The Nature of Spiritual Development - Paragraph 9 and 10
In this section of the essay titled The Nature of Spiritual Development we’ve come to the last two paragraphs. From the last blog we found that Roberts believes “that everyone, regardless of their religion or belief system can come to know the furthest reaches of God’s revelations, know them long before they become known (accepted or rejected) by a particular group.” Because of her conviction that everyone is capable of revelation she contrasts this group with another group named historians of religion. Here is this week’s text.
“Historians of religion would not agree with this, of course. Giving no credence to God’s revelations, they have no choice but to search for a religion’s origin in indigenous myths, legends, cultural ethos, philosophy and so on.
Where they find similarities they theorize there must have been some contact between totally disparate and distant religious groups. It never occurs to them that the origins and similarities between religions derive from the same revelation given in every age throughout the world. Indeed, God’s revelations are as old as man.”
I understand Roberts to be saying that it is easy to come up with explanations for similarities between or among religious groups as coincidence. I can’t say why she is compelled to point out how historians go about their work except to say that I can relate to the idea of coming up with ideas and theories for why things are the way they are. Instead of accepting things exactly as they are I often spend time explaining or projecting some idea or concept onto the situation.
I believe that is the invitation for me as I read this text. To meet each moment as it is, without the need to change it, fix it, analyze it, or insert my story over it. Meeting each moment as it is provides everything I need for growth. Pema Chödrön says in her book When Things Fall Apart, that “If we commit ourselves to staying right where we are, then our experience becomes very vivid.” This is such a beautiful saying and it is also very enticing, my heart responds with a yes.
But the reality is that I often can not bear the vividness of certain situations. They are too scary and holding my fear feels overwhelming, or there is too much anger or sadness or, you name it, wishing to be expressed. It takes practice and, as Pema says, a commitment to want to increase our capacity for such bearing. To fully hold what is present, including any unpleasant emotions plus the external situation takes real gumption. Most of us believe we are up to the task, but the truth is we rarely stay absolutely present, vividly awake, to a situation, and we quickly move into our heads to think about what is happening.
I know from my own life that it is very hard to actually experience the situation without moving into thinking, or intellectualizing about what is going on. I am learning that this is not really vivid at all and, in fact, it is quite stale and dull. If you pay close attention in a sticky situation you’ll find that the mind is actually overlaying old stories on the present situation, which doesn’t make it a fresh situation at all. Somehow in those uncomfortable moments I feel I can manage the situation better if I think about it, cognate on it, but the truth is if I want to experience the vividness of all life brings then I must stay fully awake and alert and see what is real and what is not.
At the end of the day, while I am not sure why Roberts decried the religious historians, I definitely identify with her synopsis on making things up to fit a scenario. I find it difficult to lean into a difficult situation, to admit I just don’t understand, or that I can’t figure something out. It is a real act of faith to trust that if I fully accept this moment exactly as it is that I will learn more in a moment than I could ever figure out with years of mental machinations. Here’s to breathing with each moment and learning to bear what is right in front of me.
