The Center for Contemplative Practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
Category: atheists and agnostics
DIGGING FOR HEAVENLY GOLD ON EARTH: REALIZING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN AT THE NEXT LEVEL OF OUR EVOLUTION.
WARNING: This blog is long and requires reading once or twice to dig out its gold. Don’t blame me, I only type it. Erich Fromm, an existential psychologist and author of The Art of Loving, is one of the great influencers in how I view… Continue Reading “DIGGING FOR HEAVENLY GOLD ON EARTH: REALIZING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN AT THE NEXT LEVEL OF OUR EVOLUTION.”
THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH: My New Catholic Church made in my image and likeness. Part III.
MY CHURCH IS LIKE A FIVE-STORY BUILDING, EACH FLOOR HAVING FOUR QUADRANTS OR ROOMS If I build a church in my image and likeness, subject to the whims of my emotional self for self-gratification, the results might not have anything to do with Christ.… Continue Reading “THE INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH: My New Catholic Church made in my image and likeness. Part III.”
A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: My lifelong hunt for heavenly gold. Filiments to forever.
Having examined how I view reality (which may or may not be the way you see things), I have almost by chance discovered the door of my life, which contains six locks. Very late in life, when I first romanced the notion of Lectio… Continue Reading “A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: My lifelong hunt for heavenly gold. Filiments to forever.”
A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: Choosing the correct key to soothe the hungry heart.
In past episodes, I have explained how my reasoning is centered around my ability to reason freely and choose what is best for my three innate yearnings: What does being fully human at that next level mean? How can I love using my next… Continue Reading “A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: Choosing the correct key to soothe the hungry heart.”
A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: What I use to fill in the blanks.
I find it very disconcerting that, as I come to the end of my human existence, I only now discover some of the missing pieces that would have made all of this so simple had I had them in my wheelhouse forty years ago.… Continue Reading “A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: What I use to fill in the blanks.”
A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: What lurks at the very bottom of the deepest part of my humanity?
While transversing the quicksand of daily living, I have stumbled upon (another word for my research) the more fundamental tendencies of the human mind and heart to satisfy my hunger for three questions that plague my deepest self, and I suspect, others longings as… Continue Reading “A MOSAIC PIECE OF MY LIFE: What lurks at the very bottom of the deepest part of my humanity?”
THE CHRIST PRINCIPLE: PARADIGM SHIFTS THAT ADD DEPTH OF MEANING TO MY VIEW OF REALITY
This is a reposting of a previous blog. It is substantially long for a blog because it is a chapter from my book, The Christ Principle. I add it here because of its importance to my reflections about my humanity. This is a very… Continue Reading “THE CHRIST PRINCIPLE: PARADIGM SHIFTS THAT ADD DEPTH OF MEANING TO MY VIEW OF REALITY”
HERESIES CONDEMNED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: I, THE HERETIC.
What follows is my list of resources of heresies of the Church beginning with the Apostles. I trust you to do the homework and make your own conclusions. I remember reading a Micky Spillane novel in my near teenage years entitled, “I, the Jury.”… Continue Reading “HERESIES CONDEMNED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: I, THE HERETIC.”
CHRIST AS MYSTIC HERO: WATCH JOSEPH CAMPBELL ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MYTH IN OUR HUMAN PROGRESSION.
(Excerpted from a book I am putting together on The Christ Principle, entitled, “CHRIST AS MYSTIC HERO: A Lay Cistercian reflects how Christ is the archetypal hero on humanity’s march to Omega.“) THE SIMPLICITY OF MYTH WITH CHRIST AS MYSTIC HERO Before I embark… Continue Reading “CHRIST AS MYSTIC HERO: WATCH JOSEPH CAMPBELL ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MYTH IN OUR HUMAN PROGRESSION.”
WHAT IS THE ACHILLES HEEL OF ATHEISTS?
Before you get a chance to think that I am an Atheist-phobe, let me pop that balloon. My view of reality states that each human, and especially me, all have an Achilles heel, a blind spot as you look out your car door window… Continue Reading “WHAT IS THE ACHILLES HEEL OF ATHEISTS?”
THE ART OF CONTEMPLATION: Outline of contemplative practices.
Contemplation, or what I know of it so far, is going to that one place inside you where no one wants to go, a place where you are vulnerable and frightened of what you might find, but one that, like a moth to a… Continue Reading “THE ART OF CONTEMPLATION: Outline of contemplative practices.”
WHAT IS TRUTH?
As one who can only aspire to be a Lay Cistercian, I aim to seek God by moving from self to God. That word, moving, is actually key to my attempts. Here are some reflections on moving from my false self to my true… Continue Reading “WHAT IS TRUTH?”
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