The Voice of Psalms is a great book for people who want to engage with the Psalms and find the Psalm section of their regular Bible a bit bland for what is meant to be a collection of songs of praise to God and yet want something more accurate than The Message. The reflections included help you understand and make this book very useful for daily devotions.
The book includes the many beautiful messages of the Psalms, sort of a standalone book – or to be more accurate interpretation – of the book of Psalms that is the result of collaboration among scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets and other artists. The goal here was to help believers experience the joy and wonder of God’s revelation, producing a text that reads more like a great novel than the traditional versions of the Bible.
Despite their claim that they have taken care to be faithful and accurate, there are huge portions of the book that are unrecognizable compared with a traditional translation. By their own admission there are words in the text that are not directly tied to a dynamic translation of the original language (in other words you won’t find them in the original text) and these words are rendered in italic type. There are a lot of italics!
I found the book to have useful reading plans for Lent, and traditional forty day planned worshippers seeking help from the true God, inclusive of commentaries and devotionals. I really liked the translations throughout the work and appreciated the usefulness of the writings.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
How to Reach Your Full Potential for God
Charles Stanley: How to Reach Your Full Potential for God [Never Settle for Less than His Best].
Dr. Stanely guides readers in reconnecting them with powerful and inspiring messages that God has grand vision for them. God has uniquely created all people full of potentials, regardless of setbacks, failures, and frustrations, there is a better path based in God's Word, one that's full of hope and purpose.
While this book is not an easy quick read, I feel it is a thoughtful read. I underlined, wrote notes and spent lots of time pondering and journaling as I read this book. I came away feeling like I had a road map that over time would lead me to be the best person I can be for God. It gave me a deeper understanding of who I am and what my purpose is and how to tap into the God-given gifts and potential that is stored up in me.
You cannot read this book and walk away not having been touched in some way to think, do or be better than you were before you started.
Dr. Stanely guides readers in reconnecting them with powerful and inspiring messages that God has grand vision for them. God has uniquely created all people full of potentials, regardless of setbacks, failures, and frustrations, there is a better path based in God's Word, one that's full of hope and purpose.
While this book is not an easy quick read, I feel it is a thoughtful read. I underlined, wrote notes and spent lots of time pondering and journaling as I read this book. I came away feeling like I had a road map that over time would lead me to be the best person I can be for God. It gave me a deeper understanding of who I am and what my purpose is and how to tap into the God-given gifts and potential that is stored up in me.
You cannot read this book and walk away not having been touched in some way to think, do or be better than you were before you started.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
II. Creation
Creation is a process in which the Chang is externalized. It is the process of becoming from the Void, the matrix of all and none.
The Void is the Change unrevealed. The Void is the changeless change, the Change unfifferentiated. The Void is the formless form, which is beyond distinction. It is the potency where the poles of opposites are unrealized. It is not the absence of being but the affirmation of possible becoming. It is the seed of becoming. It is like an embryo, having all the potential becoming yet without having anything actual.
Creation is the transition of this matrix into the actual process of becoming. In this transition of this the discrimination of yin from yang appears. The appearance of the polarities of yin and yang is the beginning of creation. With the interplay of these two opposites, harmony and order come into a process. It is the beginning of differentation and procreation.
This process of becoming presupposes the generating power of the Change. The potency of this generation is in the timeless time, the undifferentiated time, that is eternal. This was the fullness of time when the transition from the Void or Nothingness to the process of becoming took place. Just like adn embryo, it needs the fullness of time to actualize itself. It must be the right time or kairos when the Void began it actual process of becoming. Because of this fullness of time, creation is not an accident. It is not an accidental explosion of the concentrated energy and mass at the zero point of time. Creation is the process of differentiation between the opposites at the fullness of time. The discrimination of yang from yin or light from darkness marks the beginning of becoming. This process of becoming through differentiation and discrimination continues even to our time. This process may come to a halt at a certain peak of it epansion and then begin to contract again. Expansion and contraction between the two poles of opposites are continual because of the Change.
The Change creates the world out of itself, but the world is not the Change. Creation is the expression of the self-giving nature of the Change. The Change generates itself to make the transition from the Void to the process of becoming possible. Thus creation is an expression of teh very presence of the Change. The Change express itself selflessly in the process of becoming, because its very natrure is to give itself in its manifestation. It gives itself freely without expecting to recieve. Its regenerating power is overflowing and eternally productive. It never stops to change and to create the new out of the old. It is like the mother who gives her love to fulfill the insufficiance of her children. It is eternally productive but never exhaust itself. It is like the overflowing electricity which can be transformed into power and energy. The Change is compared with the regenerating power of electricity which refreshes all the world without exhausting itself. It gives a new life in the Spring, and a fresh look every morning. It gives the essence of beauty and wonder to the world of nature. It gives the birds to sing, flowers to smile, and trees to dance. The world is alive because of the Change. The world belongs to the Change, and the Change is not effective without it. The world has no right to claim anything as her own. People are not independent of the Change. We are the part of becoming. All belong to the becoming, the constant realization of the Change.
Man is made of the dust. He is from the ground. He is of nature. In him the Change is most pleased to dwell. He is the image of the Change, the innermost essense of all becomings. He senses the Change as his own essence, but he cannot possess it as his own. Thus man cannot be the Change, even though the Change is in him. Becuase the Change is in him, he is not seperate from the other creatures. He shares his existence with all things in his environnment. His life is part of the whole which is in the process of becoming. His becoming, like all other becomings, is governed by the opposite poles of birth and death. Between these two poles of opposites the process of growth and decay take place. Birth is the initiation of growth and death is the utmost point of decay. With death a new life begins and the old one ends. With birth the old becomes a new life and the new begins the process of change to the old. Thus birth and death are not in conflict but in a complementary relationship. Death is not only the end of life, but also the beginning of new life. Everything, including the life of man, must reverse itself when it reaches its utmost degree. Death is bothe the end and teh beginning of life. Birth is also the beginning of the new and the end of the old. Thus death and birth are one in two different poles of process. They are one in the Change, where there is no differentiation of existence.
Man is not essentaill different from other creatures. He is essentially on with trees, grass, stones, animals, and all other forms of existence in the world. Regardless of their forms of manifestation they share the same essence, the very presence of the Change. Man shares the same ancestor with other creatures. This common ancestor is the Change itself. In this respect, all the creatures are brothers to one another. However, man is an honored creature among other creatures. In him is given the power to represent the Change in other creatures. The sign of this deputation is sealed in the image of the Change, the quality of his consciousness to know the way of the Change. Knowing the way of the Change more than other creatures, man is capable of leadership in the world. A good leader does not dominate but co-ordinates his followers. He does not oppress his followers, but liberates them. Thus man as a leader is not given any right to kill or oppress other creatures for his own glory. He is a deputy of the Change. He must not act as if he is the Change. Trees have the right to exist in the world. Stones have the right to be in the world. They are created to be in the world. What is created to be has a right to be. Man does not have the right to destroy them completely, for they were created to be in the world. Anything tha tis created has the right to be in a the world. Creation presupposes existence. Thus all creatures are sacred, for the Change is the source of the sacred. Man is created to be an agent of the Change which is the way of harmony but not the way of conflict. To conquer nature is to conquer his own self. To preserve nature is to preserve his own body. The universe is an extension of his body, and his body is an extension of the Change. He must learn how to empathize with the remotest part of his own self, extending thousands of misles from ths nerve center. Man is given the power to rules the world as well as the power to rule his own body. The power to rule is not the power to destroy. The ruler is not seperated from the ruled. The ruler is a part of the ruled, and the ruled is a part of the ruler. They are essentially inseparable in principle. Thus to rule the world means to be ruled by the Change. To lead the world means to be led by the Change, which essentially leads the world. Man rules and sustains the world, so that he may be also ruled and maintained by the world. Thus man must rule others as if he is ruled, and lead them as though he is lead.
The Pollution of nature is the pollution of our own body. The water is the symbol of our blood, the air of our breath, and teh soil of our flesh. The universe is and extention of man. Man is a microcosm of the universe. When water is contaminated, our blood is also poisoned. When the air is polluted, our heart is heavy with breath. When the soil is pollutied, our body is also defiled in the same manner. The pollution of nature hampers the process of becoming. It will eventually stop the process of becoming. The process may come to a halt when the pollution reaches its utmost degree. Then the Change will eventually return to its primordial stage, the Change that is changeless. Pollution is then man's symbolic rebellion against the Change. It is man's attempt to halt the natural cause of the Change. But the Change will regenerate again to actualize the process of becoming. Pollution becomes a means for the process of decay, but never for the destruction of the Change. Man cannot destroy the environment completely without destroying himself. The destruction of nature is not an end of the Change but the end of man. The Change will begin a new cycle of process for teh renenwal of the world. Thus the Change will continue forever.
Man is unique not because of his essential quality but because of his existential quality, which is his acquisitiveness. He is created to be in the likeness of the Change. His existential quality is not identical but similar to the quality of the Change. It is then the existential analogy, the image of the Change, which makes man different from other creatures. His acquisitive quality of the Change makes him creative. TGhe capapcity of his creativity derives from the intrinsic quality of the Change, which is a creative potency. Thus man's power to create is external because its power is derived from the created. Then uniqueness of man is then to re-create something out of the created. His recreativity makes his externalization possilbe. The process of re-creativity which man makes is not a natural process of re-creativity which man makes is not a natural process of change. The external changes by the power of recreativity are unnatural, but the inner changes by the Change are natural. The inner changes are authentic, but the external changes which man makes are copies of the inner changes that the Change makes. Man's way of changes is then analogus with the way of the Change. This analogy of creative change between man and the Change is the image of the Change, which makes man unique among all other creatures.
The great tragedy results when the external change which man possesses is not in harmony with the inner change which the Change makes. It is the external change which must conform to the inner change, which is inherent to all things. To be in harmony with his inner change, the very presence of the Change in him, is to be united with the Change. In the unity, the external change which man makes and the inner change which the Change makes are inseparable. They become one in two different manifestations. This harmonious union of the external change and the inner change is man is the hightest goal of mankind
The Void is the Change unrevealed. The Void is the changeless change, the Change unfifferentiated. The Void is the formless form, which is beyond distinction. It is the potency where the poles of opposites are unrealized. It is not the absence of being but the affirmation of possible becoming. It is the seed of becoming. It is like an embryo, having all the potential becoming yet without having anything actual.
Creation is the transition of this matrix into the actual process of becoming. In this transition of this the discrimination of yin from yang appears. The appearance of the polarities of yin and yang is the beginning of creation. With the interplay of these two opposites, harmony and order come into a process. It is the beginning of differentation and procreation.
This process of becoming presupposes the generating power of the Change. The potency of this generation is in the timeless time, the undifferentiated time, that is eternal. This was the fullness of time when the transition from the Void or Nothingness to the process of becoming took place. Just like adn embryo, it needs the fullness of time to actualize itself. It must be the right time or kairos when the Void began it actual process of becoming. Because of this fullness of time, creation is not an accident. It is not an accidental explosion of the concentrated energy and mass at the zero point of time. Creation is the process of differentiation between the opposites at the fullness of time. The discrimination of yang from yin or light from darkness marks the beginning of becoming. This process of becoming through differentiation and discrimination continues even to our time. This process may come to a halt at a certain peak of it epansion and then begin to contract again. Expansion and contraction between the two poles of opposites are continual because of the Change.
The Change creates the world out of itself, but the world is not the Change. Creation is the expression of the self-giving nature of the Change. The Change generates itself to make the transition from the Void to the process of becoming possible. Thus creation is an expression of teh very presence of the Change. The Change express itself selflessly in the process of becoming, because its very natrure is to give itself in its manifestation. It gives itself freely without expecting to recieve. Its regenerating power is overflowing and eternally productive. It never stops to change and to create the new out of the old. It is like the mother who gives her love to fulfill the insufficiance of her children. It is eternally productive but never exhaust itself. It is like the overflowing electricity which can be transformed into power and energy. The Change is compared with the regenerating power of electricity which refreshes all the world without exhausting itself. It gives a new life in the Spring, and a fresh look every morning. It gives the essence of beauty and wonder to the world of nature. It gives the birds to sing, flowers to smile, and trees to dance. The world is alive because of the Change. The world belongs to the Change, and the Change is not effective without it. The world has no right to claim anything as her own. People are not independent of the Change. We are the part of becoming. All belong to the becoming, the constant realization of the Change.
Man is made of the dust. He is from the ground. He is of nature. In him the Change is most pleased to dwell. He is the image of the Change, the innermost essense of all becomings. He senses the Change as his own essence, but he cannot possess it as his own. Thus man cannot be the Change, even though the Change is in him. Becuase the Change is in him, he is not seperate from the other creatures. He shares his existence with all things in his environnment. His life is part of the whole which is in the process of becoming. His becoming, like all other becomings, is governed by the opposite poles of birth and death. Between these two poles of opposites the process of growth and decay take place. Birth is the initiation of growth and death is the utmost point of decay. With death a new life begins and the old one ends. With birth the old becomes a new life and the new begins the process of change to the old. Thus birth and death are not in conflict but in a complementary relationship. Death is not only the end of life, but also the beginning of new life. Everything, including the life of man, must reverse itself when it reaches its utmost degree. Death is bothe the end and teh beginning of life. Birth is also the beginning of the new and the end of the old. Thus death and birth are one in two different poles of process. They are one in the Change, where there is no differentiation of existence.
Man is not essentaill different from other creatures. He is essentially on with trees, grass, stones, animals, and all other forms of existence in the world. Regardless of their forms of manifestation they share the same essence, the very presence of the Change. Man shares the same ancestor with other creatures. This common ancestor is the Change itself. In this respect, all the creatures are brothers to one another. However, man is an honored creature among other creatures. In him is given the power to represent the Change in other creatures. The sign of this deputation is sealed in the image of the Change, the quality of his consciousness to know the way of the Change. Knowing the way of the Change more than other creatures, man is capable of leadership in the world. A good leader does not dominate but co-ordinates his followers. He does not oppress his followers, but liberates them. Thus man as a leader is not given any right to kill or oppress other creatures for his own glory. He is a deputy of the Change. He must not act as if he is the Change. Trees have the right to exist in the world. Stones have the right to be in the world. They are created to be in the world. What is created to be has a right to be. Man does not have the right to destroy them completely, for they were created to be in the world. Anything tha tis created has the right to be in a the world. Creation presupposes existence. Thus all creatures are sacred, for the Change is the source of the sacred. Man is created to be an agent of the Change which is the way of harmony but not the way of conflict. To conquer nature is to conquer his own self. To preserve nature is to preserve his own body. The universe is an extension of his body, and his body is an extension of the Change. He must learn how to empathize with the remotest part of his own self, extending thousands of misles from ths nerve center. Man is given the power to rules the world as well as the power to rule his own body. The power to rule is not the power to destroy. The ruler is not seperated from the ruled. The ruler is a part of the ruled, and the ruled is a part of the ruler. They are essentially inseparable in principle. Thus to rule the world means to be ruled by the Change. To lead the world means to be led by the Change, which essentially leads the world. Man rules and sustains the world, so that he may be also ruled and maintained by the world. Thus man must rule others as if he is ruled, and lead them as though he is lead.
The Pollution of nature is the pollution of our own body. The water is the symbol of our blood, the air of our breath, and teh soil of our flesh. The universe is and extention of man. Man is a microcosm of the universe. When water is contaminated, our blood is also poisoned. When the air is polluted, our heart is heavy with breath. When the soil is pollutied, our body is also defiled in the same manner. The pollution of nature hampers the process of becoming. It will eventually stop the process of becoming. The process may come to a halt when the pollution reaches its utmost degree. Then the Change will eventually return to its primordial stage, the Change that is changeless. Pollution is then man's symbolic rebellion against the Change. It is man's attempt to halt the natural cause of the Change. But the Change will regenerate again to actualize the process of becoming. Pollution becomes a means for the process of decay, but never for the destruction of the Change. Man cannot destroy the environment completely without destroying himself. The destruction of nature is not an end of the Change but the end of man. The Change will begin a new cycle of process for teh renenwal of the world. Thus the Change will continue forever.
Man is unique not because of his essential quality but because of his existential quality, which is his acquisitiveness. He is created to be in the likeness of the Change. His existential quality is not identical but similar to the quality of the Change. It is then the existential analogy, the image of the Change, which makes man different from other creatures. His acquisitive quality of the Change makes him creative. TGhe capapcity of his creativity derives from the intrinsic quality of the Change, which is a creative potency. Thus man's power to create is external because its power is derived from the created. Then uniqueness of man is then to re-create something out of the created. His recreativity makes his externalization possilbe. The process of re-creativity which man makes is not a natural process of re-creativity which man makes is not a natural process of change. The external changes by the power of recreativity are unnatural, but the inner changes by the Change are natural. The inner changes are authentic, but the external changes which man makes are copies of the inner changes that the Change makes. Man's way of changes is then analogus with the way of the Change. This analogy of creative change between man and the Change is the image of the Change, which makes man unique among all other creatures.
The great tragedy results when the external change which man possesses is not in harmony with the inner change which the Change makes. It is the external change which must conform to the inner change, which is inherent to all things. To be in harmony with his inner change, the very presence of the Change in him, is to be united with the Change. In the unity, the external change which man makes and the inner change which the Change makes are inseparable. They become one in two different manifestations. This harmonious union of the external change and the inner change is man is the hightest goal of mankind
The Noticer: Andy Andrews
The book's key figure goes by the name Jones. He's an elderly older man who seems to appear in peoples lives when they are in a very dark place in their lives. His words of wisdom causes one to self-reflect continuously, with revererate echos of memories times past. Jones is the noticer who drops in/out of individuals lives, and offers various sound wisdoms of life perspectives. When trouble hits our live, it is easy to accept the negative aspects of the situation, but Jones insist we take a different look and perspective. Part allegory, part inspiration ~ The Noticer is an very enjoyable read, a book you will want to share with many of your friends for years to come. I know my perspective on life and out look about situations has been greatly enhanced.
Blessed Be Greatly ...
Blessed Be Greatly ...
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
THE CHANGE
The Change is the beginning and the end of all process. Everything is in a process of becoming because of the Change. The Change is in everything, but everything is not the Change. The Change is both hidden in the depth of all things and manifest in the concrete process of becoming. The Change is not known by itself but by its manifestation only. It is manifest in everything, because everything owes its existence to the Change.
Day changes to night and night to day because of the Change. Brightness changes to darkness and dark to bright because of the Change. Spring changes to summer and summer to autumn because of the Change. Coldness becomes warmth and warmth becomes coldness because of the Change. The Change makes trees grow and decay. Man is born and dies because he is part of the Change. The way of our thinking changes, the manner of our behavior changes, the system of our values changes, for the Change is active in all living things. The strong become weak and the weak becomes strong because of the Change. The future becomes the present and the present becomes the past because of the Change. The Change makes the small great and the great small. Energy changes to mass and mass to energy, for they are relative to the power of the Change. Everything is in the process of change because of the Change. In the process of becoming, changing can be gradual or rapid, for everything has its own trend in the changing process. The process of change is total an universal, for the Change is the inner essence of all existence.
The Change is the mother of everything that exist in the universe. Being is possible because of becoming, and becoming is possible because of the Change. Being is not real by itself, but is real only in the process of becoming. Being itself is nothing but the illusion of becoming. Being is our misunderstanding of becoming. Being is our mental particularization of becoming, while becoming is the wholeness of being realized in the process of change. It is not the being which makes becoming possible, but the becoming which makes being real. Being is totally dependent on becoming, for it is always relative to the Change. Becoming is not dependent on being but is meaningful because of being. Becoming is the realization of the Change, while being is the realization of becoming. Thus, without the Change becoming is not possible, and without becoming being is an illusion. The Change is the source of all creative process, because it has creativity within itself. The process of creativity through production and reproduction is possible because of the Change. Whenever there is growth and decay or expansion and contraction, there must be the Change. The Change is the moving mover of all the changes in the process of becoming.
The Change is the inner essence of all becomings. It is the subtlest of all subtleties and the deepest abyss of all grounds. It is the all-embracing, all-penetrating, and all-fulfilling reality. It is absurd to our mind, but its manifestation is concrete. It is manifest in both personal and impersonal categories of becoming. The Change itself is neither personal nor impersonal in nature. It is both personal and impersonal reality at the same time. It transcends all the categorical distinctions of human expression. It is beyond our knowing and comprehending. It is not the Change if it is known to us. The Change that is known is not the real Change. It is too deep to comprehend and too subtle to express in human words. It is so pure that no discrimination is possible. The Change itself does not have any form or category. Any form of discrimination and differentiation is born in the process of becoming. Thus the Change is known only in its concrete manifestation. The Change itself is the Void, the negation of all discrimination and differentiation. It is the extinction of all dichotomy and separation. Everything has it origin in this Void, which is none other than a pure potentiality. The manifestation of the Change is impermanent and transitory, but the Change itself is eternal. Everything changes because of the Change, but the Change itself is changeless. All things are relative to the Change, but the Change alone is absolute.
The Change itself is absolute but its manifestation is relative. They are not two separate things. The Change that is absolute is also the Change that is relative. The former is the Change itself, and the latter is the realization of the Change in the world. The Change is represented by a symbol of zero, which is neither positive nor negative. It is the origin of differentiations between the positive and the negative and between expansion and contraction. In it all positive and negative as well as expanding and contracting numbers are inherent, but the total sum of numbers cannot approximate it. Thus zero is the symbol of Void, which is total negation and total affirmation of all things at the same time. The Change also takes a symbol of embryo, which contains all possible becomings in the world but is more than a mere process of becoming. Rather all becoming are inherent in it. The Change is also analogous with the ever-swelling germ, where what is not relative and what is potentially relative are present at the same time. It is both the changing Change and the changeless Change simultaneously. It is changeless, yet changes all things.
Changelessness and change are essentially inseparable in the Change. There is change because changelessness and there is changelessness because of change. In the Change, changelessness and change are united and become the undifferentiated continuum. Because of this wholeness the Change is also both transcendent and immanent at the same time. Thus the Change that is changeless is known as God, Logos, Tao, Brahman, and many other names. It is the essence of all cosmic energy and the background of all things in the universe.
The Change works through two hands: By the interplay of these two opposites the Change is manifest in all things. Since everything is of the Change, everything has two poles of interplay. The very process of becoming begins with this interplay. The differentiation and discrimination are born out of the undifferentiated continuum because of this interaction of opposites. These opposites are primary categories of all differentiated discontinuation. These counterparts are everywhere, because everything is in the process of becoming. Anything that changes has the interplay of the opposites. These two counterparts possess the archaic symbols of yin and yang. In the physical science, yin is called a negative energy, and yang is called a positive energy. In the process of action, yin is known as the passive and yang is known as the active. In the description of space, yin is known as the rear and yang is known as the front. In the description of direction, yin is known as the West and yang is known as the East. In the category of dimension, yin is known as below and yang is known as above. In the description of character, yin is known as tenderness and yang as firmness. These two opposite hands or yin and yang are expressed in all things. Yin and yang are the bases of the sub-atomic structures, which are regarded as the microcosms of the universe. Therefore, everything can be reduced to these two poles of yin and yang. Things are different, because they are manifestations of the different combinations of yin and yang. Since yin and yang are the basic constituents of everything which changes, everything is of the Change.
The primacy of these two opposites is found in the story of creation. The differentiation of light from darkness was the beginning of creation. Light represents yang and darkness represents yin. The next was the differentiation of heaven from earth, and then that of water from the dry land. Heaven is the dimension of above and the earth is that of below. Thus the former represents yang and the latter yin. Water represents yin and the dry land represents yang.
Finally, the differentiation of man from woman marks the end of the story of creation. Man represents yang and woman represents yin. Therefore, the story of creation is the story of the interplay of two opposites. The differentiation of two opposites is the way of change. As long as the interplay of yin and yang takes place, the process of creation continues towards the process of re-creation. In the process of change there is no beginning and ending. Creation as this process will continue forever.
The Change is patient. It does not force the world into a uniform rate of change. It allows room for the differences of individual characters in the process of change. Some have the inclination to change fast, and others are apt to change slowly. The Change goes along with various dispositions of individual becoming. It never forces them to be other than true to themselves. Nevertheless, there is a definite trend of change in all things. when the sun reaches it zenith, it begins to decline. When the moon is full, it starts to wane. High mountains become valleys, and valleys become hills. Joy becomes sorrow, and happiness turns to tragedy. The last becomes first, and modesty wins love. When one reaches its utmost, it must retreat. Everything that expands to a certain limit must revert to its opposite. Each has its own limitation. Within this limitation growth and decay or expansion and contraction take place Nothing can grow or expand forever. One grows to a certain degree and then retreats again to decay. Trees do not grow forever. They grow to a certain height and then begin to decay. The universe cannot expand forever. It must contract again when it expands to its maximum. Yin cannot grow forever. When it is full, it starts to revert to its minimum. Yang cannot grow forever. When it is full, it also reverts to its opposite. When yin grows, yang decays. When yang grows, yin decays. They are mutually interdependent. Through the constant interplay of yin and yang in a reverse order, the certain trend of expansion and contraction or growth and decay is evident in all things.
The way of the Change is not conflict but the complementarity of opposites. None of them is sufficient by itself. The positive energy is not sufficient by itself. It needs the negative energy to fulfill it incompleteness. A male is not complete by himself. He needs his counterpart, a female, to complement his incompleteness. The sound is not sufficient by itself. It needs the silence as the background of it s activity. One cannot experience joy without sorrow. The experience of suffering is known when love is experienced. When one is sufficient by itself, it does not require its counterpart. Self-sufficiency breaks down the delicate balance of counter poles and produces conflict and disorder. That is not the proper way of the Change. Everything that changes is not sufficient by itself, but the Change alone is sufficient. When the Change is at work, all things are in complementarity to make the rounded whole. Light and darkness are not in conflict but complementary to each other. Light exists in its background, darkness. Darkness can exist because of its counterpart, light. Both of them are limited. When light reaches a certain peak, it begins to yield itself to darkness. When darkness reaches its utmost intensity, it begins to yield itself to light. Right and wrong are not in conflict, but complementary to each other. Right is possible because of wrong, and wrong is real because of right. Both right and wrong are relative to each other and mutually sustain each other. Nothing that is of the Change is absolute by itself. Everything necessitates its counterpart to complete its insufficiency. The insufficiency of one makes its counterpart necessary, so that harmony and unity in the Change are realized within a certain limit. The Change does not value one over the other. It does not exalt one over the other. It is also a peacemaker between the conflicting interest of yin and yang. It is the way of fulfilling mutual satisfactions to bring them in peace and harmony.
The Change is spontaneous. It is the inner tendency which takes the natural course. It is natural because it is not motivated. The Change is like an infant child whose expressions are not constrained by compulsion. It moves like the unfolding leaves of flowers in the morning. It is free like the wind in the open air. Its movement is as subtle as eh growth of trees. It is the inner movement which makes the natural development possible. The Change is both the active impulse of life and the passive response to death. It makes the inner process of growth possible. It moves all without moving. It changes all without changing. It pro-creates all without effort. It does not have any conscious desire, but all consciousness is born from it. The Change gives itself up to all, but it never exhausts itself. It is the overflowing and unrestricted vitality of all that exists in the world. Nature is natural and spontaneous because of the Change. The way of the Change is known through what is natural. What is natural is spontaneous, for its inner essence is the Change.
Day changes to night and night to day because of the Change. Brightness changes to darkness and dark to bright because of the Change. Spring changes to summer and summer to autumn because of the Change. Coldness becomes warmth and warmth becomes coldness because of the Change. The Change makes trees grow and decay. Man is born and dies because he is part of the Change. The way of our thinking changes, the manner of our behavior changes, the system of our values changes, for the Change is active in all living things. The strong become weak and the weak becomes strong because of the Change. The future becomes the present and the present becomes the past because of the Change. The Change makes the small great and the great small. Energy changes to mass and mass to energy, for they are relative to the power of the Change. Everything is in the process of change because of the Change. In the process of becoming, changing can be gradual or rapid, for everything has its own trend in the changing process. The process of change is total an universal, for the Change is the inner essence of all existence.
The Change is the mother of everything that exist in the universe. Being is possible because of becoming, and becoming is possible because of the Change. Being is not real by itself, but is real only in the process of becoming. Being itself is nothing but the illusion of becoming. Being is our misunderstanding of becoming. Being is our mental particularization of becoming, while becoming is the wholeness of being realized in the process of change. It is not the being which makes becoming possible, but the becoming which makes being real. Being is totally dependent on becoming, for it is always relative to the Change. Becoming is not dependent on being but is meaningful because of being. Becoming is the realization of the Change, while being is the realization of becoming. Thus, without the Change becoming is not possible, and without becoming being is an illusion. The Change is the source of all creative process, because it has creativity within itself. The process of creativity through production and reproduction is possible because of the Change. Whenever there is growth and decay or expansion and contraction, there must be the Change. The Change is the moving mover of all the changes in the process of becoming.
The Change is the inner essence of all becomings. It is the subtlest of all subtleties and the deepest abyss of all grounds. It is the all-embracing, all-penetrating, and all-fulfilling reality. It is absurd to our mind, but its manifestation is concrete. It is manifest in both personal and impersonal categories of becoming. The Change itself is neither personal nor impersonal in nature. It is both personal and impersonal reality at the same time. It transcends all the categorical distinctions of human expression. It is beyond our knowing and comprehending. It is not the Change if it is known to us. The Change that is known is not the real Change. It is too deep to comprehend and too subtle to express in human words. It is so pure that no discrimination is possible. The Change itself does not have any form or category. Any form of discrimination and differentiation is born in the process of becoming. Thus the Change is known only in its concrete manifestation. The Change itself is the Void, the negation of all discrimination and differentiation. It is the extinction of all dichotomy and separation. Everything has it origin in this Void, which is none other than a pure potentiality. The manifestation of the Change is impermanent and transitory, but the Change itself is eternal. Everything changes because of the Change, but the Change itself is changeless. All things are relative to the Change, but the Change alone is absolute.
The Change itself is absolute but its manifestation is relative. They are not two separate things. The Change that is absolute is also the Change that is relative. The former is the Change itself, and the latter is the realization of the Change in the world. The Change is represented by a symbol of zero, which is neither positive nor negative. It is the origin of differentiations between the positive and the negative and between expansion and contraction. In it all positive and negative as well as expanding and contracting numbers are inherent, but the total sum of numbers cannot approximate it. Thus zero is the symbol of Void, which is total negation and total affirmation of all things at the same time. The Change also takes a symbol of embryo, which contains all possible becomings in the world but is more than a mere process of becoming. Rather all becoming are inherent in it. The Change is also analogous with the ever-swelling germ, where what is not relative and what is potentially relative are present at the same time. It is both the changing Change and the changeless Change simultaneously. It is changeless, yet changes all things.
Changelessness and change are essentially inseparable in the Change. There is change because changelessness and there is changelessness because of change. In the Change, changelessness and change are united and become the undifferentiated continuum. Because of this wholeness the Change is also both transcendent and immanent at the same time. Thus the Change that is changeless is known as God, Logos, Tao, Brahman, and many other names. It is the essence of all cosmic energy and the background of all things in the universe.
The Change works through two hands: By the interplay of these two opposites the Change is manifest in all things. Since everything is of the Change, everything has two poles of interplay. The very process of becoming begins with this interplay. The differentiation and discrimination are born out of the undifferentiated continuum because of this interaction of opposites. These opposites are primary categories of all differentiated discontinuation. These counterparts are everywhere, because everything is in the process of becoming. Anything that changes has the interplay of the opposites. These two counterparts possess the archaic symbols of yin and yang. In the physical science, yin is called a negative energy, and yang is called a positive energy. In the process of action, yin is known as the passive and yang is known as the active. In the description of space, yin is known as the rear and yang is known as the front. In the description of direction, yin is known as the West and yang is known as the East. In the category of dimension, yin is known as below and yang is known as above. In the description of character, yin is known as tenderness and yang as firmness. These two opposite hands or yin and yang are expressed in all things. Yin and yang are the bases of the sub-atomic structures, which are regarded as the microcosms of the universe. Therefore, everything can be reduced to these two poles of yin and yang. Things are different, because they are manifestations of the different combinations of yin and yang. Since yin and yang are the basic constituents of everything which changes, everything is of the Change.
The primacy of these two opposites is found in the story of creation. The differentiation of light from darkness was the beginning of creation. Light represents yang and darkness represents yin. The next was the differentiation of heaven from earth, and then that of water from the dry land. Heaven is the dimension of above and the earth is that of below. Thus the former represents yang and the latter yin. Water represents yin and the dry land represents yang.
Finally, the differentiation of man from woman marks the end of the story of creation. Man represents yang and woman represents yin. Therefore, the story of creation is the story of the interplay of two opposites. The differentiation of two opposites is the way of change. As long as the interplay of yin and yang takes place, the process of creation continues towards the process of re-creation. In the process of change there is no beginning and ending. Creation as this process will continue forever.
The Change is patient. It does not force the world into a uniform rate of change. It allows room for the differences of individual characters in the process of change. Some have the inclination to change fast, and others are apt to change slowly. The Change goes along with various dispositions of individual becoming. It never forces them to be other than true to themselves. Nevertheless, there is a definite trend of change in all things. when the sun reaches it zenith, it begins to decline. When the moon is full, it starts to wane. High mountains become valleys, and valleys become hills. Joy becomes sorrow, and happiness turns to tragedy. The last becomes first, and modesty wins love. When one reaches its utmost, it must retreat. Everything that expands to a certain limit must revert to its opposite. Each has its own limitation. Within this limitation growth and decay or expansion and contraction take place Nothing can grow or expand forever. One grows to a certain degree and then retreats again to decay. Trees do not grow forever. They grow to a certain height and then begin to decay. The universe cannot expand forever. It must contract again when it expands to its maximum. Yin cannot grow forever. When it is full, it starts to revert to its minimum. Yang cannot grow forever. When it is full, it also reverts to its opposite. When yin grows, yang decays. When yang grows, yin decays. They are mutually interdependent. Through the constant interplay of yin and yang in a reverse order, the certain trend of expansion and contraction or growth and decay is evident in all things.
The way of the Change is not conflict but the complementarity of opposites. None of them is sufficient by itself. The positive energy is not sufficient by itself. It needs the negative energy to fulfill it incompleteness. A male is not complete by himself. He needs his counterpart, a female, to complement his incompleteness. The sound is not sufficient by itself. It needs the silence as the background of it s activity. One cannot experience joy without sorrow. The experience of suffering is known when love is experienced. When one is sufficient by itself, it does not require its counterpart. Self-sufficiency breaks down the delicate balance of counter poles and produces conflict and disorder. That is not the proper way of the Change. Everything that changes is not sufficient by itself, but the Change alone is sufficient. When the Change is at work, all things are in complementarity to make the rounded whole. Light and darkness are not in conflict but complementary to each other. Light exists in its background, darkness. Darkness can exist because of its counterpart, light. Both of them are limited. When light reaches a certain peak, it begins to yield itself to darkness. When darkness reaches its utmost intensity, it begins to yield itself to light. Right and wrong are not in conflict, but complementary to each other. Right is possible because of wrong, and wrong is real because of right. Both right and wrong are relative to each other and mutually sustain each other. Nothing that is of the Change is absolute by itself. Everything necessitates its counterpart to complete its insufficiency. The insufficiency of one makes its counterpart necessary, so that harmony and unity in the Change are realized within a certain limit. The Change does not value one over the other. It does not exalt one over the other. It is also a peacemaker between the conflicting interest of yin and yang. It is the way of fulfilling mutual satisfactions to bring them in peace and harmony.
The Change is spontaneous. It is the inner tendency which takes the natural course. It is natural because it is not motivated. The Change is like an infant child whose expressions are not constrained by compulsion. It moves like the unfolding leaves of flowers in the morning. It is free like the wind in the open air. Its movement is as subtle as eh growth of trees. It is the inner movement which makes the natural development possible. The Change is both the active impulse of life and the passive response to death. It makes the inner process of growth possible. It moves all without moving. It changes all without changing. It pro-creates all without effort. It does not have any conscious desire, but all consciousness is born from it. The Change gives itself up to all, but it never exhausts itself. It is the overflowing and unrestricted vitality of all that exists in the world. Nature is natural and spontaneous because of the Change. The way of the Change is known through what is natural. What is natural is spontaneous, for its inner essence is the Change.
--- INTRODUCTION --- The Beginning of My Truths
This small volume of writings is not intented as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon subject of the Universal Powers or Power Of Thought.
It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the Truth that -- God is the God of both personal and non-personal (or impersonal) existence -- by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage.
-----------------*********** The Beginning of My Truths *******************---------------
The root of our ecological and existential problems is primarily due to the misrepresentation of our religious thinking in the West. It is the religious orientation which has shaped the attitude of Western people toward nature and God.
Nature has become the counterpart of divine activity and the enemy of human perfection. A natural man is damned as a heathen, and an unnatural man is elevated as a civilized Christian. Man's domination over nature is encouraged as his virtue, and his retreat to nature is discouraged as a sign of disgrace. Thus the conflict between man and nature is eventually the separation from himself, for he is a part of nature. This separation of one-self, is that which creates the inner conflict, becoming the very root of his existential problems. Thus, our ecological and existential problems are inseparable. They are mutually interdependent. In order to deal with these problems, the religious orientation which has caused them must be reassessed.
The failure of traditional religion in the West is mainly in the use of exclusive symbols for the inclusive God. The symbols of God such as the King, Lord, Master, Saviour etc are personal names. By attributing personal names or symbols to God, the non-personal existence is almost completely neglected from the sphere or our religious thinking.
The God who is excluded from the non-personal existence cannot be the Creator and Preserver of all things. Thus, God must transcend a personal category. God is the God of both personal and non-personal (or impersonal) existence. Therefore, the traditional religious thinking which has eliminated the concerns of non-personal existence from the religious framework is a tragic failure in the West.
Cosmic religion transcends both personal and non-personal categories. It presupposes the God of all things, who is the cosmic God. This God is the God of man, the God of tree, the God of stone, the God of water, the God of air, and the God of everything that exists. The cosmic God is a personal God to persons and a non-personal God to non-persons. The cosmic God is "He" to men but "It" to stones and trees. This kind of God transcends religions, creeds, nationalities, races, species, forms, qualities, space and time. Thus, cosmic religion which deals with the cosmic God, the God of the Whole and for the whole, is essentially universal religion.
What, then, is the meaningful symbol of the cosmic God? Since the cosmic God transcends a personal category, we must find the symbol of God prior to personal symbols being attributed to him. The most primordial symbol of God in the Judeo-Christian faith is found in Exodus 3:14, where God is known as "I am what I am" or "I become what I become." ~ "This is," a most profound utterance, for all our religious or spiritual or metaphysical experiences start from it."
The cosmic God is, then, the subject or the source of "becoming." The cosmos is constantly in the process of becoming, because change is the essential characteristic of cosmic process. In other words, what makes becoming possible is the Change which changes all things. Thus, it is said, "The Change is the begetter of all begetting" (Bis. C.C. Patton D.D.)
The Change which changes all into the process of becoming is Tao, the ultimate reality, which transcends both being and becoming as well as personal and non-personal categories at the same time. The essence of cosmos is not the unchanging being but the changing becoming, because change is the essence of every becoming. Cosmic religion is, then, based on the idea that everything changes into the process of becoming because of the cosmic God who is change itself. Therefore, cosmic religion is none other than changeology, for it is a religion of change.
This is not written to undercut the profundity of Christian or any other religious teaching. Rather, it is hoped for the vivification of the profundity viable to the growing interest in the cosmic process of man's becoming. I do not intend this to be the complete and comprehensive treatise on cosmic religion. Rather, it is only an initial move toward the process which may eventually focus our attention on the cosmic significance of religious truth. Therefore, this is written for those who are open to new possibilities in the search for truth. If this small volume can provide seeds of thought for a fresh and creative approach of religion to the wholeness of man and cosmos, it has achieved it purpose...
It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the Truth that -- God is the God of both personal and non-personal (or impersonal) existence -- by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage.
-----------------*********** The Beginning of My Truths *******************---------------
The root of our ecological and existential problems is primarily due to the misrepresentation of our religious thinking in the West. It is the religious orientation which has shaped the attitude of Western people toward nature and God.
Nature has become the counterpart of divine activity and the enemy of human perfection. A natural man is damned as a heathen, and an unnatural man is elevated as a civilized Christian. Man's domination over nature is encouraged as his virtue, and his retreat to nature is discouraged as a sign of disgrace. Thus the conflict between man and nature is eventually the separation from himself, for he is a part of nature. This separation of one-self, is that which creates the inner conflict, becoming the very root of his existential problems. Thus, our ecological and existential problems are inseparable. They are mutually interdependent. In order to deal with these problems, the religious orientation which has caused them must be reassessed.
The failure of traditional religion in the West is mainly in the use of exclusive symbols for the inclusive God. The symbols of God such as the King, Lord, Master, Saviour etc are personal names. By attributing personal names or symbols to God, the non-personal existence is almost completely neglected from the sphere or our religious thinking.
The God who is excluded from the non-personal existence cannot be the Creator and Preserver of all things. Thus, God must transcend a personal category. God is the God of both personal and non-personal (or impersonal) existence. Therefore, the traditional religious thinking which has eliminated the concerns of non-personal existence from the religious framework is a tragic failure in the West.
Cosmic religion transcends both personal and non-personal categories. It presupposes the God of all things, who is the cosmic God. This God is the God of man, the God of tree, the God of stone, the God of water, the God of air, and the God of everything that exists. The cosmic God is a personal God to persons and a non-personal God to non-persons. The cosmic God is "He" to men but "It" to stones and trees. This kind of God transcends religions, creeds, nationalities, races, species, forms, qualities, space and time. Thus, cosmic religion which deals with the cosmic God, the God of the Whole and for the whole, is essentially universal religion.
What, then, is the meaningful symbol of the cosmic God? Since the cosmic God transcends a personal category, we must find the symbol of God prior to personal symbols being attributed to him. The most primordial symbol of God in the Judeo-Christian faith is found in Exodus 3:14, where God is known as "I am what I am" or "I become what I become." ~ "This is," a most profound utterance, for all our religious or spiritual or metaphysical experiences start from it."
The cosmic God is, then, the subject or the source of "becoming." The cosmos is constantly in the process of becoming, because change is the essential characteristic of cosmic process. In other words, what makes becoming possible is the Change which changes all things. Thus, it is said, "The Change is the begetter of all begetting" (Bis. C.C. Patton D.D.)
The Change which changes all into the process of becoming is Tao, the ultimate reality, which transcends both being and becoming as well as personal and non-personal categories at the same time. The essence of cosmos is not the unchanging being but the changing becoming, because change is the essence of every becoming. Cosmic religion is, then, based on the idea that everything changes into the process of becoming because of the cosmic God who is change itself. Therefore, cosmic religion is none other than changeology, for it is a religion of change.
This is not written to undercut the profundity of Christian or any other religious teaching. Rather, it is hoped for the vivification of the profundity viable to the growing interest in the cosmic process of man's becoming. I do not intend this to be the complete and comprehensive treatise on cosmic religion. Rather, it is only an initial move toward the process which may eventually focus our attention on the cosmic significance of religious truth. Therefore, this is written for those who are open to new possibilities in the search for truth. If this small volume can provide seeds of thought for a fresh and creative approach of religion to the wholeness of man and cosmos, it has achieved it purpose...
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