesus told us to go into our private rooms, close the door behind us, and pray in secret. Ramakrishna asks: What good do you think you can do if you have not realized God?
Holy Ones of all ages and cultures advise us to pray aloud, to chant the name of God ceaselessly. OM
Buddhists vow to keep returning to this realm until all sentient beings are enlightened. Our destiny is god realization, is union with the Divine, with Ultimate Reality. OM-NAMA-SHIVAYA.
