We are more powerful when we don't react to the world than when we do.
Re-acting, we enter the conflict and take sides. Then we become part of the conflict, and feed it. But when we don't re-act to the world, the world is blessed, bathed in pure awareness.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, "My kingdom is not of this world... I have overcome the world." When he said this, he was very much IN the world but not OF the world. Jesus was established in pure awareness, beyond the entangled reactions of karma. Does this mean he felt too good for the world? Does it mean he was full of himself? Quite the contrary. He was empty of himself. The New Testament term is "kenosis" (Philippians 2:7) which means, quite literally, self-emptying.
When we do not react, we stand squarely on the earth without taking sides. We become the healing Presence that both "sides" really seek, but will never acquire through their conflict. Presence is the mediator, because Presence does not re-act from the karma of the past. It is not contrived or preordained. One who is fully present is free to act dynamically from the stillness at the core of Now.
Do we really believe that we have improved the world by reacting to it? That we are great revolutionaries because we keep entering the conflict? That we defend freedom and justice by "taking action" against the so-called enemy? "But I must improve the world!" Really? How has that been working out? Is your civilization getting better?
I am not encouraging you to be passive, friend, but to be a peace-maker. It was Jesus who coined the term, Jesus whose kingdom is not of this world.
You are a peace-maker when you do not react. Not to react is the real revolution, the most radical act of all. To be a peace-maker means allowing energy to flow from the space of the heart. Non-reactive energy flows from pure awareness. We might call this intuitive energy. Intuitive energy is consciousness in matter, matter in consciousness, vibrant field that has not yet broken into spirit vs. body, subject vs. object. This energy is action through Being. We might call it the energy of Grace.
Born of the present moment, a hand comes forth to defend, or to heal. Is it "your" hand? Born of the present moment, well-balanced feet walk the earth, arriving right where you are at every step. In the gentle breeze of non-reaction, the body moves like a bamboo staff, strong yet bending, tough yet hollow. And you are breathed.
Re-acting, we enter the conflict and take sides. Then we become part of the conflict, and feed it. But when we don't re-act to the world, the world is blessed, bathed in pure awareness.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, "My kingdom is not of this world... I have overcome the world." When he said this, he was very much IN the world but not OF the world. Jesus was established in pure awareness, beyond the entangled reactions of karma. Does this mean he felt too good for the world? Does it mean he was full of himself? Quite the contrary. He was empty of himself. The New Testament term is "kenosis" (Philippians 2:7) which means, quite literally, self-emptying.
When we do not react, we stand squarely on the earth without taking sides. We become the healing Presence that both "sides" really seek, but will never acquire through their conflict. Presence is the mediator, because Presence does not re-act from the karma of the past. It is not contrived or preordained. One who is fully present is free to act dynamically from the stillness at the core of Now.
Do we really believe that we have improved the world by reacting to it? That we are great revolutionaries because we keep entering the conflict? That we defend freedom and justice by "taking action" against the so-called enemy? "But I must improve the world!" Really? How has that been working out? Is your civilization getting better?
I am not encouraging you to be passive, friend, but to be a peace-maker. It was Jesus who coined the term, Jesus whose kingdom is not of this world.
You are a peace-maker when you do not react. Not to react is the real revolution, the most radical act of all. To be a peace-maker means allowing energy to flow from the space of the heart. Non-reactive energy flows from pure awareness. We might call this intuitive energy. Intuitive energy is consciousness in matter, matter in consciousness, vibrant field that has not yet broken into spirit vs. body, subject vs. object. This energy is action through Being. We might call it the energy of Grace.
Born of the present moment, a hand comes forth to defend, or to heal. Is it "your" hand? Born of the present moment, well-balanced feet walk the earth, arriving right where you are at every step. In the gentle breeze of non-reaction, the body moves like a bamboo staff, strong yet bending, tough yet hollow. And you are breathed.
| Painting by Zhang Lu of Taoist philosopher Liezi, Ming Dynasty, Shanghai Museum | |
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