We go just the way the Way goes.
Dear All,
We plunged deeply today into the beautiful 14th chapter of the Gospel of John.
It was some magic among us in the group, through people’s close and vocal collaboration, that opened our hearts, beyond literal readings, to the spirit springing from the chapter.
After flexing our psyches through dyadically shared experiences of surprise, of being touched, of being inspired – somewhat like the initial bodhicitta moment in tonglen practice – we took as our central meditation an easy-to-overlook sentence at the very end of the chapter: “Let us arise and go hence.” (John 14:31)
In Greek and in context, this is not a mere stage-direction. It means something more like: “Wake up. How high into the spirit dare we know ourselves to reach?”
The under-translated, apparently throw-away line bears the message of the chapter as a whole. It has to do with an intimate continuity between lovers of all kinds: lovers of each other, of the Christ impulse, and especially lovers of the Generative Mystery or Source, the primary Pouring Forth of existence.
Along the way, we reviewed the issue of the name of God as I AM, and what this implies.
Well, I wish you had all been there. Please know that we do give thought and thanks to all those – for instance readers of this email – who are with us in spirit.
all blest,
Michael