“Hope is not pretending that troubles do not exist, it is the trust that they will not last forever, that hurts will be healed and difficulties overcome. It is faith that a source of strength and renewal lies within to lead us through the dark into the sunshine.” ~Liz Chase
“The hallmark of “truth,” then, is its all-pervasiveness, expressed by its sustainability under all circumstances and in every context – from the highest of elevations and planes, to the lowest of all rungs.
The great virtue of truth is “it just works,” regardless of your physical or spiritual address. And at each elevation and level, just as the “central bar” passed throrugh the middle of the Tabernacle’s wall, truth penetrates the “focal point” of any world or idea – which is the pivotal point of its “truth paradigm.”
In simple terms, the Tanya is teaching us that truth is not a single standard, but something which is calibrated in context. Every place, idea, and experience has its own “truth,” depending on its precise location in the universe’s complex time-space continuum.
So when we said before that the beinoni’s love was true “for him,” we were not exercising poetic license. Truth, at least in its Kabbalistic understanding, means different things in different contexts; and for the beinoni, true worship is having palpable love for G-d, even if it is only during prayer – And the paradigm of “truth” is what the Talmud refers to as Jacob’s “unlimited inheritance” to us (Talmud, Shabbos 118a), – and it has no upper metaphysical limit, reaching to the highest of elevations. …
…
So the paradigm of truth” is relative. What is “true” (permanent) in one context turns out to be temporary in another. ”
The Practical Tanya: Part One The Book for Inbetweeners, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, adapted by Chaim Miller.
Every time you listen with great attentiveness to the voice that calls you Beloved, you will discover within yourself a desire to hear that voice longer and more deeply.
– Henri JM Nouwen
On the wisdom of living in the Holy Maybe, Humility of unknowing Reality….
“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8
In the Grimm fairytale of Allerleirauh, a princess who left her fathers house and kingdom, disguised as an animal, lived beneath the stairs in the kitchen of another King. She made bread soup one day for the King, unlike any he had ever tasted.
Here is a meditation by Gunilla Norris amplifying the meaning of kitchen work in fairytales and dreams, awake or sleep….
The kitchen is alchemical,
a place where we cook—actually
and spiritually, We come to it
for nourishment and ease.
We come to it as to center-
the heart of the house,
the heart of the dwelling.
In the kitchen we are one,
linked by hunger,
actual and spiritual.
We go to the kitchen to be
nourished and revealed.
It is a holy place.
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o’clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life
T.S.Eliot
“Beyond and higher, onto Santiago!”
“To feel the pull, the draw, the interior attraction, and to want to follow it, even if it has no name still, that is the “pilgrim spirit. The ‘why’ only becomes clear as time passes, only long after the walking is over.”
Kevin A. Codd, Beyond Even the Stars: A Compostela Pilgrim in France
Ultreia – Suseia is a call and response between pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. A fellow pilgrim will call out “Ultreia!” inviting your reply, “Suseia!” “Go further!” the first is crying out while the second replies “Go upwards!” Now imagine 350,000 pilgrims a year from all walks of life and every part of the world experiencing this minimalist and arduous spiritual journey to go beyond the mind, beyond what is known. Ultreia! Suseia!
In preparation for the 2024 pilgrimage on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago we will gather for 40 days and 40 nights across 40 weeks (once/week) to learn and speak Spanish, meet inspiring Camino phrases, engage spiritual reflections and practical questions, share research, support and encourage physical training on local pilgrimages, listen to relevant history and folktales, and learn some thought provoking history! All this, to amplify our attunement to the gaze of our pilgrim hearts, opening portals of wisdom for growth and renewal.
Whether you plan to go or not, we know anyone can start their Camino from anywhere at anytime! It is a mindset that lives beyond time and space. Each stage of the French Way on the Camino, 33 in all, brings discipline challenges for finding and sustaining continuous equanimity- eating and living minimally and realistically; hydrating well; pacing to your own rhythm and need; meditating continuously while engaging others respectfully, graciously and mindfully; renouncing negativity, attaining ideas and expectations; introspecting; and releasing what once saved but no longer serves growth and realization.
See how sustained practice in a community of pilgrims helps us return home! For more information, reach out through the contact page at https://kairoscenter4change.com/contact/
“The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust
We are all just walking each other home.” – Ram Dass
“What song am I singing and what is it contributing to the future?”
https://www.mlksaratoga.org/celebration-weekend
“What song am I singing and what is it contributing to the future?”
The theme of MLK Saratoga’s Dr. King Celebration united the community this past weekend, bringing together multiple generations from all ethnic backgrounds to remember and be moved by and toward Peace. With generosity of Spirit and hope, the rhythms gathered us into our collective heart beat to remember joys and face our sorrows, to understand, love, and envision heaven on earth, to embolden our taking one single step aligned with that vision of justice into the future. We imagine that step as a note in our song. To withstand our sorrow in and through the perspective of the One collective heart beat, if even for a moment, births visions such as the one Dr. MLK, Jr. continuously held up for a nation, timeless visions that breathe life back into our collective soul. With deepest gratitude and humility, I say Shanti, Shalom, Shalem, Peace. Peace, peace, peace.
1: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.
2: Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.
3: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.
4: Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.
5: Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.
6: Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.
