Mystic

"Theologians may quarrel, but the mystics of the world speak the same language." ~ Meister Eckhart

It took me a while to add "Mystic" to various "About Me" statements online.  I've tended to refer to my spiritual orientation in a variety of ways.  

Am I using the term "correctly"?

There is no "correct".

For me, it is an integration of the Sacred into everyday life.  We get distracted from the Sacred.  But it returns to us, and we return to it, when we are conscious of returning. 

The Divine is present.  And mysterious.  It reveals itself when we're open.  We don't need to pry the door open because it even assists with the opening.  Once open, there can never be a closing.  Yes, we get distracted, but the Sacred never really leaves us.

Clouds and Water photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Reconnecting to the Sacred

 "Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again." ~ Joseph Campbell

I found myself over the weekend rather unexpectedly drawn into a deep and reflective video of a sacred spiritual event, arising in a place and a culture very different from what surrounds me here, and in a language I do not know (with a narrator translating).  As can often be the case with such things, it just "showed up" - in this case, virtually, as most experiences must these days.  

It reconnected me and reminded me of something important - especially in our current tumultuous world.  We need to come back into relationship with the Sacred.  

I've needed this.  I've needed the Honesty of what this is, unfiltered.  I've needed the Simplicity.  I've needed the Depth.  

In our seemingly "advanced" society, we've forgotten a great deal.  So many seem to think they're just too "smart" to listen to so-called "simple people".  They scoff at such things.  They are far too busy racing towards a future that would harm us more than help.  This kind of "intelligence" that congratulates itself continually on being so "clever" is hollow at the core.  Exposed for what it is, it  falls short in the presence of Wisdom.  Wisdom is what "advances" Humanity - and nothing else.

Early Spring photo by Susan Larison Danz.

Reclamation

"...the seed still unbroken

the star still unburnt..." 

~ Ali Smith, "How to be both"

I found the altar scattered on the ground today, many pieces missing.  How it came to be and not I cannot know.

Nature restores all things to what they Are, even as it always builds Anew.  The entire forest is an Altar, as is our entire Planet Earth...

Altar

"'Your sacred space is where you can find yourself over and over again." 
~ Joseph Campbell

At the beginning of every yoga class, there is a statement, translated and not:  "Now is the time for yoga."

"Now is the time for Beauty." echoed in my thoughts, as splashes of light in the forest called me to a sunny day.  On any given morning, there are many things I "need to do", but when "Now is the time for Beauty", Beauty is what I need.

Eventually I came upon an altar, its origins unknown.  Perhaps it was a child at play.  Perhaps it was an adult.  Is there really any difference?