Thanks, Clayton. I was trying to write another post for weeks, but this is one that I really wanted to write. All the writer's block dissolved as soon as I switched to writing this one. A lesson to remember, I guess!
I guess what happens in the middle class that does not have money to work as a fall buffer, is that the children are raised in the false illusion of the fashionable ideology that swarms in their schools through pop culture, without developing any virtue. Then their non-virtuous encounter with the real world, quickly erodes the good intentions they might have had, and they end up being more rapacious than the object of their hatred promulgated by that ideology. Those who succeed to some extent, we see them years later flaunting their acquisitions (material or cultural), those who do not, we see them more and more resentful to the end. The root is always the same, the distance from God and the placing of trust in man, the Bible shows it over and over again, but we always believe that this time it will be different..
Connor, thanks for sharing your fascinating story. It reminded me of the old saying, "What is most personal is most universal." As a member of your mother's generation, I could relate to everything you talked about. Your weirdness, combined with intellectual rigor, is what I've always liked most about you, because it resembles the weirdness of me and my friends.
I grew up Catholic and found God in the sensuality of the liturgy. I was also fascinated by the many strains of mysticism that the hippies dabbled in. But I didn't just dabble; a nervous breakdown (aka ego death, aka descending kundalini experience) when I was 18 pushed me all the way in, head first, and over the next few years I recovered as a full-fledged mystic, healed by Christian panentheism (thank you Thomas Aquinas, Matthew Fox and others) and Zen meditation (thanks to Shunryu Suzuki, Thomas Merton, Alan Watts, et al.).
You're right to think that the belief "We are all one" is worse than useless. Slogans don't change lives. It's the experience of oneness, sustained and integrated into everyday life as nondual awareness, that is transforming. It's been fascinating for me to watch, over the decades, how more and more spiritual teachers have moved from talking about mysticism, which emphasizes oneness, to nonduality, which emphasizes the simultaneous experience of oneness and particularity -- a continuous oscillation in the space between monism and dualism rather than an extreme pendulum swing.
The nondual revolution is happening mostly under the radar, but it's much bigger than most people realize. I found that out when I attended the 11th annual Science and Nonduality (SAND) Conference in San Jose in 2019. I expected several hundred people, but there were around a thousand attendees. That's where I met Loch Kelly, who led a workshop on "The Art and Science of Open-Hearted Awareness." Loch became my (and hundreds of others') online spiritual teacher via Zoom during the pandemic lockdown. Now that I'm securely rooted in the practice, I see nonduality flourishing everywhere, not just among spiritual teachers but, surprisingly, among scientists like Richard Schwartz, Dan Siegel, and Sam Harris.
I think nondual awareness is the path forward that humanity desperately needs, which is why it's springing up everywhere. The Holy Spirit can't wait for churches to catch up; nonduality is going to happen with or without them.
Thanks for reading. I hadn't thought of expanding the footnote into a complete essay per se, but those are some of the topics I keep getting drawn to write about. Good suggestion!
I'd be interested in hearing your other offshoot ideas, too. Willing to share?
What a beautiful piece. I appreciate your perspective.
Thanks, Rachel.
A great read and very insightful. Thank you for this.
Thanks, Clayton. I was trying to write another post for weeks, but this is one that I really wanted to write. All the writer's block dissolved as soon as I switched to writing this one. A lesson to remember, I guess!
I never grokked what I have been on about as clearly "a gnostic faith that’s carrying on a secret love affair with the material world". Yes!
Please keep writing. It is lovely.
Thanks! I plan on it.
I guess what happens in the middle class that does not have money to work as a fall buffer, is that the children are raised in the false illusion of the fashionable ideology that swarms in their schools through pop culture, without developing any virtue. Then their non-virtuous encounter with the real world, quickly erodes the good intentions they might have had, and they end up being more rapacious than the object of their hatred promulgated by that ideology. Those who succeed to some extent, we see them years later flaunting their acquisitions (material or cultural), those who do not, we see them more and more resentful to the end. The root is always the same, the distance from God and the placing of trust in man, the Bible shows it over and over again, but we always believe that this time it will be different..
Connor, thanks for sharing your fascinating story. It reminded me of the old saying, "What is most personal is most universal." As a member of your mother's generation, I could relate to everything you talked about. Your weirdness, combined with intellectual rigor, is what I've always liked most about you, because it resembles the weirdness of me and my friends.
I grew up Catholic and found God in the sensuality of the liturgy. I was also fascinated by the many strains of mysticism that the hippies dabbled in. But I didn't just dabble; a nervous breakdown (aka ego death, aka descending kundalini experience) when I was 18 pushed me all the way in, head first, and over the next few years I recovered as a full-fledged mystic, healed by Christian panentheism (thank you Thomas Aquinas, Matthew Fox and others) and Zen meditation (thanks to Shunryu Suzuki, Thomas Merton, Alan Watts, et al.).
You're right to think that the belief "We are all one" is worse than useless. Slogans don't change lives. It's the experience of oneness, sustained and integrated into everyday life as nondual awareness, that is transforming. It's been fascinating for me to watch, over the decades, how more and more spiritual teachers have moved from talking about mysticism, which emphasizes oneness, to nonduality, which emphasizes the simultaneous experience of oneness and particularity -- a continuous oscillation in the space between monism and dualism rather than an extreme pendulum swing.
The nondual revolution is happening mostly under the radar, but it's much bigger than most people realize. I found that out when I attended the 11th annual Science and Nonduality (SAND) Conference in San Jose in 2019. I expected several hundred people, but there were around a thousand attendees. That's where I met Loch Kelly, who led a workshop on "The Art and Science of Open-Hearted Awareness." Loch became my (and hundreds of others') online spiritual teacher via Zoom during the pandemic lockdown. Now that I'm securely rooted in the practice, I see nonduality flourishing everywhere, not just among spiritual teachers but, surprisingly, among scientists like Richard Schwartz, Dan Siegel, and Sam Harris.
I think nondual awareness is the path forward that humanity desperately needs, which is why it's springing up everywhere. The Holy Spirit can't wait for churches to catch up; nonduality is going to happen with or without them.
Thanks for reading. I hadn't thought of expanding the footnote into a complete essay per se, but those are some of the topics I keep getting drawn to write about. Good suggestion!
I'd be interested in hearing your other offshoot ideas, too. Willing to share?