EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Paradise is within us all the time
By the Rev.Dr. Bob Ganung
"Inside this clay jar there are meadows and groves and the one who made them. Inside this jar there are seven oceans and innumerable stars ... the music of eternity, and a spring flows from the source of all waters. Kabir says: 'Listen, friend! My beloved master lives inside.' "
Kabir, the Indian mystic and poet, immersed himself in the waters of the divine daily. Beneath the waves of intellectual query, he merged with God within the depths of his soul. In meditation and prayer he experienced the inexhaustible creative and imaginative powers. God is so close. Closer than our very breath. Why do we search the heavens rather than our own hearts?
Emily Dickinson echoes Kabir's words centuries later in a distant culture: "I dwell in Possibility/ A fairer House than Prose/ ... The spreading wide my narrow Hands/ To gather Paradise."
Possibility and paradise are within us all the time. In the dark, moist depths of our souls, where sacred seeds germinate, we can feel the power of the divine coursing through every fabric of our being if we are awake and mindful. We have within us the potential to heal the brokenness in our world. As St. Teresa of Avila says, we are "God's hands and feet in the world."
The earthenware jar we call our body houses the music of eternity and flowing waters that spring from the Most High. Like Kabir, I believe we all consciously or unconsciously yearn to hear such celestial sounds and dive into such an ocean of pristine waters. Why is it so hard to do?
One reason is perhaps that we cannot find the door. Jesus said, "Knock and the door will open; seek and ye shall find." Where is the door? Where do we look? The whirling dervish Rumi (13th century) gives us a clue: "I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door. It opens. I have been knocking from the inside."
Rumi counsels that if we continue to live on the lip (surface) of life, and never enter the mysteries of God, we will surely lose our way and our sanity.
Living on the surface of life is a trap all of us are drawn into at times. It is as though we are going round and round on the rim of a giant wheel. Sometimes we are up on top of the world. Other times we are down and under the crushing weight of the wheel. We will never arrive at our center and meet God unless we follow one of the spokes to the still point in the hub, the source of our life.
What are the distractions in our lives that keep us on the rim? Is it reality TV? The self-absorbed magazines at the checkout counter in our supermarket? Just trying to make ends meet to support ourselves? Do we have too many material possessions to keep track of? Do we seek fame, power, and/or money? Is that the driving force in our life? What is all this worth?
Won't we feel more at peace if we act in loving and compassionate ways and transform the world together? The list is endless. It is almost as though the very structure of our society is working against us and preventing us from cultivating a rich and deep spiritual life.
The acorn that can become a mighty oak is contained in our earthenware jar. The sacred seeds that God has scattered in us are waiting to burst forth as soon as we can gently assist the garbage that has piled up in our inner lives to become a rich compost and fertile ground for growing compassion, love, deep understanding, kindness and generosity. Like the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, I believe that the work of our eyes is done, and it is time for all to do heart/soul work perhaps in a way that has never been before. The rewards for our global community will be such as we have never seen.
However, if we neglect to unearth our creative God-given gifts to build a just, sustainable, equitable and nonviolent culture that empowers all people and all sentient beings, we will surely (Rumi) lose our way, our sanity and our civility.
The Rev. Dr. Bob Ganung is academy chaplain at Punahou School.
