Aphorisms
I.
"God" is all, and is all about you and in you. Change the frequency of your mind, and enter into the kingdom of heaven, where bodily circumstance is of little consequence. The kingdom of heaven is not a place, to be reached through effort. It is another way of seeing. We "arrive" there by shifting our perspectives. That is why it may be said that the world we wish is already here. So, also, is the world we do not wish.
II.
If you are fearful and filled with anxiety - whether as to money, health, status or approval - you are not dwelling in the truth. You fret over your life as though it were you who made it, as though you stand apart from the rest of creation.
Let go.
Let go, and fall into the truth that, like all things, we are always on our way to some other place and condition. But this is the hardest thing in the world to understand, to accept. For me, too.
III.
Give yourself what you need and want, but never forget that it is also you who stands on the other side of the world, belly distended, ribs visible through the skin. Take care of that self too, as much as you are able. Just remember that the world was burning long before you were born. Concrete action is the key. Daily action is the solution. What have you done today to fill a belly on the other side of the world? Certainly, you know what you have done today to fill your own.
IV.
"God" is a word. It is what we do with that word that matters. It could signify peace and reverence and awe, or folly, stupidity, hate in a wrapper of love. The word will not go away, and neither will all these uses. It is each generation's struggle to make of it what it must, until the last. It does not mean, of course, that we only worry over words, but words are all we have - most of the time.
V.
The better philosopher is he or she who plumbs the depths and ranges the breadth of life. It is not he or she who splits hairs and haunts the halls of universities only. A philosopher is only "so-called" when he knows only the narrow, beaten paths of discursive thought and the professional life, yet knows nothing of the heart or the soul, and does not care to. Most philosophers are no better at thinking about relevant matters than anyone else trained in thought. But they remain delusional about the matter, and so set themselves apart.
VI.
We are mistaken when we claim that "God is personal." We have then to depersonalize ourselves. Equally, we are mistaken when we claim the opposite, that "God is impersonal." We have then but to understand that personality is a way to encounter the Source. We can only engage in descriptive play, since no words are adequate. What is "God" then? God has no identity with any thing. It is your "is" that causes your problems. Its use must be for economy only. But then some things are best put aside. "Is" may be best forgotten.
VII.
We carve-up the world into manageable pieces, the better to save our time and mental energies for our demanding affiairs. But caution is warranted. Those manageable pieces, those taxonomies, those categories often become our prisons. Be careful as to the labels you wear or permit to be affixed, whether it be "criminal" or "priest" or "democrat." It matters little what the taxonomy is once you are stuffed and mounted on the walls of society.
VIII.
We use words that, whether we know it or not, commit us to or comport to whole views of reality. We must understand the background assumptions upon which float our spoken and written words. "She went to work" is filled with assumptions that are taken for granted, as are a million other utterances. "He is black" is like the star that also "is" - it is dense and heavy with meanings that are elided in casual conversation. This is unavoidable, but must be called to mind often.
IX.
"God" had to be invented, and reinvented every hour of every day. And every hour of every day there are those who invent and reinvent the death of God, or God's irrelevance, or the danger of God. This is not mere poetry, but a philosophical, theological, and sociological fact. Faith really requires acceptance of this dynamic, and coming down on one side or the other. To not do so is to be only half alive. To not do so is a false refusal to enter the game of life.
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