For from what does not exist at all it is impossible that anything come into being, and it is neither possible nor perceivable that being should perish completely; for things will always stand wherever one in each case shall put them. -- Empedocles (490-430 BCE)
1. For from what does not exist at all it is impossible that anything come into being. Being does not come out of what does not exist at all. Being comes from somewhere, from something. None of us know what it is. We call it different names. Some get infuriated, agitated over other's names for it, thinking their name for it is most appropriate or that it should be given no name at all. Yet we speak and write a language that names names. I call it Wellspring. I call it Source. Sometimes I call it God. Sometimes Godhead. Sometimes Father. The name I call it changes my relationship with it. It responds, is responsive. And why not? It calls me into being, energizes me, keeps me going. It is the most personal relationship possible -- this relationship with the one who breathes me. You, of course, call it whatever you want. Or do not call it at all.
2. and it is neither possible nor perceivable that being should perish completely. Completely is the key word here. Our experience of the world as perceived through our physical senses is that everything is always becoming something else, forever transforming. No abrupt start. No abrupt stop. Continuity but in differing form. Our experience of life as perceived through the transcendent eye, that true and real spiritual organ, is ongoing existence. We do not perish completely when the corpse drops. We are a continuing manifestation of the Wellspring.
3. for things will always stand wherever one in each case shall put them. Wherever we put our attentional energies now is not only where we stand now but where we stand later after the body drops. "Lay up your treasures in heaven," says Haysoos. "Die before you die," say the Sufi. Both these sayings point to the same principle. We will always stand wherever we put ourselves.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks, George! I hadn't heard of Empedocles before...a new path to explore. I especially love your 'the one who breathes me' name. Cathy
ReplyDeleteHi George,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great reminder this morning, especially the obvious but easy for me to forget nature of my personal relationship with the Source. How could anything be more personal, after all?
Along those very lines, I had a wonderful moment of opening yesterday, in a cemetary of all places, where suddenly I was awe struck by the beauty of it all, and it just kept unfolding further and further. That moment was one of the greatest treasures I have ever received, and there is no way to lay it up anywhere else but Heaven.
Also, thanks for the spelling tip on Haysoos. I was way off on how I usually spell it! :)
Good morning George!
ReplyDeleteI resonate with the quote you selected to reflect upon today. The approach you used in reflecting on his words really appeals to my empirical orientation.
To take time to be with "Being" reaffirms a sense of relationship with all that is (much like the practice of using a medicine wheel).
While the "doing" continues its endless transformations the "Being" continues as is in the background, always available for a visit. I agree that the words we use to refer to Being
may influence the shape our relationship takes. To open to Being just as it is, with the fewest words possible works best for me.
I cannot know how things will be at the level of "doing" in the future but the level of "Being" remains so steadfast over time that it is reasonable to assume it may always be so.
Thanks for stimulating our refelctions by sharing your own alongside those of Empedocles. ~ Stan