On 1/23/2012 10:41 PM, Andrew Fildes wrote:
> Strangely, to me, these three statements from a man of the cloth are rather
> disturbing.
Cloth? What cloth?
I may give sermons or messages at one location of a tiny, obscure Christian
denomination, but that is paling, as I feel
restricted even there.
I do do a little spiritual counseling, small workshops, and so on, but that's
usually outside any established religion.
When working with people with a Christian background, I certainly don't
hesitate to use biblical lines from Jesus of
Nazareth to show them that he didn't really espouse all the stuff that started
to go south with Paul. Read fresh, he's
really a good intro to other mystic approaches to the nature of Life, the
Universe and Everything* for many people.
I'm basically more at home leading a Jungian style session of guided imagery,
maybe using drumming to drive it, or
helping people understand what their dreams have to tell them than standing in
front of rows of people, sermonizing.
Give me a small group and a drum, and we'll be off into the other world, or
maybe reentering each others' dreams.
You can't call it that here, legally, but dream work is some of the most useful
therapy I know of for many people.
If someone offered me "The Cloth", gratis, I think I'd have to turn it down -
or at least set ground rules. Even
contemporary Chinese Taoists are off in some arcane vision of Power that is
more like some fantasy action movies than
old Lao Tzu and Chang Tzu.
Maybe the rule for the legacy of great spiritual people should be
"Institutionalization tends to lead to dilution and
misunderstanding. Large, successful institutionalization tends to lead to
reversal."
The drum journey here Feb 2nd. is full, but I could arrange one for you. :-)
Clothed most of the time, but not of the Cloth, Moose
* Yup, I'm happy to teach from The Hitchhiker's Guide. I once quite
successfully used a stripped down version of the
first sequence of the first book as a as the basis for a spiritual lesson in a
series of small group sessions Carol and
I held. Strip out most of the detail through rescue by the Heart of Gold,
powered by infinite improbability, and you
have a really first class myth. I assume you know myths are simply the sacred
writings of those of different religions
than that of the one calling then so.
My favorite definition of myth is quoted by Robert A. Johnson (psych, not
guitar) It was from the nine year old daughter
of a friend of his. "Myth is something that's not true outside, but is true
inside."
Clothed most of the time, but not of the Cloth, Moose
--
What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
--
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