Saturday, January 15, 2011

Evolution: The Process of Subtraction

God is not attained by a process of
addition to anything in the soul,
but by a process of subtraction.

~Meister Eckhart
(1260-1327)

Of Note: Mystics by definition are coming to know the Mind of God, and Master Eckhart was no exception. One of the first realizations he must have had was this: God is and, therefore, needs nothing of the physical universe, including us. No-thing. What's more, we humans have nothing to offer. So why did God create us in the first place if He doesn't need us, and we have nothing to offer? While that fundamental question is unanswerable at our stage of development, we do get hints from ancient texts that come to us from the dawn of time. Apparently, the word Quality has something to do with it. This abstract term describes "that" which is produced from the interplay of Life and matter. Consciousness is one Quality of this interplay. Could it be that the Entity we call God is an evolving Consciousness and is exploring the seven qualities or principles of Mind described by ageless wisdom? While we will not know the answer to this question for some time, acting AS IF we do expands our mind to meet His. In this interplay of consciousnesses, we contribute to our own evolution, and it is conceivable to God's as well.

Today's Weather Report: It snowed at least 10 inches last night. Beautiful, fluffy stuff that is a cinch to shovel. That is what everyone is doing this morning if they want to get anywhere. At 13 degrees Fahrenheit with the sun blazing brightly, it would be a great day to snowshoe with friends and end with a cup of hot chocolate by the warm stove. Maybe I'll get out my old snowshoes and see how they fit. Haven't used them in years because I could never get the hang of it and didn't have a good teacher. Maybe this is one of those things that just gets better with practice, practice, practice, no teacher required. Seems that it would be good exercise in the long winter months. The dogs are in dog heaven in the new snow and have recently come in covered from head to toe. In the house, though, they soon went from "Awe, aren't they cute!" to "Egad, get a towel quick!" In addition, the two canines smell like wet wool. Pee-yoo. Thankfully, it's nothing that time won't fix.





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