10 - How to see enlightenment in everything

On Fallen Worlds

I have a news alert! This just in!

 We live in a fallen world. :(



A fallen world is a world generally separated from the divine by something. Well, take a look around you. We obviously have a pretty big separation going on.

 Once you feel inspiration of some sort, everything else looks even more drab. When Jesus came off the mount of transfiguration, it seems he was distraught at the lack of faith all around him.

 While some of this is unavoidable, I believe there is a way to surmount it. I believe there is a way to see everything as part of the divine plan, and see the divine plan in everything.

The Theory

The theory is that God created heavens and earth and everything that is in them. According to more oriental philosophy, there is a force, the Tao, the moves everything and upon which everything moves.

 So in theory, what we can do is look for this divine light in every situation, in every object, and in every person. I believe oriental religions, thanks to their knowledge of this concept, have a much less rigid concept of evil.

What is Love?

I believe that part of love is doing this; seeing the divine in the object you love. It seems that love is the key both to connecting you with others and also with seeing the good in everything.

 In Antoine de St. Exupery's classic, The Little Prince, a prince meets a fox and learns to love it, and realizes in doing so that the fox has now become unique, special from all other foxes of the world because of this.


The scriptures say that if we want this love, we should pray to God with all our heart.

Questioning, Curious, and Hopeful!

This process helps us rediscover everything around us. We can accelerate the process by having a questioning, curious, hopeful attitude.

 We ask questions to learn more about them.

 We generate curiosity to understand.

 We have a hope that we can see something greater in what we are looking at.



Seeing things with Eyes of Compassion

I read a book about understanding people 2 years ago. The last chapter was called 'Eyes of Compassion'. The author explained that once you see what the good things in your life mean, you wouldn't want to take any of it away. You can look at yourself and others and love what you see.

 When we suffer, this feels very hard to do. I, for one, will gladly take pain and trials away as much as I can. Let's get rid of that as quickly as possible! I'm not saying to look at the pain with eyes of compassion. I am saying to look at the people with eyes of compassion.

Enlightenment in Everything

When asked to stop a loud crowd, Jesus once replied 'If they cease their praises, the very stones will cry out (in praise)'. Everything around us points to a spark of divinity. As we get closer, we can see that spark and receive encouragement to continue on our way.

 Even more important, everything around us becomes beautiful. The way we get up in the morning, our conversations and actions, every act we do feels holy. Because we act in the divine state.

 Zen Koan 26 from the Gateless Gate describes two monks who roll up the same blinds. One 'has it', the other doesn't. One acts with connection, the other acts without.

 The traditional Hindu greeting is "Namaste", which means " I salute the divine within You". The purpose of this blog post is that we can constantly be in the spirit of Namaste.

P.S.

In case you missed the not-so-subtle hints, I think reading The Little Prince is a great place to start your journey to seeing enlightenment in everything.


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