Blessed are the poor in spirit … for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; the first of eight beatitudes taught by Jesus on Mount Tabor. The credo described by these words is inimical to the social constructs of mainstream society. The credo of all mainstream societies has always been something to the effect … fortunate are the wealthy and powerful … for they enjoy all of life’s privileges by controlling the world and its peoples.
The Magnificat or Song of Mary is a wonderful example of one individual’s appreciation of the above Beatitude. The words attributed to the Blessed Virgin express both Her humility and Her revolutionary spirit; quite an anomaly!
Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid;
For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty,
Hath done great things to me;
And holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generation,
To them that fear him.
He hath showed might in his arm:
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat,
And hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant,
Being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed for ever.
Few Catholics are comfortable thinking of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a revolutionary woman; a radical. Fewer yet are comfortable thinking of Her son Jesus as a revolutionary man; a radical.
Serious reflections on the Virgin Mary’s words in the Magnificat concerning ‘the mighty‘, ‘the proud’ and ‘the rich’ clearly point to Her contempt for these people and Her confidence that God favors humble and poor people.
The New Testament is filled with evidence that Jesus followed in His Mother’s footsteps; from the selection of his apostles to his submission to crucifixion at the hands of the ‘mighty’ and ‘rich’.
Jesus didn’t want to start a new religion; he was born into the Jewish community and died a member of the Jewish community. Jesus’ complaint was with the secular and religious hierarchy of his time. His contempt for their avarice and arrogance is conveyed clearly in the New Testament. At this time the Jewish faith had 613 laws. Contemporary scholars suggest that a society formed on the basis of these 613 laws would be most the peaceful and harmonious society known to man. What happened?
Spin doctors capitalized on the opportunity; turning Jesus’ message of Love into a sanitized version of the existing social customs … nothing changed. The elite used Christ’s story to advance their greed, hunger for power and control over the masses.
The time is near for the simplicity and clarity of the message in Mary’s Song and the simplicity and clarity of Jesus’ teachings to take centre stage in the world.
Humans have an innate and inescapable survival instinct; both a blessing and a curse. The blessings are manifest in modern civilizations’ goodness and human comforts. The curse hinges on our subjection to perceptions of fear. The elite exploit this weakness to maintain an unfair distribution of this ‘goodness and comfort’.
Privilege and creature comforts have been the dominion of the ‘mighty and rich’ since the beginning of time. This lopsided and unjust situation has been perpetrated on the masses through fear; by exploiting our innate survival instinct.
One need only look at the pervasive content of television, newspaper and other communication media. Terrorism, swine flu pandemic and the Iranian nuclear threat daily bombard our consciousness with perceived threats to our survival. As a result we become docile and submissive to the leaders who promise to protect us.
Our conscious is enslaved to real and perceived fears, wrapped in chains, clothed in an inescapable straightjacket. We need to somehow decouple our conscious from this prison. We need a revolution of the mind, transcending these fears in order to embrace spiritual poverty.
Many years ago Krishnamurti wrote "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the consciousness of every human being and emphasized that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political or social.
The question that begs to be asked is: “What is motivating our leaders to take the positions they hold? … What is their hidden agenda?” The most logical answer is simply to preserve the privilege and control of the ‘mighty and rich’.
There are numerous subtle yet powerful fears propagated by our culture and society. Michael from Germany who I met several years ago in Tui Spain helped me to understand the scope and potency of these fears. At the time his family (wife and 2 teenage children) mocked him for taking 8 days to cycle the Camino Santiago; apparently they considered it a waste of time.
Michael shared with me how he felt trapped by social pressures with no means to escape. His wife and children convinced him that it was his responsibility to provide all the trappings of modern life in Germany … house, car, fashion etc. The ever changing ‘necessities of life’ (keeping up with the Jones) continuously compelling us to remain on the tread mill … remain in the rat race … remain passive participants in our dog eat dog culture. The perceived fear of being mocked or persecuted by family and friends ... treated as a leper. A powerful force indeed … exploited shamelessly by the rich and powerful.
Poverty cannot hurt you … in this instance poverty meaning enough to eat and adequate shelter. The fear of poverty can kill you. The persistent stress associated with fear of poverty, loss of stature and the resulting rejection from family, friends and community diminishes the ability of our immune system to protect us from deadly illnesses.
Manmade conventions like romantic love, filial piety and private property require laws and punishments to maintain. How can this be considered natural? On the other hand spiritual poverty is embraced by some at great personal sacrifice. Seems there is an invisible hand guiding and supporting the humble spirit.
Since societal conventions are manmade they contaminate our ‘person’ and often lead to a life of misery. So many people are imprisoned by social conventions and hence not allowed to give free expression to their nature as a person. As human beings we are first a ‘person’, second a ‘gender’ and finally a member of a race, a culture, a society a religion etc. We come into this world hardwired with individual characteristics and talents; those considered virtuous as well as those considered undesirable. For example, a rebellious nature is innate not learned. The rebel only finds opportunity in their life experiences to vent their natural rebellious tendencies.
Throughout our lives we human beings become creatures of habit ... we resist change ... our habits become our 'addictions' ... our addictions become our comforts ... our personal collection of 'comforts' become our comfort zone ... our 'bubble of comfort' ... as long as we remain within the limits of our 'comfort zone' (bubble of comfort) ... life is OK.
The word ‘habit’ in this context extends far beyond our daily habits associated with food, sex and drugs … it includes our belief systems and our dogged adherence to social conventions.
Who likes to admit they have been deceived? Rather than admit deception we defend the injustice, violence and brutality inherent in social customs.
Our individual ‘comfort zone’ represents that part of our being analogous to the tip of an iceberg. We all know most of the iceberg is under water out of sight and we have no idea of its shape or dimensions or volume. We know the iceberg’s journey is filled with constant conflict … the forces of the physical world working on the tip of the iceberg; attempting to control its’ movement and the forces of the ‘other’ world working on the submerged part of the iceberg.
While living in Pond Inlet, one of the most northern villages in the Canadian Arctic, the physical manifestation of the above metaphor was presented to me. Here are the notes I wrote that day.
“Seems I had one of these kind of experiences again today ... I dropped what I was doing to go and see the 'iceberg' ... I had looked out my kitchen window and it appeared as though the iceberg was right up on shore ... this image seemed to ignite a 'curiosity' ... an ‘excitement' ... in my inner being ... I felt compelled to go and have a look.
It's only about a 15 minute walk to the shore ... as I was getting closer I could see that the iceberg was still quite a distance from shore ... yet closer than it has been ... a truly awesome sight ... see we are compensated a bit for the 'cold' we endure up here.
For some reason ... as I was walking I started to meditate ... this happens to me regularly ... my mind wanders off somewhere ... and sometimes comes back with 'sensible stuff' ... and sometimes with 'junk'.
This morning the 'fruit' of my meditation' seemed sensible ... and seemed relevant ... it suddenly occurred to me that the iceberg is symbolic of life ... apparently only about 10 percent of the iceberg is visible ... the remaining 90 percent is below the water and out of our visual capabilities ... hmmm
Seems to me our 'life' is about the same ... what we know about life is a small percentage of the 'whole' ... what we do not know is obviously beyond our physical sense preceptors ... our human capabilities including all modern science etc
Seems this reality has been known to mankind since the beginning of time ... all cultures in all geographies ... for all of histories ... have their legends ... their religions ... their myths ... etc to explain the 90 percent we really can't know or see or touch or taste.
Seems man has always had an insatiable curiosity ... imagination etc ... and also seems we are not able to live with a 'closed door' ... something that we know is ... but we do not know what it is ... the 'fear' of the unknown ... the solution to this throughout the ages has been religion ... myth … legend ... etc
One day many years ago I was sitting beside a young Spanish woman on an airplane somewhere in Spain. While her English was limited we engaged in a philosophical discussion where at one point I asked her opinion on the future of mankind. She answered with a diagram … she drew a crude picture of a bomb with the fuse lit. hmmm!
She also provided an excellent alternative to the ‘iceberg metaphor’ by taking the package of cigarettes out of my shirt pocket and holding it up in front of my face. She went on to explain that we can easily see and understand the face of the package facing us … we can read the words, understand the images and know from habit there is likely a bunch of cigarettes inside the box. We also know there is something on the opposite side of the box, the face of the box we cannot see while it’s held up in front of our face. We know the other side of the box exists and we make assumptions about its’ nature. The important point is we know the ‘other’ exists, the ‘other’ is real ... despite not knowing its’ characteristics or how the ‘other’ operates. We know it influences our life; we do not know by what rules.
This simple incident reflects such a profound reality; we know there is something beyond our physical being; we simply don’t know what it is and we make assumptions. These assumptions are manifested in religion, myth etc.
In the past 500 years the advance of science and reason has lead much of humanity to see the falsehoods in religious doctrine and rituals. The broad dissemination of knowledge resulted in these people abandoning the faith of their ancestors. However, to date no better alternative has been introduced. Mankind marches on recklessly ignoring the question of the power of the ‘other’ … a dangerous path indeed! We all know the part of the iceberg under water greatly influences the movement and direction of the iceberg’s path. Likewise the power of the ‘other’ influences our individual and collective lives.
The ‘other’ mentioned above is referred to as our ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ and it is this component of ‘being’ that the expression “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is referring to. Blessed are those people who acknowledge without ‘knowledge’ the power and influence on their lives of this unknown. Blessed are those people who eagerly allow this ‘spirit’ component of their lives to direct their physical lives.
The influence of the ‘other’ was advanced by Jung and continues to evolve; Jung labelled the ‘other’ our collective unconscious.
“Like Freud, Jung posited the existence of a conscious and an unconscious mind. A model that psychologists frequently use here is an iceberg. The part of the iceberg that is above the surface of the water is seen as the conscious mind. Consciousness is the part of the mind we know directly. It is where we think, feel, sense and intuit. It is through conscious activity that the person becomes an individual. It’s the part of the mind that we “live in” most of the time, and contains information that is in our immediate awareness Below the level of the conscious mind, and the bulk of the iceberg, is what Freud would call the unconscious, and what Jung would call the “personal unconscious.”
Note the words “It is through conscious activity that the person becomes an individual.”
The author of the above paragraph appears to agree with my earlier comments that we are a ‘person’ first and foremost. Our ‘person’ is shaped and moulded by our physical environment … family, friends, culture and experiences. Like clay being moulded by the potter.
It’s illogical to believe that our ‘person’ is a void … an empty space … a vacuum … at the beginning of this shaping process. If not empty, what is already hardwired in our ‘person’ at the time of conception? Some argue that everything we need for our entire life in this world is pre-programmed into our ‘person’ before birth. St Augustine alleges that we do not learn anything in life, the doors to knowledge are simply opened at the right time for each individual.
The image of a Robin’s egg hatching in the nest provides a physical model. The newborn Robin has no feathers and depends totally on its mother for survival. The nucleus of life exists in the egg and has developed considerably prior to hatching. In time the feathers appear and the young Robin is equipped to now leave the nest.
The development of our conscious mind is analogous to the growth of feathers on the newborn Robin. In both cases they are required for survival. In both cases, on maturity, the young adults must leave the nest and survive in the ‘village’ ... in the world … in modern civilization.
We are born with the ‘nucleus’ of our existence intact; survival instincts are mature. We know enough as newborns to scream when we are hungry, feel threatened or feel uncomfortable. We know enough to fight for scarce resources; evidenced by the behavior of twins. The bigger twin attempts to prevent the smaller twin from nursing. How much more do we know?
If we could know the limit of our knowledge and reasoning abilities at birth we could clearly demarcate the influence of manmade conventions from natural instincts.
Transcending fear gives birth to the seed of wisdom, gives birth to ‘poverty of spirit’. This is the revolution of the mind that is necessary to correct today’s social ills. The journey to transcending fear is long and difficult, beset with countless perils and obstacles. We are contained by culture or society through fear … we are fenced in like cattle. One need only look at the precepts of all religions; all with fear as their foundation. For example, in Christian religion the fear of hell is used to keep its members in line. In the atheist community fear of rejection or persecution plays the same role.
Why is this necessary? Surely we would voluntarily subscribe to what is natural within our being. Obviously mankind is attempting to exceed its natural endowment in the universe.
Mankind was not compelled to evolve civilization to its current form … not by force of nature or any innate human characteristics. Several alternative models of social order have been attempted throughout history such as the matriarchal society of the Iroquois Indians and the populace driven society of Chairman Mao. Perhaps we have been predestined to reach this particular kind of world governance; not that it is the optimum style but that it is necessary to push us onto the next level of human awakening ... redirecting our energies and focus away from materialism to spiritualism.
There are basically two kinds of people in the world … ‘the poor in spirit’ and the ‘reprobate’ … those people who are not ‘poor in spirit’. These two kinds of people may also be labeled materialist and spiritualist or reprobate and predestined. The characteristics of those considered ‘poor in spirit’ predestined and the ‘reprobate’ are eloquently described in St Louis de Montford’s interpretation of the Biblical story of Esau and Jacob. Esau and Jacob represent the two nations of mankind … Jacob the predestined and Esau the reprobates.
Two more legendary persons who exemplified the essence of ‘poor in spirit’ were St Francis of Assisi and Ste Therese of Lisieux.
St Francis of Assisi’s spiritual awakening occurred when he was 22 years old. He was born into a wealthy family and for the first 22 years of his life enjoyed all the privileges that come with wealth. He enjoyed carousing and the other Hellenistic activities of his time.
After his ‘awakening’ he went so far as to give up his family name, not being satisfied with simply giving up all his worldly possessions. His post awakening life has many parallels with that of Buddha, who also gave up Royalty and privilege for the life of a hermit. We are told Buddha went to sit under a tree and wait for understanding … an explanation for the disparity between rich and poor people. St Francis also went to Nature and is known by many as a Nature Mystic.
St Francis demonstrated by his example that we do not have to sell our birthright for a bowl of pottage. We do not have to conform to mainstream society for survival. He did what he wanted when he wanted … he wholeheartedly embraced poverty … and people were attracted to his ways like ants to honey … by the thousands.
St Francis persistently refused many offerings of land, money and buildings to accommodate his growing number of followers. He persistently refused the offers … understanding the underlying danger of ‘possessions’ … that being the day would come when he would be called on to defend his possessions … called on to fight to preserve them. This truth is borne out in all facets of daily life … with individuals, with families, with communities and with nations. How much strife and conflict, war and human tragedy can be traced to the ‘defense of possessions’?
Value systems, religion and customs are also a form of ‘possession’ … being important components of our ‘personal identity’ … our ‘sense of belonging’. For this reason the necessity to defend … our innate instinct for survival … is triggered when this ‘possession’ is threatened. One need only look at the human cost of defending democracy and capitalism in the 20th century. Countless millions of lives were sacrificed at the altar of ‘possessions’.
St Francis was given the wisdom to understand this truth.
Also for some strange reason he did not become a priest. Despite enormous pressure to write a ‘rule’ … the rules of law for members of his order … he was unable to complete it. Perhaps for the same reason noted above. Still today the Franciscans are not part of the Vatican bureaucracy. Strange indeed for followers of the human being known as the one whom most closely imitated Jesus Christ.
Some say that Vatican leaders at the time felt threatened by the exponential growth of the Franciscan movement. Imagine thousands and thousands of people embracing poverty at a time when the ‘church’ was constantly embroiled in issues concerning money and power.
Ste Therese’s life was over at age 24, yet her short life would have a profound impact on Christianity in the 20th century. She introduced the term ‘spiritual childhood’ and countless people have subscribed to ‘her way of spiritual childhood’. One can easily see the parallels between ‘poverty of spirit’ and ‘spiritual childhood’.
Ste Therese tells us we need to embrace nothingness; content to be like a grain of sand under someone’s shoe. Embrace … simply accepting it doesn’t seem to be enough … we must love being considered of no value, completely insignificant and unimportant … like a drop of water in the ocean of humanity. We must embrace our inescapable dependence on God just like the infant’s dependence on his/her mother for survival
The image at the beginning of this chapter points to this poverty of spirit. The helpless infant lacks the knowledge, skills, and strength necessary for his/her own survival. He is completely dependent on his mother. Of course, as adults, we are programmed by society and culture to believe in our own strength. What a shame!
We are socialized, programmed, brainwashed and indoctrinated to pursue wealth, individuality and vanity … to seek beauty and the beautiful. Wealth and beauty represent goodness and success , poverty and nothingness represent shame.
Nonetheless our spirit, being an inseparable part of our existence, may remain dormant for a part of or even our entire life. Like a ticking time bomb, our spirit will arouse itself at a time and place of its choosing. We exercise no control over its activities, neither can we initiate or stop the actions of our spirit. If one cuts a loaf of bread in half one still has a loaf of bread … except for the few crumbs on the cutting board. If one cuts a baby in half one no longer has a living baby … the wisdom expressed by Solomon in the Old Testament. Our spirit cannot be separated from our being and still have life within us.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Lucky indeed are those people who have little or no concern about what other people think of them. Those people who care little about ‘belonging’ in a worldly sense. Those people who are willing to live on the fringe of main stream society, on the fringe of the ‘flock. Joan of Arc When a flock of sheep is on the move almost all of the sheep have no choice but keep their nose in the butt of the sheep in front of them.
"Il est des lieux qui tirent l'ame de sa lethargie, des lieux enveloppes, baignes de mystere, elus de toute eternite pour etre le siege de l'emotion humaine"
The spiritual component of our being can be viewed from the same perspective … inseparable from our physical being ... the Greek logos … the life giving nature of being. This infers that the separation of church and state is a serious mistake. It is completely preposterous to expect people’s lives to be totally governed by a secular body for all but one hour each week and during this one hour expect people to satisfactorily nurture their spiritual needs.
From a secular perspective, poverty can not hurt anyone (poverty in this sense meaning enough to eat and a safe place to sleep) however, the fear of poverty can be lethal e.g. the numerous suicides following the loss of wealth or stature in the 1930s.
The words “blessed are the poor in spirit” attempt to convey the message that those whose spiritual component of their being is poor, lacking or weak are those who are open to divine guidance. The word poverty infers there is room for growth, improvement or enrichment. In the secular world something we would associate with education and successful life experiences.
The infant in the image has no choice but depend on its’ mother for sustenance (daily bread), sense of belonging and introduction to the human race. Infants deprived of cuddling and other forms of affection develop a diminished ‘will’ to live. Human beings have an innate need to feel they belong … to feel they are an acceptable member of the human race.
This sense of belonging is nurtured primarily by physical contact between child and mother during infancy and later manifested in relationships with family members and friends. Nursing at the mothers’ breast is imperative. It represents much more than simply passing nutrition to the infant. Propping up a baby bottle so the infant can eat alone is a destructive substitute.
A tall order in the 21st century … few people have any interest in traveling this road to spirituality. We are taught from early childhood to pursue individual glory and wealth. Society measures our personal self-esteem by individual stature and wealth.
I have played the secular and religious game by the rules for most of my adult life and lost. I was never satisfied with the returns from my efforts. For several years I have attempted to break free from the rat race … it’s so difficult! It feels like there is a huge magnet inside me that persistently draws me back to mainstream society.
At times I seem to be making progress and than without warning I find myself back in the game. When reflecting on how this happens it seems that being alone in my struggle is the most important factor. The road from one to two is long and hard, apparently the road from two to three is much easier.
Why am I interested in attempting to embrace nothingness? Again a question I have asked myself many times. The answer that often pops up is that I am simply responding to my loss in the secular power game and I still want to win so I am simply playing another game. What vanity!
What is the prize for winning the nothingness game? Saints like Ste Therese and St Francis are very well known around the world. Their stature and popularity matches some of the best known names from secular history. It’s difficult to reconcile their commitment to nothingness and their legacy. How was this legacy achieved? There are countless books available … each promoting the authors personal claim to the best prescription for growth and well being … and this across all cultures and religions. People hunger for truth … for inner peace.
Seems subscribing to these self help books runs contrary to spiritual poverty. The image that appeals to me is that of the potter and the clay. Spiritual poverty suggests accepting the role of the clay in the metaphor. Simply allowing the potter to shape you into whatever form he wants. Again this position runs contrary to the all powerful social and cultural paradigms.
We are compelled to subscribe to the party line … as Marx wrote … “we are forced to sell our labor to provide the necessities of life”. Social pressure continually redefines the necessities of life (e.g. how does one live today without a cell phone) thereby increasing the pressure on people to sell their labor wherever they can for whatever they can. e.g. university graduates working for minimum wages in the service industry.
The ‘poor in spirit’ will be the vanguard for the imminent transformation of mankind; the revolution of consciousness.
."
The Magnificat or Song of Mary is a wonderful example of one individual’s appreciation of the above Beatitude. The words attributed to the Blessed Virgin express both Her humility and Her revolutionary spirit; quite an anomaly!
Magnificat
My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid;
For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
Because he that is mighty,
Hath done great things to me;
And holy is his name.
And his mercy is from generation unto generation,
To them that fear him.
He hath showed might in his arm:
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat,
And hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things;
And the rich he hath sent empty away.
He hath received Israel his servant,
Being mindful of his mercy:
As he spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed for ever.
Few Catholics are comfortable thinking of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a revolutionary woman; a radical. Fewer yet are comfortable thinking of Her son Jesus as a revolutionary man; a radical.
Serious reflections on the Virgin Mary’s words in the Magnificat concerning ‘the mighty‘, ‘the proud’ and ‘the rich’ clearly point to Her contempt for these people and Her confidence that God favors humble and poor people.
The New Testament is filled with evidence that Jesus followed in His Mother’s footsteps; from the selection of his apostles to his submission to crucifixion at the hands of the ‘mighty’ and ‘rich’.
Jesus didn’t want to start a new religion; he was born into the Jewish community and died a member of the Jewish community. Jesus’ complaint was with the secular and religious hierarchy of his time. His contempt for their avarice and arrogance is conveyed clearly in the New Testament. At this time the Jewish faith had 613 laws. Contemporary scholars suggest that a society formed on the basis of these 613 laws would be most the peaceful and harmonious society known to man. What happened?
Spin doctors capitalized on the opportunity; turning Jesus’ message of Love into a sanitized version of the existing social customs … nothing changed. The elite used Christ’s story to advance their greed, hunger for power and control over the masses.
The time is near for the simplicity and clarity of the message in Mary’s Song and the simplicity and clarity of Jesus’ teachings to take centre stage in the world.
Humans have an innate and inescapable survival instinct; both a blessing and a curse. The blessings are manifest in modern civilizations’ goodness and human comforts. The curse hinges on our subjection to perceptions of fear. The elite exploit this weakness to maintain an unfair distribution of this ‘goodness and comfort’.
Privilege and creature comforts have been the dominion of the ‘mighty and rich’ since the beginning of time. This lopsided and unjust situation has been perpetrated on the masses through fear; by exploiting our innate survival instinct.
One need only look at the pervasive content of television, newspaper and other communication media. Terrorism, swine flu pandemic and the Iranian nuclear threat daily bombard our consciousness with perceived threats to our survival. As a result we become docile and submissive to the leaders who promise to protect us.
Our conscious is enslaved to real and perceived fears, wrapped in chains, clothed in an inescapable straightjacket. We need to somehow decouple our conscious from this prison. We need a revolution of the mind, transcending these fears in order to embrace spiritual poverty.
Many years ago Krishnamurti wrote "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the consciousness of every human being and emphasized that such revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political or social.
The question that begs to be asked is: “What is motivating our leaders to take the positions they hold? … What is their hidden agenda?” The most logical answer is simply to preserve the privilege and control of the ‘mighty and rich’.
There are numerous subtle yet powerful fears propagated by our culture and society. Michael from Germany who I met several years ago in Tui Spain helped me to understand the scope and potency of these fears. At the time his family (wife and 2 teenage children) mocked him for taking 8 days to cycle the Camino Santiago; apparently they considered it a waste of time.
Michael shared with me how he felt trapped by social pressures with no means to escape. His wife and children convinced him that it was his responsibility to provide all the trappings of modern life in Germany … house, car, fashion etc. The ever changing ‘necessities of life’ (keeping up with the Jones) continuously compelling us to remain on the tread mill … remain in the rat race … remain passive participants in our dog eat dog culture. The perceived fear of being mocked or persecuted by family and friends ... treated as a leper. A powerful force indeed … exploited shamelessly by the rich and powerful.
Poverty cannot hurt you … in this instance poverty meaning enough to eat and adequate shelter. The fear of poverty can kill you. The persistent stress associated with fear of poverty, loss of stature and the resulting rejection from family, friends and community diminishes the ability of our immune system to protect us from deadly illnesses.
Manmade conventions like romantic love, filial piety and private property require laws and punishments to maintain. How can this be considered natural? On the other hand spiritual poverty is embraced by some at great personal sacrifice. Seems there is an invisible hand guiding and supporting the humble spirit.
Since societal conventions are manmade they contaminate our ‘person’ and often lead to a life of misery. So many people are imprisoned by social conventions and hence not allowed to give free expression to their nature as a person. As human beings we are first a ‘person’, second a ‘gender’ and finally a member of a race, a culture, a society a religion etc. We come into this world hardwired with individual characteristics and talents; those considered virtuous as well as those considered undesirable. For example, a rebellious nature is innate not learned. The rebel only finds opportunity in their life experiences to vent their natural rebellious tendencies.
Throughout our lives we human beings become creatures of habit ... we resist change ... our habits become our 'addictions' ... our addictions become our comforts ... our personal collection of 'comforts' become our comfort zone ... our 'bubble of comfort' ... as long as we remain within the limits of our 'comfort zone' (bubble of comfort) ... life is OK.
The word ‘habit’ in this context extends far beyond our daily habits associated with food, sex and drugs … it includes our belief systems and our dogged adherence to social conventions.
Who likes to admit they have been deceived? Rather than admit deception we defend the injustice, violence and brutality inherent in social customs.
Our individual ‘comfort zone’ represents that part of our being analogous to the tip of an iceberg. We all know most of the iceberg is under water out of sight and we have no idea of its shape or dimensions or volume. We know the iceberg’s journey is filled with constant conflict … the forces of the physical world working on the tip of the iceberg; attempting to control its’ movement and the forces of the ‘other’ world working on the submerged part of the iceberg.
While living in Pond Inlet, one of the most northern villages in the Canadian Arctic, the physical manifestation of the above metaphor was presented to me. Here are the notes I wrote that day.
“Seems I had one of these kind of experiences again today ... I dropped what I was doing to go and see the 'iceberg' ... I had looked out my kitchen window and it appeared as though the iceberg was right up on shore ... this image seemed to ignite a 'curiosity' ... an ‘excitement' ... in my inner being ... I felt compelled to go and have a look.
It's only about a 15 minute walk to the shore ... as I was getting closer I could see that the iceberg was still quite a distance from shore ... yet closer than it has been ... a truly awesome sight ... see we are compensated a bit for the 'cold' we endure up here.
For some reason ... as I was walking I started to meditate ... this happens to me regularly ... my mind wanders off somewhere ... and sometimes comes back with 'sensible stuff' ... and sometimes with 'junk'.
This morning the 'fruit' of my meditation' seemed sensible ... and seemed relevant ... it suddenly occurred to me that the iceberg is symbolic of life ... apparently only about 10 percent of the iceberg is visible ... the remaining 90 percent is below the water and out of our visual capabilities ... hmmm
Seems to me our 'life' is about the same ... what we know about life is a small percentage of the 'whole' ... what we do not know is obviously beyond our physical sense preceptors ... our human capabilities including all modern science etc
Seems this reality has been known to mankind since the beginning of time ... all cultures in all geographies ... for all of histories ... have their legends ... their religions ... their myths ... etc to explain the 90 percent we really can't know or see or touch or taste.
Seems man has always had an insatiable curiosity ... imagination etc ... and also seems we are not able to live with a 'closed door' ... something that we know is ... but we do not know what it is ... the 'fear' of the unknown ... the solution to this throughout the ages has been religion ... myth … legend ... etc
One day many years ago I was sitting beside a young Spanish woman on an airplane somewhere in Spain. While her English was limited we engaged in a philosophical discussion where at one point I asked her opinion on the future of mankind. She answered with a diagram … she drew a crude picture of a bomb with the fuse lit. hmmm!
She also provided an excellent alternative to the ‘iceberg metaphor’ by taking the package of cigarettes out of my shirt pocket and holding it up in front of my face. She went on to explain that we can easily see and understand the face of the package facing us … we can read the words, understand the images and know from habit there is likely a bunch of cigarettes inside the box. We also know there is something on the opposite side of the box, the face of the box we cannot see while it’s held up in front of our face. We know the other side of the box exists and we make assumptions about its’ nature. The important point is we know the ‘other’ exists, the ‘other’ is real ... despite not knowing its’ characteristics or how the ‘other’ operates. We know it influences our life; we do not know by what rules.
This simple incident reflects such a profound reality; we know there is something beyond our physical being; we simply don’t know what it is and we make assumptions. These assumptions are manifested in religion, myth etc.
In the past 500 years the advance of science and reason has lead much of humanity to see the falsehoods in religious doctrine and rituals. The broad dissemination of knowledge resulted in these people abandoning the faith of their ancestors. However, to date no better alternative has been introduced. Mankind marches on recklessly ignoring the question of the power of the ‘other’ … a dangerous path indeed! We all know the part of the iceberg under water greatly influences the movement and direction of the iceberg’s path. Likewise the power of the ‘other’ influences our individual and collective lives.
The ‘other’ mentioned above is referred to as our ‘spirit’ or ‘soul’ and it is this component of ‘being’ that the expression “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is referring to. Blessed are those people who acknowledge without ‘knowledge’ the power and influence on their lives of this unknown. Blessed are those people who eagerly allow this ‘spirit’ component of their lives to direct their physical lives.
The influence of the ‘other’ was advanced by Jung and continues to evolve; Jung labelled the ‘other’ our collective unconscious.
“Like Freud, Jung posited the existence of a conscious and an unconscious mind. A model that psychologists frequently use here is an iceberg. The part of the iceberg that is above the surface of the water is seen as the conscious mind. Consciousness is the part of the mind we know directly. It is where we think, feel, sense and intuit. It is through conscious activity that the person becomes an individual. It’s the part of the mind that we “live in” most of the time, and contains information that is in our immediate awareness Below the level of the conscious mind, and the bulk of the iceberg, is what Freud would call the unconscious, and what Jung would call the “personal unconscious.”
Note the words “It is through conscious activity that the person becomes an individual.”
The author of the above paragraph appears to agree with my earlier comments that we are a ‘person’ first and foremost. Our ‘person’ is shaped and moulded by our physical environment … family, friends, culture and experiences. Like clay being moulded by the potter.
It’s illogical to believe that our ‘person’ is a void … an empty space … a vacuum … at the beginning of this shaping process. If not empty, what is already hardwired in our ‘person’ at the time of conception? Some argue that everything we need for our entire life in this world is pre-programmed into our ‘person’ before birth. St Augustine alleges that we do not learn anything in life, the doors to knowledge are simply opened at the right time for each individual.
The image of a Robin’s egg hatching in the nest provides a physical model. The newborn Robin has no feathers and depends totally on its mother for survival. The nucleus of life exists in the egg and has developed considerably prior to hatching. In time the feathers appear and the young Robin is equipped to now leave the nest.
The development of our conscious mind is analogous to the growth of feathers on the newborn Robin. In both cases they are required for survival. In both cases, on maturity, the young adults must leave the nest and survive in the ‘village’ ... in the world … in modern civilization.
We are born with the ‘nucleus’ of our existence intact; survival instincts are mature. We know enough as newborns to scream when we are hungry, feel threatened or feel uncomfortable. We know enough to fight for scarce resources; evidenced by the behavior of twins. The bigger twin attempts to prevent the smaller twin from nursing. How much more do we know?
If we could know the limit of our knowledge and reasoning abilities at birth we could clearly demarcate the influence of manmade conventions from natural instincts.
Transcending fear gives birth to the seed of wisdom, gives birth to ‘poverty of spirit’. This is the revolution of the mind that is necessary to correct today’s social ills. The journey to transcending fear is long and difficult, beset with countless perils and obstacles. We are contained by culture or society through fear … we are fenced in like cattle. One need only look at the precepts of all religions; all with fear as their foundation. For example, in Christian religion the fear of hell is used to keep its members in line. In the atheist community fear of rejection or persecution plays the same role.
Why is this necessary? Surely we would voluntarily subscribe to what is natural within our being. Obviously mankind is attempting to exceed its natural endowment in the universe.
Mankind was not compelled to evolve civilization to its current form … not by force of nature or any innate human characteristics. Several alternative models of social order have been attempted throughout history such as the matriarchal society of the Iroquois Indians and the populace driven society of Chairman Mao. Perhaps we have been predestined to reach this particular kind of world governance; not that it is the optimum style but that it is necessary to push us onto the next level of human awakening ... redirecting our energies and focus away from materialism to spiritualism.
There are basically two kinds of people in the world … ‘the poor in spirit’ and the ‘reprobate’ … those people who are not ‘poor in spirit’. These two kinds of people may also be labeled materialist and spiritualist or reprobate and predestined. The characteristics of those considered ‘poor in spirit’ predestined and the ‘reprobate’ are eloquently described in St Louis de Montford’s interpretation of the Biblical story of Esau and Jacob. Esau and Jacob represent the two nations of mankind … Jacob the predestined and Esau the reprobates.
Two more legendary persons who exemplified the essence of ‘poor in spirit’ were St Francis of Assisi and Ste Therese of Lisieux.
St Francis of Assisi’s spiritual awakening occurred when he was 22 years old. He was born into a wealthy family and for the first 22 years of his life enjoyed all the privileges that come with wealth. He enjoyed carousing and the other Hellenistic activities of his time.
After his ‘awakening’ he went so far as to give up his family name, not being satisfied with simply giving up all his worldly possessions. His post awakening life has many parallels with that of Buddha, who also gave up Royalty and privilege for the life of a hermit. We are told Buddha went to sit under a tree and wait for understanding … an explanation for the disparity between rich and poor people. St Francis also went to Nature and is known by many as a Nature Mystic.
St Francis demonstrated by his example that we do not have to sell our birthright for a bowl of pottage. We do not have to conform to mainstream society for survival. He did what he wanted when he wanted … he wholeheartedly embraced poverty … and people were attracted to his ways like ants to honey … by the thousands.
St Francis persistently refused many offerings of land, money and buildings to accommodate his growing number of followers. He persistently refused the offers … understanding the underlying danger of ‘possessions’ … that being the day would come when he would be called on to defend his possessions … called on to fight to preserve them. This truth is borne out in all facets of daily life … with individuals, with families, with communities and with nations. How much strife and conflict, war and human tragedy can be traced to the ‘defense of possessions’?
Value systems, religion and customs are also a form of ‘possession’ … being important components of our ‘personal identity’ … our ‘sense of belonging’. For this reason the necessity to defend … our innate instinct for survival … is triggered when this ‘possession’ is threatened. One need only look at the human cost of defending democracy and capitalism in the 20th century. Countless millions of lives were sacrificed at the altar of ‘possessions’.
St Francis was given the wisdom to understand this truth.
Also for some strange reason he did not become a priest. Despite enormous pressure to write a ‘rule’ … the rules of law for members of his order … he was unable to complete it. Perhaps for the same reason noted above. Still today the Franciscans are not part of the Vatican bureaucracy. Strange indeed for followers of the human being known as the one whom most closely imitated Jesus Christ.
Some say that Vatican leaders at the time felt threatened by the exponential growth of the Franciscan movement. Imagine thousands and thousands of people embracing poverty at a time when the ‘church’ was constantly embroiled in issues concerning money and power.
Ste Therese’s life was over at age 24, yet her short life would have a profound impact on Christianity in the 20th century. She introduced the term ‘spiritual childhood’ and countless people have subscribed to ‘her way of spiritual childhood’. One can easily see the parallels between ‘poverty of spirit’ and ‘spiritual childhood’.
Ste Therese tells us we need to embrace nothingness; content to be like a grain of sand under someone’s shoe. Embrace … simply accepting it doesn’t seem to be enough … we must love being considered of no value, completely insignificant and unimportant … like a drop of water in the ocean of humanity. We must embrace our inescapable dependence on God just like the infant’s dependence on his/her mother for survival
The image at the beginning of this chapter points to this poverty of spirit. The helpless infant lacks the knowledge, skills, and strength necessary for his/her own survival. He is completely dependent on his mother. Of course, as adults, we are programmed by society and culture to believe in our own strength. What a shame!
We are socialized, programmed, brainwashed and indoctrinated to pursue wealth, individuality and vanity … to seek beauty and the beautiful. Wealth and beauty represent goodness and success , poverty and nothingness represent shame.
Nonetheless our spirit, being an inseparable part of our existence, may remain dormant for a part of or even our entire life. Like a ticking time bomb, our spirit will arouse itself at a time and place of its choosing. We exercise no control over its activities, neither can we initiate or stop the actions of our spirit. If one cuts a loaf of bread in half one still has a loaf of bread … except for the few crumbs on the cutting board. If one cuts a baby in half one no longer has a living baby … the wisdom expressed by Solomon in the Old Testament. Our spirit cannot be separated from our being and still have life within us.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. Lucky indeed are those people who have little or no concern about what other people think of them. Those people who care little about ‘belonging’ in a worldly sense. Those people who are willing to live on the fringe of main stream society, on the fringe of the ‘flock. Joan of Arc When a flock of sheep is on the move almost all of the sheep have no choice but keep their nose in the butt of the sheep in front of them.
"Il est des lieux qui tirent l'ame de sa lethargie, des lieux enveloppes, baignes de mystere, elus de toute eternite pour etre le siege de l'emotion humaine"
The spiritual component of our being can be viewed from the same perspective … inseparable from our physical being ... the Greek logos … the life giving nature of being. This infers that the separation of church and state is a serious mistake. It is completely preposterous to expect people’s lives to be totally governed by a secular body for all but one hour each week and during this one hour expect people to satisfactorily nurture their spiritual needs.
From a secular perspective, poverty can not hurt anyone (poverty in this sense meaning enough to eat and a safe place to sleep) however, the fear of poverty can be lethal e.g. the numerous suicides following the loss of wealth or stature in the 1930s.
The words “blessed are the poor in spirit” attempt to convey the message that those whose spiritual component of their being is poor, lacking or weak are those who are open to divine guidance. The word poverty infers there is room for growth, improvement or enrichment. In the secular world something we would associate with education and successful life experiences.
The infant in the image has no choice but depend on its’ mother for sustenance (daily bread), sense of belonging and introduction to the human race. Infants deprived of cuddling and other forms of affection develop a diminished ‘will’ to live. Human beings have an innate need to feel they belong … to feel they are an acceptable member of the human race.
This sense of belonging is nurtured primarily by physical contact between child and mother during infancy and later manifested in relationships with family members and friends. Nursing at the mothers’ breast is imperative. It represents much more than simply passing nutrition to the infant. Propping up a baby bottle so the infant can eat alone is a destructive substitute.
A tall order in the 21st century … few people have any interest in traveling this road to spirituality. We are taught from early childhood to pursue individual glory and wealth. Society measures our personal self-esteem by individual stature and wealth.
I have played the secular and religious game by the rules for most of my adult life and lost. I was never satisfied with the returns from my efforts. For several years I have attempted to break free from the rat race … it’s so difficult! It feels like there is a huge magnet inside me that persistently draws me back to mainstream society.
At times I seem to be making progress and than without warning I find myself back in the game. When reflecting on how this happens it seems that being alone in my struggle is the most important factor. The road from one to two is long and hard, apparently the road from two to three is much easier.
Why am I interested in attempting to embrace nothingness? Again a question I have asked myself many times. The answer that often pops up is that I am simply responding to my loss in the secular power game and I still want to win so I am simply playing another game. What vanity!
What is the prize for winning the nothingness game? Saints like Ste Therese and St Francis are very well known around the world. Their stature and popularity matches some of the best known names from secular history. It’s difficult to reconcile their commitment to nothingness and their legacy. How was this legacy achieved? There are countless books available … each promoting the authors personal claim to the best prescription for growth and well being … and this across all cultures and religions. People hunger for truth … for inner peace.
Seems subscribing to these self help books runs contrary to spiritual poverty. The image that appeals to me is that of the potter and the clay. Spiritual poverty suggests accepting the role of the clay in the metaphor. Simply allowing the potter to shape you into whatever form he wants. Again this position runs contrary to the all powerful social and cultural paradigms.
We are compelled to subscribe to the party line … as Marx wrote … “we are forced to sell our labor to provide the necessities of life”. Social pressure continually redefines the necessities of life (e.g. how does one live today without a cell phone) thereby increasing the pressure on people to sell their labor wherever they can for whatever they can. e.g. university graduates working for minimum wages in the service industry.
The ‘poor in spirit’ will be the vanguard for the imminent transformation of mankind; the revolution of consciousness.
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Cick here to edit.